( CUT & WRAPPED )
NO DEPOSIT,
NO RETURN BLUES
KC BULL DOCUMENTS THE LIFE OF SANDY BULL,
HUNTER S THOMPSON’S FAVOURITE CULT MUSICIAN
On recess from her job as a primary school teacher in Oakland, California, KC Bull
has recently been touring with her illuminating documentary No Deposit, No Return
Blues, a sensitively assembled homage to her father, the pioneering psychedelic folk
musician, Sandy Bull. Active from 1950 until his death in 2001, Bull’s legendary
performances, blending elements of American folk with jazz, classical, Indian and
Arabic-influenced modes, and later rock’n’roll, made him a cult hero to a generation of
musicians and artists, many of who, including the likes of poet “clown activist” Wavy
Gravy and Nubian musician Hamza El Din, are seen here paying their respects.
Bull’s eclectic borrowings transcended conventional ideas of what an instrument
could, or indeed should, sound like – no one had ever thought of playing a scenic
cantata on a five-string banjo (Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”) before, much less a
bossa nova on an electric oud (Luis Bonfa’s “Manha De Carnaval”). And while the film
depicts his earlier career, zooming around with Hunter S Thompson, as maybe a little
regretful (despite a clutch of classic albums released on Vanguard, including Fantasias
For Guitar And Banjo and Inventions), it’s also clear that Bull’s peripheral position
offered him space to gestate and experiment.
Some of Bull’s individualistic spirit is perhaps owed to his eccentric mother (also
documented by KC and currently being screened as an introductory short to the main
feature), Daphne Hellman, a New Jersey banking heiress turned jazz harpist, later
seen busking in subways with cutlery-playing cohort “Mr Spoons”. Sadly, it may be
some time before legal complications blocking the film’s distribution are resolved. ”It’s
been challenging in terms of legalities,” KC explains. “I don’t have time to clear them
all. I hope someone takes it on, because a lot of people want to see it now, but my
main goal has always been to just keep sharing the story.” Melissa Osborne
sandybull.net
RAGE
SALLY POTTER’S TALE OF MURDER, POLITICS AND RIOTS
BACKSTAGE AT NEW YORK FASHION WEEK
With a manifesto entitled “Barefoot Filmmaking”, the British writer and director
Sally Potter set out to create Rage, a recession-era tragi-comedy using green screens
and one-on-one performances. The narrative is driven by backstage interviews at a
New York fashion show, the film’s “director” is a high school kid named Michelangelo
who hides behind his video phone, shooting intimate confessions from characters who
offer the stereotypical fare of fashion satire – the catwalk designer (Simon Abkarian),
models (Lily Cole and a transvestite Jude Law), photographer (Steve Buscemi),
financier (Eddie Izzard) and his bodyguard (John Leguizamo). As the film progresses,
the fashion show descends into a mess of murder and riots.
Dazed & Confused: Let’s talk about Barefoot Filmmaking...
Sally Potter: That’s where I started. No-budget filming, scrounging short ends from
Soho dustbins. Total hands on, genuine survivalist filmmaking. As your films get
bigger, you end up part of a big machine and as a director you have to learn how to
drive this juggernaut, but it’s very exciting to go back to basics. Shooting was vigorous.
Totally exposed, naked performance with no luxuries.
How was working with Lily Cole?
Lily was wonderful. This was before the Terry Gilliam film The Imaginarium of Doctor
Parnassus, so it was near the beginning of her acting trajectory. It was a wonderful
opportunity to work with somebody that is very at ease with the lens, but working with
a whole new character. She was so experienced but quaking in her boots about doing
something so exposing.
How do you think the fashion industry will react?
I don’t know. It’s not a rant against the fashion world. Although the setting of the
film is fashion, you never see it. That is the world in which this global disintegration
occurs, but there are tendrils going out into the recession, into marketing and branding
issues, age, workers and third world issues.
What is all the rage against?
The impotent rage against profit-driven exploitation. People find themselves in a frenzy
of desire for more... and it goes on and on. Whole generations are growing up in a
quiet state of rage. This summer is being called the “Summer Of Rage” by Climate
Camp activists. In its own modest way this film links in to all of that. Terence Teh
