Tallahassee Film Festival

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Tallahassee Community College’s Turner Auditorium will open its doors to a pair of events during the upcoming Tallahassee Film Festival, presented by Florida Commerce Credit Union.
On Friday, May 16 at 11 a.m., TCC will host “A Report from the Trenches,” a panel discussion on the art of filmmaking. Later that afternoon, at 4 p.m., the College will host the screening of Eric Nichols’ film, Alone With Her.

The panel discussion, sponsored by the TCC Foundation, will feature a stellar lineup of professionals in the filmmaking industry: Blue Ridge Motion Pictures chief Lee Ann Campbell, Oscar-winning sound mixer Richard Portman, Florida State University film school artist-in-residence Chip Chalmers, Tallahassee filmmaker Kenneth Jones and Tim McNeal, Vice President, Talent Development & Diversity, Disney-ABC Television Group.

“We are proud to sponsor an event that brings experts in the fields of writing, film direction and studio operations,” said Robin Johnston, TCC Vice President of Development and Executive Director of the TCC Foundation.

Nichols, over the past ten years, has worked for some of the top production companies in Hollywood, including Warner Brothers-based Alcon Entertainment and Sony-based Escape Artists, where his script Diary is currently set up to star Jennifer Aniston. In 2005, he wrote and directed the psychological thriller, Alone With Her. The film premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, where it was picked up for worldwide distribution by IFC Films and The Weinstein Company. The movie was released in 2007 to excellent reviews, including raves by the Los Angeles Times, New York Post and Entertainment Weekly.

Alone With Her is the harrowing story of a disturbed young man’s attempts to win the affections of an unsuspecting young woman. When Doug, played by Colin Hanks, son of two-time Oscar Winner Tom Hanks, first sees Amy, played by Ana Claudia Talancon, he instantly falls for her and begins to watch her every move, going so far as to set up spy cameras in her apartment. However, as his fascination grows into obsession he’s no longer satisfied with just watching.

The film contains adult situations and language not appropriate for a young audience.

Following the film, a question and answer session will be held with Nicholas by phone.

Both events are free and open to the public. Turner Auditorium is located in TCC’s Fine & Performing Arts Center.

The Tallahassee Film Festival, presented by Florida Commerce Credit Union, takes place May 15-17. For more information, log on to www.tallahasseefilmfestival.com.

2008 Tallahassee Film Festival Audience Reactions

Interviews with Filmmakers and Producers from Tallahassee Film Festival 2008.

ABC 27 WTXL-TV Tallahassee

The works of Kenneth Jones, an award-winning filmmaker and Florida A&M University (FAMU) journalism professor, plus two other FAMU alumni filmmakers, will be showcased during the inaugural Tallahassee Film Festival May 15-17.

Jones’ film “Love & Fate,” an 89-minute feature film, was selected from more than 150 entries from all over the world for the TFF. The film is “about a home for the mentally ill and a young lady who falls in love with a visitor without the visitor knowing her mental status,” said Jones. “Love & Fate” will be shown for free on May 16 at 8 p.m. at the Florida Museum of History’s Heritage Hall, 500 S. Bronough St.

Jones, who serves on the Tallahassee Film Festival Board, said the film cost about $75,000 to produce and was originally distributed on Encore, Starz and Eastern Federal Theatres between 2001 and 2003.

Jones said he is excited about the festival because it will “showcase stories, cultures and environments that you don’t see in the multiplex theatres … It’s important to educate our community about the process of filmmaking. We will have panel discussions and a question and answer session so people can understand the whole film process including writing, directing and producing.”

In addition to Jones’ film, the documentary work of two other FAMU alums will be shown during the festival. For example, Leonard Horton’s “Dawson Days,” a film about the historic, award-winning Tuskegee Choir, won the National Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award in 2004. “Dawson Days” will be shown May 17, at 2 p.m. in the All Saints Cinema, 903 Railroad Avenue, and again that same day at 6:30 p.m. at FAMU’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication Lecture Hall, 510 Orr Drive. Augustine Rho’s “Voice of Rape,” which won a first place Florida AP Award, will be shown on May 16, at 3:45 p.m. in the Museum of Florida History’s Heritage Hall and again on May 17, at 9 p.m. in the FAMU SJGC’s Lecture Hall.

Another film with FAMU ties is “Fear in Florida: When Hate Becomes A Crime,” a film about the bombings on FAMU’s campus in August 2000. It will air May 16, at 3:45 p.m. in the Museum of Florida History’s Heritage Hall and again May 17, at 9 p.m. in the FAMU SJGC Lecture Hall.

FAMU’s SJGC Lecture Hall is one of five venues for the Tallahassee Film Festival. Other venues include the Museum of Florida History’s Heritage Hall, Florida State University Student Life Center Theatre, the FSU Film School Mix Theatre and All Saints Cinema. For more details about the festival, go to www.tallahasseefilmfestival.com.