NaFF '08: Chillin' with Werner Herzog
Who needs penguins when you've got the company of an obsessive German visionary? Encounters at the End of the World, the new documentary by Werner Herzog, has just been added to the lineup of the 2008 Nashville Film Festival, starting April 17 at Green Hills. Having braved some of the roughest terrain on earth—the jungles of Latin America, the wilds of Alaska, the hazards of international film financing—the Rescue Dawn/Grizzly Man director ventures to Antarctica for a look at scientific exploration in one of the planet's least hospitable climates. No word on whether Herzog will attend the festival.
Encounters joins such previously announced NaFF attractions as Roy Andersson's You, the Living and Jose Luis Guerin's In the City of Sylvia; John Gianvito's acclaimed documentary Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind; new docs on Bela Fleck, Wanda Jackson and the L.A. session monsters known as The Wrecking Crew; and an appearance by Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal. After the jump: a few more NaFF titles and late-breaking entries.
Also appearing on the 2008 NaFF schedule:
• Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, a documentary portrait of the outspoken vocalist once nicknamed "the Jezebel of Jazz," co-directed by her former manager Robbie Cavolina and featuring some of the last interviews O'Day gave before her death in 2006.
• The Art of Negative Thinking, Norwegian writer-director Bard Breien's bold black comedy about a furious paraplegic who defies the noble intentions of a therapy group. Variety's rave describes it as "Lars von Trier's The Idiots meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
• The Assassin, an homage to Jean-Pierre Melville's hard-boiled gangster reveries by Nashville native and TSU graduate Devin E. Haqq, who wrote, directed and stars as a New York hitman on the lam.
• Bunnyland, in which Memphis documentary filmmaker Brett Hanover follows Johnny Tesar, "the self-proclaimed 'last Indian on the Trail of Tears,' " through a bizarre story involving ancient civilizations, bunny golf, intrigue in Pigeon Forge, and the mysterious death of a shitload of rabbits.
• Canyon at 45, a tribute to vanguard experimental-film distributor Canyon Cinema hosted by Canyon executive director and filmmaker Dominic Angerame. Among the highlights: works by the late Stan Brakhage, Kenneth Anger, Ken Jacobs, Martin Arnold and Phil Solomon.
• Cook County, writer-director David Pomes' domestic drama about a family wracked by crystal meth, starring Middle Tennessee native Anson Mount, Ryan Donowho and Xander Berkeley.
• Up the Yangtze!, a well-received Sundance entry by director Yung Chang, who delves into the ironies of the tourist industry that has sprung up in the flood path of China's monstrous Three Gorges Dam.
• Urban Assault: Escape from Poverty, a Nashville-shot documentary tackling the crisis of homelessness and hard times on the local front by director Rob McDonald.
• Were the World Mine, a Shakespearean musical fantasy expanded by writer-director Thomas Gustafson (a location casting director whose credits include the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels) from his popular short "Fairies."
Comments
Wow!
And argh... for the third year in a row I'll be on the road and missing the NaFF.
How cool would it be if Herzog showed up though? With buddies like Dub Cornett and Harmony Korine, I wouldn't be surprised...
(speaking of which, why isn't MISTER LONELY in the festival, which was co-written by Harmony and his brother Avi?)
Posted 03/03/2008 at 01:51:57 PMYou can catch Harmony's film sometime after the Festival when it opens at the Belcourt. Otherwise would've been at NaFF.
Posted 03/03/2008 at 02:07:24 PMI think I heard mid-May for Mister Lonely at the Belcourt. Which has a great role for Herzog, by the way.
Posted 03/03/2008 at 03:11:15 PMIf you haven't seen Travis and Jonathan's Grizzly Man parody, do yourself a favor: youtube.com/watch?v=TFq2CM2Pd2g
Posted 03/03/2008 at 03:25:30 PMWerner, until you win three straight American League West division titles, I will continue to stake my claim as the greatest Herzog ever.
Oh, and mom called, and said she hasn't heard from you in weeks. I suppose you're going to claim there's no cell phone reception in Antarctica? Nice try.
Posted 03/03/2008 at 03:29:54 PMMISTER LONELY will open on May 16 at the Belcourt, which will be supplemented with some other fun stuff so stay tuned...
Back to the topic at hand, ENCOUNTERS is fantastic documentary and includes some classic Herzog narration that must be heard to be believed. Who knew a simple question could provide such comic relief. UP THE YANGTZE is a gem as well. Can't wait to see what the next slate of announcements may bring...ART OF NEGATIVE THINKING sounds great.
Posted 03/03/2008 at 03:30:35 PMHave you heard about the Herzblog? portlandmercury.com/portland/BigArt?category=22124&issue=711337
Posted 03/03/2008 at 03:38:06 PMAny chance HK will show some of that movie where people keep beating him up? That should have been called IN HARM'S WAY.
Posted 03/03/2008 at 05:07:33 PMSam: Missed you at Funny Games....
Posted 03/03/2008 at 05:13:47 PMMissed you too... without revealing too much, how did it go over?
Glad to hear MISTER LONELY is getting a nice Belcourt release. It looks like it could be my favorite Korine movie. Co-writer Avi and I were childhood best friends, so I'm pretty proud of him.
Posted 03/03/2008 at 08:51:04 PMScreening was attended by your local cinegeeks (TM) most of whom knew what to expect and seemed pleased with the reworking. In the old days we would have retired to the parlor, uh, Fido to discuss and rehash. Those were the days.
Posted 03/04/2008 at 02:59:53 AMYes, it's just as pulverizing as expected: an almost shot-for-shot remake, with slight details changed (Hollywood stars, various stages of undress) like the variables in a sociological experiment. Which, of course, the movie is—and damn, is it effective. Also, I doubt I'll see a better performance all year than Watts'.
Sorry you couldn't make it, if only to see everyone walking out stunned and mute. Next time Tetsuwan and I will bring our smoking jackets and retire to Fido for cigars and cognac.
I think you'll really like Mister Lonely, especially the beautiful, lyrical opening and the devastating last shot. I can't wait to see it again. It would make a great double feature with Elvis Wilson's documentary about Abraham Lincoln impersonators.
Posted 03/04/2008 at 09:00:01 AMAwesome. I have to renig on our opening night date because a new tour date has put me in New York City on FUNNY GAMES' opening weekend. Times Square AMC, here I come.
Bring back cinegeeks, Fido division!
Posted 03/04/2008 at 05:28:06 PMI saw The Assassin at the Nashville Film Festival, and I thought it was a very good film. I was impressed by the actor, writer, director Devin Haqq, and I felt he did a great job for a first time venture. I'd like to see more of his work.
Posted 10/17/2008 at 01:16:06 PM