Dallas Film Festival Loses AFI Affiliation, Gains Independence

The 2010 DALLAS International Film Festival (DIFF) was a tightly run, well-organized and managed event this year; contrary to concerns about the success of the festival sans its American Film Institute (AFI) affiliation. The Dallas Film Society clearly took its role very seriously in maintaining a well-ordered machine, in order to provide festival quality films, along with balancing out celebrity appearances. Now that the red carpet’s been rolled up and the dust has settled―and yet people are still talking about the festival―we can see it from a much clearer perspective.

Chairman of the Board and face of the festival, Michael Cain, has taken what began as a small, independent film festival (Deep Ellum Film Festival) and turned it into what it is today. Not only should a film festival screen amazing, cutting edge films; but at the helm should be all the filmmakers who make these films. Taking care of the individuals behind the films is of utmost importance with regards to festival experience. Dallas knows how to take care of its filmmakers.

This year marked my third anniversary of attending the festival as a filmmaker and I can safely say it’s been my favorite experience thus far. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that I’ve met so many people in the last three years involved with the festival, the press who covers the festival and Dallas film culture in general. But ultimately, I found myself at a festival where a filmmaker can screen his or her film and not get lost in the shuffle of A-list celebrities and big-budgeted films. Not that there weren’t a ton of A-list celebrities and big-budgeted films! There were. But this has to do with the organization of the festival as a whole. In Dallas, it doesn’t matter how successful you are; as long as you’re a filmmaker, you get the rock star treatment. Personally, my week was filled with red carpet appearances, interviews and publicity spots―and I didn’t even star in, write or direct the films I’m associated with!

This year I had two films I produced at the festival, LOVERS OF HATE and EARTHLING. While both films did really well, EARTHLING stole the show―probably having something to do with all the pre-festival press it received as well as being one of Dallas Observer’s most anticipated films of the fest. Not only did it sell out its two scheduled screenings; but received a third screening at the Dallas Museum of Art to accommodate those folks turned away. Several other films received the same treatment due to the foresight and flexibility of DIFF staff.

Aside from packed houses and successful screenings, DIFF cleverly balanced its festival-quality content with all sorts of celebrities, award-winning filmmakers and loads of events and parties. Texas native and Fort Worth regular, Bill Paxton, who I’ve met on several other occasions, was seen at all the events over opening weekend. I also had a great deal of time to spend with my friend, Jeff Scheftel (writer/director/producer “Biography” & “Modern Marvels”) who was there with a Darfur doc, THE LAST SURVIVOR. Bummed about missing WINTER’S BONE for the third festival in a row (it premiered at Sundance), I was relieved when I had a chance to catch up with lead actor and Texas lover, John Hawkes. Additionally, meeting Frank Darabont (writer/director THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION & THE GREEN MILE), Tim McCanlies (writer THE IRON GIANT), and actress Karen Black (EASY RIDER) were high points. The low point was meeting Clint Howard in an elevator and not recognizing him until long after I’d put my foot in my mouth―oh well, he silently forgave me by accepting my Facebook request!

Most of the official parties took place at the Palomar Hotel (across from the Angelika Theatre in Uptown Dallas, the venue for most of the screenings); and DIFF, who’s been known for its festival lounge in the past, certainly didn’t let us down this year. The lounge boasted three arcade machines (with tons of games on each), Billiards, a Foosball table, Wii, full service open bar all ten days, DJ, and “DallasFest After Dark” presented by Red Carpet Crash and Bigfanboy.com nightly coverage. Suffice it to say, the lounge was certainly a convenient destination point for filmmakers, press and festival guests.

Dallas has certainly come a long way with its festival; and as long as strong programming and a welcoming attitude continue to prevail, I’m certain the festival will thrive for years to come. Kudos to the DIFF staff. You can bet I’ll attend next year!

More coverage of film related stuff, with links to all the pics, on my blog at www.adamdonaghey.com and please follow me on Twitter @adamdonaghey and Facebook!

Look out for LOVERS OF HATE, still available On Demand from the Independent Film Channel, and EARTHLING at these film festivals in May: LOVERS at 360 | 365 (ST. NICK is also screening), both LOVERS & EARTHLING, along with MY MOM SMOKES WEED at Maryland, EARTHLING at Santa Cruz and a special screening at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

***Originally published in The SCENE Magazine – May 2010***

Check out all my photos from 2010 DALLASIFF (and there are lots of them) on Facebook!

Filed under: Film Festivals, SCENE Magazine, Dallas Int'l Film Festival, EARTHLING, LOVERS OF HATE

Brief Film Updates

ST. NICK

Hello all! So, the last time I sent out an email, I was expressing my joy that ST. NICK had been invited to premiere at SXSW. As a reminder, those screening dates are 12pm Sunday, March 15th and 2:30pm Tuesday, March 17th. Both at the Alamo Ritz. I’ll be in town for five festival days, from March 13th thru the 17th. As of now, I’ve got a place to stay; but I’d really prefer to be a little closer if possible (no offense Bryan!). So, if you’ve got some space available, lemme know.

In addition, ST. NICK has been welcomed by AFI Dallas. The screening dates are Fri, March 27 at 4:15pm and Sun, March 29 at 12:15pm. Both at the Magnolia Theater. At this point, I’ll only be in town for the screenings. Talks haven’t even begun, but I’m sure there will be some sort of get together for cast and crew. PLEASE let me know your interest and availability and we’ll figure something out. Since many of the folks who worked on the film can’t make it to SXSW, this is an ideal place for a reuinion. I’m anxious to see all of you!

ST. NICK will also be screening very soon after in April… But I can’t say the festival yet. I’ll have to save that for another update.

So now I’m just waiting to see the final version myself! David literally finished it up yesterday… It’s totally locked and mastered. He’s now looking for a buck so he can drop a copy off to me in the mail.

Don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook and see our website at www.stnickfilm.com.

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LOVERS OF HATE

Bryan recently wrapped in Austin and from what I’ve seen so far, the film’s going to be really great. The performances were extraordinary… Especially the dynamic between the three leads. I was so happy to be there briefly during photography. And that I got to reprise my–er…Clay’s–creepy older nerd guy was worth the drive itself.

I posted pics on Facebook recently after my Austin venture. See them here, along with a very brief write up of my experience.

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AUDREY THE TRAINWRECK

I’m anxiously awaiting a rough picture cut in the mail presently… I hope it’s okay that I mention that (Frank? Frank, don’t hurt me!). Sound and scoring are in the near future and a cut should be available in September for festival submissions and whatnot.

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EARTHLING

My newest film, EARTHLING, written & directed by Clay Liford (I’ve helped produce several of his shorts: MY MOM SMOKES WEED, THE STRANGER and TIMENATRIX) is scheduled for principle photography April 4th thru April 16th. The film stars Rebecca Spence (GRACE IS GONE, PUBLIC ENEMIES, and… AUDREY THE TRAINWRECK!) who I was lucky enough to meet on Frank’s set; Peter Greene (PULP FICTION, THE MASK, THE USUAL SUSPECTS), William Katt (“The Greatest American Hero”, CARRIE, HOUSE), Jennifer Sipes (W, The Tree of Life), Harry Goaz (“Twin Peaks”, and… ST NICK!).

We’ve already shot some of the footage for the film and it looks amazing. I’ve been uploading some publicity materials on my Facebook and we’ve also got a fan page. Become a fan on Facebook and check out the website at http://everythingcomesfromthewater.com.

We’ve also had press releases from Fangoria, Cyber Monkey Death Squad and SciFiCool.com.

Filed under: Film Production, AUDREY THE TRAINWRECK, Dallas Int'l Film Festival, EARTHLING, LOVERS OF HATE, ST. NICK, SXSW

Celebrating Friends at AFI Dallas and Beyond!

Two of my dear friends, David Lowery and Yen Tan won Special Jury Prizes for, A Catalog of Anticipations (Part II) and Ciao, respectfully. As usual, David missed his moment of glory. Either way, I’m so proud of both of these fine fellows. David, in particular, really spearheaded my renewed passion in film. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like had I not met him way back in 1998. Or was it 1997? I can’t remember exactly.

In other news, another friend and fellow filmmaker, James M. Johnston, will be available for his second screening of Merrily, Merrily at the Sarasota Film Festival on…well, today, actually (A Catalog of Anticipations is also playing at Sarasota). I literally watched this film only a few moments ago, finally, and immediately felt the inclination to blog about it. James has a relentless filmmaking quality that’s wholly unique and entirely blunt. In Merrily, Merrily he makes brave, broad swoops that usually would be unheard of and critically unacceptable. But for some odd reason, they all seem to work out as if it were completely normal.

James produced St. Nick along with me and I truly don’t know how we would have pulled it off without him. David, of course, wrote and directed the film. Yen Tan also helped by unloading P2 cards (a full-time job indeed!).

Speaking of St. Nick, David, James and I spent last Saturday filming some final pick-up shots with Tucker and Savanna. David summed it up best.

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And now to celebrate some final photo moments from AFI Dallas 2008:

Awesome Bill Sebastian with lively fiancée, Dana Pupkin.
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Blair Rowen, Jacques Thelemaque, Robin Gierhart, and Chris Gardner.
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Me and Negin Farsad, the director of Nerdcore Rising.

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Michael Cain, Robert De Niro, Barry Levinson, and Art Linson at the WHAT JUST HAPPENED? premiere.

Filed under: Film Festivals, Dallas Int'l Film Festival

AFI Dallas Gets All Environmental (Well, Its Films Do Anyway)

A welcome growing trend at film festivals worldwide has been presenting films dealing with environmentally conscious themes. AFI Dallas has actually created an entire block, dealing solely with environmental subjects ranging from the world-wide water problem to the coal industry. The following two films were both hits at Sundance and although I missed them there, I was lucky enough to catch them here, at AFI Dallas. Both of these films deal with the subject of water. While Up the Yangtze focuses on a microcosm, Flow: For Love of Water focuses on the global issue (and even references the particular issue dealt with in Up the Yangtze). Watching either one of these films should drastically change your views on water conservation and modern industry as a whole. Rightly so, Up the Yangtze has received a limited theatrical release and hopefully more screenings will be available in the future. Flow: For Love of Water has also received some limited screenings and will most-likely be distributed as well.

A breathtaking cinematic experience, Up the Yangtze visually displays the problematic nature of industry and technology along the river Yangtze in China. Upon completion, the Three Gorges Dam will be the largest hydro-electric power station in the world. But the ramifications are catastrophic: over 1,500,000 people have been, or will be, relocated; cultural and archaeological sites will be flooded and destroyed; and the negative effects on the habitat of the region is impossible to avoid, due to the dramatic environmental change.

Filmmaker Yung Chang shows the devastating effects the dam has had on the surrounding community. Whole cities are being drowned and their inhabitants forced to relocate. Many families have been promised prosperity by government officials, and yet they tell tales of being beaten and dragged from their homes. The impoverished, though they can’t afford to move, are forced to. They can no longer farm because of the vast changes of the land and their homes are going under water. Some, ironically, choose to work on the dam; others, on luxury cruise liners carting rich foreign tourists along the river, as if the destruction of all this geography and civilization were merely an amusing spectacle.

Chang follows two teenagers in particular, who choose to work on the boats: sixteen year old Shui Yu (or “Cindy”) and nineteen year old Bo Yu Chen (or “Jerry”). They are given “American names” for the benefit of the tourists. As a footnote, they’re also not allowed to talk about current politics or anything that might make the Americans more uncomfortable (particularly, anything related to the independence of Canada, the struggle in Northern Ireland, and the monarchical system of the United Kingdom). Shui Yu comes from an impoverished family who’s had to build a hut from scraps because they cannot sustain themselves in the city where you have to buy vegetables and pay rent. Because her family is so poor, Shui Yu really has no choice but to work. She must forget about attending high school (she used to dream of being a scientist, but knows that fantasy is an impossibility). Bo Yu Chen, on the other hand, aspires only to have a lot of money and holds solely himself in esteem. His selfish behavior gets him into trouble, however, and because of it, his success is fleeting.

Clearly an ironic metaphor for what’s happening to the region, these two teens, along with their fellow co-workers, sleep under the main decks in rooms filled with bunks and lacking air-conditioning, while the tourists marveling at the changing environment enjoy fine dining and all the amenities of a luxury cruise line. The metaphor becomes clear towards the end of the film when an elderly man stands on the dam and stares out over the drowned cities and flooded landscapes and notes only his amazement with the Chinese government, for its ability to split the gigantic river in two. He smiles faintly, as we linger on his brittle face. A similar sentiment earlier in the film gives us a downtrodden man attempting to defend the actions of the government, but in the end, finds himself weeping uncontrollably.

Martin Heidegger was deeply concerned with man’s relationship with nature, specifically when dealing with the question of Being. He wrote that man’s increasing technological quest was directly changing his relationship to Being. That man is concerned only with conquering nature, severely alters his ability to be harmonious with nature. In this passage from his essay entitled, “The Question Concerning Technology,” Heidegger describes the hydroelectric power station on the Rhine river:

The hydroelectric plant is set into the current of the Rhine. It sets the Rhine to supplying its hydraulic pressure, which then sets the turbines turning. This turning sets those machines in motion whose thrust sets going the electric current for which the long-distance power station and its network of cables are set up to dispatch electricity. In the context of the interlocking processes pertaining to the orderly disposition of electrical energy, even the Rhine itself appears to be something at our command.^[1]

 

The problem has been festering for some time now. Where so many philosophers have argued in favor of conquering nature to suit our own practical needs, others have found that view point problematic from the start. Aristotle, for example, was largely concerned with merely understanding nature, while Descartes, the “Father of Modern Philosophy,” wished to “render ourselves masters and owners of nature” (cf. Descartes’ Discourse on Method). As Descartes’ view of the world became the prevailing and popularized view of the world, at least when dealing with Western philosophy, Heidegger warned us of it’s consequences, from a purely philosophical perspective. Now, we’re seeing the practical complications of technology and industry, as such.

Up the Yangtze ends with a joke told by one of the inhabitants of the river Yangtze, a worker on one of the luxury cruise ships:

Two leaders, one an American and the other Chinese, are riding along in a car. They come to a fork in the road. To the right is the way of capitalism. To the left is socialism. The American leader suggests they go right. The Chinese leader agrees; though he suggests they do so, but turn on the left blinker.

^[1] Martin Heidegger, “The Question Concerning Technology,” Basic Writings Ed. David Krell (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993), 321.

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Director Irena Salina deals with the global issue surrounding the need for water conservation, due to the shortage of water world-wide, the social and political ramifications of privatization of water control, the startling realization that water all over the world is basically unsanitary, and the negative impact of water bottling.

Not only are governments building enormous dams, largely funded by the World Bank, that displace millions of people, but most of the world’s water goes largely unchecked–both out of the tap and into the bottle. Millions of Americans, for example, get sick every year due to the stuff found in the water supply. And bottling companies are doing immense damage by sucking out all of the water in local areas and destroying the habitant and natural environment of nearby inhabitants. Far worse, they’re taking all of the water and, in cahoots with government officials, forcing the poorer people to pay for the water that’s already theirs.

The film focuses a great deal on local, community water sanitation systems in India that are affordable and practical. One of the neatest systems referenced in the film, is basically a merry-go-round for children. When the children spin each other around, the machine goes to work. Many governments shut these systems down, however, and substitute largely inefficient and costly systems, at the expense of the local community. The locals then have to walk several miles and pay a ridiculous amount for the water. Most of them cannot afford to pay, so they take their chances on the polluted river water.

What really made me cringe, however–and what really hit close to home–was the facts presented about major bottling companies and their practices. It’s fairly common knowledge now that most bottled water is not from the springs or mountain valleys or whatever; but mostly just tap water. Many people that I’ve talked to about bottled water, say they drink it because, even though it’s tap water, it’s filtrated and more reliable than city water. Yet there’s really no evidence to substantiate this. Unfortunately, there really is no regulation in the industry; and what little regulation there is, largely goes unchecked due primarily to a lack or resources. So, the bottled water you’re drinking could actually be worse than the city tap water freely available at home.

Both of these films deal with the harsh realities of privatization of industries and the drastic negative effects they’ve had worldwide. The fact is that this is, and will remain, a global problem. No government or company should ever claim ownership or control the water supply, as it is necessary and essential for human survival. When President Skroob sucks the air out of a can (see Spaceballs), we all had a laugh because it was a parody: no one would ever really own air, would they? But corporations and governments currently own water and manipulate the water supply to suit their needs. Let’s stop this before the slippery slope continues. Sign the petition to add a 31st article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing access to clean water as a fundamental human right (thank you Flow: For Love of Water‘s website for making this accessible).

Filed under: Environmentalism, Film Festivals, Dallas Int'l Film Festival, Flow: For Love of Water, Up the Yangtze

Blood on the Highway at AFI Dallas

Yeah, that’s me (in the white t-shirt) being all undead and stuff.

Only two days into the the AFI Dallas Film Festival and I’m already worn out! The turnout for the pre-party was a huge success, with over two-hundred people, throughout the evening, all there to celebrate Blood on the Highway. But even better, the midnight screening was completely sold out and the crowd was amazing. Before the screening commenced, a heckler came from nowhere and launched soda all over some of the cast and crew. Unfortunately, I was talking to them and my jacket was one of the primary targets! Word has already spread all over the festival and it’s anticipated that the next screening will be even more chaotic (you know, riots in the streets, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!).

Me and Tom Towles.
During Q&A, Tom Towles (who had a cameo in the film) talked about how much he really liked Blood on the Highway. His words were genuine and his praise sincere. And the entire house agreed. What a fantastic premiere screening it was!

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View of Victory Park from ghostbar.
Okay, so I’d never actually been to ghostbar before, but the Dallas Film Commission hosted a party there on Friday (just before our party) and it was top notch. The view of Dallas is really spectacular at thirty-three floors up, especially when walking out onto the see-through balcony.

So far, the festival’s been a lot of fun. Other than Blood on the Highway, I’ve seen Flow: For Love of Water, a documentary about the vast need for water conservation, the state of the world’s water today and the evil of bottled water (you will NOT want to drink bottled water ever again); The Guitar, Amy Redford’s directorial debut; and a block of shorts, featuring Josh Brolin’s X. I’ll write more about these films later; but for now, enjoy a picture of me and “The Amazing Kumar”!

Me and Kumar Pallana.

Filed under: Film Festivals, BLOOD ON THE HIGHWAY, Dallas Int'l Film Festival