Enzian: Eden Bar

Posted on by Thor

I went to the Enzian Theater (1300 South Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL ) which hosts the Florida Film Festival. My goal was to sketch an event called Sip and Savor. It was a free festival tasting at Eden Bar with drinks provided by Breakthru Beverage. The outdoor bar is a great place for people to stop by before or after festival films. On this night there were tastings including Bahnaz Mezcal, and Misunderstood Whiskey.

The Eden Bar has a large mural designed by independent animation Bill Plimpton. Plimpton is a legend and a god in the independent animation realm. At a past screening of one of his animated films I purchased s single frame of his hand drawn animation for $5. I treasure that sketch although I need to find it in the chaos of my ever shifting life.

I didn’t notice any offerings by Breakthru Beverage when I arrived, so I ordered a beer to be polite as I sketched. The Eden Bar tends to pack full as people arrive to see a film and then they filter out when the film starts. A dear friend I had not seen for a while was at the table next to mine and we chatted as I sketched. My friend had moved out of Orlando to Brooklyn and then Austin Texas but ultimately returned to Orlando. I understand the enticing liberal pull that Orlando provides. I was in the process of looking to move close to downtown Orlando, so it felt good to reconnect.

Orlando is a small enough city where you can bump into friends at any time if you have an interest in events around town.

The film being shown on this night was If I Go Will They Miss Me a 92-minute film written and directed by Walter Thompson-Hernández. In the film, a twelve-year-old Lil Ant was a sensitive artist, enamored with the legends of Greek mythology and yearning to impress his emotionally distant father, Big Ant). Big Ant just got out of prison and struggled to connect with his wife and is embarrassed by the pictures his son draws of him looking heroic.

The feature film was adapted from his award winning Sundance film. The film was a tender, lyrical portrait of a strained father-son relationship against the backdrop of Watts, Los Angeles. Lil Ant’s working-class neighborhood was transformed by his adolescent visions of Greek gods and neighborhood boys wanting take off, like the LAX airplanes overhead. The film encapsulated the intersection between masculinity, legacy, and vulnerability. It was a mesmerizing film about the power to transform at any age.

COVID Dystopia: Press Kit Page 5

Posted on by Thor

This is the Bios page of the press kit. Posting it here, I immediately notice a typo, so I should fix that.

Each morning I keep waking up and thinking I am working on the last shot in the film that needs improvement, but during the day I find something else that needs a tweak. I decided the Times Square Hazmat scene was of a high enough quality to keep as is. However I decided the crowd running from an alien crap virus craft needed work.

I got about half the crowd into the high resolution version of the scene and I need to work on the other half today. I changed the timing on an arm swing while I was at it. I suspect all the line work will have to be cleaned up for this scene to sharpen up the image. The scene is just over one second long but it will involve several days work to draw and paint the high resolution version.

The film was rejected by Sundance and Slamdance film festivals to start out the year. I need to get serious in 2004 to find all the early submission dates for film festival submissions. People either love the film or they hate it. There is no middle ground or grey area. I need to find the festivals willing to take a chance on screening this monstrosity.

One question at the Chicago International REEL Film Festival was, what was the cost of the film. For me there was no cost other than the insane amount of time I committed to the project. The laptop I purchased a year earlier but at the time I made sure it had enough ram and memory to handle film editing. The biggest cost it turns out is the admission fees for submitting to film festivals. Part of me wonders if I am making a mistake keeping COVID Dystopia off of Social Media so that it can have a film festival run through 2024.