SF Docfest: 'May I Be Frank'

There is an avalanche of festival films in the Bay Area right now, what with the Mill Valley, the Docfest, Berlin and Beyond, the Arab Film Festival and French Cinema Now presenting back to back throughout the month of October, but one film you absolutely must not miss is local documentary May I Be Frank. It's a wonderful story, funny and profound, inspiring, even miraculous. It documents the transformation of middle-aged, overweight, prediabetic, depressed, somewhat drug- and alcohol-addicted Brooklyn transplant Frank Ferrante as he submits to a 42-day diet and holistic health regimen organized by servers at San Francisco raw-food temple Cafe Gratitude. We expect to see some pounds shed, some improved body function and perhaps even a little attitude adjustment, but Frank's transformation is far more radical than that. He takes everything on, the failed relationships, the anger, the myriad complex patterns that keep him locked into a life of drug abuse, lethargy, and disintegration. The film becomes ever deeper and more astonishing as layer upon layer of Frank's entrenched habits peel away. It is the most far-reaching detoxification experiment I have ever witnessed, enlightening in so many ways - we learn about the physical dimensions of negative thinking, the spiritual dimensions of nutritional well-being - and there can be no doubt after watching this film that the path to total physical health is a spiritual one. It is also a difficult and painful experience. As Frank himself remarks in his ongoing blog, "what started out as a film about raw food evolved into a film about drug and alcohol addiction, broken families, frayed relationships, intention, commitment, healing, redemption, and the power of love." This statement really says it all, except for one thing - Frank is a very funny guy, and his humor makes this journey of high colonics, mucoid plaque and wheatgrass shots a truly delightful one. On another level it is a west versus east coast story, pitting affirmation against refusal, but it's not really a battle because we root for Frank the whole way, in all his incarnations. Let's just say, you can't fail to notice the stereotypes at work and play - they make things funnier and more exciting. People all over are going to love this movie, but west coast and especially SF residents might, like me, feel vindicated as well. For Frank Ferrante and folks like him, as well as all the rest of us, the place to be is definitely here.

Plays 10/22 and 10/25 at The Roxie.