LAFF 2015: MISSING PEOPLE

A scene from Missing People.

Murder and memory

By Miranda Inganni

After Martina Batan’s brother, Jeffrey, was stabbed to death at the age of 14 in 1978, she stopped trying to sleep.  

Thirty or so years later, director David Sharpiro focuses on Martina and her obsession with a relatively unknown artist and her need to delve back into her brother’s unsolved murder in his moving documentary, Missing People.

Martina tries not to sleep for fear of nightmares, suppressing the trauma of losing her youngest sibling. Once an outgoing, upbeat, if off-beat, vibrant young woman, she now distracts herself with building a large Lego cube and caring for her dogs. She is also obsessed with the works of Roy Ferdinand, a prolific artist with no formal training. Ferdinand drew what he saw in the poor African-American neighborhoods of New Orleans, especially a lot of violence.

Having died from cancer in 2008, Martina wants to curate a collection of his work and donate it to an American institution, bringing him the attention she believes he deserves. Before she can do that, however, she wants to learn as much as she can about Ferdinand and find more of his art.

Martina meets Ferdinand’s sisters. While seemingly from very disparate backgrounds,  the three women find commonality in familial sorrow and loss. Whatever hesitations and mistrust may have been present, eventually vanish as the three continue to talk about their relationship to Ferdinand, plus her brother.

Perhaps due to this new found friendship, Martina is spurred on to hire a private investigator to look into her brother’s murder. Despite the fact that the original detectives are dead, PI Conor McCourt uncovers some new and disturbing information. These new discoveries prove to be too much for Martina to handle.

Shapiro and his crew intertwine Martina’s narrative with old footage of Ferdinand and his sisters’ stories of the various personas he invented, as well as commentary from some of Martina’s friends and coworkers. Martina’s quiet hurt, confusion and profound sorrow is presented without judgement and backed with a score -- featuring several new songs from different composers -- that is thoughtful and respectful. (And the soundtrack includes Wire's "Strange" and Buzzcocks' "Why Can't I Touch It?"!)

 

 

Missing People screens at LAFF: June 12, 8:45 p.m.; June 14, 8:55 p.m. For more information: Missing.