Marfa Film Festival: Day 3

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Marfa Film Festival

The best-laid plans of film festgoers are often led astray. I had hoped to catch some shorts on Saturday morning, but instead had the opportunity to interview The Dry Land director Ryan Piers Williams and producer/actress America Ferrera. I picked the interview ... after a leisurely breakfast at a place called Cochineal, where they make a mean Eggs Florentine. Sit-down meals in Marfa restaurants appear to be leisurely as a rule -- they're not hurried or worried about times or deadlines.

The interview went very well -- I'll save details for when it is published. I enjoyed meeting Williams and Ferrera, and look forward to hearing (and sharing) more about the release tour for The Dry Land.

After the interview, I went to a place I had been told had the best hot cocoa in Marfa, Squeeze Marfa, for a pick-me-up. The rumors were absolutely correct. It's a good thing that cocoa is in Marfa and not Austin or I would have to be rolled around town.

I finally made it over to to the Crowley Theater in time for a short film/feature combo. The short film was Cosmic Clock, from filmmaker Al Jarnow, who has made a lot of interesting shorts for PBS shows like The Electric Company or in this case, 3-2-1 Contact. Cosmic Clock shows a speeded-up history of the planet, with some lovely visuals. You can watch it here. I found out that Jarnow's shorts have been collected and are available on a DVD called Celestial Navigations, which I'm very tempted to check out.

Cosmic Clock fit perfectly with the feature documentary GasLand, which premiered at Sundance this year, where it won a special jury prize. Describing this documentary makes it sound far duller than it is: a look at the ways in which harvesting natural gas is harmful to our drinking water, and affects many people and animals. Some of the events take place in the Fort Worth area.

Filmmaker Josh Fox starts with the creek near his Pennsylvania home, which is in an area that gas companies are dying to lease, and decides to investigate how natural gas mining will affect his creek and himself. He positions himself as an ordinary guy just trying to figure all of this out, and takes us on the trip with him. We've seen this before with Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore, but Fox steers more toward a low-key, personal style and away from politics and propaganda. If you get a chance to see GasLand, grab it.

After the movie, I did the ironic thing and rushed out to fill up the gas tank in my car. I'd heard some people behind me muttering about how small-town gas stations close at 7 pm and sometimes on Sundays, and wanted to make sure I didn't end up with a problem driving home on Sunday. Fortunately it turned out those people were dead wrong and I could have filled up the tank on Sunday, but it was one errand out of the way.

While I was in my car, I drove around Marfa a bit and ended up having dinner at Blue Javelina, a small cafe that had opened for the summer just in time for the film fest. Not only that, but they had an open bar going, with a mixologist (that term always reminds me of A Confederacy of Dunces, but never mind) from Tipsy Texan who was putting together a variety of cocktails. I tried some limoncello and had a very tasty margarita. A special pastry chef was also in town, and I was convinced to try a brownie that turned out to be enormous. Three people could have been satisfied with it. I practically staggered back to the car and the hotel.

Fortunately, I recovered in time to put on some warmer clothes (thank goodness I packed a light coat) and head out to El Cosmico for another outdoor screening. I got there early and walked around El Cosmico, which is pretty cool. You can pitch your own tent there, or stay in one of their teepees, yurts or vintage trailers. The yurts look awfully pretty at night, lit up. I'd be tempted to stay in a trailer next time, but the Hotel Paisano was a very short walk from just about everything and I'm a city girl used to hotel comforts.

I found out that the best way to meet and chat with people was to hang around a food trailer near the outdoor movie screen. The trailer (I can't find the name right now, but will update this when I do) was serving differently themed food each evening -- and they weren't charging for the food. They gave us food and we were asked to tip accordingly, so they could earn money for gas to get to California. One of the owners hung out in front and chatted with everyone and handed out food, and it was wonderfully entertaining.

I eventually succumbed to a Jimmy Cliff Banger, which is a phrase I never thought I'd type. Since the movie that evening was The Harder They Come, which stars reggae musician Cliff, we had lamb sausages in a bun with Jamaican chutney on them. Very warming on a chilly night.

Sadly, I was so busy chatting that I missed the intro to The Harder They Come, and it turned out to be a special one. Carolyn Pfeiffer is a former Jamaican film producer -- the film fest program noted that "she's produced more Jamaican films than anyone else" -- who now lives in Marfa. She was also one of the founders of Burnt Orange Productions. Perhaps I can track her down and interview her sometime.

I loved watching The Harder They Come outdoors -- I hadn't seenthe 1972 movie before, and had always wanted to watch it. However, it was uncomfortably cold for my wussy self and I ended up leaving before the big post-film dance party outdoors. I headed back to my hotel, lingering in the courtyard for a bit where a band was playing soft-rock covers. I was supposed to leave first thing in the morning, but I wanted to see just one more film before I felt ready to go ...