Centre County Film Festival: Blog

CommRadio Arts member Isabel Sweet attended many different showings at the Centre County Film Festival. Here are her thoughts.

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023

The Paterno Library

"Halmoni's Pot"

The first film I watched was “Halmoni’s Pot," directed by A. Lauren Lee. It’s a ten-minute comedy about a Korean grandmother (Halmoni) who has to pick up drugs for her injured grandson.

Halmoni knew the drug boss couldn’t speak Korean so she made him watch as his partner communicated in a different language. This created humorous tension between Halmoni and the boss.

One of my favorite bits from this film was that Halmoni would accept anything less than the best for her grandson. While she probably didn’t condone the use of drugs, she made sure that it was a reasonable cost with the best quality. It was just entertaining.

"Jess Plus None"

“Jess Plus None” is a film that focuses on the life of Jess, a recently single and hypersexual woman, who is preparing for her best friend’s wedding.

Her best friend, Melanie, decided to have an off-the-grid wedding which means: cabins/tents, bonding and no wifi.

The entire wedding party includes Jess, Sam, Melanie and Greg, Nate and Wendy, Peter and Vince, Hugh and Rita and Brian. Melanie, Jess, Wendy and Peter were in a college singing group together. Each of them has their own personal issues during the weekend, but Jess finds ways to make it all about her and Sam.

To add to the chaos, there’s a spirit search with a wise ranger, cheating and lots of drinking. While it was quite uncomfortable to watch some of these scenes with elderly State College residents, it felt the most like a Hollywood film.

The director, Mandy Fabian, was there for a Q&A session that I could not stay for, but I can say that it was a well-made film that I would probably watch again.

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023

The Rowland Theatre

"Homeboys"

While I only saw the second half of this film, due to missing the shuttle bus, I could still tell it was made really well. “Homeboys” is a documentary that revolves around the lives of Sudanese duo, Samuel and Isaac, and Israeli, Amir Sade.

It was clear that the three of them loved music and interacting with their fans; They loved to perform. However, their journey was not without hardships. Having to rely on each other, and even struggles in their personal lives created lots of conflict.

Sade was also a part of the production team. He attended the screening alongside co-creator/director, Tamar Goren. One of the things Goren said that stood out to me was, “It’s always about personal connection and to really talk to someone.” I think this is an essential element regarding documentary filmmaking.

Homeboys is a real music group so go check out their tracks (I personally really enjoy them).

"A Feminist Lens"

“A Feminist Lens” was an inspiring piece that follows the life of Joan Roth. Roth is a photographer and activist. Her major collections include homeless women, the LGBTQ+ community, Jewish women and religions around the world.

The documentary was broken up into four chapters that delved into the topics I mentioned as well as others. The director, Pamela French was not at the screening, but Roth and her daughter, Melanie, were. Both of them were able to talk a little bit about Roth’s mission.

Roth has a way of capturing the full moment rather than a piece. Her use of angles, filters and other techniques made her images stand out more than any other photographs I’ve ever seen.

The film festival accurately awarded “A Feminist Lens” Best Director Documentary Short. At over 80 years old, she’s still doing what she loves and is documenting historical moments. I thought this film was great.

"Black Barbie"

“Black Barbie” is probably one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. I’m not a huge documentary person, so that’s saying a lot. It was so good in fact, that it won Juror’s Choice Documentary Feature in the Centre Film Festival.

Directed by Lagueria Davis, this film goes through a chronological progression of dolls made in the toy industry. It talks about the Shindana Toys company, the creation of Mattel, Kitty Black Perkins, Beulah Mae Mitchell and so many more important aspects of doll production.

Davis brings in children, experts, Mattel employees, psychologists and parents to discuss how having a white versus colored Barbie doll affects children’s perspectives.

The film’s facts are top-notch, but it took 12 years to complete. One of the cinematographers, Sara Garth, said that the reason the film took so long to be distributed was because no one wanted to invest in the story.

Be on the lookout because, with a Shonda Rhimes endorsement, Netflix is picking it up. When it releases, go watch it. You won’t regret it.

"Don't You Go Nowhere"

“Don’t You Go Nowhere” is a short film that revolves around a jazz musician and a woman named Lex. The jazz musician has a lovely voice, but when Lex joins him on stage it’s a bit of a vocal battle.

The two sing together and it’s then revealed the musician is Lex’s father. The cinematography of this film was aesthetically astonishing, but I didn’t really understand the plot.

The film won both Best Cinematography Fiction Short and Juror’s Choice Fiction Short in the festival, but I didn’t get the point.

Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023

Tempest Studios

"Non-Negotiable"

“Non-Negotiable” was an adorable short film that was played at Tempest Studios downtown. They invited local kids to come watch kid-friendly films and this one really caught my eye.

The plot of this short story is about a young girl who finds out she’s getting a sibling. She meets up with her parents in a cafe with a list of demands they must meet which are, well, non-negotiable. The dialogue is written as though the girl is an adult and a very good business woman making the short very quippy.

I probably would’ve just taken the girl home and sat her in time-out, but she had some pretty cool parents who were willing to sort out the details of her contract.

“Eid Mubarak”

“Eid Mubarak” was the second film played for the children. However, I was torn about it being appropriate. There’s nothing explicit, but the entire film was in subtitles and half of the kids there definitely could not read. Also, they killed a goat! While this may be a part of the religious holiday, it was a little disturbing.

The film’s content overall was great. It took the audience on an adventure with this young girl who tried to save the goat’s life. Even though she doesn’t succeed, through the story of Ibrahim, she learns the meaning of sacrifice.

This film ended up being awarded Best Fiction Short in the Centre Film Festival.

Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023

The State Theatre

"My Name is Annabel"

As you can tell, I have a theme of missing the beginnings of some of these films…this one included.

“My Name is Annabel” is a mini-documentary that focuses on Annabel, an adult with Down syndrome. Directed by Ida Joglar, the story follows Annabel through her day-to-day life.

In attendance was producer Amity Hoffman. She said, “There’s a lot of uh film out there- projects out there where they are the ones that are telling their own story instead it’s film about the community. And so the goal was to…show the vibrancy and the diversity of the intellectual disability community.”

I thought that goal was achieved in an amazing way. She’s sweet, sassy, funny and way more. By letting Annabel conduct the interviews and perform in her plays, the audience can just fall in love with her as a person.

This film won the Best Documentary Short award.

"La Laguna Rosa"

Juan Arce’s “La Laguna Rosa” or “The Pink Lagoon” was beautiful in many ways. Starring Arce’s sister, Mónica Arce, the film tells the story of estranged half-siblings, Mariana and Arturo, and how their relationship evolves.

Mónica as well as her character, Mariana, both have Down syndrome. Mariana is an aspiring ballet dancer who wants to perform in a large dance show. With the help of her teacher, Camila, and her brother she sets out to get a grant for inclusive dance programs.

Both Juan and Mónica were at the showing. They were both so kind and intelligent in their presentation. I appreciated how they were able to simply follow Mariana’s life without having to make her Down syndrome the main focal point.

The Arces will be working on more inclusive projects. So, in the words of Juan, “...if you liked it and you think it’s worth it, maybe you can help us…social media channels you can say, you can tell your friends. Word of mouth really helps us. ‘I saw a very nice film and of course, it has a disability theme, but it’s not only a film about disability.'”

"Good Daughter"

“Good Daughter," directed by Rachel Annette Helson, is a short narrative about a woman with multiple identities. She has duffel bags and IDs for each identity in which she pretends to be a dementia patient's daughter. Through these fake relationships, the woman steals the patient's valuables and sells them to a pawn shop for money. Will she get caught?

"#Unicornios"

I could only stay for half of “#Unicornios," but I did not like it. I’m not sure what the point was. Maybe self-discovery? It’s the story of Isa, an aspiring photographer who’s polyamorous in her relationships.

She has a steady relationship going with Guillem, though she cheats on him with another woman. He just wants to make their relationship monogamous, but Isa decides to find love elsewhere. Would it be her rebound? Her new boss? Maybe a late-night hookup? Who knows.

Plus, her mom is way too invested in her life. Isa is a full-grown adult, yet her mother gives her a curfew and is upset when she doesn’t know where Isa is.

To top it all off, the editing is poor. There are scenes where you can clearly see it’s a new take and the lighting in dark scenes creates weird outlines of the actors. I don’t know how this film ends, but I’m honestly not sure that I want to.

Isabel Sweet is a second-year majoring in communications. To contact her, email ips5219@psu.edu.