Kicking Into High Gear... Let The Festivities Begin

Well, the Workshops are complete and now I must focus on the Film Fest. Tradition has it that Thursday is our preview night, but FRIDAY is the opening night, and it all starts rocking. This year should be no different. My day starts on a note of surrealism, as I''m scheduled to ride with our Film Fest Stretch Limo Service to pich up some guests in New York City. My scheduled pick-up is 8am at Deja Brew, and the limo awaits when I arrive. My driver, Joe, introduces hillmself and lets me in the back of limo, where I am overwhelmed by the spaciousness as I enter this cavernous vehicle. Joe and I converse as we travel into NYC.



The ride is amazingly relaxing, but I keep things stirring by doing some business by phone. With my cel out of commission I find myself double fisting phones, mine in one hand to refer to the saved phone book , and my wife''s borrowed phone in the other to make the calls. I check with some film distributors I''ve been waiting on, as I try to keep my midnight movie surprise active for the second year. With little hope from these hold-outs, I go into attack mode, recognizing from Thursday''s "brush fires" that I might be able to weasel a favor from Zeitgeist Films, as a print we were to screen from their library arrived damaged. I had thought about this option earlier this morning, so I wisely printed their catalog for today''s reference. Chatting with Graham (SSFI President), we both agree to try the squeeze. So with New York some 40 minutes away I place the call to my Zeitgeist rep, and leave a message explaining my need for another film for the fest, and what can we work out??



Feeling confident with the possibilities we press on to Manhattan where we will meet our passengers: ''04 SSFF alumni/ Guest Filmmaker Cory McAbee, ''05 Guest Filmmaker Shanti Thakur, and our composers for this Sunday''s Film and Music Seminar/ Panel, Mark Suozzo and David McHugh. As we arrive we meet Mark, David, and Cory, and Shanti arrives soon after. We all decide we should head into Crate and Barrel to use the facilities. It''sa during our stroll through C&B that I get the call, I can have the film: Guy Madden''s "Dracula". But HOW will I get it? I ask about courier or intern, and the answer is YES, the wheels are set in motion, as I explain we are sitting on the corner of Mercer and W Houston in a black stretch limo, and will be waiting. After some time the courier finds us and I make the street exchange, like a junkie in need of a fix. We''re off, with Saturday''s Midnight SURPRISE in hand. We all head back to Bethlehem, enjoying the company and the conversation. Our Festival has been SO lucky in terms of the caliber of people we continue to attract, and I''m fortunate to be able to bask in the talent pool present in this shuttle.


Upon arrival in Bethlehem We check in at Deja Brew, and then I get our guests to their weekend digs, Then off to the races for me, as I check the pulse of activities with my fellow Fest organizers. I have tons to do before this evening, and the clock keeps moving. Tick, tick tick.. I have the Workshop rental equipment to return, so I proceed to collect and return that gear. Slowly I chop away at my task list, all the while aware that like a runaway freight train this evening's festivities speedily approach. Tick, tick, tick.



Finally I check off the last task on my list and head home to shower in preparation for our Opening ceremonies. Cleaner and feeling damn good about things, I return to the Fest grounds, and in particular to Comfort Suites, where tonight's party begins. The room is abuzz with excitement. Our many guest filmmakers mingle with sponsors, media reps, SSFF organizers, and many others curious about this weekend's activities. The party rocks, with South Asian music playing subtly in the background, people pick away at Bombay Grille's wonderful buffet of South Asian cuisine. IT's ALL good. Cameras are flashing, people are talking, filmmakers are networking, this is truly what our Fest is about. We're a community of one, all with one common goal... the success of this weekend's Festival.



After the filmmakers receive our Red Carpet treatment, and only after Mayor Callahan cuts our ceremonial chain, marking the "opening" of the SouthSide and our SouthSide Film Festival, we are paraded from the party by the Mackay Bagpipe Corps. This is a unique tradition we've brought from our first Fest. The partygoers follow the band as we march in harmony from Comfort Suites to tonight's screening at Packard Auditoriium. The hairs on my arm are aroused with excitement by this phenomenon, as our out-of-town filmmakers participate in this unique kick-off, while neighborhood families come out of their homes to enjoy this wonderful parade. We all arrive at Packard and are soon ushered into the auditorium in preparation for tonght's screenings of Shanti Thakur's "Kairos" and Zana Briski/ Ross Kaufmann's "Born Into Brothels". We have also added our Doc Workshop films to the line-up, as we are all so VERY proud of the accomplishments of these students.



The house is full and we're ready to begin tonight's screenings. The lights dim and we hear that familiar clacking of a 35mm film being pulled through its' film transfer, I simply smile ear to ear as I listen to that wonderful sound. Yes, SouthSide Film Festival is screening 35mm!!!! I am SO very proud of what we've accomplished.



"Kairos" plays and all watch in amazement at what Ms. Thakur has created, the imagery is spectacular, the storyline intriguing, and the film... I simply LOVE this film. It's now time for the feature, and the film begins to clack away, but all is not well and late into the film we start having audio chaos, until we are finally forced to shut down the projector, and explain to our audience as we'll need a 5 minute break. The film print is damaged and we can't recover as is, so we quickly jump into action, with a spare DVD print available we make the switch, and usher our guests back into their seats. After explaining our situation the lights dim and we are rolling again with barely a hiccup. And yet another fire out!


"Brothels" ends and is received with enormous applause, as some of the audience wipes tears from their eyes after seeing this moving film. And then after some words from me, we roll into our Workshop shorts, which are followed by a great Q&A with our newly graduated Film Students. These ladies should be proud, as I know I am proud to have helped organize the Workshop and had the good fortune to spend alot of time WITH the Workshop. Tonight was a HUGE success and myself and my fellow Fest Organizers grin with that Cheshire smile. We've done it!



I know there were many days during the planning when things looked grim, but we all pulled up our boot straps and moved forward, stumbling over one hurdle at a time. As the organizational "heart" of this Fest, the many Fest Organizers strut proudly, greeting our many guests and dignitaries, all the while reflecting on the road that led us to this evening's success. Let's have that well-deserved beer now!!! CHEERS all....