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Judge's Statement

Ý How would you know these Festival works are from the Northwest? Maybe some have the tell-tale landscape or a story about local history; perhaps others have an aesthetic possible only through taking refuge from insistent rain. I think you couldn't know for sure. The films and videos I chose for this Festival could hold their own anywhere in the world. They are works that have either transcended regional culture or have a visionary investment in it. Whether it be laborers in a futuristic entertainment factory, Altuiiq fisherman in the the Prince William Sound, or richly colorful shapes shifting to the beat of a heart, the worlds these films create and document are complex, engaging and fully realized.

While most everything I saw was well-crafted, the works I found most compelling not only had an intellectual and emotional resonance beyond their construction, they also stood somewhere outside the traditional narrative. Nevertheless, several exhibited a fascination for the society of cinematic storytelling and its effect on individuals and cultures, particularly Shooting Blanks, which I loved for its audacity and humor. The experimental and animated works succeeded in capturing a definitive range of moods and emotions that were supremely evocative and ambitious. Utopia Parkway was especially a pleasure to watch. Even the erotic work Sabor a Mi departs from the tradition by defining its insular world of desires with a haunting surreality and exquisite photography.

I was especially drawn to documentaries in every form - even some of the narrative films I selected are documentary-style. Time and time again I was mesmerized by acutely drawn observations of people trying to achieve some kind of harmony with each other and the world around them. And, though the subjects are varied, they all gave me the opportunity to spend time with some extraordinary people: a principal at a small rural school in Hokkaaido, Japan who was wonderful and impassioned views about education in Heart of the Country; an old-time cowboy philosopher with a deep love for the people and animals of the Great Plains in in Linda Ohama's stunningly photographed Neighbors, Wild Horses and Cowboys; three boys in a foster home in Seattle facing extraordinary dislocations and difficulties of life with great dignity in Take This Heart; and last, but certainly not least, some of the most feisty, plain-speaking, fun-loving characters I've seen on the screen in a while - Harley-Davidson enthusiasts at their annual gathering in Sturgis, South Dakota in Adam Berman's wildly entertaining Biker Dreams.

I also enjoyed my encounters with some people I'm sorry I'll never run into on the street (since they only exist in celluloid and tape): the entrancing versions of Orville and Wilbur Wright, one of whom just happens to be a woman, in Gregg Lachow's assuredly eccentric The Wright Brothers; the funny, tragic, endearing and completely unforgettable Patsy Wayne in Have You Seen Patsy Wayne? and the entire hilariously tortured cast and crew of the mocumentary Road Movie, including the evil rockabilly band.

I hope you find the encounters with these characters and the moments you spend in these fascinating worlds as pleasurable and thought-provoking as I did.

Rachel Rosen

Judge's Bio

RACHEL ROSEN is the film and video programmer for the San Francisco International Film Festival. Her extensive film exhibition background includes programming positions with New York City's Film Forum as well as with the New York Film Festival. A graduate of Stanford University's prestigious Masters of Arts program in Documentary Film, Rosen has directed several projects and worked as a cinematographer and editor on many others. Her publishing credits include articles on the Sundance Film Festival for Film Comment magazine.