I spent Day Two of the MIFF4 at the Congo Theater located in the heart of Memphis’s Bohemian “Cooper-Young” district. The Congo Theater is located in First Congregation Church. Also located in First Congregation is the Media Co-op, an eclectic collection of filmmakers with a deep passion for their craft. Memphis Film Forum board member, composer/writer/producer Joe Mulherin (The Gospel According to Al Green, Pyromaniacs: A Love Story and Consenting Adults) is busy introducing the movies and running the projector. I sit down on one of the cushy couches to watch Taran Davies’s “Afghan Stories.” Joe introduces the crowd to fellow Memphis Film Forum board member Roy Thinnes. Being a child of the 60s, I’m in awe. I grew up watching Mr. Thinnes on “The Invaders,” “Twelve O’Clock High” and countless other TV shows and movies. I remembered watching the TV movie “The Norliss Tapes” in which Thinnes stumbled onto a group of vampires. A storm knocked out the local TV station 10 minutes before the movie ended. I’ve never been able to find out what happened. I decide to leave the comfort of my couch and move closer to Mr. Thinnes. When the time is right, I’ll pounce on him for an interview. (I didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow!)

AFGHAN STORIES

“Afghan Stories” is a powerful little documentary directed by Taran Davies. The film was produced by Davies and Walied Osman, an American of Afghan descent. Following the attack on the World Trade Center, New Yorkers Davies and Osman decide to travel to Afghanistan to discover their lost heritage. The hour-long documentary examines the lives of a people living under oppression and tyranny. The film was started just as the US was beginning to wage war on the Taliban and Al Quida. Osman comments at the beginning of the journey that his wife also of Afghan descent wished the country of Afghanistan to be nuked. After a visit to several elders in Queens, who try to warn the filmmakers from going to the old country, Davies and Osman set out on an odyssey which will eventually reveal a rich heritage, proud people and a desire for freedom. I thought as I watched this movie, how wonderful it will be when a similar tale can be told by an Iraqi filmmaker witnessing the end of oppression in his (or her!) country. One of the most touching scenes was a song by sung by a small Afghan toddler. The boy’s sweet voice is accompanied by sub-titles revealing a desire to see the beauty and colors of his beloved Kabul once more.

COFFEE BREAK WITH DIRECTOR/WRITER CHIP HOURIHAN

“Afghan Stories” ended and “War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator” immediately began. I really wanted to see Robert Clem’s documentary about two famous WWI aviators, but being a nicotine junkie, I stepped out for a cigarette. Joe Mulherin joined me. As Mr. Mulherin and I talked about his work as a musical supervisor on several projects and Roy Thinnes, we were joined by director Chip Hourihan. Mr. Hourihan was concerned about the speakers at the Congo. His film “Glissando” was set to be screened that night. The sound on “War Birds” had been popping a bit. The two began to speak in a technical language I couldn’t comprehend. Not wanting to appear to be the ignorant bastard I am, I just nodded as Mulherin assured Mr. Hourihan that the sound levels would be fine. Hourihan seemed satisfied. As Mr. Hourihan started to walk away I introduced myself. I mentioned Einsiders.com. The coolest thing happened. “I’ve been to your site. It’s very good.” “Aw shucks,” I thought. “Very cool” I thought! Somebody actually reads our stuff! Seems that a friend of Mr. Hourihan had been interviewed by EI. “War Birds” would have to wait for another day. Mr. Hourihan and I retired to Café Ole for coffee and a bit of conversation.

As Chip Hourihan told me his story, I was reminded of Chief Dan George’s line from “The Outlaw Josey Wales”: “Endeavor to persevere!” Hourihan was influenced by John Sayles and the film "Local Hero." Being a fan of both of these, Hourihan was alright in my book. Chip Hourihan’s journey to this point has been one of confident risk taking. Mr. Hourihan has worked his way up the ladder to several different positions, each time letting go of what he had to start over toward something bigger. Each step building toward the next. Balls and perseverance.

Hourihan is a Yale graduate who then went to Princeton to become an architect. “I had a full ride. The best scholarship you can imagine. Full scholarship with a stipend to live on. I was being paid to go to one of the best schools in the world.” Hourihan had made a short film while a senior at Yale. He explained, “I entered it into some film contest. It was a terrible little film, but I won an honorable mention in the contest. I took that as a sign that I should give everything up and become a filmmaker.” Hourihan received a call from a friend in LA who said he had a place for Hourihan to stay and a lead on a job in the industry. “I gave up everything at Princeton and got ready to move to LA. The phone rang. My friend in LA had given both the place to stay and lead on the job to someone else!” A lessor man would have crumbled. “The phone rang again. A buddy in New York just leased a three bedroom place and was looking for a roommate.” Off to New York.

Hourihan got a job with a commercial production company. He then moved to another company. This one was owned by Ridley Scott. “I worked my way up to the position that I was the lowest person in the company with a title. I was a manager, but I was also the one who got blamed for everything, even if I wasn’t involved in the project.” Hourihan decided he had had enough of being a doormat and decided to look for greener pastures. Fate stepped in once more. “Ridley Scott would come into to town to film one or two commercials a year. Ridley wanted to find a postmodern house, something like a Michael Graves house. My last day was the Friday Ridley came in. I heard they were looking for a Michael Graves type house. One of my professors at Princeton had a Michael Graves house. I left on Friday a lowly manager. I returned Monday as a location scout. Ridley got his house and I tripled my salary!” Very cool.

This led to free-lancing as a location scout for film and TV. Hourihan worked with Tony Scott and Paul Mazursky among others. Hourihan worked his way up the ladder once more. He turned to music videos and commercials as a producer. “I got a rep as a digital film producer in New York. Of course, now I decided if I can produce and write, I might as well direct.” Time to start over once more. “Suddenly I found the folks I had dealt with as a producer would not return calls. As a director I was now their competition.” Down in the valley with another mountain to climb. Chip Hourihan set his sights on Robert Boswell’s “Glissando.”

“I love Robert Boswell’s work. He was nominated for the National Book Award. His book “Crooked Hearts” was filmed in 1991 with Juliette Lewis and Noah Wyle. I took his short story “Glissando” and turned out a script. The problem was, I had the script, but not the rights to it. I spent two years dealing with Mr. Boswell’s agent. I finally wrote directly to Boswell. He teaches writing at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. I sent him my script. I told him I wasn’t trying to go outside channels: that I had been dealing with his agent for two years. He called me up and invited me to his house. I flew to Las Cruces. I think he was checking me out to make sure I wasn’t a player.” He put me up in his house. His wife is the writer Antonya Nelson, the author of "Living to Tell," "Female Trouble," "Nobody’s Girl" and "Talking in Bed." She was showing me to my room. I looked on the nightstand and saw a CD by a very good friend of mine, Danielle Howle. Ms. Nelson was a big fan of hers. This wasn’t like finding a Britney Spears CD. This was one of those “small world” moments. I told her that Danielle was set to do some of the music for the movie. We formed an immediate bond.”

I asked Hourihan if he was nervous about Boswell’s reaction to his adaptation of the short story. “Yes I was, but he let me know right away that he liked what I did with the story. I had removed one of the main characters. The movie begins and ends in the present day. 99% of the movie takes place in the past. If I had left in this other character, the movie would have taken a further detour. I wanted to focus on the family dynamics of the story so I cut out that plotline. Mr. Boswell was happy with the adaptation. He let me have the rights for what it would cost his lawyers to draw up the paper work.”

MAKING THE MOVIE

Hourihan left Mr. Boswell’s home and spent 10 days driving 3,000 miles throughout Arizona. He needed a town that time forgot. Willcox, Arizona sits just north of Mexico, just west of New Mexico, in the lower-right corner of the state. The freeway exit is crowded with fast food chains, a Holiday Inn, the Willcox Chamber of Commerce and a truck stop. Few people take the trouble to drive the mile into town. Hourihan found his town that time forgot.

“Glissando” has been making the festival circuit. It won the Grand Prize-Best Feature Film at the Arizona International Film Festival, the Audience Award-Best Dramatic Feature the Dahlonega International Film Festival and was an Official Selection at The American Cinematheque. Mr. Hourihan was very pumped about his film'’ reception in Los Angeles. “Glissando"” was chosen for premiere on the Alternate Screen at the Egyptian Theater in LA. Between six and eight indie films are chosen each year for premiere at the Egyptian. Kevin Thomas of the LA Times called “Glissando” a “Triumph.” Unfortunately, I had a family commitment and missed most of the screening of “Glissando" at MIFF4. Fortunately, Chip gave me a VHS copy of his film. I’ll have my review soon. I was engrossed in what I did see.

I was also impressed by Chip Hourihan’s drive. He’s a filmmaker with balls and vision. We’ll be seeing more from this guy. He's working on a project called "Angry Candy." Chip said it was a character-driven story about parenting, but which is carefully wrapped in all the trappings of the things that should attract investors—it’s got gunplay, chase scenes, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and a great deal of the film takes place in a strip bar. I’m hoping that all those people who like to their spend money on genre pictures may be fooled into confusing my film with one of theirs.

GO GO PUNKS

Joe Mulherin recommended that I check out two music oriented films scheduled to close out Day Two of MIFF4. I’m glad I took his advice.

BETWEEN RESISTANCE AND COMMUNITY: THE LONG ISLAND DO-IT-YOURSELF PUNK SCENE

Joe Carroll and Ben Holtzman’s documentary “Between Resistance and Community: The Do-It-Yourself Long Island Punk Scene” made me feel very old, and very hopeful. The DIY punk scene is a group of kids who do everything they can to separate themselves from a consumerist society. While the movie focuses on the scene in Long Island, it becomes apparent that there are other such groups across the country. The group of kids book punk rock bands in a couple of Long Island basements. The bands get the cash. The bands also book their own national tours. The film follows several of the bands as they travel across country playing in several similar venues. What impressed me about the film were the kids chronicled by the filmmakers. These kids are thinking about the world in ways that most don’t. They maybe misguided in their views (from this old fart’s POV), but at least they are thinking and talking about such issues as community, love, and service. The word Mall is anathema to these guys. I realized as I watched this film that I had never heard my teen daughter talk this way. I also realized that I probably never allowed her to speak so freely. Like Joe Mulherin told me later: “Wisdom comes later. At least they are expressing themselves in a thoughtful manner.” Carroll and Holtzman reveal a world most folks don’t even know exists. “Between Community and Resistance” is engrossing and refreshingly honest. The filmmakers are part of the DIY scene. They wisely choose to document the movement themselves rather than leave it to an outsider unfamiliar with their philosophy. While not as technically accomplished, "Between Resistance and Community: The Do-It-Yourself Long Island Punk Scene" is as exciting and fresh as last year's "Dogtown and the Z Boys."

THE POCKET: The D. C. GO-GO MOVEMENT

I can’t write a complete review of Nicholas Shumaker and Mike Cahill’s “The Pocket: The D.C. Go-Go Movement” as my age caught up with me. Instead of sitting in the firm seats, I sank onto one of the plush couches in the back of the auditorium. The three hours of sleep I had the night before and the midnight screening time conspired against me. I fell asleep 15 minutes into the film. The night ended with Joe Mulherin saying “Movie's over, go home.”

What I did see was fascinating. Again, I show my age. The film focuses on a pocket of musical culture in Washington D.C. centered around Go-Go music. No, it’s not about babes in bikinis dancing in cages. The film starts with Henry Rollins talking about Will Smith. He explains how Will Smith is so imposing that you can tell by looking at him why he is a star. Rollins tells how Smith approached him one day on a movie set and asked him if he was a fan of Go-Go music. Go-Go is a form of Black music grounded by a powerful conga backbeat. The heavy percussion music was a revelation to me. I grew up listening to Motown. I got lost when Hip-Hop and Rap came on the scene, and never left. Go-Go was a breath of fresh air for me. The documentary includes many interviews and performances by the movement’s godfather Chuck Brown and others. I hope to get a chance to screen this film completely. I also plan to stock my CD library with the great music “The Pocket: The D.C. Go-Go Movement” brings to the rest of the world.

MIFF4 Intro
MIFF4 DAY ONE
MIFF4 DAY TWO
MIFF4 DAY THREE
MIFF4 DAY FOUR

Rusty White