Amos Perrine, a Charleston film buff, sent me the link to the annual Village Voice critics list of best films of the year.I saw only 13 of the films, going to one feature film a week. I definitely did NOT think that “The Tree of Life” was the best film of the year.
Patrick Felton, director of the WV Filmmakers Festival, sent me his list of best WV films so here it is. Thanks to both for loving films as much as I do.
Top 10 WV Films of 2011.
We are once again at the time where we take stock of everything that has occurred in the last year. I think its been a relatively good year for WV Films. We continue to see new voices emerge, particularly in the once sparse genre of narrative feature filmmaking. We’ve seen old standbys in our community continue to produce, while other newer artists are also stepping up to the plate. What follows is a brief survey of some of my favorite films that our state has produced in the last 365 days. It is by no means definitive, but I hope it causes you the reader to seek some of these titles out via your local libraries and interwebs as they become more available.
10 Doggone!
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(Narrative Short)
Directed by Jan Bezoushka
This may be a clear case of me not giving a film a fair chance on first glance. The first time I saw this thesis project from West Virginia State University Media Studies graduate Jan Bezouska, I dismissed it as a Desperate Housewives ripoff. Upon second viewing, I still have major reservations. However, I have found much to admire in this film. The gorgeous, slick cinematography meshes well with a dark comedy being attempted. The film boasts many of the Kanawha Valley’s best acting talents including Brian Roller as a neurotic costume party guest. Bezouska has a special talent for art design and clearly put a lot of thought into the color and look of everything in this film Also, rumored to have cost over $5,000, one wonders how Mr Bezouska got his film made, given the current financial problems that West Virginia State University has been facing. Hats off to all involved.
9 We Pull Together
(Documentary Feature)
Directed by: BJ Gudmundsson
Two of my favorite documentarians in the state – BJ Gudmundsson and Tijah Bumgarner – came togather fo an incredibly special film this year about the true stories of all the living Rosie The Riveters remaining in West Virginia. Sponsored by “Thanks! Plain And Simple” A poignant, touching, and ultimately powerful tribute to the women in our state who sacrificed families, careers and even their health to help protect the free world.
8 Pocahontas County Children: A Visual Diary
(Documentary Short)
Directed by: Dave Brock and Justin Litton
<iframe src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/25214082?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0” width=”400″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″ webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/25214082“>Pocahontas County Children: A Visual Diary</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/jeezny“>Justin Litton</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com“>Vimeo</a>.</p>
Directed by: Justin Litton and Dave Brock
What began is a grant project between the West Virginia State University extension office and the Pearl S. Buck museum in Pocohantas county became a surprisingly poignant look at the intersection of isolation and technology among our state’s youth. Filmmakers Justin Litton and Dave Brock were hired to teach 10 children from Hillsboro WV how to use flip cams to document their lives for a week, including trips to school, Droop Mountain battlefield, and the aforementioned birthplace of Pearl Buck. The resulting film is a touching, intriguing and often hilarious look at the minds and lives of a new generation of West Virginians in one of the state’s most isolated regions. Litton and Brock captured lightning in a bottle, documenting a unique moment in the lives of these children’s but also in this state as well. It reminds me of my own lazy sunday excursions up 219 into Pocohantas county We wish both Mr. Brock and Mr. Litton farewell as their paths lead them away from WV in 2012 towards greener pastures.
7. The Game
- Documentary Short
Directed by: Robert Tinnell
Veteran filmmaker Bob Tinnell had tried to get his story of the little league football coach that taught him the importance of winning and losing as a feature film for almost a decade before deciding to film it himself as a creative nonfiction documentary. This was clearly the correct decision, as Tinnell captures some of the most memorable and powerful images shot in WV this entire year. This is on par with any of the short video essays on football which ESPN Films has produced over the last 2 years, and Mr. Tinnell, the 2011 WV Filmmaker Of The Year, perhaps has finally reached a level of intimacy with the medium which will continue his reign as the state’s premiere filmmaker for another decade.
6. AI Means Love
The third feature from Lightsmith Productions in the eastern panhandle, AI Means Love is something unique among West Virginia films. It deals with 2 underrepresented populations in our art: Immigrants and Christians. Director/Producer team of Mie and SunJae smith manage to make their deeply personal story of interracial relationships among a family of Japanese Christian immigrants in Martinsburg into a charming, funny, and heartwarming tale of staying true to one’s identity. The film ties the Japansese christian experience to the familiar background of Samurai films, and some of the films best moments come when these two threads are balanced. The script by Katie Tsubata is so adorable I just want to hug it. Individuals looking for a break from the series of deeply cynical, bleak, and nihilistic indepentant films will be refreshed by the film’s warm spirit and earnest tone. As West Virginia changes, hopefully we’ll continue to see such positive voices as the folks at Lightsmith Pro.
5. The Last Mountain
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At the risk of oversimplifying things, I think The Last Mountain may be the best film about Mountain Top Removal ever made. While previous films nailed the urgency of the problem, they often lacked the distance that filmmaker has due. Because he lenses one of the state’s biggest hot topics through the lens of the outsider he ultimately finds a level of objectivity about the situation. That’s not to say the film isn’t one-sided. It’s clearly pro-mountain, if only by the virtue that he invests the time in the film to give the viewer the epic arial shots neccesary to show the scope of destruction occuring in the Locan County area. Hopefully this film will reach an audience on DVD that the more shrill voices of previous documentaries may have scared off.
4. The Deposition
Directed by Edward Mensore
One of the great stories of the last year has been the rise of independent filmmaking in WV’s Northern panhandle in the wake of Super 8. Chief amount these films was the poetic and often opaque thriller “The Deposition” Hollywood screenwriter Edward Mensore came home to New Martinsville to film his passion project about a black factory worker who is facing an involuntary manslaughter charge for a vehicular homeside he can’t remember. The film replays the film in his mind a million times. Reminiscant of smaller psychological thrillers like “The Invisible” and “Stir Of Echoes” the film almost sustains its suspense the entire film before collapsing under its own weight in the third real. Still, the messiness and emotional rawness of this film redeems it. Mensore layers on a suprising amount of racial overtones to the film in ways we’ve rarely seen in WV cinema. Look for more great things from Mr. Mensore in the future. The Narrative debut of the year.
3. Romeo Must Hang
Directed by: Bob Wilkinson
The story of Harry Powers has haunted the small community of Quet Dell, WV for almost 80 years, yet few people today even know the story of one of the serial killers who inspired the film “Night Of The Hunter”. Veteran PBS documentarian Bob Wilkinson takes on the story from a chilling approach, instead of focusing on the man, Wilkinson places his lens squarely on the myth of Harry Powers. Using an unsettling blend of archival photos, insightful interviews, and chilling reenactments, Wilkinson has created one of the most poignant, chilling, and terrifying documents of society’s fascination with evil. Having seen this film now 3 times, twice with an audience, it never ceases to unnerve me.
2. Lincoln County Massacre
For me, Elaine Mcmillion is THE discovery of the 2011 WV Filmmakers Festival. Winner of the 2011 Audience Choice and Director’s Choice awards from the WV Filmmakers Festival, McMillion’s debut feature documentary has stayed with me far beyond its brisk 60 minute running time. Telling the story of the 1980 brutilazation of members of the Brothers Of The Wheel motorcycle club by WV State Troopers, McMillion tells the ultimate underdog system of individuals fighting the system for the simple dignity of their right to be. Like all good documentaries, brings light to an important story that few knew and then presents it with methodical precision. McMillion’s journalistic background shows through and the film manages a level of credibility that elevates the film past its subject. I expect great things from Ms. McMillion as she continues to present the hidden stories which are still worth telling.
1. Super 8
Directed by: J. J. Abrams
In what has been described as a quantum leap for WV’s film industry, Super 8 brought Hollywood to WV and became a surprise hit of the 2011 summer box office. What is left out of this discussion is how great this film actually is. It is JJ Abrams best film ever, and its among the best mainstream studio releases of the calendar year. Any individual who has ever had that first experience of playing with the camera and creating something special will relate to the story of children making a short movie on a Super 8 camera only to discover deeper adventure than they could have possibly imagined. Critics have cited this as a pastiche and tribute to the early 80s films of Joe Dante and Stephen Spielberg, and in a way it is. However, Super 8 is very much a film of this moment. Its plot is almost a love letter to the youtube generation of filmmakers, trumpeting the witless eyes of child filmmakers without training and means as individuals capable of saving the planet. Much like 2008′s “Son Of Rambow” “Super 8″ recognizes the value of its filmmaker protagonists, regardless of whether or not they have any talent. This is an ethos that sums up the entire year in WV Filmmaking, and it is as true of budgetless films made in Charleston and Parkersburg as it is of Weirton’s new claim to fame.
Honorable Mentions: Memory Lane, Noil: The Fuel Of Tomorrow, Delirifacients, Sausage Legs, Give Up The Fuzz, Plane Talking, Encounter Attack
Did not See: Doughboy, Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Most Promising Trailer of 2012 film: One Soldier, One Grave
Achievement in Music Videos: Can’t Stand Another Day
Bill Posner Award for Worst WV Movie Of The Year: Zombie Babie
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