Cine Manifest manages to take a story about a group of very interesting people trying to do some interesting things, and turn it all into a waste of time.
Judy Irola, a member of Cine Manifest herself, made the understandable mistake of thinking that the story of the collective was interesting and monumental enough to engage an audience on its own. When you watch "The Weather Underground", or "Guerilla", the story is historically significant enough that the audience is engaged in hearing the facts. But with Cine Manifest, the truly interesting story lies in the societal experiment, the lessons learned, and larger issues of how ego and selfishness can lead to the downfall of a communist collective in the same way it does a capitalist company.
Judy fell well-short of providing this kind of analysis. The characters were poorly developed, their motivations and dreams were shallowly explored, and in the end, we were left with a bunch of old memos and interviews that felt more like old-friends screwing around, than a filmmaker trying to explore the deep philosophical and emotional issues that existed beneath the surface of this story.
Judy Irola, a member of Cine Manifest herself, made the understandable mistake of thinking that the story of the collective was interesting and monumental enough to engage an audience on its own. When you watch "The Weather Underground", or "Guerilla", the story is historically significant enough that the audience is engaged in hearing the facts. But with Cine Manifest, the truly interesting story lies in the societal experiment, the lessons learned, and larger issues of how ego and selfishness can lead to the downfall of a communist collective in the same way it does a capitalist company.
Judy fell well-short of providing this kind of analysis. The characters were poorly developed, their motivations and dreams were shallowly explored, and in the end, we were left with a bunch of old memos and interviews that felt more like old-friends screwing around, than a filmmaker trying to explore the deep philosophical and emotional issues that existed beneath the surface of this story.