Charlotte Film Festival does Boffo 2nd year
We enjoyed the Charlotte Film Fest this year even more than last. In only two years, this event has propelled itself into the forefront of well-run film festivals in a state that boasts more than 20, with some lasting no more than a season or two.
This festival drew nicely filled theaters for evening performances, and more than a always a respectable number of viewers except for some weekday perfmormances, which is understandable.
The opening night film, "Adrenalin," gained a certain mad narrative thrust from its single 90-minute take--you heard that right--one take--but would have gained artistically from judicious cutting.
It's hard not to like this strong film that makes you feel about its sketched in characters. The acting job by David Akford, is simply extraordinary. He sounds like George Clooney and occasionally resembles him, perhaps because of the vocal similarity. Without in any way being a clone or mimic, however, because his talent is all his own and well worth watching.
Listening to the filmmakers describe how they jury-rigged a camera so a battery would last longer than 90 minutes and the tricks they employed to make the shoot work was nearly as entertaining as the movie. Good reason to attend film festivals. The movie will do well on DVD, we suspect. It will get your heart pounding.
The Friday afternoon "Short Picks 1, Wild Mix" was by far one of the strongest shorts programs we've ever seen at any festival and we attend many. "Street Cleaner," "Eulogy for Jack," "Fortune Hunters," and "Once Upon an Xmas Village," all worked for us. We didn't care as much for "Ikebana," but it had its charms.
What made this shorts program so good? We'll be discussing that in more detail in an article on the Web site companions to this blog, www.shortfilmreview.blogpot.com ; www.ncflix.com and www.bestfilmfests.com, but essentially, these were all complete narrative films. They had clear storylines, effective, feature-like cutting and production values, so they looked and felt like movies, not TV or student work, and they all surprised us without making us feel cheated or cynically manipulated. They worked. It's amazing what filmmakers can do with sheer determination, a vision and a decent script.
It's actually rare to see a program in which each film is so strong. So many short films fail to take themselves seriously enough. None of these films suffer from that and in fact, at least one, "Street Cleaner" is a condensation of what was originally a feature film script.
These films had pace, individual style, and a sense of how to play against expectations to make a unique impression. My guess is that we'll hear more from all of their creative people.
Finally, we enjoyed meeting Godfrey Cheshire, who gave the opening night remarks and showed his documentary, "Moving Midway," which we review at length on our NCflix and Bestfilmfests.com sites. We've read Cheshire's thoughtful, insightful criticism not only in "The Independent," the Triangle, NC weekly, but also in "Sight and Sound," and numerous other journals and publications over many years. His deep understanding of how films enter and shape our consciousness shapes his own movie.
Cheshire lives in New York City now, but he hasn't lost an iota of what people still call "Southern charm," a quality which, at it's best, still has a great deal to recommend it.
All in all, the Charlotte Film Festival seemed a rousing success in its second year, drawing audiences as large as many much older events. These events are not easy to coordinate, require a good deal of logistics and planning, and to do it primarily with volunteers is impressive. A "BRAVO" for an event so well done.
This festival drew nicely filled theaters for evening performances, and more than a always a respectable number of viewers except for some weekday perfmormances, which is understandable.
The opening night film, "Adrenalin," gained a certain mad narrative thrust from its single 90-minute take--you heard that right--one take--but would have gained artistically from judicious cutting.
It's hard not to like this strong film that makes you feel about its sketched in characters. The acting job by David Akford, is simply extraordinary. He sounds like George Clooney and occasionally resembles him, perhaps because of the vocal similarity. Without in any way being a clone or mimic, however, because his talent is all his own and well worth watching.
Listening to the filmmakers describe how they jury-rigged a camera so a battery would last longer than 90 minutes and the tricks they employed to make the shoot work was nearly as entertaining as the movie. Good reason to attend film festivals. The movie will do well on DVD, we suspect. It will get your heart pounding.
The Friday afternoon "Short Picks 1, Wild Mix" was by far one of the strongest shorts programs we've ever seen at any festival and we attend many. "Street Cleaner," "Eulogy for Jack," "Fortune Hunters," and "Once Upon an Xmas Village," all worked for us. We didn't care as much for "Ikebana," but it had its charms.
What made this shorts program so good? We'll be discussing that in more detail in an article on the Web site companions to this blog, www.shortfilmreview.blogpot.com ; www.ncflix.com and www.bestfilmfests.com, but essentially, these were all complete narrative films. They had clear storylines, effective, feature-like cutting and production values, so they looked and felt like movies, not TV or student work, and they all surprised us without making us feel cheated or cynically manipulated. They worked. It's amazing what filmmakers can do with sheer determination, a vision and a decent script.
It's actually rare to see a program in which each film is so strong. So many short films fail to take themselves seriously enough. None of these films suffer from that and in fact, at least one, "Street Cleaner" is a condensation of what was originally a feature film script.
These films had pace, individual style, and a sense of how to play against expectations to make a unique impression. My guess is that we'll hear more from all of their creative people.
Finally, we enjoyed meeting Godfrey Cheshire, who gave the opening night remarks and showed his documentary, "Moving Midway," which we review at length on our NCflix and Bestfilmfests.com sites. We've read Cheshire's thoughtful, insightful criticism not only in "The Independent," the Triangle, NC weekly, but also in "Sight and Sound," and numerous other journals and publications over many years. His deep understanding of how films enter and shape our consciousness shapes his own movie.
Cheshire lives in New York City now, but he hasn't lost an iota of what people still call "Southern charm," a quality which, at it's best, still has a great deal to recommend it.
All in all, the Charlotte Film Festival seemed a rousing success in its second year, drawing audiences as large as many much older events. These events are not easy to coordinate, require a good deal of logistics and planning, and to do it primarily with volunteers is impressive. A "BRAVO" for an event so well done.
posted by Allan Maurer at 11:56 PM
1 Comments:
Hi,
This isn't a comment on your post, but a request. Would you be willing to promote this year's call for entries for UNCTV's NC Visions? Information can be found at http://www.unctv.org/ncvisions/new_date.html
Thanks if you can help.
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