After stumbling on a listing for a film not by, but about John Pierson - the man who basically helped "discover" filmmakers like Spike Lee and Kevin Smith and rep their movies for distribution to wider audiences - I pressed "schedule recording" on my DVR. After a long day, I took it down for the night and pressed play, thinking I would at the very least, see what Pierson, a man I used to be unashamedly obsessed with after he worked on the frontlines of indie film discovery, was up to these days. I thought maybe even I would find out where the guy worked, lived, and where I might be able to get him to see some of my titles (what filmmaker wouldn't dream this up?)
I got a huge slap in the face within 5 minutes of the film. I was shocked to see Pierson at the time no longer even lived in this country, and that he had packed himself, his stuff, his wife Janet (now head of SXSW) and his kids up with him to Fiji of all places, to show free movies at a theatre he had just bought for the very same purpose. It took me a little while to get over that feeling, but it wouldn't take me long, because I would be even more surprised within the film's feature-length running time: i.e. the Pierson's house gets treated to break-ins from the very locals they came to help, kids that curse freely in front of and to their parents (the Pierson kids that is), and a daughter with a rather, lets say rumored "friendliness" around town.
What was even more fascinating to me was watching the Piersons (and the filmmaker) handle it all - with grace, ease, honesty and diplomacy. Still in all, it was nuts. Throwback Sundays this week not only highlights, but recommends, Reel Paradise.
Heres the trailer:
www.reelparadise.com
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