Father Geek here with Ms Moon Yun Choi latest report on the Maui Film Festival 2003. I just got in from a screening of Dreamwork's SINBAD... not Bad, very very beautiful and a nice adventure/love story. I've got some minor bones to pick with it, but that's true with almost everything. I went in expecting the worst and came out having had a really good time. KublaKhan (My Grandson) will love it, of that I am sure!Now, here's our Maui report received by traditional island Conch Trumpet relays(with the aid of computer sound enhancement of course)just minutes ago...
Moon Yun here turning in more reports about the Maui Film Festival 2003 and a couple of interviews …
Moon Yun here turning in more reports about the Maui Film Festival 2003 and a couple of interviews …
The Filipino film, “Small Voices,” made a lot of noise at MFF. In fact, the word around MFF is that it’s rare to see Filipino films that are shown widely in the festival circuit. This small film is one of the good Filipino films that have come along in probably ten years.
I got to talking with Ray Cuerdo, the film’s Co-Producer, about “Small Voices” after it screened at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Castle Theatre June 11. I couldn’t make it to the screening because it was playing at the same time as the festival’s opening film, “Alex & Emma.” But Cuerdo promised me a screener and I look forward to writing up a review about it.
AICN: I understand “Small Voices” was Philippine’s official entry for the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. Was it one of the films that got nominated?
Cuerdo: No, it wasn’t one of the top five films. But it became the best film of the Philippines in 2002. It swept all of the major film awards in the Philippines as well.
AICN: I heard that it’s rare to see Filipino films that are shown in the festival circuit. This is supposed to be one of the good Filipino films that have come along in ten years.
Cuerdo: That probably sounds about right. I don’t want to hype it but it’s been a very remarkable film. It’s remarkable in that it has really struck a chord among film festival audiences so far because it hasn’t really played commercially yet. We still haven’t released it to the general public yet and it’s already gotten so many awards and so many accolades in the film fest circuit starting with Toronto last year where we had our world premiere.
AICN: What’s it about?
Cuerdo: It’s a very simple story about a young school teacher (played by rising star Alessandra de Rossi) who’s fresh out of college. She gets assigned to teach elementary school in a poor remote village. She tries to make a difference with the children, the parents and the village. They live in an environment where there’s no hope for any type of economic improvement. There’s a cycle of poverty that exists. This teacher comes in to that environment and tries to break that cycle by trying to inspire the children and their parents to start to dream again. In the story, she tries to convince the children that ‘No, poverty is not an obstacle to your dreams. You can dream and get out of your situation.’ Their parents feel that you’re always going to be in poverty. Their parents would rather have them work in the farms rather than go to school. That’s how bad the poverty is in the provinces even un! til today in the Philippines. So it’s a very realistic portrayal of the rural areas of the Philippines.
AICN: It sounds like a bleak situation. How is the film represented?
Cuerdo: We represent the film in a hopeful way where through the school teacher provides hope and inspiration to the children in the story and to the audience. It’s being recognized as a heartwarming, uplifting and inspirational film. It’s a family film. No sex, no violence. [Laughs] The way she approaches the problem or the way she handles or tackles the issue of the cycle of poverty is through music.
AICN: You had an amazing reception last night.
Cuerdo: We’re fortunate to have been brought in by the MFF, by Barry Rivers [festival Founder and Director]. He’s a great guy. We were one of the opening night films. We had about 400 people, which was a large group for a small film like this. The audience was comprised of half Filipinos, half Caucasians. The response was tremendous.
AICN: Will people who aren’t able to make it to the festival be able to see the film in regular theatres?
Cuerdo: Our New York-based distributor is going to launch the film nationwide in September. It’s going to be played in the Art House film circuit.
I (Moon Yun) checked with Don Brown, owner of the Art House at Restaurant Row in Honolulu, and he said he plans to play the film August 8. Check your local movie guide listing. “Small Voices,” directed by Gil M. Portes, won the Audience Favorite Award at The Palm Springs Fest.
I also got to interview another very exciting filmmaker, Timothy Breitbach, who got to do some surfing on Maui after showing the chemically-charged “Dopamine.” Breitbach is a tall, funny guy with a life’s about having fun attitude. “Smile big, laugh hard” is his motto. Tim, who’s the co-producer/co-writer of the 80-minute feature, came to MFF with the film’s director Mark Decena to represent “Dopamine” which screened June 15. This independent feature premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival’s Dramatic Film Competition, where it won the $20,000 Alfred P. Sloane Feature Film Prize. I really wanted to see this film but it played on the last night of the festival, at the same time that my plane was taking off for Honolulu. However, I got to interview Breitbach about his film and his experience at MFF.
AICN: Tell me about the film and why you folks decided to make it.
Breitbach: The film asks the ultimate question: ‘Do we have any control over who we are attracted to or fall in love with?’ Dopamine is the neurotransmitter in the brain that is released during all kind of fun things like love, lust, heroin, coke, and so on.
AICN: How long did it take you folks to make the film?
Breitbach: We had the script at the Sundance Filmmaker's lab in the summer of 1998. It was a first draft. Then we proceeded to work on it and also run an ad agency called Asylum that we co-own. We started a film production company called Kontent Films in 2000. We started shooting late August 2002 and had an insane turnaround.
AICN: How was the MFF screening, in terms of audience attendance numbers and their reactions?
Breitbach: I'm not sure of the numbers. It seemed to be about 3/4 full. For a Sunday night, it was not bad. It was at the Digital Skydome (a cool, outdoor, under-the-stars Theater up on the rooftop of the Wailea Marriott.). Many folks we talked to said it was the best turnout at that venue of the week. We got a lot of very good comments back. The whole thing was a kick.
AICN: When will it play in theaters and/or be available in video stores?
Breitbach: We got picked up as part of the new Sundance Film Series. We are releasing in 10 markets in October. Very exciting.
AICN: In which markets?
Breitbach: The markets are as follows: NYC, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, LA, and Seattle.
AICN: Any links to trailers? Or a movie web site?
Breitbach: Head to www.sundancechannel.com , or our own site at www.dopaminethefilm.com .
AICN: And any other comments you'd like to add?
Breitbach: The film has great access points for anyone who has ever asked, ‘Why him, why her, or why now?’ The film and the topic stay with you for awhile.
AICN: What's your next project?
Breitbach: I'm currently working on two scripts; one is called “Hanging Chad.” It's a cool relationship drama set over 4 days, that I'm taking to the Sundance Producer's Lab and Mark is slated to direct. I’ve got another called “The Rhythm Method,” which is a late ‘70s period piece filled with a lot of sex and sinning. Very fun to write.
AICN: Catherine Hardwicke (director of “Thirteen” and avid surf enthusiast) told me you guys went surfing on Maui. How was that?
Breitbach: Awesome time. I had no [previous] plan to do it. Mark got up to go and I said, “Making a fool of me is betting than sitting here.” Boom, we went. Catherine is a surfer and she did great. Mark, who was a collegiate fencer at San Jose State, has great balance. We couldn't get him out of the ocean. I'm a b-baller. I wasn't too great but got up and rode a little bit. Kiva Rivers [son of Barry Rivers, Founder and Director of MFF] is a great guy. [Kiva took them surfing.] He and his family epitomize why going to MFF rules.
No offense to the filmmakers of “Camp,” but what I really wanted to see my last day at MFF was “Thirteen.” Just like “Dopamine,” it was playing at the same time as the last flight out of Maui to Honolulu. I just went to “Camp” because it was the only film on the schedule in which I could watch and catch my flight in time.
When I went into the theatre I had no idea what this film was going to be about. “Camp” turned out to be an entertaining, fun teen musical that was just the right kind of lighthearted, feel-good movie to end the festival with. Some of the kids in the movie had incredible singing performances. It was sort of like “Fame,” except at a summer camp for theatrical training.
The movie wasn’t as well-crafted as “Fame” and at times you felt like you were watching a high school or college theatre production. However, “Camp” was a crowd pleasure. It’s about a bunch of high school misfits who attend Camp Ovation, an upstate New York summer camp for theater students run by a washed-up playwright. This hilarious first film by writer/director Todd Graff screened at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Castle Theater June 15.
