Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Friday, June 22:
THE GOSPEL OF EUREKA

Directors:
Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher

Premiere:
SXSW 2018

Select Festivals:
Sheffield, AFI Docs, Nashville, BAMcinemaFest, Provincetown, Indie Grits, Ashland, Frameline, Portland QDoc

About:
A small Arkansas town hosts both a spectacular Passion Play and a gospel drag show.

If Eureka Springs AR, population 2073, is united by one thing, it’s a belief in God. This Bible Belt town celebrated its Christianity by erecting a massive statue of Jesus known as the “Christ of the Ozarks” 50 years ago, and instituted a large-scale Passion Play around the same time. Reflecting the changing times, however, Eureka Springs also celebrates the Lord via regular gospel drag shows performed at the local gay bar, Eureka Live. While Palmieri and Mosher’s engaging film addresses the potential impact of an anti-transgender bathroom bill on the town, their subjects refreshingly defy preconceptions about where they’d land on the issue, demonstrating instead a tight-knit, inclusive small-town community – one that has surprising commonalities rather than disruptive differences. Eschewing easy demonization of any particular person or group, the filmmakers instead construct a free-moving look at faith, love, and principles in Eureka Springs, highlighted through parallels between the performances of the drag queens and the Passion Play actors – the latter in their own way doing a form of straight, Christian drag – resulting in a welcome, uplifting portrait.

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Saturday, June 16:
EXIT MUSIC

Director:
Cameron Mullenneaux

Premiere:
Hot Docs 2018

About:
A portrait of a young artist facing his impending death after a lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis.

Ethan was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in his infancy, a genetic disorder that primarily impacts the lungs, resulting in difficulty breathing and other severe symptoms. Regularly given a death sentence throughout childhood and into his adult years, Ethan has survived into his late 20s, rechanneling his inability to plan longterm – work, marriage, family – into shorter-term creative endeavors including music and stop motion animation, both of which are peppered throughout Mullenneaux’s film. Despite a supportive family – particularly his stay-at-home caretaker dad, Ed, a Vietnam vet facing his own issues with PTSD – Ethan knows his condition is worsening. The film follows its often disarmingly funny protagonist as he prepares for the end, consulting with his physician about his desire not to have interventions to prolong his life when it reaches a point where he’s ready to let go – something with which Ed, in particular, has a very hard time coming to grips after decades fighting to keep his son alive. Drawing on a lifetime of home movies as well as intimate contemporary interviews, and finding a smart balance between the celebratory and the funereal, Mullenneaux constructs a sensitive and thought-provoking portrait of the process of dying on one’s own terms.