chops Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The 11th annual DocuWeek showcase kicks off tomorrow night, Friday, August 17 continuing through August 23 at two locations in Los Angeles before traveling to other parts of the country. Presented by the International Documentary Association (IDA), the program has featured 21 films that were eventually nominated for Academy Awards, with five capturing the little gold man. One of the goals of the showcase is to help filmmakers meet the AMPAS rules for Academy Award consideration, which requires that a doc play for one week in Los Angeles or Manhattan by August 31. (A multi-state theatrical roll-out is also required by November 15.) Another is to encourage exhibitors "to dedicate more screens to nonfiction films," according to a statement by IDA Executive Director Sandra Ruch.

The 12 feature-length docs include War/Dance, a tale of children in a refugee camp in Uganda, which moved our own Kim Voynar to write: "I can't imagine anyone could watch War/Dance without feeling heart-wrenched over these kids' stories and being touched by their heart and courage." She also liked Nanking, about Japan's invasion of China's capital city in 1937, describing it as "deeply affecting." Chops looks at high school jazz musicians; Erik Davis said "you're overcome by this overwhelming feeling to hug each one" during the film's best moments. In the Shadow of the Moon, Hear and Now, Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone, A Promise to the Dead, The Price of Sugar, Protagonist, Taxi to the Darkside and We Are Together will also be screened. The IDA site has complete information.

AJ Schnack's Kurt Cobain About a Son will also play during DocuWeek. At his blog, Schnack notes that "somewhat secretly, the opening round of competition for this year's Oscar for Documentary Feature is about to play out in theaters all around Los Angeles," as films attempt to meet the AMPAS criteria. Schnack has a detailed list and information about where the docs are playing, as well as his comments on a number of them.

Chops was one of those films I slipped into while killing time before the Spider-Man 3 press screening. And though we're looking at two completely different movies, the two do share similar themes. In fact, both deal with young kids who possess extraordinary talents and, in the most difficult, nerve-racking situations, they must utilize those talents to the best of their ability. In the case of Chops, the film follows a group of high school kids as they pursue their goal to win the most prestigious jazz band competition in the country: the annual Essentially Ellington Festival in New York City. In the vein of films like Mad Hot Ballroom, pic documents their journey; from the first day they played together as a band to overcoming their fears as they travel to New York to compete against the best of the best.

Roughly 900 high schools apply to compete in the festival, yet when it's all said and done only fifteen bands are chosen. The great thing about the Essentially Ellington Festival is that it's not just about determining which of these fifteen bands is the best; it's more about surrounding these kids with professional talent who then help them explore their craft. Folks like Wynton Marsalis and Ron Carter meet with the kids, answer their questions and attempt to show them that it's not about playing the music, it's about feeling it and being creative. When we're first introduced to the kids of this Jacksonville high school, they're strangers. Some are arriving from junior high school, while others are band veterans -- kids who've experienced Essentially Ellington, but never had what it takes to win. Towards the end of the film, as the competition heats up, we watch as these one-time strangers slowly become a family -- one tight-knit voice so devoted to the art of jazz that it's hard not to shed tears when the final outcome is revealed.