Reverse Angle:
A documentary about a American Indian woman politician.
From action movies to activist doc
Producer Gale Anne Hurd has “Aliens,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Tremors,” “Armageddon” and AMC’s “The Walking Dead” on her resume. So when word got out that her new project would be called “Mankiller,” everyone was surprised that it was a documentary about an American Indian politician.
“In a time of such divisive politics, the fact that Wilma Mankiller was such a uniter of people, that she was bipartisan, that she reached across the aisle and people reached across to her really resonates right now,” says Hurd.
“Mankiller,” directed by Valerie Red-Horse, will screen at the Mill Valley Film Festival on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, Oct. 10, 11 and 14. It tells the story of a woman who fought through extreme hardship and sexism to become the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Mankiller, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2010 at age 64, came to the Bay Area from Oklahoma in 1956 as part of a relocation program. She attended Skyline College and San Francisco State University and, in 1969, participated in the occupation of Alcatraz.
“San Francisco and the Bay Area were where the formative period of her life was spent and where she became an activist,” says Hurd, a Stanford alumna.
“I think it will really resonate with Bay Area audiences to remember those times; how important it is for any kind of protest to not be a violent one to show that peaceful protests can result in positive change.”
The documentary was funded on Kickstarter with a little help from Hurd’s friends: “Walking Dead” luminaries Norman Reedus, Danai Guirira and Steven Yeun contributed to the unique rewards available to donors, such as Reedus recording a customized voice mail greeting.
Trivia question
Roughly how much have the 16 Hurd films on Box Office Mojo grossed worldwide?
More on the ‘Mother!’
Love or hate “Mother!” by Darren Aronofsky, film fans should tip their caps to Paramount for making it.
Despite the presence of one of the world’s biggest stars, Jennifer Lawrence, the studio had to know from the script this would not be box-office gold. Writer-director Aronofsky has acknowledged the “fever dream’s” extreme shifts and multiple interpretations. Its last third descends into cinematic madness. He told MTV that rewriting the script he came up with in five days proved less than fruitful because “as soon as you started to pull at the nightmare logic of it, it kind of crumbled into dust.”
“Defies description” are two words that give marketing departments indigestion. Indeed, “Mother!” earned only $26 million in its first two weeks.
Paramount made it anyway. And in this age of cynically manufactured blockbusters, that willingness to try something different should be applauded.
“If we want something new at the movies,” Aronofsky told Indiewire’s Anne Thompson, “you give them something new and they say, ‘What the hell is that?’ The more these films can succeed, the more chance we can get weird ones made.”
‘Valentine’ from PTA
Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film, which may be titled “Phantom Thread” and is supposedly Daniel Day-Lewis’ acting swan song, is due this Christmas.
For those who can’t wait for their PTA fix, there’s his 14-minute video of Los Angeles sister act Haim performing three songs in the studio. “Valentine” showcases the group’s musicianship and, during the final song, “Nothing’s Wrong,” Danielle Haim switches from drums to shredding on electric guitar.
The video shouldn’t come as a complete surprise to Anderson fans. He has demonstrated an affinity for female singer-songwriters in the past, including Aimee Mann and Fiona Apple.
“Valentine” is viewable at https://tinyurl.com/y7t2pchj
Trivia answer
About $2.75 billion.