This blog has been moved...

In an effort to consolidate to www.archiesbloodcar.blogspot.com

US Premiere - The Adventure

This blog title sounds a great deal grander than it is and I thank the wonders of the mind for that. I was the last house guest up for a breakfast of Swedish pancakes (a less buttery crepe) and juice. By all accounts, they waited for me to wake up before breakfast. Perhaps this was the Lexington & Concord of the upcoming war of hospitality between North and South. If only...ho-hum. I was the only male at the table and I vaguely remember some girl talk before the very kind Jane ferried me to the Michigan Theater for my premiere screening. I arrived a few minutes early and chose to watch the three short films that preceded mine. Admittedly, I was distracted during all of them: a documentary, a narrative opus, an animated film. The final one was mine and I was proud of myself for staying in the theater this go-round. In Rotterdam, I left for my short because of 'noives' on both occasions, so this really was my personal premiere as well. Oh, before the film, the festival volunteer told the audience to stick around for Q&A and mentioned myself and another filmmaker who was present. In a Troy McClure moment, he told the audience that they might remember me from Blood Car.

People laughed in parts and were silent in others. During the Q&A, I received many questions and compliments, all ultimately flattering. Usually the first question is "How did you come up with the idea?" A gentleman asked me about the caliber of bullet in the 'gun' fired by the mime. I said I had no idea though I think the query was in jest. Afterwards, I met a fellow Georgian who does programming for the Savannah Film Festival and I dropped an unsubtle hint that this born and bred Georgia-boy had never been to Savannah.

My Google friends attended as promised which endeared them to me as lifelong friends considering they made that pledge the night before in a bar. The great thing about Ann Arbor is that most of the time, there are only two screenings taking place at one time, which I translated to larger audiences. In Rotterdam, I was constantly aware of how many films I was missing, but here, you can see half of the total program easily if you're feeling cinephilely. My kino-burners were on full blast so I went to a kids-themed shorts program and then two features. My favorite short was a doc called Beginning Filmmaking by Jay Rosenblatt about his daughter Ella, who he buys a small video camera and attempts to force her to make a movie. She just turned four. Any movie about kids hinges on having a cute (looking or acting) kid in the lead and it's as archetypal here as anywhere. Shame little Ella wasn't born sixty years ago and Carol Reed could have cast her alongside the boy from Fallen Idol. Ho-hum. It's a strange film because our father/director Jay is a filmmaker and it's hard to tell where his documentary ends and his 'follow in my footsteps' syndrome begins, if it does at all. What is amazing is watching his daughter interact with this camera on her own and the lessons Jay administrates about cu, medium shot, etc. By the end, she starts talking into the lens and recording her feelings and thoughts, having flipped the LCD around so she could see herself. Errol Morris would be proud.

I am compelled to call attention to a couple interactive pieces on display at this year's AAFF in the lobby of the Michigan Theater. The first was an old fashioned reel-to-reel editing setup with a length of clear, blank leader and dozens of colored magic markers. A sign encouraged you to color on the leader whatever design you wished and on Saturday night, the final film would be projected with a score by a local musician. The second and more popular installation offered more instant gratification. It was an animation station with a camera mounted above a white dry erase board that captured images on a computer by the click of a mouse. Tools here included more markers, magazine cut-outs, army men, etc. Talk about fun. All the animations were stored in the recesses of computer memory for your viewing pleasure. Lots of people used penguins and army men. I animated a short video which you can watch below which begins with a dinosaur drinking from a pond.

The two main attractions that night were this doc by DP Ellen Kuras called The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), which is an incredible story about an immigrant from Laos and his family. Larry Flynt was in attendance for a screening of new doc about his life, which could have employed a more compelling approach to match its subject. The Q&A became a tad redundant so we, as in my Google friends and I, left before he was finished. He is also a bit hard to understand in his condition as well.

The rest of my evening was spent visiting the Google office in town, which I wasn't allowed to take photos in, but that did not stop me from snapping a glimpse of the future when everything is named after Google, e.g. google-bed, google-milk, google-dad. "My google-dad drinks google-milk in his google-bed." Actually, we weren't there long, instead opting for the festival after-party.

You're in the midwest and you didn't even know it.

I'm taking a break from the Rotterdam Recap in lieu of illustrating a bit about my recent weekending at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in the great lake state of Michigan. Christen M. (the best dressed film festival director I've met so far) and her wonderful film festival staffers flattered me by inviting 'The Adventure' to screen in this very liberal Detroit suburb. It was the US/North American premiere, whatever you prefer. In addition to pictures, I captured a few short videos. Here was my first glimpse of the Detroit airport.

In broad strokes, the good 'ol USA of is made of four parts: the South, the Northeast, the West and the Midwest. I didn't even realize I was traveling to the Midwest until I was on the phone with a friend of mine from Illinois, who said, when I told her I where I was going, "Enjoy the Midwest." Lo and behold, when I arrived, this was corroborated by the relatively flat, snowy landscape laid out before me. It was strangely reminiscent of McCarthy's The Road, if only briefly. Ann Arbor celebrated its 46th birthday this year and they share this anniversary wealth with all the filmmaker attendees. A shuttle driven by Nick was there to meet me upon arrival and take me to Ann Arbor, about 45 minutes west of Detroit. This was the beginning of Nick's last week in Ann Arbor and by the time I finish this he will be on his way to leading sea-kayaking tours off the coast of Alaska. He's been an outdoors tour guide for several years in the Rockies and elsewhere. There is documentation that a German canoeist named Oscar Spreck who, after losing his job, left Germany via kayak and decided to 'see the world'. The year was 1932 and in 1939 he finally arrived in Australia and was promptly imprisoned as an enemy combatant.

The Ann Arbor Film Festival's giving spirit is fully supported by the local residents, as volunteer hosts often house filmmakers visiting from out of town. My hosts, Jane Allen and Mark Doman, lived on picturesque Brooks St. and my home for the weekend was their daughter Christine's(sic) room, who stays on campus at the University of Michigan, where the collegiate blood is equal parts blue and maize. Jane made breakfast for me every morning and I only saw Mark once because he and Christine were involved in some French trapper inspired outdoor society and they had several initiation functions that weekend. After dropping my bags off, Jane gave me a ride downtown to the Michigan Theater, AAFF's main venue and check-in. As always, I was early and the doors were shuttered, but I did see a sight that brought a great smile to my face. Talk about prime real estate. My first stop was an informative copyright/fair use panel moderated by Chris Gore at a small art gallery a stone's throw from the Michigan Theater, AAFF's cerebrum. After that, it was movies, movies, movies.

My first screening was a juror presentation of Bill Brown's work. I hadn't heard of him either, but I quite adored his three short travelogues shot on 16mm and they are really the films that stay with me most. Admittedly, my mind wandered about half way through the 'The Other Side', but as I sat there, Brown's eloquent, rich and reflective narration seeped through the cracks in my brain and heart and I was won. His photography is simplistic, functional, but quite gorgeous and at first, I thought these films were made thirty years ago, but then a shot of a sign that read "Terrorists Love Open Borders: Remember 9-11" appeared. A cursory visit to his website will undoubtedly hook you into his voice and compass. And he's kinda nerdy.

Later I saw the Animated Shorts Program and Bill Plympton's presentation of drawing and cartoons. Anyone will tell you that animated shorts programs are inevitable sellouts on the festival circuit, but I'm slowly realizing that I'm not that crazy about animated shorts. Admitting this makes me feel a bit like a monster. I mean, would you really like a person who says they don't like cartoons? I wouldn't and I do like cartoons, but I'm just not as amped about animated as live-action. I also went and saw a very amusing film at midnight called Leningrad Cowboys Go America by Kaurismaki. I enjoyed it very much and the movie was filled with college kids who resembled high school kids or perhaps the reverse.

Finally, I stopped off at the after party in hopes of befriending a fellow filmmaker or two. Instead, I met Google employees Lizzie, Lauren and Phil and non-Google employee Clint and we spent a good part of the weekend together. I find the best way to meet people is to look very lost. I really lucked out with this crew. When I arrived home, I went straight to bed and the house cat whose name escapes me was my companion.

The Pathe

This is the Pathe Cinemas. It's the multiplex in Rotterdam and in this photo doesn't look quite real, but I assure you, it's very big and the screens inside are as big as the one at the Fabulous Fox in Atlanta. Only here, there are six in one building. Even on sunny days, old movie stars kiss on the side of the building like they're secluded in some intimate bedchamber in Berlin. Here's the inside. My muse is 2nd from right on the top row. Before, I believed that such images could not be found in movie theaters in our southern metropolis, but then I kicked myself and remembered Atlanta's fallen time capsule, the Lefont Garden Hills and its lobby/hallway of b&w photos of French film icons. At this theater and this theater only could you buy popcorn.

Rotterdam Movie Theaters

This is the Cinerama. It has five or six screens, a bar fully stocked with beer and wines. It may be a full time amenity or just for the festival, but a sandwich/soup station was set up as well with delicious edibles and the kicker was a fresh OJ squeezing machine that was taller than me. Operators had to use a step stool to reach the top of the machine to feed in oranges. It was the best OJ I've ever had. Inside, the following posters could be found. Enough said. The best movie I saw here was a documentary about Dalton Trumbo. He's my new hero.

one photograph to rule them all and IMDB

This is the only photo of The Adventure's world premiere in Rotterdam. My film headlined a program of three shorts, all about 15-20 minutes long. The first was directed by a South Korean filmmaker whose name escapes me. He is center answering questions via an interpreter. I was incredibly nervous before this screening and so I didn't watch the other two films, but I did see them the next time around. The figure in the foreground, I think, is Bartosz, the polish/german film student whose film was second. I could be wrong and it could be a complete stranger. My mother's cousin Joe Houlihan, who she hasn't seen in twenty plus years and I haven't seen ever, lives/works in Maastricht, about two hours by car from Rotterdam, and he came to see the film. He was very kind and dressed in a dark suit with no tie and the collar open on his white shirt. He had silver hair and my mother's mother's smile.

The host of the screening and Q&A bought us all drinks afterwards and we chatted for a bit. My print was flawlessly projected and the house was big, but not full. I miss that festival.

A task for you: Go to imdb.com and in the search window, type 'the adventure'. This makes me happy.

Safety Memories

This is the the movie theater in Rotterdam where my film had it's world premiere. This tiny building with four screens and a bunch of bikes parked out front does not do the immensity of that day justice. It was more grand than I could possibly have imagined. My first night in Rotterdam I saw My Blueberry Nights here and my fears and scareds(made that up) disappeared completely for those 2 hours. I also learned a great deal about Wong Kar-Wai, his work and love during this movie. It is not his best film by any means, buy by any means, it is a cliff notes of his former work: clear as glass.















Can you see my poster? I did not slap it on the wall. That was perpetrated by the volunteers of Rotterdam and this was not the only one they put up. Between the 2nd and 3rd floors of De Doelen along the escalators was poster central and you could get face time with nearly every movie's adverts. It's only a memory now, but I'll never forget the company. Who knows where this poster is now, but I hope it's in some volunteer's dormitory or bedroom next to a poster of Scarface and Jimi Hendrix and Daft Punk.