The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist

This short student film by Mark Columbus was originally intended to present his father's painful battle as a musician. Instead, it gradually turns into a far more introspective work. As the filmmaker himself says, "How is it possible that this film that was supposed to be about one artist's struggle, suddenly becomes about two?" The film introduces us to Maxwell Columbus, the "Jimi Hendrix of the Fiji Islands."  But he is also a family man with a son in the United States - a son who is making this documentary about him, thanks to a grant from UCLA. In The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist, the style of the film is at least as important as the story being told. Appearing as subtitles throughout this short film, the director's inner monologue is a veritable torrent of thoughts that oscillate between narrative and apparently pointless details. However incoherent it may sometimes appear to be, it serves its purpose, because it quickly connects the viewer with the filmmaker on an intimate level. Seven minutes is all it takes to make the struggle between father and son palpable. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)