Fargo Film Festival Preview

By Greg Carlson
Staff Writer

With each passing year, the Fargo Film Festival continues to grow and evolve as the finest and largest independent movie celebration in the state of North Dakota. Longtime festival volunteers as well as regular attendees marvel at the depth and breadth of the work selected. Few would deny that the festival has really “grown up.” Led by the irrepressible Margie Bailly, whose recent retirement announcement lends the 2011 festival an air of the bittersweet, local cinephiles spend weeks poring over entries to choose the line-up for eight categories.

Festival programmer Emily Beck says, “The festival is an opportunity for Fargo-Moorhead movie lovers to see what lies beyond the staleness of the Hollywood assembly line and a chance to experience fresh, creative film-making driven by good old-fashioned creative passion. I feel honored to be a part of what brings these films to our community.

With programming that runs from Tuesday, March 1 through Saturday, March 5, the festival has programmed more than 75 movies, most of which you cannot see online, in theaters, or on DVD.

Additionally, the presence of several high-profile filmmakers and special guests makes the Fargo Film Festival feel like it belongs in a much, much bigger city. Doug Jones, whose remarkable talents and singular physique have landed him high-profile roles in the “Hellboy” movies as Abe Sapien, “Pan’s Labyrinth” as the title creature, the frightful Pale Man and others, and many other film and television projects, will appear in person on Thursday evening following the screening of two movies in which he performs.

Winnipeg’s beloved Guy Maddin, whose long list of features includes more than a handful of cult classics, will discuss his career with David Filipi, film/video director at the Wexner Center for the Arts and this year’s recipient of the Ted M. Larson award. Prior to the conversation, Maddin’s “The Heart of the World” and “Cowards Bend the Knee” will be screened. As filmmaker and Experimental category jury chair Raymond Rea says, “Mr. Maddin’s work has consistently brought a completely original and detailed voice and vision to the world of experimental film.”

Following Maddin’s conversation with David Filipi, Friday night will see the return of the 2-Minute Movie Contest, a festival staple brimming with very short works that range from the self-consciously and self-indulgently embarrassing to the extremely professional and polished. As word of the 2-Minute Movie Contest continues to spread beyond the region, entries have come in from several states and a handful of countries, including Iceland and Hungary. 

Animation

Animation juror and Documentary Feature chair Matt Olien says, “This year is the strongest Animation category ever, in my opinion.” Animation chair Richard Vaudrin, an obsessive animation fanatic, concurs: “We have five films that made the shortlist for this year’s Academy Awards, including category winner ‘The Silence Beneath the Bark,’ our pair of honorable mentions ‘The Gruffalo’ and ‘The Lost Thing,’ and ‘Urs’ and ‘Sensology.’  Both ‘The Gruffalo’ and ‘The Lost Thing’ are still in contention for this year’s Oscar for Best Animated Short Subject.”

With more than 25 animated selections to choose from, the animation category is impossible to describe comprehensively, but when pressed, Vaudrin enthusiastically rattles off a half dozen titles, including “Thought of You,” Ryan Woodward’s gorgeously rotoscoped dance set to “World Spins Madly On” by the Weepies, and “Sensology.” Vaudrin says, “for those jazz lovers like myself, “Sensology” is a must-see. It features the music of Paul Plimley and Barry Guy synesthetically visualized by animator Michael Gagne. If you’ve seen the Pixar film “Ratatouille,” then you’ve seen some of Michael’s work. He was hired to animate several of the taste visualization sequences in the film, all of which resulted from the early work he did on “Sensology.”

Documentary Feature

Veteran volunteer and frequent festival co-chair Olien touts the quality and strength of the documentary feature category: “Our winning film “Reel Injun” offers a well-produced look at how Native Americans have been portrayed in movies through history. The filmmakers interweave tons of great movie clips with interviews with Clint Eastwood, Jim Jarmusch, Adam Beach, Sacheen Littlefeather, and others.”

Olien also recommends honorable mention “Made in India,” which follows a Texas couple unable to conceive a child as they hire a surrogate mother in India to carry their baby to term. Olien says, “They do this in order to save money, but as you’ll see, it doesn’t really turn out that way. Ethical issues are raised in this finely produced portrait.”

The other documentary feature selections are “The Believers,” about a transgender church choir in California, “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone,” which profiles the L.A.-based 80s band that never quite made it big, and “Roll Out, Cowboy,” an entertaining biography of Cowboy rapper Chris Sand of Dunn Center, North Dakota.

Experimental

Experimental category chair Rea, whose own “Northern Pains: The Story of the Fargo-Moorhead Derby Girls” makes its festival debut as an invited movie, describes the roster of experimental offerings as a group of “engaging films and videos that either represented a formal experiment or presented non-fiction work in a non-traditional manner.”

Ray continues, “Category winner Thorsten Fleisch’s ‘Energie!’ is a rapidly pulsing and flickering homage to pure visuals, that is either strikingly beautiful or hard to watch – or both. In contrast, Silvia Turchin’s ‘131 Russ’ is an elegant and almost still examination of an abandoned factory. Erin Persley’s ‘Please Report Any Suspicious Activity’ takes on a filmmaker’s attempt to use an airport as a location post 9/11. There’s more, but you’ll have to come see it! Let your eyes and ears feast on these celebrations of sight and sound.”

Narrative Feature

Jury chair Karen Olson describes her category: “Narrative features tell stories. When everything works as it should, we lose ourselves in the make-believe world the filmmakers create. These movies draw us into the lives of fictional characters who intrigue, amuse, provoke, enchant or disarm us and make us ask, ‘What happens next?’”

The 2011 Fargo Film Festival showcases nine narrative features from four different countries (Canada, Northern Ireland, Russia and the United States). Olson notes that the “subject matter and style also range widely.

The top films in this category represent three different genres. Winner ‘I Will Remember’ is an elegant and moving Russian wartime drama told from the viewpoint of a 13-year-old boy. Honorable mention ‘Cup Cake’ is a romantic comedy from Northern Ireland. Funny, warm and filled with memorable characters, this is really a feel-good film. ‘Absentia,’ also an honorable mention, is a horror picture that will scare the figurative pants off you.”

Olson also urges viewers to make time for the other options in the narrative feature category: “Each of the other narrative features is also worth at least 90 minutes of your time. Two of them merit my special recommendation. ‘Earthwork’ stars the Academy Award-nominee John Hawkes as Stan Herd, a Kansas artist who creates outdoor earth works of art. ‘Yakuza’s Daughter Never Cries’ is a Russian comedy involving Japanese gangsters, Russian criminals, a little girl and plot elements that evoke Quentin Tarentino, martial arts action films and a bit of ‘The Godfather.’ It is laugh-out-loud funny.”

Narrative Short

Narrative Short chair Brittney Goodman guarantees a rich array of high-quality films that will be very appealing to audiences. She says, “Our category winner, ‘The Butterfly Circus’ is one of the most perfect little films I have seen in a long time - a heartwarming and family-friendly tale of a man without limbs and his lucky integration into a group of circus performers during Dust Bowl America. It has gorgeous cinematography and some outstanding performances, including Doug Jones, who you may know from roles in the ‘Hellboy’ movies and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth.’ I am so happy he will be attending the festival and speaking on Thursday, March 3.”

In addition to “The Butterfly Circus,” Goodman endorses several other shorts. She describes “The 3rd Letter” as “a stunning dystopian science fiction piece with a terrific performance by lead Rodrigo Lopresti” and “An Affair with Dolls” as a “delicately creepy one-woman piece with the mesmerizing Alexandra Chalupa delivering a riveting performance.” Goodman is certain that audiences will also find irony and humor in “Not Interested” and “Over Cards,” which “will make them wonder what dangerous ideas their significant others may be hiding.”

Always More in Store

In addition to the categories highlighted above, the Fargo Film Festival also features great student films, documentary shorts, and offerings in Indigenous Voices, a thematically rich division previously known as Native American Voices.

Goodman says, “The Fargo Film Festival is one of the reasons I love living in Fargo. The festival vibrates with the energy of downtown, and it also makes Broadway the place to be the first weekend of March. I particularly enjoy hearing the filmmakers and actors discuss their projects, the excellent food and fellowship at the pre-parties, and just getting lost for a few hours in the world of cinema. This is not a stuffy film festival. It is filled with warm, friendly volunteers, fun events, and it truly has something for everyone. The quality and variety of the selections at this year’s festival is impressive. You don’t want to miss it.”

Olson adds, “I adore the Fargo Film Festival and think that volunteering for it is the best job in the world. Second best is just attending.” Olson had the following advice with attendees, based on what she wishes she had done sooner:

::Go to as much as you can. Leave your comfort zone and check out films that look peculiar to you.

::Talk to the filmmakers. They come to festivals like ours because they like interacting with audience members.

::Talk to strangers. They’ll be friends when you see them again next year.

::Go to the luncheon discussions. Every one I’ve attended felt too short.

::Go to the parties. They are tasty and fun. When you’re there, talk to the filmmakers and talk to strangers.

Finally, Goodman reminds everyone not to overlook the Tuesday, March 1 kickoff: “I am looking forward to the opening night of the festival with ‘The Lutefisk Wars’ and ‘Roll Out, Cowboy.’  These films will appeal to a wide audience and the people involved in the films promise to have interesting stories. North Dakota lutefisk mafia? A truck-driving, rapping, cowboy? How can that not be fun?”

Contact the Fargo Theatre box office at 701.239.8385 for ticket packages or visit http://www.fargofilmfestival.org for more information.

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IF YOU GO:
What: 2011 Fargo Film Festival
Where: The festival takes place at a variety of locations in the Fargo-Moorhead community. The Fargo Theatre is the festival’s home base and provides the venue for the majority of screenings.
When: March 1 - 5
Info: 701.239.8385 for ticket packages or visit http://www.fargofilmfestival.org for more information