LOS WILD ONES (Elise Salomon). 77 minutes. Screens Wednesday (October 16), 7 pm, at the Royal Cinema (608 College) as part of the Reel Indie Film Festival (October 16 to 20). For venues and times, see listings. Rating: NNN
Indie musicians get the Royal treatment next weekend thanks to the inaugural Reel Indie Film Festival (RiFF). The cinematic extension of Indie Week, RiFF presents intersecting work by DIY musicians and filmmakers at the Royal Cinema.
Feature docs include Walking Proof, about local singer Marcio Novelli’s attempt to record his debut album in 17 days, and closing-night film Bayou Maharajah, a profile of legendary New Orleans blues pianist, junkie and homosexual James Booker.
RiFF gets off to a promising start with opening-night selection Los Wild Ones, which looks at DIY label Wild Records, its patriarchal owner, Reb Kennedy, and his familial talent roster, which is predominantly made up of young Mexican kids who rock out to 50s music while working day jobs cutting hair or mowing lawns.
The outfit caters to the niche rockabilly scene, where anachronistic partygoers dress up like Elvis or Janis Martin and jam to rock ‘n’ roll and bluegrass. While Kennedy doesn’t have a huge audience to work with, the man’s own stubborn refusal of the iTunes way of life guarantees that his musicians will have to mow a lot more lawns to get by.
Director Elise Salomon’s warts-and-all presentation doesn’t shy away from the in-fighting and shit-talking that go on between these collaborators. Her film is a tad shapeless, but it takes a sincere look at the tense, intimate relationships that keep such minor labels rolling.
Los Wild Ones is preceded by Kat Candler’s Black Metal, a beautifully shot, affecting short about a Marilyn Manson-like performer who leaves his Antichrist persona onstage to be a sensitive dad at home but finds the two worlds colliding when a real-life murder seems inspired by his music.
Black Metal knocks you down before Los Wild Ones picks you back up.
