EXIT INTERVIEWS

The Beaufort International Film Festival was a huge success and we’ve been trading updates with some of the filmmakers as they’ve had time to ponder the experience. The guys behind Best Feature winner, “Happy New Year,” are back in the Big Apple, finished with the festival circuit and pondering their next move - the film's distribution.

Mark Shaffer: This was the first time your family had seen “Happy New Year.” How special was it that the film also won Best Feature?

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"When I was just a baby, my mama told me, 'son, always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns'...but I'm stuck in Folsom Prison, and time keeps draggin' on..." - Johnny Cash, military veteran - US Air Force

Whatever your musical tastes may be, one thing's for sure:

The "Man in Black" knew what it was like to be a man in uniform.

Military, civilian, and those audience members who are someone in-between agree that K. Lorrel Manning's Happy New Year (2011) will make you want to sing Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" at the top of your lungs.

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You've heard of the WWF, JFK, and most likely WTF.

But are you hip to the WFJ?

The WFJ stands for the Wrestling for Jesus organization, a group of men who, quite literally, wrestle for Jesus.

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In his magnum opus Annie Hall (1977), Woody Allen shares a famous anecdote, one which I will now blatantly steal, twist, and re-shape into a shield to protect myself against any impending urges from readers to shoot the messenger:

"There's an old joke - um... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, 'Boy, the food at this place is really terrible. 'The other one says, 'Yeah, I know; and such small portions.'"

In the case of this blog, the BIFF, and its close associates and attendees, this famous analogy mirrors the multiple complaints overheard about the barbecue/beer truck parked outside of the festival venue.

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A Quirk of Fate, the curiously clumsy title of Marco J. Reidl's " 45 minute "short," led me to think that the German language film's message might be lost in translation.

To my delight, a cinephile's propensity towards schadenfreude was kept at bay. The film is exactly what it claims to be: a quirky twist of fate, or rather, fate-th-ful, homage to a hodgepodge of the emotionally gripping, sentimentally-fueled, and visually sumptuous films of the classic Hollywood studio system. Even the filmmaker's production company "MJM," is a direct nod to the leading lion of classic film studios, MGM.

Specifically, this film is an homage to the films made by European – and specifically the German-language - filmmakers who worked for the Hollywood studio system as a result of talent poaching across Europe at the dawn of the Second World War.

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Once again a Festival highlight is the Screenwriter's Table Read with a troupe of local actors, led by LCW's own Jeff Evans and MC'd by Bruce Doneff, read short scenes from six scripts. All the writers were in the house and the house was pretty full.

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The Beaufort International Film Fest is up and running at the University of South Carolina Beaufort downtown campus. Fandango Productions South has transformed the Center for the Arts into a old style movie house complete with lounge and concessions.

Among the highlights today the Italian film "The Duck Hunter" a terrific slate of short and student films and L.A. based filmmaker Felix Martiz' debut feature, "Santiago."

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Beekman Webb just dropped by to let us know these young men will be playing two shows this Saturday (8/30) at The Foolish Frog, 8 & 10. Beek says these kids are going places and we'll take him at his word. Check out the video and imagine the damage they're capable of with instruments. See you at the Frog.

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My friend Kimberly – Beaufort born and bred – has been living in Japan for about two years now. Her husband, a Marine, is stationed there. Though they live some 500 miles from the earthquake/ tsunami damaged areas, Kimberly has a very personal take on the tragedy that's rocked this country she’s come to love. She’s given me permission to link to her blog,  “Only Gaijin on the Train.”

Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

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My column for this issue was inspired by a game of Monopoly I played with my daughter Amelia one night last week. The conversation that unfolded during the game was so funny  – as conversations often are between children and adults – that I thought it might make a whimsical, light-hearted piece. But as I transcribed that conversation from memory the next day, it occurred to me that this episode was more than just funny... it was somewhat revelatory. I hope this column, which I've written as a "play" – and which is very close to our actual conversation, almost word-for-word – is a subtle (hopefully not TOO subtle) commentary on the way the very real forces of altruism and self-interest mingle in the human animal. The question it raises is one I think about a lot: How far apart are these impulses, really? Is it possible that altruism – if, for no other reason than that it makes us feel good – is just another form of self-interest? Does it matter? Probably not :-) Anyway, whether or not you give a fig for such "deep thoughts," I hope you'll enjoy this little effort. It was written with great love.

IF CHILDREN RAN THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY

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Just got back from a walk around my neighborhood on yet another radically gorgeous day. After a particularly wintry winter, this premature spring seems especially… special. Doesn’t it?

First, let me just say this: Pigeon Point is not everybody’s idea of the “perfect neighborhood.” But it is mine. Always has been. I longed to live here even before I knew it was a possibility. When some friends of ours decided to move to New Zealand suddenly, and needed to sell their house here quickly – just when we were looking – it seemed like kismet. (Especially since our credit was practically non-existent back then, and the house was “for sale by owner.”) At the time, we had a three-year-old publication and a one-year-old daughter.  We figured that by the time she was eight (and it was 10) we’d be wildly successful publishing moguls, and would have added on to our little cottage under the oaks. Amelia’s now pushing 10 and Lowcountry Weekly’s almost 12, and – well, you've heard about the publishing biz, and biz in general – we haven’t been able to swing that addition. Space is a little tight, but fortunately, I love these people I share it with, and not a day goes by that I don’t say a prayer of thanks that we’re still here under this roof together… still here in this wonderful, winsome, weird little neighborhood.

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So, I had this big ol' phone interview with Jonathan Green the other day. Yep, THE Jonathan Green, Lowcountry artist extraordinaire. He's coming to USCB for a lecture on March 4th, and I wanted to get the scoop about that and a bunch of other things. I was incredibly edgy all day as I awaited the appointed hour of our call. As the clock ticked ever-closer to 2 pm, I felt the butterflies multiplying exponentially in my stomach. I don't know about y'all, but famous people make me nervous. Even on the phone. No... especially on the phone. In person, you have that face-to-face potential to connect: It doesn't always work, but at least you've got a fighting chance. Over the phone, though? Ugh. I hate it. Throw in the fact that I had to put the phone on speaker and record the whole thing  – hoping against hope my technology wouldn't fail me – and you had the makings of a tense, not particularly natural, encounter.

Are you sweating yet? Well, calm down. It turned out fine. More than fine. In fact, I'm so excited about this interview, I'm posting it almost a week before it's out in print. Jonathan was open and friendly and absolutely nothing was off limits. Are you wondering why he's come home to the Lowcountry after 35-plus years? What he thinks about the proposed whopping big budget cuts – both state and federal – to the arts? How he feels about all those Jonathan Green copy cats out there? What he's passionate about now?  He answers all those questions and more, and some of his answers might surprise you. 

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We’ve had some terrific guest bloggers pinch-hitting for us throughout BIFF. Screenwriter/documentarian Teresa Bruce and SCAD film instructor Duncan Pittman have done marvelous work, keeping you up-close-and-personal with BIFF, while Mark Shaffer and I hobnobbed with the filmmakers like a couple of college kids on Spring Break. (Actually, Mark was working AND hobnobbing. I just hobnobbed.) I’m sure Duncan will be writing up last night’s Award Ceremony later today, and she’ll do a much better. more comprehensive, job than I could.

But as I sit here in the afterglow of the past few days, drinking my coffee and wishing I hadn’t stayed so late at last night’s wrap party, I am compelled to put down a few personal observations…

 First… I’m feeling incredibly fortunate this morning. Blessed, even. Publishing Lowcountry Weekly is not always easy, and seldom lucrative, but man… does it have its perks! For the past few days, I’ve been in the company of passionate, creative people from all across the country, enjoying the privilege of introducing them to our very special corner of the world.  The weather has been movie-set perfect, a fact that wasn’t lost on our festival attendees – several of whom told me they “can’t wait to shoot in Beaufort.” (Actor/director Benjamin Busch – you may know him from “The Wire” or “Generation Kill” – left his home in Central Michigan at five degrees below zero, and enjoyed watching his temperature gage creep up as he drove south, finally settling in at about 75 degrees.) I was so proud of Beaufort this week: its beauty, its grace, its inimitable hospitality… all its various kinds of warmth.

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So you thought the BIFF opening reception at the Arsenal was glam. Well tonight’s awards gala at the USCB performing arts center should top that. Not all the directors could make it to the opening, but almost all of them are coming to find out if they win. Here’s a sneak peek at who you might meet if you show up at 7pm for the cocktail hour before the show:

Straight from LA – the crew from Lt. Dan Band documentary will be out in force. Disney producer Jonathan Flora’s getting the Santini Patriot Spirit Award – from none other than Tom Berenger.

The New York contingent – you’ve got Ned Farr, whose feature “A Marine Story” kept the audience rapt until eleven last night. Then he still had the energy to celebrate with his family (a Beaufort connection) and new fans. Maria Cuomo Cole (yes that Cuomo) is rumored to be flying in to join director Kevin Breslin. She’s the producer part of the team that made “Living for 32” happen.

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If BIFF were the name of a 5 year old child, local character John McGowan would consider him a well-raised rascal.  Born in Beaufort in 2006, BIFF is the apple of John McGowan's eye.

"Another Success!" McGowan cheers, settling for a brief second into a lobby chair between screenings.

McGowan will be the first to tell you that has been involved with the BIFF since it was born. Like a dedicated guardian, he has watched it grow up and mature, and has devoted much time and energy to making sure little BIFF is raised right. 

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