MVFF47 - RSVP Guide

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

In the midst of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a volunteer team embarks on a mission to evacuate a zoo’s 5,000 creatures from the bombardment zone.

Feldman EcoPark, located in the woods outside Kharkiv, was home to 5,000 creatures cared for by 100 employees. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the inhabitants found themselves behind the front lines and buffeted by bombardment. Oleksander Feldman, the wealthy businessman who created the zoo, realized that a mass evacuation was the only way to save the animals from further physical injury and psychological anguish. The sight of several species settling at his sprawling estate is touchingly surreal, but lions, tigers, and bears prove a bigger challenge. Checkpoint Zoo records the yeoman efforts of volunteers like neophyte veterinarian Tymofii, who returned from abroad when the war began, and recovering addict Andrii, who found a job, a home, and a calling at EcoPark. Their extraordinary endeavor, marked by stunning triumph and shocking tragedy, embodies the noblest characteristics of our species: compassion, cooperation, courage, and a dedication to the preservation of civilization.

Expected In Person Guest

The war on immigrants is happening. The realities of deportation, jail, and even death are but a few of the obstacles that organizer Gabriela Castañeda and activist and asylum seeker Kaxh Mura'l, participants in Borderland: The Line Within, confront while battling the United States’ border/industrial complex. Filmmaker Pamela Yates focuses on how anti-immigrant US policies upend lives and how law enforcement not only apprehends immigrants making the dangerous crossing over the border but also those who assist them. The film exposes the human toll of these policies as well as the business side of this war, exposing the politics of the situation and the politicians who benefit from the status quo. At a time when the undocumented are demonized and pols recklessly talk of mass deportations, this vital documentary puts the topic into perspective. It’s not a red or blue debate: this is a human issue. — Erin Lim

La deportación, la cárcel e incluso la muerte no son más que algunos de los obstáculos a los que la organizadora Gabriela Castañeda y el activista y solicitante de asilo Kaxh Mura’l, participantes en “Frontera Adentro”, se enfrentan mientras luchan contra el complejo fronterizo e industrial de los Estados Unidos. La cineasta Pamela Yates se centra en cómo las políticas anti-inmigrantes estadounidenses transforman las vidas de muchas personas y cómo las fuerzas del orden no sólo detienen a los inmigrantes que cruzan la peligrosa frontera sino también a quienes les ayudan. La película revela el costo humano de estas políticas, así como el aspecto comercial de esta guerra, desenmascarando la situación política y a los políticos que se benefician del statu quo. En un momento en el que los indocumentados son demonizados y los políticos hablan imprudentemente de deportaciones masivas, este documental pone el tema en perspectiva. No se trata de un debate de rojo o azul: es una cuestión humana.

Expected In Person Guest