32nd Annual Philadelphia Film Festival Coverage

Philadelphia Film Society
Producers of the
Philadelphia Film Festival
Oct 19- 29, 2023

I’ve attend the Philadelphia Film Festival <- (click for #PFF32 Twitter/X posts from various reviewers) every year since probably 2008, I know it was prior to starting Tinsel & Tine in 2010, so 15 years, wow!  I can’t remember a bad year, not even 2020 when it was virtual, which I’ve always said, I really enjoy the ease of a virtual fest.  This, the 32nd annual, was a little lighter in terms of talent, due to the on-going SAG-AFTRA strike (May they continue to hold strong!) But I still managed to capture 7 Q&A’s for my YouTube Channel with the directors and/or producers which you’ll see below…

SILVER DOLLAR ROAD | Documentary | DirectorRaoul Peck | Amazon/MGM Studios

Synopsis: a searing exploration of justice denied and a family’s unwavering determination to protect their legacy. For more than a century, the Reels family’s waterfront property has served as both a home and community haven, offering activities, businesses, and what was once the only local beach available to Black residents. But when a relentless developer exploits legal loopholes to claim their ancestral land, a battle for justice ignites.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – Raoul Peck said he didn’t want to depict the family of Silver Dollar Road as victims, and they are a strong, loving family, but there’s really no other word for what they’ve been through and continue to go through at the hands of those in the criminal justice system and white corporate greed. Systemic racism runs rampant in every corner of this story, you can’t help but see they have been victimized.

The main issue with black owned land grabbing is that after slavery when these properties where granted, black people didn’t have access or the income to hire lawyers to make proper Wills. And I feel even if they did, would the lawyers have made them air tight like they would their white clients?

In present day, the Reels family does manage to pull together over 100K for legal fees, to no avail. They don’t explain where that money came from.

Interspersed through out the saga of this heartbreaking story are moments of joy, seen in old videos and pictures of the family coming together in celebrations over the years and when we’re taken on tours of this significantly vast section of land in North Carolina running along Silver Dollar Road.

CLICK IMAGE FOR Q&A

AMERICAN FICTION | Narrative | Director Cord Jefferson | Amazon/MGM Studios 

Synopsis: hilariously biting satire, a terrific Jeffrey Wright stars as a disillusioned black author forced to reckon with the nature of the publishing industry after he compromises his own integrity in his search for success.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – OPPENHEIMER is the best film I’ve seen all year in terms of overall scope and technical direction, but AMERICAN FICTION is the best film I’ve seen all year in terms of real characters, relatability, my kind of humor and total engagement!

I was never one to pay much attention to the prolific actor Jeffrey Wright, didn’t have anything against him, just never dialed in, but then again, I’d never seen him in a leading role. He’s fantastic as frustrated author, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a man who has written critically acclaimed novels in the past, having somehow been able to write about things not of the perceived “black experience”, but his editor (John Ortiz) can’t get any interest generated for Monk’s latest book. The publishers are eager for material that is “raw” & “honest”, something with a “black voice”. His descent into jokingly giving them what they want follows a very humorous rabbit hole.

But what really makes the film sing is his new romantic relationship with a neighbor (Erika Alexander) and Monk’s distant relationships with his family, sister (Tracee Ellis Ross) brother (Sterling K. Brown) and mother (Leslie Uggams). This is the part I really related too – drifting apart from your siblings during your adulthood can happen, but then needing to work together to make decisions for an aging parent creates brand new relationships with these people you’ve known all your life; but it’s far from easy, makes you really see your family, and hopefully, eventually, for the better.

I don’t want it to seem like the movie is all drama, it’s far from that. Based on the book “Erasure” by Percival Everett, first time director Cord Jefferson finds every nuanced moment of humor, which had me laughing out loud throughout.

CLICK IMAGE FOR Q&A

A glimpse at Day 1 #PFF32 SILVER DOLLAR ROAD Q&A w/ Producer Hébert Peck & AMERICAN FICTION Q&A w/ Writer/Director Cord Jefferson
Videos & #MiniMovieReview will be posted soon!

Enjoy Day 2 – heading to THE (EX)PERIENCE OF LOVE Ritz East 12pmhttps://t.co/3mb5YiTY37 pic.twitter.com/ecq9Veop9K

— Tinsel & Tine – Marvelous Movie Maven (@tinseltine) October 20, 2023

STAND UP & SHOUT: Songs From A Philly High School | Documentary | Director Amy Schatz| Producers Mike Jackson & John Legend | HBO Docs

Synopsis: Students at Philadelphia’s Hill-Freedman World Academy work with local musicians to create an album of powerful, original songs that captures both the challenging times they are living in and the joy that music brings.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – I have to admit I don’t spend a lot of time around Gen Z. I don’t have any close friends with kids and I’m not a mother, so a lot of what I hear about the next generation comes from the news reporting on things like a pack of kids, in Philadelphia, ganging up on a senior citizen and killing him in broad daylight. I know I’m often afraid to ride the subway when 15 or 20 of them are all together, doing things to hold up the subway from departing and smoking on the platform. And that all they do is watch Tik Tok and play video games.

That’s why Stand Up & Shout is not only an outstandingly edited and produced doc, but it’s a wonderful way to see young people as individuals. Each possessing deep thoughts and some negative perceptions about themselves that they are taught to see aren’t true. All of the teachers who come to lend their talents to this songwriting program at Hill-Freedman World Academy are amazing, but singer/songwriter Kristal TyteWriter Oliver (pictured below with me!), is a marvel! The ease with which she interacts with each child and brings out their gifts; it’s obvious she’s very dedicated to not just producing a song, but touching a life.

They break the students down into groups of 5 or 6 and each group is assigned the task of creating a music label. They must work together as a team, but individuals can take the lead as songwriter/performer/producer. The doc takes us through different aspects of the project with different labels. Some even get music videos for their songs. It’s so inspiring to see the kids get transported to a new level throughout the project, learning what they’re capable of and supporting one another. It’s a truly life affirming thing to witness. I was in full on tears by the end.

CLICK IMAGE FOR Q&A

THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED Writer/Director Joanna Arnow | Narrative Feature Debut | Magnolia Pictures

Synopsis: Filmmaker Joanna Arnow stars as a thirtysomething woman in New York City navigating her BDSM relationship and cubicle hell with a defiant shrug in this endlessly clever and wry send-up of the absurdity of modern millennial living.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – Joanna Arnow is obviously taking a page from Lena Dunham, which I was down for. I don’t like everything Dunham does, but I very much liked her feature debut “Tiny Furniture” and more recently “Catherine Called Birdy” I also re-watched “Girls” during the Pandemic and really enjoyed it the second time around. But other than the unabashed, un-sexy nudity, TFTTTFDSHP is not any of those vibes at all.

Arnow’s deadpan humor and awkward vignettes (in a narrative format), didn’t work for me. I think perhaps you have to be in your late 20’s early 30’s to dig the beats on this one. I liked the premise of this quirky, plain looking young woman in a cold, long-term BDSM relationship, branching out to other doms and also trying traditional dating, but it was actually just too cringey for me.

I did like this observation from Variety Review: In one scene, she wears a ball gag, forcing her mouth open in a silent O, and it’s hard to decide whether she looks more like she’s screaming or yawning — and really, that’s about right; her attitude to life feels like somebody panicking in slow motion but who is too switched off to really fully commit to their own existential crisis… READ MORE

On a side note: There were a lot of food scenes. If I had gone to the screening where Joanna Arnow was in attendance, I would have asked her what directing lessons did she learn about shooting so many scenes involving people eating.

THE OLD OAK | Narrative | DirectorKen Loach| Writer Paul Laverty | Le Pacte & StudioCanal

Synopsis: Loach interrogates the British identity with which he’s so closely associated. THE OLD OAK takes its name from the last pub in a decaying mining village in England’s hard-hit Northeast, owned and operated by TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner). Steeped in the ethos of working-class solidarity, TJ is aggrieved when some of his loyal customers give into anti-immigrant hostility after a busload of Syrian refugees arrives in town.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – Yara was pretty stupid for putting down her bag with the camera in it, knowing that a-hole was standing right there already incensed about her taking his picture. But it was a good setup for Mr. Ballantyne to extend a kindness by getting it fixed for her. I have a Letterboxd category of “Friendship Driven films” and this one will be added. The unlikely, non-sexual relationship which develops between Yara & Ballantyne is lovely and feels genuine. The entire film is a window into what you hope will be possible in this century between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Click image for #MiniMovieReview on Letterboxd

CHESTNUT | Narrative | Writer/Director Jac Cron| Directorial Debut | Set in Philly

Synopsis: A recent graduate becomes entangled in a relationship with a man and a woman during the summer after college.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – I can relate to that time in life transitioning from college adolescence into adult responsibilities, particularly a first real job, and trying to put it off as long as possible. This aspect of the film I totally got; however, this is the second movie I’ve watched during PFF32 where I feel like I’m too old to understand or appreciate its rhythm. I realize this is a film that’s about sense memory, evoking a time period in the filmmaker’s life, with less detail and more a feeling. Not unlike last year’s festival darling, Charlotte Well’s AFTERSUN. I gotta say, I don’t care for these types of films because I feel like they are exclusionary and that I have to sit through a lot of nothingness and repetitiveness without a payoff.

That being said, I do feel Jac Cron has a good eye for directing in terms of use of color and shadows and shooting intimate scenes, not sexual in nature, rather in terms of expression.

CLICK IMAGE FOR Q&A

THE HOLDOVERS | Narrative | Director Alexander Payne| Writer David Hemingson | Focus Features

Synopsis: A curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school’s head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – I am a fan of Alexander Payne and this one hits some good moments, but seems to flounder finding a rhythm. For too long you feel left in setup mode. By the time Paul & Angus make it to Boston you do get the true makings of a friendship driven film. And newcomer Dominic Sessa gives a likeable, sincere performance throughout. He’s never actually the prick they make him out to be. Da’Vine Joy Randolph speaks volumes with a look, she is both all-knowing and drowning in grief, all at the same time.

The Holdovers will most-likely receive attention this awards season, I just wish it had a steadier beat to get you where it ultimately ends up.

MAESTRO | Narrative | Writer/Director Bradley Cooper| Co–Writer Josh Singer | Netflix

Synopsis: This love story chronicles the lifelong relationship of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – I can’t believe A STAR IS BORN was released in 2018, doesn’t feel like it was more than 2 years ago, but those COVID years just blend into one and now here we are in 2023 with another major directing/acting vehicle from Bradley Cooper – the life and marriage of famed composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein.

Visually the production is very right, along with Hair & Makeup. Cooper transformed himself into the ever present cigarette smoking, Bernstein, matching his energy at every age, allowing that the voice may be a bit too nasal. I’ll have to listen to a clip of the the real Felicia Bernstein, but I feel Carey Mulligan nailed that transatlantic accent.

I’m not sure I agree with his choice to focus so heavily on Bernstein’s sexuality and how it affected his family. But since that is what it is, I feel like some scenes are missing and others we’re there too long. The climax is a brutal verbal altercation between Leonard and Felicia, it’s a good fight, but from what we’d witnessed of their marriage, it wasn’t earned.

The man as a musical genius, full of psychological high highs and low lows is there, but I think I would have preferred a film that focused a bit more on his music and musical collaborations. I mean they pretty much just gloss over West Side Story all together.

Bottom line: MAESTRO is good, but not nearly as strong as Cooper’s A STAR IS BORN and yet I have a feeling Hollywood will reward him more favorably this time around come awards season.

THIS CLOSENESS | Narrative | Writer/Director Kit Zauhar

Synopsis: Tensions rise when a couple stays at the home of a reclusive host, with the three entering an intimate battle to gain and reclaim territory.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – I’ve only stayed at one Airbnb where I shared the place with the homeowner, and it is an uncomfortable feeling. It’s how Airbnb’s started out, but now I don’t think there’s that many of those kind anymore. In “This Closeness”, not only is Adam (Ian Edlund), the guy they’re renting from, a super socially awkward person, but the apartment is very small and the bedroom walls paper thin. The couple Tessa (Zauhar) & Ben (Zane Pais) are going through a rough patch in their relationship, so all their fighting is overheard by Adam which makes him feel uncomfortable in his own apartment. Yet they feel he’s the one making things awkward. In truth, Tessa should not have come with Ben for his High School Reunion, she doesn’t want to go out with his old friends the 2 nights prior to the actual reunion, which gives her too much time at Adam’s Airbnb, allowing for that interaction to go awry. And it gives her too much time to contemplate who Ben really is, seeing him now in this setting of his former life.

I said I felt like I was too old to appreciate two other Millennial relationship films I saw during #PFF32 by female writer/directors – I didn’t feel that way about this one. Zauhar has a good grasp of writing uncomfortable, authentic scenarios and tones. I liked the small details like the issue revolving around the constantly changing temperature in the room. The film is not meant to be played for laughs, yet it’s highly amusing. She said it’s not based on anything autobiographical, which is hard to believe.

CLICK IMAGE FOR Q&A

CLICK IMAGE TO PLAY

Quick post-screening, on the street, thoughts on documentary FANTASTIC MACHINE Writer/Directors Axel Danielson & Maximilien Van Aertryck – Synopsis: From the first camera to 45 billion cameras worldwide today, the visual sociologist filmmakers widen their lens to expose both humanity’s unique obsession with the camera’s image and the social consequences that lay ahead.

LATE BLOOMERS | Narrative | Director Lisa Steen | Writer Anna Greenfield

Synopsis: An aimless 28 year-old Brooklynite lands in the hospital after drunkenly breaking her hip. An encounter with a cranky elderly Polish woman who speaks no English leads to a job caring for her. Neither likes it, but it’s time to grow up.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview – Loved Karen Gillan in DUAL, GUARDIANS, of course, and the JUMANJI movies. She plays a good underdog who comes up from behind, which she does marvelously once again in LATE BLOOMERS. I went in thinking this would be a humorous indie, that the bickering between these two, due to the age gap, would be fun. But that’s not really the tone of this film. It’s more serious-minded and believe it or not, the older woman Antonina (Margaret Sophie Stein), never speaks a word of English and most times without subtitles. Yet it’s quite effective, you completely understand without needing to know her exact words.

Bottom line: it’s well-done, emotional, yet ultimately it lacks that essential element to make it into my top 20 for the year.

CLICK IMAGE FOR Q&A

Hitting the Festival Lounge is always a must each year. You never know who you’ll chat with or what you’ll eat! 
This year there was plenty of Federal Donuts (Sponsor) and Coffee 😋

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BRAVE THE DARK | Narrative | Director Damien Harris | Writers Dale G. Bradley & Lynn Robertson Hay

HERE’S WHAT ELSE I SAW…

AWARD WINNERS

ORIGINAL POST (Oct 5, 2023)

Check out the Line up…

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