2010 Films

Thirty-four documentaries comprise the 2010 Salem Film Fest, presented at CinemaSalem in Salem, Massachusetts, making it the largest documentary festival in New England. Unheard of at most festivals, over one-third of the filmmakers will be attending and dialoging before and after their films, making for a truly unique and powerful cinematic experience. Browse through the film descriptions below to find films to match your passions or open up new windows on the world.

There are two venues for most screenings, the MAIN THEATER (capacity 160), and the SCREENING ROOM (capacity 20). There is also a special showing of Building 173 at the nearby Peabody Essex Museum (P.E.M.) in the Morse Auditorium.

indicates that the filmmaker will be attending

indicates that the film is a premiere

All in this Tea

70 min - China, USA

Directed by Les Blank, Gina Leibrecht

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Sun, Feb 28- 6:00 pm

In Les Blank’s most recent work, the first shot on video, world-renowned American tea importer David Lee Hoffman journeys to remote regions of China in search of the finest handmade teas in the world. [MORE]

Automorphosis

77 min - USA

Directed/Produced by Harrod Blank

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Sun, Feb 28- 1:40 pm

What if you could morph your car into a mobile work of art, and drive it down the road for all to see? [MORE]

The Blues According To Lightnin' Hopkins

31 min - USA

Directed/Produced by Les Blank

SCREENING ROOM

[+ticket] [+cal] Fri, Feb 26- 4:30 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Sat, Feb 27- 7:10 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Sun, Feb 28- 4:00 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Mon, Mar 1- 6:30 pm

The great Texas bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins is captured brilliantly by Les Blank in this deeply moving 1969 film which reveals Lightnin's inspiration and features a generous helping of classic blues. [MORE]

Broke

77 min - Canada

Directed/Produced by Rosie Dransfeld

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Sun, Feb 28- 3:50 pm

For the down-and-out residents of Edmonton's grim and unforgiving inner city, pawnbroker David Woolfson is a banker of last resort. [MORE]

Buddha's Lost Children Revisited

90 min - Thailand via Netherlands

Directed by Mark Verkerk

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Wed, Mar 3- 7:45 pm

A chance to revisit the characters from the 2008 SFF Audience Award winner BUDDHA'S LOST CHILDREN. [MORE]

Building 173*

52 min - China

Directed by Charlotte Mikkelborg, Petter Eldin

P.E.M.

[+ticket] [+cal] Sun, Feb 28- 2:00 pm

A building is a volume of human history, holding within its pages the stories and secrets of generations. [MORE]

Burden of Dreams

94 min - Amazon

Directed/Produced by Les Blank

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Sat, Feb 27- 1:10 pm

For nearly five years, German filmmaker Werner Herzog desperately tried to complete one of his most ambitious and difficult films, FITZCARRALDO, the story of one man's attempt to build an opera house in the Amazon jungle. [MORE]

The Cove

92 min - Japan

Directed by Louis Psihovos

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Mon, Mar 1- 7:30 pm

In the 1960s, Ric O'Barry trained dolphins for the television series "Flipper." [MORE]

The End of the Line

82 min - N/A

Directed by Robert Murray

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Mon, Mar 1- 5:00 pm

This inconvenient truth about the devastating effect of over fishing on the world's ecosystems challenges us to imagine a world without fish… period. [MORE]

Enjoy Poverty

90 min - Congo via Netherlands

Directed by Renzo Martens

SCREENING ROOM

[+ticket] [+cal] Fri, Feb 26- 6:45 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Sat, Feb 27- 11:30 am

[+ticket] [+cal] Wed, Mar 3- 5:00 pm

An investigation into the emotional and economic value of Africa's most lucrative export: filmed poverty. [MORE]

Footsteps In Africa

67 min - Mali

Directed by Kathi von Koerber

SCREENING ROOM

[+ticket] [+cal] Sat, Feb 27- 5:45 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Tue, Mar 2- 6:45 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Thu, Mar 4- 5:00 pm

An exciting visual narrative accompanied by a diverse musical score. [MORE]

Garlic Is As Good As 10 Mothers

51 min - USA

Directed/Produced by Les Blank

SCREENING ROOM

[+ticket] [+cal] Fri, Feb 26- 4:30 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Sat, Feb 27- 7:10 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Sun, Feb 28- 4:00 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Mon, Mar 1- 6:30 pm

Les Blank's lip-smacking foray into the history, consumption, cultivation and culinary/curative powers of the stinking rose. [MORE]

Girls Rock

90 min - USA

Directed by Arne Johnson, Shane King

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Sat, Feb 27- 10:00 am

At Rock 'n' Roll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it's OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that "it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are." [MORE]

Good Fortune

70 min - Kenya

Directed/Produced by Jeremy Levine, Landon Van Soest

MAIN THEATER

[+ticket] [+cal] Sat, Feb 27- 4:15 pm

GOOD FORTUNE explores how international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the communities they aim to benefit. [MORE]

Himalaya Alert

58 min - Nepal via Netherlands

Directed by Mark Verkerk

SCREENING ROOM

[+ticket] [+cal] Sun, Feb 28- 6:15 pm

[+ticket] [+cal] Wed, Mar 3- 6:45 pm

For the past three years, the Dutch journalist Bernice Notenboom has focused on reporting from the world’s climate change hot spots — the Arctic and Antarctic — as well as getting climate change discussed in schools. [MORE]