Friday, October 5, 2007

IFC: STRANGER THAN FICTION

Thank you to everyone who came and supported Billy the Kid at the IFC Film Center in New York City! What an amazing crowd and a wonderful night!


by Charlie Olsky (October 4, 2007)

IFC Center finds a "Billy" silver-lining

After a week full of movies about abortion in fascist states, full-body paralysis, nightmarish future worlds and scary government actions, audiences in search of something more life-affirming were welcome to come to the IFC Center on Tuesday night, where director Jennifer Venditti was present for a screening of her winning documentary "Billy the Kid" as part of the third run of that theater's "Stranger Than Fiction" series--co-presented by SXSW, where the film won the Jury prize for best documentary. The movie shows several days in the life of teenager Billy, a sweet-natured but misfit kid whose blunt demeanor and abrupt temper often prove alienating; after the film was completed, Billy was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism that manifests itself as a particular type of social awkwardness.

For Vendetti, a casting director looking to make a series of character portraits, the entire film fell into her lap. "I met Billy in a lunch room, he was the kid that was being bullied," said Vendetti in the Q&A which followed the screening. "When he opened his mouth, I was in heaven. I was, like, 'are you kidding? Who is this person, and why isn't everyone interested in him?"

While portraits of endearing oddballs often find themselves subjected to accusations of exploitation (see: Al Maysles, Errol Morris, et al.), what impresses most about the film is how overwhelmingly humane it is. Said Vendetti, "my goal with this film was to understand someone for who they are, and how they see the world, not how other people see them and define them". "Billy the Kid" will open in theaters in late 2007/early 2008.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey everyone! Not to change the subject here but I was at free screening Cleveland State University of the dark thriller called UNSPEAKABLE the new film from director Marquette Williams and his company Cinema 2:16 and it was sooooo good. I know there will be some more free screening as well as an online screening of Unspeakable. I know a lot of you are not hip to his work but this guy is really trying to say something and push the cinema envelope so to speak. Here are some links that I found on youtube. He’s the next Spike Lee but no one is talking about him and I just don’t know why.
UNSPEAKABLE on you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrCBziXs3S4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sbPkL6yH6c

Anonymous said...

Meet
Writer Director
Marquette Williams

UNSPEAKABLE will be screening at this years Cleveland International Film Festival inside Tower City Cinemas, Tower City Center, downtown Cleveland, Ohio www. clevelandfilm. org .

The screenings are Friday, March 14 which is the premier @ 7:15pm and Saturday, March 15 @ 2:15pm.

For tickets go to:

Cleveland International Film Festival
http://clevelandfilm.org/ciff_films_find-details.php?fid=2522

UNSPEAKABLE on you tube:
http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=yrCBziXs3S4

http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=1sbPkL6yH6c

http://bucklebrothers. net/