Here is the second part of two transcripts detailing the Q & A Session that occurred following the screening of The Messenger at the 18½ Philadelphia Film Festival. The Q & A was hosted by the Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Film Society Harlan Jacobson, and featured the star of the film Ben Foster, its writer/director Oren Moverman, and two of its producers: Zach Miller and Lawrence Inglee.

Harlan Jacobson(HJ): I’m gonna take this out to the audience, and I’m gonna do my best Phil Donahue impression, but I heard you say something there I’m kind of curious about. How did you guys meet? I had a feeling that it isn’t like you totally met professionally, you seem like buddies or something. [To Audience] Who out here wants to talk, give me a show of hands… Alright.

Audience member: How did they meet?

HJ: Well we’re gonna find that out.

Oren Moverman(OM): I believe someone introduced us a few years ago, saying ‘you guys should meet.’

[Audience laughs.]

HJ: That’s a good one. That’s a good one.

Audience member(AM): Gentlemen, I’d like to congratulate you on a truly powerful and wonderful film. Really, it’s truly remarkable. I had a question for Mr. Foster because I gather that he doesn’t appreciate events such as these, so I thought I’d ask an easy question, which is: when he read the script, I was wondering if he had any trepidation about taking the role, or is this something that spoke to him right away, that he jumped right into.

Ben Foster(BF): Well to answer the first part of your comment, I do like events such as these, I just like to be sitting where you’re sitting [Gestures to audience]. And the drag of coming to a film festival is that you don’t get to watch films, and you know, hear the people you want to hear talk, because we’re kinda rushing around in the machinery of it all.  So, if you see us kinda staring at our feet– we like making the film, but we’re not so good at standing. [Chuckles.] In terms of the film, [my] reservations were pretty simple. Which is what [Jacobson] brought up earlier, that this is a tricky subject, and business wise, can we get this made the right way? And can casting… can it be filled out with the right people? And Woody [Harrelson]’s part had not been cast. I had already been an enormous fan of Oren’s writing for years: I’m Not There, Married Life, Jesus’ Son. He comes with a hell of a reputation, so I was very excited to read it when I read it, and it was the first script — and I had read a few that dealt with the war as a surface-level topic — and this was the first one that didn’t feel like it took a particular political side or over-political take; it allowed people to see the results rather than the philosophies. And that was very exciting, it was very sparse… and human. And most scripts, or most of the time, at least from an actor’s standpoint, my standpoint, it’s what can I do with this? What can I create? What can I add to this? And if we [as actors] can’t, generally we’ll say no. With this, it’s how does one honor these words, how does one honor these people? And then I sat down with Oren, and it was very simple, it’s one of those lovely occasions, and rare occasions, where when you look in somebody’s eyes and see ‘Oh, I know you.’ So then, ‘okay, well that’s taken care of.’ And then it’s… do we have the protection, the shield? That these two men [gestures to producers Zach Miller and Lawrence Inglee] provided to allow the other actors and crew members to come together and listen to each other. I met Lawrence actually first, and that was another shorthand experience. It was one of those, ‘Oh, you!’ And he kept talking about this circle. He’s like ’so we have this circle. And we pray to this safe circle. And we don’t want to let anyone inside that doesn’t feel the circle.’ And I was like ‘I wanna be in your circle!’ And we gotta make sure the right people get in that circle. So we felt really strong, we didn’t know what we were talking about exactly, but my reservations were that people would come in and say they wanted to make an “important” movie. Rather then, ‘hey, we wanna ask some questions together.’

AM: [to Moverman] What made you choose Woody [Harrelson] to play at first glance such a macho role? Normally, I’ve known him as a comedic actor through his career, but he really pulls this off as a really ‘hard-nails’ military vet. And a follow up question, you mentioned earlier, or Ben mentioned that you had experience in the Israeli army. How did that help you with the script or making the film?

OM: With Woody — well, he’s played a lot of intense roles. I think a lot of the smaller films he’s done do not get proper attention, cause he’s done a lot of intense, serious roles. I met with him because we offered him a different role in the movie. It was actually the role of the colonel, which was actually bigger in the script, but smaller in the movie. And when I met with him, and he finished eating off my plate, he said that I got it all wrong, that it’s actually this guy, that he should actually play him.  And he explained to me why, and we started talking about it, and a couple hours into it, I was absolutely convinced he was the right guy. And we needed that humor, we need humor in this movie and need some relief, and that character walks a thin line between sorta holding it together and then falling apart, and Woody does that better than most. He was a little concerned, being the hippie that he is, about playing a solider, but we talked about that, and we just said shave your head, grow a mustache, put on the uniform and you’ll feel it. And he did.

[Audience laughs]

OM: In terms of the Israeli army, I mean it’s obviously a different military of a different time, in the good old days of terrorism. My experience… I mean there’s nothing in the movie that I can say is about my experience. What I felt I brought to the movie was the understanding of a soldier coming back, because I served in Lebanon in the early to mid-eighties in occupied territories. So I felt the whole concept of coming back from another planet was something that I could communicate to them and explain emotionally.

AM: First of all, Ben, I thought your performance was really brilliant and hope you get nominated for an Academy Award.

[Audience applauses, cheers.]

OM: Can I say something first?  Not about your performance. Our work that– what we’re doing, and we’re doing around the country, is really talking to people. And we love talking about the film, but one of the things that we’re asking is because we are a little film that’s fighting for attention is that if you did like the film, you should know that we’re opening it theatrically November 13th in New York and D.C., and then it goes around the country November 20th. So if you could just tell people you know, tell people you don’t know, tell strangers, if you feel strongly about this film, we need your help. And I’m sorry to plug it like that, but you gave me an opening.

[Audience applauses]

AM: I think it’s rare to see a scene where a man is so sensitive to a woman in the romantic scene between you and Samantha Morton in the kitchen. How did you two do that scene, and what was it like working with Samantha, and did the two of you figure that out yourself, or did the director give you direction? It was an amazing scene.

BF: Again, it has to be thrown back to, I guess that damn circle thing I was kinda rambling about incoherently a minute ago. Samantha Morton is one of the greatest actors we have. And I’ve had an enormous actor-crush on her for years. So when she got cast, the falling in love element was pretty easy. I believe everyone on the set felt the same way — she was nursing, she had just given birth, so she was breast-feeding between scenes. I mean, she’s impossible not to just adore. In terms of the actual shooting of the scene, it was very similar to how Oren set up all the scenes. Which is, he talked to all the actors separately, he’d bring in Bob Bukowski our D.P., and say, ‘Okay, start here.’ And we had been prepping for– privately and one-on-one, but Sam and I never talked together. And the three of us didn’t talk together. We went into the room– [motioning with hands] table’s over here, some tape marks over there, and there will be some dancing probably over here. And what’s in there is the rehearsal. And we did it… I guess three times? And the first take, that’s what you see in the movie. We just didn’t overthink it. So that when I say that Oren created a space for people to be with each other, that was one of those moments where two people need something– and don’t know how to ask for it. And don’t know exactly what they’re asking for. And thank goodness we didn’t have to do any coverage. [Chuckles] There was a lot of balls on set, I hate to get crude about it when you were bringing up we have sensitivity. Ya know, there’s a lot of courage to shoot a scene for nine and a half minutes and say ‘Nah, that works.’ And a lot of people put their jobs on the line for that. Man, I’m a kind of a rambling mess right now, but yeah, that was a special moment. And Oren created a space, and our producers here, allowed us to take those kind of chances rather than medium shot, close-up, single, single, over-the-shoulder. It’s like, ‘nope. Nine and half minutes? Let it go.’ And it’s rare we have that kind of experience as people, as actors, as producers. So on this film, we got lucky.

AM: I guess this would actually be on the same subject, I’m curious about Oren’s work with Bob Bukowski. Because the film has a very naturalistic style but it also seems to be very different from a lot of American movies that are made nowadays in that sense that there’s a lot of use of long takes. It’s one of the first movies I’ve seen in a very long time that’s used zooms. And it’s lit very naturalistically. I’m just curious if you could talk about the way you shot the movie and how that allowed you to work with your actors or with your D.P.

OM: Yeah, I mean, you know Bob is an amazing cinematographer, and very very experienced, and this was my first film as a director so we developed a language between us. But a lot of the ideas that turned out to be in this movie were there at the beginning. We wanted to shoot the whole film with zoom lenses, mostly because we wanted to give the actors a lot of freedom. We wanted for ourselves the freedom to kind of dance with them, improvise, and feel at certain moments that we could pull closer and then at certain uncomfortable moments we could pull back. The film has a lot of intensity, a lot of emotional scenes, and we didn’t really want to milk them or exploit them too much because they were going to be strong enough with the kind of actors that we had. So we decided to shoot them in one take, especially the notifications, handheld, for just the immediacy and the improvisational feel to them. And let things happen in unexpected ways. We threw everyone off set. It was just the actors, myself, Bobby, the focus puller, and the sound guy. And we just moved with them and tried to capture the moment. And when the scene was over, we could cut because we were out of ideas. And then we had a strategy for every type of scene. All the scenes in Ben’s bedroom apartment were shot  with a camera that doesn’t move, very close to the ground to just create a feeling of safety, almost like this more zen feeling to the only place where he felt safe, literally at home. We watched the film– a lot of films ya know, but one of the films we started with was Salesmen by Menzos Brothers and it’s a beautiful documentary from the sixties and it’s about Bible salesmen. I thought of it because I worked with the Mezos when I first started and I saw all their films. And I thought, ‘what could be another film about people coming to the door with something?’ And that was filmed at the end of the era of the Bible salesmen. So we looked at it and looked at how the Mezos used zooms. And then Robert Altman and Hal Ashby and people like that, who just wanted to have that feel. It just so happened that it’s a seventies feel and I think there’s a little bit of that in the movie’s role.

AM: I’m interested in the role of military advisors or lack thereof. I saw the names of a few people in the credits that seemed to be officers. And also if you know the reaction of military people to the film.

Zach Miller: Yeah, we worked with the military support from the beginning of the project, from the point when the movie was starting production. There was a gentlemen by the name of Paul Sinor who was a representative from the military who was on set. Usually the military sends someone for a few weeks, Paul was on from the beginning of preproduction all the way to end of the film, and actually we’ve been in touch with him regularly ever since. And the movie shot at Fort Dicks in New Jersey. And there were– you know, you see all sorts of soldiers in the film, and they’re actual soldiers who were coming back to the States from being abroad, and going through their process of coming back to the States. And they were extras in the film. And there was a lot of exposure to the military through the whole process, and we were very integrated with them through the whole thing.

Lawrence Inglee: Lt. Colonel Paul Sinor was on set with us everyday like Zach said, we had full support of the Department of Defense, which surprised us at the beginning. We sent them the script, we didn’t know what they would think, we thought they would run far away from us. They, in fact, felt quite the opposite, and that adds to the sense of complexity of this dialogue. They felt like this was a story that needed to be told, and that it to be a service of great honor throughout the military. And that within the context of the army it’s the worst job you could possibly get, but it’s always approached with a sense of dignity and honor like you see in the film. So they were with us every step of the way. And we spoke to many people who had done the job, and we started the process by visiting Walter Reed. We went to Washington, D.C. and went up to the MPT Ward, and spoke to the soldiers. And it became very much a part of how me made the film. It’s still very much a part.

AP: I love the film. Really tremendous. And I actually did serve, I was stationed at Maguire’s, so just from that aspect from someone who was in the military, I did enjoy that very much. I’m also an actor and enjoyed it from that aspect as well. Just two questions, one for Oren: you mentioned briefly that you weren’t allowed to show coffins and some other things. I thought that was interesting, if you could speak on that a little bit. And then Ben, as a question for you, as far as preparation as an actor, I would love just a couple of insights as to what you did in preparing for the role and how you approach them.

OM: Well we were allowed to show these things, they’re legal now, but when we started the process the idea came over in casual conversation, because we– that was the time when we still couldn’t see these images in the media. Now we’re allowed to see it, and I think they do it from time time to time very carefully with permission from the families. But that was part of the motivation we had back then which is, who’s looking at the home front? Who’s looking at the people who live the consequences of the war? And we thought we had the opportunity to do it in a very dramatic, you know I don’t want to call it a device, but from the streamlining perspective it is a very dramatic device to take two guys who go from door-to-door and basically tear families apart and then ruin their lives forever with a message.

BF: Lawrence was mentioning a field trip we took to Walter Reed. I spent time in the MPT Ward. And our extras were soldiers that had just gotten back from serving a week or two ago, so they’re marching around. And the whole idea was being humble — for all of us. The entire cast, the entire crew was being humble to this experience. Which is loss. And you can take the military hat off it. So by spending time and having Paul Sinor, Lt. Colonel Sinor on set everyday, guiding us saying, ‘Well, you gotta tighten your beret, and you wouldn’t say it like this, you would say it like that, and this is how’– we had constant reinforcement from a very experienced point-of-view. But at the end of the day, what we were all after was getting out of our own way– being humble to… these people. Which, in some regard, is something that we’re all still processing, I know I am as an actor, but by being more gentle with myself in terms of dealing with loss… grief. And I’d say that’s the most beautiful thing of acting at its– the most blessed moments are those moments when you lose yourself and you can just be with someone else, and you can be received, and you’re receiving, and it’s okay to be hurt. And I think in some ways that’s what this movie is about. On a big level, it’s allowing ourselves to feel, and be okay with losing, because it’s gonna happen, and it’s going to continue to happen whether you’re in the military or not. And after we’ve received that call, we’ve made that call, how we find a reason to celebrate the connections we still have.

This is where the Q & A concluded. The Messenger is truly a powerful film, as shown through the reactions of the audience and the feedback the filmmakers had for their questions.  Be sure to catch it when it expands nationwide on November 20th!

For those who couldn’t make it out to the Centerpiece Screening of The Messenger, here is a transcript of the presentation of the Rising Star Award, given to the star of The Messenger, Ben Foster, along with the Q and A that followed the film, with Foster, writer/director Oren Moverman, and producers Zach Miller and Lawrence Inglee.

Executive Director of the Philadelphia Film Society, J. Andrew Greenblatt, presented Foster with the award. Greenblatt started off with naming some of the work Foster has done, including Liberty Heights, Six Feet Under, X-Men: The Last Stand, 3:10 to Yuma, Pandorum, and The Messenger. A short clip reel of his work was then shown:

Greenblatt: Though he’s only 28, at least for another couple of weeks, Ben Foster has already accumulated quite the repertoire, showcasing his tremendous talents. We can safely assume, however, the best is yet to come. It is for this reason we are very proud to honor him tonight at the 18½ Philadelphia Film Festival with our Rising Star award. Before we bring him out we’d like to show a small clip reel of just some of his great performances.

[Clip reel is shown. Applause.]

Greenblatt: Please welcome the recipient of our Rising Star Award, Ben Foster.

[Applause]

Foster: Thanks y’all for showing up on a rainy night. I have to say I’m a little embarrassed, I guess I’m getting the Bell here before you’ve seen the damn picture [the trophy for the Rising Star Award is a Liberty Bell -- Ed.]. So, I hope you like it, and Oren Overman, the writer-director will be here afterward for a Q and A and can answer any questions you may have. I hope you enjoy the experience.

[Applause]

THE Q AND A

On hand to host the Q and A with the makers of The Messenger was the Philadelphia Film Society’s Artistic Director, Harlan Jacobson. Be aware, there are minor spoilers of the plot contained in some of the questions and answers.

Jacobson(J): I’m pleased to bring you the folks who made this film. First, director and writer Oren Moverman.

[Applause]

J: His producers, Zach Miller and Lawrence Inglee.

[Applause]

J: And the man who gives the central and wonderful performance, Ben Foster.

[Applause]

J: Ya know, I think the film is wonderful. And I thought you did a really wonderful job in a number of respects. One of them is that you are extremely diligent about showing that this was a cross-section of America. You went to families almost like you were on stations of the cross. We visited America. From the white middle-class, to the Hispanic, to the interracial, to the inter-faith, etcetera.  Maybe you can discuss a little bit about the ideas of how you developed that sort of template for the film.

Moverman(M): There wasn’t really any big plan behind it, we just basically wanted to show the population that you will find in the military today, especially in the army. You know, middle class and down from there. A lot of people who are associated with military families don’t have a lot of choice and just join lacking options. Some join for patriotic reasons but it was really just to find a cross-section demographically.

J: You know one of the central questions always in a military movie is that what happens when a soldier goes by the gut, goes by what he feels, and throws out the book. And that’s really at the heart of this, but what’s different about this film is that instead of the normal type of template where a battle is won, an objective is achieved, this is really about the home front. And it’s about carrying the bullet back home, carrying the pain back home. And that’s really what soldiers end up learning there is in war, so, I’m curious about developing that notion, cause it’s what’s new about the movie.

M: Well that was the intention in making the movie, we wanted to shine a light on the people who have to live with the consequences of war. The people who… when we started working on the film, ya know, we were not allowed to show coffins, we weren’t allowed to show funerals, any of the images that have to deal with the consequences. We thought if we were to work in an intimate way to show the human faces behind it that are not about strategy or geopolitical thinking or whether we should go to war or not, but rather the human factor maybe we can contribute in a small way to have people think about war with the human consequences. You know, we’re a nation of over 300 million people, but we only have 2 million people in uniform. So it’s a real subculture for people and a world they don’t know. So we just thought, well, we’ll contribute a little bit to the dialogue and hopefully shine that light.

J: Yeah, it shows really brilliantly two sides of the American male character. They’re united really in a way we understand at the end: blocked feelings. But the one character played by Woody Harrelson is practical, cynical, and numb. The other, played by you Ben, is questing and pathic and very deep feeling to the point of almost being overwhelmed by his emotions. How did Oren help you in your role?

Foster (F): Um… How did Oren help me. That’s such a hard question. That’s impossible actually. Oren… The Messenger is Oren. He created an environment for all the actors to be able to listen to each other. None of the notifications were rehearsed. No scenes, in fact were rehearsed. He separated the folks who were notified, and Woody and myself, we didn’t even meet in the makeup trailer, so when the film is going, we actually meet when we’re knocking at the door. So, directing at its highest level is creating an environment for people to be with each other, and listen to each other and to respond. So, I have personally never worked on a film with someone so humanistically bent, and with so much love for the clumsiness and the need we all have just to connect as human beings. Oren served in the Israeli military, so he came from a place of personal experience. He was most interested in what each person could bring to the moment and less interested in provoking or creating an effect. So for all of us as actors coming to the table, we couldn’t have been in better hands just to be be with each other and ask these universal questions that are beyond the military world; it’s how we connect when we’ve lost.

J: What did you like about Ben for the role, what do you ask for Ben, from Ben for the role.

F: A lot of nudity.

[Laughter]

M: What did I want from Ben?

J: For the role.

M: For the role. Okay. I’m glad we made the distinction. [Laughs] It’s funny because the way we worked on this film, it’s not as if we tried to nail what was on the page, every actor brought their own process, their own craft, their own personality. And then we shaped the roles for them, and they shaped the roles for themselves. With Ben, we needed intensity, a word that was mentioned, sensitivity, a lot of compassion. And also you know, Ben I think is one of the few actors of his generation, who, [Moverman looks at Foster] I wanna say this without embarrassing you, who’s a man, who’s not trying to hold onto his boyishness, which a lot of American actors do, especially if they’re in their 40’s and 50’s. So I appreciated that because that character had to be someone who has had experiences that’s made him into a man, you know he’s no longer a boy. And the moment I sat with Ben for the first time, and he looked me in the eye, I knew he had it.

J: Did he bring any surprises during any scenes of the movie? Did he give you any surprises of interpretation?

M: Yeah, all the time. I mean the way me made this film was, ya know, I think we had a very solid script that I and Alessandro Camon worked on for a few years for other directors and when I was lucky enough to take over as director, my approach was the script is good, I like it, and I thought it was solid enough to start getting away from it, and improvising, and creating new things. And I don’t really like to say cut when we shoot. We just kept going. The actors understood that if they had something to say that wasn’t in the script, they could say it and improvise and create a lot of things that were not in the script that obviously enhanced the role in a fantastic way.

J: Before I take this out to you folks, and I’m gonna do this right after this, I never want to forget the money guys, because they know all the secrets, and they know all the tricks, they know the whole deal.

Inglee: Too bad we didn’t invite them.

[Laughter]

J: Alright, at some point you have a script in your hands, I don’t know where it came from, but you have a script in your hands that’s this script, it’s about a hot button issue, it’s about a war the American public is uncertain about, that has echoes of Vietnam, it has all types of stuff going on in it, and it’s a film that has a lot of optimism in its heart, but it really forces us to deal with grief. That’s a hard sell in America. And you can take a film like that, as beautifully made as this, to every film festival mechanism in the world and look for a sale, and you know that you’re treading up hill when you do. So what was there about the story that was something you believed in?

Miller: Everything you just said was true, is also in many ways not true, you can still move mountains with a great script, and the idea behind this movie was there from the first day articulated on paper by Oren and Alessandro. And it was there many years before that, the first time I ever met Oren, and he’s a very easy guy to fight for, at every level. It’s true that it was difficult to find support and financing for the film at first. We began the process before all these films about the Iraq war had come out, so we began innocently in that respect. We also began it trying to address things that mattered to us personally, it didn’t really go a lot further than that. I guess the thing I would want to say is that, what’s true about this film is true about many films is that you know, you feel a heartbeat, you hold onto it, and you meet other people who feel it too, and then you just keep going until you get it done.

[Audience portion to follow]

The bad news is, director/writer/star Cory McAbee was unable to attend the screening of his film Stingray Sam to host a Q and A session because of a car accident. The good news is, Stingray Sam is an altogether original and fresh film, able to offer experiences both entirely new but also nostalgic. The screening had a great turnout, nearly filling the theater, and those who came out were not disappointed.

Stingray Sam tells the story of two space cowboys, Stingray Sam (played by McAbee) and the Quasar Kid, who go on an intergalatic journey to rescue a little girl from Fredward, a powerful figure on a planet of men who only breed other men. The premise alone speaks a bit to the strange nature of the project, but it is constantly entertaining.

The film is told through six episodes, reminiscent of science fiction serials of yesterday, complete with beautiful black and white photography. Each episode features a musical number — which is often catchy and hilarious — along with one or more photo montages that presents the viewer with the ridiculous, self-aware, yet altogether intriguing universe McAbee has placed his zany characters in.

This film is a perfect festival film. It’s short, it’s fun, it’s untraditional, and it exemplifies new ways to use the film medium to compelling (and more often humorous) effect. For more information, check out StingraySam.com!

Check back Sunday to read the transcripts of the Q and A sessions that occurred Saturday at the Dare and The Messenger screenings- both of which will be replaying Monday night: The Messenger at 9:30P.M. at the Ritz Bourse, Theater A, and Dare at 9:45P.M. at the Ritz Bourse, Theater C. The Q and A sessions were conducted with screenwriter David Brind for Dare (who will return for the second screening Monday night), and with writer/director Oren Moverman, star Ben Foster, and producers Zach Miller and Lawrence Inglee for The Messenger.

Get tickets for Dare here, and for The Messenger here.

Also, the opening night party was a huge success, with everyone enjoying the hors d’oevres, drinks, and film discussion following the opening night screening of Law Abiding Citizen. Be sure to join us Sunday night for the Closing Night Party, which is sure to be just as fun: lite snacks, open bar, music, and dancing! It will be held at the Voyeur Night Club on 1221 St. James Street, Philadelphia, 19106 (between Chesnut and Walnut Streets), from 10:30P.M.-1:o0A.M. Click here for ticketing information.

At 10P.M. Friday night, The Prince Music Theater hosted the Philadelphia premiere of Tenure, a film by Mike Million, as part of the 18½ Philadelphia Film Festival. The film was a special selection for the festival, as it boasted a strong Philadelphia connection having been shot mostly at Bryn Mawr and Rosemont colleges, as well as the Philadelphia suburbs. On hand to introduce the film at the screening was the film’s producer Brendan McDonald, who had nothing but good things to say about the cast and crew’s experience shooting in Philadelphia, as well as how happy he was to be bringing it back to Philly through the festival.

The film itself, a “dramedy” in ever sense of the word, was able to elicit more than a few chuckles from the audience. Indeed, there were several moments of uproarious laughter. Everyone has their funny moments in this film, including star Luke Wilson, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Bob Gunton. But the real comedic gem here is David Koechner, whose character provides many unpredictable moments that often lead to hilarious results.

Wilson gives a decent performance as Associate Professor Charlie Thurber, a man struggling with what his life has become and resting all his hopes on achieving tenure. His progress is stifled however by the antics of his fellow professor and friend (Koechner) and the competition coming from a recently hired female professor named Elaine Grasso (Gretchen Mol). Things get even more complicated for him as he develops a relationship with Professor Grasso and continues to be denied publication by magazines he sends his articles to.

The script and Million’s direction provide the story a good pacing, and Wilson’s character goes through an interesting arc. All the performances are convincing, and the story is original — there are lots of unpredictable moments which supply much of the humor, which is more hit than miss. The ending is somewhat predictable, and a little sappy, but as an audience member, you want it to be, and you’re happy to see the story go where it does. I highly recommend you check this film out if you get a chance; it will be playing again Saturday the 17th, at 7:30P.M. at the Ritz Bourse, Theater E. Click here for ticket info, or here for information about the film.

The thing that struck me the most about Good Hair was how darn funny it was. But the documentary isn’t just about laughs. I was invested and interested in the material throughout– which, seeing as how I am a white male and the film is a documentary about African-American women and the lengths they go to achieve good hair, I would say that’s an applaudable feat. Leading the investigation and interviews, comedian Chris Rock, along with the film’s director Jeff Stilson, take us on an interesting journey that spans the world and illustrates the importance of hair to the average black women in American society. The film touches upon many issues, but mainly tackles the practice of using and manufacturing hair relaxer, the creation and use of selling weaves and wigs, the effect of hair care on relationships, the economics of hair care, the relationship between hair and self-image, and the Bronner Brothers Hair Show (of which clips of the competitors rehearsing and being interviewed are interspersed leading up to the actual show).

Stilson manages to maintain a good pace, so the documentary never becomes boring — the exact opposite in fact. The film is constantly informative and intriguing, and persistently funny. Rock is the perfect personality to bring us on this journey: his biting humor provides much of the laughter, but his interviewees and his interaction with them provide equal hilarity. The humor helps tremendously with keeping the film from feeling heavy while still dealing with the serious issue of a black woman’s self image in society. Moreover, it offers powerful ideas and contemplations to those familiar with the subject material while also being extremely revelatory to those who are not.

Even after the screening, audience members were still in deep discussion over the subject matter, converising about what they and they’re friends do with hair, and whether they agreed with things some of the interviewees said (which include Ice-T, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven-Symone, Maya Angelou, KRS-One, Salt-n-Pepa, Eve, Reverend Al Sharpton, and more). A great flick to catch for sure. Don’t forget, the Festival is showing it again, Saturday night, at 9:45P.M. at the Ritz Bourse! Click here for ticket information.

The crowd was piling into the Prince Music Theater Thursday night, eager to be among the first in the world to see the opening night film of the 18½ Philadelphia Film Festival,  Director F. Gary Gray’s Law Abiding Citizen, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. One could not help but feel the excitement circulating through the room, as the Prince was outfitted with its own red carpet, complete with photographers and video crews from local news stations including FOX 29 News and NBC 10 News. Walking the carpet was Director F. Gary Gray, on hand to introduce his film, along with some members of his cast including Bruce McGill, Regina Hall, Charlie Edward Alston, and Brooke Mills.

Around 6:20 P.M. everyone finally got settled into their seats in the theater, and Philadelphia Film Society Executive Director J. Andrew Greenblatt welcomed everyone to the screening. He turned the mic over to the Society’s Artistic Director Harlan Jacobson, who officially opened the 18½ Philadelphia Film Festival. Jacobson then spoke a bit about Law Abiding Citizen, reminding the audience that guest-of-honor F. Gary Gray had been in Philadelphia just about a year ago filming the thriller. He then introduced Gray, who was quick to jump to the mic and say “It’s good to back in Philly!” which garnered much applause. He then added, “You guys were so kind to us,” and thanked Sharon Pinkenson (Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office) and Mayor Nutter for making it possible for them to shoot the film in Philly.

Cast members Regina Hall and Bruce McGill, who play Jamie Foxx’s wife and mentor, respectively, were then brought out on stage by Gray. Hall excitedly took the mic to sing her director’s praises, telling the audience they were in for a real treat with this film, and that no one could understand, “How long and how hard this man worked. I am pleased, pleasured and delighted to be here and to be working with this man: F. Gary Gray.” Decidedly more quiet, McGill added that it was “great shooting here [and] great to be back.” He then offered a proverbial warning to the audience: “If you need to use the bathroom or get some popcorn, go now, because once this film starts, it doesn’t stop.”

Before the lights went down, Gray, showing some humor, told the audience the first live baseball game he had seen was Game 5 of the World Series last year, and that it was also raining that night as it was Thursday, and that the Phillies went on to win that game and the Series, so “hopefully I’ll bring you some luck!”

McGill’s comment proved itself true as the film started out with a bang and was relentless until its conclusion. One could feel the suspension in the room, as no character in the film was safe. With each surprising death or plot twist, a collective gasp would emit from the audience, or a chuckle as Butler’s character proved himself over and over to be a brilliant tactician and devilish mastermind, yet with a touch of sadness. 110 minutes later, the audience emerged from the thriller to find an equally impressive mass of people awaiting entrance into the theater for the 8:30P.M. showing, to begin the second official screening of the 18½ Philadelphia Film Festival!