 Aspiring filmmakers, writers and directors got a chance Friday to talk to the men behind some of the films being shown this week in Hannibal, Mo., at the American Artist Film Festival. From left are "Crossed" director/editor Stolis Hadjicharalambous of Queens, N.Y., "Gordmin" filmmaker Jim Horwitz of St. Paul, Minn., and Scott Norwood of Knoxville, Tenn, who is showing his film "Timetravel." (H-W Photo/Michael Kipley | |||
| |||
| | |||
HANNIBAL, Mo. -- Calling himself a glutton for punishment, Dave Klassen held up tickets for his second movie at the American Artist Film Festival and made plans to take in a third.
A film festival in America's Hometown, with screenings at B & amp;B Theatres Main Street Cinema 8, was exciting news to Klassen and his wife, Deidre.
"The opportunity to see independent films is just not available. It's pretty exciting to see something a little different," Deidre Klassen said. "I'd like to see a lot of them."
The festival -- held in Kansas City for four years and organized to allow independent filmmakers an opportunity to gain regional, national and international recognition and awards -- hopes to make Hannibal its permanent home.
"People can expect to see great films from new and up-and-coming directors, producers and actors at a very affordable price," said Pegi Prescotte, the festival's marketing director. "We have tried to create many fun and exciting events around the festival aimed at getting the people of Hannibal involved so they can experience independent film and see that is really is for everyone to enjoy."
The Hannibal couple, along with her mother, Dorothy Marshall, who instilled a love of films early on in her daughter, took in "Bronx Paradise" and "Air" before making plans to see "Twilight of Youth" after a conversation with director Jerald Fine.
"Twilight of Youth," made in the style of "The Twilight Zone," tells the story of a man who hates old people, then develops a virus that ages him, and "he becomes the very thing he has contempt for," said Fine, a South Florida stockbroker who has made films as a hobby for five years.
Fine travels to film festivals across the nation, and he's enjoying his first trip to Hannibal.
"I like to see other film directors, exchange ideas," he said. "Seeing your film on the big screen in a regular commercial movie theater makes the filmmaker that much more satisfied with the whole experience."
The festival, which ends today, showcased 18 films from Australia, Romania, Canada and across the United States. Selections included "Crossed," an action-thriller and the first film by director/editor Stolis Hadjicharalambous and producer Javier Rodriguez.
"It started back in Queens, New York, with two guys and a dream to make an action film. We all went to high school together," Hadjicharalambous said.
The friends invested time, effort and money into the finished product, but Rodriguez said it was their passion that made it possible.
"Each one of us did multiple jobs. I was producing, sound deign, acting, you name it. That kind of passion got us from start to finish," he said.
"We had to much fun working on this one that back home we're already working on our next feature. We're halfway done," Hadjicharalambous said. "This is our first film festival screening. It's like a dream come true. Every filmmaker's dream is to have it on that gorgeous silver screen."
New York filmmaker Hakki Subentekin is originally from Turkey and focuses on social issues in his films, including "Alicia," which tells the story of a go-go dancer caring for her paralyzed disabled mother.
"I see lots of examples of young immigrant girls who have no choice at all because they have no legal right to work, so the best choice if they are really pretty is working the clubs and go-go bars to make a living," Subentekin said.
Knoxville, Tenn., filmmaker Scott Norwood's documentary "Timetravel_0" explores the possibility of time travel and the mystery of John Titor, who claimed to be a time traveler.
Showing the film in the town where Mark Twain lived, "the site of storytelling in America" appealed to Norwood, who has shown the film at festivals in Oregon and Seattle. A filmmaker since the age of 12, Norwood turned his experience as a newspaper photographer, radio disc jockey and maker of "over 1,000 mini-movies" or 30-second commercials for a television station into making feature films.
"My film is coming on in about an hour," he said. "I've gotten over the nervous butterfly syndrome, but I'm still excited."
Just as excited was Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Beau Hicks. The festival's move to Hannibal "gives us an international audience with folks coming in from really around the world showcasing their films here," he said. "We're thrilled to have new blood and a new event in Hannibal."
-- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379
MORE ABOUT FILMS:
americanartistfilmfestival.com
No comments:
Post a Comment