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April 24, 2006

Feedback, Please

This site was created to promote local filmmakers and their works. Since it's sometimes a struggle to find things to write about, I need your help. I'd love to hear your ideas on how to make this site better.

What would you like to read?
What would you like to see?
Would you like to contribute?
Am I missing any local film events?
Do you have any swell ideas for articles, links or features?

Please let me know.

Posted by colrus at 10:02 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Back Row Film Series Continues with "Confederate States of America"

The Back Row Film Series continues with the Chattanooga premiere of a Spike Lee-produced film entitled Confederate States of America, an eye-opening faux documentary about what America might have looked like if the South had won the Civil War. The film event will take place at the Hunter Museum of American Art, in collaboration with the Hunter Happens series, on Thursday, May 4, at 5:30 p.m.

In addition to the screening, the film’s director, Kevin Willmott, will share his experiences of creating and screening the film to standing-room-only crowds around the country. The event will also present the Winner of Best Short Documentary from the local film competition.

Willmott, a film professor at the University of Kansas, created this darkly comic movie to reach audiences who might not otherwise see a film about slavery and to encourage intelligent talk about race relations. The film’s presence in the US has been quite limited, so event organizers from the AEC, Hunter Museum, and UTC are thrilled about the opportunity to show this film for the first time in Chattanooga, and bring the director to share his own stories about this unique film endeavor.

Tickets are $12 and include museum admission. Hunter members, AEC Film Club members, and UTC students and faculty are admitted for only $5. To purchase tickets in advance, call the AEC at 423-267-1218. Tickets will be available at the door, but seating is limited. A cash bar will be open.

For more information, visit www.BackRowFilms.com or call (423) 267-1218.

Posted by colrus at 09:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 18, 2006

Back Row Opener Redux

The Back Row Film Series got off to an encouraging start Saturday night at GPS’ Evans Auditorium as a somewhat small yet enthusiastic crowd enjoyed a wide range of music videos and short films by local and regional students and independent filmmakers.

Highlights included Stratton Tingle’s Best Friend and Krusty by Jim Burer. Local musicians Travis Knight (Actress), Brad Merrill (Night of the Wolf) and Josh Boutwell (Tremont Beauty Salon) came together as Sound and Vision to debut their very rocking original score to Edwin S. Potter’s 1903 film, The Great Train Robbery, and Corey Critser, who showed two films -- the funny short A Plague of Tics and a music video for Unwed Sailor’s “Cuckoo Clocks” — took home the first annual Hadrienne Kathleen Mendonsa Young Filmmaker’s Award. Hadrienne’s father Andy was on hand to present the award and a short film by her brother Asher was also shown.

Also on hand was Nashville director Seth Worley, director of the evening’s main feature, Suburban Tumbleweed, the very entertaining story of a 12 year-old zombie-fighting superhero. Worley talked a little bit about the film, relaying stories about the perils of shooting with broken gear and was ecstatic that the audience “laughed a lot.” (The film can be watched in its entirety on the Web at www.NoiseBoxMedia.com.)

Immediately preceding Tumbleweed was the premier of a trailer for the next Lazy Bear Productions movie, Killing Elvis, starring Kashad Moore. While Lazy Bear’s Ryan DiGiorgi and Logan Lee are extremely tight-lipped about the near full-length project, if the trailer is to be believed, the film will be parody of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill series. Watch it and decide for yourself at www.KillingElvisMovie.com. The film will premiere in Chattanooga this fall.

Posted by colrus at 11:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 11, 2006

Film Up Front: Back Row Film Fest Kickoff at GPS

The Arts and Education Council’s 2005 Summer Film Series at the Hunter Museum was a rush job. The museum—complete with a brand new movie theatre—had just reopened after a massive expansion, and AEC (organizers of the Independent Film Series at the Bijou) hurried to expand their film offerings into the summer despite having little time to plan or attract sponsors. Once each month, AEC collaborated with the Hunter to show classic and independent films coupled with discussions with film historians and filmmakers, and preceded by short films from local filmmakers.

At the same time, organizers of the UTC-based Firefly Film Fest were mulling options for their next event. Their first event, held in the fall of 2004 at Club Fathom, featured a bevy of local, regional and national short films, but was hampered by similar time and money issues. And just as plans for a Firefly follow-up were being solidified, organizers from both sides met to brainstorm an idea for a brand new festival. In November of last year, the idea for the Back Row Film Series emerged.

“After we met with [the organizers of Firefly],” says Hunter Curator of Education and Back Row co-chair Adera Causey, “we all realized that we could join together to create one large partnership of film programs for a much stronger, large-scale offering that could have an even greater impact citywide.”

AEC board member and Back Row organizer Maury Nicely says that the Back Row series will be more of an “event” than its predecessors and he hopes that it can turn into a “marquee event” for the city.

“This year, we wanted to shift the focus of the series to bring in unique and interesting films which might not be otherwise available to Chattanooga filmgoers,” says Nicely. “At the same time, we continue to couple these films with additional presentations, including speakers, musical performances, and so forth, to enhance the viewers’ experience of the films.”

Incorporated into the museum’s Thursday night “Hunter Happens” schedule, the six-event Back Row series is a “celebration of film” that runs through September (see schedule below), offering an eclectic mix, from the edgy, Spike Lee-produced documentary Confederate States of America to music- and food-related film events to a panel discussion about the film Deliverance. A night devoted to local and regional short films kicks off the series at the GPS Evans Auditorium on April 15.

Causey is excited about the opportunities Back Row provides for up-and-coming filmmakers.

“This is a great venue for (local filmmakers) both to see and be inspired by professional films, to meet nationally known filmmakers and scholars, to be inspired and mentored by them and, of course, to showcase their own films to the local community in a prestigious forum.”

Featured at the series opener will be Suburban Tumbleweed, a slick and hilarious short about a 12-year-old zombie hunter, directed by Nashville filmmaker Seth Worley. Worley will be on hand to discuss the film. Members of the bands Actress, Gold and the Kissfits will be performing their original score to a silent film and a handful of other shorts and music videos will also be featured, including Jim Burer’s Krusty, Corey Critser’s Plague of Ticks and a few short films by Asher Mendonsa, the St. Elmo teen who was paralyzed after falling while shooting a film last year at Parkway Towers. The Hadrienne Kathleen Mendonsa Young Filmmaker’s Award—named in honor of Asher’s sister who passed away in November of last year after an automobile accident—will be given out in honor of, as Causey says, the Mendonsa’s “commitment to the film community.” A short film competition will take place for the duration of the series with winners in each category being screened on each film night.

In addition to submissions from UTC’s documentary production class, the series will also feature other local filmmakers’ works each week, including films made by Chris Willis’ video production students at UTC and the high school students who attended his workshops at the Hunter earlier this year. Willis, who served as a faculty advisor for Firefly and now serves as co-chair of Back Row, says events like Back Row are crucial to the development of a true local film scene.

“Local filmmakers are kind of challenged by what this city’s got to offer in terms of venues for showing their stuff and people to support them,” he says. “So, unless we get something rolling here, people are going to keep leaving (for bigger cities) to do this kind of work. We really need to create a scene here for people to get plugged into. Otherwise, they’re out of here. My goal is to build something that lasts here in Chattanooga; something that’s bigger than what we can do on our own, that’s citywide and hopefully has some longevity to it. AEC has helped with that.”

Continue reading "Film Up Front: Back Row Film Fest Kickoff at GPS"

Posted by colrus at 04:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Indie Films at Barking Legs in May

F3Films, in cooperation with The Barking Legs Theater of downtown Chattanooga, is proud to announce “Movies in May” on Friday night, May 5th, at 7 p.m. They will be premiering four short independent films produced and directed by Tennessee’s own Jon Russell and Tracy Cring, a husband and wife team bringing a little bit of Hollywood to the Volunteer State.

The four films being presented are Dinner, The Man with the Red Hat, 12/23 and Inside, ranging in style from suspense and horror to Christmas to an historical drama to a dream-like sequence on the nature of creativity.

“Being an independent filmmaker means you have to use what you’ve got and make it look like what you want,” jokes Tracy Cring, main cinematographer. “Sometimes I wonder if we could make Ben Hur out of what we found in our couch cushions.”

When asked what F3Films stands for, Jon Russell replies, “It stands for fantasy, faith and farce—the three realms we wanted our films to explore that would cause adults to think and be entertained while not having to chase their kids out of the room.”

Each film runs about fifteen minutes in length.

They will also be showing trailers of their first feature-length film, Lenders Morgan, a mysterious epic drama set in rural America in 1969.

Mr. and Mrs. Cring will be at the screening of the movies to talk about the process of mini-budget filmmaking and the potentials available for budding artists as writers, actors and producers. The Barking Legs Theater is one of four stops in the Tennessee area in the month of May. Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased at the door. For more information, please call 1 (800) 643-4718 then press 74.

Posted by colrus at 03:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack