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SLAMDANCE CONTINUES:
Just when you thought it was safe to stop thinking about the festivals...I have to give
great credit to my friend, director Rod Hewitt, who came up to Sundance on a bit of lark and ended up covering all
the "Other Dances" for roughcut quite brilliantly. Coming out of that effort were two demands from Mr. Hewitt.
First, he made me go see Dolphins, a film from a 26-year-old Iranian/German named Farhad Yawari who is not only incredibly talented, but obsessed
with maintaining his vision and not making crap, even as he lives with three other guy in a too-small
apartment back in Germany. If you read my Sundance stuff, you know how much I think of that
movie. And Rod's second request was that I go see a documentary called Amargosa when it screened
here in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. And again, he was absolutely on the money.
Amargosa is a movie about Marta Becket, a woman who created a world of magic and art in the
middle of nowhere and has sustained her spirit in the desert for over 30 years. The location is Death
Valley Junction, population: 10. The woman is now 76 years old. But after growing up in New York City,
working as a professional dancer on- Broadway and off-, after taking care of her mother for 35
years, after finally meeting a man to marry and to take her away from her mother's strong grasp,
Marta Becket found her true home in the middle of the desert. She and her husband, travelling through,
had some car trouble. While having it fixed, she saw a small, empty, desolate theater, which was
attached to an abandoned desert inn. And she just knew. They leased the building and Becket painted
an audience on the walls. She painted the ceiling. She rebuilt the stage. And she danced. And
eventually, in small numbers, people started to come. But that's just the beginning of the story of
this woman.
Marta Becket is a symbol of the purity of the artistic soul. She is free of the weight of the
bustling, hustling world. She doesn't have much, but she has her freedom to create. And it is a truly
beautiful thing to behold. And the documentary is made with all generosity and warmth of the woman
herself. They haven't sold the movie yet, but it will sell. Probably, I imagine, to a cable outlet. But when
it comes along, to your theater or your TV or your video store, do take some time to spend with this
woman and the world she has created. I know I will. I'll be heading out into the desert to see her live as
soon as I possibly can. Because she is what all of this is really about.
OSCAR RULES: One thing did occur to me as I watched and was moved by Amargosa. I have
been very critical of the Oscar Documentary Committee over the years for being biased against
the most successful documentaries of each year. And indeed, they changed the rules a bit this year
(hardly because of me). But as I was watching the film, I thought, "I can understand wanting to promote
a movie like this, which is unlikely to get enough attention, while a big movie like Buena Vista
Social Club is already out there in the limelight." Amargosa is, in fact, one of the 12 documentary
finalists for Oscar this year. And rightfully so. But the number will become five. And Buena Vista Social
Club, when voted up by the entire Academy, seems a lock based on popularity alone. But is that
right? The Independent Spirit Awards, for instance, separate "Best First Feature" by cost, over and
under $500,000. Seems to me - and I could be wrong - that there should be a way to keep
Amargosa's director, Todd Robinson, from having to compete with Errol Morris or Wim
Wenders for an award that could really give the public an experience they might otherwise miss.
Which is not to diminish the hard work or sacrifice of established documentarians like Morris, who I
think did deliver the best documentary based on objective standards this year. (American Movie
has my heart.) Any ideas out there?
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