We’re ending our last installment of AFI FEST 2020 coverage (previous posts can be found here and here) on a high note. We had a front-row seat to the Elvis Mitchell moderated Q&A with director Sofia Coppola, who chatted about her creative process in her new film, On The Rocks. Apples, from first-time director Christos Nikou was my most anticipated film of the fest, and it didn’t disappoint one bit! And finally, we ended with Errol Morris’s highly anticipated documentary, My Psychedelic Love Story, which tells the story of the “High Priest of LSD,” Timothy Leary.

A Tribute to Sofia Coppola

“Hers is a voice distinctly her own,” says AFI’s Bob Gazzale as he introduces director Sofia Coppola before the 30-minute conversation and retrospective of her work in one of AFI FEST’s tribute series. A quick montage shows various clips from one of contemporary cinema’s most recognizable directors; The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, and more flash across the screen in Coppola’s aesthetically pleasing color palate.

Film critic and moderator Elvis Mitchell talks to Coppola about her process, including choosing the songs that have since become iconic film moments (Sleigh Bells’ “Crown on the Ground” in The Bling Ring, The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey” in Lost in Translation). Most of the conversation hovered around her newly released Apple TV+ father-daughter dramedy, On The Rocks. This lighthearted and introspective conversation was one of many highlights from the festival and can be watched in its entirety here.

Under the Influence of the High Priest of LSD: Thoughts on My Psychedelic Love Story.

The closing night film of AFI FEST fittingly went to Errol Morris’s documentary My Psychedelic Love Story, an oral history of sorts about Harvard psychologist and LSD’s most notorious proponent, Timothy Leary. If you were a progressive hippie in the 60s, you idolized this man. If you were Richard Nixon, you’d do whatever it takes to restrain him and his drug-encouraging tendencies. Leary, often referred to as the “High Priest of LSD,” inspired millions of young people to take the drug and was seen as the counterculture’s hero. However, Leary was captured by the FBI in the early 70s on a drug conviction and, in a strange turn of events, agreed to be a government informant to shorten his prison sentence.

Leary’s former partner in crime, Joanna Harcourt-Smith, is the film’s sole narrator, giving us a colorful depiction of her time living, loving, and tripping with Timothy Leary. She talks directly to Morris throughout the film, answering his pointed questions about the enigma that was Mr. Leary. Harcourt-Smith is an interesting person on her own; a Parisian socialite, she was a promiscuous psychedelic activist who can carry a story, however, at times it’s hard to keep the narrative straight. Perhaps those more familiar with Leary’s story will have an easier time remembering all the names, places, and events, as I, admittedly, started to zone out a bit. Disclaimer: I was watching this completely sober, probably against Leary’s wishes.

Following his previous successes Gates of Heaven and The Thin Blue Line, Errol Morris has another substantial cultural relic on his hands with My Psychedelic Love Story.

‘My Psychedelic Love Story’ is being distributed by Showtime Documentary Films and will be available to stream on Showtime later this year.

My Most Anticipated Film of AFI Was This Greek Weird Wave Dark Comedy, And It Didn’t Disappoint: Thoughts on Apples

One of my favorite film genres is Greek Weird Wave, so of course, I had to add Apples to my must-see list. Christos Nikou’s directorial debut is an enjoyably familiar yet excitingly unique story that slots perfectly into this niche canon, making it one of my favorites from this year’s festival. It’s darkly humorous; a dry and poignant study at how memories shape identity and what happens when we lose it all.

Our protagonist is Aris (Aris Servetalisamnesic), a middle-aged man who has been hit with amnesia. Amnesic spells have been spreading all across Greece, much like a pandemic, with those infected being sent to a hospital/rehab hybrid in order to either get claimed by family members or start over and rebuild a new identity. When days pass and no one comes to claim Aris, he enters the facility’s “Learning How to Live” program. This program, led by two scientists–one of whom bears a striking resemblance to Colin Farrell in The Killing of a Sacred Deer– puts Aris through various memory tests and challenges, like riding a bike and going to the movies, which he is instructed to photograph as proof of completion. Aris is determined to live a normal life again and undergoes the tasks with relative ease. He meets a woman (Sofia Georgovasili) in the same identification program as himself during one of his outings and there seems to be a spark, simultaneously Aris’s memory becomes slightly less hazy. But is this the result of his new relationship, or his heavy diet of apples?

Following in the footsteps of Greek auteurs like Yorgos Lanthimos and Athena Rahail Tsagkari, Christos Nikou’s sense of direction further propels the genre of “Weird Wave” forward. If you’re a fan of obscure comedy, 4:3 aspect ratios, and unconventional narratives that are far from mundane, then Apples is for you.

‘Apples’ is currently awaiting U.S. distribution.