Oct 8
International Film Forum: THE SEVENTH FIRE
The Seventh Fire (Jack Pettibone Riccobono, 2015, US, 76 min.) – introduced by Fred Hagstrom; screening will be followed by a Skype interview with the director
“Set mostly in a hyper-desolate Native American reservation town in Minnesota, Jack Pettibone Riccobono’s The Seventh Fire centers on two sometimes reprehensible but extraordinarily vivid men. Rob Brown, whose tribal name is Two Thunderbirds, has spent many of his 37 years incarcerated and will soon head back to prison, leaving behind a pregnant girlfriend. Kevin Fineday Jr., approaching his 18th birthday, looks up to Rob and almost seems like his younger self: by all indications, he’s headed for a life of crime, prison and gang activity. […] Riccobono’s film is a powerful example of cinema’s ability to grant even the diciest of characters their full humanity. Described in a newspaper article or crime report, Rob and Kevin would inevitably be reduced to two-dimensional types, self-serving lowlifes who contribute nothing to society and are held in contempt even by some closest to them. While not excusing their behavior, The Seventh Fire lets us see both men as complex figures with recognizable feelings and a poignant sense of their own failings and aspirations.” (Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com)