Let 'em Roll....

The Bay Area Film Society's (BAFS) movie season is begun! Thus far we've seen two interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking films that, left to our own devices, we would never have viewed or, for that matter, even heard about.

The BAFS was formed in winter 1997 by a group of dedicated film lovers. It continues due to the efforts of volunteers committed to bringing alternative and foreign films to the Chequamegon Bay area. Films show fall through early spring because summer in the Northland is too beautiful, busy, and short for potential viewers to take time out from hiking, kayaking, boating, picnicing, farming, gardening, wood gathering, and tourist-serving to sit inside.

Several years ago BAFS initiated the annual Big Water Film Festival which shows popular and unknown films alongside presentation and discussion sessions with writers and directors. This year's Big Water runs November 5-7 and highlights Airplane! (30 years after its initial release), Into Temptation (sold out shows in Minneapolis) and Feed the Fish (sold out shows at Milwaukee's Film Fest), and much more....

This year's season began with documentaries: No Impact Man and last night's The Parking Lot Movie. No Impact Man follows the sustainable, low carbon adventures of Colin Beavan and his wife and young daughter. Beavan decided to produce no trash for one year and adopted a "green" lifestyle: no TV, no cars, buses or subway travel, no eating out, no coffee, no meat, no food from more than 150 miles away, no using the elevator, no electricity, no toilet paper.

Here in the North Woods of Wisconsin these endeavors are commonplace. Nearby neighbors live: 1) in a tent in the middle of the woods, 2) in a yurt in the middle of the woods, 3) in a straw bale house with a cistern to collect rain water, 4) in a log house with a solar panel for electricity, a pump outside for water, a wood stove for heat, and an outhouse for a bathroom, and 5) in a house without running water (which the owners determined they don't need).

But Beavan did it the hard(er) way ... while living in a ninth floor apartment in Manhattan! See his website (http://www.noimpactproject.org/) and blog (http://noimpactman.typepad.com/) for more information.

It's clear from the movie that 43-year-old Beavan had a core group of supportive friends and that he and his family learned a tremendous amount about living sustainably and sharing a closer connection with each other and their environment. Still, Beavan received many derogatory, critical comments on his blog as he detailed his efforts and the film showed the frustration and desperation of his wife as she tried to adopt her husband's temporary choice of lifestyle.

By the end of the film the question on the jacket of the DVD remains: Can you save the planet without driving your family crazy? Which raises yet another question ... Are we--the American public as well as the citizens of the world--willing to change our lifestyles in order to put less stress upon our Earth and her limited resources? Obviously, as demonstrated by Beavan and his family, it will not be easy but it may also be incredibly satisfying and rewarding.

Last night's Parking Lot Movie (http://www.theparkinglotmovie.com/) was yet another insightful commentary on our society. It dives deeply into the attitudes and beliefs of a group of men employed as parking lot attendants at a surface lot in Charlottesville, Virginia. Filled with interviews of current and former employees and the parking lot owner as well as footage of the day-to-day antics and conundrums of this interesting and eclectic group of men, the viewers soon witness evidence of the underlying theme of this film as articulated in its subtitle: It's not just a parking lot. It's a battle with humanity.

The most blatent and appalling aspect of this film was the inherent classism that underlies American society. As one parking lot attendant acknowledged, We're lower than taxidermists (an interesting comment as I'm currently reading a book about taxidermists, Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy by Melissa Milgrom which challenges the attitude that taxidermy is a reviled and freakish profession).

Other insights and philosophies are readily expressed by these men who have all the time in the world to think about and consider their lot while they wait for cars and the people who drive them to exit and pay their fee. The attendants soon discover that they can easily peg (though hopefully, not always correctly) the personality and behaviors of the drivers of particular models of cars. All attendants seem to hold disdain for SUVs and their inhabitants and agree (I'm using literary license here), The bigger the car, the bigger the asshole.

Again and again, we see drivers who abuse their gatekeepers. Either the drivers refuse to pay out right, drive away without paying, decide they should pay less than required, or simply ignore or disregard the person who stands at their window waiting for money. The attendants are the first to say that the overwhelming attitude of people using parking lots is this: These guys are ignorant; they don't deserve any respect. Sadly, that's often the manner in which they are treated.

Thankfully, this film provides a more holistic view of parking lot attendants and many of these men freely admit that their time working as an attendant was an important part of their growth and human development. They begin to realize that no matter how disrespectfully they're treated it does no good to respond in like manner. Eventually attendants either leave the job or determine that they have to be the bigger man and take the abuse while responding with kindness, humor, and the recognition that it isn't up to them to mete out punishment for bad behavior ... their disrespectful patrons will earn their just desserts in the Universe's own good time.

The final scene of this film is priceless. The attendants dress in costume and perform a rap music video-style conclusion that illustrates the importance of humor, creativity, play, and plain old fun when one lives on the edge of a money and appearance is everything mainstream culture. The humanness and humaneness of these documentary stars is extraordinary, inspiring, and affirming.

That you, BAFS, for your charming, eclectic, and life-affirming selection of movies that inspire me to be a better, more thoughtful human being. That's what I'd call great art!