Hey folks, Harry here... that chain smoking lunger of a crossbearer, Massawyrm is back with his final report on the amazing Win Femmer Film Fest!!! Everyone is covering TELLURIDE and prepping for TORONTO, while he's going where noone dares... discovering that which others will wish they had... Here's Massawyrm....
Hola all. Massawyrm here with the all too delayed final report for The Win Femme Film Fest happening right now...as you read this. I've seen some great stuff and I wish I could be there, but alas, I'm here, burning the midnight oil on more projects than I can count, praying for more than 24 hours in any given day. I've been sequestered here every night after work in the den of the Casa De La Wyrm, sifting through the various entries that came my way for this fest, trying to find some nuggets for your viewing pleasure. And here goes. Three films that came my way really stood out.
First and probably the one that most stuck with me was one I reported on several weeks back called "Freud's 2nd Law". There are images in this film that just won't leave me alone. It's controversial, strange and makes you feel dirty all over, and as I said before, many people will not like this film. But its ballsy, daring film making the likes of which you can only see in an indie film. This is one I will caution heavily on only to follow up with a hearty Don't Miss This So You Can Make Up Your Own Mind. You can find my full review here CLICK HERE
Next is a film that I really feel is very special for several reasons. It's a little film with a lot of heart called "What Matters Most". Now this is one of those films that will play well to the crowd who dug "Dancer, Texas Population 81". It's a slice of life, west Texas Americana piece about a young couple in love having to face opposition from family and social standing. But what's really important about this film is that it is both the first and last effort by writer/director Jane Cusamano. Just one month after the completion of this film, Jane succumbed to breast cancer. Now this was something that struck me very hard, not because I knew Jane Cusamano (I didn't) but because included with the film came two documentaries on the making of the film. One very positive one showing her fight and struggle with the cancer, ultimately ending on the note that she would beat it and one cut from the same footage after her passing.
You see, there are legions of us out here, struggling every day trying to make it in the industry. Writers, directors, actors and tradesman of all kinds giving everything they have trying to succeed in a business of dreams. But no matter what pratfalls set us back, no matter what obstacles force us to bang our heads against the wall until they're bloody, no matter who gets there just ahead of us we always have hope; this far distant dream that we will make a movie one day, or make a successful movie one day and on and on. Hope exists, because we know there is a tomorrow. We plan on it, count on it. And for many of us it will be there. Jane Cusamano knew there might not be a tomorrow, so she set out to live her dream. She wrote and directed a self financed film and saw it to completion. She fought every day of the arduous shoot to live the dream. And she did. She finished her film.
Now her husband (who produced the film) is helping to complete her dream, taking the film around to festivals and special screenings to share Jane's vision with the world, all the while using the screenings to help raise awareness about breast cancer.
Alas, "What Matters Most" isn't amazingly marketable. It's an independent film that isn't edgy or daring, nor does it sport any big name talent. It's a small, adorable film, with a great cast of character actors that even someone like myself who spends a considerable amount of time paying attention to small roles and background actors found it hard to identify just where I'd seen them before (and this ranges from actors who appeared in "Armageddon" all the way down to my vote for worst film released last year "Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman" (One side note, the actress in question who appeared in that travesty of direct to video exploitation, Shonda Farr, redeems herself completely here, absolutely stealing almost every scene she appeared in, particularly those towards the end of the film)). But what this films lacks in being gritty or cutting edge it totally makes up for with solid acting, a great setting, and as I said before, alot of heart.
Check this one out at the fest if you're attending, or, as I have been informed, "What Matters Most" will be playing in several cities around the country with single night engagements. When I get the dates, I'll let you folks elsewhere in the country know where you can find it.
And finally, wrapping up my coverage, is a wonderfully acted little film called "Baby Luv", a strange play-made-into-a-movie about a completely dysfunctional woman who is both a devout Catholic and a promiscuous slut. This leads to her constant state of pregnancy as throughout the film (which follows the course of a couple years) she is almost never without child. This film has some of the most endearing, demented characters I've seen in film in quite some time. And not a single actor falters in their role. Each performance is pure gold, particularly that of Mariam Parris, who just lights up the screen with her frenetic, amazingly real performance of the bi-polar baby factory known as Lee Ann.
This films only short coming is that it really feels like a play and is never quite cinematic enough to tear you away from that feeling that that's exactly what you're watching. The dialog is rapid fire and heavy on the poetics and the scenes all feel confined as if to a stage, but that's a play for you. And I love plays. And this is an excellent one, set to film and laid out for you to drink heartily upon and indulge in the subtlety of each character as they are all beautifully fleshed out before you. This is another film I strongly urge that you do not miss.
Find out more about Win Femme and the when and where of all these great screenings here WinFemme
Well, until next time friends, smoke 'em if ya got 'em. I know I will.
