Jason goes to Indiefest--Day 3

The big first weekend kicks off with a 5 film Saturday

First up, the shorts program #ForReals. Hooray for non-fiction!
CREE CODE TALKER: Charles "Checker" Tomkins was a Cree and a patriot who served his country (Canada) in WWII. He served by working for the Americans sending secret messages with the one tool the enemy didn't have--the Cree language.
A WAY FORWARD: A look at the difficulties and dangers of young girls just trying to go to school in Kenya. Either walk 10 miles each way, or get rides from shady guys on motorcycles. Amazing how something like a bicycle can change a life so much, and for the better.
BE FABULOUS, FIRST STOP: SEXITUDE: An amusing look at a uniquely SF dance class, where sexy attitude is emphasized in a body-positive, sex-positive, age-positive community.
BEING SEEN: Candid lives, and endearing loves of the developmentally disabled. Very beautiful.
PROPERTY: A short look at the National Wildlife Property Repository, a warehouse of confiscated wildlife trophies just outside of Denver. Who knew such a place even existed?
TODAY THEY TOOK MY SON: A poetic docu-drama about a Palestinian mother, her son, and the Israeli police. Very moving.
WHAT'S EATING ZACH TURNQUIST: Zach, a young man who kinda looks like Leonardo DiCaprio, looks up and contacts his birth mother. Spoiler alert: Leo is not his real father, but his mother is pretty cool. And the lucky man now has two families who love him.
WHERE WE STAND: Feminism is Mormonism might seem like an oxymoron. But this movie shows its very real, as we get a look at a couple of strong Mormon women and the organization Ordain Women.

#ForReals plays again on Moday, Feb 6th at 7:15.

And then a really strange movie from Bosnia and Herzegovina, PAPAGAJKA. Damir  is a security guard for what appears to be an abandoned apartment complex. At least, the hours he works there's no one else there. Or there isn't until a mysterious woman shows up and moves in with him, at least until they can figure out who she is and where she belongs. And then...well, I can't say there's even a story there. They just sort of are there together. Cooking, playing games, clipping fingernails...I have no idea what happened. Except that the shots are absolutely gorgeous (the director Emma Rozanski studied under Bela Tarr, and the influence is obvious.) I totally endorse the cinematography, I just wish I knew what it was all about.

PAPAGAJKA plays again on Moday, Feb 6th at 7:15.

And then the strangeness continued, in a completely different way, with TICKET TO THE CIRCUS. A witch, a murder, a gnome, weird racial issues, and some zombies...they're all somehow...around a road trip of two lesbians on the run from the law. There's a lot in this movie that doesn't make sense (my favorite is the guy looking for his lost friends who opens the microwave and looks in there.) It quickly became a running joke between me and my friend to point out something and say "that's what doesn't make sense about this movie." (Like, how they remain on the run even when they're cleared of the crime and no one's chasing them.) I did not sneak enough whiskey into the theater for this movie. Especially given how often they stop in bars and drink, I couldn't help but feel jealous.

TICKET TO THE CIRCUS plays again Sunday, Feb 5th at 12:30

And then some weirdness that was actually pretty awesome, SHE'S ALLERGIC TO CATS. Michael Pinkney (played by Michael Pinkney) is a dog groomer and video artist, and the video art invades this movie so it looks like it was made on--or at least copied to--VHS. He enjoys watching old John Travolta movies on video and has a dream to make an all-cat remake of CARRIE. Now that's revealed early on in the movie, and if the idea of an all-cat CARRIE remake sounds awesome to you, you're the kind of person who will love this movie. If you're confused, this movie probably isn't for you. Anyway, there's an infestation of rats in his apartment, and his landlord/L.A. street musician isn't doing much to help. And he's got a date with the lovely Cora (Sonja Kinski, granddaughter of Klaus Kinski) so he better be able to take her home without it being overrun with rats. This movie is bizarre and hilarious. I loved it.

SHE'S ALLERGIC TO CATS plays again Thursday, Feb 9th at 9:30

And finally, we ended the night with LET ME MAKE YOU A MARTYR. Drew Glass is in police custody, and the whole movie is told from his unreliable narration. See, his (adopted) father is the drug kingpin of Tulsa, Oklahoma. And Drew is back for a little revenge, and to run away with his love--his adopted sister June (Sam Quartin.) But his dad sends his own hitman--Pope (Marilyn Manson, out of makeup and playing a creepily cerebral character) to get Drew. It's a wild yet understated movie. Bloody, but not gratuitous. And I confess it was a late night so I didn't quite stay awake at all moments. So I'm going to have to watch this one again. Good thing it's been picked up and should be released later this year.

LET ME MAKE YOU A MARTYR plays again Monday, Feb 6th at 9:30

Total Running Time: 440 minutes
My Total Minutes: 416,627