Sheffield Documentary Festival

What a lovely week in Sheffield. All the reviews of the festival of films I watched are on here now. I may post more as I watch them.
The best of the event was Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic (2013) - Marina Zenovich.
It was closely followed by the most emotion rearing piece Blackfish (2013) Gabriela Cowperthwaite.
All of the others were good as well. There was not one bad film shown at the festival, and hopefully by the time the next one comes around, I will have submitted my own film.

Blackfish (2013) - Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Another brilliant documentary. This is possibly the only one from Sheffield Documentary Festival that would make me change the way I think and act. It's strong message was reinforced with some brilliant archive footage, which really demonstrated everything that the interviewees were saying. However, its only downfall was as a result of Sea World refusing to comment or allow current employees to be interviewed. This documentary was truly worth a masterpiece rating.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

PS I have a fear of fish and deep sea creatures, so the clips from Orca (1977) - Michael Anderson made me jump a little, and my friend laughed.

A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power and Jayson Blair at the New York Times (2012) - Samantha Grant

As interesting as it was, one can see the difference between British and American standards in newspaper print. Jayson Blair comes off as unlikeable, and that's possibly why the documentary isn't as interesting to me. If he had been given some kind of other side, apart from the fact he is a bad person, perhaps the documentary would have been more appealing.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

Bradley Wiggins: A Year in Yellow (2012) - John Dower

One wonders when watching this, would it be as good a documentary, if Wiggins had not come first in the Tour de France and won the Olympic gold in the same year?
Yes, we do have the same second name. No, we are sadly not related.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Walter Murch

Not strictly a documentary, or at all. He delivered a very interesting and in depth talk on editing in picture and sound. He also delved very in depth into his own life and it was a very sapid talk.
The question and answer session was also very eye-opening. Apparently Francis Ford Coppola describes himself as a very spontaneous editor, whereas Murch is apparently very thoughtful about each individual scene and cut in a film. "That being said," the interviewer asked, "Why did you propose to your wife, Aggie, after only knowing her two weeks?" This question had the audience laughing, but Walter Murch was unabashed.
He is a genuinely lovely gentleman, and a very endearing speaker. Furthering on from this talk, I will be purchasing a copy of Murch's book, In the Blink of an Eye, due to some of the ideas in the talk being expanded upon in there.

Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic (2013) - Marina Zenovich

This was the best documentary at the festival. It was beautifully done, and a brilliant insight into Pryor's home life, and full of shocking twists. All the archive footage of his performances kept the audience entertained and amused, even when the storyline took a darker turn.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Here Was Cuba (2013) - John Murray and Emer Reynolds

I enjoyed this film and the sense of atmosphere it really showed in such a simple documentary. That being said, the documentary was extremely well researched, and many of the interviewees were top level protagonists in the event.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Apocalypse Now (1979) - Francis Ford Coppola

Guess who turned up to this film? Only Walter friggin' Murch! The editor and sound engineer on this film was in full attendance. (He also gave a talk on editing later on in the festival - more on this later.)
The film itself, as most already know, is brilliant. The only reason I didn't give this the hallowed five star masterpiece rating was because of the ridiculously slow paced ending with Marlon Brando, a fantastic actor, sadly ruining what was otherwise a brilliant movie.
That shot of Martin Sheen rising from the water is gorgeous, especially when watched on the big screen. More classics should be re-released purely for this reason.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Secret Life of Uri Geller - Psychic Spy? (2013) - Vikram Jayanti

For some reason, this film doesn't have an imdb page, which makes its contents even more compelling and interesting. Here is a picture of me and the subject; yes, Uri Geller himself showed up!

Jayanti was also in attendance at the festival, and took some very (to use his own phrase) "asshole questions" before the film had even begun. Once it had, people did leave, but I felt, as I'm sure most of the people who stayed until the end did, that it was a very well told narrative.
Whether Geller has any gifts or not is debatable, but Uri is not thick. He claims he is a performer, and even acknowledges how ridiculous powers would or could be. Geller is a mysterious man, and yet, one cannot deny he has a definite charm about him that makes him such an interesting choice of subject. The evidence of his life is all there, and this film well documents it all, and gives us a clear argument both for and against the titling question: was Uri Geller a psychic spy during the Cold War?

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Mirage Men (2013) - John Lundberg, Roland Denning, Kypros Kyprianou

I do have a vague interest in the subject matter, that is of UFOs and the like, particularly Roswell. This film extended my interest for a short while, but after some time, particularly when most of the interesting stories were not elaborated upon, the film began to wear on me.
The ending is spoiled when what everyone knows and has suspected about Richard Doty (a very interesting and well researched choice for a film) is confirmed, with seemingly no twist or difference in opinion. Doty makes a good interviewee, but it is clear that he can't carry a film all on his own.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Valentine Road (2013) - Marta Cunningham

I did enjoy this film, and thought its subject matter made it important to everyone, no matter what their sexuality.
Marta Cunningham, the director, was present at the screening and made a very good point when asked why she didn't speak to the killer himself, Brandon: "He [Brandon] silenced Larry King's [the victim] voice when he shot him, so I didn't feel his deserved his own heard." However, Brandon McInerney was eager to be interviewed, which made her also feel uncomfortable.
A good start to the festival, even if it was a little too dark to be called entertaining, and the students interviewed all seemed to be very grouped to one lot of people.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆