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I arrived at Ragtag ten minutes before I Will Survive began, and I had to be directed by a volunteer to the very last open chair in the theater; it’s incredible how much this festival livens up the town. Towards the back of the room, I viewed this series of five vastly different short films.

The wide range of subject matter for these shorts kept it entertaining. All shared some sort of connection to the theme of survival, whether it was literally fighting for life or figuring out the meaning of what it is to live.

The first short took on a new angle to an immigrant story; it showed Mexicans crossing the U.S. border at night. This was followed by a glimpse into a storage facility where people’s belongings were artfully filmed. I overheard a conversation between a strangely tall man and a girl in front of me during the credits for this short:

Tall man: “I fell asleep during that one.”
Girl: “Oh, I really liked it.”
Tall man: “What was it about?”
Girl: “It showed how people’s belongings that are stored away change over time and develop new meanings.”

Clearly, while certain docs may reach some, others can slumber right through.

The next short was the most experimental of all; it was created in a type of animation I had never seen before. The film was set up as an interview of sorts with two African children who discussed their tragic stories of war. The devastating material juxtaposed with the colorful animation was powerful.

We were then taken to an older couple’s massive orange tree orchard in Lebanon where they would frequently find leftover bombs from war. Some bombs exploded if touched.

The films closed with the story of a young Mexican boy named Pedro, a troublemaker trying to learn English. But Pedro was filmed in such a delicate way that audiences were able to see his tender motives.

The directors of both Mexican shorts, a teacher and a film student from California, answered questions after. The man who made the immigrant short referred to it as “at the edge of absurd; a consciousness-raising exercise.” Peter Jordan made the short about Pedro, who he referred to as “the hardest and most fun kid to work with. He couldn’t relate to anyone else in the world and was trying to figure out how to deal with other human beings.”

In the middle of all the artistic values and ideas True/False serves to communicate, it is very difficult to be disappointed. But when I attended the Q & A session of this afternoon’s screening of The Posters Came From the Walls, I was let down by the latest lesson I’ve learned at the festival: Not all independent films are really independent.

As a musical anglophile, I couldn’t have been more fanatic about The Posters Came from the Walls, a movie that focuses on music fanatics like me — in particular, those devoted to the band Depeche Mode. Through stock footage and recent interviews, directors Jeremy Deller and Nicholas Abrahams created an intriguing, albeit short, film that gives incredible insight into global fan culture and the effects of music as it crosses borders. Fans in Russia, South America, the US and even Iran, where western music is banned, shared interesting and sometimes unbelievable stories about their obsession with the British electronica band. Even Trent Reznor paid homage.

In the end, the movie was inspiring, if its motivations are not. I had believed that this film’s creators must have followed the indie filmmaker’s dream and struggled to fund their own film about their favorite band. During the Q & A portion of the showing, Abrahams was forced to admit that this wasn't true. The movie was commissioned by Depeche Mode’s record label, not out of the passion for the band the audience might assume the filmmakers shared.

Abraham’s devotion to what he calls “fan culture” did seem passionate, but the movie’s creation was not as powerful as its message. Instead of tracking down international Depeche devotees, the filmmakers “posted an advert on the official Depeche Mode Web site and we got flooded,” Abrahams says. Documentaries are supposed to be about reality, but in this case, the reality was disheartening.

“Obviously the point is to tell the story that doesn’t get told,” says Burma VJ attendee Ken Vail.
The phrase seems deceptively simple, but it basically sums up the meaning of True/False. Jason Mann agrees that he never gets to see hard-hitting but little-known documentary films, such as Burma VJ, except when he comes to the fest. “I don’t really have access otherwise,” he says.

Access itself seems to be one of the main themes of Burma VJ. The audience watches as rough but incredibly telling footage plays out while “Joshua,” the narrator and anonymous member of the Democratic Voice of Burma, explains how the organization has taken illegal footage of militants shooting down or arresting protesters and then smuggled it outside the country, thus providing the only available news footage of the country for most news organizations.

The film, which switches between the shaky, harrowing images taken by the journalists to calmer footage of Joshua who, unable to live in Burma, must help run the operation from Thailand. The balance allows the film to hit hard without reminding audiences (painfully) of the Blair Witch Project.

Hardly anyone could have blamed Burma VJ if it had ended on a sad note; the problems in the country are, after all, far from resolved. But despite an overall serious tone, the movie’s message managed to be both invigorating and uplifting. As the exiting audience dropped money for Burma VJ reporters into collection jars after the film, it was apparent that the energy of the film had emanated throughout the theater.

Many people gathered in Windsor Cinema for the one of the last screenings of the fest, a viewing of Big River Man. Some of these avid, hardcore filmgoers had already seen seven, eight, even ten movies this weekend.

“I’ve seen eight,” Jeff Corrigan, a first timer at True/False, says. “This morning I saw Food Inc., which is a great movie. It got a standing ovation. It’s the first movie that I’ve seen out of the seven that I saw before this one…almost the entire place was standing; it looked like every seat was taken up. It’s just a great movie.”

“I just saw Pressure Cooker, which I wasn’t too sure about,” Jennifer Wingert says of one of her T/F favorites this year. “It’s about inner city kids who take a culinary arts class and it leads to scholarship winnings for college. It was extremely moving. Over the Hills was a beautiful story, too. I haven’t been disappointed yet.”

Hopefully these folks weren’t disappointed with Big River Man, either, but really, with a movie about an overweight drunk guy who swims the Amazon, how could they be?

“This just looked interesting because he is your atypical kind of guy that did your atypical kind of thing,” says Wingert. “Those are the kind of documentaries that I looked forward to.”

Big River Man follows endurance swimmer Martin Strel as he tackles the Amazon. He has taken on the Mississippi, the Yangtze and others, always followed by his trusty team: his son, who narrates parts of the film, his navigator, who really hasn’t had much experience other than fishing in Wisconsin and various doctors and boat captains.

Strel is far from Michael Phelps (although based on recent photos, the two of them may share a substance abuse problem.) Strel drinks wine while in the river, replenishes with beer and has a gut like no other. Yet he does what he does, and he claims he does it to address problems in the environment. Though much of the film was a hilarious documentation of this endurance swimmer, it was also a documentation of the deterioration of a simple man, physically and mentally. And although Strel lived through his battle with the Amazon, it seems to most likely be his last battle with any river.

Don’t tell anyone, but last night I attended the True/False Film Festival for the first time.

It’s not that I’m ashamed for spending my Saturday evening watching excellent yet informative filmmaking. I’m ashamed that I have spent the past four years in Columbia and never gone. All this time I had wondered what all the fuss was about, why people had swarmed downtown and why I had to wait 45 minutes to get a table at Addison’s. Honestly, I never knew what T/F was even about until weeks ago. I never knew much about documentary film in general until assuming my position as a Screen editor for Vox. Most importantly, I never knew I was so willing to share all this private information with all of you out there in blogging land (hi Mom.)

Appropriately, it is a perfect segue into my next point: We Live in Public. Not only is it the title of the film I saw last night, but also a statement of absolute truth. Director Ondi Timoner, who happened to be present at the show, opened my eyes to just how public our lives have become over the past 10 years. Her film goes way back to the late ’90s, as the Internet was beginning to really take off. Josh Harris created one of the earliest Internet television networks called Pseudo, which landed enormous popularity and took Harris straight to the bank. But it wasn’t the money that Harris was after; he wanted to experiment with the idea of providing people with total access to each others’ lives via screen. For his next project, Harris designed a live-in bunker in New York City that would offer its inhabitants anything they needed and wanted for free, as long as they gave up all privacy rights whatsoever. This on-camera society caught people at their greatest –in the shower, on the toilet and having sex. Think Real World with guns (you really have to see it).

Eventually Harris’ operation was busted and shut down not a moment too soon. The inhabitants of what he called Quiet were beginning to lose their minds. They confessed to being so exposed to other people that they had created a disconnect with themselves. Harris was very much pleased, though. He had predicted such things to result and designed the entire experiment to demonstrate what he believed would be our lives as the Internet grew and technology took over. In a nutshell, living our lives in public.

Harris wasn’t ready to quit after Quiet. His point was proven further when he and his girlfriend decided to broadcast their lives over the Internet for all to see, toilets and all yet again. This time viewers could chat and interact as they lived. A public life ultimately led to the downfall of their relationship, and eventually the downfall of Harris mentally.

I kept thinking how crazy this guy was for doing these things, but as I walked away from the theatre I changed my mind. The only thing that’s crazy is how true the premise of Harris’ work is. The film made connections between the public society of Quiet and the things we use every day, like Facebook. When we agree to use Facebook or MySpace, we give up a big chunk of our privacy. It is turned over to the site. We upload photos and videos of ourselves. We update our statuses so that our friends will know what we’re doing at all times. The ads on the sides of the page creep us out because they recognize that we are 22 and thinking about losing 10 pounds. There are so many aspects of our lives that have moved from private to public with developments in technology, and we don’t seem to be bothered by it. Harris theorizes that before this shift, people just wanted their 15 minutes of fame. Now we want those 15 minutes every day.

So far, Josh Harris seems to have written the future with each of his experimentations. Does this mean we need to get rid of the technology we enjoy today to regain some of our privacy? Who knows. The easiest step would be removing the cameras from inside your toilet.

True/False brings in not just films, but directors as well. Question/answer sessions with directors after films truly enhance the filmgoing experience. One such audience member, Dancy Bluhm, was particularly affected:

“I really liked Teen Spirit and Afghan Star, which were both similar films about talent shows," Bluhm says. "They were both very different, but Teen Spirit in particular was just very uplifting. I was so impressed with the Q & A afterward of just how heartfelt he [director Jamie J. Johnson] was about the whole thing and how he was so respectful of the families and the children. I will watch anything he ever makes."

The hardest thing about True/False, I’ve discovered, is not parking. Nor is it finding the way to the next movie’s theater location, especially what with the convenient maps available in the theater lobbies or on the True/False website (http://www.truefalse.org/attending/maps.htm).

The hardest thing about True/False is figuring out which movies to attend and which must sadly be passed up in favor of another film. There is no one way to go about it, and festivalgoers have each found their own methods.

Marsha Hansen, attending her first True/False fest with her son, took turns with him choosing the movies for each time slot. Therefore, when her son picked the Depeche Mode documentary The Posters Came from the Walls as the filler for the 10:30 p.m. Saturday night slot, Hansen found herself watching something she would likely never have chosen for herself. (Most of the films she had lined up for the pair were related to the environment, and this definitely didn't fall into that category.)

Sharon Kinden, attending her sixth True/False this year, chose Sergio as a break from the several films centered on war and journalism. She was also particularly interested in the subject of the film, Sergio Vieira de Mello. “I’m curious to see why Iraq was such a failure for a man that was able to accomplish wonderful things in all the other countries,” Kinden says.

As for myself, I must admit to choosing the movies based on which tickets I’ve been able to get hold of. This system may not be the most precise, but it has definitely led me to check out films I might not otherwise have had the opportunity to see — including a film about the obsessed fans of the eighties band Depeche Mode, The Posters Came from the Walls.

The film seemed at first glance to be a look at the world’s dippiest, oddest characters gushing about the band (and especially Dave, the band’s lead singer), but as the film continues, it touches upon something much more fundamental.

Although the organization of the film veers occasionally toward the chaotic, it is able to achieve a sense of interconnectivity among the band fans, who live in countries spanning the entire globe. The directors’ interesting choice to leave the band itself out of the video lets the story take on a meaning larger than just love for Depeche Mode.

As I watched the film in an audience of about fifty residents and visitors, I began to realize that like the “Depechistes” (as one fan called them), I was taking part in something greater. We might all have come to True/False by different methods, but at least we could all come together that night looking to learn a thing or two and, of course, to be well entertained.

Filmmaker Jean-Pierre Duret says we have nothing more personal than our voices. “When you film people, you need to respect them,” he says. “Respect their voice and their image.”

Interestingly enough, it was difficult to understand Duret's voice since he speaks French, but his words were delivered by a translator, and having him there in person did make his words more powerful. Joining Duret in this panel about filming styles and beliefs were filmmakers Justin Schein and Deborah Stratman.

Stratman agrees with Duret. She says, “Don’t drown out their culture with what you bring, or their voice with yours.”

Schein says the most important thing is to create a bond of trust with the subject. “Visual style is secondary,” he says. “Films are character-driven.”

Consideration for their subjects seemed to be a top priority for the directors, but they also emphasized the importance of camera work. Stratman and Schein talked about using smaller cameras because they’re more accessible. “They allow subjects to let their guards down,” Stratman says.

Duret takes camera work to a whole other level: When he arrives on the set of a new project, he hasn’t touched a camera since his last project out of respect for it. “I start with the camera immediately to let them know I’m here for work,” he says. “You’re never sure when something strong could occur.”

The crowd that gathered for Rough Aunties Saturday afternoon lacked neither excitement nor swing style. As the Glen David Andrews band harmonized banjo with brass and percussion, its singer belted out lyrics in a voice reminiscent of Louis Armstrong.

“I’m going to dedicate this next song to my ex-wife,” he says, grinning.

The crowd chuckled and stood on its feet, clapping and repeating after him as he crooned, “Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi.”

But by the time the movie had begun its first scene, the ambiance in the room had made an about-face into a more contemplative mood as the audience followed the women of Operation Bobbi Bear in their fight to bring justice for abused children and victims of violence in South Africa.

The documentary, which told its subjects’ story honestly, used only a minimal soundtrack and simple camerawork, thus allowing the reality of child abuse and corruption in South Africa to sink in more fully. The film achieved an intimacy with its subjects to the point that the they seemed practically unaware of the cameras in the room.

Robert Davis, a writer for Paste, who had come from Chicago to attend the festival, said that the Q&As following the films set True/False apart from other festivals.

“The questions have been surprisingly strong,” Davis said.

Indeed, the Q&A with True Vision Award-winning director Kim Longinotto brought up several interesting questions about the film, ranging from how the director was able to explain her camera’s presence to the victims of abuse to how they approached editing the film. As one audience member complimented Longinotto on the film’s overarching theme combating the “culture of silence,” the audience applauded, affirming that the message was a universal one.

When I walked to The Blue Note this morning, a man dressed in overalls and insect antennae shouted, “You’re about to see an awesome movie!” He was right.

My first movie of the festival, Blood Trail, was an honest, compelling tale of a photographer’s journey through war-torn countries in the ’90s. Embedded in shots of his photographs and footage of his life was a clear, concise focus on the impact of one journalist in wars that killed thousands.

The movie is a polarizing one (there is a more negative review of it poster earlier in this blog.) Shot over a 15-year period, Blood Trail follows photographer Robert King through Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. King is a strangely lovable character. He starts as a rookie who wears military-style pants (not a good idea in a war zone), and in the end admits that he’s become jaded by his experiences. His most interesting qualities are his least attractive ones. Throughout the film, King exhibits no shortage of flaws, running the gamete from alcohol to drugs. He is a man of honesty, in both the events he captures and his openness about his personal choices. In the film, King describes his experience as “post-traumatic stress disorder on acid,” and calls himself “damaged goods.”

King narrates, and although the movie is somewhat compromised by music reminiscent of the Troy soundtrack and flash-forwards to the present, the film, unlike King, is never a damaged good. King’s reflections are poignant, such as one about journalists becoming damaged goods in general: “If they weren’t when they went in,” King says in his Tennessee accent, “they are when they get out.”

When the film concluded, coming full circle in its portrayal of King’s career, the audience met King himself, as well as co-producers Smith and Richard Parry. They answered questions on topics ranging from scenes of King’s rather unsuccessful hunting trips to the U.S. military’s waste disposal system. “Do they still use diesel fuel to burn the sh**ers?” asked a man to my right. The audience laughed.

The question and answer session following the film provided additional insight into the perspectives of King and his producers, who said they were originally attracted to King because of his naiveté.

“No journalists would let us film them, but Robert was okay with it,” Vaughan said. And though Vaughan admitted he had no faith that King would last even through his first correspondence situation in Sarajevo, his willingness to be portrayed made the project possible.

This evening's @ction party, held at Tonic nightclub, was all action. The party started with the move-your-body music of Glen David Andrews. Musicians didn't just stick to the stage, they went through the club playing trombones and singing. Screens hung from the ceiling with projections playing on them; the design was so crazy that it just did work.

The dance floor was hopping through Andrews' set and into DJ mixes after him. The best part of the party was that age was irrelevant; college students, thirty-somethings and senior citizens alike got down on the dance floor. The party was appropriate for all ages; it embodied that sense of community that True/False is so known for.

I just got back from Prodigal Sons at the Forrest Theater, which had been decorated so that it really did transform into a forest. The walls were covered in what looked like black canvas with strips of white canvas to represent tree trunks (see photo). Near the stage was a tree trunk with branches.

Without giving away too many details, the film begins with photos and video footage of director Kim Reed’s childhood, which seems pleasant and happy. But this line jumps out: “It looks like a fairytale childhood, but appearances can be deceiving.” From there, I knew this film would be a complex journey. It’s a journey about Reed discovering her own identity and revisiting her estranged relationship with her older adopted brother. It’s a journey of a family sticking together, and the patience it often takes to love your family. During the Q & A after the show, Reed admitted, “This was not the film that I set out to make.” But if the standing ovation after the film was any indication, Reed’s end result, like the theater decorations, is a beautiful piece of work.

I caught a screening of Reporter at the newly renovated Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts. Reporter focuses on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and his travels around the world to uncover stories about genocide and other human rights issues. Kristof went to places such as Darfur and Congo.

Kristof's ability to ask the difficult questions and truly tell a person’s story really made the film. Filmgoer Michelle Martin said: “I’m still kind of comprehending it [the film]. For me personally, journalistic human rights is one of my own endeavors. I thought it was just absolutely phenomenal what Nick Kristof [did]. I can’t imagine the kind of skills you would have to have to go through that.”

I didn’t know that there is a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Chevron/Texaco. I didn’t know that thousands are being diagnosed with cancer on a daily basis due to oil spills in Ecuador, and that the lawsuit is still unresolved. A lawsuit that should have, in my opinion, been decided immediately with the amount of evidence the plaintiff provided. Yet 16 years later, people in Ecuador are still being harmed by this oil.

Director Joe Berlinger brings these thought-provoking truths to the surface in Crude.

“The scariest thing to me when I sat down with these people [people who work for Chevron/Texaco] is that they totally believe what is coming out of their mouths,” says Berlinger. “It’s scarier when people really believe something, as opposed to it being a cover-up. That’s even harder to deal with.”

Chevron/Texaco may believe it's not causing injustices to the people of Ecuador, but lawyer Steven Danziger begs to differ. The film does give a voice to both sides to the story, but makes it clear that Berlinger finds the acts of the oil company pretty atrocious.

Crude did an incredible job of evoking emotion from the audience over an issue that deserves recognition. This film made me feel a variety of emotions, from anger, to sadness, to happiness at the good nature and humor that the victims showed despite their misfortunes.

I must admit, sadly and with a bit of embarrassment, this was my first-ever film seen at True/False, but I’m glad I was seeing one of the “top ones” as my first.

Filmgoer Dennis Whittle says: “A friend of ours who helped start this festival told us this was a great one to come see - one of the top ones." Necrobusiness explores the shady business in the funeral home world of Poland.

There's a chubby undertaker, who seems more like a mob leader than anything else. He has a nasty tuft of chest hair lurking up his neck to his gold bling. He can manipulate anyone and talk his way out of a sticky situation, all the while truly believing he isn’t to blame for what he causes. Another "character," though these people are very real, is always wearing tinted glasses. Inside or outside, he's 100 percent protected from UV rays. The story behind them involves dead bodies, ambulance drivers, morgues and the competitive world of the undertaker business.

“What was really fascinating for me was that whole comedic aspect and watching their version of humor and their reactions to things," says Marianna Viers, a filmgoer whose family is from Poland," and how their court system worked as opposed to how an American system works.”

I agree with Viers about the humor; there were definitely some antics that brought about chuckles from the audience. But confusion got the best of me in this movie. Between the different characters, subtitles and scheming, I was a bit lost, and could truly only relay a rough plot summary to anyone. Granted, at the same time I was entertained and wondering who would be found guilty of what in this underground undertaking business.

Columbia resident Carolyn Magnus is officially the ultimate True/False volunteer. Magnus is one of the fest's Q queens; she's in charge of the Q lines for films, and she took the term "queen" to a whole new level! Magnus was spreading True/False cheer at the Reality Bites event tonight. She donned a True/False cape and light-up crown, passed out pins and offered all attendees a smile. True: this lady is a True/False legend!

Tonight's Reality Bites party made for quite the delectable bite, both socially and literally. Reality Bites was a get-together for True/False pass holders; festivalgoers, technicians, volunteers and directors mixed. it was a fun, pretty party at the beautiful Lela Raney Wood Hall in Stephens College.

The party featured food from some of Columbia's best eateries, such as Flat Branch and Cafe Berlin, and complimentary drinks and coffee. The hall was decorated with delicate, colorful, almost magical trees. War Against the Weak producer Peter Demas, on hand for the party, said the amount of care that goes into True/False events, such as the decorations, sets the fest apart from other film festivals. "The parade today was like Mardi Gras all over again," he says.

Demas also noted that he loves True/False's laid-back atmosphere, and that the fest "is not all about awards, it's all about the documentary." Reality Bites gave filmmakers the opportunity to meet-and-greet and kick off the weekend right.

Today’s billowing, slate-colored clouds and momentary bouts of sideways rain matched the tone of At the Edge of the World, a documentary set on the rocky Antarctic Sea. The Macklanburg Playhouse at Stephens College was filled with wafting beer aromas and a crowd of giddy True/False attendees ready for the coming weekend despite the weather.

The film takes audiences on a voyage with a cast of volunteers for an organization known as Sea Shepherd. They are on a mission to find and stop Japanese whaling ships from continuing the mass slaughter of these great mammals. The film was a glimpse at ordinary people risking their lives. Only half the volunteers were trained sailors, so not only was there a risk in battling out the harsh weather conditions, but also in putting full faith in people who may not fully know what they’re doing.

Ice constantly had to be chiseled off the top deck of the ship and bouts with seasickness were frequent; the swaying ship was documented almost too accurately. I couldn’t help but feel a bit queasy watching these poor people try to hold their stomach contents in. Despite the rough conditions these volunteers faced, they truly had the highest of spirits. There were snowball fights on the deck, large group feasts with toasts to a successful trip and lots of laughter. Even one of the women could find humor in getting sick over the side of the ship and trying to keep it from blowing back in her face.

The 300 hours of collected footage were cut to 99 minutes of breathtaking shots captured by five different cameramen, including one permanently soaring above in a helicopter.

There was a distance kept from getting to know each person individually, but this almost seemed to serve as an advantage to the film. It further signified the mystery of the outcome. At the Edge of the World stood alone as an exhilarating work of art that functioned just fine without the close relationship to characters, which I think is often very hard to achieve in films.

Counting myself as a fan of the areas where journalism and documentaries combine (Control Room, War Photographer), I was really looking forward to the premiere of Blood Trail, a fifteen-year project that captures the entire career of war photographer Robert King. In this regard, the movie is rather successful; it's definitely interesting to see King as he progresses from an ambitious, naive beginner, stumbling as he discovers the newfound experience of bullets whizzing over his head, to a weathered, cynical expert skilled at evading the reaper.

It's somewhat unfortunate, then, that the entire film is benchmarked in the present. In addition to completely obliterating the film's pacing, the self-evident artifice of its scenes set in contemporary times undermine the power of the images seen as King has captured as a photographer and fall flat in comparison to boot. How can an obviously staged hunting trip in Tennessee -- a trip that, in one instance, painfully literalizes the metaphor in the title -- hope to compete with the powerful images of suffering seen in Bosnian and Russian warzones?

That's far from the only mistake. Perhaps the most distasteful was the decision to let the audience relive King's hedonistic days in Russia through a montage of naked women interspersed with scenes of carnage, suffering and decay. With a techno song thumping in the background, King remembers his days of drug use and promiscuity while his pictures, hyper-edited into a flashing monstrosity, attempt to induce an epileptic seizure. For a movie revolving around a profession whose function is largely to humanize war, it's simply bizarre to see such violent scenes treated with such a lack of gravity. But considering how it looks upon war correspondence overall, perhaps it's not that big a surpise. Enough of Blood Trail's running time is spent trying to unearth King's personal demons that it strangely hints the characteristics that drove him into his profession form the basis of some social malady. Whereas War Photographer treats war photography as an artform and an end in itself, Blood Trail nearly trivializes the act of photography as a means to personal exorcism.

Overlong and self-serious, At the Edge of the World comes off more as a gorgeously filmed promotional tool for anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherds than a documentary with a thesis beyond the obvious "Whaling is bad." I'm by no means a proponent of objectivity in every pursuit -- former T/F feature and personal favorite Control Room argues against the concept's very existence -- but the sympathetic slant of ATEOTW can become absolutely overbearing. I don't particularly mind a set viewpoint; it's just that the film would undoubtedly benefit from treating its subjects with a little more skepticism and a little less fawning.

If there's one thing the movie does successfully, it's perfectly capturing the boredom of what it's like to be adrift at sea with nothing to do. A good third of the movie is dedicated to counting down the five weeks before anything happens -- it'd be different if the time was spent getting to know the people on board the two ships, but conversations with the characters tend to pound the one note of why they think whaling is bad. Sadly, the driving techno beats occasionally accompanying the ship's movements do little to divert from the fact that nothing's happening for most of the movie's duration, the beautifully captured Antartic scenery can't mask the fact that there's not enough story for what is ostensibly a narrative, and newsreels pad out a good eight minutes of screen time without adding anything beneficial to our understanding. How a movie about piracy can so often venture into tedium is beyond me.

There was an opportunity to go beyond an environmental polemic, to make a movie about the dangers of misplaced idealism. An ambiguous but enduring feud with competing whale-friendly eco-group Greenpeace could provide commentary about how politics within causes can be detrimental to the cause itself, yet it goes entirely uncommented upon by the director. Throughout the film there are instances where the radical tactics of the group could be questioned -- an instance where two members of the team almost perish or the ship itself nearly sustains critical damage in a reckless attack of an "enemy" vessel are ripe for criticism or, at the very least, introspection. And when the film matter-of-factly states that no nation assumed the responsibility of prosecuting the Japanese whalers whom the Sea Shepherds had arrested via their maritime vigilantism, I wanted to scream. To suggest that a state might willingly subject itself to lengthy legal battles and incur international wrath for what is essentially a non-issue is feigning ignorance of the current political reality. Striking a chord between the sympathetic and the critical could prove tricky, but it was something that this subject required; it'd be nice if the attempt had been made.

At heart, At the Edge of the World is a collection of pretty pictures in support of the trite message of "Save the Whales." The bumper sticker gets the message across in a fraction of the time.

Three elderly citizens greet returning veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- it's a documentary subject I thought would be rife with posturing patriotism, one that I assumed would mine the pathos of aging for chuckles and awws. So to say I was emotionally blindsided by the power of this film might be an understatement.

The film subtly parallels the circumstances of its elderly subjects with those of the soldiers they extol: Both face daily the looming threat of death, the contributions of both are underappreciated by society at large. The film doesn't liken the chaos of war to the physical deterioration and cultural alienation brought on by old age, but it does suggest they share a similar ability to inspire fear and foster confusion. There's little wonder these individuals so strongly identify with the troops. With the loss of so much permanance in their lives, the subjects must find new ways of re-establishing their identities.

Here's where the title, which is entirely appropriate but due to the request of David Wilson during the introduction will remain entirely secret, comes in. The movie is less about these old-timers' relationships with departing and returning troops so much as it is about the difficulties of maintaining hope and stability in the face of ever-encroaching entropy. By the end of the movie, each of the three subjects have lost a coping mechanism: Joan has found her family relocated to the battleground, Bill can no longer dwell in the house in which the memories of his youth were forged, and Jerry has lost his loyal companion of 16 years. I'm not exaggerating when I say that each of these personal losses had hot streams of tears running down the contours of my face, but in the end the movie is less a mournful contemplation of the things we lose but a celebration of the endurance of the human spirit in the face of death and the loss of stability.

Beyond the rote musical score, there's little to complain about. If I see a better film this festival, I'll be ecstatic.

My first film of the festival: Oscar-Nominated Shorts! What a great way to start off the weekend. I remember the excitement of last year’s T/F as a festivalgoer, but now that I’m observing more closely, I could definitely feel the sense of magic and the energy of the crowd as we settled into Windsor Cinema to see the four short documentaries. Each of the films was so beautifully made and will certainly tug at heartstrings. Tales of oppression, violence, disease – sad themes, but each has the ability to leaves the audience inspired to go out in the world and make a difference.

Afterward I met two couples, one from Columbia, Ron and Judy Carter, and the couple's friends from Iowa, Dick and Carolyn Otis. The Carters have been to T/F films in the past, but said this was their first time to “do the whole thing,” as Ron said. All four of them chose the last of the four shorts, “Smile Pinki,” as their favorite (it did win the Oscar, after all). Based on that consensus, me, Ron, Judy, Dick and Carolyn encourage you to take the time to see this phenomenal film.

Hey guys! We just wanted to welcome you to the Vox Screen True/False blog. We are working hard to get ready for the festival, just like Marion Brewer. She's the True/False volunteer who will be taking you behind the scenes on her blog. Check it out here!

True/False brings all kinds of people together and we want this blog to do the same. Send us your pictures and stories from the weekend and we'll post them here! You can reach us any time at VoxTrueFalse09@gmail.com

Peace, Love and Movies,

Savannah

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True/False 2009

I Will Survive

Director Q and A reveals, brings big disappointment

Burma VJ

Big River Man: a big river and a big, beer-drinking man

T/First time

Director Q and A's make impact

The Posters Came from the Walls

Ask Questions Later: Old School Meets New Cinematography

Rough Aunties showing breaks the silence

Blood Trail

@ction party!

Prodigal Sons

A reporter at Reporter

A Crude awakening

Necrobusiness is a dirty business

The Reigning Queen of True/False

Reality Bites

At the edge of my Seat with At The Edge of the World

Blood Trail - Contains spoilers

At the Edge of the World - Contains Spoilers

Secret Screening Silver - Note: This review contains spoilers

Oscar-Nominated Shorts

Welcome to the Blog!

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