Tales from the Film Fest
That "lets all go to the movies" song is now stuck in my head
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From The Archive
Seriously. I have written a lot in this blog. You should explore it.
I got the opportunity to work on the press line for SF Film and posted the clips on TikTok Thelma director Josh Margolin, Thelma star and voice actor June Squibb and Chitwel Ejiofor for his film Rob Peace
This is my second year at the SF Film Festival. I kept it to a minimum on the viewings for a number of reasons but this year’s festival felt different.
There were so many big names and exhibitions come through last year that I wasn’t really afforded the opportunity to dive in. This year for a number of reasons (not relating to the festival) I only attended a few shows but I was content with the shows that I did get to experience.
Some festivals have a practice of offering press line passes and not offering the media the access to see the movies was a PR failing for years. I’m happy to see that trend died. It’s a thought that’s forming for me and another commentary for another day.
It’s also very apparent that the industry was still recovering from the Writers Strike and the actors strike which shifted the entire industry. From the conversations I had there appeared to be a lot more inclusion of smaller local media, local artists and support from people who really needed.
Luther: Never Too Much documentary. Being of a certain age, allowed me to relive some conversations that I had already been witness to in real life and in real time. Also being a fan of the music made this so much more enjoyable. It wasn’t heavy hearted and it honored his legacy. I never really knew how much of a contribution Luther Vandross made to the music industry until watching this documentary. I also learned so much about having struggles being in the forefront of music as a plus sized person. There was so much music and I found myself singing along with every song throughout the documentary.
It's a fan favorite for me.
Jasmine Renee Jones’ ‘Seeking Mavis’ is a youthful piece where I found myself wondering more about my own mortality and age for who this next generation of Black women. I was thinking about how free they all looked. At one point watching these girls giggle while in creating I started to believe my generation of women—Gen X the ones that everyone forgets about— who are now their mothers and aunts, have raised them to take better care of themselves. Something many of us, learned much later in life. These girls wear acrylic nails, colored eyeliner and mismatched everything.
The Q&A for Chiwetel Rob Peace covered most of what I got in the press line but missed the movie because of family emergency. I posted the TikTok interview at the top but in case you were eager to scroll past it, here is Chitwel Ejiofor for his film Rob Peace.
Fun fact: The movie also required an animal handler for the roaches. Don't ask.
A more funner fact: Thelma was Richard Roundtree’s (Shaft for the uninformed) final on screen performance in this low stakes geriatric Mission: Impossible homage. Director Josh Margolin explained during the Q&A that a real life situation happened where his grandmother was the victim of fraud. The movie is about a woman living alone in her 90s gets taken for $10k after a phone call from a fraudster.
The interesting thing about this movie is it definitely covers cultural invisibility of the elder generation and the relationship to technology for the older generation who can’t, without assistance navigate our current world with it.