Adult Violence, Childlike Love

WAR WITCH
11/04/12 - Chinese 1, 3:45 p.m.
11/06/12 - Chinese 6, 1:45 p.m. 

By Andrew Johnson

It would be easy for a film about child soldiers to crumble under the weight of its dour and depressing subject matter, but WAR WITCH sidesteps this problem by being a character-driven film rather than an issue-driven one. Kim Nguyen’s latest offering follows Komona, a young African girl abducted from her village at the age of 12 after being forced to shoot her parents. In the hands of a les assured filmmaker this premise might become an excuse for a laborious exercise in “poverty porn,” but Nguyen treats his subject matter with greater respect, choosing to depict suffering through the eyes of a child rather than the desensitized gaze of an adult—are not the young often more capable of processing horror than the old?

Nguyen inserts elements of magical realism into the proceedings, giving them an eerie and otherworldly atmosphere while also accentuating the thematic subtext. Komona has visions of the dead standing motionless around her, caked in white ash. Her parents are her most frequent visitors, and their presence is a constant reminder of her sins. She may have killed them in order to survive, but they weren’t given a proper burial, and until their souls are laid to rest hers never will be.

The second act plays more like a coming-of-age tale, a MOONRISE KINGDOM-esque romance set against the backdrop of poverty and war-torn Africa. The key difference is that these two youngsters are just old enough to act on their hormonal impulses, something which strikes me as just a bit too subversive for a filmmaker like Anderson, and perhaps for mainstream Western audiences. I usually consider myself pretty open-minded when it comes to sex and gender issues, but when confronted with the prospect of Komona having sex with a fellow soldier (they’re so young!), I found myself forced to grapple with my own assumptions and preferences regarding appropriate sexual behavior. I wondered, were they ready for such intimacy? Was this really the best thing for them right now? Couldn’t it bring more trouble than it was worth?

In retrospect, it seems so silly of me to think so. I had fallen prey to the common cultural myth perpetuated by Hollywood that violence is a more acceptable element of youth than sex. Watching children murder their elders was horrible enough, but it was the idea of teenage sexuality that upset me the most! The brilliance of Nguyen’s screenplay is that it acknowledges common Western perceptions of sexuality in Africa as a tragic act inextricably linked to rape and HIV and gradually turns them on its head.

Here, teenage sexuality isn’t a cause for concern, it’s a cause for celebration, a relieving respite from the oppressive and manipulative sex of adulthood. Komona’s body may be a tool to satiate adult (blood)lust, but it never ceases to be hers, and when she becomes empowered to use it to act on her own desires, she reclaims her innocence rather than losing it. In the haze of young love her sins are momentarily washed away, and the endless possibilities of childhood are instantly possible again.

It’s a small miracle that WAR WITCH didn’t turn out completely unwatchable. Nguyen takes several diverse genres — war film, coming-of-age romance, and supernatural horror allegory, to name a few — and combines them all into something beautiful. The film stands as a haunting reminder that we must take care not to delve too deeply into the darkness of others, lest we be blinded from confronting the darkness in ourselves. As Kamona puts it at one point, “I won’t tell you what happened … you won’t listen anymore.” Nguyen wisely takes the eroticism out of violence and places it back where it belongs, in the space between two people. In doing so, he keeps WAR WITCH from coming another gratuitous look at African suffering and allows his images to retain their power, enabling us to better identify the evil around us.

Andrew Johnson is a freelance journalist and the founder of Film Geek Radio, a network of film-and-TV-themed podcasts.

9 November 4 Permalink

A Conversation with Antonio Campos

By Joey Ally, AFI FEST Now

Before anything else, in the interest of journalistic integrity I should admit to the following: I am absolutely Antonio Campos’s #1 fanboy (or, in this case, girl). I first became aware of Campos’s work five years ago when — still a New Yorker and still (kinda/sorta/sometimes on Wednesdays) trying to make acting my main jam — my scene study teacher was plucked for a role in AFTERSCHOOL (AFI FEST 2008). The work since produced by his film company — Borderline Films, comprised of Campos (writer/director: AFTERSCHOOL, SIMON KILLER), Sean Durkin (writer/director: MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE), and Josh Mond (producer of all three, in addition to numerous others), who met during their time in undergrad film school at NYU — has been nothing short of incendiary, engendering discourse and (gasp!) even agreement throughout the independent film world. Everyone digs these dudes.

Yet sitting down with Campos on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, it was immediately apparent that in spite of the Hollywood-hoover-cloud swirling just above him, Campos possesses one of the most calming demeanors I’ve yet to come across this go round the sun. The lull of his voice, the minimalism of his motions, and the intention behind his eye-contact — as though saying “yes, I’m here with you” — make it apparent why he is able to command such delicately tremendous performances. Actors trust him because he’s a guy you trust, plain and simple.

For 40 minutes, we chatted about SIMON KILLER, AFTERSCHOOL, the New York from which Campos draws his inspiration, and why existentialism shakes his cage, among many other things (such as why the choice of handle for the titular character in SIMON KILLER is not, in fact, a reference to the game “Simon says”….though if you’re reading, Antonio, I maintain that the hypothesis was not totally unfounded).

Here’s some of that conversation.

AFN: First of all, I just want to say thank you for meeting with me. I’ve actually been following you, and Borderline Films, since the casting stage of AFTERSCHOOL because I was in Alexandra Neil’s scene study at the time.

AC: Oh I’m so happy to hear that — I really like Alex. I had it in my head that Alex Neil’s character was sort of connecting the AFTERSCHOOL universe and SIMON KILLER. We were gonna put Brady (Corbet, who portrays the eponymous “Simon”) in a “Brighton Academy” (the fictitious school that serves as the backdrop for AFTERSCHOOL) sweatshirt, like he was the brother to the twins that died or something, but it was too much.

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9 November 1 Permalink

Jury and Audience Awards

EAT SLEEP DIE

AFI FEST 2012 presented by Audi announced today the features and short films that are the recipients of this year’s Audience and Jury Awards. Select award-winning films will screen again today at the Chinese 6 Theatres.

GRAND JURY AWARD, NEW AUTEURS

The jury is comprised exclusively of film writers: Dana Harris (Indiewire), David Hudson (Fandor), Gregg Kilday (The Hollywood Reporter) and Bérénice Reynaud (Senses of Cinema).

Grand Jury Award: EAT SLEEP DIE for director Gabriela Pichler’s “sensitive portrait of a young woman fighting to keep her job and her dignity in the globalized economy, driven by an energetic performance from Nermina Lukac, is an extraordinary work accessible to many audiences.”

Special Mention for Performance: SIMON KILLER’s Mati Diop for “her contribution to SIMON KILLER as both an actress and screenwriter.”

Special Mention: HERE AND THERE by Antonio Mendez Esparza for “its honest depiction of lives that are otherwise often invisible in our society.”

GRAND JURY AWARDS,
LIVE ACTION AND ANIMATED SHORT

This year’s Shorts jury consisted of Claudette Godfrey (Short Film Programmer for the South by Southwest Film Conference); Mike Plante (Sundance Film Festival Programmer, publisher of Cinemad and filmmaker); Ry Russo-Young (NOBODY WALKS); Ryan Silbert (Academy Award^®-winning filmmaker, Live Action Short, GOD OF LOVE); and Jenny Slate (actress, best-selling author, and voice, co-writer and co-creator of MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON, winner of Best Animated Short at AFI FEST 2010).

Grand Jury Award, Live Action Short: INTRODUCING: BOBBY. by Roger Hayn “for crafting an honest vision of America by making an insightful portrayal of a single man.”

Grand Jury Award, Animated Short: OH WILLY… by Emma De Swaef and Marc Roels “for melding a dynamic narrative with innovative animation style that leads the viewer to pure wonderment.”

Special Jury Award for Animation: BELLY by Julia Pott “for its personal touch to technique and playful storytelling that is a welcome addition to the pantheon of animation.”

Special Jury Award for Documentary Filmmaking: WHATEVEREST by Kristoffer Borgli “for constructing a film that contextualizes the digital generation and reflects on what happens when we turn the camera onto ourselves.”

Honorable Mention for Performance: NARCOCORRIDO (DIR Ryan Prows) for Raul Castillo’s “penetrating lead performance that conveys a sense of loss that leaves a lasting mark on the audience.”

Honorable Mention for Promising Vision: DOGS ARE SAID TO SEE THINGS by Guto Parente “for pulling together social criticism with a pool party and actually making something fresh and smart.”

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Audience Award, World Cinema: A ROYAL AFFAIR. DIR Nikolaj Arcel. Denmark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany.

Audience Award, New Auteurs: A HIJACKING. DIR Tobias Lindholm. Denmark.

Audience Award, Young Americans: ONLY THE YOUNG. DIR Jason Tippet, Elizabeth Mims. USA.

Audience Award, Breakthrough: NAIROBI HALF LIFE. DIR David Tosh Gitonga. Kenya/Germany. Award accompanied by a $5,000 cash prize.

8 November Permalink

Closing Night!

It’s Closing Night of AFI FEST.  Stay tuned for our Award announcements; we’ll be re-screening the winners throughout the day beginning at 1:00 p.m. in Chinese 6.

Tonight’s Gala is LINCOLN. Steven Spielberg directs two-time Academy Award® winner Daniel Day-Lewis in a revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President’s tumultuous final months in office.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028

Media check-in: 5:00 p.m.
Red carpet arrivals: 6:00 p.m.
Program begins: 7:00 p.m.

Expected appearances: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, Walton Goggins, Jackie Earle Haley, Jared Harris, Bruce McGill, David Oyelowo, Gulliver McGrath, Tim Blake Nelson, Joseph Cross, Dakin Matthews, David Warshofsky, director Steven Spielberg, screenwriter Tony Kushner, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, composer John Williams, author Doris Kearns Goodwin, costume designer Joanna Johnston, make-up artist Lois Burwell and production designer Rick Carter.

8 November 1 Permalink

Added Screenings!

We are thrilled to announce that SKYFALL is this year’s “Secret Screening.” The new Bond film will screen at 9:15 p.m. tonight (11/7) at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Daniel Craig is back as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In SKYFALL, directed by Sam Mendes, Bond’s loyalty to M (portrayed by Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI-6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. 

7 November 1 Permalink