Tallahassee Film Festival

by Paul de Revere

I’m a Tallahassean, born and raised. Proud of it, too. But I love some aspects of Tallahassee more than others. Game day traffic, Greeknightlife and going north of I-10? Not for me. But when I’m breathing in the same air as centuries-old trees at Maclay Gardens or snaking through the distinctly urban, close quarters of Gallie Alley, I’m reminded that Tallahassee is, to quote our friends at the Council of Culture and the Arts, “more than you thought.” Each spring, when the Tallahassee Film Festival (TFF) rolls through, it’s the most exciting time of the year in Tallahassee for me. When it gets to a fever pitch on April 8, 2010, there’s literally no other place in the world I’ll want to be.

There aren’t a ton of reasons to put “Tallahassee” and “cool” in the same sentence. If you know the parts of Tallahassee that are “cool,” chances are you’ve put a good bit of effort into seeking them out or you know just the right people. If you’re hailing from a northeastern big city, South Florida or other bigger cities in the South, it may very well surprise you how much of a destination city Tallahassee is.

And with TFF, Florida’s capital city is starting to realize there’s money and a stable economic force in culture. In this economic downturn, we’re taking stock in what can run consistently as an economic engine in our state. What’s “recession-proof?”

Film is recession-proof. People always want to see movies. It’s easy to forget that the arts and culture, when the chips are down, are only going to thrive. It seems impossible, but how else does an expensive, vast film like “Avatar” break multiple box-office records, grossing close to a billion dollars worldwide, during a recession? Its what people want: Some people want escapism, some a cheap night out for the whole family. But it’s also because the people behind films– artists and other creative professionals– thrive on creative solutions to tough problems and unusual circumstances.

Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, who represents the Tallahassee area, understands we need creative solutions to tough problems. She understands that Florida State University’s film school— one of the most prestigious in the nation, educating so much high-powered Hollywood talent who, in turn, bring film revenue back to our state— is an invaluable asset locally and to the state. She understands we need strong tax incentives for film and television programs to come to Florida, so the crews can stay in our hotels, eat our unique cuisine and film on our pristine beaches and slick cityscapes.

It’s not just Orlando, Tampa or Miami that benefits directly. North Florida gets in on the action, too. Wakulla Springs is an unspoiled oasis fit for films then and now. The recent HBO feature “Recount” almost literally took over downtown Tallahassee a few years back. And, of course, there’s the Tallahassee Film Festival, which receives generous Film Florida grants in addition to the incredible sponsors we have from our local area.

With that kind of support, the Tallahassee Film Festival is an economically sustainable economic engine for the state and for the local community. It’s environmentally sustainable, it brings the community together, and it’s very, very cool.

Personally, for me, it’s inspired pride and staying power for me in my fair hometown. I love the Tallahassee Film Festival with all my heart, and I hope to see you there… in the dark.

It makes us extremely proud to report that the short film Bohemibot by director Brendan Bellomo has won a Student Oscar! Bohemibot wowed us on the Programming Committee when it was entered and won over the audiences that watched it during our festival this year.

The story is an ambitious sci-fi treat for the senses. A great cyborg harpist, forced to serve as a pilot in the last war on his planet, struggles to overcome a debilitating injury and the loss of his family. His encounter with a young enemy captive reveals that even the din of war can never silence the voice of the heart.

From the official website:

The NYU Tisch School of the Arts Advanced Production was directed under the supervision of Executive Director of Writing Studies Professor Ezra Sacks and Animation Department Director, and Academy Award Winner, Professor John Canemaker.

Over 90 students and 80 professionals from around the world have volunteered for the film’s cast, art direction, cinematography, costumes, makeup, stunts, sound design, music, and visual effects. Bohemibot was filmed with a grant from the Panavision New Filmmakers Program, which provided a F900 CineAlta for principle photography on the 25 minute short. Renegade Effects Group generously provided special props and costumes.

Check out the trailer for it here:

Congrats Brendan!!

Tallahassee Film Festival honored the winning films in ceremony at TCC’s Turner Auditorium on the evening of Saturday, April 18, 2009. Be sure to view the encore presentations of the winners during the “Best of Fest” on Sunday, starting at 5:00 p.m. And the awards go to:

2009 Tallahassee Film Festival Award
Emerging Filmmaker
Aloura M. Charles

Best Narrative Feature
“A Deal Is A Deal”
Director: Jonathan Gershfield

Best Narrative Short
“Compact Only”
Director: Pamela Green

Best Documentary Feature
“Burning The Future: Coal In America”
Director: David Novack

Best Documentary Short–It’s a tie!
“Flowers For San Lazaro”
Director: James Rauchman
“12 Stones”
Director: Sandy Smolan

Best Animated Film
“I Am So Proud Of You”
Director: Don Hertzfeldt

Best College Student Film
“In The Name Of The Son”
Director: Harun Mehmedinovic

Audience Choice Award
“Purple State of Mind”
Director: John Marks and Craig Detweiler

48-Hour Film Contest Award
Professional Category
“Animo”
Team Name: WHS Guerrilla Filmmakers

48-Hour Film Contest Award
Amateur Category
“Hungry For Love”
Team Name: Fruitcake TV

48-Hour Film Contest Award
Student Category
“Don’t Stop The Party”
Team Name: Brown Bear Productions

48-Hour Film Contest Award
Audience Choice
“Heartbreaker”
Team Name: Penn Productions

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL!

We are extremely excited to be able to present the Tallahassee audience with an Opening Night of films you won’t see anywhere else! These two different (or not so different) films about love, relationships and art will premiere in Tallahassee. It all starts Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 7pm at FSU’s Student Life Center theater. See you there!

IN A DREAM
Directed by Jeremiah Zagar

Over the past four decades Isaiah Zagar has covered over 50,000 square feet of Philadelphia with stunning mosaic murals. This documentary feature chronicles his work and his tumultuous relationship with his wife Julia. It follows the Zagars as their marriage implodes and a harrowing new chapter in their life unfolds. Winner of multiple film festival awards including the Emerging Visions Audience Award at SxSW. FSU’s Torchlight Program, in association with the Tallahassee Film Festival, is pleased to present this incredible first feature from director (and son of Isaiah), Jeremiah Zagar.

IN A DREAM will premiere Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 7pm at FSU’s Student Life Center theatre and will be preceded by the award-winning short film NEXT FLOOR!

BREAKING UPWARDS
Directed by Daryl Wein

Seriously though. This raw, romantic docu-comedy/drama follows a young New York couple, who after four years together, have grown stifled. Desperate to escape their ennui, but fearful of life apart, they decide to intricately strategize their own breakup. Blurring the line between documentary and narrative by casting real-life couple (and filmmakers) Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones as themselves, the film takes an uncensored look at love, lust and the pangs of codependency.

Check out the real trailer for it:

BREAKING UPWARDS will premiere Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 9:45pm at FSU’s Student Life Center theatre and is expected to be followed by a Q & A session with the filmmakers.

Sometime next week (fingers crossed) we will have most of the films for the 2009 lineup listed on this very website! Keep checking back! I promise! Until then, the best I can do is leak this snapshot taken at one of our many, rather intense (but always fun!) programming sessions. In it, programming committee member Dan Boldman celebrates our short film collections with his best Vanna White impression.

*All titles, of course, are subject to change and this image in no way represents the film festival’s actual program. It’s just for fun.

Until then… have a look at what one Akira Kurosawa would screen if he had the chance (and a 200+ hour / 30-day festival!).

1919 – Broken Blossoms, USA, D.W. Griffith
1919 – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Ger, R. Wiene
1922 – Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, Ger, Fritz Lang
1925 – The Gold Rush, USA, C. Chaplin
1928 – The Fall of the House of Usher, France, Jean Epstein
1928 – An Andalusian Dog, France, Luis Buñuel
1930 – Morocco, USA, Joseph Von Sternberg
1931 – Der Kongress tanzt, Ger, Eric Charell
1931 – The Threepenny Opera, Ger, Georg W. Pabst
1933 – Lover Divine, Ger-Au, Willi Forst
1934 – The Thin Man, USA, W.S. II Van Dyke
1934 – Our Neighbor, Japan, Yasujiro Shimazu
1935 – Tange Sazen, Japan, Sadao Yamanaka
1936 – Capricious Young Man, Japan, Mansaku Itami
1937 – The Grand Illusion, France, Jean Renoir
1937 – Stella Dallas, USA, King Vidor
1938 – Composition Class, Japan, Kajiro Yamamoto
1939 – Earth, Japan, Tomu Uchida
1939 – Ninotchka, USA, Ernst Lubitsch
1944 – Ivan the Terrible, URSS, Sergueï Eisenstein
1946 – My Darling Clementine, USA, John Ford
1946 – It’s a Wonderful Life, USA, Frank Capra
1946 – The Big Sleep, USA, Howard Hawks
1948 – The Bicycle Thief, Italy, Vittorio DeSica
1949 – The Green Mountains, Japan, Tadashi Imai
1949 – The Third Man, UK, Carol Reed
1949 – Late Spring, Japan, Yasujiro Ozu
1950 – Orpheus, France, Jean Cocteau
1951 – Carmen comes home, Japan, Keisuke Kinoshita
1951 – A Streetcar Named Desire, USA, Elia Kazan
1952 – The Adultress, France, Marcel Carné
1952 – Life of Oharu, Japan, Kenji Mizoguchi
1954 – Journey to Italy, Italy, Roberto Rossellini
1954 – Godzilla, Japan, Ishiro Honda
1954 – The Road, Italy, Federico Fellini
1955 – Floating Clouds, Japan, Mikio Naruse
1955 – Pather Panchali, India, Satyajit Ray
1955 – Daddy Long Legs, USA, Jean Negulesco
1956 – The Proud Ones, USA, Robert D. Webb
1958 – The Sun Legend of the End of the Tokugawa Era, Japan, Y. Kawashima
1957 – The Young Lions, USA, Edward Dmytryk
1959 – The Cousins, France, Claude Chabrol
1959 – The 400 Blows, France, François Truffaut
1959 – Breathless, France, Jean-Luc Godard
1959 – Ben-Hur, USA, William Wyler
1960 – Her Brother, Japan, Kon Ichikawa
1960 – The Long Absence, France, Henri Colpi
1960 – Stowaway in the Sky , France, Albert Lamorisse
1960 – Purple Noon, France, René Clément
1960 – Zazie, France, Louis Malle
1960 – Last Year at Marienbad, France, Alain Resnais
1962 – What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, USA, Robert Aldrich
1962 – Lawrence of Arabia, USA, David Lean
1963 – Any Number Can Win, France, Henri Verneuil
1963 – The Birds, USA, Alfred Hitchcock
1964 – The Red Desert, Italy, Michelangelo Antonioni
1966 – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, USA, Mike Nichols
1967 – Bonnie & Clyde, USA, Arthur Penn
1967 – In the Heat of the Night, USA, Norman Jewinson
1968 – The Charge of the Light Brigade, UK, T. Richardson
1969 – Midnight Cowboy, USA, John Schlesinger
1970 – M.A.S.H., USA, Robert Altman
1971 – Johnny Got His Gun, USA, Donald Trumbo
1971 – French Connection, USA, William Friedkin
1972 – The Spirit of the Beehive, Espagne, Victor Erice
1972 – Solaris, URSS, Andreï Tarkovski
1973 – The day of the Jackal, USA, Fred Zinnemann
1974 – Conversation Piece, Italy, Luchino Visconti
1974 – The Godfather, part 2, USA, Francis Ford Coppola
1974 – Sandakan N°8, Japan, Kei Kumai
1975 – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, USA, Milos Forman
1975 – The Travelling Players , Greece, Theo Angelopoulos
1975 – Barry Lyndon, USA, Stanle Kubrick
1976 – Lullaby of the Earth, Japan, Yasuzo Masumura
1977 – Annie Hall, USA, Woody Allen
1977 – An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano, URSS, Nikita Mikhalkov
1977 – Padre Padrone, Italy, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
1980 – Gloria, USA, John Cassavetes
1980 – A Distant Cry From Spring, Japan, Y. Yamada
1982 – La Traviata, Italy, Franco Zefirelli
1982 – Fanny and Alexander, Sue-FR-Ger, Ingmar Bergman
1982 – Fitzcarraldo, Ger, Werner Herzog
1983 – The King of Comedy, USA, Martin Scorsese
1983 – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence) Japan, Nagisa Oshima
1984 – Killing Fields, UK, Roland Joffé
1984 – Stranger Than Paradise, USA, Jim Jarmush
1984 – Tung-tung de jiaqi, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao Hsien
1984 – Paris, Texas, Ger, Wim Wenders
1985 – Witness, USA, Peter Weir
1985 – The Trip to Bountiful, USA, Peter Masterson
1985 – When Father Was Away on Business, Yug, Emir Kusturica
1987 – The Dead, USA, John Huston
1987 – Where Is the Friend’s Home?, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami
1987 – Bagdad Cafe, Ger, Percy Adlon
1987 – The Whales of August, USA, Lindsay Anderson
1988 – Running on Empty, USA, Sidney Lumet
1988 – My Neighbor Totoro, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki
1989 – A-Un, Japan, Yasuo Furuhata
1991 – La belle Noiseuse, France, Jacques Rivette
1997 – Hana-bi, Japan, Takeshi Kitano

Source: A Dream Is Genius, ISBN 4-16-355570. Edited by Bungeishunju. (c) 1999 Bungeishunju. Chapter 3.

Congratulations to the folks at FSU’s Student Life Cinema who this Thursday will make any true cineaste proud with a brand spanking new 35mm print of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Kubrick’s cyclical epic literally spans evolution instead of just generations. Could Tarkovsky have made Solaris without it? Could Lucas have made THX 1138 without it? Steven Spielberg believes the film is the “Big Bang” of his generation of filmmakers.

The voyage begins in our prehistoric Primate past, only to jump cut millennia to a space in which humans appear to be colonized. The film then becomes focused on the life of one astronaut (played by Keir Dullea) who ultimately embraces his (im)mortality, (taking cues from The Seventh Seal?) by battling the infamous computer mainframe HAL9000 to a game even deadlier than chess.

American Film Institute’s #1 Science Fiction movie in a pristine new print graces the FSU Askew Student Life Cinema on the evening of Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 7 and 10:15 PM. The address is 942 Learning Way.

The film is from 1968, rated G, in psychedelic Technicolor, and runs 141 minutes.

For an interesting Flash explanation of the film, go HERE!

For more info (including a map) on the FSU Student Life Cinema, go HERE!

Can’t wait for — dare I say — Mickey Rourke’s Oscar worthy performance in The Wrestler ? Then check out this “preview” of Nathan Clarke’s funding-seeking doc Wrestling For Jesus.

For more about this project, visit Fourth Line Films.
For more about Darren Aronofsky’s, visit TheWrestler.com.
For more about Jesus, visit church.

PS. This video is HD, so play it wide and loud. Enjoy!

Reminiscent of the flashback sequences at the beginning of Coppola’s overly produced and stylized Dracula, Andy Smetanka’s animation-by-Xacto-knife is utterly mesmerizing. Remember those construction paper figures you used to cut out in kindergarten; you know, the kind where you hinged together the figure’s joints with little brass brads? Well, for seven months Smetanka did just that, shooting every specific movement with a Super8 in front of a lightbox. With music by equally eclectic artists The Decemberists to fill the void, this 18 minute vision feels like antique animation at its finest.

This video is best played full screen, at full volume on a high speed internet connection. Enjoy!

What do India, New Zealand, Bosnia, Australia and Afghanistan all have in common with Tallahassee, Florida? Why a love for films, of course! This is just a sample of some of the international film submissions we’ve already received, and that’s in the first few weeks of call for entries! If we keep on like this – why, we’ll have to change our name to – as Tallahassee Democrat writer Mark Hinson put it, a festival of “international cinema.”

Read more about that here : http://tallahassee.com/article/20081028/NEWS01/810280311/1010

One of the goals of the Tallahassee Film Festival Programming Committee is to bring a selection of films to a city starved for a selection of films. Granted, Tallahassee has some wonderful ways to catch those movies playing limited release in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles: the film society, the Miracle 5 and the Student Life Cinema at FSU; but, that’s only if you want to see them after the buzz is gone and just before they hit Netflix.

One of the driving incentives behind the film festival is to bring you these movies before they hit the big screen or at least at the same time as when they play in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. With such a diverse and rich culture present in the capital of our great state, it seems only fair that we should get to see a great film like Frozen River when it actually released (August 2008) instead of October 2008.

That’s why the Tallahassee Film Festival is working to bring you special Spotlight presentations of films throughout the year; unique to the festival, but programmed by us and especially for you – the Tallahassee audience.