This Is The End: Magnolia Film Fest Day 3

We awake on Saturday, with the knowledge that today is the final day of The Mag. I am excited to have been a part of the Festival, while representing my SouthSide Film Festival. Just as has been the case each day, we all antiicipate another day of Southern Cooking, intermingled with 2 film programs. Many of us meet at the Waverly Clubhouse for a hearty breakfast of grits, eggs, sausage and bacon, and some good buttermilk biscuits slathered with butter. There isn't a CHANCE that any of us will lose weight this weekend.

After breakfast some of us take a leisurely pace until, sad to say, it's time for lunch at the Starkville City Bagel Shop. And yet others continue the busy pace, attending a Filmmaker Seminar & Discussion back at the theater in Starkville. For lunch we're treated to some good deli food complete with homemade soups and excellent bagel sandwiches. Mine was a traditional Reuben, complete with a healthy portion of Sauerkraut. No fried foods at this meal. Soon we were all loading into our vehicles and heading off for this afternoon's Film Program.



This afternoon's program was jam packed with excitement, starting with Cecilia Aranovich's "To A Man With a Big Nose". This was immediately followed by the Fest Award Winning "Bodies and Souls", by Mag Vet Christie Herring. We were then treated to Rudy Miena's "Shape Note Singing", Andy Nguyen's "Silent Night", and Rex Jones' "Dowsing Spring Hill". The Documentary is always the strong suit of most Film fests, and the Mag was no exception, where today's program offered some interesting docs in both short format and feature length. Amidst all the Docs was another Fest winner: Shannon Moore's Experimental Short: "Soliloquy". Then came Doug Waterfield's Documentary "Carroll Cloar (Arkansas Portrait)". The afternoon program concluded with Meshakai Wolf's heart wrenching and touching doc: "Gussie". "Gussie" won the Feature Doc Award at the Festival and was truly a moving story about his great grandmother. Before we knew it, the Q&A was over and it was time to (GASP) think about dinner.

Dinner was pizza at a local pizza place. And involved more of the same, as we all sat at a long row of tables while socializing, snapping pictures, and just enjoying each others company. After salads. appetizers, pizza, and a few beer refills, it was time to depart for the Cinema, where tonight's final program would play out, followed by the Awards presentation. The car caravan, which has become standard practice at the Fest, wound its way back to the Hollywood Cinema for this evening's screenings.

Tonight we were treated to Experimental Fimmaker and Mag Alumni Bill Brown's "Chicago/Detroit Split", which was shot in 16mm with half of the film being shot in Chicago, then run back through the camera and flipped to allow the Chicago footage to run alongside the Detroit footage. This was an interesting and somewhat effective trick. We then screened Student Filmmaker Aaron Davidson's Animation: "Shoe Fly", followed by Matthew Cornwell's "My Redneck Braincell", Bilge Ebiri's "Purse Snatcher", and Sasha Waters' Experimental "The Waiting Time". The evening's program concluded with "On Oak Island" from J Ian Horn and Elizabeth Willaman.

During Q&A we judges gathered to discuss the films and decide the Award Recipients. The process was fun and engaging, allowing us each to express opinion while using the other 3 judges as a sounding board. I liked the process and the intelligent dialog. And soon it was Award time. Drum roll please... I'm leaving you in suspense (you can find a complete listing of awards on the Mag's Website, . The Fest was finished and now it was time to PARTY.

We all retired to Charlotte's house for food, fun, and more of that socializing stuff. And there was a minor celebration for my 48th Birthday, which occured at midnight. There were lots of happy moments, followed by that sad, empty feeling which accompanies goodbyes. The conclusion of a Film Festival always seems like the end of Summer Camp: you meet as strangers, become friends, spend loads of time together, and before you know it, it's time to say goodbye, realizing that some of you may never meet again while othersmay meet sometime soon or at the very least at next year's camp.

Before anybody knew what happened, the night was over and many needed to get back to the Cottages in order to catch a little sleep before Sunday's flights out of town. The sadness and depression had not yet settled in, but tomorrow would bring more. *Sigh*. This was a good time.

See y'all next year at The Mag!

jeff