A DOC'S JOURNAL by Scott Solary

FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: 'ALL GOD'S CHILDREN'
Joel Rozen
Published Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 11:58 a.m.

It was hardly the study abroad experience their parents thought they were having.

"All God's Children"

Directors: Scott Solary and Luci Westphal. 63 min. 3:30 p.m. April 6. Hollywood 20. A-

"There was no place to run, there was no place to hide," says American Rich Darr, of his childhood in West Africa.

Growing up missionary kids in the 1960s, Darr and his siblings were exposed to a world of routine beatings, playground humiliation and sexual manipulation. They weren't alone.

These, they allege in a sensitive new documentary by Scott Solary and Luci Westphal that premiered Saturday at the Sarasota Film Festival,, were among the horrors endured by countless students at Mamou Alliance Academy.

The parochial boarding school for missionary kids in Guinea had served as a sort of practical childcare system for members of the evangelical group Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) during their time overseas.

Some kids were raped. Others whipped with belts until they bled. One woman recalls nights of fearing for her life.

For years, the abuse inflicted by Mamou educators and dorm staff was unknown even to parents. But decades later, as alumni began to uncover repressed trauma, many realized they were victims of a perverse educational system.

"All God's Children" gives them the voice they claim they never had. Drawing from personal photographs, home movies, old Super-8 footage and a bevy of interviews with Mamou alumni, Solary and Westphal's film is sad yet unflinching, and demonstrates what can happen when unsuspecting parents put too much faith in an institution. The tone of the film may be more than just cautionary, however: It could be humanitarian.

Mamou was shut down in 1971, but of the roughly 110 missionary boarding schools still in operation throughout the world, the film's subjects cite 21 accused of similar acts of abuse. More troubling, while missionary school abuse may be endemic, legal action is seldom taken against those inflicting the pain. It certainly never was at Mamou — the C&MA still barely acknowledges the "psychological, physical and spiritual" abuse they once backed. (In one memorable scene, International Ministries Vice President Bob Fetherlin seems to grasp at straws for an explanation. "We were slower to act than we could've been," he says. To this day, not a single Mamou staff member has faced any serious consequences.)

The strength of "All God's Children" lies in the way it captures the emotional ripples cast by the abuse. At a post-screening Q&A attended by the filmmakers and six of their subjects, one viewer was particularly intrigued by the parents' reactions when they learned about what had happened at Mamou.

"It was an ongoing grief for them," said Diane Darr, Rich’s older sister and a also a victim. "And it still is."

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Somehow amongst all the fury of Luci getting a rough cut of her film together and her heading to Germany whilst I crank on my 5th week of 10 - 12 hour days, we were able to team up to produce a special fall episode of ReelerTV.

Check it out. The Reeler feels fall in New York. Tamara Jenkins, director of The Savages talks about her bulletproof cast and Karen Wilson reviews Margot at the Wedding and Redacted.

Showing all the signs of relaxation, Luci sent a pic from Sylt, a beach in the North of Germany. Chilly, but beautiful.

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Last Wednesday night, Luci and I went to see the Raveonettes play at our local venue, Southpaw. The opening band, Gliss, was really cool and had the kind of sound you'd expect for a band opening for the Raveonettes. However, the second band - Nicole Atkins and the Sea were the exact opposite. I have no idea what they were doing on this bill. To keep it short and as polite as I can be, suffice it to say they were underwhelming, melodramatic and ultimately, boring. They totally took the wind out of the show's sails before the Raveonettes came on. Apparently they have a following and lots of people came out just to see them, but then fled Southpaw once the Raveonettes hit the stage and the legitimate sound of rock hit their tender little ears.

Someone did a little recording of the show. Here's their clip:

Last time I saw the Raveonettes, it was just Sune and Sharin with acoustic guitars and a tambourine. This time, they were plugged in and the drummer played a 2-piece kit to a click track. I sincerely hate bands playing to pre-recorded material. Once it's introduced, I begin to doubt the reality of everything I hear. To be fair, they were really singing and playing, but there were times when a bass line or a drum fill would kick in and it obviously wasn't happening live. Beyond that, they put on a great show and the crowd dug it.

On Friday, a group of us went to a sold-out screening of "Control" at Film Forum. I was really impressed. The cinematography is stunning, but expected being a photographer's film. The acting is also spot-on. I do wish the band's characters were more developed. I was also expecting to be more in the head of an introspective depressive, whereas, I saw the Ian Curtis of "Control" as a guy who was driven over the edge by marrying too early and being torn between two lovers. Despite what I wanted or hoped for, the film totally works on every level. Luci summed it up best on the walk out of the theater when she said, "I've been waiting for that since I was a teenager."

Check out the throat singing styling of Yat-Kha as they pay homage to Joy Division with their unique cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

In case you missed it, we dedicated a special noir edition of ReelerTV to Anton Corbijn and his debut masterpiece:

I've been able to see 2 out of the 3 films I really wanted to see when I was in Toronto, but didn't. Would somebody please program "My Winnepeg" so I can complete my quest?!?

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So I didn't get to see David Cronenberg's latest film, "Eastern Promises" in his home town of Toronto, but I did get to see him at the beautiful DGA Theater here in New York tonight.

Although it's very hard to tell from the picture, he sat and talked quite a while afterward. Kinda looks like Bill Maher talking to Sigmund Freud.

I liked the movie, but I wasn't as impressed as I hoped I would be. It just never quite reached the tension I think it was trying for. Great performances, story, direction and effects though. All very Cronenberg.

I really wish I could embed this video of a Cockatoo dancing, but alas, not everyone is into sharing. Too bad, because it's simply amazing. But since I can't here's a still to tempt you -

And the link: CLICK HERE!

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Despite a very late start, we were able to shoot, edit and upload the latest episode of ReelerTV.

This week ReelerTV provides a glimpse into the upcoming 45th New York Film Festival. "The Warriors", Coney Island, Harvey Weinstein and “Padre Nuestra” all make the news. We sit down with Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman, co-stars of Wes Anderson’s latest film, “The Darjeeling Limited.” Lisa Rosman from Flavorpill joins us in the lobby to talk about the grown-up side of Wes Anderson, how Ira Sachs blew it, the Cohen Brothers’ success and what’s wrong with Noah Baumbach. Enjoy!

An interesting aside:

My first “job” in New York was an internship in the development department at the now defunct, Good Machine. "Happiness" was making it's way to the video shelves and "Crouching Tiger" was being written. My immediate supervisor was Dan Beers. He used to have the VHS copy of “The Warriors” on his desk. He could and would defend it as the greatest movie of all time, or at least, one of the greatest. Dan was also a huge fan of “Rushmore” and Wes Anderson. Last I heard, Dan was working with Wes Anderson and had an Associate Producer cred on “The Life Aquatic.”

It struck me as an odd coincidence when Stu brought the news item of “The Warriors” into an episode so strongly latent with Wes Anderson’s new film, “The Darjeeling Limited.” It made me realize that I haven’t seen Dan in a very long time and I'm sure he'd really like today's episode.

This is still one of my favorite openings of a film ever:

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The first day of the festival started for me with a screening of Michael Moore's latest doc, "Captain Mike Across America."

A QUICK REVIEW:
The film follows "Captain Mike" across the country as he tries to get out the youth vote to oust George Bush 5 weeks before the 2004 election. His failure to sway the election is acknowledged in a lengthy title card sequence that opens the film. What follows is Michael Moore's brand of the tent revival with himself as the charismatic evangelic leader as he speaks to college campuses across America. There's lots of funny moments and great music performances by Eddie Vedder and Steve Earle. The film fails to give any new information to the converted and comes across as a little self-absorbed. It's documentary melodrama at its finest. It's not hard to let your emotional buttons get pushed if the Iraq war, the Bush administration and the lazy mainstream media already sadden and anger you. He obviously cheaped out on the photography and more than half of the film is lo-res. No digital projector in the world can make this film look good. In the end, I enjoyed it, but felt that it was nowhere near its potential. All it needed was a lot more money and a little more foresight. Weinstein Co. is sure to make a mint off this one. Wait for the DVD, this is no Fahrenheit 911. (did someone say Bit Torrent?)

Production of ReelerTV got in the way of me seeing "Control" and "My Winnepeg" (see previous post below), but we have a great episode that I'm really proud of. "My Winnepeg" is playing again on Saturday night and "Control" is being released in a couple of weeks in NY so I'm sure to see at least one in the near future.

We went to an unruly red carpet to cover "The Brave One", Neil Jordan's new revenge flick set in NY starring Jodi Foster and Terrence Howard. I had to yell at a Belgian videographer to stop hitting me. I nearly grabbed his camera and pulled him off his step-ladder perch. The "funny" thing was, if I can be snotty for a second, is that despite their HD gear, step-ladder(used for a better view) and obnoxiously long microphone, they were unable to glean a single interview while we, with our unassuming Panasonic DVX were able to get time with Neil Jordan and Terrence Howard. You can see their bombastic yellow wind muff shoving in to our frame.

Here she is trying to shove it in Jodi Foster's face!

They did, however, provide us with light. Jodie Foster's Army of publicists kept her walking at a brief pace past us. We vowed to never do another red carpet again. Let's hope we can stick to it.

Watch the episode in the post above.

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