Local Filmmakers Are Playing it Too Safe

Take a moment to think of the most visually stimulating film you've seen recently. Now imagine some of the worst images displayed in the most beautiful way.

Confused?

Upper Marlboro resident Chris Farmer is at it again, and let's just say his vivid imagination takes some getting used to. He told me recently that I should watch "A Serbian Film," which is so stimulating that I couldn't turn away, but I wanted to close my eyes and make the film stop. The film crossed every line possible: it was gut-wrenching and sadistic, yet visually magnificent.

As a filmmaker, will you have limits or will you cross the line every chance you get? Will you make it your business to direct without limitations? The cinematic boundaries are being pushed daily, so what type of filmmaker will you be?

For that matter, what boundaries are being pushed in Prince George's County? I’m not saying filmmakers should try to make the audience uncomfortable. Still, filmmakers must decide what their limitations will be. In today's world, it takes a lot more to gross out the audience and the story might demand more aggressive visuals.

I've researched the works of local filmmakers and have yet to see a film as fearless as "A Serbian Film." Those of us raised in the D.C. region saw gruesome things every day on the news, especially during the early- to mid-80s. Therefore, it's okay for us to push the limits in filmmaking. We owe it to ourselves to be groundbreaking, to make stories that are not “boxed in." Try making a film without limits, then tell me how you feel.

Rejuvenated?