The Rhode Island International Film Festival
I am at the Rhode Island International Film Festival with my friend and film editor, Christopher McKenzie. This festival is a qualifier for the Academy Awards for shorts films, so I have seen some pretty good shorts. I especially liked "Romans 12:20" by the Shammasian Brothers--beautifully shot, amazing story, acting. Good film. Check it out. I also saw a documentary on Eddie Adams called "An Unlikely Weapon," that was a great story, if a little depressing. I found the unapologetic use of video a bit distracting -- here's a good review.
I think my favorite things so far is this: in the program guide, movies are represented by some sort of small graphical representation, usually a photograph or still from the film. However, there is one short film that defies this convention: "X," a sixteen minute short directed by JOSH BROLIN. So, I guess when you are super-famous like JOSH BROLIN, you need not present any representation of your film in the guide, but instead a bad headshot of JOSH BROLIN represents the film. It's not even a good headshot, but instead a snap made when JOSH BROLIN was at an awards show or some such -- one can discern some text on the wall behind him that speaks to this. I will not see this film simply because of this poorly contrived image; I am also not that interested in it.
I am nervous. In three days, folks will be assessing my film. I'm trying to stay in the moment and recognize that we have come a long way with this project. A 'top 12' film festival -- not so bad. If you are near Providence, RI on Saturday, please come see the film:
Commit to the Line
Saturday, Aug 9, 2008
9:30p.m., Bell Street Chapel
Rhode Island International Film Festival