Cross-posted on Film.com
This past Sunday marked the end of the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival, which boasted the world premieres of big ticket films like “To Rome With Love”, “Magic Mike,” “Brave” and “Seeking a Friend For the End of the World.” But the heart of the fest is in its lesser-known titles, the indie flicks without distributors or making festival rounds and the docs that may be destined for Oscar nominations.
Here we take a look at the latter of these categories with my top five documentary features of L.A. Film Fest 2012.
The Person — “Beauty is Embarrassing”
“Beauty is Embarrassing,” a profile on artist Wayne White, was perhaps the most personal doc of L.A. Film Fest. While others follow stories, movements or profile many people at once, “Beauty” follows the story of one man and his success and struggle as an artist. White himself is our narrator of sorts, providing the thrust of the narrative; doubly so as the film is framed by snippets of his one-man show. Any artist can relate to the circumstances that got White started and guided his life, and the film secretly acts as inspiration for anyone out there aspiring to make a living from their artistry.
Director Neil Berkeley’s adventurous directing — which includes a couple of animated sequences-as-flashbacks that I adored — reflects White’s style in many ways and links the story and filmmaking in a way documentaries rarely do. When especially considering the current state of pop art, which has birthed the wildly lucrative pop culture art of Mondo, Gallery 1988 and more, this doc pays proper due to the man who was in many ways the founder of the movement, the man who made comedy, irreverence and entertainment acceptable in the art world. It it also worth noting that White looks and sounds like both Zach Galifianakis and LAFF entry “Red Flag” actor Onur Tukel, and the three of them should start a band/ comedy troupe/ experimental theatre company as soon as possible.
The Movement — “Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives”
You know you’re in for something special when right before a movie starts the director asks, “Who here hasn’t seen a birth before?” As my arm shot up, I began to realize I was about to witness something intense. “Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives” does more to solidify the relationship between mother and daughter than any part of this weekend’s top release, “Brave,” did. The film tracks the history of Ina May Gaskin and the group of midwives that live on The Farm in Tennessee, a community originally born by a giant group of San Francisco-based hippies in the ’70s. After directors Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore got through their births naturally with the help of Gaskin’s “Spiritual Midwifery,” a book read by any birth specialist who knows what’s what, they knew they had to tell her story and show off the beauty of the natural birthing she fights for in the process. Luckily for them, a chockful of archival photos and videos were uncovered, including footage of some of the more complicated births like Breach or Shoulder dystocia. In a hospital, situations like this would have led to an immediate knife, but these midwives argue steadfastly that women’s bodies were meant to bear children and the caesarean rate is out of control, a fact exemplified by the statistic that the U.S.’s childbirth mortality rate for mothers has drastically increased as the caesarean rate has.
“Birth Story” is unique because it both acts as an educational tool, teaching us about the history of the Farm and midwifery as a profession and skill, and as an emotional journey into assisting and experiencing motherhood. I found myself moved to tears by every birth in the film and when the Breach birth is a success, the whole audience burst into applause, overcome with an empathetic wave of relief and joy. Do you know how crazy it is to watch a tiny human come out of a big human?
But far from crazy, the act is a beautiful experience, and this film details the importance of understanding that, of not being afraid, of laughing, smiling, trusting and knowing that *you* are in control, not a surgery-happy doctor. Especially after seeing the HBO doc about aging models, “About Face,” I found myself filled with emotion hearing these older women note that though midwifery is sadly a dying profession (even illegal in Alabama), it is also one of the only ones where grey hair in a woman is respected, a sign that she is better at her job than most anyone else. “Birth Story” is a must-see for any woman — and, frankly, any human — and will make you appreciate that the female body is capable of so much more. Beautiful, entertaining, and inspiring, it’s no surprise “Birth Story” won L.A. Film Fest’s Documentary Audience Award.
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