25 NEW FACES FEST SCREENS WITHOUT  >>>

In The Weekly Volcano's recent "Super Best of Tacoma" issue, I named last year's 25 New Faces of Independent Film "Best New Film Fest," emphasis on new. At a time in which Hollywood has other buzzwords in its lexicon - prequel, sequel, reboot, adaptation - a collection of raw, original indies feels like cold water in a draught.

So with The Grand Cinema's event returning last Friday, I knew I had to catch at least some of this fresh crop of faces.

But what to see? Besides a mention in Filmmaker magazine, on which the concept of this festival is based, you won't find much critical response available on these movies. Luckily, some months ago I fell upon Charles Mudede's glowing review of a feature entitled Without, which played at The Grand Saturday evening - a perfect day to bask outdoors yes, but the theater's air-conditioned interior beckoned me.

And the promise, from one critic at least, that Without would prove worthwhile.

Writer/director/editor Mark Jackson, though based in Brooklyn, shot his entire film in a place we Northwest folk instantly recognize: Whidbey Island. Within a festival about faces, the first shot appropriately gives us a close-up of a pretty girl named Joslyn (actor Joslyn Jensen) staring somewhat sadly below frame. The cut to her profile reveals more of the surroundings - the interior of a ferry, steadily whisking its seemingly sole traveler to her destination.

The 19-year-old has come to the island to care for barely-there invalid Frank (Ron Carrier) while his family goes on vacation. With no reception on her precious iPhone, cut off from friends (especially her girlfriend), and her only companion unable to speak, the woman is literally an island.

Then strange thing happens. Joslyn's phone keeps moving from where she placed it the night before. And one morning she awakes nude, with no memory of undressing. At this point the plot reminded me a bit of The Shining - isolated caretaker experiencing disturbances that may or may not be just mental projections. Also like Kubrick's film, the sense of time loses concreteness through the way Jackson edits together his episodic plot. Joslyn's assignment lasts mere days, but it feels much longer.

Without stands out from even its indie ilk for a few reasons. The current DSLR camera craze has filmmakers in a mad scramble for ever-shallower depths of field, yet most use this only to isolate and focus on a single object or plane of vision within the frame. Not often does a unique eye like Jackson's (along with cinematographers Jessica Dimmock and Diego García) come along and ask us to pay attention to both the foreground and background. When it's not just a matter of necessity (blurring male genitalia to protect audience sensibilities, for instance) Jackson's "economical" technique says more in less shots.

And he doesn't stop there. He unabashedly plugs a Mac product into much of the story; As Joslyn's pocket-sized hold on the outside world, the iPhone functions less as product placement as time goes on and more as minor character. And as hinted earlier, the film doesn't shy from a surprising amount of nudity given its indie roots.

For this last reason I would call Without an "erotic mystery." (Apologies, Mr. Mudede, if I unconsciously purloined this phrase from your review.) The odd title itself suggests a lack of some sort, and Jackson keeps things moving and us wondering where Joslyn's inner journey will end.

And yet, despite everything all its strengths, I wouldn't recommend this film. The most frustrating mystery, the most elusive island in all of Without remains Joslyn herself. As the heroine, she should serve as our emotional anchor, but as her behavior turns more erratic and she exploits her sexuality in stranger ways, we lose our connection with her. She sheds it all but obscures her heart.

The 25 New Faces of Independent Film Festival continues until Thursday, Aug. 25, with more shorts and features to see, and an encore screening of Without at 4 p.m. on closing day.      

Today's 25 New Faces of Indie Film Festival Schedule

• Kinyarwanda with producer Darren Dean, 2:15 p.m.
  

• Collection of Short Films, 6 p.m., featuring The Company Man with filmmaker Rob Hauer, Detroit Unleaded with filmmaker Rola Nashef, Ai Weiwei and four short South by Southwest promos.
• The Color Wheel with actor and writer Carlen Altman, 8 p.m.

LINK: Rev. Adam McKinney's feature story on this year's 25 New Faces of Independent Film Festival