Co-Writers/Co-Directors Neal Kelley & Jono Sherman talked with our Gadi Elkon about their feature film DADDY.
Menemsha Acquires North American Rights to THE STORY OF ANNETTE ZELMAN
Menemsha Films is proud to announce that it has acquired North American rights to the film “The Story of Annette Zelman” from France’s Film & Picture Distribution. The deal was negotiated by Neil Friedman of Menemsha Films and Marie-Laure Hebrand of Film & Picture Distribution.
This true-life “Romeo and Juliet”-esque tale takes place in 1940’s wartime France. Annette was Jewish. Jean was Catholic. They wanted to get married, but Jean’s parents were opposed. Annette Zelman was reported to the Gestapo by her fiancé’s father and was sent to Auschwitz.
A quintessential statement on love and romance, this riveting drama presents a story of extraordinary quality based on actual events recounted in the book Dénoncer les Juifs sous l’Occupation (Informing on Jews during the Occupation) by Laurent Joly.
In today’s world, the film has added resonance with the recent rise of anti-semitism.
Menemsha Films will launch the film on the North American film festival circuit, with the intention of releasing it in cinemas the first quarter of 2024.
Neil Friedman of Menemsha Films says “The film “The Story of Annette Zelman” is a true discovery in all its magnificence, highlighted by the captivating lead performance of young French actress Ilona Bachelier. The film is a heartfelt drama with true emotions that we are confident audiences will adore.”
Marie-Laure Hebrand of Film & Picture Distribution says: “In French, the appropriate expression is “coup de cœur”. The Menemsha team fell in love with our film “The Story of Annette Zelman.” This passion, along with their undeniable expertise in releasing arthouse films in North America, makes Menemsha the perfect distribution partner.”
Boston Underground Film Festival Announces Slate for 2023 Edition
Attention New England cinephiles: Spring festival season is nigh as the 23nd annual Boston Underground Film Festival returns to Harvard Square’s arthouse hub The Brattle Theatre with five days of vanguard cinemania from March 22nd through the 26th. This year’s lineup is stacked with fearsome folk horror, mendacious miscreants, harrowing horrors and hero/es/ines, godless god-complexes, eco-thrillers and chillers, sensational sci-fi, and all manner of midnight madness.
BUFF is beyond honored to host the World Premiere of Jeffrey A. Brown’s haunting, Massachusetts-based horror thriller The Unheard for a homecoming heroes’ welcome on Opening Night. Starring Lachlan Watson (Chucky, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), The Unheard follows a deaf young woman ensconced in a signal-to-noise mystery of dueling senses, realities, truths, identities, and possibly worlds. Brown (2019’s The Beach House) and local screenwriting legends Michael and Shawn Rassmussen (2019’s Crawl) will be in attendance for a post-screening conversation.
Fresh off its world premiere at Sundance, we are thrilled to bring the East Coast Premiere of Eddie Alcazar’s retro-sci-fi, singularly WTF masterpiece Divinity to the cineastes with different tastes at BUFF. Starring Stephen Dorff, Scott Bakula, Bella Thorne, and produced by Steven Soderbergh, this deranged, drug-addled, dystopian vision, where beauty and grotesquery abound, is 100% uncompromising underground cinema.
On the heels of its SXSW debut, writer/director Bomani J. Story’s The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster lands at BUFF for its East Coast Premiere. Teen science genius Vicaria (The Equalizer’s Laya DeLeon Hayes) plays god when she embarks on a quest to find the cure for death, a disease, she theorizes, versus an inevitability, whose destructive path of substance abuse, brutality, and violence has rended itself through her family and community. Breathing new life into Frankenstein’s monster, Story’s electric feature debut challenges conceptions of mortality and monstrosity through a Black lens.
BUFF is proud to present a double-dose of international folk horror starting with the East Coast Premiere of Tereza Nvotová’s nightmarish Nightsiren, which examines the chokehold grip of toxic patriarchal structures on a remote Slovakian village, where the pervasive fingers of superstition point to witches when two women dare to defy and disrupt the unnatural order. Then we’ll host the New England Premiere of sumptuous cinematic stunner Enys Men, which follows the sole inhabitant of a craggy Cornish island’s descent into madness. Set in the early 70s, British auteur Mark Jenkin returns to his coastal stomping grounds following The Volunteer (Mary Woodvine), a meticulous cataloger studying the growth cycles of rare wildflowers, whose increasingly terrifying experiences lead her to suspect that her surroundings are both sentient and sinister.
Confronting environmental horrors in a completely different way, Daniel Goldhaber’s high-stakes, heist-style thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline centers on a crew of young environmental activists and their mission to sabotage a Texas pipeline. With a dynamo ensemble cast—including Ariela Barer (Runaways), Lukas Gage (Euphoria), Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant), and Marcus Scribner (Black-ish)—How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a subversive and timely clarion to face the climate crisis.
Never lacking in pure absurdity, BUFF is delighted to present the New England Premiere of Quentin Dupieux’s French dark comedy/quasi-horror anthology/superhero sendup Smoking Causes Coughing, where candy-colored, lo-fi heroes (ala Power Rangers, but called the Tobacco Force) battle giant diabolical turtles and regale one another with lakeside scary stories on a bizarre team-building retreat. Next, we’ll be screening the New England Premiere of Kristoffer Borgli’s Scandinavian unromantic comedy Sick of Myself, which takes toxic relationships to the next level when narcissistic Signe attempts to derail her equally self-absorbed partner’s art career by way of Munchausenian extremes that are as cringe as they are unadmittedly relatable.
Delving into the real-life horrors of a uniquely toxic individual, Kiwi journalist David Farrier sets his lens on multi-hyphenate scammer Michael Organ, an extortionary, mercenary antique shop parking lot enforcer with a wild history of false identities and insane lawsuits at the center of stranger-than-fiction doc Mister Organ. DIY documentarian Ryan Worsley takes a deep dive into the history of culture jamming, plunderphonic prophets Negativland, crafting an experimental piece of media about media-about-media as unique and provocative as the band with her latest, Stand By for Failure: A Documentary About Negativland.
For something beautifully weird and otherworldly, BUFF presents the New England Premiere of Berlin-based visual artist Ann Oren’s sensuous debut Piaffe, which follows the story of Eva (The Untamed’s Simone Bucio), an introvert thrust into the role of foley artist to cover for her institutionalized sibling; when a horse’s tail starts growing from her body, she discovers the joys of foreplay…and horseplay. Equally allegorical and hypnotizing is Ryan Stevens Harris’ incredibly gorgeous Moon Garden, which follows a comatose child on a dark Gilliamesque odyssey back to consciousness.
BUFF’s 2023 program teems with themes of families in crisis (zeitgeist much?). Kirby McClure’s atmospheric debut Spaghetti Junction, which deftly blends elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and social realism in this tale of a Southern family grappling with life after a devastating loss, is a sterling example; BUFF is excited to host the film’s East Coast Premiere with McClure in attendance for a post-screening discussion. To close out the festival, BUFF is ecstatic to screen the New England Premiere of Belgian directing duo Adil & Bilall’s unforgettable, genre-smashing Rebel. Known for Bad Boys for Life and the recently shelved Batgirl, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s deeply personal, poignant, and bold melange of action, drama, and musical centers around a Muslim family caught in the crosshairs of jihadist radicalism. No description can truly encapsulate the mindblowing beauty and power of this modern masterpiece. A cinematic experience like no other.
We’ll also have our usual veritable bounty of shorts programming, celebrating the finest animation, transgressive horror, comedy, homegrown horror, and genre-inspired music videos.
New Israeli Series TANGLED ROOTS Premieres March 12th Exclusively on ChaiFlicks
Israeli documentary series Tangled Roots, which examines the historical roots behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, will stream exclusively on Jewish streaming service ChaiFlicks starting March 12, 2023.
Tangled Roots, which originally aired on Israel’s HOT network, reexamines the factors that sparked the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and traces how they shape the volatile situation in the region today — while bringing viewpoints from both Israeli and Palestinian scholars to the fore.
Each episode in the six part series dives into a different time period between the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1860 and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, reconstructing the moments that sparked the conflict and posing new questions as to its driving forces and future prospects.
Bill Weiner, Co-founder of ChaiFlicks said: “While the Israeli-Palestinian seemes as intractable today as ever, series like Tangled Roots help us reconsider how we got to where we are in the first place — and hopefully gain a new perspective for the future.”
CHAMPIONS – A Review by Cynthia Flores
CHAMPIONS – A Review by Cynthia Flores
Champions is the uplifting and often touching new comedy from Focus Features. It’s the American version of the 2018 award-winning and acclaimed Spanish language film Camperones.
In this film, we see a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach named Marcus (Woody Harrelson) sentenced to community service after several unruly incidents on and off the court. The judge tells him he must coach a Special Olympics basketball team called the Friends for his mandated time.
Marcus ended up in this situation because of his lack of people skills. That is genuinely showcased in his private life and his romantic relationships. A woman named Alex (Kaitlin Olson) he met on a dating app and never intended to see again is thrust back into the picture unexpectedly. Her little brother Johnny (Kevin Iannucci), who has Down Syndrome, is on his team. They are forced to interact with each other as civilly as possible. And yes, there is a natural attraction between the two.
Running the shoestring-budget, non-profit recreation center where Marcus works with the Friends team is Juilo (Cheech Marin). Julio is a guy who has devoted his life to running this league. And he is protective of his Friends’ team. He sees potential in this rough-around-the-edges coach that needs the team more than they need him.
As Marcus trains the team to bring them to a higher level of competition and a chance to go for gold at the matches, he learns to open up and understand that he needs to be as good at being a caring human being as he is good at the game of basketball.
Champions has a lot of good chemistry in it. There is a working chemistry between director Bobby Farrelly and Woody Harrelson, who last collaborated on Kingpins in 1996. The believable romantic chemistry between Marcus and Alex. And most importantly, the contagiously fun chemistry between the ten IDD actors – According to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, IDD stands for intellectually and developmentally disabled.
Many that were cast for the film not only had to act for the first time but also had to learn how to play basketball. The director’s son, A.B. Farrelly, was still in high school and worked with a group in the public high school called Hoop Heroes. It is similar to the Friends group in the film. So A.B. enjoyed working extensively with the ten actors hired to be the Friends team. Of his work on the film and with the team, A.B. said,
“It’s been fantastic,” he says. “You got to leave work every day with a tremendous amount of joy. A lot of our Disabled actors have been told their whole life what they can’t do, and to watch them every day be movie stars with Woody and Kaitlin was pretty cool. It reminded me that you should never let people tell you what you can or can’t do.”
The vibe of Champions reminded me of the PG-rated 1976 hit The Bad News Bears. However, Champions chose to go the off-color jokes route, which wasn’t needed. By throwing in some smutty jokes among the Friends team that often fell flat because of the stiff delivery, they missed the chance to make a film the whole family could enjoy. I think that is too bad. Because younger audiences would have given the film a bigger audience and need to see people with IDD on the big screen. Also, the smuttiness of the humor is not dirty enough to appeal to older teenage audiences that would consider it too tame. So it was a missed shot that just bounced off the rim.
I give Champions 3 stars. It’s a silly and fun movie that won’t win any awards but is full of heart and laughs. Also, I enjoyed seeing Woody Harrelson in another basketball movie. It’s been a while since he trod the floorboards in White Men Can’t Jump.
Directed by: Bobby Farrelly
Written by: Mark Rizzo, Javier Fresser, David Marquez
Rated: PG-13
Selig Rating: 3 Stars
Running Time: 2h 3min
Comedy/drama/Sport
Wide Release: In Theaters March 10th
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin, Matt Cook, Kevin Iannucci
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.
FANTASTIC FEST Announces Lisa Dreyer as Festival Director
Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest, the largest genre festival in the United States, is proud to announce the appointment of Lisa Dreyer as the full time Festival Director. In this role, Dreyer will be responsible for overseeing the creative direction and operations of the festival, which showcases the best in horror, fantasy, science fiction, and other boundary-pushing and groundbreaking genre films from around the world. She will also be expanding the festival’s yearly presence, with year-round programming of festival favorites at Alamo Drafthouse nationwide. The 18th edition of Fantastic Fest will take place in Austin, Texas, at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, from September 21-28, 2023.
Dreyer’s appointment comes at an exciting time for Fantastic Fest. During the Berlin International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest was voted to receive accreditation from the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), joining other FIAPF accredited world-class festivals like Cannes, Berlinale, Karlovy Vary, and Venice. Fantastic Fest will be the first US festival in several years to receive this prestigious designation.
Dreyer brings a wealth of experience and deep love and knowledge of genre film, having previously served as a Programmer on the Fantastic Fest team, and working on acquisitions for Drafthouse Films. She stepped into the Festival Director role in a contract capacity in 2022, leading the festival’s first full capacity in-person edition since 2019. 2022’s festival featured a special Lifetime Achievement award celebration for Park Chan-wook, honored guests like directors Martin McDonagh and David Bruckner, and the world premiere of horror smash hit SMILE, which became the 10th film to premiere at Fantastic Fest and go on to open to #1 at the US box office.
“To watch Lisa’s rapid rise from watching screeners just six years ago to now helming the festival has been fabulously exciting.” says Fantastic Fest founder Tim League. “At every turn, Lisa has shown true leadership and vision all while both preserving and growing the very strange heartbeat of this crazy beast. The rudder of Fantastic Fest is in fantastic hands.”
“I am unbelievably excited to continue my work as Festival Director, and expand Fantastic Fest’s footprint throughout the year” said Dreyer. “Fantastic Fest is the best week of the year for genre film lovers, and I am honored to be entrusted with building on its legacy and taking the festival to new heights, ensuring we stay one of the most innovative, eminent, and just plain fun fests for genre films in the world. With the huge recent box office successes of genre films like SMILE, Fantastic Fest is more relevant than ever, and I’m proud to continue our mission of supporting and expanding the appreciation of genre film.”
The theme of the 2023 festival will dive into the world of the 1980’s fascination with the occult, and guests can expect themed events from the wild decade that brought us Freddy Krueger, the heyday of heavy metal, and the Satanic Panic. As always, the festival will feature heavily anticipated world premieres, special guests, and unforgettable events. Dreyer and her team are already hard at work putting together an incredible line-up that will celebrate the past, present, and future of genre cinema.
Inaugural Library of Congress Film and Sound Festival Set to Gather Film Fans
The Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center announced today the inaugural Library of Congress Festival of Film and Sound, a new four-day film event celebrating the Library’s rich moving image and recorded sound collections. The festival will be held in association with AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and will take place June 15 to 18 at the American Film Institute’s historic theater in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The Library of Congress Festival of Film and Sound will bring together film lovers with authors, historians, Library of Congress archivists, curators and staff in a fun-filled weekend set to give attendees the opportunity to enjoy recently restored and rediscovered rare silent and sound films from the 1920s through the early 1950s in AFI Silver’s beautifully restored 1938 art deco theater. Featuring many titles currently unavailable on home media or streaming services, the festival will showcase restored archival 35mm prints from the collections of the Library of Congress and other preeminent archives, as well 4K digital presentations of new restorations and rarities. All silent films will feature live musical accompaniment. This will be the first film festival devoted to showcasing the national library’s film collections.
Alongside a robust slate of screenings, the festival will also include presentations, lectures and Q&As with experts in the field of film preservation and history. This year’s program will focus on different aspects of “Music and Sound,” the festival’s inaugural theme. Topics will include the use of sound effects for characterization or as a narrative device; telling stories using sound instead of dialogue; using music to support melodrama or comedy; and the dramatic use of silence.
Launching on the evening of Thursday, June 15, the Library of Congress Festival of Film and Sound will continue with three full days of programming, featuring screenings, speaker sessions with Q&As and additional festivities and surprises.
Festival passes are now available at AFI.com/Silver for $150. Passes grant admission to all festival programs taking place June 15-18, 2023.
“The Library of Congress looks forward to sharing these great films from the Library’s collection with audiences at our first Festival of Film and Sound,” said Festival Director David Pierce. “The combination of guest speakers, outstanding films and a program that explores all aspects of music and sound will be a memorable experience and a unique opportunity to learn more about the Library’s treasures.”
Todd Hitchcock, AFI Silver’s Director of Programming and Associate Director, noted the special collaboration between the Library and the American Film Institute.
“We couldn’t be more excited about collaborating with the Library of Congress to bring this special event to the AFI Silver Theatre,” Hitchcock said. “We are honored to showcase the vital restoration and preservation work done by the Library and other archives.”
Some festival highlights presented in archival 35mm prints will include:
“So’s Your Old Man” (1926) stars W.C. Fields as a small-town businessman who invents an unbreakable car windshield. This hilarious film confirms that Fields could be a star comedian even without his unique voice. The film was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2008.
“Submarine” (1928). Before his famous comedies, Frank Capra directed action films, including this love triangle set against a Navy background, where a potential disaster places duty over loyalty. The director’s humanity is evident in every frame.
“All That Money Can Buy” (1941) is the story of a desperate farmer who sells his soul to the devil (played with glee by Walter Huston) and turns to famed congressman and orator Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) to get it back. A fantasy film about temptation and regret from German-born director William Dieterle featuring an Academy Award-winning score by Bernard Herrmann.
“Craig’s Wife” (1936). Pioneering woman director Dorothy Arzner made one of her finest films based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a strong-willed woman whose focus on control over her family leads her to risk everything she holds dear. Rosalind Russell brilliantly portrays the title role.
“Memory Lane” (1926) is a poignant story of missed opportunities from master director John M. Stahl. This beautifully acted story of youthful romance coming up against real world practicalities provides a showcase for actress Eleanor Boardman as she has to choose between rival suitors and live with her decision.
“Frenchman’s Creek” (1944) stars Joan Fontaine in this rarely shown Technicolor adventure from top director Mitchell Leisen. Daphne du Maurier’s bestseller follows noblewoman Joan Fontaine, on the run from her husband, who encounters a romantic French pirate, portrayed by Mexican actor Arturo de Córdova. (4K DCP)
“Call Her Savage” (1932). Iconic “It girl” Clara Bow left the 1920s behind with this torrid story about a debutante turned wild woman. Mexican-born actor Gilbert Roland also stars. One of the raciest movies ever to come out of Hollywood, this lurid film is filled with melodrama and debauchery and is one of the definitive “pre-Code films” that later led to censorship of American movies.
“Dark Manhattan” (1937). Charismatic leading man Ralph Cooper also co-produced this ambitious all-Black film about a ruthless gangster’s rise in the numbers racket. Renowned Black actor Clarence Brooks plays the mob boss he pushes aside. (DCP)
“The Lady” (1925) has been unseen in complete form until its recent restoration by the Library of Congress and is a major rediscovery of director Frank Borzage and star Norma Talmadge. (4K DCP)
“Spring Parade” (1940) stars box office sensation Deanna Durbin as a farm girl visiting a romanticized pre-World War I Vienna in search of her dreams. This delightful musical features a wonderful supporting cast of Hollywood’s best character actors, including Mischa Auer, S.Z. Sakall and Franklin Pangborn.
“The Iron Mask” (1929). Douglas Fairbanks Sr.’s farewell to the silent screen was this rollicking and bittersweet swashbuckling action film, the sequel to his hit “The Three Musketeers” (1921). This seldom shown fully restored version includes all three spoken sequences and the original symphonic score.
“State Secret” (1950) is a noir thriller from Hitchcock’s screenwriters Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat with a Cold War twist. Doctor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is brought to an Eastern European dictatorship and goes on the run from commissar Jack Hawkins when he learns a secret that could bring down the government. He teams up with showgirl Glynis Johns and menacing gangster Herbert Lom before being trapped with no way out.
Many more films will be announced later, including comedy shorts, Hollywood Home Movies, a Juneteenth program and a rare Spanish-language feature produced in Hollywood.
The first announced featured speakers include:
María Elena de las Carreras is a Fulbright scholar and film critic from Argentina. She has a Ph.D. in film and television studies from UCLA. She is the editor with Jan-Christopher Horak of “Hollywood Goes Latin” (2019). De las Carreras is a lecturer in film history and esthetics at California State University, Northridge. Since 2014, she has conducted research and interviews for the Visual History Program of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. De las Carreras is a regular collaborator of the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles.
Tracey Goessel – author of the acclaimed biography “The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks” (2015). She founded the Los Angeles–based Film Preservation Society in 2014 and leads a multi-archive project to digitally preserve and restore the Biograph films of D.W. Griffith.
Jon Mirsalis – a scientist, film historian and silent film accompanist who has been creating silent film scores for over 40 years. He has performed at many venues throughout the U.S. including the George Eastman House, the Library of Congress, the Castro Theater in San Francisco, the Cleveland Cinematheque, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Pacific Film Archive.
Steven C. Smith – an award-winning author and four-time Emmy-nominated documentarian. His books include “A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann” and “Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer.” Steven has produced over 200 documentaries on the arts for such networks as TCM, History Channel, A&E and National Geographic.
David Stenn – his writing-producing credits for television span from “Hill Street Blues” to “Boardwalk Empire” and also include “21 Jump Street,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “The L Word.” Stenn’s first biography, “Clara Bow: Runnin’ Wild,” became a national bestseller. It was followed by “Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow,” cited by the New York Times as one of the year’s notable books.
Additional screenings, speakers and the full festival schedule will be announced soon at loc.gov/film-sound-festival.
To buy festival passes visit: AFI.com/Silver.
Israeli PM Netanyahu Eulogizes The Late Haim Topol
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning:
“My wife Sara and I, like all Israeli citizens, with deep sorrow, are saying farewell to our dear and beloved Haim Topol, who was one of the State of Israel’s greatest artists.
He greatly loved the land of Israel, and the people of Israel loved him in return.
Topol was a multi-faceted artist, with great charisma and energy. He proudly represented Israel around the world and received international recognition of a kind that few have received.
His plays and films were extraordinary experiences. Thanks to his broad smile, warm voice and unique sense of humor, he was a popular figure who conquered the heart of the people.
Topol had a huge heart. He fervently supported the justice of Israel’s path and enthusiastically believed in the Zionist vision.
He expressed these views openly, around the world. At the same time, Topol helped sick and special needs children, out of the deep desire to contribute to the resilience of Israeli society.
Eight years ago, I had the privilege of awarding Topol the Israel Prize. I told him how proud of him we all were. Whether he was playing Salah Shabati, Tevye the milkman or Milos Columbo alongside James Bond. Topol remained modest and loved people.
Sadly, the fiddler on the roof is no longer with us. The strings of the fiddle have fallen silent. The story of Haim Topol’s life has been sealed but I am certain that his contribution to Israeli culture will live on for generations.
Sara and I convey our sincere condolences to his family.
May his memory be blessed.”
PALM TREES AND POWER LINES – A Review by Cynthia Flores
PALM TREES AND POWER LINES – A Review by Cynthia Flores
These kinds of edgy films will not appeal to a mass audience. It’s not flashy or driven by a slick soundtrack. But it is the perfect film for anyone raising young girls these days. Parents need to see this film to start conversing with their daughters about what to avoid.
Palm Trees and Power Lines has won film festival awards, such as Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay, for its creator Jamie Dack. Also, Best Lead and Supporting Performances for its star Lilly McInery and co-star Jonathan Tucker. That is not bad, considering it started as a short film of the same name.
The film tells the story of seventeen-year-old Lea (Lily McInerny). She spends her summer break aimlessly tanning in her backyard with her best friend Amber (Quinn Frankel). Lea is more thoughtful and less developed than the voluptuous tomboy Amber. However, both like to hang out, get stoned, and drink with a group of boys from school. Unfortunately, her mother, Sandra (Gretchen Mol), has no idea that Lea is drinking, getting high, and having casual, meaningless sex with one of the boys she hangs out with.
The relationship between Sandra and her daughter Lea is pretty sad and, unfortunately, symptomatic of a busy single mom. However, Sandra doesn’t really abuse her. Instead, she swings between being super clingy when she’s between boyfriends and outright neglecting her gangly teen when she has someone to date and screws at home.
The drudgery of the summer is interrupted by a chance encounter with Tom (Jonathan Tucker). He’s a good-looking man twice her age. He promises an out to Lea’s boring teenage life. But as things progress between them, red flags about his life begin to surface. Lea, unfortunately, chooses to ignore them. Under Tom’s influence, Lea begins to see her mom as unfit and her friends as a waste of her time. Isolated from everyone around her, Lea discovers Tom’s true intentions and finds herself in a situation she could never have imagined.
Palm Trees and Power Lines is a slow-paced, marvelously acted study on adolescent vulnerability and how that can be exploited. In the published director’s statement, Jamie Dack said the following as to why she created this story-
“Any need can be used to control someone, whether it’s financial, emotional, or physical. My goal was to tell a singular story about how one girl finds herself in a destructive relationship with a man twice her age.”
She goes on to say,
“By telling this story in an intimate, naturalistic way, I believe that many women will recognize themselves in at least part of Lea’s experience. It doesn’t require extraordinary circumstances to be exploited. I wanted to paint a picture of how easily even a marginally vulnerable person can fall prey to this type of abuse.”
I really enjoyed this film. It’s not easy to watch sometimes, but it is worth the discomfort it sometimes makes you feel. I think the cinematography of Chananun Chotrungroj works well with the pacing of this film. Even when the sun is shining, and the girls are tanning, the colors are muted, with giant power lines dotting the skyline. Also, what a treat to be the first to become a fan of Lily McInerny. She is an actress that was discovered while still in college. This film is her feature debut. And judging by her raw and superb job bringing her character Lea’s heartache to life. This won’t be the last time we see her on the big screen.
I give Palm Trees and Power Lines 4.5 stars. It’s a modern morality tale of how young girls can end up in places they don’t belong.
Directed by: Jamie Dack
Written by: Jamie Dack, Audrey Findlay
Rated: R
Selig Rating: 4.5 Stars
Running Time: 1hr 50min
Drama
Limited Release: Angelika Film Center & Cafe – Dallas
Starring: Lily McInerny, Gretchen Mol, Jonathan Tucker, Quinn Frankel
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.
RETURN TO SEOUL – A Review by Jenn Rohm
RETURN TO SEOUL – A Review by Jenn Rohm
Currently, with 19 nominations and 9 wins Return to Soul is making some buzz. This is the story of a young woman who was put up for adoption in South Korea and upon adoption was raised in France. She has come to Seoul in search of connections. The piece spans almost 10 years of her life and the audience watches choices being made. I am not a licensed therapist, and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn last night so I will not be giving my opinion on the choices.
One of the mind-bends for me is the use of at least three different languages, Korean, French, and a little English. Luckily, there are subtitles to be able to follow along. It helped provide a bit of understanding of what Freddie (Park Ji-min) was experiencing as at the start she does not know much, if any, Korean. So having others help translate into languages they were not always 100% confident in was a shared experience at that moment.
I am not sure if it was a style choice or a cultural choice, the pacing of the movie was very slow to me. While the run time is shy of two hours it felt much longer watching it. There were a few scenes that although beautifully shot, did not add much to the story for the time they were given. One is in her first few days in Korea, she is out with Tena (Giuka Han) and a guy she was seeing. After talking to the DJ, a song comes on and the lyrics give some insight into what she could be feeling at the moment. Her dancing for the whole song could have been just as powerful with one-fourth of the scene.
This movie is going to stick with me for a bit, and I already know I will have some “what if’s”, “why didn’t she”, and “what happened to” thoughts across the next few weeks. There is a reason this film is being nominated and winning awards and I am happy for all involved in the project that this is happening for them. I do give this 3.5 stars.
Director: Davy Chou
Cast: Park Ji-min, Oh Kwang-Ok, Guka Han,
MPAA Rating: R (brief drug use, nudity, and language)
Genres: Drama
Selig Rating: 3.5 stars.
Runtime: 1 h 55 m
Local Release Date: March 3, 2023
Local Release Locations: Angelika – both locations
Movie Site:
Trailer: Return to Seoul Trailer
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well there was nothing else . . .
1 Star – Total waste of time.