The War Room

This film about the War Room (so christened by Hillary) of Clinton's presidential election campaign in 1992 is considered a standard setter in political films.  It was filmed 20 years ago, so it's the same age as the Hot Docs Festival, and it was honoured with Cinema Eye's 2013 Legacy Award at the Festival.

Given little access to Clinton himself, the filmmakers focused on senior campaign strategist James Carville and communications director George Stephanopoulos.  For me, Carville was clearly the dominant character in the film.  A brilliant strategist, intense partisan and fierce competitor,  Carville was responsible for the campaign's unrelenting focus on three key issues: "It's the economy, stupid", "Don't forget healthcare" and "Change vs more of the same".  He is originally introduced in the movie as the Ragin' Cajun and he certainly comes across more as a country bumpkin than a slick political operator.

Stephanopoulos, the boyish preppie with a head full of hair, was a wonderful contrast to Carville.  He was an acolyte at the altar of his heros Clinton and Carville.  His speech honouring Carville on the day before the election bespoke his incredible respect for the man.  And his boyish wonderment that Clinton actually made it and he had to start calling him Mr. President instead of Governor was totally endearing.


As always, the Q&A was as interesting as the film.  Most of the other filmmakers carved their films down from over 200 hours of shooting.  Shot in the days of real (or maybe reel) film, Pennebaker and Hegedus only had a total of 40 hours of film, and lived in mortal fear of being ousted from the war room if they didn't behave discreetly and more or less sink into the background.  I'm really glad they brought this film back to Hot Docs for today's audience to see.  It was great.

In God We Trust

The Hot Docs film that has stimulated the most animated question period was the film In God We Trust about Bernie Madoff.  There were still hands waving in the audience when the Q&A was over.  Certainly, the movie helped solidify a view of Madoff as the monster depicted on this magazine cover.

In God We Trust starts with a wonderful computer graphics animation of buildings in New York, ominous music, and ultimately those graphic images show the building crumbling to the ground.

The movie was filmed from the point of view of Eleanor Squillari, Madoff's secretary of 25 years, who actively helped the investigators delve into the fraud.  She alleges she never suspected anything, and that the investigators took her innocence at face value, because she did not have much money (unlike others charged in the case, who actually carried out the mechanics of the fraud on the secretive 17th floor separated from the regular trading room of the firm).  Squillari believes that Madoff's two sons, who worked in the legit trading arm of the firm were unaware of the fraud and turned in their father as soon as he confessed to them.   One son later committed suicide and one is suffering from cancer, so not a happy family.

The most interesting part of the film is that it brought to light some potential new aspects of the case.  Investors were defrauded of about $65B by his Ponzi scheme.  But more than $170B had washed through the firm.  Is 'washed' the operative word?  The film raises questions whether the firm was primarily a massive money-laundering scheme which hooked in more investors to cloak its activities.  Was Madoff's quick confession, and avoidance of trial, an attempt to cover up the deeper crimes?

Nothing has been proved in that regard, but the movie presents some pretty suspicious facts, well articulated by Canada's own Diane Francis.  The biggest winner of the Madoff Ponzi scheme was one Jeffrey Picower: not only did he not lose money but he enjoyed returns ranging from over 100% to over 900%.  He was getting back more than he put in all along.

Picower died in 2009, as the investigation started to close in on him.  His wife told the emergency dispatchers he'd been found at the bottom of his pool.  Another person in the audience asked the question that I was burning to ask - did Picower commit suicide or was he murdered?  The directors answered that people who drowned floated.  Even more suspicious, when they tried to reach the coroner who performed the autopsy on Picower in Florida, he had disappeared without a trace.

The directors have not found distribution, and encouraged the audience to rate the film highly in the voting because that would help them.  No harm in asking!!!  And they want to raise people's awareness of the impotence of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which should have protected the duped investors. There's a law in the US that would beef up SIPC and they want Americans to support that law - and Canadians too, since our own Canadian Investor Protection Fund harmonizes its regulations with the US.

Spring and Arnaud

This delightful film introduced me to two photographic artists I didn't know: Arnaud Maggs and Spring Hurlbut.  (It's not that they're not well known; it's that I was ignorant).

Maggs is best known for his photographs arranged in grid-like patterns.  He took many photos of people in profile, and even a series of right ears, which he then arranged in a grid.  His fancy might take him down a different path, taking photos of the tags identifying French child labourers.





Meanwhile, Spring Hurlbut was also photographing whimsical collections of such things as old iron French cribs.  Her fascination with death as well as sleep is epitomized in her photographs of the swirls of particles emanating from urns.  Started as a memorial of her father, others have asked for such photographs as memorials.


Besides awakening to their fascinating art, it unveiled a happy partnership between two people deeply in love with each other as well as their art.  Twenty six years difference in age, but a total compatibility in artistic respect and companionship.  Maggs is a hugely mischievous personality, while Hurlbut is quieter and a hesitant speaker.  They were good together.  A lovely film.

More Shorts at Hot Docs

More short films:

The Impermanence of the Ordinary
Patrick Cummins has been photographing ordinary buildings in Toronto since 1968.  His 40,000 images capture the changes in buildings he's photographed multiple times over this period.  Fascinating - encourages one to seek out Cummins' photos and to look at Toronto with a more discerning eye.  Catch the film if you can.

The War at Home
Medium good film about one Canadian solder returning from Afghanistan and fighting to cope with PTSD.  It highlights the troubles in getting help and Dupree's efforts in founding Military Minds to foster PTSD awareness.

The Barrel
Medium good film about children playing in Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela near the oil rigs, and preparing for a paddling race in empty gasoline containers.  Some very nice photography and the child involved has a winning smile and a great attitude toward life.  I didn't think it delivered a well articulated 'punch line'.