MVFF47 - RSVP Guide

“Man does not ask questions that he cannot answer.” With that bracing quote from Karl Marx, writer-director Bobby Roth (Berkeley, MVFF28) opens this thoughtful and personal documentary about what constitutes a good man. The filmmaker finds a multitude of responses along with sometimes poignant reflections to queries about masculinity, femininity, and whether we have the power to change. Roth’s deep dive into a multifaceted topic draws touching testimony from actors, among them the Bay Area’s Peter Coyote (whom Roth directed in 1984’s Heartbreakers), Ming-Na Wen, Henry Winkler, and Eric Dane; filmmakers that include MVFF favorite Rob Nilsson, Taylor Hackford, and Michael Mann; rabbis, psychotherapists, and even a lawyer. Nearly 40 people provide rich, sometimes painful, and candid answers that suggest that in order to become a good man, one must become a compassionate and reflective person first.

Expected In Person Guest

It is said that Native Americans of the Great Plains had “over 500 purposes for the buffalo body,” including lodging, clothing, bedding, and food—no part went unused. There was also a spiritual element to the tribes’ connection to these magnificent creatures. When the US and Canadian governments sought to seize traditional tribal lands, they encouraged extermination of the species to help eradicate the preexisting human populace. Within a short period, only 1,000 buffalo remained out of a population that previously numbered 30 million. This stunningly photographed documentary, narrated by recent Oscar-nominee Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), chronicles latter-day efforts by her Blackfoot peoples to reintroduce wild herds into landscapes that haven’t seen their like in generations. It’s a long, labored process beset by political and logistical challenges. But the spectacular views of Glacier National Park and other locations near our northern border make even that struggle a joy to behold. —Dennis Harvey
 
Directors: Ivan MacDonald, Ivy MacDonald, Daniel Glick
Initiative: Mind the Gap
Country: UK
 
Ivan MacDonald is an Emmy-winning filmmaker based in Montana. He is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe. His most recent project, Murder in Bighorn, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Non-Scripted Television Series. He is an inaugural fellow for the Netflix and illuminative Producers Fellowship, and is also inaugural recipient of the Hulu and Firelight Kindling Fund.

Ivy MacDonald is a director, producer, screenplay writer, and cinematographer based in Montana. She is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe. In late 2023 she co-wrote and co-directed her first narrative short film, Buffalo Spirit, which will premiere later this year. She also helped produce Murder in Bighorn, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on Showtime. Ivy won an Emmy for her producing work on the 2020 ESPN shot Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible. She is currently directing and shooting for When They Were Here.

Daniel Glick is a director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor. For his short film, Iniskim (2019), he was nominated for directing, producing, and photography Emmys, winning for photography. His first feature documentary film, A Place to Stand (2014) won two Telly Awards. He has directed and produced several dozen short and branded documentaries. Three of his most recent personal projects were Our Last Refuge (2017), Iniskim, and Bring Them Home/Aiskótáhkapiyaaya, all short films set on the Blackfeet Reservation that he worked on with Blackfeet tribal members.

Expected In Person Guest

The kings of stoner comedy drive through the desert, remembering the good times and rehashing decades-old arguments, searching for a place called “The Joint.” One is a Canadian Chinese musician who recorded songs for Motown. The other is a Mexican American from LA who moved to Vancouver, BC, to avoid the draft and make pottery. Fate—and an improv group based in a topless bar—brought Tommy Chong and Richard “Cheech” Marin together to become the “hard-rock comedy” team Cheech & Chong. Framed within that contemporary road trip interspersed with plenty of archival material, David Bushell’s profile of the most successful stand-up duo of the 1970s and ’80s charts their rise from hippie-club headliners to countercultural icons with chart-topping albums to movie stars, before the combo of ego, fame, and an imbalance of power made their career temporarily go up in smoke. You couldn’t ask for a funnier, more moving documentary on the guys who invented, like, pot humor, man! —David Fear

Los reyes de la comedia de fumetas recorren el desierto, recordando los buenos tiempos y repitiendo discusiones de hace décadas, mientras buscan un lugar llamado "The Joint". Uno es un músico chino-canadiense que grabó canciones para Motown; el otro es un mexico-americano de Los Ángeles que se mudó a Vancouver, BC, para evitar el reclutamiento y dedicarse a la cerámica. El destino (y un grupo de improvisación con sede en un bar de topless) unió a Tommy Chong y Richard “Cheech” Marin, convirtiéndolos en el equipo de comedia de “hard rock” Cheech & Chong. Enmarcado en ese viaje por carretera e intercalado con abundante material de archivo, el retrato que David Bushell presenta del dúo de comediantes de stand-up más exitoso de los años 1970 y 1980 traza su ascenso desde estrellas de clubes hippies hasta íconos contraculturales con álbumes en las listas de éxitos y películas exitosas, antes de que la combinación de ego, fama y desbalance de poder hiciera que su carrera se esfumara temporalmente. ¡No podrías pedir un documental más divertido y conmovedor sobre los tipos que inventaron el humor de marihuana, hombre! —David Fear
 
Premiere status: West Coast 
Initiative: Vive El Cine
 
Director: David Bushell made his directorial feature film debut with the SXSW 2024 World Premiere of Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie. He previously directed one of Vimeo’s favorite films of the decade, the short Jim Carrey: I Needed Color (2017). Bushell’s producing credits include Billy Bob Thornton’s Academy-award winning film Sling Blade (1996), and Get Him to the Greek (2010), which he produced alongside Judd Apatow. He is an executive producer on Academy Award®-winning films Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind (2004) and Dallas Buyers Club (2013). Bushell was named one of Variety’s “10 Producers to Watch.” He currently resides in Los Angeles.

Expected In Person Guest