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Photo from The Devil Came on Horseback, screening Oct. 18 at 6:30 pm
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| Zoned In director Daniela Zanzotto will come from England to present her film on Oct. 17 with Daniel Nartey. More info ... |
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The Ridgewood Public Library is pleased to present the 6th ANNUAL REEL VOICES FILM FESTIVAL showcasing some of the most diverse, thoughtful and provocative independent documentaries of the last few years. The Festival, sponsored by the Friends of the Library and the Ridgewood Education Foundation, will take place this year over the course of two weekends: OCTOBER 16-18 and 24-25, 2008.
Reel Voices continues to be a forum that celebrates the power and artistry inherent within the documentary genre. Many of the extraordinary documentaries created each year do not have the benefit of a feature release beyond a large city or festival so the goal of Reel Voices is to bring these films and speakers to the community and the topics this year are the most diverse to date. International issues include the genocide in Darfur to the atrocities suffered during the invasion of Nanking. And we study several issues unique to America: our addiction to oil, the win-at-all-costs culture as seen through the lens of competitive sports and performance-enhancing drugs, and a look back at the motivation behind the Apollo space program. The Festival's featured film Zoned In profiles Daniel Nartey from his troubled days in the Bronx to his time at Brown University. While this film exposes issues of race and class within the American education sytsem, it ultimately acknowledges the strength of the human spirit. Both Daniel and the film's director, Daniela Zanzotto, will present the film. And for something lighter ... we explore the drama found in international wine trade with Mondovino and get first-row seats at the 2006 Rolling Stones shows at New York City's Beacon Theater, courtesy of Martin Scorcese.
Finally we thank our founding sponsors, the FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY and the RIDGEWOOD EDUCATION FOUNDATION, for their support on many levels and for believing in our mission of sharing with the Ridgewood community the power and possibilities of the documentary and discussion. We hope that you have an experience that will not only provoke thought, but action.
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Reel Voices Film Festival At-a-Glance |
Thurs / Oct 16 |
Fri / Oct 17 |
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6:30 PM
Mondovino
135 min/2004; US/France
Italy/Argentina (Rated PG-13)
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7:00 PM
Zoned In
90 min/2008; US/UK
with Director Daniela Zanzotto and Daniel Nartey
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Fri / Oct 24 |
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Tickets: $5 each;
$4 students & seniors
Avail. at the Library 9/15
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6:30 PM
Fuel
111 min/2008; US
with Spiro Theofilatos,
Tri-State Biodiesel |
6:30 PM
Nanking
90 min/2007; US (Rated R)
speaker tba |
For information:
Roberta Carswell roberta@ridgewoodlibrary.org
(201) 670-5600, x114 |
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16 @ 6:30 PM
Mondovino
135 min/2004; US/France/Italy/Argentina (Rated PG-13)
Award-winning filmmaker Jonathan Nossiter focuses his camera on the international wine trade, travelling to France, California, Italy, and New York, speaking with winemakers both great and small. While old-timer Aime Guibert, of tiny Mas de Daumas-Gassac, pronounces that wine must be made by a poet, high-powered consultant Michel Rolland circles the globe ensuring that wineries make lots of money. Nossiter meets the Mondavi family, one of the wine world's largest conglomerates; the de Montille family of Burgundy, in which a daughter has chosen not to work with her father and brother but instead with a competitor; the Staglins, who financed their own high-priced vineyard in the Napa Valley; and critics James Suckling and Robert Parker, whose words can make or break a vintage. Although Nossiter set out merely to find the characters behind the wine industry, he ended up with a poignant look at some important issues, including deforestation, the corporation versus the independent company, and even communism. His bouncy handheld camera captured more than he had ever imagined. The result is an entertaining inside examination of a world very few people see, a fascinating exploration of wine and the families who produce it.
Film's website: 
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 @ 7:00 PM
Zoned In
90 min/2008; US/UK
Filmed over the course of nine years, Zoned In traces the remarkable real-life journey of 16-year-old Daniel Nartey from a Bronx high school to an Ivy League university while simultaneously exploring the role of race and class in the American education system. Narrated by Daniel himself, the movie celebrates the accomplishments of this extraordinary young man but does not shy away from depicting his struggles to fit in amongst the privileged students at his college and his candid questioning of a system that has allowed him to excel but has left so many of his friends and family members behind. By the age of 15, Daniel had sold drugs, fathered a son, witnessed his mother's arrest, and watched of two of his brothers get thrown in jail. The following year, his mother decided a fresh start was in order for her family, and she moved them from North Carolina to the South Bronx, where Daniel began his studies at Taft High School. The first in his family to graduate from high school, he was thrilled to be accepted to Brown University. Despite his optimism about the opportunities that await him there, upon arrival he finds himself ill-prepared both socially and academically. Propelled by his determination to return to and have a positive impact on his Bronx neighborhood, Daniel ultimately manages to refocus himself and succeed academically, but his faith in the US educational system is shaken along the way. A memorable portrait of young man who beat the odds and triumphed over the many barriers that stood in front of him.
Winner of the Best of New York Award, 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.
Film's website:
Press Kit and Photos:
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Speakers: Daniela Zanzotto and Daniel Nartey
Daniela Zanzotto, London-based director of Zoned In, completed her MA in French history and literature at the Univ. of Rochester. She then spent two years at CUNY in the comparative literature PhD program, but after taking a short course in filmmaking, she set off for Paris to make her first documentary, If the Walls Could Speak, about public housing in Paris that was used as an internment camp for French Jews. |
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 @ 9:00 PM
Please Vote for Me
58 min/2007; China
Is democracy a universal value that suits human nature? Do elections inevitably lead
to manipulation? Please Vote for Me is a portrait of a society and a town in through
a school, its children and its families.Wuhan is a city about the size of London located in central China. It is here that director Weijun Chen has conducted an experiment in democracy. A Grade 3 class
at Evergreen Primary School has their first encounter with democracy by holding an election to select a Class Monitor.
Eight-year-olds compete against each
other for the coveted position, abetted and egged on by teachers and doting parents. Elections in China take place only within
the Communist Party, but recently millions
of Chinese voted in their version of Pop
Idol. The purpose of Weijun Chen's experiment is to determine how
democracy would be received if it
came to China. Winner of the SterlingAward, Silverdocs.
Film's website:
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Former US Marine Captain Brian Steidle in Darfur
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 @ 6:30 PM
The Devil Came on Horseback
85 min/2007; US
The Devil Came on Horseback exposes the tragedy taking place in Darfur as seen through the eyes of an American witness who has since returned to the U.S. to take action to stop it. Using exclusive photographs and first-hand testimony of former US Marine Captain Brian Steidle, Devil takes the viewer on an emotionally-charged journey into the heart of Darfur, Sudan, where an Arab run government is systematically executing a plan to rid the province of its black-African citizens. As an official military observer, Steidle had access to parts of the country that no journalist could penetrate. Ultimately frustrated by the inaction of the international community, Steidle resigned and returned to the US to expose the images and stories of lives systematically destroyed. This compelling film bears witness to unmentionable atrocities, celebrates the courage of a refugee community desperately trying to survive while posing the question: Why has the West not taken more urgent action to stop genocide this time?
2007 Silverdocs Documentary Festival Witness Award
Film's website :
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Speaker: Prof. Jay Spaulding
Professor of History, Kean University
Dr. Spaulding earned his Ph.D. in African History at Columbia University and has given guest lectures around the world, including at the Univ. of Khartoum in the Sudan where he lived for four years. Dr. Spaulding is the author of many books and articles on the history of Northeast Africa including two works on aspects of the history of Darfur. |
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 The Rolling Stones (l-r) Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 @ 8:30 PM
Shine a Light
120 min/2008; US/UK (Rated PG-13)
Martin Scorsese leaps into the madness of the Rolling Stones’ organization in Shine a Light, barely controlling (in a most entertaining way) a documentary that culminates in the Stones’ best concert on film. The movie’s highly entertaining, pre-performance prologue finds a frazzled Scorsese trying to get a clue about the band’s plans for a very special New York City date in 2006, a benefit hosted by Bill and Hillary Clinton. While Mick Jagger quibbles over concepts for the stage’s set and peruses lists of possible songs to include in the show, Scorsese tries to figure out how to shoot something for which he has few production details. Everything falls into place eventually, and after an extraordinary meet-and-greet scene in which Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and Charlie Watts catch up with the Clintons and sweetly introduce themselves to Hillary’s mom, the Stones launch into a set that leans less heavily than usual on their greatest hits canon. Longtime fans are sure to appreciate the wealth of generally-untapped material from Let It Bleed ("You Got the Silver," "Live With Me"), Exile On Main Street ("All Down the Line," "Loving Cup"), and Some Girls ("Faraway Eyes," "Just My Imagination"). Jack White, Christina Aguilera, and Buddy Guy are on hand for memorable collaborations, but the Stones all alone are truly on fire in the relatively intimate setting of a small theater. Among the highlights is a sexy and even thrilling call-and-response between Jagger and ace backup singer Lisa Fischer on "She Was Hot," Richards’ gracious and expansive solo on "Connection," and Jagger’s witty take on "Some Girls" (which manages to skip over the controversial verse about "black girls"). Throughout the show, Scorsese and an army of camera operators cover the action from every conceivable angle, which results not so much in another hyperkinetic concert film but rather in the kind of graceful, flattering portrayal of a great band that the director mastered with The Last Waltz.
Film's website:
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Fuel Director Josh Tickell
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 @ 6:30 PM
Fuel
111 min/2008; US
Most Americans know we’ve got a problem: an addiction to oil that taxes the environment, entangles us in costly foreign policies, and threatens the nation’s long-term stability. But few are informed or empowered enough to do much about it. Enter Josh Tickell, an expert young activist who, driven by his own emotionally charged motives, shuttles us on a revelatory, whirlwind journey to unravel this addiction—from its historical origins to political constructs that support it, to alternatives available now and the steps we can take to change things. Tickell tracks the rising domination of the petrochemical industry—from Rockefeller’s strategy to halt ethanol use in Ford’s first cars to the mysterious death of Rudolph Diesel at the height of his biodiesel engine’s popularization, to our government’s choice to declare war after 9/11, rather than wean the country from fossil fuel. Never minimizing the complexities of ending oil dependence, Tickell uncovers a hopeful reality pointing toward a decentralized, sustainable energy infrastructure—like big rigs tanking up on biofuel at Carl’s Corner Texas truck stop, a new Brooklyn biodiesel plant serving three states, a miraculous Arizona algae-based fuel farm, and the Swedish public voting to be petroleum free by 2020. Sweeping and exhilarating, Tickell’s passionate film goes beyond great storytelling; it rings out like a bell that stirs consciousness and makes individual action suddenly seem consequential.
2008 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award
Film's website:
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Speaker: Spiro Theofilatos
An environmental advocate and biodiesel enthusiast, Mr. Theofilatos has launched the waste oil collections service at NYC's Tri-State Biodiesel and has built relationships with some of the country's leading supermarkets, recycling, and waste management brokerage firms. He has also solidified relationships with hundreds of independent franchises and restaurants in Manhattan and expanded the waste oil collection operations throughout Brooklyn and Queens. |
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 @ 8:45 PM
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
105 min/2008; US (Rated PG-13)
In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. We reward speed, size and above all else: winning - at sport, at business and at war. Metaphorically we are a nation on steroids. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? From the producers of Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 comes a new film that unflinchingly explores our win-at-all-cost culture through the lens of a personal journey. Blending comedy and pathos, Bigger, Stronger, Faster is a collision of pop culture, animated sequences and first-person narrative, with a diverse cast including US Congressmen, professional athletes, medical experts and everyday gym rats. At its heart, this is the story of director Christopher Bell and his two brothers, who grew up idolizing muscular giants like Hulk Hogan, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and who went on to become members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream. When you discover that your heroes have all broken the rules, do you follow the rules, or do you follow your heroes?
Film’s website: |
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 @ 6:30 PM
Nanking
90 min/2007; US (Rated R)
A powerful, emotional and relevant reminder of the heartbreaking toll war takes on the innocent, this film tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China, in the early days of World War II. As part of a campaign to conquer all of China, the Japanese subjected China's then-capital Nanking to months of aerial bombardment, and when the city fell, the Japanese army unleashed murder and rape on a horrifying scale. In the midst of the rampage, a small group of Westerners banded together to establish a Safety Zone where over 200,000 Chinese found refuge. Unarmed, these missionaries, university professors, doctors and businessmen – including a Nazi named John Rabe – bore witness to the events, while risking their own lives to protect civilians from slaughter. The story is told through deeply moving interviews with Chinese survivors, chilling archival footage and photos of the events, and testimonies of former Japanese soldiers. At the heart of Nanking is a filmed stage reading of the Westerners’ letters and diaries, featuring Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway and Jurgen Prochnow. Through its interweave of archival images, testimonies of survivors, and readings of first hand accounts, the film puts the viewer on the streets of Nanking and brings the forgotten past to startling life.
Film's website:
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Speaker: Kevin Lawrence
China Institute, New York
Kevin Lawrence is Associate Director of China Institute's professional development program for K-12 educators, Teach China. He has taught numerous courses on Chinese history, film, and culture at various institutions including China Institute, University of Chicago, and the Dalton School. Among his years living in China and Taiwan, he spent his first year at Nanjing University. |
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 @ 8:30 PM
In the Shadow of the Moon
109 min/2007; US/UK (Rated PG)
In 1962, President Kennedy posed a challenge to the American people: Could we, by the end of the decade, go to the moon? What once seemed nearly impossible in fact turned out to be one of the United States' greatest accomplishments of the twentieth century. Spurred on by a national spirit of competition to beat our Cold War nemesis, this mission was accomplished. On July 21, 1969, millions of people from around the globe tuned in to watch Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin take their first steps on the surface of the moon. Here was a rare moment in time when the world was united in a feeling of joy and optimism. The astronauts who had the privilege to go to the moon are now graying space cowboys. Their explanation of what really went on in the space race only adds to their mythic stature. In addition to being brave and phenomenal physical specimens, these men were also brilliant. The gamut of technical skills they possessed is simply astounding. Remember, the computers used on the moon missions had only a fraction of the computational power of today's home computer. Director David Sington was given access to a treasure trove of unseen NASA film clips and other curiosities of the era.
Winner of the Sundance Audience Award.
Film's website: |
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