Heaven’s Floor – The Movie Gourmet

Cinequest at mid-festival

March 13, 2016March 7, 2016 by movie gourmet

We’re halfway through Cinequest 2016. What are the biggest hits and the most delightful surprises?

BIG MOVIES

Cinequest programmers hit a home run with the Opening Night rouser Eye in the Sky, the thriller-meets-thinker from Oscar-winning director Gavin Hood. The screening was preceded by Cinequest co-founder Halfdan Hussey’s interview of Hood, which was probably the best ever on-stage interview in festival history (at least that I have seen).

The Cinequest audience also loved another Spotlight Film, the Norwegian disaster movie The Wave.

INDIES

Film festivals are very important to first-time directors, and Cinequest 2016 has hosted some world premieres of two wonderful debuts:

Love Is All You Need?: The hard hitting exploration of homophobic bullying and hate crimes is the most sensational film at Cinequest. COme to think of it, “hard hitting” is an understatement.
Lost Solace: Highly original psychological thriller and a brilliant directorial debut – my personal favorite so far at this years festival.
Heaven’s Floor: Absorbing and character-driven autobiographical drama about a most complicated woman and the choices that indelibly affect several lives.

WORLD CINEMA

As usual, Cinequest is screening some real gems from other nations. The best have been:

The Memory of Water: This Chilean drama explores grief, its process and its impact and might just be most masterful filmmaking achievement at Cinequest 2016. Exquisite. Probbly the best cinematic achievement at this year’s Cinequest.
Demimonde: Sex, intrigue and murder in this operatic Hungarian period drama.
Magallanes: A Peruvian psychological drama about those wrongs that cannot be righted.
Fever at Dawn: Urgent period romance between Holocaust survivors, with an unexpected nugget at the end.

DOCUMENTARIES

The usual solid batch of Cinequest docs:

Chuck Norris vs. Communism: The subversive impact of movies (ANY movies) on a culture-starved society.
Dan and Margot: A very personal look at schizophrenia from the schizophrenic’s point of view.
The Promised Band: A group of Israeli and Palestinian women seek to fight through the cultural, legal, political, military and security barriers between them by forming a girl band.
The Brainwashing of My Dad: Personalizes the effects of right-wing media on mood and personality as well as on the political culture.
Gordon Getty: There Will Be Music: Insights into the quiet passion and creative process of a most unusual classical composer.

WOMEN FILMMAKERS

This year, Cinequest presents the world or US premieres of sixty features and sixty-nine shorts. And of these 129 premieres, 64 were directed by women! These include Love Is All You Need?, Heaven’s Floor, The Brainwashing of My Dad, Dan and Margot and The Promised Band.

STILL TO COME

I’ve only seen The Daughter so far, but these upcoming films look promising:

February (Shipka Kiernan from Mad Men, Emma Roberts) March 12; and
The Adderall Diaries (James Franco, who will be making a personal appearance) March 12;
The Little Prince (already spoken of as a contender for the 2017 Animated Feature Oscar) March 13.
The Daughter: Based on an Ibsen play, this Australian drama is Cinequest’s Closing Night film and packs a powerfully emotional punch. March 13.

Bookmark my Cinequest 2016 page, with links to all my coverage. Follow me on Twitter for the latest.

Cinequest: HEAVEN’S FLOOR filmmaker interview

March 4, 2016 by movie gourmet

Here’s an interview with the Lori Stoll, writer-director of Heaven’s Floor.

[NOTE: THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS]

The Movie Gourmet: The protagonist Julia is so restless, and the restlessness seems to drive her impulsiveness. Is she just naturally restless, or is there some deficit in her satisfaction that is filled by Malaya?

Lori Stoll: Both really. Her experience with Malaya forced her to grow up. When she says she just wants to be good, she sincerely means it, even when being good required her to take responsibility for her actions and take other people into consideration. Julia’s natural state is one of restlessness, always looking for an escape – a character flaw that clearly gets her in a heap of trouble.

Having said that, Julia sees the best of herself in Malaya, but she doesn’t realize it until Malaya rejects her and is about to leave. At that point Julia also realizes that her actions created unintended consequences. Julia chooses to take responsibility for her wanderlust, terminating her gallivanting around the globe. When she promises her son she is grounded she means it.

TMG: Do you think that Julia, once more satisfied, is still impulsive?

Lori Stoll: Julia grew up through the experience of blowing up her life- perhaps she would like to continue to act on her impulsivity, but has learned to consider the who she is hurting by her decisions. However Julia’s restlessness did create her family.

TMG: So the movie starts with “Based on a true story” and ends with stills of the real Malaya and the obligatory “Any resemblance to real persons” disclaimer. How much of this story really happened this way? The arctic rescue for example?

Lori Stoll: The arctic rescue happened. The emergency shelter happened. Actually most of what was filmed in the arctic really happened and it was much more treacherous in reality, which we were unable to capture on film. For example, the rescue took place in a blizzard, and we had to slide down a frozen waterfall in the middle of the night. When we finally made it to the lodge in Pang, I was as banged up as Julia is in the film. I did lose my film on the ice and I was stuck in Pang for 10 days. I gave Malaya and her friends my candy bars and my sled. And she did ask me if she could tell her friends that I was her mother. Both Malaya’s mother and grandmother died. I did go back up for the funeral, and I did bring her back to LA with me. US Immigration did inform us that for Malaya to stay in Los Angeles she had to be legally adopted, and she was given a visa good for a one month stay in the US.

TMG: Movies are not often kind to characters who resist someone’s “following their heart”, no matter how impractical or whatever the consequences to others. Yet your depiction of the husband Ed is very sympathetic, as someone reacting with understandable resistance to impulsive, unilateral and life-changing commitments. Will you share any of the real back story on that relationship?

Lori Stoll: It’s funny, I see Ed as you do, he’s married to this crazy woman, he really loves her, and his biggest fault is being overwhelmingly practical. It’s complicated – he loves her, he wants her to be happy, he tries to understand her.

Julia feels held down by Ed, and forced into a conventional relationship. She resents his practically. If you are asking about my husband and our real backstory, clearly spontaneously adopting an almost teenage child from another culture created a lot of conflict. Having said that, I’m happy to share with you that today my husband and I are together, Malaya is 27 and the executive producer of Heaven’s Floor, and our son Zach is 20 and a sophomore at the University of Chicago.

TMG: The Arctic scenes are really impressive. How did your background in photography inform the film’s cinematography for the Arctic scenes? You are a first time director, and I see that your first time DP for the Canadian locations is a veteran camera operator. How “hands on” were you in the cinematography?

Lori Stoll: Regarding the cinematography, I was very hands on. I’ve been a photographer for 30 years, and I’m most comfortable working in a visual medium. Having said that, both George Billinger (Arctic DP) and Danny Moder (LA DP) are both so talented. For a first time director, I truly had the A team for my crew.

Heaven’s Floor’s World Premiere is tonight at Cinequest with more screenings on March 6 and 11.

Heavens Floor official website

Today, March 4 at Cinequest

March 4, 2016 by movie gourmet

Cinequest hosts the world premiere of LOST SOLACE — LOST SOLACE

Today at Cinequest DO NOT MISS these two indie world premieres:

Lost Solace: Highly original psychological thriller and a brilliant directorial debut.
Heaven’s Floor: Absorbing and character-driven autobiographical drama about a most complicated woman and the choices that indelibly affect several lives.

And there’s one of the top documentaries, Chuck Norris vs. Communism: The subversive impact of movies (ANY movies) on a culture-starved society.

Bookmark my Cinequest 2016 page, with links to all my coverage. Follow me on Twitter for the latest.

Cinequest: HEAVEN’S FLOOR

March 3, 2016March 2, 2016 by movie gourmet

Restlessness, thy name is Woman. The absorbing and character-driven autobiographical drama Heaven’s Floor begins with photographer Julia (Clea Duvall) finishing a shoot, but then being reluctant to go home. Now Julia has built herself a comfortable West LA life – career, marriage, kid, friends, house. What is she missing?

Julia feeds her wanderlust by impulsively joining an arctic adventure led by Jack, a charming reprobate. This isn’t fair to Julia’s husband Ed, but he dutifully covers for her on the home front. The trip to the Canadian Arctic becomes more nightmare than adventure, and Julia is marooned in a small Inuit village where she meets an orphaned girl. Both Julia’s compassion and her impulsivity kick into high gear, and we are off on a journey that will indelibly change several lives.

Note that Heaven’s Floor is autobiographical. Indeed, what seem like the most improbable and extreme plot points in Heaven’s Floor really happened to writer-director Lori Stoll. Stoll’s real life background as a photographer also informed the film’s cinematography – and the scenes in the Arctic are particularly impressive.

There’s plenty of exciting, true life adventure in Heaven’s Floor. But, at its core, it is an evocatively crafted character study of Julia – her restlessness, impulsivity, compassion and emotional needs. Heaven’s Floor takes on a quest that may – or may not – satisfy those needs and complete the already complicated Julia.

Although it’s anything but a showy role, the part of Julia’s husband Ed is also remarkably written. Movies are not often kind to characters who resist someone’s “following their heart”, no matter how impractical or whatever the consequences to others. Yet Stoll’s depiction of the husband Ed is very sympathetic, as someone reacting with understandable resistance to impulsive, unilateral and life-changing commitments.

Clea DuVall has a knack for making small parts in good movies (21 Grams, Zodiac, Argo) memorable. Here, she gets her chance at a leading role and her Julia keeps us on the edge of our seats; we care about her, but have no idea what she’s going to jump into next. Toby Huss is very, very good as Julie’s loving but aggrieved husband Ed. Veteran Irish actor Timothy V. Murphy sparkles as the huckster adventurer Jack who could sell the proverbial ice to Eskimos.

Heaven’s Floor is one of the 129 Cinequest films directed by a woman. Heaven’s Floor’s World Premiere is at 6:45 PM on Friday, March 4 at Cinequest with more screenings on March 6 and 11.

Coming on Friday: an interview with Heaven’s Floor writer/director Lori Stoll.

Cinequest around the corner

February 23, 2016February 23, 2016 by movie gourmet

Make your plans now to attend the 26th edition of Cinequest, Silicon Valley’s own major film festival. By some metrics the largest film festival in North America, Cinequest was recently voted the nation’s best by USA Today readers. The 2016 Cinequest is scheduled for March 1 through March 13 and will over 100 feature films from the US and over twenty other countries. And, at Cinequest, it’s easy to meet the filmmakers.

This year’s headline events include:

The Helen Mirren thriller Eye in the Sky on Opening Night.
A pre-release screening of the major studio The Little Prince, already spoken of as a contender for the 2017 Animated Feature Oscar.
James Franco’s appearance to present his film The Adderall Diaries.
Rita Moreno’s attendance at the world premiere of her movie Remember Me.
The Australian drama The Daughter on Closing Night (I’ve seen it – and it packs a punch!).

This year, Cinequest presents the world or US premieres of sixty features and sixty-nine shorts. And of these 129 debut films, 64 were directed by women!

I’m going to be strongly recommending at least two of these first features, the psychological thriller Lost Solace and the character-driven drama Heaven’s Floor. I’ve already screened over a dozen Cinequest 2016 movies, and I’ve already also found an excellent period romance, some thought-provoking documentaries and even a satisfying low brow comedy.

Indeed, the real treasure at Cinequest 2016 is likely to be found among the hitherto less well-known films. In the past three years, the Cinequest gems Wild Tales, ’71, Ida and The Hunt all made my Best of the Year lists.

Cinequest is on my list of Silicon Valley’s Best Movie Deals. You can get a pass for as little as $155, and you can get individual tickets as well. The express pass for an additional tax-deductible $100 is a fantastic deal – you get to skip to the front of the lines!

Take a look at the program, the schedule and the passes and tickets. (If you want to support Silicon Valley’s most important cinema event while skipping the lines, the $100 donation for Express Line Access is an awesome deal.)

As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) over thirty films from around the world. I’ll soon have up a Cinequest 2016 page. Follow me on Twitter for the latest.