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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2015)
April 15, 2015 Page 9 9DQFRXYHU (DVW&RXQW\ %HDYHUWRQ 0LVVLVVLSSL $OEHUWD 1RUWK3RUWODQG The documentary ‘Monte Adentro’ explores the plight of Colombian mule drivers, a way of life that’s on the verge of extinction. 5LYHWLQJ&RQÀLFWVWR8QFRPIRUWDEOH7UXWKV Full Frame O PINIONATED brings out best J UDGE in documentaries BY J UDGE D ARLEEN O RTEGA D ARLEEN O RTEGA Every April, I make a pilgrimage to Durham, N.C, for the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the pre- PLHUGRFXPHQWDU\¿OPIHVWLYDOLQWKH U.S. Aside from last year, when my trip was interrupted due to the death of my life partner, every year at least RQHDQGRIWHQVHYHUDORIWKH¿OPVRQ P\DQQXDOOLVWRIWKHEHVW¿OPVRIWKH \HDUDUH¿OPV,VSRWWHGDW)XOO)UDPH +HUH¶VP\UHSRUWIURPWKH¿UVWGD\RI this four-day festival; I’ll complete my report next week 7KHEHVW¿OPRIWKHGD\E\IDUZDV “Best of Enemies,” which is slated for a nationwide theatrical release at BY the end of July. The political party conventions of 1968 are primarily re- membered for the unrest and political violence that occurred in the streets, but this canny documentary shifts focus to a surprisingly intense televi- sion battle that was being waged at the time that presaged today’s culture wars. In an effort to up its dismal rat- ings, ABC News enlisted conserva- tive commentator William F. Buckley and liberal commentator Gore Vidal to address each convention day’s events. The times were different in VLJQL¿FDQW ZD\V WHOHYLVLRQ VWLOO D relatively new medium, functioned as a seemingly neutral (though entirely white and male) center for American culture, and rifts between genera- tions and communities were becom- ing deeper and more visible. Buckley and Vidal were both privileged intel- lectuals who staked out opposite ends of the political spectrum, and their debates were a marvel of eloquent bombast that changed television and American political discourse forever. Filmmakers Morgan Neville (“Twenty Feet From Stardom”) and Robert Gordon (“Johnny Cash’s America”) do a wonderful job of placing these television debates in their historical context and capturing WKHVLJQL¿FDQFHRIWKHVHWZRLQWHQVH personalities in setting the poles of a divide that still drives American poli- WLFV:DWFKLQJWKHLUFRQÀLFWIURPWKLV distance is by turns hilarious and ex- tremely sobering. This riveting win- dow into American history and our SUHVHQWGD\ FRQÀLFWV ZLOO OHDYH \RX wrestling with fascinating questions about American culture and about KRZZH¿JKW “(Dis)honesty--The Truth About Lies” is less satisfying but still inter- HVWLQJ7KH¿OPLVIUDPHGDURXQGWKH work of best-selling author and Duke University professor of behavioral economics Dan Ariely, who studies irrational behavior and what compels people to make choices they know are unethical. Filmmaker Yael Mal- amede interviews a number of folks with interesting and often high-pro- ¿OHVWRULHVRIGLVKRQHVW\DQG$ULHO\ mines his research for analyses of C ONTINUED ON P AGE 16
