When asked to describe his film, director Amir Bar Lev is likely to describe THE TILLMAN STORY as an examination of a competing set of narratives. The one put forth by the military immediately following Tillman’s death in Afghanistan—and quickly adopted by a complicit, unquestioning media—sought to lionize him as a killed-in-action war hero for cheap political gain. That reductive narrative mythologized Tillman as a prototypical ur-patriot so committed to the ideals of democracy and America that he was willing to forgo fame and riches to exact revenge for the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the U.S. But, despite the Bush administration’s attempts to shoehorn Tillman into a narrative befitting its Manichean worldview, the truth surrounding his life and death didn’t fit neatly into the storyline laid out by the Defense Department. The reality of Tillman’s death was much messier, and lay somewhere in a box of thousands of military documents dumped by the government on his grieving mother.

What is interesting and compelling about the The Tillman Story is the unwillingness of Tillman’s family to be complicit in joining this manufactured narrative. The portrait of Tillman that emerges in the film is one a close examination of any person would reveal: a man swaddled in complexity and contradictions, inexorably reduced to a caricature by a ham-fisted media. Levi, to his credit, gamely accepts the difficult task of telling the story of Tillman as accurately as possible, knowing that even he will undoubtedly end up distilling the man to parts that cannot quite capture the whole. Following the screening, STF Artistic Director Thom Powers spoke with Bar-Lev.  See below for Q&A.

(Image provided by the evening’s co-presenter THE FILM PANEL NOTETAKER)

Carrying the STF card is a sign of your support for bringing great documentaries to the theater. You’ll see sneak previews months before the rest of the public, discover rare work that you might never see again, meet the filmmakers, and fraternize with NY’s documentary community. Browse the STF Archives to get a sampling of our past; and sign up for a season pass to participate in our future. 

If that’s not enough to motivate you, consider 7 more reasons:

(photo: director JK Wasson with film subject Jutta Cords, courtesy of Cathryne Czubek)

MARWENCOL, winner of SXSW Grand Jury Prize, uncovers a story that truly embodies “stranger than fiction.” Mark Hogancamp, who suffered a brutal beating, finds a therapeutic outlet by staging dolls in World War II era costumes. Starting out as a personal project, his work gets discovered by the art world and his story takes unexpected turns. STF honors another one-of-a-kind artist Harvey Pekar (who recently died) by presenting the innovative documentary and fiction hybrid AMERICAN SPLENDOR, based on his comic book. The Q&A will feature several members of the film’s creative team including actor Paul Giamatti. Other STF fall highlights include the first NYC sneak previews of ON COAL RIVER and SURVIVING HITLER: A LOVE STORY, featuring their directors visiting from out of state; and a revival of MARLENE the classic documentary about Marlene Dietrich, directed by Maximilian Schell, for a rare chance to see it on the big screen.

“This season will mark STF’s sixth year,” said Artistic Director Thom Powers who also serves as the documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival and the new DOC NYC festival. “We have a little of everything: art, politics, sex, glamor, activism, emotion, travel and history. Many of these titles have won acclaim at festivals such as Sundance, SXSW and Silverdocs. We’re pleased to bring them to New York audiences. As the STF t-shirt says, ‘Tuesday is the new Friday.’”

(Season passes now on sale at early bird rate through Thurs. Sept. 16; Individual tickets go on sale Fri. Sept. 17, subject to availability)

The following week was all about Second Life as Jason Spingarn-Koff brought LIFE 2.0 to a sold-out crowd.  The film had its premiere at Sundance last January and this was its first NY screening.  Mrs. Stranger (me) hosted the evening while Mr. Stranger (Thom) was in Cannes at the film festival (which he calls “working”).  When I started off the Q&A by asking the audience how many people had avatars, only a few hands were raised.  When I repeated the question and asked people to be honest, dozens more hands were raised.  Jason discussed the complexities of making this doc – from shooting within Second Life (they even had a screening of this film in a virtual SL theater) to finding characters willing to be candid on camera.  The film took years to complete.  An unexpected surprise was the lawyer who appears in the film (arguing in defense of individual user’s intellectual property within SL) – he happened to be in the STF audience that evening and said a few words from the audience.  Two days later we shifted gears when Marshall Curry presented RACING DREAMS – you can read guest host Steve Holmgren’s blog here.

And then last week was MY PERESTROIKA (also a Sundance 2010 premiere) with Robin Hessman.  Neither rain nor cold could stop this crowd eager to see a slice of modern Russia.  A standby line snaked down the block (at least 10 got in) and the theater was packed.  Robin discussed her deep involvement with Russia (which began when she first lived there in the early 1990s) and the challenges of making this film over the past five years.  Getting access to official archives was at times a difficult process, but luckily her film subjects happened to have a treasure trove of home movies.  I was delighted to host this evening due to my own Russian heritage (my family left Latvia in 1972 and I’m the first generation born here in America).  I’ve also been tracking this doc ever since it got a Sundance Documentary Fund grant in 2006 and a Garrett Scott development grant in 2007 so it was a treat to finally see it complete on the big screen.

The season continues next week with another doubleheader.  Next Tuesday night is Dziga Vertov’s 1929 classic MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA – although this time with a score by filmmaker John Walter (described as what Vertov would have created if he’d lived in the era of electronic music and DJ mix culture).  Then Wednesday night is PROMISED LAND by Yoruba Richen – a film about land reform and racial reconciliation in the new South Africa.

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