I hope y’all have been following the sporadic Twitter updates sent from my mobile during the festival. Here’s a better play-by-play, along with a couple of pics.
Opening night took place in Falvey Hall on the Maryland Institute College of Arts campus. I signed in, got my badge
and went into the theater. Comedian/filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait hosted the opening night screening, which consisted of a variety of short films from experimental animation to adapted radio plays. Afterward there was a party back in the lobby with free wine, sushi, fancy hors d’ouerves, and Twizzlers (I partook of the Twizzlers).
Opening Night screening
Opening Night Party
Friday morning I went to the Tent Village, which is a bunch of nice tents set up in a lot across the street from the Charles Theatre (where most of the films played). The tent village had a filmmakers’ lounge, a couple of vendors, and a tent used for the filmmakers’ panels.
My girlfriend at the Filmmakers' Lounge
the panel tent before the panelists showed up
First I went to a panel where a couple of the filmmakers talked about their influences inside and outside of cinema and what encouraged them to first turn to filmmaking. Very interesting conversation and afterward I got a chance to talk to Kris Swanberg (director, It was great but I was ready to come home). Sitting next to me in the audience was Michael Fountain (director, Bonecrusher). He was looking through that week’s City Paper
(Baltimore’s alternative free weekly newspaper) and I happened to catch a still from “The Bull” on one of the pages. You can go to City Paper’s website and see the un-affiliated guide they printed for the festival. Halfway down, under the “Mood and Movement Shorts” header, is my film. Pretty neat.
I went across the street into the Charles Theater and saw the Avant-Garde short film program. The editing pace was to say the least aggressive and by the end my eyes were hurting. Then saw Kris’ It was great but I was ready to come home which had a much slower pace which effectively captured the broad tension and ennui of traveling abroad with someone close.
Went back to the Tent Village to hear a panel on the commercial vs. artistic goals of making short films. Then I had to hustle to the student center of the University of Baltimore where they were showing Michael’s Bonecrusher, an exquisitely told documentary of the draw of coalmining on generations of men in the Appalachian mountains. At the Q&A after the film it was revealed that one of the audience members had been born in Dante, VA (the small town shown in the film) and not only that but some of her family inadvertently were in the film and that it was her grandparents that had originally owned the mine.
Charles Theater Lobby
Walked back to the Charles Theater where I saw Simon Ennis’ You Might as well Live, which was very very funny, and then ended the night by seeing Joe Swanberg’s new film Alexander the Last, which was a good experience learning about the very organic and improvisational method in which he and his wife’s individual films work. Got a chance to talk to him after the screening.
the Charles Theater
Saturday morning was the big screen premiere of “The Bull” and it went well, playing alongside some other great short films including Isaac Green Diebboll’s Memories of my Father and Andrew T. Betzer’s John Wayne Hated Horses (which is screening at Cannes this week). At the Q&A afterwards I received two questions: one concerning the title (which is my most frequently asked question) and one concerning the implications of the film’s ending. Everyone I talked to, the audience members and filmmakers alike, said they enjoyed it.
My panel took place that afternoon
. It went well and I joined the other panelists in talking about shoestring budgets and how not to finance your films (like mortgaging your mother’s house!). The panelists were all incredibly nice and I spent a good amount of time talking to Simon Ennis about baseball (he’s a die-hard Blue Jays fan) after the session.
Hung out in the Charles Theater lobby eating until it was time to see Bobcat Goldthwait’s World’s Greatest Dad, starring Robin Williams. The film took a quite unexpected and dark turn but with an incredible amount of tonal control was able to make really incisive comments on a very serious topic while still making the audience laugh. Bobcat was there to introduce the film and I saw John Waters in the audience.
Drove next to Fells Point, which is the bar/nightlife area of Baltimore near the water. On the top floor of one of the hotels they had a party for the filmmakers with more fancy hors d’ouerves. Met some more filmmakers and stayed there a bit too long.
The next morning Matthew Modine held a conversation in the panel Tent. It was very informative to listen to him recount some of his interactions with directors, especially a lengthy story about Kubrick and Full Metal Jacket. After that I went back to the Charles to see So Yong Kim’s remarkable film Treeless Mountain.
And by this point I was extremely worn out and thus sadly bid adieu to “The Bull”s first festival. I had a great time, met some extremely nice and talented filmmakers, and learned something along the way.
Overall I saw the following:
Features:
It was great but I was ready to come home dir. Kris Swanberg
Bonecrusher dir. Michael Fountain
You Might as Well Live dir. Simon Ennis
Alexander the Last dir. Joe Swanberg
World’s Greatest Dad dir. Bobcat Goldthwait
Treeless Mountain dir. So Yong Kim
Shorts:
“An Unquiet Mind” dir. Chihwen Lo
“Baiana” dir. Mariya Prokopenko
“Barcelona Mosaics” dir. Vin Grabill
“Cantata in C Major” dir. Ronnie Cramer
“Do You Like That” dir. Greg Faller, Susan Mann, Bill Kleinsasser
“Sea of Breath – Cloud of Ground” dir. Michael Robinson
“Life with Ghosts” dir. Allen Moore
“When Worlds Collude” dir. Fred Worden
“He Hates to be Second” dir. Kelly Sears
“Excision” dir. Richard Bates
“Five Miles Out” dir. Andrew Haigh
“John Wayne Hated Horses” dir. Andrew T. Betzer
“Memories of My Father” dir. Isaac Green Diebboll
“Somewhere Between Here and There” dir. Lisa Platt
“The Widow” dir. Isaac Green Diebboll
“Goldthwait Home Movies” dir. Bobcat Goldthwait
“The Bellows March” dir. Eric Dyer
“Done in One” dir. Jay Zimmerman
“Dahlia” dir. Michael Langan
“Trepan Hole” dir. Andy Cahill
“Mildred Richards” dir. Marc Kess
“Grand Teton” dir. Julia Kim Smith
“About Film Festivals” dir. Jim Jacob
