“DAMN!”
dir. Aaron Fisher-Cohen. 72 min.
Teaser
Of all the viral phenomena in recent memory — spaghetti cat, “Chocolate Rain,” “don’t tase me, bro!” — Jimmy McMillan seems perhaps most likely to enjoy some sort of lasting fame. Because, for one, the former New York gubernatorial candidate with the Rent is 2 Damn High Party is memorably odd. His facial hair calls to mind Santa Claus, a carnival barker and chin Afros. He seems to always wear gloves. And his resume — Vietnam veteran, black belt Karate master, private investigator, former stripper and ’70s soul singer — suggests that he’s a blaxploitation super hero come to life. But what truly sets him apart from all those other oddities we pass around on YouTube is his message. Sure, it’s delivered staccato with all sorts of funny flourishes, but we remember McMillan because he speaks the truth: The rent is too damn high. Fisher-Cohen’s film, which makes its debut at the LRFF, follows McMillan from his rise to fame to the media fixation that followed. Both he and McMillan will be on hand at the festival.
4:30 p.m. Sat., Clinton School
3:50 p.m. Sun., Riverdale