Arts on film at FIFA

Joëlle Oosterlinck’s Sex in the Comix

At first glance, a festival of films about art seems like it could be pretty specialized. But art is a pretty broad topic, and the Festival international des films sur l’art (FIFA) crams a lot of material into its 10-day run from March 14-24, with 248 films screening. There’s a lot there for all tastes, but allow Cult MTL the pleasure of picking out a few titles of interest.

Let’s start with the big-name items. Harper Lee: Hey, Boo explores the life of the reclusive To Kill a Mockingbird author (who, unfortunately, didn’t take the opportunity to break her Salinger-esque seclusion for the film), while John Cage: Journeys in Sound, made to celebrate the avant-garde composer’s centenary, is full of rare footage. There’s even stuff for classic rock fans, with Martin Scorcese’s epic documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour Revisited, a doc on the Fab Four’s sole cinematic flop, and Atom Heart Mother, an exploration of one of the deep cuts from Pink Floyd’s post-Syd Barrett, pre-Dark Side of the Moon psychedelic experimentation era.

Each year, the fest mounts a tribute series; this year, the honoree is documentarian Gerald Fox, whose portraits of Marianne Faithfull, OG Tropicalia crooner Caetano Veloso, photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank, and many more will be screened. Fox himself will also give a master class on Wednesday, March 20 at the Cinémathèque québécoise (335 Maisonneuve), 6:30 p.m. Other highlights include Patrick O’Connor’s Making a Name, a nearly-decade-in-the-making doc on Montreal’s graffiti scene (see our latest print edition for a feature story), The Last Art Film, which boldly proclaims itself to be on the big topic of “what makes artists start and what keeps them going,” and the self-explanatory Sex in the Comix.

The fest has also programmed a special series focusing on the film medium itself, with highlights including Jonas Mekas: I Am Not a Filmmaker, a portrait of the legendary New York underground film figure, The Witch Hunt Is On, a doc on the anti-Communist blacklist in 1950s Hollywood and The Teen Movie Boom, an exploration of the history of teen flicks.

In addition to all these documentaries, there are also a number of installations and screenings of experimental films, including spotlights on Diane Obosawim, Johannes Zits and Ed Pein. A must-see event for fans of truly independent film is the appearance by Toronto’s John Porter, a longtime champion of the Super 8 film form. He’ll be in town on Thursday, March 21, 9 p.m. at the Cinémathèque for a retrospective screening. Porter’s films, often supplemented by personal performance elements in the projection, and his refreshingly idiosyncratic views on the film industry are always a delight to behold.

There’s a lot more, so check the FIFA site for your own picks and be sure to check in with Cult MTL for regular updates on key screenings and events. ■