Here’s a name worth commiting to memory: Dee Rees.
The New York University graduate student wrote and directed “Pariah,” one of the narrative shorts set to screen at the Starz First Look Film Festival, which begins Thursday night.
“Pariah” is the final film in “Bold Beginnings,” the fest’s opening- night package.
Bold indeed. With a palette dark, rich and evocative, “Pariah” tells the story of Lee, a 17-year-old living in the Bronx with her parents and bratty little sis. A young gay woman, she’s trying to figure out her place in the world. At a nightclub, she toggles from excitement to antsiness. She’s running late for her curfew. On the bus home, she forces her best friend off before performing a style change: going from masculine drag to a kind of understated loveliness.
“Pariah” is reminiscent of the smart urban cinema of Jim McKay (“Everyday People”), Nelson George (“Life Support”) and “Half Nelson” director Ryan Fleck.
But this work, shot on 35mm film but like the fest’s other movies screened on DVD or Beta, is willfully beautiful.
Promises of possibility are exactly what this festival of student films from U.S. and foreign-film programs delivers. If the 12 shorts I screened are a good indicator, Rees’ isn’t the only name you’ll be noting.
“We have a 44 of the most vicious shorts we’ve ever programmed” says Wade Gardner, who, along with Josh Weinberg, started the festival.
Even genre riffs like “By Appointment Only,” “Margaret’s Son” and “The Eyes of Samir” – screening as part of the very popular Friday package “Late Night Zombie Horror Madness Screening!!!” – are worth a gander.
Kevin Shulman’s “Eyes of Samir” is an especially provocative – infuriating even – ride that mixes horror with mass-media exploitation and images suggestive of journalist Daniel Pearl’s murder.
“Even when they’re making mistakes,” says Weinberg of some of the films, “they’re making better mistakes.”
“There are a lot of thought-provoking films that don’t shy away from controversy,” says Gardner.
Evens so, he admits the festival still pushes against the preconception that “student” translates into lesser quality.
Note to doubters: “West Bank Story,” Ari Sandel’s clever send-up of the Jets-Sharks feud using the story of Isreali and Palestinian fallafel purveyors had its area premiere at First Look. In March, it won the Academy Award for best narrative short.
This year, the programming duo trimmed seminars and workshops for local area students in order to spend time hunting down the best student works. “The Hunter,” Benjamin Gray’s moody adaption of a Tobias Wolff short story, and “Silences,” Octavio Warnock-Graham’s deeply personal documentary about racial identity, prove the shift in focus was well worth it.
Saturday night, the fest follows a 4 p.m. Colorado film package with “The Full Monty Miranda,” an evening with Colorado native Monty Miranda. What did the filmmaker do to own the spotlight? Last month he took home the SXSW Film Festival audience prize for best feature for “Skills Like This.” (6 p.m. Saturday.)
7th Annual Starz First Look Film Festival
FILM FEST|Starz FilmCenter, Ninth Street and Auraria Parkway.; April 19-22; |$5.75-$8.75 for each shorts package; or $25-$30 for a festival pass, including all screenings and admission to festival receptions Thursday and Saturday| Information and tickets: denverfilm.org.
