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Festival Beat
Angelus Student Film Festival
TEACHING STUDENT MOVIEMAKERS THE POWER OF POSITIVE VALUES • For a film festival created by the people behind “The family that prays together stays together” billboards, the Angelus Student Film Festival is not as overtly religious as one might think. While the festival, which screened its winning films on October 27, 2007 at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood, certainly doesn’t hide its Christian values, it also doesn’t try to proselytize its entrants or audience.
Festival winner Zeth Willie wasn’t even aware of the organization’s religious persuasion when he submitted his film, The Needful Head, which won this year’s $2,500 Outstanding Animation Award. “Interestingly, I didn’t really know that the festival was religiously-based,” admits Willie. “I think the festival was really just about positive films that have a message for the audience, and I can appreciate that.”
Festival director Monika Moreno believes it is this faith-based mission statement of presenting “works that respect the dignity of the human person” that results in such an interesting and diverse program. “The majority [of student moviemakers] have something significant to say about the dignity of the human person,” says Moreno, “whether it be in the context of the war abroad, the war at home or anything in between!”
The 2007 festival showcased this diversity in subject matter, all the while adhering to the festival’s ideals. The festival’s $10,000 Excellence in Filmmaking Award
was given to Nicholas Ozeki for Mamitas, about a young man’s advice on how to pick up “Hot Mami Chulas,” while the $5,000 Priddy Bros. Triumph Award was presented to Harry Kellerman for his tale of a young boy’s struggle to conquer a jungle gym, The Little Gorilla. Festival winners also included a film about the friendship between a landscaper and an elderly woman (Destin Daniel Cretton and Lowell Frank’s Deacon’s Mondays), a drama about a couple’s struggle to decide whether or not to keep their yet-to-be-born child (Jose E. Iglesias Vigil’s In Between) and an animated film about a man who is stalked by his own disembodied head (Willie’s The Needful Head).
“Themes of redemption, triumph of the human spirit, diversity, equality, justice and spirituality wind their way through the quirkiest of comedies or the heaviest of submitted dramas,” muses Moreno. “It is fascinating to see the various interpretations student filmmakers create each year.”—Andrew Gnerre
www.angelus.org
10 or Less Film Festival
LESS IS MORE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST • Everyone clamors for their 15 minutes of fame—whether that’s a quick wave in the background of a local news report or accepting an award on stage at the Kodak Theatre. But “because 15 minutes of fame is too much,” independent moviemakers can find a happy medium at the 10 or Less Film Festival, which ran October 18-20, 2007 at Oregon’s Hollywood Theatre.
You can probably guess the festival’s clever premise: Showcase films that have a running time of 10 minutes or less. “I was excited to be part of a festival where the audience wasn’t sitting through a short to get to the feature film,” says Best in the Fest and Best Documentary winner Sam Kauffmann. “This audience was excited to see tight, well-made short films.” Kauffmann’s short, Massacre at Murambi, won the $1,000 grand prize and is “an absolute must-see,” raves festival producer John Denlinger.
“The most impacting short films we see are those made by filmmakers with insight enough to know they’re not creating a short feature,” explains Denlinger. “The art of the short film lies in the understanding—the reliance of a tone or style over convoluted plot points—and the filmmaker’s ability to create a lasting moment out of the bare necessities of the story.”
For Bennett Battaile, whose 3D Gnatural Wonders was a first-time experiment, participating in 10 or Less was a “good education.” But, “what made me most appreciate John Denlinger and the other 10 or Less Fest folks was the care and professionalism they showed in getting the 3D projection issues worked out. That made a huge difference in the audience experience.”—Mallory Potosky
www.10orlessfest.com
Milwaukee International Film Festival
MIDWESTERN MOVIEMAKERS FEEL AT HOME IN WISCONSIN • Breaking all records in 2007, the Milwaukee International Film Festival—which ran September 20 – 30, 2007—rolled out the red carpet for moviemakers and festivalgoers alike, with more than 30,000 people in attendance. Though it’s truly an international fest, there’s no denying that it’s the city’s native moviemakers who draw the most interest.
Appleton, Wisconsin native Willem Dafoe offered one of the fest’s biggest highlights. The two-time Oscar nominee premiered his latest, Henry Miller’s Anamorph, and took some time to discuss his career with journalist Gino Salamone.
The Midwest Filmmaker Competition showed love to Malik Bader’s Street Thief, Frank Popper’s Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?, Carlo Besasie’s The Cherry Tree and Chris Thompson’s Kyoko Naturally, which won the $15,000 Milwaukee Filmmaker Production Prize Package.
But even non-locals find a lot to praise in MIFF. New Jersey native Lanre Olabisi was one of the first to experience the benefits of MIFF’s new partnership with Film Movement, winning the Film Movement Distribution Award, which includes a theatrical and DVD release, for August the First. “I was extremely impressed by everything that I experienced at the Milwaukee International Film Festival,” relates director-producer Daniel Karslake, whose For the Bible Tells Me So won the Audience Award for Feature Documentary Film. “To begin with, I thought it was programmed very well with a large number of the most innovative new independent films screening in the fest. As a filmmaker, they treated me extremely well during my visit to Milwaukee, and I couldn’t have been more impressed by the audiences at my screenings. They were engaged, diverse and very supportive of independent film.”—Jennifer M. Wood
www.milwaukeefilmfest.org
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This story was published in the Winter 2008 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
Festival Beat
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