"Best of the Fest"

April 25, 2009
Mendocino College Center Theater
1000 Henlsey Creek Road
Ukiah, CA

Tickets $8 per show or $25 for an all-day pass.

11 am
Killer Whale and Crocodile
Directed by Peter Campbell

A fascinating exchange between two master carvers from indigenous cultures in very different parts of this world. In the company of Elaine Monds, whose Victoria, British Columbia gallery promotes a most enlightened policy towards the cultivation of its artists, John Marsten, a Coast Salish carver travels to Papua New Guinea to learn about another of the world’s great carving traditions from Iatmul carver Teddy Balangu. In turn, Teddy journeys to Canada as artist-in-residence at the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology. Visually stunning and thematically rich, Killer Whale and Crocodile captures the lives of two artists creating at a very high level, both in their work and in their growing friendship. (Canada, 2007, 48 min., in English and Iatmul with English subtitles.)

Preceded by the short films: Salim Baba, Nominated for Academy Award Best Short 2007; and The Deadbeat, directed by Mendocino’s own Levi Kaminkowtiz.

1 pm
Gypsy Caravan  
Directed by Jasmine Dellal

A dazzling look at Romani culture and Rom (Gypsies) from around the
globe: Spain, India, Macedonia and Romania. Extraordinary music
with fabulously rich subject matter. Winner of the Albert Maysles Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking at the 2008 Mendocino Film Festival.

3 pm
Beyond the Call
Directed by Adrian Belic (Filmmaker in Attendance; Q&A following the screening)

This breath-catching documentary follows the humanitarian mission of three Americans, Ed Artis, Jim Laws, and Walt Ratterman, who call themselves Kinghtsbridge. As in Gheghis Blues, another of Adrian Belic’s films, we follow a complex and unforgettable band of travelers who journey to a remote place. Rather, in Beyond the Call, we should say places: Afghanistan, Cambodia, the Thailand-Burma border and the Southern Philippines. “These are our rules: We’re not in the gun business. We don’t want to change their politics or their religion. It must be high venture. It must be humanitarian. And it’s got to be in an area where few would ever go. If it doesn’t hit these criteria, we’re not interested.” (2006, 81 min.)

Preceded by Help is Coming, directed by Ben Mor.

5 pm
Row Hard No Excuses
Directed by Luke Wolbach

What manner of mind, after paying $19,000 with another like mind to enter the Atlantic Rowing Challenge, would then subject its body to row 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Barbados in a hand-built boat containing provisions for any eventuality? Row Hard No Excuses is nothing short of enthralling as it documents eventualities both expected and unexpected for the two-person crews, particularly Jack and Tom, a middle-aged American duo, competing in the Challenge. No mere sports adventure film, Row Hard is a dramatic illustration of the ambitions of the mind and the limitations of the body as they race towards the promise of one sort of finish line and away from another, inevitable kind. (2007, 88 min.) – G.R.

Preceded by Phoenix Dance, directed by Karina Epperlein, San Francisco Film Festival Golden Gate Award Winner.

7 pm
Elvis and Anabelle
Directed by Will Geiger

With lush cinematography and a haunting soundtrack, ELVIS AND ANABELLE is a unique and timeless love story. Elvis is an unlicensed mortician in his family’s funeral home, a once-splendid American gothic in rural Texas. His sense of family obligation and love for his eccentric, ailing father keep him from following his dreams. Anabelle is a beauty queen being groomed for the big time by her pushy, show-biz mother. All her decisions are made for her – she’s just not sure she fits the part. Their lives are worlds apart, but they collide when Anabelle, in a moment of triumph, collapses and dies on a beauty pageant catwalk and ends up on Elvis’s embalming table. What happens next is as magical as it is unexpected...(With Max Minghella, Blake Lively, Joe Mantegna, Mary Steenburgen, Keith Carradine, 2007, 105 min.)

Preceded by Monsoon, directed by Mendocino-raised Shyam Balse, winner of 37 awards for this short film.