Get an Oscar polished up: Aviva Kempner's new doc, ROSENWALD, arrives in theaters

What a joy and what a great learning experience is ROSENWALD, the terrifically entertaining, moving and eye-opening new documentary from Aviva Kempner, the filmmaker who has previously given us two other first-rate docs: Yoo-hoo, Mrs Goldberg and The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg. This new one is her best so far. TrustMovies admits to knowing almost nothing about Julius Rosenwald, the businessman who brought to prominence and then ran Sears, Roebuck & Company, the most famous mercantile film in U.S. history. After viewing this film, I suspect you'll think of Mr. Rosenwald as the most deservedly famous businessman/philanthropist in U.S. history.

Upfront, the movie tells us that Rosenwald was an extremely savvy and competitive business man. The choice anecdote about catalog size and Sears' largest competitor, Montgomery Ward, is a perfect example of Rosenwald's acumen. I suspect that our hero was not above using dirty tricks in business, but the movie doesn't go much into that. Instead its focus is on Rosenwald as a philanthropist. And what a singular "giver" he turns out to have been.

As a Jew whose family had experienced the horrible pogroms that raged throughout Europe, Russia and the Ukraine, Rosenwald came to understand how similar to those pogroms was the treatment of Blacks here in the southern states of the USA: from the lynchings to the woefully second-class citizenship they were given -- particularly in regards to their often barely-to-non-existent education. Born and raised only a few blocks from the residence of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, Julius was a boy when Lincoln was President, and he admired and believed in the work and goals of the "Great Emancipator."

Filmmaker Kempner, shown above, weaves together the personal with the historical regarding Mr. Rosenwald, but what makes her documentary such a keeper is how she blends in Black history to such an important extent that her film becomes as much a tribute to the struggle and success of the American Negro as it is to Rosenwald himself. The philanthropist had a supremely fine idea of how to gift his largess: One-third came from him, one third was matched by the recipients, and the final third came from the local white community. This made his education grants serve at least a dual purpose: they brought much needed money to the black community, while simultaneously empowering that community.

As the film wends its most interesting way along, we learn bit by bit, man and woman by man and woman -- via interviews with everyone from Julian Bond and Stephanie Deutsch to Eugene Robinson and George C. Wolfe -- just how many important members of the Black community Rosenwald and his philanthropy actually helped, from the great Booker T. Washington (shown below with Rosenwald) onwards. The number of Black southerners who received an education via Rosenwald, along with the help of their own community and other generous whites, will simply amaze you.

The final capper, however, is the lengthy list of cultural, social, educational and artistic icons for whom his generosity provided an entry into a world that they might never have known -- and by their entry into which has made that world incredibly richer. The film's great strength is that is simultaneously acts as a fitting tribute to both the giver and his recipients.

We need a documentary like Rosenwald, now especially, as our nation falls ever more precariously into chaos. What a model Julius makes for the enlightened businessman and seeker of justice, and for the kind of quasi-Capitalism/quasi-Socialism that seems to have all but disappeared from our society. Not only did Rosenwald not want his name attached to his schools or to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, which his gifts brought into being, he actively refrained from this kind of vanity tub-thumping.

When the model businessman of today is too-often perceived as someone like Donald Trump (who should have to see this film with the wax removed from his ears and his blabber mouth taped shut), Rosenwald appears as some kind of sudden, shocking blessing. In its own way, it proves as important and rewarding as the equally inspiring doc, Searching for Sugar Man. And we all know what happened to that smart little film.

Rosenwald, running 96 remarkable minutes, opens this Friday, August 14, in New York City at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, and from there in the weeks to come it will expand throughout the country. (In the L.A. area, it hits three Laemmle theaters on August 28.) To see all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters, click here and scroll down.

Del Shores' SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES: a very funny, moving, filmed play about growing up gay

One of the characters in SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES -- a new work from perhaps America's best and funniest writer/filmmaker to tackle the gay issue, Del Shores -- notes in passing that this is all preaching to the con-verted. Maybe so. But, Jesus Christ, what a sermon! TrustMovies admits that, going into this two-hour-and-18-minute movie, it did seem initially like been-there/done-that. But very quickly the story and characters take on the particularities of lives lived. If you're gay, or if you're close to anyone who is, I suspect that Southern Baptist Sissies will very quickly become irresistible.

Shores, shown at left, has literally filmed his play, which was done some time back theatrically at the Zephyr Theater in Southern California. But like a smart filmmaker, he uses the camera gracefully and cleverly, coming in for close-ups and moving it wisely to take us from scene to scene, location to location. We see, and in fact become part of, the theater audience, and yet the end result is more of a movie than anything else. But it's a movie that features live acting. And what acting!

Southern Baptist Sissies tells the story of four boys -- above, left to right: Benny (William Belli), Andrew (Matthew Scott Montgomery), TJ (Luke Stratte-McClure), and Mark, our narrator and more-or-less lead character (Emerson Collins) -- beginning at age twelve and taking them through their teenage into their young-adult years. They are gay, and they are part of the Southern Baptist Church, and how each boy handles his situation -- with irony/anger, pretense that it doesn't exist, constant and worthless prayer, or full-out embrace of his homosexuality -- becomes the full tale we experience.

Along with our boys, we meet their parents (what's left of them -- mostly women seem the care-givers here), their pastor (played well by Newell Alexander, above), whose church takes literally center stage, and also a couple of hilarious denizens -- below, left, Dale Dickey, and right, Leslie Jordan -- of a local gay bar where one of our quartet ends up working/singing as a female impersonator.

All this is woven more and more expertly as the play moves on. Via comic repetition, storytelling, history and depth of characterization, we come to care so much about all these people. Even those deluded church folk. Mr. Shores strips away the cant and nonsense from those who must take the Bible word-for-word, and yet I think he still maintains some caring for these folk as human beings. There's plenty of anger here but not, I think, much hatred.

What there is plenty of in Southern Baptist Sissies is entertainment and feeling. Every single actor is terrific in capturing the specifics of his or her character. Best of all is the young Mr. Belli, who may never again in his career get a role (roles, really) as good as he's found here. Few actors do. Mr. Belli plays the adorable blond Benny (left, in third photo from top), as well as the chanteuse (above and below, right) that he morphs into as an adult. He is simply wonderful in both roles, singing and acting up a storm with not a moment that rings false. And yet he never seems to be stealing the scene. He fits right into the ensemble.

It is difficult to explain exactly how Mr. Shores manages to keeps us glued for so long and so tightly. But he certainly understands, as the best dramatists do, how to deepen character via situation and event, until we're hanging on every word and deed.

I am a bit loathe to recommend this one as highly as I have clearly already done. As I say, we're preaching, I guess, to the choir. But if we take what Jesus himself actually preached as any kind of guide -- love and forgiveness first: the Beatitudes were all about blessings for what one is and does, as opposed to the Commandments, which were all about Don't -- one imagines that, were our pal J.C. able to view Southern Baptist Sissies, he would heartily approve.

The filmed play/musical has been touring the country for some time now, playing various cities coast to coast. Next up are Sioux Falls, SD, at the Club David on May 4th; Sedona, NM, at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre on May 8th; and an extended run in Raleigh, NC, at The Rialto, beginning July 18th. As more dates appear, I'll post them here.

There will also be a DVD coming eventually -- as well as, I hope, stream-ing via various links. Keep watch here, and I'll try to update as new information arrives.

Bill Morrison and Bill Frisell's THE GREAT FLOOD gets U.S. premiere at IFC Center on Wednesday

Photography hounds -- particularly those who love the archival stuff -- along with history buffs and cinephiles of many stripes have a treat in store this week, as a most unusual movie opens here in New York City. THE GREAT FLOOD, a combination of archival footage found and arranged by Bill Morrison with music by Bill Frisell, takes us back to spring, 1927, when the Mississippi River rose over its banks in 145 places -- inundating 27,000 square miles (to a depth of up to 30 feet!). The flooding caused a mass exodus of displaced sharecroppers, thus adding to the migration of southern blacks to the northern United States, marking the coming of major changes in everything from population distribution and employment opportunities to culture and music.

Mr. Morrison, pictured at left, is the man responsible for the glowing, beautiful and moving documentary, The Miners' Hymns from 2010, and I would say that his love and under-standing of history, photography and justice is as equally strong in this new film. Again, there is no narration or dialog in The Great Flood. Instead, it's all visuals and accompanying music. But what visuals and music!

The latter is provided by guitarist/composer Bill Frisell, shown at right, who with other musicians and Morrison, tra-veled to the south during 2011 -- when the Mississippi again flooded to levels unseen since 1927 -- and were, one imag-ines, alternately freaked out & inspired by what they saw.

The visual footage Morrison has unearthed is remarkable in a couple of ways: that it still exists and he found it, for one thing; for another, that some of the film, having been shot on nitrate stock, has partially disintegrated. This deterioration does fit into the filmmaker's esthetic (Decasia) and, as used here, gives the finished film a kind of decaying/magisterial, glorified/sorrowful look.

In our current era of overdone special effects, this degraded film stock takes on its own odd, special-effect signature, bringing to the movie something that goes beyond even its usual (and often very special) "archival" appearance.

Musically, the movie is special, too, beginning with Frisell's use of the introduction to the great Jerome Kern song Ol' Man River, which we hear over and over, almost as a kind of vamping to help set us up for the powerful chorus. Never fear, that chorus eventually is heard in all its glory toward the film's finale. In between Frisell and his musicians (Ron Miles, trumpet; Tony Scherr, bass, guitar; and Kenny Wollesen, drums, vibes) give us all sorts of music, mostly jazz-inflected, that eventually combines to take us back to an event, in a time and place that seem both a century past and all too timely once again.

By timely I do not mean simply the new millennial flooding. It does not take much to imagine, as well, most of our country's citizens once again becoming sharecroppers of a sort, working for the wealthy and the corporations. Yet you can watch The Great Flood, I suppose, and not even dwell on any of that. Just lose yourself in the images, the music and the flow. But Morrison has divided his opus into sections, and one of these is titled, as I recall, "Politicians." Yup: There they are, and their behavior then is so like their behavior now that it is difficult not to draw conclusions.

Beginning with shots of maps of the area covered, the movie takes its time getting us to those old photos and film stock, but the wait becomes almost suspenseful, and once we see the images, both still and moving, we're hooked. By the time we get to the section in which the powers-that-be try to control the flood by blowing stuff up (below -- and uselessly, as it turns out), the incompetence and venality of certain of our governments becomes even clearer: This flood, along with the Katrina disaster, both took place under Republican administrations.

As much as I enjoyed -- reveled in -- the beauty of the film, I have to admit that the constant, uninterrupted flow of images and music did grow almost hypnotic from time to time, so a little pinch on the face or arm was necessary to snap my eyes to attention again. Otherwise, this film will be a must-see for many of us. You know who you are.

The Great Flood, from Icarus Films, in black-and-white and running just 80 minutes, opens this Wednesday, January 8, in New York City at the IFC Center, and on January 9 in Hudson, NY, at Time & Space Limited. Other engagements across the country? Hope so. And, yes: We've just learned that this film will be opening in Los Angeles this Friday, January 24, for a week-long run at the Downtown Independent. Meanwhile its NYC release at IFC Center has been extended. As is true, I believe, of most Icarus films, it will eventually be released on DVD, and maybe to digital and streaming -- though all of this can take a very long time, so see it at the theatrical venues, if possible. (How long? Well, one of the best docs of 2010, Icarus' Disco & Atomic War will be arriving on home video DVD and VOD on February 25 -- well over three years after its American theatrical debut.)

THE PAPERBOY on DVD/Blu-ray: One of last year's best (exploitation) films is back

So what if it is an exploitation film? THE PAPERBOY remains, as I suspected upon first viewing, one of 2012's best movies. Seeing it a second time makes that even clearer, as one can concentrate more on performance, dialog, visual moments and all those other specifics that go into making a movie terrific (or not). Like Zac Efron eating a piece of jello, sucking it into his mouth for fun and pleasure, the way one sometimes does with gelatin-type desserts. Mr. Efron (shown above and at bottom, right) gives his best performance so far -- watch the little boy seep out of the hot young man in his scenes with Macy Gray and Nicole Kidman (two photo below), both of whom are also quite wonderful -- exceeding even that of his work in Me and Orson Welles and more recently Liberal Arts. (You didn't realize Efron was in that one, did you? He is, and you should see it, too.)

In the Special Features on the disc, director and co-adapter (with Pete Dexter, from Dexter's novel) Lee Daniels explains that Efron was not his first choice but that after meeting with him and seeing his auditions, it was plain that he was the actor for the role. He is, but then so are Matthew McConaughey (bottom, left) and John Cusack (above), both doing work here like you've never seen come out of them.

It is this series of rich characteriza-tions, along with the performances that bring each to life, that makes the movie work so well. Sure it's exploitative: the post-jellyfish encounter and the prison visit, to name two particu-larly trans-gressive scenes. But unlike, say, a piece of exploitation sleaze such as the currently lauded Django Unchained, that has no more than a single aren't-we-clever idea in its mostly empty head, The Paperboy is full of genuine, unsettling life. Both movies deal with race and the American South, but while Tarantino's is a ridiculous, feel-good piece of ahistorical crap that critics and audiences have proven all too eager to embrace, Daniels' film, a walk on the very dark side, makes you think and feel things you might not be ready for.

My original review of the film when it hit theaters is here. Now that it's available for home viewing, give it a try. Sure, it's a difficult movie: often ugly, sometime degrading, yet not for a moment unbe-lievable. These characters -- bad, good, more likely both at once -- are strong and real. Even more than his over-praised Precious, Mr. Daniels has nailed it with this one. The Paperboy hits DVD, Blu-ray, and download sale or rental next Tuesday, January 22.

In THE LOVING STORY, Nancy Buirski gives us the real Mildred and Richard -- and more

I first recall hearing about Richard and Mildred Loving via a movie made, I believe, for cable TV back in 1996, Mr. & Mrs. Loving, in which the pair was played by Timothy Hutton and Lela Rochon (both of whom proved capable actors but neither of whom look anything like the actual people involved). The Lovings' story is an important one: memorable, uplifting and necessary, as it brought to the fore the racist miscegenation laws prohibiting inter-racial marriage that, in 1958, when the couple wed, still existed in fully half of our states (we had 48 at the time, and the law was in effect in 24 of these).

As well-done, if a tad melodramatic, as the narrative version was, what a difference it is to see the actual events presented in documentary form via THE LOVING STORY, as directed, co-written and co-produced by Nancy Buirski (shown at right), with enormous help from documen-tary footage taken by Grey Villet. Mr. Villet, a photo-journalist for Life magazine, shot his material in 1965, in that period when the Lovings were going through one trial after another, leading from State Court to Federal Court to State Supreme Court, back to the lower courts and finally to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Once married, the Lovings were rousted from their bed in the middle of the night, jailed, and then forced to leave the state of Virginia, which had been their families' longtime home. They relocate out of state and to the big city, where Mildred had never lived and where raising children proved anathema to her.

To get back to Virginia, the pair would have to tackle the law, and to do that, Mildred writes to Robert Kennedy (then the nation's Attorney General), and he suggests working with the ACLU and its lawyers. At this point we are well into a journey that would take nearly a decade to complete. (From the time of the Lovings' marriage to their return to Virginia encompassed nine years.)

Not only do we get some amazing filmed footage of the pair over this time, and of their children, above, we also get plenty of footage of the lawyers at work, explaining to us what might to be done to help the situation and the various outcomes this might have. We also see these two lawyers then and now -- as they look back on what proved to be the most important case of their lives.

This is amazing, rarely-seen movie-making, partly, of course, due to the historic footage that was  available. But Buirski and her team have whipped it all together quite well. The film begins with a man's voice explaining why interracial marriage goes against god's plan. These are, of course, stupid words, the presumption in which is rather staggering, even back in 1958. When we later learn who spoke them -- and how, by doing so, he actually helped the Lovings' case -- the effect is bracing indeed.

Seeing Mildred and Richard up close and so very personal is almost breath-taking. They appear such shy and basically decent people that we don't want to encroach upon them. Yet they, especially Mildred, possessed a keen intelligence and a strong enough backbone to push for justice and see it through. And the two lawyers, as young as untutored as they were at the time, proved equally bright and very game.

Along the way we learn about everything from the state's Racial Integrity Act to why, at the beginning of the case, one of the Lovings' lawyers possessed not even enough experience to legally stand before the U.S. Supreme Court. Because so much actual filmed footage exists, when we come to a point in the documentary -- the actual case as it was heard in the U.S. Supreme Court  -- where we cannot see real filmed footage, Buirski does a lovely thing: As we hear the words uttered in court, by both the defense and prosecution, we see visuals of the lawyers, then and now, and of the Justices at that time, and finally of Mildred and her children doing something as prosaic yet moving as shopping in the local supermarket. This is one thrilling, meaningful movie.

The Loving Story, an HBO Documentary (which fittingly premiered premiered on the cable channel last Valentine's Day) -- distributed theatrically by Icarus Films and running 75 minutes -- is getting a week's run at the Maysles Cinema in New York City's Harlem, beginning Monday, December 10 through Sunday, December 16. Click here for directions and here for tickets.