docuclub

talk back

Talk Back # 4 - Partly Private

Last night’s screening of Danae Elon’s rough cut of Partly Private was a resounding success! Playing to a packed room, the film’s humor and complexity amounted to a crowd-pleaser. Milton Tabbot, Senior Director of Programming at IFP, was our expert moderator.

The documentary, which is structured around Elon’s two pregnancies and explores the question of whether or not the babies will be circumcised, was well received by an enthusiastic audience. It was important for the filmmaker to see how the humor in the piece would play out in front of an audience. Would people laugh? If so, where? The feedback was pointed and effective. She also wanted to know where were the “speed bumps” in the narrative—what is clear and where does it get confusing?

Also important was to hear audience members tell Elon that they, too, went along on her personal and cultural journeys. Her first-person narration was strong and distinctive and it was the connecting thread throughout the piece. 

Interestingly, when Elon first approached DocuClub for a screening, she pitched Partly Private as a “romantic comedy.” My interest was piqued by this description, unusual for a documentary. Also, it is a category I had only seen applied to formulaic mediocre Hollywood movies aimed at a female demographic. Still, the big studios should take a cue from Elon’s documentary to see how to portray a contemporary relationship between adults who struggle with decisions that will affect their children. That they relate to each other in a respectful and loving way, even when disagreeing, is heartening.

I’d like to open the discussion. Please post your comments here.

No Comments | | Posted on July 11, 2008

Comments