Like most things, AFI FEST (presented by Audi) looks a little different this year.

Instead of queuing up to see a film at the TCL Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd., or having the chance to see a filmmaker Q&A at the Egyptian Theater, Cinemacy and the rest of Los Angeles audience-goers are attending the festival online. But AFI FEST still promises the same cutting-edge festival experience, with world premieres, to video conference conversations with filmmakers and top talent, we’re enjoying it all from the comfort of our couches. Below are a few early standouts from the festival, which will be available to stream later this year as films find distribution.

 

Losing Your Hearing and, In Turn, Your Identity As a Musician: Thoughts on Sound of Metal

As a musician, the most important instrument you have is your hearing. Sound of Metal, written and directed by Darius Marder and story by Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), explores the emotional and physical unraveling of what it’s like to lose your identity beyond all control. 

Riz Ahmed plays Ruben, a heavy metal drummer who unexpectedly starts to go deaf before playing a show with his bandmate and partner, Lou (Olivia Cooke).  Terrified and confused, Ruben learns that with only a 20% hearing capacity, his lifestyle as a touring musician is forced to stop. Ruben is stubborn to accept his new reality but throughout the course of the film, he begins to understand the beauty in the unknown. 

The way in which director Darius Marder works with sound–the ringing of tinnitus, the strain of trying to understand the muffled conversations, and the phenomenal performance from lead Riz Ahmed (one that will certainly be discussed come awards season) are the film’s biggest strengths. When I was younger I used to play the “would you rather” game with friends: would you rather be without sight or sound? My answer has varied throughout the years, and Sound of Metal really puts you into the mindset of a character who never got to choose. But the takeaway here is that being deaf isn’t a weakness or a handicap when viewed with the right perspective. When one sense is obstructed, it allows the others to expand and grow, leading to appreciating moments that, otherwise, may have gone unnoticed.  

‘Sound of Metal’ is being distributed by Amazon Studios and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on December 4, 2020.

 

If You Were a Soul Waiting To Be Born, How Would You Prepare to Live?: Thoughts on Nine Days

A highly conceptual film that’s both spiritual and sci-fi, Nine Days is ultimately more rewarding for the cerebrally-stirring questions that it asks the audience to think about after it’s done than being an exciting watch in the moment.

The film begins ambiguously, with a mysteriously quiet and bespectacled man, Will (Winston Duke), observing a wall of old televisions–one stacked on top of the other–each playing through life moments from first-person POVs.

We soon learn why he pores over these life moments: (somehow) Will is directly responsible for choosing the souls that will begin a life on Earth, a gatekeeper or god-figure, however you choose to see it. And so, over nine days’ time, we see Will interview a collection of characters, asking them all a variety of life-affirming questions with a searing intensity that gives the film its conceptual identity.

Nine Days has a very interesting premise, but the film–directed by Edson Oda–doesn’t give Will anything for us to invest in. Zazie Beetz is underutilized as Emma, a character interviewing for life on Earth, whose countered-openness and positivity challenges the cynically over-stoic Will into rethinking who should be granted life.

While the film is too slow-paced and loose for a great watching experience, Nine Days should be rewarded for being a daring and original film.

‘Nine Days’ is being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics and is scheduled to be released on January 22, 2021.

 

Without These Female Visionaries, Electronic Music Wouldn’t Be What It Is Today: Thoughts on Sisters With Transistors 

If I were to ask you to name one woman in the electronic music scene, could you do it? And no, Paris Hilton doesn’t count. In the much overdue documentary highlighting the women pioneers of this genre, Sisters With Transistors is a historical and empowering look at the heroines who paved the way. The names Clara Rockmore, Daphne Oram, Bebe Barron, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire, Maryanne Amacher, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani, and Laurie Spiegel may not be household names, but there’s no doubt you’ve heard their contribution to the scene without even knowing it.

Narrated by avant-garde composer Laurie Anderson, Sisters With Transistors proves that this never was just a “man’s field.” Director Lisa Rovner artfully tells the story of how, dating back to 1928, radical experimentations with machines have redefined the boundaries of music. Enabled by the technology of the times, making music was a sense of freedom for these women. It was therapeutic both physically and emotionally. As with many artistic outputs of the times, men dominated the scene and the female pioneers were dismissed or not acknowledged at all.

It’s better late than never to watch this tribute to the female visionaries and tastemakers who changed the electronic music scene.

‘Sisters With Transistors’ is awaiting distribution.

 

What I Learned From Watching Wuhan’s Response To Fighting COVID By How They Treat Their Elderly: Thoughts on 76 Days

A new documentary, 76 Days, captures the heart-pounding and heartbreaking moments inside the walls of Wuhan’s hospitals during their nation’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak (the film’s title accounts for the number of days when Wuhan first began lockdown in January to when the country re-opened seventy-six days later).

76 Days is mostly devoid of a formal narrative, instead, it follows the many different moments that happen within the two hospitals during this chaotic time. From seeing the respiratory health scares, the medical team’s exhausted states, and the inevitable deaths that begin to rise, 76 Days captures the full spectrum of how the devastating virus actually cripples a country.

What makes 76 Days so impactful is that there are no politics or punditry injected into the film, instead, only choosing to show incredibly-captured footage of Wuhan’s medical teams working at breakneck speeds on the frontlines to treat at-risk patients and contain the virus.

Director Hao Wu, along with Weixi Chen and director left as “Anonymous,” captures the relationships and heartfelt moments between the medical team and their patients, showing the best in humanity and what we’re all collectively fighting for.

‘76 Days’ is being distributed by MTV Films and a release date is TBD.