Friday afternoon I caught Secrets of the Tribe, the latest offering from Jose Padilha's (Bus 174).  The doc examines the field of anthropology, looking at its history of studying and interacting with the Yanomami Indians of the Amazon Basin. There are allegations of sexual and medical misconduct, and a whole lotta anthropologists who disagree with one another.

While I was fascinated by the subject matter, I felt the film was a bit too inside. There is an assumption that the audience is familiar with the different schisms and players in the field, and by the time I caught up, I was feeling very frustrated. A quick fix: add a teeny tiny primer at the beginning of the film so that those who don't know about the different anthropological schools of thought can enjoy the academic infighting from the very start.

 

After a lovely dinner with my condo-mates, I spent the evening at the packed Gen Art/7 For All Mankind "7 Fresh Faces in Film" party, hosted by Malin Akerman. Honorees included Shawn Ashmore, Amy Ferguson, Shiloh Fernandez, Zoe Kazan, Zoe Lister Jones, Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Zegers. The shin-dig was held at the Gen Art Lodge at Sky Lodge, one of the new party hotspots this year at the fest.