A month before the 47th Ann Arbor Film Festival, students from 826michigan participated in a workshop titled "Throwing Popcorn: Become a Film Critic of the Ann Arbor Film Festival" co-taught by Donald Harrison, Executive Director of the AAFF, and Jeff Meyers, lead movie critic for the Metro Times.

Four films were selected for viewing and reviewing, following some samples and discussion about what it takes to write a worthwhile review of a film. The students didn't pull any punches (nor did they throw any popcorn) and their reviews are as follows:

Western Spaghetti - Pes
Snow, age 12: A different delight. Strange and simple, an animated film that is two minutes of pure enjoyment. It is funny how someone can turn the simple unnecessary thing in the day into the delicious part. Very witty and creative. However, I did not get the relation between candy corn and flame except for the colors. It is perfect to hold you over for the next meal of entertainment but if you are stuffed with comedy this may not be entertaining (in other words, it's funny, but not funny). As for me, it is a wonderful thing to watch on those long afternoons with nothing to do. Truly wonderful.

Kathleen, age 14: The title Western Spaghetti really sums up this film. It was simply making spaghetti for dinner, but the ingredients were not so simple. The pasta was really pick-up sticks. The boiling water was bubble wrap. There were so many inedible objects that were being cooked, or prepared as food. Yet the only edible object was the only thing that, in the movie, was not going to be eaten. It was the fire, which was candy corn. This short animated film was seemingly random, but if you think about it, so completely thought out as well. To me, it said that, if all simple everyday objects, hobbies, or events in our lives were chopped up and placed in a "pasta sauce" over spaghetti, what would it taste like? Would it be bitter, or sweet? Salty? Tangy? Do our everyday objects help us, hurt us, or make us? This movie really got me thinking, and if you are in the mood for a few moments of thoughtful contemplation, this is a film for you. On the whole, the one thing you can expect to get from this movie is questions. Many, many questions.

Cattle Call - Matthew Rankin & Mike Maryniuk
John, age 13: Fast and confusing. Those are the two words that best describe this film. That doesn't mean it's bad though. Cattle Call could almost qualify as a music video. There's a man auctioneering, people slapping each other, a man dressed in a cow suit and money signs. I believe the movie is showing how crazy cattle auctions can be. I - and probably many people who haven't seen a cattle auction - will be confused at first view. They show a man calling the bids and men attacking each other. Every few frames there would be dollar signs just to make sure you knew they were bidding, not trying to kill each other.

Henry, age 11: I sort of liked it but didn't know what was happening at any time during the video Cattle Call. If you want to sleep during a movie I would pass. In the movie a guy talking so fast sells cows and people hit each other.

Team Taliban - Ben Kegan
Otto, age 13: I think Team Taliban was very striking. It went into the reactions of the audiences of those wrestling matches very well. It showed how simple, stage-acting could enforce racism into a young mind. Where the American wrestlers were told to win and were portrayed as heroes, the Islamic wrestlers were told to lose the matches and had to assume the roles of terrorists. It was almost shocking how some of the wrestlers thought of their role and how unaware of the influence they have over these people. The main person in this film, Adeel, was completely unaware of this. He just assumed that everyone knew it was just acting, until lhe saw deep hatred in a boy's eyes, where he saw that he had just made someone hate the whole culture of Islam. Overall, this documentary was very moving and informational. With this one ten minute film, you see how fame can make someone totally unaware of their influence.

Sofi, age 11: Sort of sad. From the title, you would think it was about terrorism or war, but the first thing you see is a wrestling scene. The main character makes a choice. He chooses to dress like a middle east-type person, using humor that can barely be called humor and shouting at the crowd, etc. He wants attention, but he chooses the wrong means. By becoming this "evil" character, he gets himself the wrong type of attention. He's up there representing his entire race, and he chooses to portray hatred and evil. AND he acts like it's no big deal! It is a big deal, and he knows it and denies it. In all, it is an interesting topic, but lacks depth and insight. I recommend it because it conveys an important message.

May, age 13: The whole idea of Team Taliban is so intriguing, partly because it's mainly based on an issue we all think about in the big picture. When we hear just the word "taliban" we automatically call to mind the words "war" and "terrorism." We don't generally think about how Arabic citiznes in the US are affected by their race and how they portray themselves. The short film "Team Taliban" is about a young Arab wrestler who plays the character of a terrorist in his wrestling matches. He is personally not a bad person at all, which is maybe what makes this movie so interesting. So many people watch wrestling, even young children who know nothing about the war going on. When they watch their role model wrestle, someone who is distinctively not of their race, they automatically assume the whole culture is wrong. They have engraved in their mind that Muslims are bad, based only on an act they saw on TV. The fact that this wrestler is fueling these children's prejudices about his own race is almost twisted. What makes this documentary so interesting is that you can see two sides of the issue. On one hand, the roles this wrestler is playing could be the only way for him to have success, but on the other hand, this is an issue larger than him, and he's brushing it off as nothing. This film, I think, is so thought provoking and deep that it would be hard not to like.

Adam, age 16: The 'minor league' wrestling in Team Taliban seems to be more about the characters than the wrestling, like a kind of theater. The problem is that the intrigue of the wrestling is barely covered at all. It centers around Adeel, a wrestler who plays up his ethnicity as a villain character of "Team Taliban." The film deals with heavy subject matter tied to war and American sentiment about it, children's (limited) exposure to politics, and valuing your own race. Sadly, Adeel barely talks about these things and seems to be surprisingly ignorant. He expressly states at one point that he thinks he confirmed a child's belief that Muslim's are evil but doesn't seem to take it to heart. Even when his parents say that just because he knows it's a character the audience might not. He just says "don't worry about it." An interesting contrast came in a brief interview with an African American wrestler caled the Mississippi Madman. He says that he feels the weight of his whole race on him. He sees race as relevant in his job and Adeel doesn't seem to. Little things like cuts to kids screaming "USA!" hint at a depth to the subject matter, but of the 10 minutes in the film most are spent hearing Adeel talk. And through Adeel we don't get a very deep, thoughtful perspective on very important and relevant issues. Team Taliban covers a very interesting topics, and though it frequently hints at much more intrigue and depth underneath, it lacks variation in opinions or any focus on the art of the wrestling itself.

Love Child - Daniel Wirtberg
Kaela, age 13: In the beginning, one of the things that really caught me was the fact that it was foreign. In my opinion, that actually made the film more intriguing and unique. It wasn't too fast paced, so the subtitles were no problem, which is always good. The plot draws you in and really makes you think. At first, the plot starts off with an ordinary loving family who gets a cat, but then progresses to the small child feeling neglected because of the cat. if you are up for something touching, but in the wrong way, this film is definitely for you. If you are more of a comical, all joke person, this film is your opposite. It takes a serioes approach, but makes you want to shout at the ignorant parents who care more about a pet than their own daughter. This film takes your imagination and it gives everyone a different opinion I think. It isn't confusing to follow, and it makes you feel so sorry, yet, I believe that it's so unrealistic that it won't be a sobfest, but it's still a little sad. I would definitely recommend this film to the serious types but also to the people who are total goofballs and want to find their inner opposites. My opinion has pretty much been stated, that's all.

Rachel, age 13: The opening is clear. A suburban family, possibly in Russia or Ukraine. The camera zooms in through a bay window, into a kitchen. An obvious mother-daughter duo joke around, while a coffee grinder goes. "There's your papa," says the mother, pointing out a small window, where a man goes by. Here's where the foreshadowing starts. A man enters, obviously "papa," holding a meowing crate. A cat emerges, who promptly hisses at the girl when she tries to pick him up. Her parents take the cat away, cooing. The predictable happens. The parents fall in love with the cat, forgetting about their little girl. This was my favorite film in the festival. That does not make it excellent, however. It may have been, were that the end not what it was. The real turnoff is that this cat, dressed up like a human, walks. As cute as the little girl was, the walking-cat ruins the rest of the film. Or, at least, enough to cancel out "excellent" status. See this film? I don't know. You may like it. If you can sympathize with a pathetic, neglected little girl, apathetic parents, and an evil cat, go ahead. If not, well then, no.

Diego, age 11: I thought it was very strange and even a little depressing. The basic story was about a kid's parents that love a cat more than they love their own child. It was the kind of movie with no obvious conclusion. It was strange because the parents were super obsessive about the cat. They were so obsessed that they dressed the cat in a tuxedo shirt and bowtie. It was also very confusing towards the end because it made you think she was running away but she went to go buy a cat suit (FYI the cat suit looked more like a cow suit). It was also depressing that the parents would actually neglect their child like that. If they didn't stop being obsessed with the cat the kid could file for Criminal Neglect. The scary part is that some people are freaking weird and actually care more for cats than humans. The acting was sort of fake because the parents shifted their appeal from the girl to the cat so quickly that it seemed sort of fake. What else was fake was that when the girl smashed the cat she had no emotion. In conclusion, this movie sucked!

Torin, age 14: Well, Love Child reminded me of the king in Burger King getting hit by a moving semi with some pace. It was, what I think was a little disturbing and funny in the same way. I mean a girl with nice parents absolutely abandoned their loving child for a cat! Well now people, we all know what we should do when parents forget about a child for a cat! No, we don't shoot the cat, we simply try to win our parents love back, right? Wrong. The girl ditches her good for nothing family and lives her life on the streets! Yeah, she turns into a total thug and then she thinks it's time to go home and show that cat who's boss! Well, no, she simply comes home dressed as a cat hoping her parents will love her. But if I was Swedish I would do the same thing even if I didn't have a cat! I would do it for the fashion and just simply to say the phrase "meow" over and over.

Ben, age 12: My favorite part of Love Child was the end. It was a little funny, but the rest of the movie sucked. The parents of the child liked her at first, but when they got a cat they chose it over the little girl. I didn't feel any sympathy for the girl, however, so the film did a poor job making me actually feel for the characters. Maybe if there had been more communication between characters I would've. After being neglected by her parents, the little girl wanders off on her own. The parents stay home, pampering the cat, not even realizing their daughter has left. A while later, in an attempt to get more attention from her parents she comes home in a cat suit. A good movie would've been a little suspenseful and left me with some questions, but this didn't. Do you know why? This film was bull! Who dressed up in a cat suit if it's not on Halloween! What a pure idiot.

Charles, age 13: In Love Child there was a child and a pig. The pig was elected president. Then they bought a cat. Everybody liked the cat and hated the child. So the child jumped off a bridge and died. Oh! And the giraffe was never hungry. And then a guy started singing about a cow. I did not like this movie because they dressed a cat in funny clothes and that's animal cruelty. By the way the child reincarnated wearing a cow outfit and went home and the movie ended. (Note: some of this movie was edited out and you might be led to believe that the child just went home in a cow outfit. Oh, and the pig got impeached.) Also this movie was cheesy and I didn't like that. The End.

Labels: 47th festival, 826michigan, awesomeness

The special Sundance issue of the Hollywood Reporter featured an article about the state of film festivals in the economic recession. The Ann Arbor Film Festival received "top billing" in the article, with the story of our Endangered Campaign and our creative response to financial crisis (stemming from politically-motivated censorship and funding cuts) in 2007. While we appreciate the high-profile coverage, we need to fill in a more complete picture.

Due to tremendous worldwide community support of the AAFF in 2007, our festival finds itself in a stable and much stronger position. The article's "tips for keeping a fest afloat" (below) were all included as part of the AAFF's recovery efforts in 2008, though in the article we were only cited for our "desperate measures" (which we preferred to call "Acts of Audacity"). The tips are as follows:
• Connect with people in the community.
• Diversify income sources beyond a small number of sponsors and offer mini-events on a regular basis.
• Seek grants. Government funding might have political strings, but private foundations also can be tapped.
• Develop memberships. A loyal audience provides good prospects, so offer them the chance
to belong to a club with special benefits.
•Consider spinoff products, like compilation DVDs, that can provide revenue all year.

Our efforts the past 2 years have clearly raised our profile, validated by this coverage from The Hollywood Reporter. But considering that our festival was founded as an alternative to the studio-driven film industry (1963), it seems they still don't fully understand us and the value of risk-taking, artist-crafted, independent and experimental cinema. At least the article got the quote right from festival Executive Director Donald Harrison: "Right now times are tough for a lot of people, and some companies and festivals will go under," Harrison says. "But those that survive are going to be the ones able to get really lean, focus on basics, identify what really matters and get stronger."

And that is exactly what the Ann Arbor Film Festival is doing, gearing up to deliver an incredible program that resonates deeply with our local, regional and worldwide communities. With our 47th edition less than 2 months away, we are optimistic that we can do more than just survive; we see an opportunity for the AAFF to thrive.

Labels: 47th festival, hollywood reporter, press coverage