Silverdocs unlocks unusual subjects

To be honest with you it can get a bit dreary watching 7-9 documentary films a day at a festival. But while the political environmental or socially conscious films are great here, I‘d also love to point out a few films which focus on less conventional subject matter that are unexpected highlights from the first three days of Silverdocs 2008.

First up is a delightful and silly documentary about Dust titled, DUST. It’s one of those docs that proves there is no subject that can’t be made interesting in the hands of the right filmmaker. The film is a fun trip thought various lives and experiences all related to dust. There are filmmakers who explain the nature of dust on film, art preservationists, OCD housewives and on and on.

And then there’s GONZO. Recently featured at the AFI Dallas film festival as well, I can’t do a better job of getting you excited for this film than this trailer does:


Finally I’d like to mention HI MY NAME IS RYAN. This is a sparkling and polished doc about the Phoenix outsider art scene, which made the American artist seem as vibrant and relevant now as ever. The artist that accomplishes this and that sits at the center of this film is Ryan Avery, a cherubic and tortured young man who begins confounding every preconception you make about America’s youth, performance art subcultures and even human beings in general as soon as you meet him. This is the only film that was at both Cinevegas and Silverdocs this year and it’s one to watch out for. I can see Ryan Avery coming as the next big cultural movement in America and this unusual and accomplished film is the crest of that wave.

Silverdocs is doing a fantastic job so far of highlighting the power of film to illuminate the cobwebbed corners of society.