By Josef Arbiv
“Criminally underappreciated, underrated, and undervalued.” That’s how co-director, Gavin Bond, describes Todd Rundgren, the Todd in the aptly titled Todd Who?. Brought to the screen by Bond and co-director, Ian Abercromby, the film looks at the trailblazing career of the singer, songwriter, and record producer, examining his array of contributions within the music industry, and the reasons behind his shocking lack of notoriety. Fans of Searching For Sugar Man will be right at home.
Todd Who? is one of the many intriguing films set to be screened this July at The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, and it’s perhaps fitting that it is concerned with rectifying a disservice – something that the festival is attempting to do with the documentary form of filmmaking. The three-day event aims to acknowledge the unique capacities of the art form while offering the platform to discover and promote the best in independent Australian and international documentaries.
It’s important to note, however, that Bond does not claim that his film is the definitive encapsulation of the pioneering rocker’s life. “It doesn’t pretend to be an authorised, conventional, or episodic account of Todd Rundgren,” explains the director. Instead, Bond sees the film as much more intimate and personal, a fan generated (and self-funded) tribute, with a uniquely Australian perspective – the film features a number of Aussie musicians and industry figures including Molly Meldrum and Daryl Braithwaite. “Rundgren’s anonymity in this country, and my resultant frustration and geographical isolation in Western Australia play a big part in the narrative.” Indeed, the individual touch is key. Much like Michael Moore’s asides in Roger And Me, Bond’s comedic and self-deprecating narration instills Todd Who? with a distinctly personal sensation.
Rather than stretch for the supposed “gold-standard” of the feature-length doco, a mark often sought after based on pressure to find audiences and meet broadcast standards, Todd Who? happily situates itself in the short-form documentary crowd – a perhaps even more disenchanted group than the genre at large. “Our original longer version was overly indulgent and hampered the film’s pacing,” Bond says. Perhaps a limiting factor elsewhere, its short-form status is something that The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival festival champions.
Such is the case for another of this year’s entries, Spoke. Directed by Em Baker, Spoke follows Baker, and a number of her companions, as they cycle across the United States, from San Francisco to Florida, interviewing crash victims, urban planners, activists, and law enforcement. But as we’re quickly told, a journey such as this is far from a leisurely Sunday bicycle ride around your local park. The opening credits detail that the US is, in fact, the most hazardous country in the developed world for cyclists. “Big, fast-moving vehicles, rampant drink driving, and laws that make it difficult to prosecute drivers who hit cyclists are a recipe for disaster,” explains Baker. But such a reality does not deter her. Capturing the various trials and tribulations that befall the cyclists – from heat exhaustion, to flat tyres and coyotes – the film does so in a markedly raw style; a fact that was “both deliberate and pragmatic.” Rather than attempt to shy away from its low budget trappings, the film instead revels in them. “We wanted to feel young, hopeful and unpretentious. Also, despite dealing with some heavy content at points, we wanted it to feel fun, because it was fun!”
The film does indeed tackle serious and, at times, emotional subject matter in its efforts to raise awareness about the issues facing cyclists and cycling culture. Yet it is the documentary form’s unique potential that Baker sees as allowing this delicate balance to take place. “It’s a magical thing to have someone’s attention for a whole hour, and quite rare in this day and age. I wanted audiences to meet the people affected by these sorts of accidents rather than seeing them as numbers on a page. A lot of people have felt very moved by the film, even to tears, and I don’t think that would have been possible with a magazine article.”
With an overabundance of content available for consumption these days, the documentary can often struggle to find its place. Yet, perhaps events like The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival will go some way to giving the humble doco its rightful place as a key fixture in both entertainment and education.
The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival runs from July 9-11. For more information, head to the website. Tickets are available here.
