Above are screen grabs of Curtis Snow. One taken from my interview with him last night prior to the screening of his film, “Snow on tha Bluff,” and a screen grab of him from the film’s trailer. The full story of what happened at the festival last night will be carried by Paste Magazine and my interview will either be here or on Paste. But two questions are nagging me this morning: (1) How much of “Snow on tha Bluff” is real?; and (2) Is this the new face of the prestigious Atlanta Film Festival that I’ve covered for a decade?
Through the film’s website, I sent an email to the filmmaker, Damon Russell, asking for an interview and have not yet gotten a response. I want to give him the floor to try to clear the air, so to speak. Russell (“The Cage” in 2005), told me before the screening that the way they’ve been doing press is to let Curtis handle it. A little research online revealed that Russell has refused to comment too much on what is real and what is fake in the movie. He even went so far as to suggest in one interview that he can’t comment because of involvement by the police who have been looking at the film. Needless to say, the movie is getting some “Man Bites Dog” PR and after seeing only part of it, I can tell you that it put me on edge, especially in the environment at last night’s screening.
Concern developed as certain scenes involving drug use, manufacture, and packaging looked very real and were shot in the presence of an infant who was a little too close to the process. The ethical dilemma for Russell as a documentarian had to be difficult to resolve. Just what is okay to film, and what is appropriate to show in the movie? But the movie could be all fake, which might raise other questions as well. The workflow appears to have included footage shot by Snow and his buddies as he told me in my pre-screening interview. This might be where the line between reality and fiction became blurred.
After the screening, that was abruptly halted, Russell did not look happy and even had a bit of trouble in the parking lot with his stars. Tune into Paste’s website for the whole story.
