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Festival Fantastique

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Tis a sad day, for the Little Rock Film Festival is now a year away, and I didn’t get to see nearly as much of this year’s incarnation as I’d hoped. I did, however, get the honor of meeting and introducing Carol Dysinger, the filmmaker behind a wonderful documentary called Camp Victory: Afghanistan. From the website:

“Camp Victory, Afghanistan is a verité documentary that tells the story of several U.S. National Guardsmen stationed in Herat, Afghanistan and the Afghan officers assigned as their mentees. These Americans along with a band of Afghans have been given the enormous task of building the 207th Corps of the nascent Afghan National Army into an institution capable of providing security, stability, peace and justice to a tattered, volatile nation.”

Dysinger said in the Q&A following the Thursday showing that her goal was to bring back what she saw over there and show it to people – a good, clean honest look. In turns it’s funny, sad and scary. Above all, it’s poignant. And it’s definitely worth seeing. Dysinger said she’ll continue to make the festival rounds and plans to sell DVDs of the movie through the website later this year. Stay tuned.

In other festival news, my friend and colleague Jeff LeMaster had a chance to sit down and talk to some folks involved with a project they’re hoping to get off the ground called Arkansas Traveler. It’s too late to get to the teaser screening, but I’m fascinated by the plot and hope to see this film get made.

Lastly, I got the email below this week from the festival’s Levi Agee and wanted to pass it on. I recognize the short notice, and that’s my bad for not being quicker about an update. Story of my life.

Friends,

We’re doing auditions this Saturday for a Southern Comedy entitled “Cotton County Boys” that has a great script and a big heart. It’s kind of a throwback to old fun comedies. Just think Buttercream Gang meets Jackass. My friend and colleague Collin Buchanan is directing it, he’s won ton of awards for his docs and shorts in Conway and screened at Hot Springs and at a Filmmaking Professor Convention in Colorado recently. We shoot in July and August and are auditioning this Saturday. If you know anyone funny with a lot of time on their hands and can act and look like some good Southern folk please send them our way. Please put this on facebook, twitter, myspace, hollywood.com? Just get the word out because the film will be special like me. Here is the details on the film and the audition:

Southern Comedy Film – Open Casting Call
June 12th 2:00 – 6:00PM
The Public Theatre – Little Rock
616 Center Street Little Rock, AR 72201

Inquiries: email kwadfilms@gmail.com or call (479) 871-0801
This is a non-SAG shoot.

Title: COTTON COUNTY BOYS
Producer: Allison Hogue
Production Company: KWAD Films
Director: Collin Buchanan
Exec. Producers: Levi Agee, Collin Buchanan
Dir. of Photography: Jonathan Childs

SHOOTING DATES: mid to late July and August 2010
Paid meals, gas/transportation and film credit

GENRE: Southern comedy
SYNOPSIS: Three simple-minded brothers enter an “America’s Funniest Home Videos”-style game show in an attempt to win the money to save their mother’s house from foreclosure.

FEATURED ROLES:
- BOBBY (MALE, 20s) – Shy and soft-spoken, but warm and intelligent
- SAMUEL (MALE, 20s) – Dimwitted and somewhat irritable, mostly good-natured
- HATTIE (FEMALE, 20s) – Sweet and compassionate love interest of BOBBY
- BETTES (FEMALE, 40s or 50s) – Good Southern woman with a powerful presence, mother to BOBBY and SAMUEL
- MERLE (MALE, 60s) – A man of few words, deceptively wise, boyfriend of BETTES

EXTRAS
Other smaller roles and Extra parts available.

If you are unable to attend one of our auditions, email your photo, resume, and contact information to: kwadfilms@gmail.com

Tags: documentaries, documentary, film, Little Rock Film Festival, Market Street Cinema, movies
Posted in Little Rock Film Festival, Local films | No Comments »

A grave film

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Hop Litzwire in his home studio talking about his work as a musician and filmmaker. Photo by Spencer Jansen.

If you picked up last week’s issue, you may have seen that I had a chance to sit down with musician and filmmaker Hop Litzwire, a super nice guy who welcomed me into his awesome home office/studio to chat about his life and times. Those discussions included talk of his documentary Silent Storytellers, which is about the importance of preserving cemeteries. From the footage I saw, it looks absolutely beautiful. I plan to see the whole thing this weekend at the public premier:

What: Silent Storytellers
When: 6 p.m. Friday, March 5
Where: Clinton School of Public Service
Admission: Free*
*Reserve a seat by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling 501.683.5239

If you can’t make it Friday, tune into AETN for the broadcast premier at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11. Here’s an AETN interview Litzwire about the doc:

Tags: aetn, cemeteries, documentaries, documentary, film, Hop Litzwire, movies, premier
Posted in Events, Local films | No Comments »

Golden Oldies

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Just a quick heads up today about an interesting (free) event going on next week: AETN, along with Hendrix College, is hosting a showing of Young@Heart at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, at the Murphy Building on the Hendrix campus in Conway (corner of Washington Avenue and Winfield Street).

I remember seeing the trailer for this film some time ago, but I never caught it. It’s a documentary about the group, Young@Heart, which is a collection of senior citizen singers with an average age of 80 who sing popular rock songs from the Rolling Stones to Coldplay. The film, shot by Stephen Walker, follows the group over seven weeks in 2006 as they prepare for an “Alive and Well” concert in their hometown of Northampton, Mass.

As one coworker put it, how can you not want to see your grandmother singing “I Wanna Be Sedated”?

Also, there’s a giveaway for the DVD of the movie and free refreshments. Following the screening, a community discussion will be held with panelists from the Arkansas Department of Health Services Division of Aging and Adult Services and other senior services organizations. More details on the Hendrix website.

lol at 1:38

Tags: aetn, conway, documentaries, documentary, film, free, hendrix, movies
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See it Sunday (or before)

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Kick me

If you’ve picked up Sync this week, you’ve seen I had a chance to chat with Jason Gammel, a kickballer who, along with friend Kenny Reynolds, just finished a documentary called “See ya Sunday” about the Little Rock Kickball Association and his team’s first season as a part of it.
(The film premiers this weekend at Market Street Cinema; see the article or the LRKA website for details on show times.)
Toward the end of that conversation, I asked if I could check out the movie early for this blog, and while Gammel didn’t have a DVD screener handy, he did invite me to his North Little Rock studio to watch the final cut of the film on his computer, an offer I gladly accepted. I figured it would be like watching one of those special edition DVDs with directors’ commentary, only in this case they’d actually be in the room.
Well, it didn’t turn out quite like that. In fact, nobody said a word until after the film was over. But it was a great time nonetheless, and I count myself privileged to be the first person other than the filmmakers to see the finished work.
And about that work: If you’re one to think of documentaries as super serious endeavors that have to either deal with topics of the utmost stuffiness or be narrated by a man whose voice put you to sleep back in high school history class, well then think again.
This film is funny.
Sometimes the comedy is simply in enjoying the outrageous images on screen: a remote controlled car delivering drinks to players on the field or a player dressed as Jesus (with jersey on over his robe).
Other times, it’s thanks to the directors’ clever mix of interview and image, as when you hear a person saying a newcomer who knows nothing about LRKA could get the wrong impression as you see a man lifting up his shirt to bare a hairy chest and rub his nipples.
Then there’s footage of Gammel, himself, completely whiffing on a ball he’s promised to kick the you-know-what out of instead of bunt. That one almost got cut, he tells me afterward.
It’s not the only footage of Gammel in the movie, though, as he is a frequent interview subject throughout. Indeed, he told me after watching that there’s more of him in it than he realized. While that could come across to some as self indulgent, it seems to me to be more out of necessity. Half the focus of the film is about how his team, the Atomic Catsicles, joined the league, and telling that story without him being a part of it seems a tall order.
That story leads to a little confusion, though, because while most of the film follows their path through the spring 2007 season chronologically, some of the interviews, which were conducted after the season was over, reference the success the team has had “before” they actually have it.
Still, “See ya Sunday” is enough to keep a smile on your face for the better part of 60 minutes, even if it’s not all laughs. The founding of the league in particular is a story more poignant than playful.
For those who don’t know about that story or how the league operates or the good work it does, the film should prove informative. For those who do but aren’t part of the LRKA (like me), it’s still amusing. And for kickballers, well, it should go without saying that the film is a must see.

Tags: documentaries, documentary, film, kickball, little rock kickball association, lrka, Market street, Market Street Cinema, movies, premier, See ya Sunday, showings
Posted in Local films | 4 Comments »

Word of mouth

Monday, November 30th, 2009

HI!

No, I’m not talking about the phrase we‘ve all heard a lot recently: “Have you seen Twilight yet?”
True, the film did rake in another $42.5 million this weekend, bringing the total domestic take up over $200 million in just two weeks. But the more telling trend over the Thanksgiving weekend was that while New Moon was down about $100 million from last week’s impressive debut, right behind it — again — was The Blind Side at $40.1 million, which is actually more than it brought in its opening weekend ($34.5 million).
Maybe people were just cracked out on that chemical in turkey that makes you sleepy and purchased the wrong ticket, but the more likely explanation seems to be that The Blind Side is actually a pretty good movie and people who are going to see it are telling their friends to do the same — as well as going back themselves.

"Walking around in daylight?! Really?"

In other news, tomorrow is DVD release day and the big name on the list (at least, for me) is Terminator Salvation. With The Sarah Conner Chronicles TV series not coming back this fall, I’ve been waiting for this fix for some time. I watched the original Terminator on Netflix over the weekend just to pump myself up.

If you look closely you can see tears for the state of this franchise.

Also out on video this week is a project I’m interested in, a film called Paper Heart. It’s about a girl who is making a documentary about how she will never fall in love and then does just that during the course of shooting. But it’s not really a documentary. It’s billed as “combining elements of documentary and traditional storytelling, reality and fantasy.” As a journalist, I’m not sure what to think about this crossing of the lines between real reporting and fictional storytelling. But to the filmmakers’ credit, they’re upfront and honest about it, and I have to confess it sounds intriguing. Starring(?) Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera, directed by Nicholas Jasenovec.

The trailer can be found here but since embedding is disabled, I offer this tangentially related instructional video instead.

Tags: box office, documentaries, documentary, dvd, film, Michael Oher, money, movies, releases, returns, terminator, twilight
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God hates shrimp

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

For those interested in documentaries, arguing or both, the Faulkner County Library in Conway is hosting a showing and discussion of the award-winning and controversial film For the Bible Tells Me So, which tackles the topic of reconciling homosexuality and Christian scripture. The film will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3.

The full announcement from the library (i.e., I am not the author of the opinions expressed herein):
The Faulkner County Library is proud to announce a Doc and Talk Movie night and discussion concerning the consequences of homophobia. The documentary to be screened is For the Bible Tells Me So. The screening of the film will be followed by a community discussion and presentation by Mary Lou Wallner of T.E.A.C.H. ministries. This movie night and presentation will take place on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 6:30 p.m. The film will start at 6:30 p.m. followed by the discussion. The community is welcome to participate in the discussion following the movie. There will be free popcorn and drinks! Help the library reduce and reuse by bringing your own bowl for popcorn!
The documentary For the Bible Tells Me So asks, “Does God really condemn loving homosexual relationships? Is the chasm separating Christianity from gays and lesbians too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate?”
These questions and more are answered in this award-winning documentary, which brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture – and reveals that religious anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a misinterpretation of the Bible.
Through the experiences of five very normal, Christian, American families – including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson – we discover how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member. Offering healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual orientation, this landmark film “boldly takes on a loaded topic and examines it both intellectually and emotionally; the result may well leave you blinking away a few tears.” (Seattle Times). Honors for the documentary include a nomination for a grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and the audience award for best documentary at the Seattle Film Festival.
Mary Lou Wallner (also featured in the film) of T.E.A.C.H. ministries will host the community discussion. Mary Lou Wallner lost her lesbian Christian daughter to suicide in February of 1997. Being raised in a fundamentalist, legalistic church environment, Mary Lou was taught the untruth that homosexuality is a sin. Her journey from “tragedy to transformation” is nothing short of amazing. She and her husband, Bob, are strong allies for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual and Transgender people. They have a sincere desire to see the church accept and welcome GLBT people just the way God made them. The mission of T.E.A.C.H. ministries is To Educate About the Consequences of Homophobia through public speaking, brochures, workshops, videos, books, and any and all other appropriate means.
For more information on this event contact the Faulkner County Library at 501-327-7482. Refreshment donations are always needed for special events (2-liters of soda especially!) The event is free and open to the public.

Tags: Bible, controversy, conway, documentaries, documentary, faulkner county library, film, gay, GLBT, homosexuality, movies, religion
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Doc talk

Monday, November 9th, 2009

The 18th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival last month gave us an opportunity to check out a couple excellent documentaries. If you missed the showings at the festival, be on the lookout for the following titles:

If You Dare
Directed by Norah Shapiro, this film runs at less than an hour and explores the struggles of a theater program called the Chicago Avenue Project established to help inner city kids in Minneapolis. As the film shows, the program pairs an at-risk kid with an adult actor to teach them stage presence and an adult playwright who creates an original production for both to do together. In advanced programs, it’s the kids who do the playwriting for adults.
At times heart wrenching, the film’s interviews pull no punches as kids from the program talk about being the first in their family to have a shot at college or a Somali father talks about the hopes he has for his children. Sometimes they don’t need to convey the emotion through words, as when one young woman walks away dejected knowing her mother, who promised to be at her performance, didn’t show up — just as she’s never shown up to any of them.
Integrating actual police footage, the film also shows just how gritty the neighborhood of the Pillsbury House Theater (host to the Project) can be when an alleged drug dealer is gunned down at a gas station just across the street. It reinforces the point that these are scenes kids in the program see every day.
Ultimately though, this is a film about the hope and the positive changes a little bit of caring can bring to the life of kids in tough situations, and it is a remarkable thing to see.

Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness
From a decaying tourist trap in Florida to the bone-cluttered catacombs of Paris, director Melody Gilbert delves into the international world of urban exploration — that of adventurers who often look past “no trespassing” signs to venture out into that which mankind has abandoned.
Beginning with the adventures of urb-exers stateside, the film expands to encompass the international community. Whether tunnels in Minneapolis, a NASA graveyard in the Everglades, or an asylum in Glasgow, the film depicts locations that are almost as intriguing as the people who visit them — be they an engineer, student, artist or financier. The film gets up close and personal with all of them, delving not only into what drives them into places like a sewer tunnel in the middle of the night, but also touching on the dangers they face when they do so.
In that sense, the film is responsible to point out that these fascinating explorations aren’t for everyone, but if there is a fault here, it is that Gilbert and her film always seem sympathetic to those who are, in fact, usually choosing to break the law.
Still, this is a film that simply should not be missed. At a little less than 90 minutes, it should prove thoroughly engaging to anyone, whether they would ever choose to put themselves in surroundings so repulsive to “normal” sensibilities or not.

Tags: documentaries, film, hot springs film festival, movies
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