Treefort Film Festival Recommendations

The Treefort Film Festival is only a couple of weeks away and despite some arm twisting on my part I am not going to be able to get some on the ground coverage for the festival. Those of us based on the East coast can manage it due to conflicts and the people I’ve contacted on the West Coast are equally booked up.

However even though we at Unseen can’t go that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make an effort especially if you’re in the area. How do I know you should go? Because we’ve seen several of the films previously and we know the films they are picked are very good.

I have yet to write up LENNY COOKE, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing, it just means that I’ve been distracted (actually it means I’ve not seen it from start to finish). The story of Lenny Cooke who was picked to be one of the greatest basketball players ever, he found his Basketball career going sideways thanks to some choices that left him unable to play in his senior year in high school and undrafted by the NBA . This is a great film about what happens when things remain just outside of our reach.

I saw DOOMSDAYS as part of last year’s Fantasia Film Festival. I laughed my ass off. This is a funny funny comedy about a pair of guys breaking into homes in the Catskills. Don’t ask me more than that because outside of remembering laughing a great deal during the film I don’t remember much. To some that may mean a bad comedy, to mean that means a good comedy since several of my favorite films are like that- I have no idea what the details are, all I know is I really like the film.

MISSING PICTURE was an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, which is a tad confusing since the film is a documentary, but then again the Academy makes no sense most days. The film is the story of the directors life after the Kamher Rogue took over Cambodia which is reconstructed via dioramas and some footage of the time. The title refers to the Khmaher destruction of the past via destruction of photographs and such. When I saw the film at last year’s New York Film festival I was rapturous during the first hour of the film which was a deeply moving recounting of what happened. The final Half hour my love of the film lessened as the film seemed to lose its way. That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad film, only that what was close to being one of the best of the year became one of the really good films of the year.

BENDING STEEL is one of the best films of 2013 and an absolute must see. Here’s my review. Here’s Mondocurry’s review. You have to see this film, all the more since the subject of the film Chris Schoeck is going to be there and doing a bending demonstration. Trust me you want to see what he can do, and you want to talk to Chris who is a gentleman and a scholar and one of the finest people you’ll meet. Anyone I know who has some steel bent by Chris treasures it highly. I treasure the fact that we have this glorious examination of what you can achieve if you follow your dreams.

I know that’s only four films but seeing any combination of them will make the trip to Boise worth your time. Trust me, go see some films, and if you make to the fest go see some live music too, you’ll thank me.

And expect a few more reviews,I think I can manage to get a few more films reviewed before the festival hits.

For details on the festival and tickets go here.