Silent film shows city at its fictional worst

RICHMOND: Berkeley native's work, which features corruption, conspiracy and pollution, will be screened today

By John Geluardi

CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Contra Costa Times

Filmmaker Thalia Drori tonight will show her Richmond-based dark comedy that tells the fictional story of a corrupt mayor who conspires with a chemical company to defeat a socially conscious rival.

The feature-length silent film, "Toxic Energy, Little Miss Potentiality Returns," is about an aspiring novelist and novice private detective who discovers that fictional Richmond Mayor Jimmy Whelms is conspiring with the evil, also fictional, Richmond Chemical Co. to develop a drug that creates an irresistible urge to dance in the nude.

The main character, Miss Potentiality, played by Drori, joins forces with a sensual masseuse and a lobotomized journalist to foil a plot to embarrass the mayor's political rival, a popular crusader for social and environmental justice.

Drori said she is surprised when people focus on the film's political content.

"I don't want people to think the film is politically heavy-handed," she said Tuesday. "It's really a dark comedy/revenge fantasy."

The film is shot in black and white, and the deadpan Miss Potentiality character was inspired by silent-era star Buster Keaton, one of Drori's favorite actors. Making the film was a labor of love that took her six years to complete. Some exteriors are shot in Richmond, though almost all interiors are shot in Minnesota, where Drori lives.

Drori, who was raised in Berkeley, always thought Richmond's real-life cross section of poverty, pollution and corruption would make a compelling story.

"When I was growing up in Berkeley, Richmond was just a no man's land you passed through to get to Marin," she said. "But then there was a major toxic accident, and it woke me up to what was going on here."

Drori is referring to a 1993 General Chemical accident in which an overheating tank car released 4 to 8 tons of sulfuric trioxide, which formed a large toxic acid cloud that wafted over several impoverished neighborhoods. The cloud caused 22,000 people to seek medical attention at local hospitals, and 22 stayed in the hospital overnight.

Although the plot and characters in "Toxic Energy" are fictional, Drori loosely based the film's background on actual events in Richmond during the past 20 years, including the acid cloud accident, a 1992 FBI corruption investigation and financial mismanagement that caused 300 city employees to lose their jobs in 2004.

In fact, she has to be careful when describing the film to people who are familiar with the real Richmond's reputation.

"I have to remember to emphasize that the story is fictional because if I don't, people think it's a documentary," Drori said.

Reach John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or jgeluardi@cctimes.com.

if you go

·  WHAT: Screening of "Toxic Energy, Little Miss Potentiality Returns"; contains some nudity and adult content

·  WHEN: 7 p.m. today

·  WHERE: Madeline F Whittlesey Community Room, 325 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond

·  COST: Free

·  ONLINE: http://www.thaliadrori.com

·  MORE INFORMATION: 612-385-5752