Cinequest, Silicon Valley’s own major film festival, returns live and in-person August 16. After two years of its online Cinejoy festivals, Cinequest is back in downtown San Jose, with screenings August 16-24 at the California, Theatre, Hammer Theater and 3Below. For August 25-29, the program moves to the Pruneyard in Campbell. (In 2023, the in-person Cinequest will return to its usual March time slot.)
Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn inLINOLEUM. Courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment.
Highlights of the 2022 Cinequest include
The opening night film Linoleum, including a personal appearance by its star Jim Gaffigan. Linoleum has created buzz as an especially thoughtful and heartfelt comedy.
New movies with Alison Brie, Alessandro Nivola, Aubrey Plaza, Molly Shannon, Corey Stoll, Fred Armisen, Bruce Campbell, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Richard Kind and Natascha McElhone.
See it here FIRST: Linoleum, Spin Me Round, The Allnighter and Trust are among the movies slated for theatrical release later this year.
Films from China, Korea and Vietnam, and I’ve already screened Cinequest features from Poland, Germany and Uruguay.
And, at Cinequest, it’s easy to meet the filmmakers.
As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) over thirty Cinequest films from around the world. Bookmark my CINEQUEST page, with links to all my coverage (links on the individual movies will start to go live on Sunday, August 14). Follow me on Twitter for the latest.
Tp honor Cinequest, now underway, here’s the best of the over thirty films that I reviewed at the 2019 Cinequest. The searing dystopian fable Buy Me a Gun takes place in an imaginary near future, in which Mexico’s conquest by narco cartels is so complete that all other institutions have collapsed.
Buy Me a Gun’s Mexico is a bandit society run by rival warlords and their fighters – a new feudal age with automatic weapons. It’s a world of cruelty, where all the mothers and teen daughters have been taken by the cartels as sex slaves. And it’s a surreal Mexico, desolate of people, the population having dwindled due to lack of women.
The cartel fighters spend essentially all of their time in four pursuits: the drug trade, raiding for women and girls, partying and playing baseball.
We meet one surviving man who is not in a cartel. Rogelio (Rogelio Sosa) has been imprisoned by a cartel to perform as the groundskeeper of the baseball field at their base. Rogelio is addicted to drugs, and he knows that his life is subject to the whim of any of the fighters at any moment, particularly the terrifying and gender-ambiguous cartel commander (Sostenes Rojas).
While Rogelio walks the tightrope of narco murderers, he is hiding a high stakes secret in plain sight. He has a 10-year-old daughter Huck (Mathilde Hernandez) who he is protecting from the fighters by pretending that she is a boy. If the cartel fighters discover his ruse, he will certainly be killed and his daughter will certainly become a sex slave. Because he can’t escape (and there is no place to escape TO), this is Rogelio’s best option, as harrowing as it is.
Rogelio Sosa and Mathilde Hernandez in BUY ME A GUN. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.
Huck is not the only child at the narco base – she has a pack of feral friends, some horribly disfigured from the environment of violence and the cartel’s cruelty.
While in the throes of his addiction, the groundskeeper is decent, resourceful and brave – devoted to his daughter in a hopeless situation. This is an extraordinary performance by Rogelio Sosa.
One childish mistake puts the dad and daughter in jeopardy. Will she escape the danger? Buy Me a Gun turns into a heart-pounding thriller.
Buy Me a Gun is written and directed by Julio Hernández Cordón, and it’s an impressive achievement, one of the most original films I’ve seen in this decade. One scene in particular, involving a trumpet and purple smoke to illustrate smoking drugs, is genius. Along with Huck, there are child characters that Hernández Cordón has named Tom and Sawyer.
The only crappy thing about Buy Me a Gun is its title, which would better fit a shallow crime movie than such a profound fable.
I screened Buy Me a Gun the 2019 Cinequest before its theatrical release in Mexico. At the 2020 Ariel awards (Mexico’s Oscars) , it garnered eight nominations including for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Sostenes Rojas. Buy Me a Gun is now is now streaming on Amazon, AppleTV, and YouTube
Photo caption: BEFORE THE FIRE. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.
To honor Cinequest, now underway, here’s the Must See from the 2020 festival; ironically, it’s a pandemic thriller which premiered at a film festival that was cut short by COVID. In the thriller Before the Fire, the only escape from an apocalyptic flu pandemic is a woman’s long-estranged rural hometown – but the scary family who traumatized her childhood is there, too. Written by its female star Jenna Lyng Adams, and the first feature by its female director Charlie Buhler, this indie thriller rocks.
Ava Boone (Adams) is a Hollywood actress who has found some success “pretending to be a vampire”, as she puts it, on a television series. As a killer flu sweeps America’s cities, her photojournalist husband (Jackson Davis) seeks to save her by tricking her into refuge with his family in their sparsely populated childhood hometown.
The problem is that growing up in a family ruled by her abusive father was deeply traumatizing. And it’s only a matter of time until her family finds out that she’s back.
As star and screenwriter Adams has said, “but what if the last place you wanted to go was the only place you could go?”
Veteran Charles Hubbell is excellent as the monstrous dad. The part is written to acknowledge that domestic abuse is about power and control – and not just physical abuse. This guy emanates physical brutality, but he is also a master manipulator.
To make things worse, the dad leads a militia of Deliverance-style yahoos, whose strategy to suppress the flu is to murder outsiders.
Ava was once – and is definitely no longer – a farm girl. For necessity’s sake, she begins repairing fences and doing the other hard, dirty and unglamorous work of the family farm run by her husband’s brother (Ryan Vigilant) and his mother (M.J. Karmi). Along the way, she physically hardens up and develops some skills with firearms.
Jenna Lyng Adams in BEFORE THE FIRE. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.
Unsurprisingly (since she wrote it), the role of Ava is a showcase for Jenna Lyng Adams (The Kominsky Files). When Ava first sees her father again, she’s terrified to her core, which tells us all we need from the back story. Adams’ performance is compelling and credible as Ava has to devise and execute her own survival plan. Adams is on-screen in almost every scene and carries the picture.
“Audiences are thirsty for unconventional, layered, and imperfect women on-screen,” said Adams. “I wanted our protagonist to find her strength by facing the darkest parts of her life in the darkest hours of the world. She reinvents herself over and over again to survive.”
“We fought to make this movie, because we felt that there was a very specific expectation about the types of stories women were able to tell,” says director Charlie Buhler. “Male directors shift between genres much more fluidly, and I think you can feel it in the types of stories that make it to the screen. But Jenna and I both love action, we both love sci-fi, so we wanted to make a female protagonist that we women could really rally behind.”
Indeed, women filmmakers shouldn’t be left to the high-falutin’ Message Pictures while the guys have all the fun with the genre movies.
BEFORE THE FIRE. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.
Before the Fire was filmed on location in South Dakota. Cinematographer Drew Bienemann (visual effects in Beasts of the Southern Wild) makes the barren wintry landscape work to illustrate the Ava’s isolation and vulnerability.
BEFORE THE FIRE. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.
I screened Before the Fire for its world premiere at Cinequest, You can stream it from Amazon, AppleTV. Vudu, YouTube and Showtime. Make sure that you have the Jenna Lng Adams film, not one of the other recent movies with the same title.
Photo caption: Michael James Kelly and Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber in Clinton Cornwell’s 12 MONTHS, world premiere at Cinequest. Courtesy of Cinequest.
Cinequest’s online festival CINEJOY begins on April 1 and runs through April 17. Here are my top picks:
MUST SEE
12 Months: This uncommonly authentic film traces the year-long span of a romance, using vignettes that are snapshots of the relationship’s evolution. Just like a real life relationship, 12 Months has moments that are playful and moments that are searing. 12 Months is entirely improvised by its director and its stars, who are extremely keen and perceptive observers of relationship behavior, and they don’t hit a single wrong note. It’s the Must See at this year’s Cinequest. World premiere.
INTERNATIONAL CINEMA
The Grand Bolero: Early in COVID’s devastating assault on Northern Italy, a middle-aged organ restorer is locked down in a centuries-old church; a salty curmudgeon, she cruelly resists the assistant forced upon her – a runaway young mute woman with no place else to shelter. But the young woman’s unexpected musical gift unlocks passion in the older woman. Passion evolves into obsession, propelling the story to an operatic finale. The Grand Bolero is the most visually beautiful film that I’ve seen in some time, and the music is powerfully evocative. It’s a remarkable first feature for director, co-writer and editor Gabriele Fabbro and his cinematographer Jessica La Malfa.
DOCUMENTARY
Tell Me a Memory is a simple, yet engrossing, LGBTQ+ oral history. One or two at a time, individuals from Memphis (did you know they call themselves Memphians?) tell their own stories. The subjects are impressively diverse – in age, gender, race and identity. Coming Out in the Bible Belt is a common thread. This is a gentle and emotionally powerful film.
AND TWO MORE
18 1/2 is the festival’s Opening Night film, a dark comedy that sends up the paranoid thriller genre. A low-level government clerical worker (an excellent Willa Fitzgerald) finds herself in possession of the infamous 18 1/2 minute gap in the Watergate Tapes. Of course, co-writers Daniel Moya and Dan Mirvish had to devise a way to get this MacGuffin in her hands; given the paranoia, deviousness and clumsiness of the Nixon White House, their solution is surprisingly plausible. Double crosses and red herrings escalate, as does the dark, dark humor. Richard Kind and Vondie Curtis-Hall sparkle in supporting roles.
Alpha Male, from Poland, is another dark comedy. A feckless young man has been dispatched by his girlfriend to a smoking cessation self-help group. Given the chaos of the community center, he ends up in the wrong room, among a men’s support group headed by a charismatic instructor. He hangs around anyway – and even returns – because this group has better food. The group focuses on their resentment of women, which seems silly and harmless at first, but descends into a paranoid fixation on an imagined organization of women seeking to emasculate them. Both the misogyny and their submissiveness to their bullying leader are taken to absurd levels.
This is the twelfth year that I’ve covered Cinequest, and, as usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. Bookmark my CINEQUEST 2022 page, with links to all my coverage (links on the individual movies will start to go live on Thursday, March 31st). Follow me on Twitter for the latest.
Photo caption: Michael James Kelly and Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber in 12 MONTHS. Courtesy of Cinequest.
The uncommonly authentic 12 Months traces the year-long span of a romance, using vignettes that are snapshots of the relationship’s evolution. Just like a real life relationship, 12 Months has moments that are playful and moments that are searing. It’s the Must See at this year’s Cinequest.
Ellie (Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber) and Clark (Michael James Kelly) share a first date, which leads to another, and things get serious. Both Ellie and Clark are decent, smart, sincere and vulnerable; each has quirks, but neither is a bundle of red flags. Each deserves to find a partner, and, so, are they a fit?
Directed by Clinton Cornwell in his feature debut, 12 Months is entirely improvised. Cornwell is credited for the story, Hirsch-Tauber as executive story editor and Kelly as contributing writer. 12 Months is an especially promising calling card for all three.
12 Months soars in recognizing that relationships are rarely symmetrical. The two people involved generally experience different levels of attraction, security, commitment, confidence, comfort and maturity – and at different times.
And 12 Months understands that what a relationship can survive isn’t always predictable, whether it be depression, a sexual proclivity or an out-of-town work assignment.
Clearly, Cornwell, Hirsch-Tauber and Kelly are extremely keen and perceptive observers of relationship behavior (whether from their own or those of others). They don’t hit a single wrong note in12 Months.
Clark’s and Ellie’s best pals are played, respectively, by Christopher Mychael Watson and Lindsey Rose Naves, and they are hilarious.
Movies like 12 Months are why we have film festivals. Cinequest hosts the world premiere of 12 Months, and you can stream it at Cinejoy. View the trailer.
Michael James Kelly and Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber in 12 MONTHS. Courtesy of Cinequest.
Photo caption: Lidia Vitale and Ludovica Mancini in Gabriele Fabbro’s THE GRAND BOLERO at Cinequest. Courtesy of Cinequest.
The Grand Bolero is set in winter 2020, early in COVID’s devastating assault on Northern Italy. Roxanne (Lidia Vitale), a middle-aged organ restorer, is locked down in a centuries-old church, along with her client Paolo (Marcelli Mariani). Lucia (Ludovica Mancini), a runaway young mute woman with no place else to shelter, arrives at the church. In an act of kindness, Paolo brings her into the church as an assistant to Roxanne. A salty curmudgeon, Roxanne cruelly resists, even when Palolo chides her, “you know what it’s like to be scared and alone.”
Indeed, Roxanne is a solitary person in a solitary profession, moving from church to church to repair the ancient organs.
But Lucia’s unexpected musical gift unlocks appreciation and then passion in the older woman. Passion evolves into obsession, propelling the story to an operatic finale.
Lidia Vitale and Ludovica Mancini in Gabriele Fabbro’s THE GRAND BOLERO at Cinequest. Courtesy of Cinequest.
The Grand Bolero is the most visually beautiful film that I’ve seen in some time. The interior scenes evoke the warmth of candlelight. The characters find relief from the lockdown in stroll through natural beauty characters find comfort in exteriors in the bright crispness of the northern Italian winter. It’s a remarkable first feature for director, co-writer and editor Gabriele Fabbro and his cinematographer Jessica La Malfa.
The all-absorbing power of organ music naturally complements a story of passion. Roxanne becomes transfixed as she watches Lucia’s bare shoulders heaving at the organ. The story climaxes as the dialogue is drowned out by an organ performance of Ravel’s Bolero.
The Grand Bolero is in competition for Best Narrative Feature at Cinequest and may be streamed through April 17 at Cinejoy.
Photo caption: Michael James Kelly and Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber in Clinton Cornwell’s 12 MONTHS, world premiere at Cinequest. Courtesy of Cinequest.
Make your plans now to stream from the 2022 Cinequest, Silicon Valley’s own major film festival. This year’s fest will again be online as Cinejoy, scheduled for April 1 through April 17. Cinequest is a significant showcase for independent film, documentaries and world cinema., and this year presents 132 Films and Television from 53 countries. The 2022 program includes features from Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Iceland, Serbia, the UK, Canada, Uruguay, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Jordan and Australia.
82 of the movies are world or US premieres – be in the FIRST AUDIENCE to see these films. You can stream the vast majority of the premiering films for the cost of an espresso drink. Here’s where you can peruse the program and buy your pass/tickets.
I’ve already screened almost ten Cinejoy films, and I’ll be posing my recommendations by the end of this week.
This is the twelfth year that I’ve covered Cinequest, and, as usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. Bookmark my CINEQUEST 2022page, with links to all my coverage (links on the individual movies will start to go live on Thursday, March 31st). Follow me on Twitter for the latest.
Lidia Vitale in Gabriele Fabbro’s THE GRAND BOLERO at Cinequest.
THE BOYS IN RED HATS. Photo courtesy of Shark Dog Films.
Remember the resulting frenzy when the Kentucky prep school boy at the Lincoln Memorial smirked at the indigenous tribal elder? Documentarian Jonathan Schroder is an alum of that very prep school – Covington Catholic or “CovCath”. In The Boys in Red Hats, his point of view shifts as he peels back the onion on what really happened. It comes down to insights into media, social media and, especially, White privilege.
Like most of us, Schroder was initially outraged at the boys; as more facts emerged, he became sympathetic to what seemed like mistreatment of the boys in social media. Don’t give up on this movie as a whitewash – as the story gets more complicated and Schroder becomes more reflective, his needle sways back and forth until the final payoff.
This was a Rorschach event at the Lincoln Memorial. One thing is for sure, these privileged kids and their chaperones, confronted by a crazy hate group (Black Hebrew Israelites), were unequipped to deal with a momentary convergence of disorder and diversity.
To put my own cards on the table, I am not disposed to sympathize with rich kids who were comfortable in being shipped to an anti-choice rally, wearing MAGA hats. In The Boys in Red Hats, the journalist Anne Branigan’s perspective most resonated with me.
Schroder gives plenty of rope to a professional conservative talking head, two CovCath dads and the school’s alumni director, none of whom display a modicum of sensitivity or empathy to those less rich, less white or less male than they.
Schroder sees the significance when one of his CovCath buddies says, “I like my bubble”.
I screened The Boys in Red Hats for its world premiere at Cinequest, and it made my Best of Cinequest 2021. The Boys in Red Hats releases in theaters and streaming on Virtual Cinema on July 16.
Photo caption: Charlie Tahan and Pineapple Tangaroa in DRUNK BUS. Photo courtesy of Filmrise.
In the light and appealing coming of age comedy Drunk Bus, a young slacker (Charlie Tahan) is paralyzed by the disappointment of a breakup. He’s stuck driving the shuttle between a college town’s bars and the dorms (the “Drunk Bus”). One running gag is that he is fixated upon an ex girlfriend that every other man in America would find insufferably frustrating.
He needs someone to shake him up, which is what he gets in the form of a 300-pound Samoan security guy with facial tattoos (Pineapple Tangaroa). It’s all sweet and predictable.
This is the first feature for co-directors John Carlucci and Brandon LaGanke.
I screened Drunk Bus, which had played at the 2020 SXSW, in March at the 2021 Cinequest. It’s now available to stream from Laemmle.
Filmmaker Jan Senko’s dad Frank in THE BRAINWASHING OF MY DAD
How the hell did we get here – a moment when millions of Americans believe stuff that demonstrably isn’t true – and have this misconceptions drive them into unrighteous rage? For insight, let’s look at the prescient 2016 documentary The Brainwashing of My Dad, which saw some of this nightmare coming.
In 2016, I wrote, “Ever notice how people who watch a lot of Fox News or listen to talk radio become bitter, angry and, most telling, fact-resistant?” Then I couldn’t imagine an assault on a the US Capitol by propaganda-intoxicated hillbilly barbarians. In The Brainwashing of My Dad, filmmaker Jan Senko explores how right-wing media impacts the mood and personality of its consumers as well as their political outlook. Senko uses her own father Frank as a case study.
We see Frank Senko become continually mad and, well, mean. And we hear testimony about many, many others with the identical experience. Experts explain the existence of a biological addiction to anger.
Senko traces the history of right-wing media from the mid-1960s, with the contributions of Lewis Powell, Richard Nixon, Rush Limbaugh, Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch. Senko even gets right-wing wordsmith Frank Luntz on camera to explain the power of buzz words. If you don’t know this story (Hillary was right about the “vast, right-wing conspiracy”) , Senko spins the tale very comprehensively. If you do know the material (and my day job is in politics), it is methodical.
This topic is usually explored for its impact on political opinion. Senko’s focus on mood and personality is original and The Brainwashing of My Dad contributes an important addition to the conversation. One last thing about the brainwashing of Senko’s dad – it may not be irreversible…
I first reviewed The Brainwashing of My Dad for its U.S. Premiere at Cinequest 2016. The Brainwashing of My Dad is available streaming on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
