I can’t imagine Francis Ford Coppola standing in front of a Best Buy bin while wearing an old-timey change belt or fanny pack and taking a couple dollars at a time for his GODFATHER films. So why should I do that with my next epic (because it will TOTALLY be an an epic, I’m telling you)?
This one includes the last couple of films I caught at Indie Memphis, the L.A. Premiere of QUALITY PROBLEMS at New Filmmakers L.A., a benefit screening of FERRIS BUELLER to benefit my friend, and Dallas’s legendary personality Devin Pike, some eclectic choices on VOD and DVD, the first holiday movie, and the irony of watching Chris Nolan’s totally shot in film DUNKIRK on a plane as I headed home from Los Angeles.
Brooke and Doug Purdy’s QUALITY PROBLEMS took home the award for Best Feature Film, Maja Aro’s HOODS received the nod as Best Short Film, and Siena Pinney, the director of the short film, POSSIBILITY, was honored as this year’s Filmmaker to Watch.
Well, it kinda had to because I wanted to include each of the films I watched at the just concluded Women Texas Film Festival. That just seemed to make sense. Prior to that it were some favorites (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and ED WOOD), a classic I had never seen (CARMEN JONES), and the latest in state-of-the-art ass-kicking no the big screen (ATOMIC BLONDE).
Savannah Bloch ‘s AND THEN THERE WAS EVE Opens the Women Texas Film Festival presented
This list is dominated by the films I saw at the Harlem International Film Festival. Since my duties at this fest included doing A LOT of film introductions and Q&As, I saw more films than usual at a fest I am doing the press & PR thing at. But that was a big win for me, as I saw films not necessarily in my wheelhouse that I really enjoyed, appreciated, and affected me quite a bit. Making discoveries at film festivals is what it is all about – and that is exactly what happened here.
“This year’s lineup is typically diverse, both in content and the filmmakers responsible for the films, bookended by personal profiles that hit close to home both because of their redemptive themes and because they get to the heart of what is the best in humanity,” said Harlem International Film Festival Program Director Nasri Zacharia, “In our 12th year, the festival will once again provide a forum for wonderful storytelling and exciting moments on the big screen created by talent all around the world.”
