The Sarasota Film Festival's (April 13-22) director of programming Tom Hall, programmer Holly Herrick, executive director Jody Kielbasa and the rest of the staff and attending filmmakers are getting a reputation... for making the SFF quite possibly the most enjoyable regional film festival experience in the United States. Of course 10 days of sun, sand and sea doesn't hurt, but the real pleasure here is the feeling of artistic collaboration and celebration. One gets the feeling that the staff like working with each other and the attending filmmakers
really like seeing each other's films and boy howdy do the local audiences love
watching the films! In fact, on the ninth day of the fest, I overheard as an elderly couple (Sarasota's population skews towards the upper end of the age spectrum) made plans to attend their 37th film of the fest and were looking to break 40. That's impressive for a film professional, even more so for the general public.
Hall's programming philosophy is pretty simple: If it's good, it screens. He's been heavily quoted as saying that his M.O. is "one for them (the audience) and one for me," however this year's submissions were so good, according to Hall, that he didn't have to make such a distinction. The opening night film, David Sington's Apollo space program doc (and upcoming THINKFilm release)
In the Shadow of the Moon was exactly the sort of rousing, thought-provoking, engrossing film that opening nights were made for. The event was all the more special by a post-screening Q&A with the director and Astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the moon. And much of the talk at the lavish opening night party following was about not only the film itself, but the film's subjects. A perfect reaction to a documentary.
There's been much talk in the festival world lately about premiere status and claims of certain events strong-arming filmmakers into bypassing fests such as Sarasota and SXSW and Hall's got strong opinions on the subject: "Our mission is to bring the best cinema to festival audiences and also to discover new work. While I think premiere status matters from an industry perspective [in that] buyers want to attend markets where they can buy brand new films before their competitors, outside of one or two festivals in North America, I don't think it matters at all." In fact, Sarasota doesn't promote the premiere status of its films at all because they deem it irrelevant. "Our goal is to bring the best in cinema to our audiences and the industry. Period."
That practice has served them well, as SFF was stop number two on the "Great Mumblecore Road Trip of 2007." Joe Swanberg's
Hannah Takes the Stairs [pictured above], Ry Russo-Young's
Orphans, Aaron Katz's
Quiet City and Michael Tully's
Silver Jew were just a few of the films making the trip from Austin to the Gulf Coast along with their makers, which is one of the key things that elevates Sarasota above the rest of the pack. Not only do Hall and Herrick curate a fantastic event, but they do their best to bring in as many filmmakers as possible who, along with industry guests and an astonishingly high level of community support and involvement combine to make the SFF a special event. The 4 a.m. hotel pool skinny-dipping excursions don't hurt, either.
SFF also embraces the work of master filmmakers. This year's recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Filmmaking was Norman Jewison and the Sarasota audience was treated to screenings of
Moonstruck,
Fiddler on the Roof,
...And Justice For All,
A Soldier's Story,
The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming!, and
The Thomas Crown Affair, not to mention an "In Conversation With..." session between Jewison and Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne. There were similar conversations with actor-director Steve Buscemi, actors Joe Pantoliano & Marcia Gay Harden (in town with
Canvas) as well as actor Edward Norton & writer Brian Koppelman.
An added treat at the fest is the music. And for me the soundtrack at this year’s SFF will be liberally sprinkled with songs by Athens, GA-based collective, Of Montreal, who played a rousing set at Sarasota's Minxx Nightclub. Hall is getting a reputation as not only a fantastic programmer but also as the deliverer of exceptional musical performances for the festival crowd. In his short three years at the artistic helm, the Sarasota crowd has been treated to gigs by former Husker Du/Sugar frontman Bob Mould, DeVotchKa, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Kiki & Herb, crooner Matt Dusk and Of Montreal.
"One of the most important things to remember when putting together an event," says Hall, "is that film doesn't exist in a vacuum, but is instead one medium among many, speaking to similar concerns and ideas. We wanted to bring musicians in to the festival because musical performance is a complimentary experience to the cinematic experience and we think it makes the festival more whole." In addition to the musical performances, programmer Holly Herrick put together a reception with local visual artists and filmmakers, with the hopes that it might inspire a conversation among artists working in diverse media and engage the local artistic community. "Movies are treated like disposable commodities in our culture," continues Hall, "and our goal is to reverse that trend in the minds of our festival-goers by properly contextualizing film as one among [many] visual arts."
All in all, the 9th annual Sarasota Film Festival was a wonderful experience for all involved. Embraced by the local community and filmmakers alike, the event's 10th anniversary should be one of the "can't miss" stops on the festival trail next year.
Labels: Festivals
# posted by Jason Guerrasio @ 5/13/2007 07:15:00 PM
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