by Cheryl Eagan-Donovan
FRIDAY JUNE 17th
Friday morning I opted for the “Secret Screening” described as a sneak preview of “a raucous new film from an acclaimed French master”, endorsed by the festival godfather himself, John Waters, as “a real lu-lu”. In my experience, John’s favorites never disappoint. Anyone remember FUEGO? One of the guys sitting in the row behind me guessed the film before it began: PETER VON KANT by Francois Ozon. This mad, desperate love story is everything I love about French films: melodramatic, highly stylized, blatant mise-en-scene referenced in song, colors that pop, and poetic if sometimes over-the-top dialogue. Brilliant performances by Denis Menochet as the title cad and bon vivant, a filmmaker who never sets foot on location or a soundstage as the story unfolds, but tortures his assistant Karl, played with a supreme restraint by Stefan Crepon, with constant rewrites of his most recent script. Isabelle Adjani is marvelous as his best friend, former muse, and rival Sidonie, and Khalil Ben Gharbia is captivating as Amir, the object of everyone’s desire. Adapted from the Fassbinder stage play and later film THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT, Ozon’s version cleverly casts the playwright’s longtime collaborator Hanna Schygulla as Von Kant’s mother, and delivers an ending that is perfectly ambiguous and devastatingly honest.
CHRISSY JUDY, written and directed by PIFF alum Todd Flaherty, was the perfect appetizer for the afternoon’s special screening, FIRE ISLAND. Both films explore the concept of friendship as negotiated by gay men in our modern, hyper-competitive world. Set in a non-descript time period but firmly rooted in the very different vortices of New York and Provincetown, CHRISSY JUDY follows the journeys of two drag performers who drift apart in search of their own identities and relationships beyond their on-stage partnership. When Judy suddenly abandons the act and moves to Philadelphia (gasp!), and finds stability (what?) Chris is left to fend for himself, with gigs that don’t pay, audiences who don’t care, and hook-ups who care even less. The fish-out-of-water sequence when Chris accepts an invitation to visit Judy and his boyfriend Sean for a weekend in rural New Jersey is both heartbreaking and humorous in its not-so-subtle jab at the hypocrisy of “success”. Of course Chris eventually finds his own definition of self-actualization in the magic of Provincetown at night, where he runs into his old friend again, and they are finally able to forgive and respect one another’s choices. Shot in black-and-white, the film has a verite quality that matches the honesty of the performances by the director as title character Chris and Wyatt Fenner as his BFF. A real triumph of a first feature; this director is one to watch. In the Q&A, Flaherty explained that he developed the script from a short that played the festival last year: LET’S MEET AGAIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD. They shot the feature with a 3-person crew, in less than 3 weeks, and he had never done drag before. “Watch out,” he quipped. “It’s dangerous!” He explained that the idea started when he left New York to follow a relationship to Philly, and that inspired him to write about the difficulty in choosing between love and the New York theater community. Wanting to explore the idea of queer artistry and friendship, he chose drag as the vehicle to craft a story that breaks away from the typical coming of age, forbidden love, and AIDS era tropes. True friends, he said, are the people who help us grow and become ourselves. You can catch Todd’s drag show this summer at the Provincetown Brewing Company on Tuesday nights when he hosts a movie night featuring seminal films that are part of the gay experience, with a live running commentary and songs!
After a quick rain shower, I headed back to the Town Hall for the featured narrative film FIRE ISLAND. To intro the film, stars and partners Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers talked about shooting a sequel in Provincetown, which won the approval of the audience. Director Andrew Ahn recounted the battle for nudity, and I was reminded of my work as publicist on Roland Tec’s film ALL THE RAGE in the 1990s. Even The Boston Phoenix, where I worked and once modeled my legs for an “After Dark” classified ad, refused to publish our publicity still, a bare-chested torso and white briefs. Have times really changed all that much? With its lack of full frontal images, the film is sure to crossover to straight and curious audiences. Shot on location in the legendary gay mecca, it’s a cute and harmless rom-com that is essentially the antithesis of PINK FLAMINGOS. As Jenny Slate noted, the ending is hopelessly romantic, and the feel-good vibes are sure to please younger, not-yet-jaded audiences. Yang proves that he has the chops for dramatic roles, and Margaret Cho is perfectly cast as the group’s housemother Erin. Writer, producer, and co-star Joel Kim Booster (Noah) is a natural as the BFF who tries to help Yang’s character Howie hook up, and Conrad Ricamora shines as the seemingly unattainable Mr. Darcy stand-in Will. The ensemble works together like a modern Asian American John Hughes clique, and the script only departs slightly from its Pride and Prejudice inspiration by leaving the door open for other characters to find true love in future chapters, as reiterated by the team during the Q&A. Welcome to the Andrew Ahn universe!
The stars were out at the Schoolhouse Gallery party, with great food, lots of filmmakers, and plenty of networking opportunities. I had a chance to chat with John Waters briefly about the upcoming exhibit of his work at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in L.A., and spoke with directors Lucia Small (GIRL TALK), Jude Dry (MONSIUER LE BUTCH), and Adam Golub (REGGIE CABRAL). Also in attendance were actors Wyatt Fenner, co-star of CHRISSY JUDY, Excellence in Acting Award recipient Dale Dickey, whose film at this year’s fest, A LOVE STORY, also won the John Schlesinger Narrative Award, and 2012 Excellence in Acting Award winner Parker Posey, who was seen catching up with PIFF board member and Chlotrudis president Michael Colford.
I stopped in at a few other galleries on my way back up Commercial Street. The Friday night art stroll is one of my favorite things to do in Provincetown; you never know who you will meet or which new artists you will discover. I walked through the current exhibit at AMP, where I had previously purchased a few pieces, and said hello to curator Deb Nadolney, who would host another film party on Saturday. On the way home, I could not resist a slice of pizza at Spiritus and for last call, a special performance of “Watersports”, music from the films of John Waters at the Grotta Bar with chanteuse Billy Hough at the piano: the perfect ending to another perfect day.
SATURDAY JUNE 18th
Saturday was my last day of films and parties, so after an early morning walk around the West End, I headed out to the first feature, WILDHOOD. Written and directed by Canadian Brettan Hamman, the film tells the story of two brothers, Link and Travis, as they escape their abusive father and go in search of Link’s mother, a member of the Mi’kmaw tribe. Link’s discovery of the birthday card she had sent, hidden by his father who had told him she was dead, is the catalyst for his journey, during which he also discovers his sexuality when he meets Pasmay, a Mi’kmaw pow wow dancer with whom he falls in love. Beautifully shot with long takes of the landscape, the film balances the innocence and freedom of their trip against the violence of the opening scenes, which almost caused me to leave the theater. When Link finally finds his birth mother, and she accepts him and his relationship, the emotional intensity was overwhelming for some members of the audience who left the theater sobbing. The last shot of the three boys dancing on the beach is infused with joy and magic. Developed from the short film WILDFIRE (2019), the film has earned several festival awards, including the Palm Springs International Film Festival New Voices/New Visions Special Jury Mention and the Toronto Film Critics Association Stella Artois Jay Scott prize. Like many of the films at PIFF, WILDHOOD can be viewed on Hulu now.
After a quick lunch at the hospitality suite, I headed back to the Waters Edge Cinema for the documentary BAD AXE. David Siev turns the camera on his family for this personal portrait of his hometown, the title Michigan rural enclave, where Trump signs loom on every corner. Siev’s father escaped the killing fields of Cambodia along with his mother and siblings, and with his Mexican American wife, started a coffee shop that they later expanded into a full service restaurant, where they enjoyed a loyal customer base and modest success. The family business was suddenly in jeopardy when the COVID 19 pandemic hit, and they were at risk of losing everything. The struggle between parents and children over how best to manage the crisis echoes the battles that took place around the country between generations, but they persisted with take-out and drive through sushi nights and the determination of the oldest daughter, Jaclyn. Just when it seemed that they would be able to re-open, George Floyd was murdered, and Jaclyn feels compelled to join the local Black Lives Matter march in response. At the protest, she encounters a group of camo-sporting gun-toting White Supremacists, whose identities are obscured by face coverings. A few weeks later Siev posts the trailer for his film, which includes footage of the yelling match between his sister and the Neo-Nazis. The backlash is immediate; they begin getting angry letters from customers who say they will never return to the restaurant, and worse, threats to the entire family. The scenes where men in a truck follow younger sister Raquel home after she locks up at night are truly harrowing. This happened in 2020, but we have since seen what happened on January 6th 2021. When the men are arrested for harassing another local family, we realize just how narrowly the family had escaped violence. The ending of the film is filled with hope as the family welcomes new grandchildren, the next generation of survivors. A very moving slice of American life at a particular moment in time that explores what it means to be a family and to be free. Winner of the Documentary Audience Award at SXSW, this is a historical and cultural achievement in filmmaking.
DREAMING WALLS: INSIDE THE CHELSEA HOTEL includes some great archival footage and some interesting portraits of current residents, but fails to capture the je ne sais quoi that makes the hotel unique. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Amelie Van Elmbt and Maya Duverdier, the film is a big budget co-production of Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.S. In what appears to be an attempt to be experimental and artsy, the filmmakers project images of famous artists who once called the Chelsea home onto the brick walls of the building, but their stories are never told and it’s often difficult to determine who is being depicted. I had high hopes at the opening of the film, when we see a very young Patti Smith speaking from the roof of the hotel about the importance of the location to her when she first arrived in New York, followed by a scene with a construction worker and an elderly resident. The white-haired woman asks him if he likes working on the renovation and he says absolutely, explaining the historic significance of the building and its many ghosts. He tells her you can feel their presence, some content to stay as lodgers, other looking for a way out, and that he always wanted to be an architect, inspired by Da Vinci. She mentions her career as a dancer and they dance together in the hallway before he returns to work. These were the highlights of the film for me. When the same former dancer recreates a performance piece on the grand staircase, intercut with footage of the original event, it’s a nice juxtaposition of old and new but these three sequences could have been a good short film. It was frustrating when they waited until the closing credits to acknowledge many of the people who helped create the mythology with still photos. The clips of Warhol’s CHELSEA GIRLS are another bonus but there is no narrative structure to hold the different components together in a compelling way. A visit to the hotel itself would be more satisfying.
The Filmmaker Party sponsored by Chlotrudis at the Fine Arts Work Center was a laid-back event with great music, an indoor/outdoor space, and excellent vegan food from after-beach favorite Canteen. Also available was a selection of Peak Organic beers, where I discovered Slim Hazy, a 95-calorie, low ABV juicy option. The entire Chlotrudis crew was together for this event and it was great to have a chance to relax and compare notes.
The next morning it was raining and cold, good weather for watching films, but I had to catch the early ferry for Boston. The trip was a little choppy but I made it back in time to celebrate father’s day with my husband and my son. Brunch in the seaport was excellent and helped ease the transition back to the real world after a fantastic four days. I’m truly proud to be a sponsor of one of the best festivals in the country.