This weekend Sonoma Valley International Film Festival audiences will have their choice of more films to see – both long and short, feature and documentary – than time permits in three short days. After previewing most of the films, here are our picks for your don’t-miss list.
“Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”
Directed by Joe Cross
This Australian documentary is sort of like “Super Size Me,” only in reverse and on the road. When extremely likeable Australian investor Joe Cross has had enough of poor health, he decides to make some drastic changes. Nearly 100 pounds overweight, suffering from a rare autoimmune disease which causes painful, itchy rashes and hooked on pills, including steroids, Cross makes a leap of faith and trades his junk food addiction for fresh juice made from vegetables and fruits. In fact, he plans to eat – or rather drink – nothing but juice for the next 60 days while he drives across the country with a juicer in the back of his car. Along the way he meets and discusses the dietary habits and health of many fried-food-eating, gun-loving, “Can I juice a rare steak?” Americans. Cross spreads the word about his improved health, his freedom from prescription medicines and a few do listen. At a truck stop in Winslow, Ariz., Cross happens to meet Phil, a morbidly obese truck driver with the same rare condition. Months later, Phil is barely able to walk and he takes Cross up on his offer to help him. The second half of the documentary follows Phil’s journey and it’s a remarkable one. What makes this story special is the role friendship and support plays in Phil’s decision to take matters into his own hands. While we stand at the event horizon of health care reform in this country, this film offers a message of hope and self-empowerment.
“Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” screens at 12:30 p.m., Friday, April 16 at the Vintage House; also at 6 p.m., Friday, April 17 at the House of Docs.
“American Artifact”
Directed by Merle Becker
Director Merle Becker takes a historical look at the emergence of the American rock poster in the 1960s and follows it through the punk rock era to the grunge scene to present day. Inspired by a book she found about poster art and with no financing for the film, Becker drives across country interviewing rock poster artists, print shop owners and collectors only to realize “America is currently in the midst of a 21st century rock poster art movement,” where thousands of artists around the country are doing silkscreened rock poster art inspired by their local scene, the music of our time, and the spirit of our era. The film explores the history and rise of the current rock poster movement in America, and features a cast of lively and extremely talented rock poster artists who talk about their work, the artists who inspired them and the story of their underground art movement. This film includes interviews with over 30 artists, including Stanley Mouse, Art Chantry, Victor Moscoso and Frank Kozik. Becker strikes a wonderful balance between the history of the rock poster, interviews and a wide variety of images of the art itself.
“American Artifact” screens at 6:30 p.m., Sunday April 18 at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art.
“Race to Nowhere”
Directed by Vicki Abeles
Vicki Ableles gazes deep into a Darwinian abyss, sparking a national dialogue about the pressures American schoolchildren face in the race to reach perfection in an achievement-obsessed educational system and culture. The documentary includes interviews with students across the country and their heart-felt stories about exhaustion and burn-out, anxiety, and a feeling their best is never enough for their parents or educators. “Race to Nowhere” points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired,” according to Abeles. “Race to Nowhere” is a call for change in the educational system that begins with cross-examining built-in assumptions about what the students themselves really need to succeed and popular conceptions about success itself.
“Race to Nowhere” screens at 11:45 a.m., Saturday, April 17 at the Sebastiani Theater.
“Life of Making”
Directed by Daedalus Howell
Sonoma’s ubiquitous Daedalus Howell directed this short documentary, as a complement to an exhibit curated by Kate Eilertsen at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art of the same title. “Life of Making” celebrates the work and workings of three internationally acclaimed artists who explore the boundary between the act of making and the art of living. Jim Melchert, June Schwarcz, and Kay Sekimachi have each worked for decades to integrate the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of engagement with their respective process and materials. Daedalus Howell will also be performing with Sonoma Valley’s classified music project Static People at the Sonoma International Film Festival’s Filmmaker’s Bash, Saturday, April 17 at Little Switzerland.
“Life of Making” screens at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, April 17 and April 18 with “The Desert of Forbidden Art” and “American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art” respectively at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art.
“Lunafest 2010”
This collection of short films is made by women and about women. Lunafest was established in 2010 by LUNA bars to promote women filmmakers and stories and to raise awareness for women’s issues. Every penny of the proceeds is donated to charities for breast cancer and other community-based programs. Lunafest, provides a showcase for female talents from diverse countries and perspectives – from a story about a pre-teen girl who immigrates from Israel to America in the early 1980s, to desert-dwelling octogenarian who lives life to its fullest every day through her own kind of environmental stewardship of the land, to a saucy black Brazilian hairstylist and her personal philosophy about what defines beauty. These films are whimsical and poignant but most of all, they’re short. There is something for everyone.
Lunafest 2010 screens at 6 p.m., Friday, April 16 at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art.
A few films more worth mentioning:
“Poi Dogs”
– a short
“Artois the Goat”
– a feature
“The Singularity is Near”
– a feature
“Dressed”
– a documentary
A full schedule of films and events is available on the Sonoma Valley International Film Festival’s Web site: sonomafilmfest.org
