Somehow this is the 10th Anniversary of the Unseen Film Awards. A decade ago they started when Joe Bendel (aka JB) said that we should start our own awards since there was a big enough group of us traveling together that we could actually make it work. We kind of joked that if we kept it up we’d manage to get a TV show out of it. Time and tide had other ideas.
The truth is that the awards have shifted over the years. Up until 2019 the awards were like all the other awards and we picked our own Best Picture and related awards. After that Covid scattered everyone and the awards became something different. In 2020 the award was given to Trace Beaulieu and Frank Coniff aka The Mads of the MST3K because everyone was watching their riffs and getting through the dark times. After that it shifted into a list of the best under seen films.
This year we are again doing a list of under seen/discussed films. The reason is that since covid has scattered everyone. While people are watching films, no one, even in the various members of the critics groups, are seeing the same things. I say that because as a member of NYFCO I had conversations with other members about trying to play catch up.
This year things were much looser than in years past. I threw the selection open to a number of Unseen Films writers as well as to some friends of the website. There was no pressure, just a gentle hey I’m putting this list together. I didn't chase anyone down as if it was life for death (i was too busy with actual matters of life and death) The result are some films, features and shorts that you really need to track down. Some people gave me just a title, others gushed.
Thank you to everyone who participated. Hopefully this list will spur you to go out and find a new favorite film.
Ian Bulaclac- an on line friend who I follow on Twitter and Blue Sky and who I have yet to meet despte attending the same events like NYFF and Triveca- "For me that movie is CLOSE YOUR EYES" (Steve comments: I love this choice. How this film was not on more people's radar is insane. I saw it at the NYFF in 2023 and it topped my year end list)
Marq Evans- film director of CLAYDREAM and the just premiering THE DIAMOND KING- ANGEL APPLICANT (Steve comments: This is the story of how director Ken August Meyer found strength in the story of Paul Klee who had the same autoimmune disease.)
Liz Whittemore- Actress, mom, secret agent, friend, sometimes contributor to Unseen Films, lord god boofoo of Reel News Daily-SEW TORN - A business on the verge of closure. Unresolved grief. An accident. A briefcase full of money. Welcome to SXSW 2024’s quirky caper, SEW TORN. At the ripe age of 24, boy wonder filmmaker Freddy Macdonald delivers a cleverly woven genre bender.
Nate Hood- Friend, confidant, Unseen Film contributor, excellent dinner guest :Mine is "WE CAN BE HEROES." You'd have to have a cold, dead, stony heart to not fall for this film. A remarkable portrait of young people discovering themselves through fantasy and found family. Has the dignity to treat its subjects with a seriousness and sincerity our world rarely affords teenagers. I cried three different times, wishing I could've had a Wayfarer experience growing up, but also so, so thankful that other kids have it now. (Steve comments - If only Wayfarer was available when I was growing up so many lives might have been different)
BC Wallin is a friend and occasional contributor to Unseen FIlms. He gives us two different Films
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L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (1934 3D remake)
dir. Louis Lumière
Everybody knows the story. The train approaches the station, comes at the screen, everybody screams. While doing some research on anaglyph 3D and the processes to create three-dimensional images in cinema, I discovered that one of the Lumière brothers had remade the iconic movie Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station in 3D, about 40 years after the original was first screened. The version available online is rough quality and it's done up in cyan-red anaglyph 3D to give at-home viewers the impression of the 3D experience (it's more likely contemporary viewers used polarized glasses). I didn't see it as those attending Lumière's exhibit would have seen it in 1934, but I saw what they did. A train! Coming right at me! What a thrill!
Prometheus (2012, in 3D)
dir. Ridley Scott
Downloaded in 3D and converted into cyan-red anaglyph to be viewable on my non-3D TV, Prometheus is a beautiful exhibition of the promise of the third dimension in cinema, one that made me fall in love with movies again this year (I was already in love — we renewed our vows). Talking about 3D usually ends up falling into corporate boardroom speak (immersive experiences marrying technology with the artistry of cinema, etc.), so I'll say that movies often feel like Alice's looking glass, and 3D — well-executed, employed for depth over gimmicky things popping out at you — feels like falling in. Technology and artistry are the bedrock of the industry, and it's beautiful to see something like Prometheus, a tragic tale of looking for meaning and instead finding gods made in the image of man, expanding the canvas of experience. I believe in 3D. I believe in the movies. Down with post-conversion! Long live the $3 upcharge!
Ernie Stevens - Occasional Unseen contributor and an expert in crisis intervention I met Ernie when I interviewed him about the HBO documentary about his life and we have been talking ever since. I recommend THE QUILTERS, a short documentary directed by Jenifer McShane who directed Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops. The Quilters is an unexpected story about a group of incarcerated men who create beautiful quilts for local foster children. It follows a handful of men, some of whom have life sentences as the design and make beautiful personalized quilts gifted for the children's birthdays. I found it very moving. The film is 32 minutes and I wanted it to be longer! It has been winning awards at film festivals and is currently seeking distribution. (Steve comment - Ernie is right. You need to see this. It is so good it made my year end lists.)
Ed Douglas - Ed is a multi-hyphenate who has done so much- He is one of my favorite people to talk movies with. A TASTE OF THINGS. (Steve comments: This film is food as life. Had Ed seen this in 2023 when it came out played film festivals, it would have been his best film of that year. It may still be the best film he's seen this year but since it was released in 2023 he can't put it at the top of his list. And yea- its is that good.
@lifeisafilmfest on Twitter - has been a fellow traveler Festivals. He's a man you need to follow if you want to know whats out in theaters or streaming because he knows it all. His choice is Rúnar Rúnarsson’s WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS : What a gorgeous and poignant film this is! I don’t think anything else I have seen got under my skin this way since Aftersun. Taking place over the course of a single day, Cannes Un Certain Regard opening film follows Una as she tries to cope with an unexpected tragedy in the company of a group of friends. Elin Hall, who was very good in 2018 addiction drama Let Me Fall, gives a breakthrough performance here, brilliantly portraying the nuances of all the emotions Una is going through. The film’s symmetrical structure gives a sense of closure despite its concise running time. It is one of the best films I’ve seen this year.
Abe Friedtanzer writes for Cinema Daily, Film Experience and other outlets. He and I have been talking about films at festivals as long as I've been doing this: Almost a full year after seeing it on a big screen at SXSW, IT'S WHATS INSIDE still stands out to me as the best and most unforgettable movie of the year. Its construction and creativity are unmatched, and hopefully its acquisition by Netflix means audiences are giving it the proper attention at home.
My pick is SOCIAL MEDIA MONSTER. This documentary has rocked the world of everyone I've shown it to. It's a dire warning about the dangers of interacting with people both on line and in real life.
Reid Ramsey is a a good friend, sometimes cinematic co-conspirator and not so frequent Unseen FIlms writer. His choice was SNACK SHACK
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