Politics Daily

Second Life Addicts, Dropout Factories and Sundance 2010's Last Gasp

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady — 2010-01-31T08:34:00+00:00

PARK CITY, Utah -- We are almost T minus zero here at Sundance and honestly feel like filmmaking warriors after the boot camp experience of 10 days of movies, alcohol, press, altitude and jangly nerves. We are grown women now.

We've had the distinct pleasure to be part of an absolutely excellent year of non-fiction entries in the festival. Everyone is at the top of their game in our category, and it feels damn good.

Today, we saw "Waiting for Superman" an infuriating and sometimes deflating new film directed by Davis Guggenheim. This ambitious doc takes on the failed public school system and reveals the often-humiliating process that low-income parents and their children have to endure to get a decent education. It describes the "drop out factories" in city school districts and spends time with the kids and parents who are suffering from this system. This topic is near and dear to us, as we filmed for an entire year for our first film "The Boys of Baraka" inside a middle school in Baltimore , which we often refer to as "the mental institution." We saw it first hand, and it's the greatest shame of this nation.

The film spends a lot of time with various education reformers including Michelle Rhee who, as Washington D.C.'s controversial schools chancellor (and the 7th chancellor in 10 years), has shaken up the status quo but is ultimately stymied by the unions and the bureaucrats. The film is packed with facts and figures that will hopefully shock people to action, as there is no doubt that as our education system goes, so goes the country. Particularly disturbing in the film is the description of "the dance of the lemons" (also called "pass the trash," the "turkey trot" and "the rubber room"), which brings to light the absolutely hideous yearly custom of trading all the teachers who have had serious problems in their schools to other public schools. The system can't actually get rid of them; it just trades them off to some other parent's kid.

Another winner of a film is "Life 2.0" which reveals the phenomenon of "Second Life," a fascinating train wreck of a social experiment that is uncomfortably revealing about where we are as a society. People invent their avatar, and then actually build a second life online, where they can be anything they dream: rich, attractive, popular. A sexy, thin avatar named Asri Falcone is a mini-mogul in Second Life, building homes and living a life of luxury. Her creator is an obese Detroiter, chain-smoking in her mother's basement, but reality and fiction become hazy and confusing after 15-hour days in this alternative reality. I was alarmed at the millions of people that were spending the majority of their "earthly" time in this fantasy world. Extremely weird.

OK, tonight is the awards ceremony and there is some seriously tough competition. Regardless, we've had an incredible ride showing our film to some of the smartest, toughest audiences we've ever had. We couldn't really ask for anything more.

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Humanoids From Greenland, Lying About Pat Tillman and Avoiding the Pitfalls of the Abortion Debate!

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady — 2010-01-28T08:52:00+00:00

Filed under: Sundance Journal

PARK CITY, Utah -- So, we are midway through the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, the snow keeps falling and some sense of decorum and civilized behavior has returned to Park City. Most of the sharks and agents have hightailed it back to Los Angeles. Most of us indie filmmakers have had our premieres, hawked our movies, jockeyed for press, scoured the inter-web for reviews and congratulated each other on a job well done. Now its time to mingle.

Wednesday night, the directors of all the films got together to knock a few back and celebrate just making it this far. Intriguing characters from far-flung lands eagerly cross-pollinated. The very rugged, whale-blood-drinking crew from "Nummioq," the first ever feature produced in Greenland, intermingled with the diminutive star from India's "Peepli Live," and glimmers of a glorious and friendly international utopian world order shone . . . if only for a moment.

Earlier in the day, before our second public screening of "12th & Delaware," we were able to catch Amir bar Lev's touching doc "The Tillman Story," the disturbing tale of a charming young man who left his lucrative football career with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army, only to be killed in a messy friendly-fire incident. The terrible accident, a result of trigger-happy comrades in Tillman's own unit, was covered up at the highest levels of the U.S. military, until Tillman's dogged and grieving mother uncovered the ugly business. The film is an infuriating look at a family who watched their son be lionized by a country in need of heroes in a time when few can be found. The audience aches for Tillman's mother, aches for the young soldiers who were lost in the fog of war and are left to make sense of the loss of their fearless leader and friend.

How does one talk about abortion without being labeled pro-life or pro-choice? The task, we can report, is almost impossible, as we navigate the media waters regarding our latest film, "12th & Delaware." It seems that most reporters and critics are eager to throw us quickly into either camp, assign us with lazy slogans created years ago by marketing mavens and politicians. Deaf or blind? Sweet or salty? Abortion or life? That's it? Can't we deepen the discussion, people?

Our film focuses on women in the throes of deciding whether to abort or continue with their pregnancy, and those who would attempt to influence that decision. We have tried to leave the movie in the hands of the girls we feature, their words, their expressions, their deeply conflicted feelings. Still, many in the press just want the revert to the quick-and-easy "which side are you on?" pigeonholing. It's slightly deflating, but we will continue to point out the nuance and grays in a debate that seems stuck on a black-and-white canvas.

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At Long Last, the Big Premiere of '12th & Delaware'

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady — 2010-01-25T10:20:00+00:00

Filed under: Sundance Journal

PARK CITY, Utah -- Well, the deed is done. We premiered our new film, "12th & Delaware," Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival and managed to avoid the nervous breakdown part.

Weirdly, our film was screened at The Temple, a Jewish synagogue on loan to the festival. No parking allowed because the rabbi was holding some event. On a Sunday? Hmm . . . suspicious. These Utah Jews do it differently. At least we had a full house and the buzz on the film is good.

"12th & Delaware" is the portrait of a corner in Fort Pierce Fla., where an abortion clinic and a pro-life crisis pregnancy center sit across the street from each other. Protesters keep vigil outside the abortion clinic and aggressively try to persuade women not to enter. Scenes unfold both in the pro-life center as well as inside the clinic. The film is an intimate and often uncomfortable look at women on the brink of a major decision -- whether to have an abortion or continue with the pregnancy -- and the outside parties who try to influence that decision. The film is sure to rankle those who have a very strong position on abortion, an issue that once again raised its head last week, this time regarding an upcoming pro-life Super Bowl ad.

At times the audience squirmed uncomfortably. Then there would be a giant burst of anger. Some laughter. It was a dynamic experience. The question-and-answer session after the film was quite lively, with people from various political and cultural persuasions weighing in on the film. A Swedish audience member seemed confused by all the hubbub surrounding the issue and informed the crowd that abortion "is not an issue in my country at all," to which the audience gave him a collective snort and eye-roll. Welcome to America, my Swedish friend, where abortion remains the most intractable conflict on the block.

We're now on the way to the HBO party to celebrate our Sundance debut with our crew and family. Drinks desperately needed, as we have four more screenings to go.

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Foreign Territory at Sundance: Sebastian Junger's Nerves, an Ex-bin Laden Bodyguard, and a Pakistan-India Dance-Off

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady — 2010-01-24T13:03:00+00:00

Filed under: Sundance Journal

Early this morning, Heidi and I (along with 200 or so other directors) piled into one of five coach buses headed to the famed Sundance Resort for the Directors Brunch. Driving through untouched white powder and exquisite mountain landscapes, we got to know some of our fellow 2010 filmmakers. When first-time director Sebastian Junger ("Restrepo") sweetly asked, "Just wondering, is it always so stressful at these film festivals?" I knew I wasn't just imagining that revealing one's labor of love, sweat and passion is anxiety provoking. Junger is a tough war journalist who has been shot at and spent a year in Afghanistan, in the world's most dangerous 10 square miles. He's stressed out?

Last night, we saw Laura Poitras' fantastic film "The Oath." Poitras' film takes us to Yemen and follows the story of Abu Jandal, a former member of al-Qaeda and bodyguard to Osama bin Laden. First of all, let me just say she has huge, iron-clad cojones for hanging out alone in Yemen for two years and waiting out a difficult and cloudy story with a charming but wholly unreliable protagonist who would slowly dole out material to her when he felt like it. Interweaving the parallel story of Jandal's brother-in-law, who was awaiting trial at Guantanamo, the viewer is allowed access into a former (but maybe not toooootally done with it) jihadi's world view.

Heidi and I spent a couple of months in Saudi Arabia recently ourselves, and got to know some of these "rehabilitated" jihadists. It's important (and rare) for American audiences to see realistic and objective stories of these young men, who feel profoundly that they are on a mission straight from God to rid the planet of the West's influence. "The Oath" delivers and informs in a non-inflammatory fashion.

We also saw a fantastic short documentary called "Wagah" about the daily spectacle at the only border crossing that exists between Pakistan and India. Every evening as dusk, 20,000 people show up on both sides to watch one of the most colorful, over-the-top parades I've ever seen. As they lower their respective flags, each country's soldiers have a full-on, butt-shaking dance-off -- nationalism at it's most flexible. If only all conflicts in this world of ours could be settled with a dance party.

Ok, signing off. Tomorrow, our premiere. I'm stressed, just like that tough war reporter.

--RG

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Sundance 2010: More Grit, Less Star-$@&!ing

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady — 2010-01-22T12:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Sundance Journal

PARK CITY, Utah -- Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady here, reporting for blogging duty from the Sundance Film Festival. We are here as the directors of "12th & Delaware," a documentary on the hot-button political issue of abortion, premiering in competition on Sunday. Our film takes place on a street corner in Florida, where an abortion clinic sits directly across the road from a crisis pregnancy center -- a pro-life clinic staffed by folks who try to persuade women considering an abortion to continue with the pregnancy. It is an intense and, we hope, fresh look at the abortion battle that is unfolding more as a hearts-and-minds campaign in this country than an issue for the courts. Today, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the ruling remains as controversial as the day it was decided. But more on that later in the week.

We are no strangers to film festivals. Our previous documentary features "The Boys of Baraka" and "Jesus Camp" did the circuit, too. But this is our first premiere at Sundance and we are curious and quite revved up to experience the legendary festival in all its glory.

Or . . . some of its glory, anyway. In a creaky indie film economy and with much of the country singing the blues, everyone is nervous about the future of our industry. But guess what? Based on the multitude of cinematic offerings here in Park City, it appears that a crappy economy, two wars, disillusionment with a president who turns out to be an actual human being (shocker!), and a new ability for Americans ask hard questions about our own culture and habits all seem to have energized the collective creative bones of our fellow documentary filmmakers. Stories from Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq will be told here. The fervor of the paparazzi and the inner life of Joan Rivers will be dissected. Those who came of age in the age of perestroika and American kids currently being victimized by a sub-par school system will get a serious look. And we will report on all these films and on the reactions they get over the course of the festival.

Robert Redford opened the event by saying, "We're going back to our roots" with a festival intent on getting "fresh again." This attempt to hit the reset button on the fest -- which over the years became criticized for too much star-*&$#ing and too little attention to the real independent spirit -- seemed to be on display opening night, when a competition film rather than a faux-indie Hollywood offering kicked off the party.

We sat with about 1,000 other filmgoers to watch "Restrepo," an action-packed and highly alarming documentary about a platoon of American soldiers fighting in the violent Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. Directed by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, the film reminded me of "The Hurt Locker," with its razor-sharp focus on both the troubling adrenaline junkies among us and the utter absurdity of war. The film also reminded me that certain stories are better suited to non-fiction. The visceral impact of the young soldiers -- these real, unscripted boys trying to be brave but mostly just trying to stay alive -- is hard to describe. But without being overly didactic or ideological, the movie raises important questions about our involvement in Afghanistan, and was a thought-provoking (and non-star-&*$!ing) way to open Sundance 2010.

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