Virginia Film Festival

First, i want to say how stoked i was to have two film festivals in two weeks. That was absolutely fantastic. Two weeks of film disneyland.. nice

Last year, we only had a full day to play around Charlottesville for VFF. This year, we had the entire festival. No worries in the world except what screening was next.

We arrived slightly late so we missed the opening night festivities, but it worked out for the best become we did some bonding time. We explored around downtown and "The Corner", found some food, had a beer, went to our place, and discussed the next day's plan.

The first day was Friday. It was kind of weird to us that the films didn't start until 3pm. Maybe it was because of the opening gala the night before... who knows. But, we split up. I went to go see an experimental doc called "Park Lanes, Spare". It was directed by Kevin Everson, who is very interested in factory worker life and filming everyday spectaculars. I ended up meeting him and discussing his film later at the closing party. I found out that the reason he picked to film in a bowling factory was because "it was the only place that would allow him to". Also, i found out that he has a show going on in Winston-Salem right now.

The list of my films were:

Park Lanes, Spare
The Hip Hop Fellow
Drunktown's Finest
Dwelling: Experimental Short Essay Films
Out in the Night
Wetlands
Short Narrative Films

All of these films stick out to me for some reason. I talked to Kenneth Price a UNCW alumni and director of The Hip Hop Fellow. That doc was amazing. I had no idea that Harvard had a hip hop archive. Drunktown's Finest was one of the worst movies ever, which helped us all bond over it and make lots of inside jokes. Dwelling was super interesting to see. This showed that the filmmakers in this block didn't really grasp the meaning of experimental film. Out in the Night was awesome. It shined light on issues that I would never see. It told the story of four black lesbians that lived in a dangerous part of Jersey get harassed then put in jail over defending themselves. Wetlands was just so graphic and weird but super beautiful at the same time. The Short Narrative Films were just god awful and made me super confident in anything i want to create and send to festivals.

As far as the logistics go, the filmmakers' lounge changed from last year. Last year it was at a restaurant one block off the main strip. This year, it was moved above my favorite restaurant in the area, The Whiskey Jar. The lounge was cute. It was considerably small, but by providing means to make your own french press, the staff had created a really interesting way of forcing people to communicate and network. I ended up meeting quite a few interesting people in there. I don't know how i feel about being able to get tickets until like 10pm but badges only until 7pm. I feel like if you wanted the badge staff to help with other things, you could leave the badges at the ticket office. That's something that i didn't think went too well.

Also, again... trash cans! I need trash cans everywhere. I hate holding trash in public. It is so freakin awkward. In the lounge, the waiters were supposed to pick up empty plates and napkins, but they were really only there around the prime food hours. There wasn't even a trash can to throw the bag that contained the coffee grounds in. Whatever. One good thing they did at the after party, was have food that already came in a holding vessel. That was super smart and practical. Also, putting the bar in the center point of party made it easy to point out people you'd met earlier and mingle without feeling like you're going out of your way.

As far as their sponsors go, they have some pretty big names. However, even though they're pretty big corporations, they are still mostly local. Even the Pepsi sponsor is "PCVA: Pepsi-Cola Central Virginia". What that means specifically? I have no idea, but i know that it does mean that I feel like this festival really truly cares about their community and local college (another sponsor). If they didn't care, they wouldn't go out of their way for this specific branding. This is what i want for our funding, locally based and tangible. I want people to look at our sponsors and be like oh ok... got it. Wilmington and surrounding areas. Involvement of the community.