Film Festival Workshop Scheduling Update*
Jeff Kane
Marblehead Festival of Arts Presents an Evening of Film
The MFoA’s always anticipated juried Film Festival will be screened on Wednesday evening, July 3, from 9:00 to 10:30 PM, at Crocker Park, 11 Front Street, with a rain location at the Gerry #5 VFA Function Hall, 210 Beacon Street. Thirteen short films, ranging in length from 2:22 minutes to19:25 minutes, comprise this year’s program. At least nine of the filmmakers either live or have lived on the North Shore, and three currently live in Marblehead. Encore presentations of the films will be screened at Abbot Public Library at 10:30 AM on Friday, July 5, and on Saturday, July 6, with a short discussion period after each showing.
Film Festival Workshops
*Please note the updated times for these two workshops.
In addition to the film screenings, two workshops will be held at Abbot Public Library. On Friday, July 5, from 1:30 until 3:00 PM, John Bonner will conduct a workshop, Making a Personal Documentary. An intrepid bicyclist, filmmaker, and artist, John won the Film Festival’s Outstanding Work Award for this year’s short film, The Broken Necklace. He will describe how he turned his interest in bicycling into two short personal documentaries. If you’ve ever had the itch to put your life or interests on the silver screen, if you’ve ever actually done it, or if you just want to know how it’s done, here is your chance. John, a long time Marblehead resident, has been there and done that, knows the obstacles and has overcome them.
On Saturday, July 6, from 2:00 until 3:30 PM, Keith Wasserman will lead a workshop on Making a Fictional Film. If you’ve ever "made up" a story—something you’ve dreamed up, something about your own life or someone else’s—and wondered how you could make it into a film—this workshop is for you. Marblehead's own Keith Wasserman, who won the Film Festival's Best of Show Award this year for his film, Bitter Sweet, will be on hand to talk about what goes into making a fictional short film, and what goes into making a short film for a film festival. Even if you've actually made that film or if you just want to know what the filmmaking process is all about, Keith, as Executive Producer of Magic Media Productions with years of filmmaking experience, is your go-to guy.
2013 Film Festival Program
These works are intended to show the many ways that film and video can be used as an art form to inform and express. They are not commercial films of the sort that you can find in your standard multiplex. Although some of these works can certainly be enjoyed by children, not all of the films will be understood by them. Parents should review the lineup and decide if these films are all appropriate for their younger children.
The Broken Necklace
John Bonner
7:56 minutes
Marblehead’s intrepid bicycle explorer takes the “silver bracelet” bicycle path from Marblehead to Swampscott. Dangers abound as our hero risks life and limb. Does he make it out alive to go on to more adventures? John Bonner is an artist living in Marblehead who makes his living designing and animating educational software.
Beautiful
Devyn Jaffe
5:28
The filmmaker, a participant in Lynn’s Raw Arts Real to Reel Film School, asks passersby on Boston Common a very unusual question—one that you can ask yourself. See what the question is and what the (surprising and not so surprising) answers are.
Ode to Beauty in Imperfection
Ties de Blij
7:32 minutes
Directed by Ties de Blij, an abstract expressionist painter, performance artist, and filmmaker, this film combines visual impressions of Marblehead with Marty Riskin’s memories of his fleeting relationship with his grandfather both in life and death. With audio by Nick Mancini.
The Ballad of Chicken Soup
Ben Abarelli
3:54 Minutes
Ben Albarelli, an animator, created this music video from a song by Ben Rudnick and Friends, a family-oriented music group, about the joys of making and eating chicken soup. Even the chicken is a willing participant in this feast.
Bitter Sweet
Keith Wasserman
6:28 minutes
A young woman goes on a (real? imaginary?) journey using the directions left by her recently deceased father. Keith Wasserman is an artist, filmmaker and teacher and has been working in these professions for fifteen years.
Home
Tahisha Garner
2:22 minutes
A young bicycle rider observes and talks about Lynn, the city she is growing up in. This film is another production by the Raw Arts Real to Reel Film School.
Thumbosis
Steve Stuart
6:23 minutes
This documentary explores a serious disorder prevalent among today’s youth, and it’s supported by case studies and an opinionating expert with a roomful of books and colorful charts. Steve Stuart is a filmmaker who has provided many films, both comic and serious, to the Film Festival. The Film Festival is grateful for his contribution toward eliminating this dread disease.
Six Five Four
Colter Beote and Tyler Norgeot
19:25 minutes
It’s Winter, and you are shoveling snow, trying to keep warm, and maybe planning a ski trip or two, but these guys are surfing! This documentary lets you in on the thrills and spills of winter sea surfing. Colter Beote is a media production specialist who lives in Salem; Tyler Norgeot is a budding documentarian who graduated from Keene State College in 2012.
Thank You
Jelenny Clark
2:25 minutes
Jelenny Clark, a participant in the Raw Arts Real to Reel film program, uses this film to thank the special person in her life.
Big Kid, Little Bike
Bill Politis
6:30 minutes
This film invites you into the life of Matty Long, a BMX rider from Burlington now in his twenties. Matty’s an unusual guy and this is an unusual documentary. According to filmmaker Bill Politis, who also grew up in Burlington as a BMX fanatic, “I tried to use visual language when making this documentary. This basically means I wanted the camera work to tell the story instead of a voiceover or subtitles.”
Make It Out
Raw Arts
4:43 minutes
“Make It Out” is a music video of an original song, and it’s a collaborative project of the entire Raw Arts Real to Reel community. In a few short moments the film uses visuals, words and music to describe what it feels like to be both a teenager and gay.
Adlai
Michelle Tsiakaros
7:06 minutes
“Adlai” is a portrait of Adlai Grayson, one of the founders of PROject Nailz, an all-female dance company based in Boston. The film shows Adlai at his day job, at home, and preparing his group for a performance. Michelle Tsiakaros is a senior in Film and Television at Boston University, a dancer, and “a constant observer,” with documentary subject interests in race, gender, and class—and food.
Sanjiban
Ben Pender-Cudlip
7:34
This documentary records the last days and final rest of filmmaker and video artist Sanjiban Sellew and is a testament to one unique man’s life and the people who surrounded him at the end. Ben Pender-Cudlip is a founder of Unrendered Films, with interests in “nonfiction films that explore our common experiences and feelings as human beings.”
For more information, visit www.MarbleheadFestival.org.
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