Columnists
Binging season
“Binging”—overdoing it and knowing you are doing so— has deservedly received a bad reputation when it comes to food and drink. However, binging on video—such as spending the weekend in your pajamas watching every episode of M*A*S*H ever produced—seems to be a socially acceptable form of self-indulgence. And with the winter we’ve had, who can blame anyone for staying put in the bunker.
I’m right in the middle of my own binging season. For the past couple of weeks (which happened to coincide with an enforced convalesence), I have been immersing myself in the winter Olympics. I have discovered it is possible to care, briefly but deeply, about whether Norway’s national pride could be restored as it sought to reclaim the 4x10k cross-country ski relay title. (It did win, which helped justify Norway’s $2 million annual expenditure on ski wax. And Norway’s national pride is not just restored: it’s overflowing, with the country topping the medal count).
I lived through the anguish with Tessa and Scott: would they win the ice dance competition even though they could only muster a perfect score? (I prefer dancing to skating: no matter how hard I try, I can’t tell the difference between the triple Axel and the double Lutz). I wondered why anyone would be crazy enough to go for these new sports like aerial half-pipe freestyle moguls—until I stopped and reflected that the old sports like ski jumping must have attracted thrill seekers in their time. I was baffled as to where the excitement comes from in the sledding competitions, in which first place seems to be separated from 10th place by mere hundredths of a second, a difference not discernable by the naked eye.
Now I have four clear days to detoxify from the Olympics and get ready for my next binge—the Belleville Downtown DocFest, now in its seventh year. I’ve been hooked on the festival since I started attending in year two. Over three days (Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon), seven screen locations, all within walking distance, will show more than 40 documentary films, some as short as just a few minutes, some weighing in at more than two hours. All told, you could spend more than a full 24 hours watching up to 14 different films.
You can’t possibly see everything. I will have to choose between Strad Style, a film about an Ohio backwoodsman who gets it in his head that he can craft a convincing Stradivarius violin reproduction; and Following the Ninth, a film about the impact Beethoven’s ninth symphony has had on social justice movements around the world. And I will have to pass up either Human Flow, a film about mass migration by the acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei; or Dawson City: Frozen Time, a film showing rare footage of the Gold Rush era.
But perusing the catalogue of screenings and mapping out your choices is part of the fun.You have to map out your schedule with a little bit of risk analysis and probability theory thrown in. Do I want to go and see David Lynch: The Art Life, at a 100-seat venue? I expect it will be a popular choice, so there is a risk I could join a lineup and not get in—unless I am prepared to cut out early from Big Time, a film about the architect of the World Trade Centre. Maybe I’d be smarter to see As The Crow Flies, by a local filmaker about elite flight school, at a 150-seat venue. And have I allowed myself enough time for washroom and nutrition breaks? Will I have to choose one or the other?
There’s a psychological preparation to do as well. Not every film can be an inspiring feel-good tale of a 13-year-old girl from Mongolia who becomes the regions first female eagle huntress. It’s far more likely that you’ll see a film that (a) shines the spotlight on a problem that has been identified but not fully addressed; (b) has an earnest interview with Noam Chomsky to give the topic the social justice seal of approval; (c) pins down the root cause of the problem as excessive corporate greed; and (d) tells me I am culpable unless I rise up and stop it. I can only muster so much outrage.
If I do reach my documentary binging limit, I have some replacement binges lined up. There’s the NCAA college basketball March Madness tournament. There are NHL and NBA playoffs starting in April and seemingly ending in November; and the 32-team World Cup of soccer in June and July, That should see me getting my binging kicks right through into the deep summer.
The Belleville Downtown DocFest starts on Friday at 12:30. Passes are $55 and are available at Books & Company in Picton or by contacting downtowndocfest. ca
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