“DOC NYC” November 2 – 10

Director Werner Herzog's new film "Into the Abyss" will open "DOC NYC"

From November 2 – 10, “DOC NYC,” a documentary film festival, returns to Greenwich Village for its second year.  Judging from the festival’s films, that I have been able to preview so far, this is an event not to be missed.

In my experience, when attending a film festival, the best bet is to stick with the documentaries.  While the narrative films can be uneven, the documentaries are almost always exceptional.  Therefore, an opportunity to attend a film festival made up entirely of documentaries…need I say more, especially when it is in our own backyard? 

“On Cinema: Alexander Payne” at New York Film Festival

Director Alexander Payne

On October 15 the New York Film Festival presented “On Cinema: Alexander Payne,” in which the director (“Election,” “About Schmidt,” “Sideways” and the soon to be released “The Descendants”) talked about influential films in his life.  The event was sponsored by HBO, moderated by NYFF Selection Committee Chairman Richard Pena and took place in the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater.

Payne proved to be an affable, frank and intelligent subject who frequently turned Pena’s questions around, playfully shooting them back at his interviewer.  Interspersed throughout the talk, Payne showed clips from four influential films: Anthony Mann’s “The Naked Spur,” Michelangelo Antonioni’s “La Notte,” Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” and Akira Kurosawa’s “Red Beard.”  Payne also brought a 16m print of an early film by director Carroll Ballard, “The Perils of Priscilla,” a lively, imaginative short which showed the world from the point of view of an abandoned house cat.  Payne said it was one of the best movies ever made.