By Ruth Ferguson, NDG Editor
The 29th Dallas Video Festival currently underway until Sunday, Oct. 23 offers a wide spectrum of narrative and documentaries. Speaking with Bart Weiss, the festival organizer, he offered insight on a few must-see films.
Blur Circle, directed by Chris Hanson the Department Chair of Film at Baylor, leads the lineup on Thursday at 7 p.m.
In the story, a woman’s son disappeared two years ago, and she has not moved on. Unable to face the possibility that she has lost him forever, she pursues every lead, regardless of how thin. Then she meets a man with a shrouded past, but the details of that past – and how she has responded to it – forces the mother to look at her life in an entirely new way.
“Her life has taken this dark turn. She wears the same clothes because maybe he will see her and recognize her. She meets this quirky, odd filmmaker, and confronts her own demons,” Weiss stated.
Hoop Dreams is a legendary documentary following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to fulfill their basketball visions of glory. It is Director’s Cut is screening Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Angelika. The director, Steve James, has been making films for over 50 years.
When you consider modern filmmaking, “think about the technology changes,” Weiss stated. He encourages attendees to take the time to read the program booklet which features what he calls a beautiful essay in the program book.
Friday night’s headliner film at 7 p.m. is The Trials of Muhammad Ali. When the legendary boxer passed away this summer on June 3, he was praised by many around the world. However, Ali was not always such a universally beloved figure.
“Folks forgot how controversial he was; this film reminds them of that,” Weiss stated.
Ali’s reputation was on the ropes when he refused to join the Army in 1967 and fight in the Vietnam war. Born in 1942 as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., he changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1963, which did not endear him to many across the country.
Order tickets for the films here.
