David Schwartz is the Chief Curator of the
Museum of the Moving Image in New York City, where he is head of programming, co-curator of The Living Room Candidate (a website about presidential campaign ads), and a contributor to the Moving Image Source. He also teaches Cinema Studies at Purchase College.
In response to our survey, he writes about five docs that he's keen to see
at TIFF this year:
Religulous
Because Larry Charles, co-creator of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Borat, is one of the funniest men alive, because I laughed my ass off at the surprise work-in-progress "sizzle reel" screening at last year's TIFF, and because a satire about religious fervor is a welcome tonic during a U.S. presidential election year, I can't wait to see this. It's a film not just about religion, but an even more important global concern/stupidity.
Of Time and the City (pictured above right)
Typical film festival dilemma: take a chance on an intriguing-sounding film by a first time director, or go with the more known quantity?an established master? My tendency is to play the odds and go with the master. Life is too short. Terence Davies is one of my favorite directors, and the city film is one of my favorite genres, so the combination is irresistible.
American Swing
On the other hand there's a movie by first-timers that looks promising. Like the Davies film, here's another city portrait, contrasting past and present by looking at the history of the notorious night club Plato's Retreat. New York in Travis Bickle's 1970s was everything: grubby, chaotic, vibrant, exciting, dangerous. This promises to be a nostalgic treat for anyone familiar with today's Disney-fied Times Square.
Sea Point Days
And yet another city film--sort of--or maybe a city-and-sea film, about the
vibrant mix of race and class at a municipal pool and beach near Cape Town.
Seems like a good set-up for a penetrating Wiseman-style probe of the hidden
power plays and social tensions at a public site.
The Real Shaolin
A year at a Chinese martial arts academy, filled with kung fu action? Oh
yeah.
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