SLO Film Fest: Wolves, Sharks, and that "Delicate Balance"

Nathaniel R reporting from the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival

After a delightful trip back to 1969 iconography and disturbing peek back at 1933 fascism, the San Luis Obispo's 25th festival threw us directly into the immediate now with three engaging documentaries exploring very real, very urgent problems with our ecosystems, relationships with animal life, and the dehumanizing dangers of globalism and late stage capitalism. That may sound depressing, and it was to an extent, but all three films were suffused with enough passion and optimism to make their bitter pills easier to swallow.

The shortest and "lightest" of these with Collin Monda's hour-long documentary The Trouble With Wolves, which is locked but not quite finished (needing funds to complete its rights clearances and such). It's a surprisingly nuanced look at the success and aftershocks of a 1995 federal program to reintroduce gray wolves to the US via Yellowstone National Park.

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"Kitbull"

*purrs*

This wonderful short is directed by Rosana Sullivan and it's traditional animation rather than the CG usual from Pixar. The drawing is so expressive -- how great are the cats eyes? -- and as someone who once adopted a ratty-looking nervous and unfriendly street kitten, this really struck a chord. My heart melted when it learned to make a friend. Perhaps other cat owners or pitbull fans will be similarly moved? 

There have been six new shorts from Pixar's new initiative. Here's what they say about this program:

The SparkShorts program is designed to discover new storytellers, explore new storytelling techniques, and experiment with new production workflows. These films are unlike anything we’ve ever done at Pixar, providing an opportunity to unlock the potential of individual artists and their inventive filmmaking approaches on a smaller scale than our normal fare.”

PETA's "Oscat" Winners: Bradley Cooper, Black Panther, Annihilation

by Nathaniel R

Here's an award you might not have heard of. PETA, the animal rights organization, gives out "Oscats" each year honoring the most animal friendly films and stars. So, even though Bradley Cooper has PETA's senior vice president says:

PETA is thrilled to recognize the people and projects behind Hollywood’s most significant animal rights advances of the year.”

The winners and why they were chosen after the jump...

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2018: All Creatures Great and Small

Each day a different year in review list...

We're all animal lovers here at TFE, so we asked contributors and friends to talk about their favourite non-humans from the year's movies. 

To show love to all Film Experience readers, whether you be a cat or a dog person, we dedicate this list to two extraordinary creatures: That elusive cat in Burning, who may or may not be a figment of our imaginations but sure feels real since we can't shake him, and Bradley Cooper's own dog Charlie playing Jackson Maine's dog in A Star is Born. Like Lady Gaga, Charlie is essentially playing himself and like Lady Gaga he's doing it fabulously. Where's his Oscar buzz?

Not every memorable screen animal was covered in the following list -- our apologies especially to that tragically outmatched racoon in Incredibles 2 -- so do add to it in the comments. Here are our seven favourite beastly movie stars of 2018...

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NYFF: Olivia, Rachel, and Emma in "The Favourite"

Nathaniel reporting from the New York Film Festival

"Bunnies aren't just cute like everyone supposes," the vengeance demon Anya famously sang on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you should know straightaway that she would absolutely recoil at The Favourite, which is filled with bunnies, even as she might well relate to the brutal practicalities of the social maneuvering between the servant Abigail (Emma Stone) and her cousin Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) for the Queen's affections. Yet the two things, bunnies and favouritism, are inextricably linked.

Queen Anne's (Olivia Colman) chambers are filled with bunnies, seventeen to be precise, each named after one of her miscarried or stillborn babies. She would very much like her favourite Lady, whoever it is, to fawn on them...

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