SLIFF 2012 Documentaries

Have you ever imagined a place where Vulcans and vampires get along and wizards and Wookies can be themselves? Welcome to Comic-Con San Diego. What started as a fringe comic-book convention for 500 fans has grown into the pop-culture event of the year, a gathering that influences every form of entertainment and draws more than 140,000 fans. Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me,” “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”) explores this cultural phenomenon by following the lives of six attendees – two hopeful artists, a comic-book dealer, a costume/creature designer, and a fanboy/girl couple – as they descend on the ultimate geek mecca. The film features one-on-one interviews with Comic-Con veterans who have turned their passions into professions, including Stan Lee, Joss Whedon, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Matt Groening, Seth Rogen, and Eli Roth. SLIFF also features Spurlock’s “Mansome” (see Documentary Features).

More than 100 residents died, thousands of lives changed, and one indispensable community newspaper endured. “Deadline in Disaster” chronicles how the Joplin Globe helped its town find hope in the aftermath of the EF-5 tornado that nearly destroyed Joplin, Mo., on May 22, 2011. The tornado took the life of the Globe’s page designer, and one-third of the staff members lost their homes. Much like the hard-rock miners who settled Joplin, the workers at the Globe faced long hours and difficult working conditions as they uncovered stories from the disaster. Still, the Globe rolled the presses on the night of the storm and refused to miss a beat in the many difficult days that followed. In the film, reporters examine their roles as community watchdog and residents reflect on how their newspaper served as a vital source for mourning their losses and moving forward.

One of nine documentary nominees for the 2012 Student Academy Award, “Dignity Harbor” chronicles a group of homeless people living in an encampment along the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis. In the shadow of the Arch, several makeshift communities – Hopeville, Sparta, and Dignity Harbor – are erected when work begins to fill the tunnels under Tucker Boulevard, displacing many homeless. In Dignity Harbor, the self-appointed mayor promises a safe environment – women are especially to be welcomed – and the residents work cooperatively to cut wood and build rudimentary shelters. But conflicts inevitably arise, tempers occasionally flare, and everyone struggles to survive the harsh St. Louis winter. Although the utopian dream finally dies for good when the city bulldozes the shantytowns, not all is lost, with several of the residents moving to more permanent housing.

“Elemental” follows three outsiders who are obsessed by nature and driven by a deep desire to change the status quo. Rajendra Singh, an Indian government official gone rogue, mounts a national crusade to save the Ganges River. Activist Eriel Deranger leads a David-vs.-Goliath fight against the oil giants who are destroying her homeland in the Canadian Tar Sands. And Australian inventor Jay Harman is attempting to halve the world’s energy consumption by mimicking natural systems. Although separated by continents, each character is part of a global story about water and climate change – like the natural world, their work is interconnected. Going beyond the issues to reveal the public triumphs and emotional scars of life on the front line, “Elementals” tells an inspiring story of unsung environmental heroes.