I need to acknowledge, along with everyone else on the staff, how much I enjoyed attending the Rome International Film Festival this year. I went on Saturday in order to maximize my viewing experience of Georgia films as well as to attend the meet and greet that was schedule for the afternoon.

I arrived early in Rome for the excellent networking breakfast and Acting Seminar put on by Barbara Meyers and featuring Greg Thompson. I have to commend this event for being a cut above most panel discussions you’ll find at film festivals. Greg was the perfect choice to speak on how to succeed in acting. I hope the audience, though skewing very young, will appreciate the gems they got from Greg. I learned a great deal from listening to Greg and how he approached his chosen profession. It certainly explains why Greg is one of the most successful actors and theater directors in the Southeast. He did not just ‘land’ on an acting career. He climbed his way to where he is today through meticulously applying himself at every aspect of the business.

I really appreciated his practical philosophy on keeping a positive attitude, it just makes sense. I was impressed with his recounting his ‘list’ of roles that he wanted to play in order to become more well-rounded as well as preventing external perceptions to stagnate his freedom to be considered for roles.

All that knowledge and BREAKFAST! Come on, there isn’t a better way to start a day at a film festival. After the breakfast, the actors in attendance were encouraged to speak to the filmmakers in attendance and I was able to meet some charming aspiring actors.

In fact, I’d enjoyed chatting with them so much that I was in danger of missing one of my assigned films, Lost in Gainesville. I walked up the street to the DeSoto Theater and was able to catch it since it played after The G-8 is Coming…The G-8 is Coming from Director Kate Amesbury.

Lost in Gainesville actually had its seeds sown while Director Jill Daniels was in Georgia attending another film festival with a previous film. She heard about an influx of immigrants to the area and began another documentary soon after meeting many of them. “I was interested in this transition of culture,” Daniels said during the Q & A (another really cool aspect of the festival, filmmakers from around the world were in attendance with their films). “I had made similar films before, so again I wanted to explore that topic,” she added.

Lost in Gainesville tells the story of different immigrants who’ve made the journey from Mexico to North Georgia and how it has affected them and their families. There seemed to be a divide along generational lines in terms of where these immigrants saw their place in the world, “The older people who came to America to work dream of going back, while the young people seem to want to remain in the U.S.,” acknowledged the director.

Like my colleagues, I felt the film lacked a true momentum and wished we’d been given a more focused exploration of the characters and the town where they were lost.

The good news was the turnout was very nice for a mid-morning documentary screening, at least in my humble estimation.

After the screening, it was time to get set up for the CinemATL/Tracy Page sponsored meet and greet. Mike and Charles had been talking it up over their previous days and we were really hoping for a good turnout.

At first, it was eerily quiet on the deck near our CinemATL banner (it coulda been hung a little higher). We’d resolved that at least the staff could have a good time imbibing and talking film. Thankfully, the Aussies came by shortly after we’d assumed that we reset the deck of the Waterfront Grill & Bar for nothing. Who am I speaking of? Kate Gorman, director of Five Moments of Infidelity, as well as Sleeper director Andrew Milner. It was interesting to hear about the differences in independent filmmaking between the U.S. and other countries that have more prevalent financial sponsorship from the Government.

The Lost in Gainesville producer and director came by for a short visit as well. Soon The Bread Squeezer team arrived as well as Jay Edwards, the director of Stomp! Shout! Scream!

Soon it was a party with Barry Norman, Harry Musselwhite, Greg Thompson, Scarlet letterers Josie Burgin Lawson and Daniel Burnley, Clay Walker brought his daughter, and it was threatening to get out of control when Mary Kraft finally arrived (already having been sought out by several parties prior to her arrival), but the heat kept everyone lazily seated and chatting, so the only thing outta control was the bar tab. It was fun seeing so many filmmakers at the gathering.

I had to leave the scene for a screening of The Last Monk. The film, directed by Sudipto Sen, follows a woman who’s pursuing her masters in Buddhism. She leaves for Ladakh for dissertation just 15 days before her marriage. She meets a guide who becomes the catalyst for her transcendant journey that includes exploring her sexuality in a different way, free from the constraints of love and faithfulness. The film is complex and filmed against a lush landscape with an appealing lead performance from seemingly a newcomer in Rachna Shah. However, I felt it overly long and too academic in nature. It felt more like a term paper on the topic of Buddhism rather than a true narrative film. Unfortunately, the filmmaker was not present at the screening for questions.

I had to hustle to get to the next screening of Hells End. The bar was a good place for the screening but the projection wasn’t great. The television screen behind the bar was where most people began to focus their attention. I have to admit that I had an expectation that Hells End was a horror movie and was a bit disappointed that it played more like a WWII prisoner of war drama until the last few minutes of the film. I think it would have been better as a straight horror film but I was impressed with the make-up effects and the way they were able to handle the period piece fairly well on such a low budget.

Right after the screening, there was little time to make it to the next screening, Return of the Jackalope. I won’t say anything about the film other than the screening was fun and had a nice turnout. However, the fact that this screening went off on time even though they hadn’t introduced the filmmaker ahead of it shows that this festival means business when they say a screening will start at 9pm (Mike and Dave were rushing along with me to make it on time which is how they did not have the opportunity to be introduced by Barry Norman).

The show just after that screening was aforementioned Kate Gorman’s Five Moments of Infidelity which was preceded with a funny short music video called Team Queen. Charles Judson will likely be posting a story about Kate and her film in the next few days, so I look forward to seeing it.

Overall, the day I enjoyed at the Festival was excellent. The atmosphere in Rome made us and I’m sure all the filmmakers very welcome. You could tell there was a festival going on, and better still, you could tell that the town was happy to host it. Congratulations to RIFF for a very nice event.

The Rome International Film Festival has come to an end this past Sunday and the accolades have been dispensed.

At Rome’s historical Desoto Theater, RIFF’s Creative Program Director Harry Musselwhite, Executive Director Barry Norman and Festival Liason Allen Bell handed out RIFF’s own custom designed statuette The Sylvia; eponymously named after the mythical mother of twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the ancient city of Rome.

Atlanta Filmmakers Tal Harris and Kasia Kowalczyk and Executive Producer Susan Neal were in attendance and they were able to collect their award for Best American Short for The Bread Squeezer.

Having been in contention for awards at various other festivals, but walking away empty-handed, Harris jokingly said it felt good to finally “be a bride and no longer a bride’s maid.” It was a victory made even sweeter when, earlier in the day, Kasia and Harris overheard a passerby casually tell her son “see everyone’s going to see The Bread Squeezer.”

For the Lifetime Achievement Award Norman handed presenting duties over to independent film legend Bob Hawk. Hawk has nurtured or mentored a who’s who list of independent filmmakers, including Ed Burns (The Brothers McCullen), Kevin Smith (Clerks) and Adam Bhala Logue (Bomb the System). A major force in the independent filmworld, Hawk has consulted or served in an advisory capacity with various festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival . Norman said that if RIFF was going to give the award to a legendary filmmaker like Rick Schmidt, best known for authoring “Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices” and whose own 1983 film Emerald Cities screened at RIFF, then it was only right that another legend do the honors.

Adding an emotional punch to Schmidt’s Lifetime Achievement Award was a video taped message from Kevin Smith. Irreverent as usual, Smith credited Schmidt’s tome for encouraging his career in film. Referencing his own recently released Clerks II Smith quipped that what everyone was waiting for was Morgan’s Cake 2.

Schmidt gracefully thanked RIFF for the award. The maverick filmmaker joked that adding Smith’s endorsement of “Feature Filmmaking” to the back of the book generated more sells post-quote then in all the years the book was previously in print. And then sarcastically added that he was now rich enough that he could comfortably retire.

Giving festival attendees an extra opportunity to catch some of the films they might have missed, the award winners were screened immediately after the ceremony.

RIFF Award Winners

Best Animated Short: Smile

Best Experimental: Flight

Best American Documentary: The Seeker

Best International Documentary: Yanush Korchak (Israel)

Best Narrative Feature: The Garage

Best Narrative Short (USA): The Bread Squeezer

Best Narrative Short (International): Lesson Number Five (Lebanon)

Best Director: Nikola Vukcevic View from the Eiffel Tower (Serbia-Montenegro)

Audience Award for Best Short: The Stranger Malone Video (a work in progress)

Audience Award for Best Feature: Shut Up and Sing!

Festival Achievement Award: Iris Franklin, President, Rome International Film Festival Board of Directors

Special Jury Award: Our Very Own

Life Time Achievement: Rick Schimdt

Pics from The GREG THOMPSON “YOU OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES SEMINAR…” The Seminar was packed with young actors from Rome and Northwest Georgia. Getting the kids to mug for the camera wasn’t difficult. So behold tongues a wagging!

One of American cinema’s finest achievements, To Kill A Mockingbird, screened Saturday night at the DeSoto Theatre as part of the Rome International Film Festival. In the aging and shabby lobby of the once grand theatre, Mary Badham, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as “Scout”, spoke to cinemATL.com about the film, its impact on audiences, and its impact on her life.

Mary, who won the part over thousands of others who auditioned across the country, describes herself as very like Scout. And she speaks with great affection of the Mockingbird family that supported her all her life.

“I was a tomboy deluxe,” she joked. “I never had any acting lessons; I was an instinctive actor. I had no appreciation of it at the time, but as an adult I realize what I was privy to.”

Over 40 years after garnering three Oscars (and being chosen as one of AFI’s 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time), this venerable film of family love, racial hatred, and honor still has the power to move an audience to tears when the entire upper gallery of the courtroom filled with “the coloreds” waits, then stands to honor Atticus Finch as he exits the courtroom.

To Kill A Mockingbird is very different from the 2-second, blow-everything-up movies audiences are accustomed to today. Director Robert Mulligan and Producer Alan Pakula let the characters and suspense build. The scenes are slower, almost languorous.

“Directors and studios are afraid of silence on the screen,” Mary observed. “I feel when I walk out of a theatre these days that I’ve been assaulted. There has to be a space for audiences to think for themselves.”

The entire first act of the film focuses on the children and framing the character of Atticus Finch. The suspense of what is to come builds in the background. As a result, when things do happen they come as a shock. And by the time Atticus Finch, played so masterfully by Gregory Peck, stands up in the courtroom to defend his client, the audience really knows there is no way this man can be guilty.

“Brock [Peters] told me that courtroom scene was the hardest thing he ever had to do as an actor,” Mary remarked.

That’s easy to believe. Director Robert Mulligan’s take of Peters’ character Tom Robinson in the witness stand defending himself against the false accusation of rape is as unflinching as Peters’ performance is fierce and heart breaking.

“The cast and crew gave him a standing ovation when it was done,” Mary said.

And did he get it in one take?

“No, he had to do it twelve times!” Mary exclaimed. “Atticus told me he had to stop looking at Brock. It was just too hard.”

After all these years Mary still calls Gregory Peck Atticus. To her, he was and will always be that great father figure. The one we all wish our fathers were: kind, honorable, gentle, and protecting. A father who reads to us, tucks us in bed, and shows his children how to live with dignity and an open mind in a world filled with prejudice and hate.

Not surprisingly, the scene where Atticus tucks Scout in bed is Mary’s favorite. And she stayed in touch with Atticus all her life. When she speaks about him you can see in her eyes that she still misses him.

Mary knew the relationships she built on that set were special and irreplaceable. She also stayed in touch with Brock Peters until his death and still communicates regularly with Phillip Alford who played her brother Jem. But did she have any idea as a child that she was part of something so important in film history?

“Oh, no,” she said. “No one knew. Except maybe Alan Pakula and Bob Mulligan.”

And does Mary Badham think To Kill a Mockingbird is still relevant in our world today?

“Still Relevant? Still relevant?!” she repeated incredulously. “Has bigotry gone anywhere? Have our children gotten any better educated? Are they being any better parented? This is a film of family, of coming together, of hope for a better world if we just teach our children not to judge other people until you’ve had a chance to know them. That message is relevant all over the world.”

Gotta tell you. I wasn’t expecting a lot. The blurb in the RIFF program describes Shut Up and Sing as “a group of guys who sang a cappella together in college and are now reuniting fifteen years later to sing at a friend’s wedding”.

“Great,” I thought, “I’ve been assigned to see The Big Chill with bad barber shop music.”

Color me wrong. Okay, it is about a group of guys who sang together in college. And they do now have wives and babies and divorces. And they do all get together the night before a friend’s wedding at one big house in the Hamptons. And secrets are revealed. And some lives do come to, well, you get the idea.

But they never drifted as far apart as their Chill counterparts because they did keep singing together. And they didn’t lose their sense of humor.

That’s because they got good comic actors who know how to deliver a line like Molly Shannon of Saturday Night Live. And someone taught them how to really sing a cappella.

Far from dreading each moment of singing that I knew was inevitable, the music added to the film in a wonderful way. The characters were engaging, funny, and real. In other words, Writer/Producer/Director Bruce Leddy’s film about a bunch of u who yell “SHUT UP!” instead of saying hello is the film The Big Chill should have been.

I had not heard of Jackie Paris prior to seeing the posting for the film ‘Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris in the RIFF program. And being a jazz lover, I decided to give it a look and discover who Jackie Paris is.

Unfortunately, the search continues: For me, and the film’s director Raymond De Felitta.

I arrived in Rome on Saturday behind schedule. I had to skip our gathering at the Waterfront Bar and Grill and go straight to the DeSoto to pick up my pass and head over to the first film I was assigned to cover. After that, I hooked up with some of the CinemATL staff for a minute, then rushed off to a second screening. Leaving that screening, I thought I had enough down time to compose and post my first write up before ‘Tis Autumn began. I was not finished by the time the film started, and opted to finish my write up and go into screening late: A complete disregard for my personal doctrine of punctuality. As it turned out, I was not five or ten minutes late – as I was for the other screenings, but forty minutes late.

In that, I missed De Felitta’s examination of Paris’ early life and rise to the height of his career success before a change in the music scene brought on his premature downfall. I could only make a guess about it based on subsequent interviews with friends, critics and others: Paris grew up in a rough environment that brought out in him a nasty temper that possibly hampered his chances and opportunities for commercial success. But I didn’t miss his musicianship: The ability to elicit the cool, soothing sounds from the jazz guitar, and vocal stylings that I can only liken to a dish smartly seasoned as to accent the main ingredient rather than overtake it. And the voice: Smooth like Sinatra or King Cole’s, with a suggestion of roughness that gives it its distinction, and that can blend with another singer’s so beautifully that you think it was one singer. It’s a mystery why Paris never became as well known as his contemporaries like Sinatra and Cole.

But watching that last hour of the documentary, I got the impression that it was a mystery to De Felitta as well. In fact, everything about Paris’ life was mysterious. De Felitta was deeply affected by Paris’ music from the first time he heard it, but could find virtually nothing about the man himself. In March of 2004, De Felitta learned that Paris was doing a few club dates in Manhattan, and work on ‘Tis Autumn began. Paris would live only twelve weeks after the first of the interviews.

De Felitta admits that he had trouble finding answers to many of his questions about Paris, even in talking to the man himself. One example is De Felitta’s attempt to verify that Paris had a child from his first marriage (which De Felitta learned unexpectedly) When asked point blank, Paris denied any children. Yet after Paris’ death, De Felitta was able to track down the first wife, and the son whom Paris never met but knew he had. De Felitta and Paris seemed to have a relationship that reminds me of the friendship shared by filmmaker Clay Walker (The Cole Nobody Knows) and his subject Freddie Cole. But where I believe Cole was open with Walker, Paris seemed at times to hold back, staring off into space. In his eyes, anything from regret, pain, anger to sorrow was evident. De Felitta says that many questions were unanswered during those twelve weeks.

When all is said and done, De Felitta quotes Orson Welles: “It’s good that we know little of artists like Shakespeare and Cervantes, so that we can appreciate their art all the more.” For De Felitta, he has learned all he can and still knows nothing, but still has the body of Paris’ music to appreciate. For me, I have a still incomplete knowledge of Paris. But even with the little of his music that I heard in the last hour of the film, I have in that ignorance an appreciation for Jackie Paris. I’m more likely to seek the music – fortunately, some of his music is available on CD – than the knowledge. Yeah, I’ll Google him or look for him in some books at work. But the music – his art – is more likely to pull a smile from this gloomy writer than a few factoids

The United States, whose symbol of liberty stands at one of her open ports inviting the huddled masses in to find freedom, is awash with said masses in record numbers. Many of them hold differing if not radical points of views that could threaten the security and freedom of the entire nation. Fear and paranoia cause citizens and government to see them – and all – immigrants with prejudice, and to take suppressive actions against them: Actions that are sometimes contradictory to the principles of government, law and civil liberty. This is a rough picture of the U.S. and immigration today, and not too different from the situation some eighty years ago when two Italian immigrants were arrested and tried in the worst miscarriage of justice in U.S. history. The documentary Sacco and Vanzetti takes a look at this place in history when justice was denied to these men in the name of national security, and the dangers that such mindset poses to us today.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti hated the exploitation of the working class of the 1920’s, and joined an anarchist organization in hopes of affecting change to American society. In the height of the Red Scare, Americans and American government were fearful of such organizations, some of which we would call terrorist today, and did everything imaginable to guard against them. Sacco and Vanzetti found themselves victims of the national paranoia when they were arrested on robbery-murder charges. Despite the absence of credible evidence and unreliable witnesses, the two were found guilty in a highly prejudiced trial and sentenced to death. For seven years following, Sacco and Vanzetti became synonymous with injustice and bigotry worldwide. Despite the best efforts of many to get justice and freedom for the condemned, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in 1927.

Much like a History Channel program, the film makes use of scholars who are experts on the case, along with historical footage and documents that bring light to the social climate and the personal lives of the subjects. It is more thorough than History Channel docs, as it traces the event from beginning to sad end with good detail. The film concludes with a warning: We cannot allow the fears that led to the massive injustices against Sacco and Vanzetti affect us in the same way in the 1920’s, and that we don’t visit the same abuses to our justice system upon today’s immigrants: Let’s not forget the past and condemn ourselves to relive it.

Interestingly, one of Sacco and Vanzetti’s obstacles to exhibition on television is its ending, which shows images of Muslim detainees in Guantanamo Bay and other prisons to punctuate the danger of the past happening today. Certain networks want that footage removed before they can broadcast it. The filmmakers will not compromise, fortunately, and content themselves to the festival circuit.

We know the Jehovah’s Witnesses as the folks who knock on our doors on Saturday mornings while we’re trying to sleep or do housework, or who hand us The Watchtower or Awake as we’re trying to put our groceries in the car. And we shrug them of as one of the temporary annoyances of our day. Well, if they were so inclined, they would tell you that much our freedoms of speech and religion and medical advances are due in some part to them.

Instead, they left the job to filmmakers Joel P. Engardio and Tom shepard, who document the people behind the pamphlets in the documentary Knocking. The film gives a brief history of the Witnesses and their fights to exercise their right to practice their beliefs and proselytize, and their martyrdom during World War II. The film is at its best, though, as it examines the faith of two men in action: One is Joseph, an Auschwitz survivor whose lost faith is renewed after recalling a group of Witnesses held in Auschwitz for voicing opposition to Hitler and the Nazi regime. Given the chance to go free if they signed a document renouncing their religion, the Witnesses stayed and suffered in the death camps. After converting to Jehovah’s Witness, Joseph is seen as a traitor by the Jewish community and his daughter, who was raised Jewish by an aunt. Another is Seth, who faces death unless he receives a liver transplant. Because the Witnesses refuse to receive blood transfusions, and the operation requires many transfusions, no hospital will attempt the surgery. But the University of Southern California is willing to try the operation with a bloodless experimental procedure, the outcome of which is unknown.

Knocking played to an oversold house, many of whom I suspect are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Following the film – and likely unknown by the audience – a short titled Yanush Korchak screened. Based on surviving letters and diaries of a doctor and advocate for the humanity of children, director Semion Vinokur weaves re-enacments with archival footage to create the last three days of Korchak’s orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto, shortly before the evacuation of Jews to concentrations camps. Korchak knows of the coming horror to his kind, and to the children in his charge. Despite many opportunities to save his own life, including a reprieve by a Nazi commander who remembers one of Korchak’s childrens books, Korchak chooses to stay with his children to provide them with love and comfort to the last.

What resonates in these films is the strength of conviction. No one would deny any of these men the chance to save their lives, or in Joseph’s case to stay to his new family and never try to connect with his daughter and her family. But faith in God or want for the dignity of innocents keep them on their courses, never surrendering to fear, never finding ways to compromise, nvever taking the easy way out.

Unlike some peoples of faith who puff up or whine when their faith is challenged, the Jehovah’s Witnesses gain my respect for standing true without projecting anger to the rest of us. And in Korchak, another story of sanity in a time of incredible madness: Man’s humanity to man.

Lesson number one about blogging, never assume your hotel’s internet is going to be in working order. It took Mike and me a while to get things in order.

The opening night film was Our Very Own, a small town coming of age film that has all the components of the genre minus the generic handling and the trite resolutions. And because it was written and directed by a native son, it isn’t loaded down with pseudo-Southern touches. The Rome audience ate it up.

What’s evident, as Mike has pointed out, is that Rome is filmmaker friendly. If the Atlanta Film Festival isn’t careful, I could see RIFF stealing some of their thunder in a few years. There are plenty of places to eat on Broad Street. All the venues are within walking distance and I’m sure Shorter College could be brought into the mix at some point. Nothing’s more exciting then seeing folks who are geniunely enthused to attend the opening night film.

Offense to Atlanta, but I think Rome will be much more appreciative of the business a festival can bring. Now if Rome/Floyd Count can see fit to extend the drinking hours, that would be stupendous.

Friday has been a good day for films and as it’s been all year for festivals, the docs were strong.

There’s only been one clunker.

The Untold Tell of the Messiah is allegedly a documentary about Christ’s journey through India. The filmmaker posits that Christ didn’t die on the cross. After he was let down, Christ allowed the Romans to believe he was dead and then he proceeded to trek across Western Europe and Asia influencing all the major religions and philosophies.

Quality wise, UTotM scores a few points higher than your average public access show. As far as its journalistic aspirations, it’s on par with an episode of the 700 Club. The film drones on and on and about half away through I just didn’t care anymore. As with the 700 Club, any information that contradicts the filmmaker’s version of history, she introduces some university expert who confirms that her version of events and interpretations of religious text are correct. There are no rebuttal witnesses and worse yet, she doesn’t offer a reason why we should care. I could be wrong, but it’s not like the filmmaker directly implies that Christianity is built on false premise. If you’re going to make such a bold statement, then you should carry the film to its logical conclusion.

So what was good? Since I have to be up at seven tomorrow, I’ll have to answer that tomorrow. However, I’ll tease you with these photos. Oh and by the way, if all goes well, we should have some good stuff for you To Kill a Mockingbird Fans.

Our Very Own Producer chats with Barry Norman

Guerilla Radio: The Hip-Hop Struggle Under Castro director Thomas Nybo (right) and his Producer (left)

Our Very Own writer/director Cameron Watson (right) with Our Very Own Cast Member Michael Mckee

Hey gang, just a quick note to talk about the Rome International Film Festival. I’ll write up more when I’m a bit more sober, but I just got back from a kickin’ party with FREE BEER.

I just want to say that this festival is very filmmaker friendly. These folks are bending over backwards to make sure we have a good time, and the city of Rome has been an awesome host. If you haven’t checked out this festival yet, there’s still two more days of films, parties and networking events.

The fact that everything is in walking distance is great. The whole town seems to be embracing this festival, and the audiences are here to enjoy films. While the festival is filmmaker friendly, there’s more than just an atmosphere of the same “industry” people gathering over and over. There’s a good mix of non-filmmakers wanting to just enjoy some movies.

Plus, I’ve met filmmakers from all over, including Australia, Britain, New York and Sante Fe.

So, why aren’t you here? (If you are, disregard that last sentence.)