I saw a great film tonight: "Audience of One."
Tonight was the opening night of True/False Film Festival here in Columbia, MO, and I got a free ticket offer from a friend. So I was like, "Hey, free ticket. Why not." And boy am I glad I did not miss out on tonight's feature.
"Audience of One" is a film by Michael Jacobs, about a Pentecostal pastor in San Fransisco who feels he was called by God to make a Sci-Fi movie. After first hearing a brief synopsis such as this, you may be thinking, as I did, "Okay what else is there to it?" But that is just it. There is not much more to the story than this. The fact is, the pastor, his family, and members of his congregation who agree to make the movie with him are just so complex and CRAZY that you do not need more to the story. I'm not kidding. The movie starts right off with the idea for the film the pastor wants to make, and immediately the audience can see that it is ridiculous. And, without giving too much of the movie away, it continues and gets more and more ridiculous as it goes along. Towards the end, there is a scene at the church where the pastor is explaining a list of eight goals of the film company that they've started. And, just to give you a taste of the insanity, one of the goals is: "Produce 27 films per year." Because that's possible.
After the showing, no other than Michael Jacobs gets on stage to do a little Q & A with the audience. It was fascinating, and even refreshing, to hear his side of the story. He seemed very down to earth and pretty chill. And even though this was his first film, he seemed to know what he was doing; it was very well made. I was impressed by the position he took when it came to the possibility of exploiting these people and their religion. As one member of the audience said, it would have been so easy to take "cheap shots" and portray these characters in such a negative way. But this was not Jacobs' purpose, and I have a lot of respect for that.
Of course, I recommend this movie, but that is kind of impossible, seeing as it's not out there yet. Here is the trailer though, and be on the lookout for it. It's quite the piece of work.
28 February 2008
Audience of One
13 February 2008
Half a World Away
"Security forces have launched a search for two journalists from the American television network CBS who were kidnapped at gunpoint from their hotel in the Iraqi city of Basra."
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to travel to the ends of the earth. I've wanted to document what goes on a million miles away; in the remote villages of Asia, the drug-ridden streets of Latin America, and, eventually, the war-torn countries of the Middle East. I want to see it all.
This recent awful incident, along with others like it (Daniel Pearl), however, makes me think a little bit more about my hopes and dreams. This isn't to say I don't want to travel or be a journalist anymore. But what happens, when (God-willing) I have a job, doing what I love everyday, and Mr. Boss comes up to me and says, "Catherine, please go to the most dangerous country in the world and get some good shots."? It's nothing I have an answer to, but something I am thinking about.
