A Date with destiny

(cover photo: Director Jacob Cunningham stands behind Kevin Natale from Thy Will Be Done.)

The Ventura Film Festival has been a long time coming — far longer than the wait by those who’ve anticipated its arrival, far longer even than the year’s festival chairman Lorenzo DeStefano has spent in planning it. The festival’s date with destiny — March 26 — remains inextricably tied to a winter’s day in 1994, when a wave of violence and antipathy crested and broke, forever altering the trajectories of the handful of lives in March 26th purview and setting the stage for the festival’s centerpiece film, Thy Will Be Done.

The film tells the story of Kevin Natale, a Ventura native who was on that day an active, ordinary fourteen year-old boy preparing for a league basketball game when twenty-one year-old and deeply disturbed neighbor Bryan Adams burst through the front door, pistol in hand — obsessed with the idea of settling a largely imagined score — and opened fire.

Though Kevin survived the bullet intended to take his life, he was left paralyzed. Directed by Brooks Institute graduate Jacob K. Cunningham, the feature documentary describes not only a tragic and transformational moment, but traces the aftermath of that moment and the ongoing transformation in a powerfully human story of courage and pathos and everyday humanity.

DeStefano’s vision for the festival centers on a theme of “Local Voices/Global Visions” — supporting the idea that cinema offers a flexible frame and a stylistic alchemy in which even the smallest or most local stories can offer profound insight into a larger, culturally universal experience of the human condition. Thy Will Be Done deftly accomplishes just that ethic in its deeply personal narrative and the transcendent examples not just of Natale’s life, but of all those lives connected to his and which were likewise irrevocably transformed.

At the film’s first public screening, director Cunningham was unaware that in attendance were DeStefano and members of the film festival’s board; during the post-film q&a, when the filmmaker was asked what was next for the project, the festival chairman stood and invited the project to become part of the festival — to thunderous audience acclaim. Acknowledging the drama of the moment, DeStefano notes, “In that moment, we knew what we were about as a film festival, and I think Jacob knew what he was about as a filmmaker.” While the festival found exactly the sort of story it was designed to champion, the film found the next step in meeting an ever-growing audience.

Thy Will Be Done was captured over the better part of a year’s shooting and editing; originally intended as a documentary short, the richness of the themes and of the story that needed to be told simply outgrew such a limited frame. As the project evolved, it proved to be not only a proscenium for events already in play, but also a catalyst for revelation and new action — as when, in an onscreen moment, Natale realizes his wish to connect with Joyce Adams, the mother of his would-be assassin, who is bound more tightly to the tragedy than perhaps even Natale in his ever-present wheelchair, or her own son, who is serving a life sentence for the crime at Folsom Prison. The film makes good on that realization in a powerful act of compassion, communion and forgiveness that simply could not have been scripted, and in a way that unequivocally validates the power of cinema — exactly as celebrated by the festival ethic. It’s in that moment of forgiveness that perhaps, after 15 years, Joyce’s own healing can finally begin. A deeply spiritual man, Natale’s commitment to forgiveness proved less an act of choice than a commitment to the faith by which he’s always lived. “I’ve always known that God had a plan for me,” he notes, “and that’s more clear to me now than ever. Kevin had a part in God’s plan for me, too, so of course I had to forgive him.”

While tragedy figures prominently in the narrative of Thy Will Be Done, the film is ultimately not about tragedy — the narrative leaves tragedy behind just as fully as Natale can be seen to have left it in life, moving to address themes that touch us all regardless of our stations in life and our luck, for better or worse. “Everyone faces something in life that can stop you, can hold you back,” Natale observes, “But it’s how you pick yourself up and move on afterwards that shows who you are and what you’re made of.” It’s in Kevin’s willingness and ability not only to move on but to express it for Cunningham’s camera — along with the film’s other principals, including his mother, his sister and Joyce Adams, caught between her perceived destruction of both boys’ lives — that Thy Will Be Done finds its beating heart.

It’s that beating heart that DeStefano first went looking for with the Ventura fest, finding it not only in that film, but in the fest’s 72 other films, in a wide ranging catalog designed to express the well-publicized ideal of “Real people, true stories, new cinema.” Hand in hand with that ethic was the determination that the Ventura Film Festival be a unifying event, inclusive to people of all walks of life. “You’ll never see a red carpet here, as long as I’m involved with this festival,” DeStefano affirms. “No red carpets, no VIP lists — the exclusive ethic of so many other festivals is exactly the opposite of what we’re doing here.”

Inclusion is an ethic that resonated for Natale as well, whose task, like anyone’s, has been to live the best life he can. “Sure, people could look at me and go, ‘Poor guy, wow,’ ” he notes, “but I see it all as a matter of perspective. When I visited Shriner’s Hospital I met a bunch of kids who have nothing — no family, no homes, and it made me realize it’s all relative. By that standard, I am so blessed, with a great family, great friends, lots of love. Like anyone, I just want to get the most out of life that I can. People want to take inspiration from me, and that’s fine — by the same token, I take my inspiration from others. I find myself surrounded by people who make me want to be a better man.”

The notion is absolutely in play in the festival environment, where films unspool from every corner of the earth, expressing themes and ideas representative of all walks of life — from squatters in the ruins of Havana to Indian peasants striving for clean water against the interests of the multinational industrial machine, to the militant brilliance of legendary native American activist John Trudell. For three days, audiences are brought into the new perspectives of new worlds: 73 stories of hope and heartbreak, of tragedy and triumph, of desperation and inspiration — each a call to action on a scale according to its ability to resonate with its audience and according to the sensitivity and sensibilities of that audience.

“We live in such a sound-byte era,” DeStefano explains. “We have this tendency to reduce complex cultures and ideas to mere icon status. You can describe Cuba with a communist star and a few cigars, but you will absolutely fail to capture its essence, to even communicate an idea about it that has any lasting value.” He goes on to explain that it’s within the power of cinema — with a film in the festival catalog like Havana: The New Art of Making Ruins — to dissolve that icon over a relatively short interval, leaving audiences with a vastly deeper understanding about what it is to actually live in Cuba today.

Understanding became the touchstone of Natale as well, as the cinematic project of his own life reached fruition. “I can’t comprehend what God’s thinking might be — it’s so much bigger than I am. I can only accept it, and be willing to be an instrument of that plan.” He acknowledges that the plan now looks clearer than ever. “What I’m stoked about is that with my story I’m leaving a fingerprint on this world — a little statement of who I am and of what I have to say.”

As the festival’s debut draws near, everyone involved looks ahead with the eyes of experience, anticipating the fruition of work that has been years in the making. Asked what’s next for Thy Will Be Done,” Cunningham just shakes his head. “I’m amazed and grateful that it’s come this far,” he notes. “We have no idea where it goes from here. It’s basically out of our hands now — the next step is kind of up to the audience.” DeStefano agrees. “We can only take it so far, and then we let it go, to unfold as it will. It’s not easy, but it’s the same for all of us, from where I sit, or for a filmmaker, or for the audience — we take what we’re given, we do the best we can with it, then we hand it off to another.”   

The Ventura Film Festival will be placed in the hands of audiences March 26-29 at the ELKS LODGE, 11 S. Ash Street in Ventura. Festivities will kick off on March 26 with a 6 p.m. reception followed by the world premiere of Thy Will Be Done on two screens at 7 p.m. An opening night party will follow at the Elks from 9-11. Please see www.venturafilmfest.com for ticket and schedule information. Advance tickets also available in person and by phone from the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau, 101 S. California Street, Ventura, or call 648-2075.

Friday, March 27

TRUDELL Follows the extraordinary life of Native American poet, musician and leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM).  Vintage footage of the explosive “occupation” of Alcatraz in the 1960s, personal interviews with Trudell today. Noon-1:50 p.m. Theater 1.

THE FLUX MOTHERS  Single mothers and victims of war in the Congo learn welding to save their lives, as documented by Brooks Institute student Jacob Foko. Showing along with four other short films.
WE THE ART BARN  Short documentary about the therapeutic effects of creative expression on children and the role the Art Barn in Ventura plays as a twilight haven for local artists and musicians. Showing along with four other short films. Noon-3:20 p.m. Theater 2.

FLOW: For Love of Water Award-winning, hard-hitting documentary about the world’s dwindling water supply and battles waged on both sides over issues of privatization. Scientists, activists, the World Bank and the world’s largest bottled water corporations all try to answer the question “Can anyone really own water?” Discussion to follow, sponsored by Ventura City Water District. 3:05-4:50 p.m. Theater 1. (Also Sunday, March 29, 3-5 p.m. Theater 1.)

PASSION & POETRY – The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah Notoriously troubled Western film director Sam Peckinpah, influenced today’s films with his slow-motion violence and unique editing style. Vintage footage and personal interviews reveal his adventurous movie-making and life story filled with tragedy, humor, success and defeat. 3:30-5:45 p.m. Theater 2.

JULIA The clever and utterly out-of-control alcoholic Julia takes us deep into Tijuana’s dark side, where she and the boy she kidnapped for ransom money quickly discover they need each other.  Stars Tilda Swinton. 7:30-10 p.m. Theater 1.

SATURDAY, MARCH 28

ANGEL IN THE HOOD Two Latina girls tossed out of numerous schools for fighting and drug abuse, meet at a last-resort high school program for troubled teens and find hope when they realize they share a common bond — Tinkerbell. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Theater 1.

DOLL FACE  Haunting and visually stunning work exposes vanity, and lends visual commentary to media’s role in the duality of authenticity and physical beauty. Showing with other selections from Andrew Huang’s New Cinema series. 12:25-1:05 p.m. Theater 2.

HAVANA:THE NEW ART OF MAKING RUINS  The beauty of Havana, Cuba, lies in the poetry of its decaying buildings. This film beautifully captures the collapsing monuments of a fascinating culture. 1:15-3:45 p.m. Theater 2.

FINDING NEMO: THE LIFE & DEATH OF A CHOLO  In this series of short films created by Youth CineMedia, an innovative program where teens and at-risk youth learn film production, each picture reveals the many stories of a Santa Barbara community defining itself even in the midst of duress.  Based on true events. 1:20-2:30 p.m. Theater 1.

SHORT EYES Ground-breaking film directed by Robert M. Young is a brutally honest account of life in Manhattan’s infamous prison known as “The Tombs.” Accused of child molestation and despised by even the worst criminals, a man must learn to live or die by the rules as tension erupts within prison ranks. 2:40-4:45 p.m. Theater 1.

CAUGHT A stranger invited into a couple’s home changes a family’s fate forever. Intense suspense and romance. 1997 Independent Spirit Nominations. Starring Edward James Olmos and Maria Conchita Alonso. 5-8:20 p.m. Theater 1.

VOICE OF A MOUNTAIN Rural Guatemalan coffee farmers took up arms against their violent government in a civil war that lasted 36 years. Personal accounts from those who survived the genocide. 6:15-7:35 p.m. Theater 2.

CHILDREN OF FATE: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family.  Thirty years after the incriminating documentary Cortile Cascino was shot in the slums of Sicily, banned from NBC-TV, and the tapes destroyed, Director Robert M. Young returns with his son and daughter to make the sequel.  Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, 1993. 7:45-9:45 p.m. Theater 2.

100 FEET After allegedly killing her husband in self-defense, a young woman is placed under house arrest, unable to go farther than 100 feet. Starring Famke Jannssen. (Rated R for sex and violence). 8:30-10:20 p.m.

Sunday, March 29

VOICES IN WARTIME Documentary about the drama of combat juxtaposed with poetry and art. BAD You thought school was bad for you . . . experience it through the eyes of a dyslexic boy who doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Theater 1.

BETWEEN THE LINES Unique insight into the dramatic effect the Vietnam War had on the young men who rode waves in the 1960s.  Meet some of the original surfers who created their own surfing culture as a response to extraordinary circumstances. 1:30-2:45 p.m. Theater 1.

DOMINICK and EUGENE Twin brothers — one with a learning disability and the other in medical school —are threatened by their imminent separation and need to understand the truth about what happened in their past. 6-9:15 p.m.Theater 1.

PASSION FOR MUSIC Inspiring true story of Ventura Avenue area native Nicolle Cabell’s rise to fame in the international opera world. 11:45-1:30 p.m. Theater 2.

TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT Based on a true story about a former Olympic boxer imprisoned at Auschwitz. He was permitted to survive as long as he fought for the amusement of his captors.  Starring Willam Dafoe and Edward James Olmos. 1:40-5 p.m. Theater 2.

WAKING DREAMS Romantic comedy about an East Indian family in Texas trying to discipline their dreamy teenage daughter features a fresh look at intergenerational conflicts in an Indian-American family. 7-9 p.m. Theater 2.