Buffalo International Film Festival Rolls Forward
by M. Faust
Take Two
Don’t worry if you missed out on the first week on the Buffalo International Film Festival (I know, it’s been hard what with Local Restaurant Week)—there’s lots more to see during this final weekend.
Screening Locations:
Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022)
HD Video Café, 5445 Transit Rd, Williamsville (688-4933)
The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376)
North Park Theater, 1428 Hertel Ave (836-7411)
For more information and announcements of additions, visit www.buffalofilmfest.com.
For instance:
Thursday, October 7
TeknoLust—Tilda Swinton fans get to see her in four quite different playfully conceived roles as a “self-replicating” bio-geneticist in this science fiction film by Lynn Hershman-Leeson, director of the Steve Kurtz documentary Strange Culture. 7pm, The Screening Room
Jimmy & Johnny (Stewart & Carson)
—World premiere of a program of rare outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage of James Stewart and Johnny Carson presented by David Heeley, Emmy-winning producer of numerous documentaries about classic Hollywood stars like Fred Astaire, Spencer Tracey, and Katharine Hepburn. 7pm, HD Video Café
Bflo Pnk 1.0—Public premiere of former Buffalo News music critic Elmer Ploetz’s ongoing documentary about the history of punk rock in Western New York. Introduced by photographer Eric Jensen. 9:15pm, The Screening Room
Friday, October 8
Psycho—Has it been 50 years since Hitchcock’s dark joke of a movie first scared audiences out of their showers? Jeff Simon from the Buffalo News will introduce this anniversary screening. 7pm, The Screening Room
The Water Front—You’ll think twice about letting that sink tap run after you see this documentary about Highland Park, Michigan, where residents are fighting for a basic human right: access to drinkable water. 7pm, HD Video Café
Shooting April—New York state premiere of a thriller presented in the form of video footage found at the site of a brutal murder. The exploits of a young sociopath and his two weak-willed friends on a quest for “extreme” scenes for their website is persuasive rendered: You could easily mistake it for the real thing, which makes parts of it hard to watch. For better and worse, a truly independent debut for filmmaker Tod Lancaster. 9:15pm The Screening Room
Don Letts double feature—Two short documentaries by the DJ (the first in the 1970s to mix reggae with punk) turned musician (Big Audio Dynamite) turned filmmaker. Strummerville looks at the work of a foundation set up in honor of the late Joe Strummer to aid struggling musicians. Superstonic examines the musical/cultural history of bass in British music. 9:15 pm, HD Video Café
Saturday, October 10
The War Against the Weak—Linking the Anglo-American Eugenics movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries to Hitler and Nazi Germany’s horrific efforts to violently eliminate European Jewry and other “inferior” peoples may strike us as a shocking stretch, but the achievement of Justin Strawhand’s War Against the Weak is to make this more plausible. In his consistent, measured fashion, Strawhand efficiently builds a disturbing case that binds once-prominent English and American scientists and social theorists to the eventual extermination programs the Nazis planned and executed. Based on a book by Edwin Black, the documentary traces racist thinking from its post-Darwinist origins in England in the person of such prominent figures as Francis Galton (“The best must be bred and the rest eliminated.”) on to alarmingly widespread efforts in the United States to protect the allegedly imperiled white race from darker peoples and mental defectives.
Strawhand moves quickly but he manages to incriminate a number of American ruling-class worthies, including Theodore Roosevelt and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Along his fact-filled way, the director includes even the College Board’s original SAT exams in his low-keyed but obviously condemnatory review of a very dark hued, apparently deeply rooted strain of ugly, semi-delusional thinking in American history.
Strawhand keeps talking heads to a bare minimum, using a mobile, often tracking camera in natural and architectural settings to surprisingly good effect. But it’s the words and deeds he presents that resonate troublingly, and make one wonder if these irrationally destructive urges are really gone from American life.
—george sax
Saturday, October 10
The Evil Dead—Newly remastered 35mm print of Sam Raimi’s now-classic horror movie, modestly subtitled “The ultimate experience in grueling horror!” 2 pm, North Park Theater
Charles Beaumont: Twilight Zone’s Magic Man—Documentary about the science fiction writer who scripted many of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone prior to his death at 38 of a mysterious brain disease. Presented by filmmakers Jason and Sunni Brock. 3pm HD Video Café
“A Clean Escape”—Sam Waterston and Judy Davis star in the episode of the ABC series Masters of Science Fiction adapted from a story by Buffalo native John Kessell, who will be present via SKYPE for the screening. 5 pm, HD Video Café
Born to Die—Local filmmaker Jay Mager’s gruesome tale of crime and revenge isn’t exactly a horror movie, but the bodies pile up in a way sure to please fans of the genre. With the shorts “The Pigman” and “Million Dollar Dog.” 10pm, The Screening Room
Sunday, October 11
The Searchers 2.0—Alex Cox, the director of Repo Man and Sid and Nancy, will be present via SKYPE for this screening of his road comedy. 3pm, The Screening Room
Punta y Rayo—Experimental animation festival from Barcelona, Spain. presented by festival director Larry Cuba. 3 pm, Squeaky Wheel
Another Planet—Filmmaker Ferenc Moldoványi looks at the Earth as if it were a foreign planet for this documentary about the extreme circumstances of impoverished children around the world. 5 pm, HD Video Café
As of press time, several screenings were in the process of being added. Check artvoice.com or www.buffalofilmfestival.com for updated information.
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