Art Smitten: Reviews - 2017

Shining a spotlight on American independent cinema The American Essentials Film Festival, now in its second year, features a range of independent works produced over the last year and timeless American Masterpieces. The Artistic Director, Richard Sowada created a program that captured the essence of American culture. The program features G-Funk, Annie Hall and feature documentaries such as The Bomb that Sowada noted “is an interesting piece… particularly at a time like now”. David Lynch: The Art Life is one of the featured works inthe festival. It uses Lynch’s artworks, archives and stories from his past to get a deeper view of his work. Within the film, he speaks of his adolescences, his search for meaning and his push to create impactful works. It is impossible to see David Lynch as dull, but Jon Nguyen's documentary about him comprises mostly of montages of the director's paintings interspersed with dramatic music that were a distraction more than anything. Some music felt car