I arrived at The Woodstock Film Festival yesterday afternoon and went to registration to collect my badges - one "filmmaker" and one "press". I'm here with my short film
Honored which is screening here Saturday and Sunday. It was rainy and chilly all day yesterday. Perfect for sitting indoors and watching movies. I watched two films that played yesterday. Was hoping to catch a third, but ended up getting lost in search of where I'm staying in the mountains. Save that story for a bit later..
The first film I saw was the World Premiere of
3 Américas written and directed by
Cristina Kotz Cornejo which centers on 16 yr old América (played by newcomer
Kristen Gonzalez) who lives in Boston and is frustrated with her life with her aunt Carolina and her alcholic husband Joey. She spends her days hanging out with friends, shoplifting, and getting into trouble. Her world is suddenly changed by a tragic event which forces her to move to Buenos Aires and live with her grandmother, Lucia, (played by veteran Argentinian actress
Ana Maria Colombo). América barely speaks Spanish and feels unsettled by her grandmother's anti-American sentiments and isolated life. She befriends the neighbor handyman Sergio (delicately portrayed by
Nicolas Meradi) who is twice her age and forms a relationship that her grandmother quickly disapproves of. Through the course of the film we see América try to adjust to her new life in Argentina and relate to her grandmother, and eventually take on some responsibility. During the Q+A, Ms. Cornejo revealed that the film was based on some of her personal experiences and thoroughout the film you can see the sensitivity in which she tells the story. The scenes between América and her grandmother, and América with Sergio are poignant and you really get a sense of this teenager evolving from start to finish. It was a great way for me to start my festival experience.
3 Américas is Ms. Cornejo's first feature, but she has completed several shorts that have played festivals worldwide and have since been distributed. Ms. Cornejo is also a teacher at Emerson College and one of her former students who worked in the film crew that shot on location in Boston and Argentina was on hand during the Q+A as well. How fun to be able to work on your professor's shoot and go to the premiere!
The second film I saw was the World Premiere of
Neal Cassady written and directed by
Noah Buschel and starring
Tate Donovan. Cassady was immortalized as Dean Moriarity, the central character Jack Kerouac's
On The Road and this film begins at the start of fateful journey Cassady and Kerouac (
Glenn Fitzgerald), then leaps forward to the 1960s when Cassady met up with Ken Kesey (
Chris Bauer) and joined the Merry Pranksters and became "Superman" and the driver of the psychedelic school bus "FURTHER". A bus that actually made it's way here to Woodstock during an anti-Vietnam rally, but without Cassady or Kesey. Thoroughout the film we see Cassady's struggle between being a character and being a man. He's constantly in search of and haunted by his derelict drunk father, and abandons his own young family. He just can't seem to sit still or write anything down - never becoming the writer he had dreams of being. We see this struggle articulated bitterly in a scene where Cassady slips into his family's home and sits on the floor near his son's bed with a notepad and is barely able to scribble his son's name out, and leaves no message. We see Cassady's struggle between his desire to break from the image of Moriarty and "Superman" but these characters that are so much a part of his persona are difficult to let go of. The film was an interesting look into Cassady but I also felt like the film was only skimming the surface of a story that has so much more to tell.
Neal Cassady is Mr. Buschel's second feature,
Bringing Rain starring
Adrian Grenier was his debut that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2003. Unfortunately, Mr. Buschel was not on hand for a Q+A at the end of the film.
The third film I had wanted to see was the premiere of
Jonathan Blitstein's Let Them Chirp Awhile. I didn't make it though because after struggling with the wi-fi on my computer at the Colony Café I decided to venture off to the Byrdcliffe Artist's Colony where I'm staying thinking I'd have time to drop my stuff and make the screening. On my way out of the café I ran into Woodstock Film Festival co-founder
Meira Blaustein who insisted that although I had directions that I should ask someone from the office to show me how to get there. It was rainy and pitch black outside. I told her that I would do that, but decided to take it upon myself to find the place where I was staying believing firmly in my sense of direction. Well, anyone who has sat in a car with me knows that I don't know my right from left and in the dark, on wet roads covered in leaves, I soon realized I should have listened to Meira. Spiraling up a hill and now well past the start time of the film, I eventually turned around and went the Festival office where I found a volunteer willing to escort me to Byrdcliffe. She even got a bit turned around on the way up, so I didn't feel so bad at my efforts. The rest of the filmmakers staying up there are arriving today, so I arrived at the residence, built in 1902, lit up, but empty. There are a few horror and suspense films that quickly came to mind, but rather than freaking me out, it got me pretty psyched. I dropped my bags and got into the car with Patti, the volunteer, and we went back down the hill to the Opening Night Party which was well attended, but there were was only a smattering of filmmakers. I met a fellow shortfilmmaker
Gregg Brown who is here with his award-winning film
Shrinks,
Signe Baumane who is here with her animated short
Teat Beat of Sex, and
James Rauchman who's short doc
Tomatoes of Discord is screening here, and also met up with Cristina Kotz Cornejo and Tatiana who is the former student who worked on her film. Patti kindly drove me back to Byrdcliffe afterwards where I slept soundly despite the whipping wind and creaking house. I've got to take some photos of the house today - it's really amazing and you can feel stories lurking everywhere.
The sun is sneaking through now and it's sunny and bright. I saw two docs this afternoon that were great for very different reasons:
Black White & Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe and
How To Cook Your Life. More on them later as I'm being bumped offline for the moment!
# posted by stephanie fischette @ 10/12/2007 04:00:00 PM
Comments (1)
Hey Stephanie!
Its Tatiana, I met you at the Woodstock Film Festival. I was hanging out with Cristina Kotz-Cornejo (3 Americas). I saw you on Tuesday night at Union Pool but didn't get a chance to say hello. My boyfriend played with Celebration that night and it was kinda hectic in general. But I wanted to get your contact info and keep in touch. Perhaps we can collaborate on some project in the future!
Take care!
-Tatiana
my email is: tatiana.mccabe@gmail.com
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posted by tatiana @ 10/19/2007 2:48 PM
