August 11, 2004

I think I may have seen the first actual masterpiece of 2004 last night. But I can't tell you about it yet. Maybe you'll be upset that I am teasing you unfairly, but the fact that there is a masterpiece out there waiting to be released is a joyous thing indeed and I couldn't contain myself.

Also not containing themselves are the four filmmakers that are going to be coming to a cable station near you (IFC, to be exact) in September, care of the terrific documentarian, Nanette Burstein. Her doc series is called, simply, "Film School" and it follows the exploits of four NYU Graduate Film students for 10 weeks of fun, fun, fun.

IFC was kind enough to send out three episodes of the film for my NYU Alum perusal and what I saw felt a bit like Project Greenlight, a bit like The It Factor and a bit like so many reality TV shows where reality gets skewed by the presence of cameras. (That goes back to PBS' The Louds, parodied by Albert Brooks in his first feature, Real Life.)

The press notes mention four filmmakers, but by Episode 4, the first one I received, the group seemed to have been reduced to three. And in the promo for Episode 8 another filmmaker seemed on the brink of giving up. The filmmakers I saw included Alrick, a smart, overwrought black kid making a film about the Diallo murder and Leah, a neurotic white girl who changes hair color with every mood and is making a film about herself, going as far as casting her paraplegic mother as herself.

But one story and one filmmaker own this series. Vincenzo is a 35-year-old Italian with a volcanic temperament and the charm of real honesty. But that's only the tip of this iceberg. Vincenzo has a producer (Jen) and line producer (Parker) who just happen to be a couple… and immediately bring to mind a collegiate version of Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. These two are as blonde and perfect-for-the-job-looking as you could imagine. (At one point, Jen arrogantly accuses Vincenzo of not liking Parker because Parker is just sooooooo good looking. As they said in The Mambo Kings, Jen treats Parker like the last Coca Cola in the desert… she probably couldn't handle Dr. Pepper anyway.) Unlike Walter & Laurie, they aren't able to get the job done.

When Vincenzo brings an interpreter to a meeting with Jen just to make sure that she clearly understands that she has fired her boyfriend as line producer, it is one of those moments in the arts that is unforgettable.

The punchline for a show like this - the films - have a different set of standards than something like Project Greenlight. Vincenzo's film seems unrelentingly arty… but the curiosity is intense. If he has some real talent, even though he is temperamental, he will quickly be a hotter industry commodity than any of the Greenlighters.

What is most shocking about this long-form doc is just how professional the business of making a student film seems to be. In my day, things were serous and people specialized, but it seemed 30% less intense and like real filmmaking. It used to be that a crane shot or a super-special camera package was a real rarity. Here, they are thrown around like short ends.

But in the meantime, look for this series on IFC this September, launching while I am at the Toronto festival… otherwise occupied.

SPEAKING OF TORONTO: Various strategies are emerging going into this year's festival, the first which Oscar-chasing studios will see as a multiple warhead launching pad and not just the start of one or two fluky award runners. Fox Searchlight is taking the entire fall line-up to the fest (and to Telluride as well) and will be checking the breeze to figure out what response they might expect from the media and the public. New Line, on the other hand, is not taking The Upside of Anger, a pick-up from earlier this year featuring awards buzz performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner. But they might take Out To Sea, the new Amenabar.

Universal is launching Ray, but is not planning a junket. Warner Bros. wont' offer anything from Alexander or The Phantom of the Opera. Warner Indie doesn't seem to have Jeunet's A Very Long Engagement ready, while Focus is well into promotion for The Motorcycle Diaries already. Miramax is showing Proof around now, but it's not clear whether the film is going to the fest. And Sony Classics should have its three big titles House of Flying Daggers (which is not moving to 2005, as some have rumored), Bad Education and brand-new pick-up Imaginary Heroes screening, while Columbia's two candidates are not ready to show.

Then there are the withheld, such as the documentary Gunner Palace, which is hoping to do a distribution deal during the fest, and Yes, Sally Potter's poetic (literally) sex drama with what is said to be an awards level performance by Joan Allen, which is not being screened for distribution before the festival, even though it hopes to get an awards season release. (New Line almost has to buy it, just to own the Joan Allen trifecta.)

E ME: What would you do to be ROTD?