V O X M A G A Z I N E / / 01. 2 9 .15 / / F R E E E V E R Y T H U R S D A Y
Camper's Manual
Vox brings you the Necessities for staying on top of True/False
What's New Ti F? New to the crew: Pamela Cohn Rebekah Hall
Say goodbye to Artist Jim Harbeam With your party of other adventurous festgoers, you will be challenged to work your way through a narrative in 60 minutes or less. Such a shame: I liked this band a lot Bethlehem Steel, and its shipbuilding corporation were two of the most powerful symbols of American industrial manufacturing muscle. For the last several years, she and a team of cinematographers have been sneaking into the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Pennsylvania to document its transformation into a casino…and just to poke around.
In With The new Lost Letters: A Transmedia Happening With your party of other adventurous festgoers, you will be challenged to work your way through a narrative in 60 minutes or less. Completing the experience will rely on creative thinking and teamwork. Welcome Filmmaker Jesse Epstein Bethlehem Steel, and its shipbuilding corporation were two of the most powerful symbols of American industrial manufacturing muscle. For the last several years, she and a team of cinematographers, photographers and musicians have been sneaking into the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Pennsylvania to document its transformation into a casino…and just to poke around. Good Wizard Arcade This home of T/F transmedia will be styled after a classic 80s arcade, but filled with virtual reality and participatory installations intent on building a new narrative language for these emerging forms.
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Film Interactive Music
photos courtesy oF truefalse.org
and MUCH MUCH More... KEY
Rejection letter writers rarely get compliments. This isn’t the case for True/False. David Friesen, former submissions director, gives examples: “The nicest rejection letter ever! So nice that I am going to save it in the folder with the articles and the appreciation letters that I received for this film.” “It’s never fun to get these letters and much less when they are boilerplate factory letters, so thanks for going that extra step, it really sets True/False apart and boosts your already fab reputation.” Although the fest rejects many docs every year, it makes a special effort to assure filmmakers that the films are worthwhile and actually viewed. The submissions director is the bad-news bearer responsible for sending rejections. This year it’s Chris Boeckmann. Each letter contains a few lines dedicated to something positive and specific to the rejected doc. This is encouraging proof for the filmmakers that their documentary was actually viewed during the submission process. Although it might save time to send a mass generic letter like many other festivals, that’s hardly the True/False style. “I think filmmakers are discouraged by the film fes-
tival circuit,” says Boeckmann. “Because of that form letter, they think that film festivals don’t even actually watch their films.” Filmmaker Mark Wojahn submitted his documentary Trampoline in 2010. It took six years to create. The film didn’t make it into True/False, but the rejection was different than his past experiences with film festivals. “Even though they were turning the film down, they did so in a gracious way,” Wojahn says. The letter contained a basic summary of the film, which set it apart from other blanket letters he had received. “It felt like they cared a little bit,” he says. “Maybe at True/False, one or both of their directors are telling their programming committee that they want to give their filmmakers a fair shake.” David Friesen was submissions director from 2009 through 2011. After his first year doing the job, the level of positive feedback surprised him. “The thing that stood out to me is how uncommon it is and how refreshing it is for (filmmakers) to receive these emails,” Friesen says. “Just to have somebody taking the time to do that makes a big difference.” The goal behind the responses is to build a sense of community. “It goes with the central mission of True/False, which is to be a film festival focused on the filmmakers and their interaction with the audience,” Friesen says. David Wilson and Paul Sturtz, the fest’s coconspirators, have filmmaking experience, which Friesen says gives them an understanding of both sides of the festival. He says they didn’t want to make True/False a contest. “We just wanted to say these were all fantastic films by brilliant filmmakers,” Friesen says.
Out With THe Old
BUILDING The BOND T/F and The Crossing Are interesting partners Mitchell Forde
File PHOTO BY Missourian Archives
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arning: That faint ringing in your ears might last into next week. By the end of the True/ False weekend, your brain might be abuzz with an assortment of new tunes. You should be able to create a new playlist that will cure those “Will winter ever end?” blues. Your veins could become so saturated with music you’ll wonder if there’s any room left for booze. With 39 musical acts coming from different parts of the globe, 13 music showcases at six venues and performers busking before 126 film screenings, this weekend might make you forget that True/False is a film festival. Fusing music with film is nothing unfamiliar for the fest. What is new this year is the Busker Band pass: your $30 ticket to a baker’s dozen of music showcases at True/False. As usual, bands will busk before film scrYou’ve been warned, but don’t worry — As usual, bands will busk before film that bass drum beat pulsing through your veins will subside eventually. scrYou’ve been warned, but don’t worry — that bass drum beat pulsing through your veins will Larkin and Rynhart began playing together about 10 years ago. subside eventually. And for music lovers, the At first, there was no name, just two Boulder buddies makafter-effects might just be the best True/False souvenir yet. ing Irish music. In December 2010, Rynhart asked Drickey to THIS AIN’T HER FIRST RODEO tour with them on a whim. She said yes and never looked back. Columbia singer-songwriter, harpist and True/False veteran “We just kind of threw it together on the way,” Drickey says. Ruth Acuff will captivate festgoers with the dreamy, intoxicating “But we’ve been really, really active ever since. It kind of took sound of her voice and harp. everything over.” Four years ago, Acuff found her destiny. For more than half Chimney Choir’s sound has roots in traditional Irish music, her life, the 29-year-old played guitar. In 2010, she was drawn old-time folk and blues, and the band has a deep appreciation to a new instrument, the harp. “I’m so glad I discovered it,” she for lyricism and simple harmony. The folksy aesthetic of the says. “It just feels really natural, like it is what I’m supposed to band’s music is juxtaposed with synthetic and live drums plus be doing.” computer synthesizers. This year, her husband, Jeff Mueller, and sister, Mary Leibo“We have this eye toward this blend of really familiar, nosvich, will accompany her onstage. Her husband will be playing talgic Americana sounds that we can use to create a feeling, and upright bass and sister singing harmonies and playing percusthen we also have sort of free rein of the electronic world, where sion. you can literally make any noises in the world,” Drickey says. “We’re going to try to set the mood a little bit differently Chimney Choir will showcase its music 9:30 p.m. on Friday than last year,” Acuff says. “We really want to create a magical at Mojo’s. Along with this performance, the band has been atmosphere to go along with this year’s theme, and to me, the collaborating for the past month with artist Taylor Ross on a harp is such a magical instrument.” magical project she’s bringing to True/False. THE NEW BAND ON THE BLOCK Ross, with ties in both Iowa and Denver, calls it an interactive, three-dimensional, mechanical sculpture with an “interIt’s time to turn the volume up for Denver-based band preted music box.” The sculpture is a hand-crank mechanism Chimney Choir. Newbies to True/False this year, the group that connects to a girl sitting on a fox. With a turn of the crank, amps up its performance to accommodate the wacky, artsy music plays and the “larger-than-life-size fox and smaller-thanaspect True/False is so well-known for. life-size girl” sculpture moves. Coming from 727 miles away, Kevin Larkin, David Rynhart Ross says the music she and Chimney Choir worked on and Kris Drickey are determined to bring fresh sounds and an for the piece embodies a journey. “It represents the lifting away artistic, storytelling performance to the fest. Drickey says the from the mundane, out of the proverbial darkness — a darkness group has held back from a total art direction but feels True/ someone has to go through to come out a better person, to grow False is the perfect venue for it. up,” she says. “Right now for us as a band, it feels like it’s time,” Drickey Chimney Choir will be performing the music made for the says. “True/False is the reason to get our show really ready. It moving sculpture at the Missouri Theatre on Friday at 10 a.m. feels like a risk, but it lights a fire, raises the bar, and we have to They will also play an excerpt from that performance to kick off meet it.” Busker’s Last Stand. Although this is Chimney Choir’s first time at True/ False,
Open & FREE SHOWS
SPARKY’S: SATURDAY STARTING AT 2 P.M.
• Flux Bikes: The St. Louis duo returns to True/False to bust out the beats from their bicycle wheels. • Prahlad: MU English professor by day, classically trained musician by night. He returns this year with his mbira drum and folk attitude. SPARKY’S: SUNDAY STARTING AT 2 P.M.
• Samuel James: New to True/False this year, James bleeds heavy blues rhythms and outstanding technique. • Les Trois Coups: 2012 True/False performers, French quartet Les Trois Coups return. Street theatre meets musette-inspired traditional chanson. MU THEATRE: SUNDAY STARTING AT 9:45 P.M.
• Busker’s Last Stand: The fest family and buskers come together for a last hurrah. • Les Trois Coups: 2012 True/False performers, French quartet Les Trois Coups return. Street theatre meets musette-inspired traditional chanson. 01.29.15 | voxmagazine.com
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PACK ACCORDINGLY It’s going to be a long trip... So be Prepared
o you fancy yourself a film festival expert, eh? You know the finer points of cinéma vérité, can exchange jargon with even the snobbiest of your cinema-loving brethren and haven’t missed Cannes in years. Heck, you even have James Cameron on speed dial. But when you’re in the moment, and the questions are piling up — Where am I? How am I going to get a seat at the next screening? I need caffeine before I flip, but where can I get it, and can I bring it in the theater? — just relax, and take a deep breath. Vox has the answers to all these questions and more. Like filing your taxes, getting True/ False passes is not something you want to put off until the last second. Unlike filing your taxes, though, you have a chance to redeem yourself in the event you somehow messed up. For every screening, approximately 92 percent of the seats are sold beforehand, leaving hope for people on the outside looking in. Simply find the “Q” sign, and get a numbered piece of paper, which indicates where you are in line. If there are 60 available seats for a screening, queue numbers one through 60 will pay $10 at the door, or $6 for student tickets, and get in. Any number after that: Better luck next time. Queue numbers aren’t given out until an hour beforehand. For films at the smaller venues, arriving 20-30 minutes early is probably sufficient to get in. However, some Bruce Willis die-hards are sure to go all-out for the larger films.
Brooke Kottmann
Mistake We ASKED THE VETERANS... Brooke Kottmann
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Men “DO” Need Maps “Go to the March March parade. Anyone can be in it. It is worth every second.” — Barbie Banks
Didn’t stop to eat... “Plan your meals accordingly. Parking, eating and sleeping are the essentials.” — Kyle Cook Left before the credits “Stay after the film to do Q-and-A. You get a whole new perspective on what you thought you just saw. Also, you get to meet a brilliant mind” — Karen Lowry
SHUSH AND LISTEN “Wear comfortable shoes. Turn your cell phone off, and don’t talk during the movies. Trust me, you will be thanking me later.” — Lindsay McMurry Ten Minutes Late “So many directors are just walking around. They’d love to talk to you. It’s an awesome weekend for them, too.” — Johanna Cox
Money is Important Too... “The True Life Run on Saturday morning is a run where you can hula hoop and do fun obstacles. There’s a way to get involved with True/False if films aren’t your thing. All the proceeds go to the True Life fund.” — Beth Shepard
Courtesy photo by XVCampGear.com
Rookie
Forgot The Tickets “The films in the bigger venues are usually deemed to be more crowdpleasers; when in doubt, pick the films in either the Missouri Theatre or Jesse Auditorium.” — Cindy Sheltmire
Music To Our Ears
These new, returning and offbeat acts are worth a listen
chloe castleberry
Familiar faces
MU grad Chris Canipe, vocalist and guitarist for T/F regular Malone, describes his bandmates as idiot comedians during performances, and they focus on talking with the audience. “You shouldn’t want to have a conversation when the band is playing because you’re having one with the band.” The members have been friends and writers for a long time. “We’re a songwriting collaboration, which makes us distinct in three songwriting voices,” Canipe says. Malone will play at the Landmark Bank Courtyard at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Creek Rocks is another returning band this year. The duo is comprised of Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu, who are husband and wife. Woolf describes their style as a combination of traditional Ozark, folk, country and sometimes a little bluegrass. The Creek Rocks will perform at the Thursday Berlin Busker revue at 8 p.m.
Seratones, a funky quartet from Louisiana, want to restore everyone’s faith in the rock ’n’ roll genre.
First-time performers This year is the first time Seratones, Hearing Things and River Kittens, to name a few, will play at the festival. Each of these performers has something different to bring to the stage, which is why music coordinators Donna Kozloskie and Wil Reeves chose them. “We’re not trying to limit ourselves to folky acts,” Reeves says. Artists’ styles include rock, rap and folk. From Shreveport, Louisiana, Seratones put a southern spin on a traditional genre. Hearing Things is a jazz trio with an organ, drums and saxophone, and River Kittens is a folk-Americana band with a modern, joking attitude. Seratones play at The Blue Note at 10:15 p.m. tonight; Hearing Things perform at Rose Music Hall at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, and River Kittens have shows at various locations and times tonight, Friday and Sunday.
Offbeat artists Saera Kochanski, known as Wishbone Zoë, creates music under the indie-folk rock umbrella. She describes herself as an introvert who values lyrics and visuals. “Lyrics are a pretty important unit,” she says. “I used to write a lot of poetry.” In terms of theatricality, Kochanski delivers. She uses banjo, guitar, stacked vocals, an old radio and a power drill to create an unconventional experience for the audience. Columbia-based band Nevada Greene uses slow, lulling instrumental sounds and creates a soothing environment; those who listen feel refreshed. Both will perform at the Sparky’s Sunday Showcase at 2 p.m.
Bottom: photo BY OR COURTESY OF REBECCA ALLEN | photos COURTESTY OF BRAD GRIFFITH; TRUE/FALSE
ArtIST IN RESIDENCE: Taylor Ross Artist-in-residence Taylor Ross turns plants into wearable works of art Iowa-based artist Taylor Ross, 29, has been wandering off the trails and harvesting plants since July to create her True/False art piece, Lay of the Land. This garment is actually wearable clothing made entirely from natural materials she gathered in Missouri and from her home state. Ross’s relationship with the festival began two years ago. A mutual friend saw a mechanical wooden fox she made and knew it would be a perfect fit for the festival’s theme of “Magic Realism.” The piece, Juniper and Fyn, appeared at the fest two years in a row. This year, Ross returns as an artist-in-residence with a different kind of installation. She will transform plants, such as dogbane, into a woven work of art. “Materials are very tied into everything else about us,” Ross says. “The stories we tell, how we relate to the world, what we think of the world, (and) what we think of ourselves.” To create the piece, Ross and others harvested 1,600 nearly 4-foot-tall stalks of dogbane and 500 stalks of milkweed. She made sure to cut above the ground so the plants will grow back the next season. Ross also gathered yucca and velvetleaf for embellishments and stored all the materials in her studio. Once she has harvested her materials, the processing stage begins. Each dark-brown stalk gets snapped open, revealing what she calls the “golden
curlicues of the prairie.” After stripping the outer wood, Ross works two flat brushes through the hair-like innards using a technique called carding, which prepares the coiled fibers for spinning. Ross twists the fibers into twine by hand or with a drop spindle, which is a small, portable spinning wheel. “I hope that people appreciate and understand how meticulous her piece is,” Erika Adair, the True/False artist-in-residence Taylor Ross leads a workshop on turning natural fibers True/False associate art into twine. Ross used this technique to create her garment, Lay of the Land. installation coordinator, wrote in an email. “It is to get up close and personal with the soft, sweetmade of 100 percent natural materials.” smelling vest — you can even try it on for the full Ross’ ceremonial top is a mix of woven knit and natural experience. net-like pieces, a “symbol of the truth that we are both caught and cradled in the clutches of our landscapes,” Ross says. Swing by the Missouri United Methodist Church
Natalia Alamdari
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Doc Matrix When a newborn arrives as an elder fades, a family of nine women gains a deeper understanding of intimacy.
Between Sisters
If an enduring sisterhood was threatened by a painful, untold story, would you tell it? Or would you keep it secret?
Cameraperson
A sought-after cinematographer, Kirsten Johnson, compiled footage that stood out to her during more than two decades of filming and storytelling.
With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as a backdrop, the Brazilian-born director planned for a father-son reunion that became a goodbye.
The Fear of 13
A convicted murderer demanded his own execution after 20 years on death row. After an acquittal, he tells his story.
This film peeks into the lives and journeys of four middle-aged transgender women as they explore identities and love.
voxmagazine.com | 01.29.15
Thy Father’s Chair
Starless Dreams
Serious crimes, such as murder and drug dealing, bring a group of young girls together as convicts. Their detention center becomes their community and sanctuary.
HEAVY
The Brooklyn apartment of Orthodox Jewish twin brothers is chaos, a result of their hoarding tendencies and memories.
Jim: The James Foley Story
The story of photojournalist Jim Foley, who was publicly executed by ISIS in 2014, is told through the eyes of Foley’s childhood friend, director Brian Oakes.
photos courtesy oF true/false film fest
In the wilderness of Louisiana, a filmmaker mingles with various personalities that represent an under-explored side of America’s identity.
With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the U.S. is home to a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Director Brett Story asks if the nation has an addiction to incarceration.
This modern-day rural tragedy depicts Peter Dunning and his Vermont farm, which is made into both his salvation and his prison.
This 90-minute bio with multiple celebrity cameos details the life of Norman Lear, the American sitcom giant, from various perspectives.
Follow former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner through his failed 2013 campaign to become New York City mayor.
The Pearl
Peter and the Farm
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
This film tells the story of a pop-culture journalist and a company that films professional tickling events. Already confused? Just wait.
At a high school for at-risk kids in the California desert, teachers believe it takes love and empathy, not just textbooks, to help students grow.
The Prison in Twelve Landscapes
The Other Side
Tickled
The Bad Kids
This meta-narrative film follows an actor portraying Christine Chubbuck, the Florida newscaster who killed herself on live television in 1974.
Australian aboriginal actor David Gulpilil explores what happens when people try to superimpose a new culture on a pre-existing one.
Acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the international collective he created, The Silk Road Ensemble, demonstrate music’s power by inspiring hope and obscuring boundaries.
Weiner
Kate Plays Christine
Another Country
The Music of Strangers
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind discovered a magical way to connect with his autistic son through Disney characters.
Mainstream
Artsy
Abou and his friends are among thousands of people at a makeshift camp who prepare to jump the fences between Morocco and Spain in search of a better life.
Princess Shaw’s dream is no different from other YouTubers: She posts and hopes more will watch. What happens when her wish comes true, thanks to a secret admirer?
Scenes from the Philippines’ largest maternity ward — rows of beds, intense heat and constant loudspeaker announcements — provide glimpses into the world’s exploding population.
Various gangs of young boys navigate war-torn Afghanistan to sell explosives and control trade routes.
Midwestern myths about utopia and justice question how people’s beliefs shape identity and history.
A 14-year-old Afghan refugee finds her redemption when she turns the rage of being sold as a bride into rap lyrics.
Untitled Ramona Diaz Project
Behemoth
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Those Who Jump
When Canadian cop John Hanmer was murdered in the Philippines, his children, Michael and Shannon, soon discovered each other and the secrets their father kept.
The Illinois Parable
Life, Animated Sonita
Presenting Princess Shaw
Michael Shannon Michael Shannon John
The Land of the Enlightened
Coal mines transform Inner Mongolia from paradise into purgatory when viewed through Chinese filmmaker Zhao Liang’s lens.
Siyu Lei
UPLIFTING
Nosotras · Ellas
O Futebol
A guide to 28 of this year’s docs
SWAP STREAMING For Screening A glimpse into what it takes to become a True/False film
Brad Bergner
PHOTOs BY Missourian Photography Staff
uring Jacobellis v. Ohio, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously wrote that he did not know how to define obscenity but knew it when he saw it. True/False coconspirator David Wilson echoes Potter’s sentiments when trying to describe the documentary films selected for the festival. “I don’t know how to define (a True/False film), but we know it when we see it,” he says. Wilson is one of four programmers responsible for choosing the docs shown at each year’s fest. In their search for worthy films, he and his cohorts travel the world. At film festivals in Colorado, Amsterdam, the Czech Republic and Utah’s Sundance, Wilson and company seek the finest documentaries. From these festivals, the programmers procure many of their selections; however, there is yet another pool from which to draw — submissions. The number of aspiring filmmakers who enter their work is massive, culminating in 1,200 submissions for this year’s festival. The Canary screening committee rates and reviews each film. With its members required to review a minimum of 50 submissions each from August through December, the job is no small undertaking. Hank Ottinger, a six-year veteran of the committee, taught film for 25 years at Westminster College in
Last but not least
Fulton. He says he’s watched about 764 documentaries. Out of the hundreds of films Ottinger has reviewed, about 75 have received a rating of seven or higher on the committee’s 10-point scale, a grade that sends them to the fest’s programmers for consideration. In his grading, Ottinger’s main concern is narrative. “What’s the story being told?” Ottinger says. “How well is it filmed and edited? I want to be transported to a different place in my mind.” Ottinger is not the only one with discriminating taste. Katherine Reed, MU School of Journalism professor and a former film critic for The Roanoke Times, served on the committee for two years. Before True/False began receiving the majority of its submissions digitally through Vimeo, Reed would screen docs from stacks of DVDs. Her primary concern as a critic is originality. “I can’t stand the feeling that I’ve seen (a film) before,” Reed says. “I dislike being manipulated.” During her time on the committee, Reed recalls scoring just a couple of films high enough for consideration. Although Reed and Ottinger are a tough crowd, the programmers are even more demanding. None of the documentaries submitted from these two vets have made it into the doc lineup. Yet Wilson says the number of submissions featured in the fest is rising. Of the 36 new feature films showing, 21 were selected from the 1,200. While the success rate might not be encouraging, perhaps this brutally selective nature has made True/False what it is.
Ditch your Netflix series binge for one of these films if you like house of cards...
go see weiner
The cutthroat world of House of Cards gets a humorous twist in this film, which follows now-disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner. You’ve seen Frank Underwood behind the scenes. Now, hear from Weiner in the midst of the media frenzy that brought down his 2013 New York City mayoral campaign.
if you like orange is the new black...
go see starless dreams
Like Orange Is the New Black, this film offers a glimpse of detainee life, but it paints a more serious portrait of the young women living in a correctional center. Directed by this year’s True Vision Award recipient, Mehrdad Oskouei, Starless Dreams tells the stories of seven girls and raises awareness of juvenile delinquency in Tehran, Iran.
if you like making a murderer...
go see the fear of 13
Did you find yourself hooked on the twists and turns throughout all 10 episodes of Making a Murderer? Jump back into the courtroom with The Fear of 13. Nick Yarris was arrested for the attempted murder of a Pennsylvania police officer after a traffic stop turned into a violent altercation. Then, he found himself convicted of a previously unsolved rape and murder and sentenced to death. Now acquitted, Yarris shares his nightmare story with eloquence.
Documentary students give truth to Concerned Student 1950 beyond headlines
On Tuesday night, True/False added what fest coconspirator David Wilson calls the “latest addition to the schedule we’ve ever had.” Adam Dietrich, Varun Bajaj and Kellan Marvin, juniors at MU’s Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism, spent two weeks last November immersed in the Concerned Student 1950 movement. The end result of their work, Concerned Student 1950, will premiere at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday in the Missouri Theatre after Secret Screening Navy. The showing will be first-come, first-serve and Secret
Natalia Alamdari
Screening Navy attendees will not be required to leave. There won’t be a Q&A panel, but that doesn’t mean viewers aren’t supposed to talk about it. “The real hope is that the Q&A blows out into the street and that people will discuss this on their own,” Dietrich says. Marvin says she hopes the film will change people’s hearts and minds. Dietrich, Bajaj and Marvin want this film to return the movement to the forefront of the conversation. “The film is to change the narrative,” Bajaj says. “The narrative now is that football players striked, the college
BY CAITLIN busch
students are crybabies and that Melissa Click possibly did this or that. The conversation we should be having is race relations. What happened, what can we do about it and how can we bridge these gaps? The other things don’t really matter.” The film is from the perspective of the student group. “We’re by no means going to be changing everyone’s mind,” Dietrich says. “But I truly hope that they continue to engage in conversation about the subject. Even if this doesn’t make them think or feel any differently, I still want them to talk about it.”
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Meet The Director When Nick BerardinI
What did you take from playing basketball that can be applied to filmmaking? It’s really competitive. That’s part of the problem in some ways. Issue films are not just about information that’s important. You’re competing with other films, and you’re competing with a finite audience. I’m not competing with other outlets for a story on Taser International; I’m competing with all the other issue 16
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What made you want to turn the Moberly story into something bigger? It started that day I spent at Taser International. I didn’t know a lot of things, but I had a good grasp on the way people saw themselves and how people presented themselves. They were out-of-touch. That sort of absolutist culture is reflective of cults in a way, and cults are really fascinating. They’re interesting stories to pursue because it’s people who have their blinders on. Although I didn’t have a lot of hard, investigative knowledge, I knew from spending the day there something had happened. Something they were trying to ignore was causing them to be this disconnected from the way they were presenting themselves. It’s not just a story about Moberly and how this town is piecing itself back together. It’s a story about a company that has an enormous influence in law enforcement and how the victors wrote their own histories.
What was it like to juggle your job while making and promoting a movie? It was exciting. It’s something that’s continuing. We’re still doing screenings; we’re still promoting online. It’s a very niche, weird thing to be the sole
expert on one company and spend your whole adult life learning about it. This wasn’t just a movie about Tasers and whether they are good or bad. It’s about the way we behave and the way our moral compasses shift based on the circumstances we’re in. I think that’s why it touched a lot of people because they can see themselves in these guys’ shoes. They weren’t necessarily likeable guys, but they’re human.
Your film touches on police violence. Do you sympathize with the Black Lives Matter movement and the nationwide protests? One hundred percent. It’s not enough to say some cops are capable of doing bad things, but the vast majority of them behave appropriately. If there is a lack of accountability, most officers will find it easier to blur the lines between right and wrong. That’s a lot of what my movie is about. It’s showing why we’re more sympathetic to the police officers in that movie than the company. It’s because we’re saying the officers are not equipped to make these broad decisions in the 15 minutes of training they get from the company. If they understood the consequences of what they were dealing with, that would influence their behavior. It’s showing that this is about the accountability and the awareness of consequences. These minority lives are equal to your friend’s life if you’re an officer. Your son’s life. I think it’s been pretty effective.
Alex Schiffer
Photo by Annie Rice/Missourian
was preparing to leave the suburbs of Chicago to attend MU, he saw himself moving from a high school basketball career in Lake Forest, Illinois, to a career as a journalist. However, his path took a slight turn after reporting for KOMU on the 2008 death of Stanley Harlan, a Moberly man who died after being Tasered by police. Stacey Woelfel, news director for the station at the time and now director of the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at MU, told Berardini that Harlan and the Moberly community would be a good topic to make a film about. After Berardini interviewed the company Taser International, the focus shifted from Moberly. He spent nearly six years researching the company and filming Killing Them Safely. His debut film about the life-threatening dangers of Tasers made it to the silver screen in April 2015, had a special screening at Missouri Theatre last fall and is now available to rent on Amazon and iTunes. The former walk-on to the Missouri basketball team was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2015 and is currently researching topics for his next film.
movies out there. That’s where it gets kind of dangerous because we start to sensationalize things or scream at the top of our lungs about outrage and how important our story is. We end up becoming so focused on the call to action that we cut a lot of humanity out of these movies.
People Watch
Top True/False Film Fest Need-To-Know’s of 2016 Heidi Ewing Co-Director of Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
photos courtesy of Heidi Ewing; Andreas Horvath; Kirsten Johnson; Roberto Minervini; Morgan Neville; Mehrdad Oskouei; Sergio Oksman; Molly Reynolds; Brett Story; Roger Ross Williams
Ewing was nominated for an Academy Award, along with her co-director Rachel Grady, for their 2006 documentary Jesus Camp. Now, Ewing returns to True/ False as co-director of Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You. Grady and Ewing’s film shines a light on the prolific life of one of the 20th century’s most iconic TV writers and producers. Co-owner of Loki Films, Ewing has co-directed several feature-length documentaries. -BB
Sergio Oksman Director of O Futebol Oksman returns to True/False as one of the subjects in his own film. Oksman’s film is set against the backdrop of the 2014 World Cup, hosted in his home country of Brazil and chronicles his attempt to reconnect with his estranged father, whom he hadn’t seen in 20 years. Although this is a documentary, he employs fiction in his work. Oksman told Variety, “It’s a story that springs from the lives of two real people, me and my father, which I constructed as fiction.”Ωz
Andreas Horvath Director of Helmut Berger, Actor
Mehrdad Oskouei Director of Starless Dreams
Horvath, also a freelance photographer, has won filmmaking awards at multiple documentary conventions including the Chicago International Documentary Film Festival. In his most recent film, Helmut Berger, Actor, Horvath directed with his creative impulses. The documentary provides an upclose glimpse into the once-iconic actor’s life. Born in Salzburg, Austria, Horvath takes a mildly disturbing look into the intimate relationship between subject and filmmaker. -BB
The Iranian director’s film focuses on a detention facility for young women’s who committed crimes such as drug trafficking and manslaughter. Oskouei won the fest’s True Vision Award this year among more than 80 awards for his movies. His other works include The Last Days of Winter and It’s Always Late for Freedom. In addition to being considered one of Iran’s top filmmakers, Oskouei is also a photographer in his free time. -AS
Kirsten Johnson Director of Cameraperson
Molly Reynolds Director of Another Country
The award-winning cinematographer and filmmaker presents her film Cameraperson, which compiles her unused footage from other projects that span roughly two decades. Johnson picked the subjects for the film by looking through her past work, such as Citizenfour and Pray the Devil Back to Hell, to find people who never made it to the big screen but still had a direct impact on her. -AS
The Australian-born Reynolds will make a daylong flight across the Pacific Ocean to show her film in Columbia. Reynolds says it is a wonderful opportunity and a privilege to have her film featured at True/False. Another Country offers an insightful look into the cultural differences impacting Ramingining, Northern Territory, a small Aboriginal community in Australia. -BB
Roberto Minervini Director of The Other Side
Brett Story Director of The Prison in Twelve Landscapes
The Italian-born director comes to town to air his fourth feature film, which details the lives of people who live around drugs, alcohol and violence. His past films include Low Tide and Stop the Pounding Heart. A success story himself, Minervini grew up in similar environments that provided his inspiration for the film. Despite the sometimes-shaky situations he was around during filming, the director told Filmmaker Magazine, “I am completely oblivious to risk when I film.” -AS
Story’s film focuses on the influence prisons have throughout the United States. Story won awards throughout Canada for her last film Land of Destiny, which focused on a small town’s cancer epidemic. “All of my films definitely have geography in common,” Story says. “I’m very interested in how people relate to the spaces that they live and how they transform those spaces.” -AS
Morgan Neville Director of The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
Roger Ross Williams
Neville, who won an Oscar for his film 20 Feet from Stardom, debuted The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival and received positive reviews. Neville profiles Silk Road, the ensemble that renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma created, and its everchanging lineup. He’s known for his work on musical and cultural subjects. “I tell stories about culture. That’s my thing.” Neville says. -AS
Director of Life, Animated In 2010, Williams’ Music by Prudence won the Academy Award for Documentary (Short Subject) that made him the first black director to win an Oscar. The former TV journalist’s film shares the world of Owen Suskind, a 23-year-old with Autism who used Disney movies to comprehend his surroundings as a child. In January, Williams won the Sundance Directing Award in the U.S. documentary category with this film. -BB
01.29.15 | voxmagazine.com
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