One of my favourite Rialto Channel series is Double Exposure, a documentary series that plays two films over consecutive nights that focus on the same theme. Last week Double Exposure covered off the extreme sports genre, and this week street art takes center stage with two critically acclaimed documentaries Finding Vivian Maier and Banksy Does New York. Also throughout October, Rialto Selection kicks of a series of intelligent comedies including the endearing The F- Word, and British black comedy What We Did On Our Holidays. This Saturday however, an impressive cast bring humour and heart to the dramedy, A Long Way Down. 

One of my favourite Rialto Channel series is Double Exposure, a documentary series that plays two films over consecutive nights that focus on the same theme. Last week Double Exposure covered off the extreme sports genre, and this week street art takes center stage with two critically acclaimed documentaries Finding Vivian Maier and Banksy Does New York. Also throughout October, Rialto Selection kicks of a series of intelligent comedies including the endearing The F- Word, and British black comedy What We Did On Our Holidays. This Saturday however, an impressive cast bring humour and heart to the dramedy, A Long Way Down. 

Saturday 10^th October 8.30pm… A Long Way Down
Based on the novel by Nick Hornby, A Long Way Down tells the story of four lost souls who meet for the first time on top of a London building on New Year’s Eve, each with the intention of jumping off. Their plans are ruined by each other’s presence so they decide to make a pact – no one is to commit suicide until Valentines Day. Together this disgraced TV presenter (Pierce Brosnan) potty mouthed politician’s daughter (Imogen Poots), failed musician (Aaron Paul), and isolated single mother (Toni Collette) come together to form an informal support group. A Long Way Down doesn’t make the most of Sam Neil and Rosamund Pike in supporting roles, but it’s lead actors drive this black-ish comedy with their solid performances. A Long Way Down is an unusual affair as it switches between flippant and heartfelt at the drop of a hat, but it does offer a rather unusual takes on existential despair. 

Thursday 8^th October, 8.30pm … Finding Vivian Maier 
In 2007, Chicago author and historian John Maloof bought a box of undeveloped photo negatives from a local thrift auction house on Chicago’s Northwest Side. The photographs were the work of a woman called Vivian Maier; intrigued by the images he saw, Maloof began tracking down negatives, photos and other personal items of Maier’s. Before long he was the owner of about 100,000 slides and negatives of stunning images taken on the streets of New York and Chicago from the 1950s onwards. Aware he was in the possession of the work of an unknown genius, Maloof began the process of trying to work out who Vivian Maier was, a process documented in the BAFTA and Oscar nominated documentary Finding Vivian Maier. Co-director and producer Charlie Siskel (Bowling for Columbine) describes the documentary as like an archeological dig. The more they discovered about Vivian, the more they came to realise they weren’t making a film about a Nanny who took photographs, they were making a film about an artist first and foremost, and being a nanny was just a cover for her true identity. Vivian’s images, of which you see plenty in the film, are fantastic and it’s no surprise she is now posthumously regarded as one of the most important street artists of the 20th century. Her story though is complex, fascinating and full of surprises, and while Maloof and Siskel champion her as an artist, they leave the audience to make up their own mind about Vivian, the person.

Friday 9^th October, 8.30pm … Banksy Does New York
Fresh from the New Zealand International Film Festival, the documentary Banksy Does New York captures the madness that ensued during British graffiti artist Banksy’s 2013 month long residency in New York City. This was no ordinary residency, with Banksy’s art scavenger hunt Better Out Than In seeing him leave hints on his website each day about the whereabouts of a new work throughout October. For a month New Yorkers were obsessed with the anonymous artist, hunting down each piece with competitive vigor, and posting their efforts on line. This too, is no ordinary documentary thanks to  American filmmaker Chris Moukarbel’s reliance on crowd-sourced footage from the internet and social media through which he tells his story. As well, Moukarbel shot about a quarter of the film’s material himself, as interviews and fly on the wall footage, and together it creates an incredible sense of immediacy. Banksy Does New York is a well-balanced, thought-provoking and entertaining romp through this residency and is as much about the reaction to the work as the work itself. In this way, the film continues the debate Banksy stokes about the role of public art, something Moukarbel was happy to be a part of.