Chesapeake Film Festival BLOG

Wonderful week of film watching!

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 05:21:00 +0000

From Margaret: On Friday, Bob and I saw Family Portrait in Black and White. This is about an eastern Ukrainian woman raising 23 foster children in an atmosphere of both love and way too much control. Sixteen of the children are the biracial offspring of visiting African students and Ukrainian mothers, who swayed by endemic racism, abandoned their babies. The footage on the children was spectacular showing a special trust of the filmmaker. During the Q&A, the filmmaker Julia Ivanova who lives in Canada said she is trying to show the film to as many people as possible to raise money for these children who live in meager conditions. Next was The Black Power Mixtape 1067-1975 made by a Swedish woman and presenting a treasure of 30 year old images from long ago taken by Swedish journalists. The scenes of those times take on a fresh global angle through the outsider perspective of the Swedish filmmaker. Next came Knuckle by Ian Palmer which was an unusual glimpse into an unusual custom of bare knuckle fist-fighting to solve conflicts. Really. Last film of the day was a midnight show of Martha Marcy May Marlene, a thriller starring Sarah Paulson who played in Swimmers (she's sweet and funny). The film was about a young woman who escapes from an abusive cult. Different. Scary in a good fun thriller way.

Watched Sing Your Song first thing this morning which was so great that I was wide awake every minute after only four hours sleep. Harry Belafonte! Wow... his lifetime of singing and activism..would be a perfect Chesapeake College film.. Belafonte's daughter Gina talked during the Q & A about creating some curriculum to go along for schools.

Later we watched live stream of Sundance Awards which you can all catch on the Sundance website. I was really happy to see Hell and Back Again win and also Brick Novak, those hilarious short films.. Ah... another great year for films.. Lucky us! CFF is going to have an interesting and fun slate once again...

"Daylight come and I want go home"

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:35:00 +0000

No, I'm not talking about our eagerness to leave, but rather an inspirational film that Margaret and I saw this morning about Harry Belafonte called "Sing Your Song." Produced by his youngest daughter Gina, this film depicts not only the musical development of this popular singer, but also the activism that has been part of his adult life from early on. From civil rights to famine in Africa to gang violence in LA to blacks in prison, Belafonte serves as a model to us all, leading us to ask, in the words of Ruby Dee, "What's my assignment?"

I believe that this film would work well in our festival, whether in association with the Frederick Douglass Honor Society, Chesapeake College, or even Mid-Shore high schools. I met with Miss Belafonte after the film and gave her my CFF business card, telling her to expect our request for a screener.

Filmmaker on the Shuttle

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:12:00 +0000

At Sundance super groovy conversations take place on the bus shuttles, in line waiting to get on the bus, and in lines waiting to get into the theatres. People are easy to talk to here and I'd go so far as to say even extra-friendly. I think it's because we're all on the same page. There's just this feeling that everywhere you turn, people are pretty much here for the same reason: they love films and like to talk about them! Early this afternoon, we hopped a shuttle after Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Bob gave CFF business card to producer) where in the theatre we spotted Jed Dietz talking to the director of the film Reagan. On the bus, a young man named Zef turned and extended his hand for a handshake, introduced himself and off we went on a typical fun film chat. What did we like so far? What was the best? Have you heard anything about this film or that film? Where are you from? And you? Turns out Zef lives in New York City, makes short films, and after exchanging cards promised to send us a screener. He's working on a few films right now and just finished a short called Remember to Remember about a boxer who suffers a head injury outside of the ring. Then, off we went in different directions. A Sundance moment!

Bob's Celebrity Watch

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:19:00 +0000

Celebrity watching, or rather, scanning the landscape for possible celebrities, is a favorite sideline here at Sundance. You can always see one or more during the Q&As after each film, but it is really exciting when you're just standing on the street and one passes right in front of you, which is what happened to me two days ago while waiting outside a venue for Margaret. Before my wandering eye should appear Melissa Leo, a cast member of the old "Homicide" television series, and star of "Frozen River" and more recently "The Fighter," for which she has been nominated as Best Supporting Actress. What made this sighting so special was that she looked directly at my CFF hat - there was no mistaking it. We definitely need to send her one.

Margaret's Day Four of Film Watching...

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:04:00 +0000

From Park City on a warm and clear day: Every day I say to myself "post on the blog..do it now.. " and time flies away from me. Reporting finally that I'm in Sundance heaven, happy as a true cinephile can possibly be. We just left writer/director Maryam Keshavarz's wonderful film, Circumstance, about two teenagers amidst the subculture of Tehran's underground scene. Original. Beautiful glimpse into a world unfamiliar to most Americans. Last night we saw The Mill and the Cross which is definitely one of the top most unusual films I've ever seen. The director is a painter and a poet and has taken Bruegel's 1564 epic masterpiece, "The Procession to Calvary" and brought the characters alive in a most amazing way. I've never seen anything like it. Actors Rutger Hauer and Sir Michael York as well as the direcor Lech Majewski were present in the theatre which was quite a thrill to just see them up close and listen to them talk. If I had to pick a favorite so far it's a toss up between short films Brick Novax Parts I and II which are simply hilarious. When I spoke to the young filmmaker Matt Peidmont to say how much we loved his shorts, I told him about CFF and Easton and he smiled the entire time we spoke. Excited to be so well received at Sundance, he said..when he was just playing around being silly. My other favorite is a film about a young female powerlifter from Texas titled Benavides Born. When I congratulated the filmmaker and introduced myself to the co-screenwriter Daniel Meisel after this film as scout for CFF, he thanked ME for working on a film festival. Sweet, huh? He said festivals are enjoyable but especially important because this is often the only place some filmmakers have an opportunity to reach an audience at all. Another sweet moment was listening to the puppeteer Kevin Clash (he is ELMO) talk about the film Being Elmo..and the experience of working on Sesame Street for 26 years! Would love to have this one in our community! (and that gorgeous fury red moster Elmo was even there too)... Also loved Catechism Cataclysm... We heard several filmmakers at Coffee Chats at the Filmmakers Lodge which is a special treat, one on Being Elmo and the other this morning on the film Reagan and the film Page One about the New York Times. Much to think about there on media topics.
When going from place to place on the shuttles, we see dozens of volunteers - I hear there are 1700, yes 1700 total. Can you imagine?
Now going to see another film about art - !Women Art Revolution..we have photos to show and post on return...more later...

Hell and Back Again ...

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:34:00 +0000

I had the privilege of seeing Danfung Dennis incredibly powerful, beautifully crafted documentary about Marines in Afghanistan last night. A photojournalist who has logged many months embedded with troops in Afghanistan, Dennis turned to the moving image for its impact and capacity to more fully document the war. The resulting film is extraordinary. By focusing on the efforts of a single platoon and the impact of a wound on Sergeant Nathan Harris life once back home, Dennis manages to shed light on the many, many issues of the Afghanistan War: goals and tactics, impact on Afghanis caught in the middle (Marines repeatedly ask village elders how they can help and are repeatedly asked to 'please leave'), as well as the cost to soldiers, specifically those killed and the challenges of recovery, the frustrations and demons that arise once Sergeant Harris returns home. Harris is a magnetic man with a great sense of humor and the depth of his commitment to the larger cause and his fellow Marines was striking, as were the marital and life strains he and his wife Ashley faced as his recovery faltered. A very powerful experience.

On a technical level Dennis innovative use of sound and the film's intercutting between battlefield and home front provide a visceral sense of the haunting, alienating experience of having been through something no one at home can fully appreciate.

I had the opportunity to speak with him afterward and am hopeful we can bring the film to CFF 2011. I had visions of screening the film as a closing event to honor those serving and spark a discussion of the many issues raised. Could we invite a group veterans from Walter Reed for the event?

Family Feud

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:32:00 +0000

Last night (at midnight no less) I saw the documentary "Knuckle" - a look inside the violent tradition of bare-knuckled boxing among the Travellers clans of Ireland. A royal family feud that has lasted more than 40 years still reigns supreme, prompting regular, brutal bouts between families, particularly the Quinn-McDonoughs and the Joyce's - most of whom are cousins ... and few seem to remember how the feud began. Brutal, but hard to look away.

HBO picked it up and plans to turn it into a TV series. Hopefully the doc itself will have a festival life.

Stay tuned!

"Like Crazy" Love ...

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:27:00 +0000

This is a shot of the Snowflake logo that Sundance poster and trailers are featuring this year. This was prior to the screening of "Like Crazy" - an emotional, sweet study of young love - very well-acted, great chemistry, nailed a lot of nuanced moments of the contours of a relationship. It had the audience in the palm of its hand ... a woman in the Q&A was still in tears fifteen minutes after the film ended ... reminds me again of how film can transport - whether to another place or to another time in your own life. I think everyone re-lived some aspect of a first love at the screening. Not surprisingly the film has sold to Paramount (for $4million), so it may be a difficult one to get for CFF ... but rest assured, we will try and you will have an opportunity to see it. Much will depend on the release date ...

Heavy Metal Monk ...

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:21:00 +0000

The poster of the film Abraxas, the story of a disenchanted Monk who wants to return to his hard rock roots. It was a funny and touching journey ... the story of a man struggling with demons, finding himself and finding balance in his faith.

Sundance Trek ...

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:16:00 +0000

Some of the scene at the Sundance Resort - made the trek yesterday to see the Norwegian film "Happy, Happy"

Photo of Morgan Freeman and Sundance Filmmaking Lab Artistic Director Gyula Gazdag ...
Some of the decor of the Owl Bar ... devoted to Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid ...

The road to Sundance ...

CFF hat in the snow ...

What to see?

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:15:00 +0000

What to see? What to see? The big ticket board in the main Box Office - finding tickets, sorting out and planning your screenings ... always a daunting task. The only thing I can imagine that would be more complex is actually laying out the schedule. Having done similar work in putting on CFF (on a vastly smaller scale) it's hard not to be amazed by the sheer magnitude of Sundance, the logistics, the organization and the many many volunteers involved. It makes you appreciative that you can just focus on getting tickets and seeing films ...

Arrival ...

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:32:00 +0000

Arrival - Winging in over the mountains and salt flats of Salt Lake City ...

Trek to Sundance Resort

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:43:00 +0000

Day Two offered reason to trek out to the Sundance Resort for a screening of an awkwardly funny Norwegian dysfunctional marital film - "Happy, Happy". A few pictures from the trek ... the road to Sundance, CFF hat in snow, and some of the decor of the "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" themed Owl Bar ... Had a call from CFF supporter Amy Haines (of Out of The Fire) with a must-see recommendation - Gun Hill Road. I'm off to see Knuckle tonight, If you feel like perusing the Sundance schedule and adding your two cents - jump in!

Sundance 2011 and CFF is here

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 06:55:00 +0000

The CFF team has landed! We took care of the car rental, the housing, the food and the ticket pickup, (the Steelers took care of my Jets) and I was off to my first film of the festival, Restless City - stunningly beautifully photographed first feature from photographer Andrew Dosunmu. New York as you've never seen it, a contemplative, meditative journey through rich images often accompanied by haunting accordion.

The hour is late, the bed beckons. More to come!

Mining Austin for CFF

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:07:00 +0000

Please accept my apologies for not blogging more often. I was running from screening to screening (and a few parties), so was not back at my base where the Internet was. I wish I was a better blogger. So sorry!

To catch you up, I did get a chance to see nine feature films and many shorts (only listed the two I liked below) in total out here. All really truly interesting in their own way. Our festival was promoted and many an idea for other films to bring to CFF was sprung with filmmakers. I will certainly write more analysis after digesting them all and reviewing with Doug and Tom what they saw at Sundance to try and complete a well-rounded offering, but Austin was a great place for making relationships that will last for us and finding unique films to show our town.

Cigarette Candy (short)—about soldier returning home from war with a burden to bear.

Kelp (short)—funny relationship comedy.

And Everything is Going Fine—the Spalding Gray story.

Helena from the Wedding—situational comedy ensemble piece.

Some Days Are Better—what is the meaning of life? X-generation funny.

A Different Path (doc)—unique discussion about urbanization and cars.

The Happy Poet—funny about success and morality. Possible?

Dance With the One—best drama for me. Two brothers try and make their way in life after being raised by hippies.

Tiny Furniture—mother/daughter/sister comedic drama also trying to find out who you are.

Lebanon, PA—every decision we make leads us a certain direction…sometimes home.

Barry Munday—comedy about a man who literally has to lose his “manhood” to learn to be a man. Has stars like Cybill Shepherd, Malcolm McDowell, Chloe Sevigny. If we can work it out with distributor, we could have this come to CFF. It was funny. My agent is their agent, but we must wait and see what distributor ends up on board.

Met or knew someone (thanks to great introductions from my Austin friends) so we can access these all pretty easily. Plus, six degrees from others…fingers crossed for good filmmakers to attend again.

Attended the Austin Chronicle Film Party (who sponsored the festival with others).

Attended the premier party for Dance With the One.

Have much follow-up with people met including some wonderful actors, writers, producers and others.
There are also a few films I missed but heard great things about that I will follow up with and get copies sent. I mean really, a couple of great looking films to chase down.

Also, heard that Ed Norton owns land (an island?) in our Easton area. True? His film Leaves of Grass was SXSW Friday night opening movie. Richard Dreyfuss also in it. He is also a fan of our area. Anyway, something for us to check into making a fundraiser event out of or something. He is an environmental activist and we could mix that into the fundraiser or something.

Will be at airport at 4 a.m. for my 5 p.m. departure. Thanks for the opportunity to represent CFF and bring back some gems. Great stuff all around!! And best of all was Amy’s House. (Thanks Amy and Pete!)

Goodnight.
Liza

And now from Austin...

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:58:00 +0000

Austin is great! Got in late on Saturday due to weather delays with flights, but got to get my badge, meet up with a few people who filled me in on films and what's "hot" so far. Then back to Amy Rich's home. Amy is an Easton High School buddy to add to the CFF connection!

Plotted my course for Sunday. Started with narrative shorts as they provide surprises and good panels with new talent. Liked one called Kelp.

I then met up with indie agent Deborah MacIntosh from William Morris Endeavor to see what might be possible for us to bring to CFF. They represent two great possibilities. First, Barry Munday and secondly Saturday Night, which has John Malkovich hosting a documentary about what it takes to make the Saturday Night Live show. Also funny and cool behind the scenes. So, she will stay in touch about those as well as send other ideas in case these films get caught up in distribution restrictions.

Then I met up with Suzanne Weinert, an indie writer/producer who used to run Julia Roberts company in NYC. Found out she is an advisory board member of SXSW. She had a film in SXSW last year that is a dark comedy that we could maybe showcase, though it will be in limited release by May. We spoke of others as she called people over to introduce me and hear of their films. It was great, plus, she was introducing the film And Everything Is Going to be Fine, the story of Spalding Gray directed by Steven Soderbergh. This film is not necessarily for CFF, but met good people to open more doors.

I then saw Helena From the Wedding, a narrative comedy but too much suburban whining and not clever enough. We'd seen these yuppies a million times. Finally off to bed and ready for Monday. Suzanne is taking me to the parties tonight, so hold onto your hats….

Liza

GOOD NEWS ALERT!

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:18:00 +0000

Chesapeake Film Festival Board member Liza Moore will be blogging from SXSW (South by Southwest) in Austin for the annual music and film festival. Liza's no slouch when it comes to films, screenplay and script analysis, story consulting, writing...and the list goes on.

She has connections, insight and energy. While she's in Texas, she'll be screening, scouting and spreading the word about CFF. We're delighted she's there. Stay tuned!

Sun is down, dance is done

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:39:00 +0000

The mental film blender of Sundance is now complete. We woke as if with a hangover, story lines and characters and moments all swirling together. Wolfed down the last of our groceries for breakfast, stuffed our things in the rental car, and staggered off to the airport. Fellow Sundance-goers could be seen snaking through the security lines, with a mildly lost look. It's all sort of reminiscent of the stagger through the parking lot after a major concert experience…what was that encore tune again?

Courage at the Close. My final day began with two of the highlight films of the festival for me. Freedom Riders and Restrepo, both of which detail people calling upon unimaginable courage - albeit at different times, for very different reasons.

We saw Freedom Riders, which I blogged about before, first thing in the morning, and followed that by Restrepo, a film about the deployment of a platoon of soldiers in the Korengal Valley, the most remote and dangerous place in Afghanistan. Vanity Fair contributors Sebastian Junger and Tim Heatherington each took five one-month trips there and spent the time living with and photographing these soldiers. The result is probably the most intimate document of either the Iraq or Afghanistan wars and the young soldiers fighting it. Truly remarkable and, thankfully, the film lets the soldiers speak for themselves and focuses only on their experience. Wider political and strategic questions are left for other discussions. The result is an invitation into a band of brothers and it's a truly remarkable experience. More on this film can be found here.

The Sundance Jury agreed as the film later won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary filmmaking. The complete results of the awards can be found here.

Thankfully Tom and I were able to see almost all of the award-winning films. Winter's Bones, which we both liked, won two awards. Well, plane is boarding, must go....

Doug

(The top shot is of Tom in the Salt Lake City airport doing his final compilation of film notes and ideas in preparation for our post-mortem CFF programming meeting on the flight home.)

A window into history

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:23:00 +0000

Tom and I saw Freedom Riders first thing this morning. Some incredible newly-found archival footage (courtesy of the FBI no less) marks this compelling film. A great window into the early days of the Kennedy administration as well as the civil rights movement. Includes some great interviews with the Freedom Riders themselves, the then governor of Alabama (John Patterson), and JFK Administration adviser John Seigenthaler.

Impressive as a window into history, but also as a testament to human courage in the face of almost certain violence. A keeper.

Doug

Down to the last dance

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 11:19:00 +0000

I can feel the festival simmering down. I will still have about five films on Saturday, but the energy of the town is bubbling down. Now that all of the films have been played at least twice, a lot of the deals have been done. So the dog and pony show of celebrities is pretty much over. But the one thing remaining is the awards.

Sundance is broken up into categories for international and domestic documentaries and features. There are also awards for shorts. So they leave these blank spots in the schedule that are audience favorites or juried winners. We have bought tickets for Saturday’s Juried Feature Award winner. We have no idea what the film is. We may have already seen it. I think we are both rooting for Winter Bone.

There are some favorites that we hope will win, but we also hope that it is a film we haven’t seen. This is just another example of the festival coming to an end.

I have had the best time this year. I have covered a lot of ground as far as sheer volume of screenings, but as importantly I have more than a dozen new contacts. I met so many interesting people this week. Directors, screenwriters, distributors, actors, and, of course, other film fans have all made this week fascinating. It is like a parallel world where ideas and the arts are king. I love it and feel very uplifted to be here. It is a real honor.

It is going to be great for CFF to have all these contacts. I will begin emailing all the films that I liked and start figuring out how to get in touch with the folks that I did not meet. The name of the game now is to get screener DVDs so I can have our programming committee get to work finding the best films for our community. If I have collected 10 business cards, Doug surely has double that number.

I saw a film that troubled me so deeply that I held my gut as I left the theater. It is called Shock Doctrine. It argues that the ideas of economist Milton Friedman have led to capitalism profiting off of disaster. Disaster comes in many guises--hurricanes, coup d’etats, and wars. The film purports that the leaders who rise out of these crisis moments are people like Donald Rumsfeld, Augusto Pinochet, Boris Yeltsin, Margaret Thatcher, the Russian oligarchs, and Paul Bremmer during the shock-and-awe period. It is a heady, compelling, and shocking film. If you want to know more, check it out here.

Sundance is just the start of a nine-month process that actually gets filmmakers and their films to come to our community. Even though I have another scintillating day ahead of me, I can feel the magic and mirth of Sundance coming down a notch. The race is coming to an end. We have been on fire. Entranced in the sorcery known as cinema.

Tom

Sundance: not just movies

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:53:00 +0000

Sundance also features lots of music--and theater, too. Here's a clip from Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the Sundance Music Café.

Doug

(You might want to turn your volume down a bit before the clip starts.)

Swimmers at Sundance (again)

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:02:00 +0000

Yesterday I stopped by the Sundance Filmmakers Lodge--a sort of quiet resting place for filmmakers to get coffee and check email--and lo and behold Swimmers was playing on the Sundance Channel. Strange.

Doug

(Note: Doug wrote and directed Swimmers, which was nominated for a Humanitas Prize at Sundance and nabbed a New American Cinema Award in 2005.)

Guerilla art strikes Sundance

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:41:00 +0000

Graffitti purportedly by well-known reclusive artist Banksy, who has a surprise film here called Exit Through The Gift Shop, appeared throughout Park City prior to the festival.

Apparently Park City police spray-painted over much of it, but this one was saved because the building's owner liked it.

The mystery of Banksy is explained a bit here.

Doug

One of my favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:37:00 +0000

This is Doug swapping cards with the director (left) Adriana Maggs and star, Tatiana Maslany, of Grown Up Movie Star.

This film is in my top three of the whole festival and I hope we can get it. A coming of age dramedy from Newfoundland.

Tom

Crazy film head

noreply@blogger.com (Chesapeake Film Festival) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:27:00 +0000

I love going to the movies. LOVE IT! So I have been taking in a few shows. Like five a day. I kid you not. Five freakin’ movies a day.

After a while you can’t tell what time of day it is anymore. I get so many thoughts swirling in my head and feelings gurgling in my belly that I start to speed up. Like no one will walk fast enough or talk fast enough to keep up with the great swirl. Just in the last two days, I have been to Pat Tillman’s funeral, the decimation of the Yanomami Indians by anthropologists, a Bromance called Douchebag, a Peruvian gay love story and a film about Jean Michel Basquiat. It is a total head spinner to try and digest this much culture. It is like putting your head inside a spinning dryer.

To keep it all straight, I keep a journal. It is small and black. I try to write in it after each screening. I write furiously so I don’t forget anything. It comes out in a stream-of-consciousness scrawl. With bullet points, plot points and character arcs. Everything is noted.

Tom