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  • DVD: Independent Film “In the Family” to be Released on DVD on June 25

    [caption id="attachment_2872" align="alignnone" width="550"]Joey (Patrick Wang), Chip (Sebastian Brodziak) and Cody (Trevor St. John)[/caption]

    In the Family, the directorial debut of Patrick Wang, will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 25, 2013. Starring Patrick Wang, along with Sebastian Banes andTrevor St. John, the independent film was reportedly rejected by 30 festivals before its premiere at the Hawaii International Film Festival and becoming the critics pick for many leading publications including the The New York Times andTime Out Chicago.

    In the town of Martin, Tennessee, Chip Hines, a precocious six-year-old, has only known life with his two dads, Cody and Joey. And a good life it is. When Cody dies suddenly in a car accident, Joey and Chip struggle to find their footing again. Just as they begin to, Cody’s will reveals that he named his sister as Chip’s guardian. The years of Joey’s acceptance into the family unravel as Chip is taken away from him. In his now solitary home life, Joey searches for a solution. The law is not on his side, but friends are. Armed with their comfort and inspired by memories of Cody, Joey finds a path to peace with the family and closer to his son.

    IN THE FAMILY trailer from Patrick Wang on Vimeo.

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  • New York City to Get New Documentary-Only Theater

    New York City officials Kate Levin, Scott Stringer, Margaret Chin and Gale Brewer were joined by acclaimed filmmakers Michael Moore (Bowling For Columbine); Matthew O’Neill (China’s Unnatural Disaster, Redemption), and Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) at a ceremony to mark the groundbreaking of Downtown Community Television Center’s new documentary-only theater.  It is expected to open in early 2015.

    The first of its kind in the United States, the 73 seat, fully-interactive, digital cinema will be the state-of-the-art venue specifically for documentaries in New York City, and will provide theatrical runs to non-fiction filmmakers for Academy Award qualification.  The theater, designed by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership will be built on the ground floor of the beautiful 1896 firehouse that DCTV has called home since 1979. 

     DCTV was founded in 1972 by husband and wife filmmakers Jon Alpert and Keiko Tsuno, and has grown into one of the leading documentary film education and production centers in the country, providing resources for thousands of filmmakers and students, including equipment and facility rentals, screenings, master classes, post-production services and educational programs.

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  • Terence Nash Explains His New Film OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY

    by DeVon Hyman

    April 26th 2013 marked the official New York City release of Terence Nance’s Dream Hampton, and Jay Z executive produced “Oversimplification” Described as “Happy American Sexiness” (New York Times) the autobiographical nature of the film takes you on a journey of Mr Nance’s inner most thoughts, played out on the big screen, narrated by what would seemingly be the conscious subconscious. After viewing the film, I was left with many a question, as my intrigue was at an all-time high. I sat down with Terence to pick his brain on all things Oversimplified, from the blueprinting of the capture of his ideas, to his co-star selection.

    The Beauty of the film, and his demeanor is his straight-shot approach. Share in this moment, as you are provided insight to the methods, reasons, and strategies behind the film OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY, by Terence Nash

    VIMOOZ: Your usage of Animation in the film is very unique and descriptive; in the grand scheme of your blueprinting the film pre-production, where did the inspiration to use such imagery come from?

    Terence Nance: I started with my main objective and place the pieces from there. I was trying to illustrate experiences that were to me un-filmable; things like dreams, and thoughts that go through my mind when reading a letter, or my adolescent years. These images were in the writing, in the text of the script and I created a piece of concept art to guide the aesthetic for each section. I wanted each to be visually distinct because the film is constructed from episodes that are told from a variety of perspectives and jump around in time and space.

    VIMOOZ: The movie is described by the narrator as a two in one of sorts, aptly announced as How Would You Feel being interrupted by Oversimplification Of Her Beauty; were you ever concerned that the message of each individual piece would get lost in the other?

    Terence: I think that the two conjoining and “getting lost in each other” was actually kind of the desired effect. I wanted a kind of formal meta-textual film but I think that dynamic inherently breaks down on itself specifically under the weight of the sincerity of the emotions presented. The films are “different” but they are at their heart coming from the same emotional space of goddess worship and being in love.

    VIMOOZ: Relationships are a big theme in the film, with advice being given, forewarnings, and more. How much of your personal experiences were the subject of content?

    Terence: All of them the film is an attempt to very directly tell the story of my personal experiences without the use of symbol, allegory, or metaphor.

    VIMOOZ: I want to ask about your decision to make a film, and cast yourself as the main actor. Please explain

    Terence: I saw the film as a self-portrait and it felt most natural for me to perform as myself.

    VIMOOZ: What was the experience like working with two iconic individuals the caliber of Jay Z and Dream Hampton.  Were you a fan of their work beforehand?

    Terence: Big fan of both and highly honored that they championed my work. It’s hard for me to talk about it because I’m still sort of in disbelief – pinching myself and what-not.

    VIMOOZ: How did the collaborations come about? How hands on were they in the process of putting this film together?

    Terence: They both saw the film in the wake of our Sundance premiere so they came along to help elevate the films profile.

    VIMOOZ: We spoke earlier about the imagery and use of animation. The content and art can be described as very abstract in a sense; was that your goal, or did you want more of a literal comprehension on the part of the audience? 

    Terence: I wouldn’t dare say what I want the audience to “comprehend” but the animation illustrates emotions which are usually more abstract that representational.

    VIMOOZ: How long did it take to complete Oversimplification of her Beauty?

    Terence: 6 years

    VIMOOZ: When did you realize that you had a passion for videography?

    Terence: I don’t. I’m more into the idea of art making and culture building in the abstract.

     VIMOOZ: Self-Taught, or institution educated?

    Terence: Both! I’m a notorious autodidact but I did go to art school.

    VIMOOZ: What are your 3 favorite movies and why?

    Terence: I don’t have actual favorite movies, but Coming to America is dope because of Semi’s accent; Barry Lyndon has always appealed to me because of the NASA lenses and I recently saw an amazing French film by a really dynamic director, boxer, Author called Rengaine. Maybe my current favorite film is THE LAST CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH

    VIMOOZ: Who were your Directorial influences ?

    Terence: Both Spikes, Kubrick, PTA, Wes, Kahlil Joseph, Charlie Kaufman, Julie Dash, Jeunet, Bergman, Lynch, Charles Burnett, Terrence Malick, Terrence Malik, and Terrence what’s his last name? Malick.

    VIMOOZ: Tell us some of the factors in settling on Namik Minter as co-star?

    Terence: I’m in love with her soooooooo.

    VIMOOZ: Why did you choose to go the route of narration, versus pure character based dialogue?

    Terrence: Didn’t make a conscious decision, impulse is the way to go when making art. I like drawing and most interesting things happen in the head and heart not the voice box.

    http://youtu.be/ycC3sKweQyc

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  • 47 Students Selected As Finalists for Student Academy Awards

    There is the Academy Awards, and there is the Student Academy Awards, all supported by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level; past winners include John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee. This year thirty-eight students from 17 U.S. colleges and universities as well as nine students from foreign universities have been selected as finalists in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Student Academy Awards competition. 

    The finalists are (listed alphabetically by film title):

    Alternative
    “Beyond the Spheres,” Meghdad Asadi Lari, Rochester Institute of Technology
    “Bottled Up,” Rafael Cortina, Occidental College
    “Bye Hyungjik,” Hyungjik Lee, Florida State University
    “The Compositor,” John Mattiuzzi, School of Visual Arts
    “File Not Found,” Maria Sequeira, University of Southern California
    “The Pirate of Love,” Sara Gunnarsdottir, California Institute of the Arts
    “Zug,” Perry Janes, University of Michigan

    Animation
    “Couch & Potatoes,” Chris Lam and Eunsoo Jeong, San Jose State University
    “Dia de los Muertos,” Lindsey St. Pierre and Ashley Graham, Ringling College of Art and Design
    “Drifters,” Ethan Clarke, California Institute of the Arts
    “Make a Wish,” Heejin Kim, School of Visual Arts
    “Peck Pocketed,” Kevin Herron, Ringling College of Art and Design
    “Runaway,” Emily Buchanan and Esther Parobek, Ringling College of Art and Design
    “Still I Breathe,” Sang Ho Lee, School of Visual Arts
    “Watercolors,” Robert Kornstein, New York University
    “Will,” Eusong Lee, California Institute of the Arts

    Documentary
    “The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist,” Mark Columbus, University of California, Los Angeles
    “Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists,” Rachel Loube, School of Visual Arts
    “Everybody’s Business,” Laura Green, Stanford University
    “Graceland Girls,” Jordan Theresa Salvatoriello, Emerson College
    “A Second Chance,” David Aristizabal, University of Southern California
    “Through the Fire,” Eunice Lau, New York University
    “Vultures of Tibet,” Russell O. Bush, University of Texas at Austin
    “Win or Lose,” Daniel Koehler, Elon University
    “Wonder Workshop,” Amitabh Joshi and Erik Spink, School of Visual Arts

    Narrative
    “Caught,” Bruce Li, New York University
    “Cootie Contagion,” Joshua Smooha, Florida State University
    “Footsteps,” Thomas (Hyungkyun) Kim, New York University
    “Josephine and the Roach,” Jonathan Langager, University of Southern California
    “Kalifornija,” Tomas Vengris, American Film Institute
    “The Midwife’s Husband,” Deja Bernhardt, University of Texas at Austin
    “Ol’ Daddy,” Brian Schwarz, University of Texas at Austin
    “Samnang,” Asaph Polonsky, American Film Institute
    “Un Mundo para Raúl (A World for Raúl),” Mauro Mueller, Columbia University

    Foreign Film
    “Erbgut (Liquidation),” Matthias Zuder, Hamburg Media School, Germany
    “För Sverige i Tiden (King of Sweden),” Jonas Westbom, Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts, Sweden
    “Kanyekanye,” Miklas Manneke, AFDA The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and 
    Live Performance, South Africa
    “The Library of Burned Books,” Alasdair Beckett-King, London Film School, United Kingdom
    “Miss Todd,” Kristina Yee, National Film and Television School, United Kingdom
    “MO,” Jakub Kouril, FAMU, Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic
    “Parvaneh,”Talkhon Hamzavi, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
    “To Guard a Mountain,” Izer Aliu, The Norwegian Filmschool, Norway
    “Tweesprong (Crossroads),” Wouter Bouvijn, Rits School of Arts, Erasmus College Brussels, Belgium

    The 40th Student Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

    image: credit: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

    39th Annual Student Academy Awards Winners

    Front row (left to right): Amanda Tasse, Ellen Tripler, Heather Burky, Mark Raso, Thomas Stuber and Justin Tipping.

    Back row (left to right): David Wolter, David Winstone Elmar Imanov, Keiko Wright, Eric Prah, Ryan Prows and Mark Nelson.

     

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  • Political Energy Satire Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle Gets A Release Date

    “Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle” described as a “political/energy satire ” has a theatrical release date – the film will open in New York City at Lincoln Center Cinemas on Friday, May 17th, 2013.

    “Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle,” five years in the making, is further described as the surreal, fascinating, tragicomic tale of the battle over America’s largest clean energy project. When energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon first proposed putting 130 wind turbines in fabled Nantucket Sound, he had no idea that a firestorm would erupt. Cape Spin! tells the incredible tale of how America’s first proposed offshore wind farm triggered a schism in this idyllic coastal region, pitting neighbor against neighbor and environmentalist against environmentalist.  Revealing the root causes of their furor, the filmmakers enjoyed unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the key players on both sides of the controversy. The tale frames the battle over Nantucket Sound as a microcosm of America’s struggle towards energy sustainability. After 10 years, $70 million and 8,000 pages of analysis the Federal Government approved the wind farm project on April 28, 2010. 

    http://youtu.be/RfboOuuml3Y

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  • Tribeca Film Institute Announces Winners of 10th Annual Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Awards

    The narrative The Lobbyists and the documentary (T)ERROR  were tonight announced the winners of the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) 10th Annual Tribeca All Access (TAA) Creative Promise Awards.  Each project received $10,000 to help bring their films to completion.  The Institute also announced this year’s TAA alumni grants and fellowships during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. The grants, all presented at tonight’s event, total over $90,000 in funds. 

    This year’s Tribeca All Access Creative Promise winners were:

    Narrative Award Winner:
    The Lobbyists
    A conman with no past and a former CIA agent join forces to “lobby” politicians by blackmailing them into voting for progressive legislation.
    Directed by Terence Nance; Produced by Chanelle Pearson and Andrew Corkin

    Documentary Award Winner: 
    (T)ERROR
    (T)ERROR captures the spectacular unraveling of an active FBI counterterrorism sting operation, and the dramatic aftermath that occurs when the target of the investigation realizes that a government informant is setting him up.
    Directed & Produced by Lyric R Cabral and David F Sutcliffe

    Special Jury Mention (Documentary):
    Time is Illmatic
    Time Is Illmatic is a feature length documentary film, told through the lens of rapper NAS and his bluesman father OLU DARA, which deconstructs
    Nas’ indelible rap album Illmatic and the socio-economic and cultural conditions that inspired it.
    Directed and Produced by One9; Produced by Erik Parker

    TAA’s programming and support for alumni this year included grants and fellowships for past TAA projects in development or new works by program alumni. The following grant recipients were announced:

    TAA Alumni Documentary Grants

    Turn it Around
    Despite the odds being stacked against them, Joe, Deprece, and Sergio undertake the arduous process of becoming classroom teachers with grace and courage by enrolling in an ambitious experiment in public education in California. Hoping to revitalize a system and a society that has only ever failed them, Joe, Deprece, and Sergio seek to break the cycle of high teacher turnover and outsider teachers in their communities’ schools.
    Produced and Directed by Dawn Valadez; Produced by Katherine Saviskas

    Untitled Colorado Documentary
    The film follows a landmark case in Colorado, where a 6-year-old male-to-female transgender girl is banned from using the girls’ bathroom at her elementary school.
    Produced and Directed by Eric Juhola; Produced by Jeremy and Randy Stulberg; Edited by Jeremy Stulberg

    TAA Alumni Feature Narrative Awards

    A Pebble of Love in the Shoe of My Life
    An anti-coming of age drama about a young couple figuring out love and loyalty as they organize a rally in support of immigrant rights.
    Written and Directed by Hossein Keshavarz; Produced by Chad Burris

    Untitled Colombia Project
    A story following three women whose interlocking stories shed light on the horrific reality of sexual assault in the context of Colombia’s decades long armed conflict.
    Written and Directed by Paola Mendoza; Written by Gloria La Morte; Produced by Joseph La Morte and Liz Manne

    TAA On-Track Grants
    Grants to further assist TAA alumni with the completion of their past TAA project or further the development of a new work-in-progress.

    Evolution of a Criminal (Documentary)
    Ten years after robbing a Bank of America, filmmaker Darius Monroe returns home to examine how his actions affected the lives of family, friends… and victims.
    Directed by Darius Clark Monroe; Produced by Jen Gatien; Executive Produced by Spike Lee

    Los Valientes (Narrative)
    Struggling to find work and recover from a break-up, Felix, a gay and undocumented Mexican, leaves San Francisco for a small town in Pennsylvania where his undocumented sister promises steady work and the comfort of family.  Once there, alienated by the town’s newly proposed anti-immigration law and forced into silence around his sexuality, Felix finds unexpected solace in the company of one person, his sister’s husband.
    Directed and written by Aurora Guerrero

    TAA Adrienne Shelly Foundation Filmmaker Grant
    A grant to aid in the advancement of talented women filmmakers to further their projects towards completion or distribution.

    Afia Nathaniel – Director/Writer/Producer
    Dukhtar (based on her TAA screenplay formerly “Neither the Veil nor the Four Walls”)
    A mother goes on an extraordinary journey to save her ten year old daughter from an arranged marriage.

    TAA Marketing & Web Fellowship
    A collaboration between TAA and Push Creative, a full service branding agency, to encourage audience development – including a newly-designed website.

    Oscar’s Comeback
    Through the lens of an annual mom-and-pop film festival in rural South Dakota –beleaguered amidst escalating racial and economic tensions — witness an 8-year behind-the-scenes chronicle of how worlds collide for a motley band of dreamers, as their dwindling all-white small-town champions their unsung black ‘native son’: early 1900s homesteader-turned-unlikely-film-pioneer, Oscar Micheaux — known to some as the “Godfather of Independent Cinema.”
    Directed and Produced by Lisa Collins and Mark Schwartzburt

    Tribeca Hacks TAA/Games 4 Change

    Tribeca Hacks Games 
    In partnership with Games 4 Change, TAA filmmakers will be selected to participate in a special game-design workshop during the Games for Change Festival in June as part of the Tribeca Hacks initiative.

    TAA Packaging the Pitch Grants
    Grants to support alumni who need assistance developing a visual-based pitch for their project (i.e. trailer, location shooting, sample scene).

    The Odyssey of Al Sharpton (Documentary)
    Al Sharpton tells his story and takes us on a journey through his colorful  life – and through that journey, the viewer experiences the shifting river of American race relations and how racial politics have transformed. 
    Produced and Directed by Yoruba Richen

    Hound Dog (Narrative)
    A 50’s heartthrob plays Russian Roulette, killing himself and the crossover dreams of R&B mogul Don Robey.  Police investigate the tragedy exposing adultery, betrayal, libel, larceny and other vices leaving the police and fans asking, “who killed Johnny Ace?”
    Written and Directed by Crayton Robey; Written and Produced by Letitia Guillory

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  • Newton’s Laws of Emotion Wins first ever Tribeca Film Institute Sloan Filmmaker Prize

    Newton’s Laws of Emotion was just announced as the winner of the first ever Tribeca Film Institute (TFI)Sloan Filmmaker Prize. The project will receive a $10,000 cash prize that will be used to help bring the film closer to completion. 

    Newton’s Laws of Emotion (Eugene Ramos, Screenwriter; Andeep Singh, Producer) follows a young Isaac Newton as he pursues the affections of a headstrong princess and seeks to uncover the principles of love using his new system of mathematics. However, his equations start to break down when her former lover enters the scene.

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  • GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY starring Penn Badgley to Open in NY and LA on May 3

    GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY, starring Penn Badgley of Gossip Girl, Imogen Poots and an Official Selection of 2012 Toronto Film Festival will open in New York and Los Angeles on May 3, 2013.  

    Directed by Daniel Algrant and co-starring Ben Rosenfeld, Frank Wood, GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY follows the journey of Jeff Buckley grappling with the legacy of his late musician father, Tim, leading up to and culminating with his legendary 1991 performance of his father’s songs”

    GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY is set in 1991, a young musician named Jeff Buckley (Penn Badgley, “Gossip Girl,” MARGIN CALL) rehearses for his public singing debut at a Brooklyn tribute concert for his father, the late folk singer Tim Buckley. Struggling with the legacy of a man he barely knew, Jeff finds solace in a relationship with an enigmatic young woman (Imogen Poots, 28 WEEKS LATER) working at the show. As they explore New York City, their adventures recall glimpses of Tim’s (Ben Rosenfield) own 60s heyday, as he drives cross-country with a girlfriend and finds himself on the verge of stardom. 

    Leading up to the now-legendary show that launched Jeff’s own brilliant career, Greetings from Tim Buckley is a poignant portrait of a father and son who were each among the most beloved singer/songwriters of their respective generations.

    http://youtu.be/yKPsVcZF-Ys

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  • Barbra Streisand Honored for Film Career with 40th Annual Chaplin Award

    Barbra Streisand attended the 40th Anniversary Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on April 22, 2013 in New York City where she was honored for her film career with the 40th annual Chaplin Award from the Film Society of Lincoln Center

     

    Actress Catherine Deneuve attends The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 40th Chaplin Award Gala supported by Grey Goose vodka at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center on April 22, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for GREY GOOSE)

    Liza Minnelli attends the 40th Anniversary Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on April 22, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic)

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  • REVIEW: KON-TIKI

    by Joseph Williamson

    Real, old fashioned adventurers are somewhat scarce in this day and age –  there may be scientific expeditions in Antarctica, but the romance of Henry Morton Stanley stomping through the Congo isn’t quite as attainable in 2013. Safaris and treks through the Amazon are all well and good, but truly uncharted and dangerous exploration is getting harder to manage in the decade of Google Maps. 

    Not so in 1947. Enter Thor Heyerdahl, intrepid ethnographer – a man with a big idea, but no publisher willing to take him on. Desperately seeking conclusive proof of his theory – that Polynesia was first settled by ancient South Americans – he decides to take the four and a half thousand mile voyage across the Pacific Ocean himself. Furthermore, for this demonstration to have any validity at all, it must be done in the exact manner of the original settlers: a balsa wood raft, a large wooden oar as a rudder, and constructed with simple rope in lieu of stronger materials. The only concession to modernity is a two way radio. 

    This is the premise of Kon Tiki –  if it wasn’t a true story, it would sound a little too contrived. It’s being billed as a family film – a good old fashioned adventure – and on this front, it shows up well enough. The sailing of the raft is of course where the action is, and it gets going quickly enough (i.e. as quickly as the necessary preamble allows). The cinematography is confident and satisfying  – shots demonstrating the scale of the ocean and its marine life in comparison to the tiny raft are done particularly well. 

    The cast also do a thoroughly professional job. Pal Sverre Hagen gives a strong performance in the lead role, showing Heyerdahl as a driven, intense man, obsessive steel blue eyes showing just a hint of insanity. The crew of Heyerdahls eponymous raft are given less of a chance to develop their characters – it is enough to know, perhaps, that they have volunteered for a borderline suicidal enterprise. 

    Kon Tiki is an enjoyable film – certainly family oriented, with a few moments of clunking familiarity that can be easily forgiven in this context. The film falls short as both an epic and a character portrait – but it is assured and polished filmmaking. And, given this reviewers ignorance of the original events – not to mention Heyerdahls 1951 Oscar winning documentary about his voyage – it is a welcome reminder that these kind of adventures did indeed take place, and that some had a happy ending. 

    RATING: 3 / 5 : See it …..  It’s Good  There really aren’t many better ways to describe Kon Tiki – and that is both a recommendation and a slight criticism.

    http://youtu.be/i1Xf3toxvXM

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  • Actor Pal Hagen, Directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Roenning, Harvey Weinstein Visit KON-TIKI Raft in New York

    Screenwriter Petter Skavlan, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company Harvey Weinstein, actor Pal Hagen, directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Roenning and the film subject’s grandson Olav Heyerdahl appear on the “Kon-Tiki” Raft for The Weinstein Company Movie “KON-TIKI” on April 22, 2013 in New York City. 

    KON-TIKI opens in theaters Friday, April 26th, 2013

    KON-TIKI is the story of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl who crossed the Pacific ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947, together with five men, to prove that South Americans back in pre-Columbian times could have crossed the sea and settle on Polynesian islands. After gathering financing for the trip with loans and donations, they set off on an epic 101 day-long journey across 4,300 miles, all while the world was watching. KON-TIKI tells about the origin of Heyerdahl’s idea and the events surrounding the group’s voyage.

    (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for The Weinstein Company)

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  • REVIEW: Flex is Kings

    by Morgan Davies

    Flex is Kings, a feature documentary by Deirdre Schoo and Michael Beach Nichols, is a charmer of a movie: slick, funny, compelling and awe-inspiring, it’s that rare documentary that manages to be interesting and thought-provoking without leaving its audience depressed.

    [caption id="attachment_3682" align="alignnone" width="550"]Jermaine -Flizzo- Clement[/caption]

    Flex is an urban dance movement that began in East New York, Brooklyn and has evolved into a kind of dance-off scene in the area organized by the Battlefest League. There aren’t really rules for what a dancer can and can’t do: performers rely on extreme coordination, contortions, and, often, a humorous rapport with their audience (the latter being the specialty of Flizzo, one of the film’s subjects). The scene is strongly evocative of boxing or wrestling: dancers perform in a ring, an MC riles them up before the “battle” begins, beautiful women hold up signs marking the round, and the spectators crowd around the ring, screaming bloody murder. Yet instead of beating each other up, these men are dancing. Artistic expression has trumped pointless violence (though it’s a pity that the movement couldn’t include more women – I can only remember one female dancer, onscreen for no more than a few seconds).

    [caption id="attachment_3683" align="alignnone" width="550"]Jonathan -Jay Donn- George[/caption]

    The central question of the film lies in the tension between the desire of nearly all the subjects to “make it” and their clear dedication to their neighborhood. Flex is a product of the streets, and its spontaneity is part of its charm, but in order to “make it” professionally – that is, in the dance world outside of the flex scene – dancers have to learn to rein in that spontaneity, and also adjust to a world dramatically different from the one they’re used to. Jay Dodd, the self-titled inventor of flex and another focus of the film, does manage this feat when a Cobble Hill dance company recruits him to play Pinocchio in a production. Dodd – who has gone on to have a successful dance career – adjusts quickly and successfully, but it’s quite a trip to cut between his rehearsals and his friend Flizzo practicing for Battlefest. They seem worlds apart. That’s the real melancholy of the film, which is otherwise so uplifting: in order to make it, you have to leave your home behind you.

    RATING: 4 / 5 : See it ……. It’s Very Good

    http://youtu.be/10fQVU98MwA

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