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Papa Machete
Shorts: Character Study
Old Town Playhouse
Sun, Aug 2, 2015 12:00 PM
From national heroes to counterculture icons and all the eccentric personalities in between, this year’s documentary shorts program offers unique portraits from around the world. Despite using only a single camera setup, the brilliant “The Face of Ukraine” provides a cathartic examination of the effects of Ukraine’s recent conflict on the psyches of several young women and girls. In “Calls to Okies,” Ben Steinbauer (“Winnebago Man,” TCFF 2009) returns to the festival with a hilarious look at the legacy of an infamous underground prank caller. This year’s top doc award winner at Tribeca, the latest from TCFF alums Bryn Mooser and David Darg, looks at the Ebola epidemic in Liberia through the eyes of a courageous female body collector. And “Giovanni and the Water Ballet” is the charming story of a ten-year-old who wants to be the first boy to compete in the Dutch Synchronized Swimming Championships (and maybe flirt with girls in the pool while he’s at it).
Two hundred years ago, Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon's armies with the same tool used to work the land: the machete. Papa Machete introduces viewers to the esoteric martial art of machete fencing that evolved from this historic victory through the practice and life of 'Professor' Alfred Avril, a poor, aging farmer who is one of the art's few remaining masters. Teaching about the practical and spiritual value of the machete — which is both a weapon and a farmer’s key to survival — Avril provides a bridge between his country’s traditional past and its troubled present. The film documents his proud devotion to his heritage and his struggle to keep it alive in the face of bitter poverty.
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