Search Results for: Florida Film Festival

Florida Film Festival rejects COVID Dystopia

Posted on by Thor


I was saddened to find out that the Florida Film Festival has rejected COVID Dystopia. I had high hopes that I could screen the film at this high profile festival in my home town.

I have sketched at many Florida Film Festival events over the years and it is the film festival that I have felt most at home with.

I have a hard time imagining why the festival might not want to screen my film, but then I thought, well maybe they do not approve of my COVID pandemic depictions of the policies of our home state governor, Ron DeathSantis. Most festival judges in other states or other countries do not know who this fella is but locally his deadly policies are well known.

I also submitted the film to the Orlando Film Festival in Downtown Orlando but I suspect the result will be the same.It is best to ignore a film that contradicts the rush to a “New Normal” while 2000 Americans continue to die every week.

Florida Film Festival Opening Night Party

Posted on by Thor

The opening night of the 2019 Florida Film Festival was celebrated with a
thrilling film premiere at Enzian Theater (1300 Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL 32751). The opening night film was Woman in Motion directed by Todd Thompson. To most of the known universe, Nichelle Nichols is Lieutenant Uhura, the
communications officer aboard the Starship Enterprise. On Star Trek
she broke barriers as one of the first African Americans to star in a
network show and as a participant in television’s first interracial
kiss. In reality Nichelle Nichols was a pioneer, a fiercely intelligent
and passionate advocate for African Americans, women, and minorities.
She worked with the NAACP and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a role model
for young black children and women. Beyond that, Nichelle Nichols is
arguably the single most important figure in history for the recruitment
of women and minorities to the field of space exploration, specifically
the NASA space shuttle program.

After the premiere, patrons sampled food and cocktails from favorite
local spots and an open bar at Eden Bar. It was an outdoor feast where patrons could
mingle and celebrate with all the folks would be their new cinematic best
friends for the next ten days. Patrons ate, drank, were merry, and discussed all the
films that might be seen at the festival ahead. This legendary
party launched a non-stop, fun-filled, ten-day celebration of Film,
Food, and Friends.

When Pam and I arrived, I quickly sat in a open spot to sketch the moon shaped orb that illuminated the lawn next to the Eden Bar. Pam explored a bit and sat with Scottie and Brendan to catch up. When My sketch was done, Scottie asked if I had included him in the sketch. Unfortunately he was out of my line of sight.

Pam and I tried a few vendors food booths to see what was available at this gala opening party. First up we tried a slice of pizza from Medici Pizza. It was kind of hard to judge the pizza since it was ice cold. We picked up a flyer anyway and might go to the restaurant to try a hot slice instead. Roque Pub was offering bites, beer and wine. Better yet they had a $10 off coupon and a bumper sticker. Now I don’t put stickers on my bumper,but I did place it on the cover of my sketchbook which is mighty fine ad placement for hundreds of years to come. Should you be a local business wanting sticker exposure look no further than the AADW sketchbooks. The other food treat I tried was from La Empanada and that was delicious. After a couple of bites of cheese I had seen enough. I had my sketch and the party was in full swing. We decided to get back home since I had to get up early to teach all day Saturday.

Today is the final day of the Florida Film Festival, so get out and support independent cinema.

Florida Film Festival Industry Party at the Copper Rocket

Posted on by Thor

On April 11th I went to the Florida Film Festival Industry Party at The Copper Rocket, 106 Lake Avenue Maitland, FL. It was a chance to hang out with Festival friends and chat about all the amazing films. Each Film Festival guest got one complimentary beer and live music all night long. There was a table set up at the entrance and I got an arm band. At 8pm the place was pretty empty. Drew Yardis performed on the stage in the corner and I started sketching him. He performed covers of popular songs while adding his own inflections and personality to each piece.

Journalist Michael McLeod joined me at my table. He explained that Susan Sarandon was giving a talk at the Enzian Theater across the street. That program which also featured a screening of one of her films, wouldn’t let out until after 10pm. That is when The Copper Rocket was going to get mobbed. I wondered if I should hang out just in case Susan decided to get a drink in this local dive. Denise Sudler also stopped by our table and we chatted while I continued to sketch. We discussed the notion of my doing an evocative sketch for her. It would be an edgy commission that might spur others on to consider the idea.

The filmmakers of Druid Peak sat at the table next to us. The film was written and directed by Marni Zelnick. Executive producer Maureen Mayer explained the film to us. It is set against the backdrop of the wolf reintroduction program in Yellowstone National Park. It is a coming of age story about a troubled teenage boy (Andrew Wilson) who finds a home for himself tracking wolves in the wild. The production was partly funded by a one hundred thousand dollar grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. It is a story about the why of conservation, not just the how.

Florida Film Festival Filmmaker’s Revel Awards Party

Posted on by Thor

On April 12th, The Florida Film Festival held its awards ceremony at Rick’s Speakeasy (1114 Solana Avenue, Winter Park FL). Starting at 8:30 there was a complimentary buffet dinner and cash bar.

This place was hidden away on an isolated back road full of warehouses.  This was an unexpected new discovery. This place smelled of gas and vintage cars were hoisted up for display. The bar and lounge area seemed pretty permanent but this “Speakeasy” must also function as a working garage.

The place was packed full of producers, directors and revelers. Carl Knickerbocker had one of his stop motion, puppetry animated films in the festival. The film is called “The Last Orange Grove in Middle Florida.” I kind of like the Tolkenesque title and from now on I will tell people that I sketch Middle Florida.

And the winners were…

SHORTS

Special Jury Award for Outstanding Storytelling was presented to THE BRAVEST, THE BOLDEST directed by Moon Molson

Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short was presented to AFTERMATH directed by Jeremy Robbins

Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Short was presented to YEARBOOK directed by Bernardo Britto

Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Short was presented to NOT ANYMORE: A STORY OF REVOLUTION directed by Matthew Vandyke

Audience Award for Best Short Film was presented to FOOL’S DAY directed by Cody Blue Snider

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

Special Jury Award for Demonstrating the Connection Between Art, Humanity, and Cinema was presented to LEVITATED MASS directed by Doug Pray

Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature was presented to SLINGSHOT directed by Paul Lazarus

Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature was presented to SLINGSHOT directed by Paul Lazarus

NARRATIVE FEATURES

Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast was presented to CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY directed by Jerzy Rose

Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature was presented to DRUID PEAK directed by Marni Zelnick

Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature was presented to COPENHAGEN directed by Mark Raso

INTERNATIONAL

Audience Award for Best International Feature was presented to LE CHEF (France/Spain), directed by Daniel Cohen

Audience Award for Best International Short was presented to B-CLASS CULTURAL HERITAGE (Japan), directed by Yuji Hariu

After the sketch was done, Terry and I went to the neighboring Celluloid Circus. This is his private animatronic amusement park and club which was set up as a haunted house. Terry clutched my hand till it hurt. I was unfazed by most of the animatronic horrors, but one room cause me to completely short circuit. A narrow gang plank extended out inside a spinning tube. The spiraling motion made me think I was going to fall. I leaned hard to my left, let go of Terry’s hand and grabbed the handrail. Terry screamed when I let go. This must be what it would feel like to ride inside a spinning dryer. Somehow, we made it across the void. Later, one of the cast members told me I should have closed my eyes to stop the vertigo.

On the whole drive home on I4, the road seamed to be banking hard left and right. The spinning roadway kept swinging like a rickety rope bridge. I dug my fingers into the steering wheel leather and tried to stay in control. When we got home, I couldn’t find my car keys. The valet might not have handed them to me. My car is one of those push button starters so the keys don’t need to be in the ignition. In a panic I emptied every item out of my art bag. Terry remained calm and she found the keys in the cup holder in my center console.

Florida Film Festival

Posted on by Thor

I went to a Florida Film Festival press preview for “After Winter, Spring“directed by Judith Lit at the Enzian Theater, (1300 S South Orlando Avenue, Maitland, FL.) This is a love story for the farmers in Perigord,
France, which has been continuously cultivated for over five thousand
years. One hundred years ago, half of the population of France were
farmers. Now less than 3% are. Will the Perigord peasants be the last
generation to employ and sustain the old methods? Will the world lose
their “old peasant wisdom” of prudence, respect, and love of the earth?
Filmed over four years, “After Winter, Spring” is a treasure trove of
great food and farming traditions. With fascinating detail, it captures
the roots of farm-to-table and the tenacity of the people who have taken
one season at a time for generations. The filmmaker, an American ex-pat
and Perigord neighbor, was raised on her own family’s farm in
Pennsylvania. Her bond to the land and the people who love it translates
into an insightful, lyrical tribute to a way of life on the verge of
extinction. 

Judith grew up on a small farm in Pennsylvania. She saw how her parents had to sell off the farm in small parcels until there was no land left to farm. When she traveled to France later in life, she fell in love with the quaint farming life. She packed everything and went to France to rediscover her roots. She interviewed her farming neighbors to learn about their more natural way of living.

The film didn’t only show small farms as a bucolic ideal. Three generations of women ran a goose farm. In a rather graphic scene, one of the women answered questions as she shoved a funnel deep down a gooses neck to force feed it. She massaged the goose’s neck to force it to swallow. The harsher sides of farming were shown, like shaving a slaughtered pig with a machete or breaking a chicken’s neck and then plucking the feathers.

A tobacco farmer bragged about the beauty of his hand harvested crop. “The more beautiful it is, the prouder we are. It (the tobacco) sings on the verge of being brittle.” All the farmers are trying to find a path through change. It is hard to compete against huge industrial farms that have multi-million dollar machines doing all the work. The smaller farming families feel their land helps preserve habitat. Since they are attentive to the land, they become more attentive to themselves and others. As one farmer stated, “I accept what life gives me. I can’t do otherwise.”

The one shred of hope is that people have grown sick of over processed food-like products. A younger generation is returning to the fields to live lives closer to nature.  Farm to table, has become a new battle cry. Perhaps the pendulum can swing back. Perhaps Spring can follow a Winter of industrialized neglect.

Florida Film Festival

Posted on by Thor

The  23rd Annual Florida Film Festival is now underway. The Festival runs for ten days showing 170 films. This is one of the top film festivals in the country and if you go, it is likely you will rub shoulders with producers and directors as you sip a drink at the Eden Bar. With so many films to choose from, it is a good idea to surf the Film Festival website, to see what interests you on any given day. The festival runs through April 13th.

I attended several preview screenings to wet my palette.  The Enzian Theater (1300 S Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL) is nestled among huge live oaks that tower overhead. They looked particularly naked this year before the bright spring foliage filled then in. Philip Tiedtke stopped to see how my sketch was turning out. He explained that this year they invested $11,000 to have all the Spanish Moss removed from the trees. I knew something looked different, but I hadn’t put my finger on it. He explained that all the Spanish Moss was smothering new growth and it made the branches extra heavy. There was concern that they might collapse under their own weight thanks to all the moss.

Besides all the film screenings, there are also panel discussions, industry parties with fabulous food and drink and opportunities to meet the stars. Susan Sarandon, Paul Sorvino, Giancarlo Esposito, and Shawn Christensen are all attending the Festival. So get out and see some films and do some Hollywood star gazing..

Florida Film Festival

Posted on by Thor

I made it to the Florida Film Festival on April 8th for Italian Cinema Night. The film 8 1/2 by Frederico Fellini was being screened at 6:30PM followed by free Italian food by the fountain. I went to The Daily City Lounge and found Mark Baratelli sitting in one of the 60’s styled plastic chairs busy checking his iPhone. Every chair had Daily City stickers on them. I had done a quick painting of a Hollywood red carpet couple with the faces cut out. I wanted to see the board in action. The corners of the painting had been crudely painted wit grey paint that was three shades lighter in value than the grey I had painted. I’ll have to go back to touch it up. I was about an hour into the sketch when a filmmaker and her parents stopped by. The parents stuck their faces in the celebrity port holes for the photo opportunity. The wife’s face fit snug as a bug but he husband had a large head and he angled his face thanks to his daughter’s art direction. Within a second the photo was shot and they dispersed.

Mark had plenty of swag at his lounge. He had fliers printed with suggested Orlando hot spots for visiting filmmakers.  He also had hand fans with The Daily City logo on them. The lounge was unfortunately located behind another information tent so patrons at the Eden Bar couldn’t see the lounge. Mark told me that the lounge had been dead for the first two days of the festival. I left the seats in pencil for as long as I could, hoping a crowd would come to populate the scene. They never showed. Before my sketch was complete, the bar maid started wheeling away the portable bar. Mark shouted out, “Does that mean its over!” She shouted back, “It’s over alright.” Across the street, Mark noticed some guy in a large Mexican hat pounding a drum.

When the sketch was done, I went to see if the Italian food was ready. They were still setting up so I decided to leave. I still haven’t seen a film. I want to see an animated feature called “The Painting” directed by Jean-Francois Lagionie. The film is about an unfinished work of art. Lola’s best friend Claire loves Ramo, but their love is forbidden. Claire and Lola are “Halfies,” or artist’s unfinished characters, and Ramo is an “Alldunn,” or completed figure. These classes within the painting do not mingle socially, and when Claire and Ramo’s love is uncovered, Lola and Claire are forced to search out the creator somewhere near the border of the painting. On their adventure they meet Quill, a “Sketchie,” or a simple charcoal outline, from the class below theirs. I’m starting to feel that I need to learn French and move to Paris.

Florida Film Festival Press Preview

Posted on by Thor

The 22nd Annual Florida Film Festival will be returning to the Enzian Theater and other venues April 5-14. This year’s festival will showcase 160 films many of which might be Oscar contenders. The theme for this years festival is “Open your eyes”, so prepare to see films that push the envelope.

Henry Maldonado, the Enzian’s CEO, got on the Enzian stage to announce some of this year’s highlights. The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock will be screened and Actress Tippi Hendren will be there to talk about her experience in that film and her unique relationship with Hitchcock.

The Festival has always been about Films, Friends and Food. This year author and food historian Francine Segan will present “The Magic Behind Movies and Food”. There are sevaral food related parties during the festival and the closing night party, “Revel 22” will be free and open to the public.

Several short animated films were screened once Henry left the stage. A rather funny one was Una Furtiva Lagrima by Carlo Vogele. It featured an opera singing fish who sang as he went from a supermarket freezer to a frying pan. A second short by Morgan Miller had a raccoon waiting roadside to eat a dead crow. When he ventures onto the road he is immediately hit by a car. The short then ended with another crow waiting to eat the raccoon carnage. The screening ended with a tongue in cheek documentary called, “A Brief History of John Baldessari.” John is an artist who is best known for placing dots over celebrity faces.

Florida Film Festival Kick Off Party

Posted on by Thor

On January 30th, the Enzian Theater, (1300 South Orlando Avenue  Maitland, FL), hosted a Kick Off Party for the Florida Film Festival. Press was on hand as CEO, Henry Maldonado, welcomed everyone to the Kick Off for the 22nd annual Florida Film Festival. The Festival is a fabulous celebration of films and filmmakers, indulgent experiences in food and wine, and a wonderful mix of parties and special events. This years Festival begins April 5th and continues for ten glorious days.

A large gust of wind caused the inflatable movie screen he was standing in front of to warp and topple backwards. He didn’t notice at first but the reaction of the audience caused him to turn and look. “That thing can’t fall on me can it?”  Staff rushed to secure more guy wires. Henry checked with Elizabeth Tiedtke to be sure he covered everything. There was a short preview film but none of the films that will be in this years Florida Film Festival were unveiled.

After the press preview, the lawn outside the Enzian filled with more people to watch “Cannibal The Musical”  on the inflatable screen. I hadn’t seen this film which was made by Nick Parks one of the South Park writers. I did see a Fringe play last year based on the film so I knew to expect a very odd and funny movie. I was seated leaning back against a handrail to the back steps to the theater. Half way into the film one of the chefs almost tripped over me as he went out for a smoke.

Enzian Florida Film Festival Unveiling

Posted on by Thor

The invitation said, “Join us for an exclusive reveal party & receive a special gift. See why the 2012 Festival will be the best yet. You’ll be the first to know!” Exciting right! I packed my sketchbooks and rushed over. As the sky grew dark, the warm glow of the marquee and the Eden Bar looked inviting. Mark Baratelli arrived and I asked him to let me know if there were any free drinks. The signal would be a thumb swipe to the nose. By the time he came back, I was finishing up the sketch. He said there had been a platter of drinks but there was just enough in the cup for one dog’s tongue lapping. Suddenly I was thirsty. Amanda Chadwick was having a going away party at Blank Space and both Mark and I were heading there next. She is moving to Seattle Washington soon to be with her boyfriend Matt Simantov. I didn’t stick around to find out anything more about the Florida Film Festival, but If I find out more, I’ll keep you posted.

On my way over to Blank Space, I was walking around Lake Eola. As I walked past the Eola Grill, I noticed a whole bunch of red and blue blinking police car light blinking over across the street near the Greek Orthodox Church. Three men and a woman rounded the corner in front of me. They were boisterous and joking, for some reason, I felt uncomfortable. As they passed me, police officers with their guns drawn charged around the grill towards me. They shouted, “Get down on the ground, On the ground!” “Get your hands behind your back!” Thankfully the police charged past me and forced the group of people down, five yards behind me. I stopped. “Sketch opportunity!” I thought. But Amanda would only have one going away party, so I pushed on.

Amanda had hired Kelly Richards to play piano at her party and as always when he performs it was a great time. The second I got in he started playing “Somewhere Out There” and Amanda muscled me up to the microphone to sing with her. Our final, farewell performance. This time, we had no lyrics and at points we had to make up our own. The final line is “We’ll find one another, somewhere out where dreams come true.” Thinking back to the final Disney days, I changed the line to, “Somewhere out where, dreams die.” Outside the world of Disney dreams, the Phoenix can rise from the ashes. For some reason, when I got back to where Terry was seated, she was in tears. Is my singing really that bad? I’m sure when Amanda sang “Somewhere Out There”, she thought of Matt off in Seattle, but he was at the party and he even sang “Hava Nagila” which means “Lets rejoice!” All the women danced.

Kelly began playing the Peanuts Dance. Everyone danced in the style of their favorite peanuts character. I suspect I was dancing like Pig Pen. Mark sang a rousing rendition of “I’m not Going” from Dream Girls. We laughed and sang along. Across the street I could see a wall of tuxedos inside a restaurant. It was a fundraising party for mayor Buddy Dyer. Terry had been invited but it cost $250 a plate. We were having a much better time.