The CineVegas Film Festival (June 12-21) celebrated its tenth year in a manner befitting its Sin City setting: a colossal, ten-day jubilee of film and fun. High and low culture rubbed a lot more than just shoulders — among the many special events were not only a screening by contemporary art darling Takashi Murakami on a waterfall at the Wynn Resort but also a fete at Sapphire’s, the self-billed “World’s Largest Adult Entertainment Complex.” And that was just on Monday and Tuesday. Keeping up with the screenings and numerous parties, all while nobly trying to ignore the siren song of the tables, proved to be utterly - and delightfully - impossible.
Not too long ago, holding a film festival in Las Vegas seemed to be a lost cause, but CineVegas artistic director Trevor Groth says that the city’s attitude has gone from “apprehension to excitement.” He explains, “From the beginning we knew that for the festival to succeed it would have to be embraced by locals as well as the film industry. And now in our tenth year I truly believe that this has happened.” Of course, CineVegas is a much-loved destination for members of the film industry as well, and the veritable army of helpful staff members made sure even the most ambitious events ran smoothly. (Full disclosure: I have worked for CineVegas in the past, so I know just how much organizational aptitude this takes.)
CineVegas’ fetish for eclecticism carried over to the slate, a strong group of both independent and studio films from all over the world. New this year was a Pioneer Documentaries section that was evaluated by its own jury, which gave
Beautiful Losers the main prize and recognized
Hi My Name is Ryan with a special award. Both films focus on artists who buck convention, with directors Aaron Rose and Joshua Leonard’s
Losers tracking a semi-organized group of street artists and outsiders that formed in the ‘80s and
Ryan, from Paul Eagleston and Stephen Rose, telling the story of its titular hero, the “clown prince” of the Phoenix art scene.
The Grand Jury Prize went to director Rolf Belgum’s
She Unfolds By Day, a moving, ethereal look at a son’s attempt to care for his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother. In a matter reminiscent of 2004 CineVegas standout
The Talent Given Us, Belgum blurs the lines between fiction and documentary, even using members of his family in the lead roles. Among the other films highlighted by the jury were Rachel Samuels’ neo-noir musical
Dark Streets, Bill Pullman’s performance as an addled sci-fi legend in Matthew Wilder’s
Your Name Here and Jonás Cuarón‘s beautifully simple
Ano Una in the year-old La Promixa Ola selection, which features young Mexican filmmakers. Audience awards went to Jared Drake’s dystopian comedy
Visioneers (pictured above) and racehorse documentary
Lost in the Fog, from director John Corey.
One of the most discussed films of the festival was writer-director Josh Fox’s
Memorial Day, an unblinking examination of modern America’s obsession with documenting itself. There are several reveals throughout the film that would be a shame to give away here, so let’s just say that you will never look at the holiday as simply an excuse for beer and bad behavior again. Between the dizzying handheld camera work and some truly disturbing imagery, there were several walkouts from the film’s world premiere screening -- and a heated discussion afterwards. According to Fox, a theater manager told him, “Audience members were screaming that they were going to ‘sue the Palms’ or actually ‘burn it down if they showed the film a second time.’” While characterizing himself as “surprised” by the strength of the negative response, Fox also seemed sanguine, calling the reaction “appropriately insane.”
That would seem to be the ideal phrase to sum up a stay at CineVegas 2008. Between the thought-provoking films, the all-night parties and the surreal setting, insanity wasn’t just appropriate; it was basically required.
Labels: Festivals
# posted by Jason Guerrasio @ 7/08/2008 10:54:00 AM
Comments (0)
