LAFF 2007, From A to Y

 GO AUGUST EVENING (USA) UCLA film school grad Chris Eska’s accomplished debut feature provides a welcome throwback to a time when American independent movies were something more than “calling cards” for their makers to leave at the doors of the Hollywood studios. There’s nothing flashy or sensational in Eska’s unhurried drama about an undocumented Texas farm worker (nonprofessional actor Pedro Castaneda) who takes to the road with his widowed daughter-in-law (newcomer Veronica Loren) after losing his wife and his job in rapid succession. Nor is there the patronizing “humanism” that can sometimes rear its ugly head when a filmmaker turns his attention to those less fortunate. Shot in Spanish, in and around San Antonio, August Evening occasionally seems rote in its conflicts and could benefit from a slightly shorter running time, but the powerful, lived-in performances and Eska’s keen understanding of the reciprocal disappointments between parents and children make for a deeply absorbing viewing experience. (Majestic Crest, Sun., June 24, 7 p.m.; The Landmark, Mon., June 25, 4:30 p.m.) (Scott Foundas)

 GO BAJO JUÁREZ, THE CITY DEVOURING ITS DAUGHTERS (Mexico) The Mexican city of Juárez has developed an unsettling mystery akin to the Bermuda Triangle. Over the last dozen years, hundreds of young women have vanished from its streets, most in broad daylight. When their bodies are recovered, they’ve been tortured, sexually assaulted and brutally murdered. Directors Alejandra Sánchez and José Antonio Cordero take their cameras to both sides of the border, interviewing law-enforcement officials, family members of the slain, and the young women who might themselves be the next victims of what is believed to be a sophisticated ring of powerful men . . . or possibly a band of violent, low-level drug dealers. The filmmakers broaden the dialogue to include the issues of immigration, poverty and exploitation that shroud the women’s lives. But it’s their use of home video of one young woman’s quinceañera to flesh out her life that turns a statistic into a human being and becomes the film’s real source of power. (Landmark Regent, Fri., June 22, 4:45 p.m., and Sat., June 23, 10:15 p.m.) (Ernest Hardy)

BILLY THE KID (USA) Equal parts empathic portraiture and naked exploitation, casting director Jennifer Venditti’s first documentary, which follows a troubled Maine teenager from home to school and back via his short-lived romance with a fellow student, drapes a wired mike over the poor boy and calls itself vérité. Nonetheless, Billy — smart, articulate and heartbreakingly lonely — is a fascinating example of a kid who, unable to protect his mother from an abusive husband, grows up with a massive knight complex and a little problem with anger management. So invested is Venditti in showing him to be akin to the rest of us that she skates blithely over the interesting news that, winsome or not, he likes to read about serial killers. (Landmark Regent, Sun., June 24, 7 p.m.; The Landmark, Thurs., June 28, 5 p.m.) (Ella Taylor)

BLAME IT ON FIDEL (France) A perfect movie for those who like their sentimentality hard-boiled and their politics all runny and soft, the first dramatic feature directed by Julie (daughter of Costa) Gavras stars the enchanting Nina Kervel-Bey as a precocious Parisian 9-year-old whose idyllic bourgeois childhood gets twisted inside-out when her parents turn Commie and start making surreptitious trips to Chile to aid in the Allende revolution. All seen through a child’s wide, disbelieving eyes, Blame It on Fidel can’t quite decide if it wants to lament the death of revolutionary ideals or to satirize the folly of a political movement that would accuse Mickey Mouse of being a fascist icon. Only this much is for sure: From the relentless close-ups on Kervel-Bey’s adorable mug to the bouncy strains of Armand Amar’s musical score, Gavras’ movie wants you to really, really, really like it. (Billy Wilder Theater, Wed., June 27, 5 p.m.; Landmark Regent, Thurs., June 28, 7:30 p.m.) (SF)

BUILD A SHIP, SAIL TO SADNESS (U.K.) A film one wants to love, but can’t, this deadpan comedy tracks the poignant, hapless efforts of Vincent (co-writer and musical composer Magnus Aronson), who drives about the hills and dales of the Scottish Highlands on his moped, trying to drum up support for his dream of creating a traveling disco-in-a-mobile-home. There are some marvelous scenes early on, as when Vincent goes caravan shopping, but writer-director Laurin Federlein undercuts the film’s momentum with long, repetitive takes of his quixotic hero riding through the empty countryside. Somewhere inside this 65-minute film is a terrific short. (Italian Cultural Institute, Sat., June 23, 10 p.m. and Tues., June 26, 4 p.m.) (Chuck Wilson)

 GO  CAT DANCERS (USA) In the 1950s and ’60s, Ron and Joy Holiday became world-renowned as acrobatic ballet dancers, eventually adding lions and tigers to their act. In 1988, they took on a young protégé named Chuck Lizza, who became a lover to both Ron and Joy. Documentarian Harris Fishman lets Ron tell the trio’s respective life stories, up to the series of tragedies that destroyed everything. Fishman is reliant on Ron’s viewpoint to a fault — not one friend or co-worker appears to testify to this 14-year love triangle. That makes for a film with a nuance-free focus, but a story that can’t quite be resisted. (Majestic Crest, Sat., June 23, 10 p.m., and Mon., June 25, 5 p.m.; The Landmark, Sun., July 1, 7:30 p.m.) (CW)