CHRISTINA SARTORI'S "MY HITMAN'

Last night, before a smal but attentive audience, I viewed a staged reading of a new screenplay by first time writer Christina Sartori, directed by local actor Bob Pemberton. Although I had read the script in earlier form, I was surprised at how deft and funny it was. It certainly had some of the best one-liners I've heard lately, but was also the best reading, both in substance and in execution, of a script I've attended in the last few years.

MY HITMAN is a dark comedy about a gay hit man, who, in the course of killing the sexual partners of a rich man's trophy wife, becomes attracted to one of the men he is supposed to kill, a man who himself is sexually conflicted.
The hit man's name is Dylan, who is British, and he is one of the best invented characters I've encountered lately. While some of the plot is similar to COLLATORAL, the tone, feel and crisp dialogue are from another genre. It's like Michael Mann meets Noel Coward.

The script still needs some work, but that's the purpose of a first staged reading. It's for the writer, not for possible investors. But in the hands of a good director, say an early Stephen Soderberg, and a good editor, the film could go somewhere. For someone under 25 to have written a script with such an interesting set of characters, is quite an accomplishment. This is a project I woud like to see go somewhere.

A STAGECOACH RIDE INTO THE WEST

In his wonderful film about moviemaking, DAYFOR NIGHT, Francois Truffaut, paying the driector of this film within a film, says, somewhere near the midpoint, "Making a film is liking taking a stagecouch journey across the Old West. At first you hope fr a good trip, then you hope you'll make it there at all."

I'm sure those same feelings can be applied to other endeavors, but it is certainly been true of every film festival I've been involved with, and nor more true than this year's festival. With a terrible financial loss last year with George Romero, (fun fest but high overhead), we had no money and no credit. Enter Kevin and Anna, willing to take on the role of Festival Directors. Eager and optimistic, they plunged in full of high hopes. Then reality set in: lack of funding, insufficient manpower, and the gradual scaling back of expectations.
A few days ago, morale was down and there was the unstated question of whether we could move forward at all. But Anna and Kevin hung in - in fact I've rarely seen anyone so dedicated and determined. Things have moved forward, and last night we had a screening session, organizational meeting, and everyone is now psyched about the Festival.

The program, as usual, is very strong, and with Chip Moore coming in to help Kevin on print trafficthe pr is beginning to break, thankes to Marla's perserverance; and, the web site is up earlier than it has ever been. Kevin and Anna seem to be working abound the clock.

A few minutes later in DAY FOR NIGHT, the Truffaut character says, "The crew is in their places, the actors understand their roles, personal concerns have to be put aside, FILM IS KING. That's the spirit of this year's BUFF.

WATERMARKS

It's really good to see that there is such an audience for documentary film. It used to be that the "D" word was the kiss o f death for any theatre daring to show a documentary film.

So it was with peasure that I found a full house in the screening room o f the Coolidge Corner Theatre yesterday afternoon for WATERMARKS, which had already been showing several weeks. Now it s true that the venue only seats 48 and that it was shown in video, and that it was Easter Sunday in a dominantly Jewish neighborhood, and that the film is a footnote to the Holocaust filmography, albeit a distinct one, and moving on its own terms and not because of its Holocaust setting. I, who am 65, was among the youngest in the audience, which is characteristic f audience for specialty films.

WATERMARKS, about a grup of Austrian Jewish women who reunite almost 70 years after their success as a swinning teamwhich was part of a larger sports club which was broken up when Hitler took over Austria. We get to know the women, spread all over the Western world and Middle East, and they have fascinating stories to tell. And, at the end, when they don their bathing suits forone last swim together, it is genuinely affecting.

But, as with many documentaries, it is more interesting fr its subject matter that as a film experience. It is heavily reliant on talking heads, and the narrative structure has a degree of predicibility, conveying little of the sense of discovery that, say, BORN INTO BROTHELS has.
For me, the most intriguing moment came, whe the octogenarians went to a Viennese club and heard a singer who loked right out of the Nazi youth corps, sing "The Buchenwald March." It was a genuinely disquiting moment in the narrative in a fim where less disquieting moments came from the felt, but not exceptional narratives of the women themseves.

FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTORS, AGAIN

"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper," says Charles Foster Kane in CITIZEN KANE. That sentiment, which combines both commitment and naivety, is something I've encountered in a number of professional and entepreneurial endeavrs.

So, too, with film festival directors, who all to easily see the fun of mixing with filmmakers, doing creative programming, and getting one's name in the paper.

On the other hand, there is a lot of work: raising money, bu8ilding a volunteer staff that gets to do none of the fun stuff, and facing the reaities of what an extraordinary commitment running a film festival is, with, on the regional level, means ittle or no compensation.

If any people deserve to get credit for running a film festival it is this year's BUFF managing directors Kevin Monahan and Anna Feder. And, they have learned what an incredible amount of commitment it takes. They have sacrificed time, money, other propfessional cncerns for making this year's BUFF happen. Ane, although sometimes dismayed, they have never been daunted. With very good programming skills, and a learning curve that has helped them to understand what running a festival truly involved, they remain committed to making BUFF #8 (Next year) truly an event.

Alternative cinema is better for them having moved to Boston.

CHOOSE SOPHIA'S GROTTO IN ROZZIE SQUARE

Roslindale Square has certainly come a long way. It has become more of a destination that its counterparts in Brookline or even Jamaica Plain. It is a wnderful combination f the old and new. There are stil the seven grat ethnic bakeries. They have been joined by Michael Sherlock's aggresively curated ine store, the Village Market, with fine ambiance and selection and a nasty manager, and the sometimes struggling boutiques and gift shops on Birch St. It also has sme realy good neighborhod bistros, well desighned, good food and reasonable prices: Gusto's, Delphino's, the Village Sushi and Fish, and the Birch Street istro.

Now comes Sophia's Grotto, an utterly charming Italian/Mediterranean restaurant. Part of its charm is that its only means of access is through a courtyard off Birch St. With wood ovens, an intimate scale, and a perhaps too overly eager staff, it offers a relaxing and fulfilling casual dining experience. There are a few Italian movie posters around, and a book of photos of Sophia Loren, after whom this is presumably named. But the menu is distinctive, and with no entree over $l9.00, it's hard to go wrong.

CONSTANTINE

I am not a special Keanu Reeves fan. With a face sulpted not unlike that of the even worse Ben Affleck, he reminds me of that old MGM pretty boy, Robert Taylor. How he has got into projects with Bertolucci and Gus Van Sant is astounding. His acting range is beyond limited. He hasn't really changed that much from his stoney dude in the BILL AND TED movies.

These limitatiions do not work against him in his role as Constantine, a sort of demon detective, who, because he once committed suicide as a teenager, tries to redeem himself by sending whatever category of demon makes its way to Earth, right back to hell. Whatever! He projects so little sexual intgerest that when the lovely Rachel Weisz asks whether she needs to take all of her clothes off in order to submerge herself in a tub so that she might regain her contact with "the other side", he says she can keep her clothes on.

The film is a little bit like THE EXORCIST meets THE SIXTH SENSE, and, incoherence aside, it's not bad to look at. I didn't make it all the way to end because somewhere in the middle, a lot of exposition was starting to creep in, the sort of spycho/spiritual babble that made THE MATRIX movies so leaden. Here, Reeves takes on some of the Lawrence Fishburne pompositiy from those movies. Yet, here, Reeves works. He's singe minded, and his wardrobe, consisting of his suit with a tie undone, matches the range of his acting

BUFF - l3 DAYS AND COUNTING - ALL FOR THE LOVE OF FILM

A few mnths ago, I blogged about the strain of masochism that must come with being a film festival director. There may be many reaons, ego, recognition, etc., but I would prefer to think that part of the motivation is the desire to bring underappreciated films to audiences that might appreciate them. That also goes for exposure for the talent thatr makss such films. For me, such a mission becomes increasingly important in an age of equally increasing homoginization. (Afte3r all I just am recovering from having seen ALONG CAME POLLY a few nights ago_

But, why else? Yesterday was a case in point. My cxar got towed for not being registered; my dog went in for surgery this morning; my son is dealing with living in LA; I am deeply in debt; I need new glasses, a new ceiling for my condo, and I have some reasn to be concerned about my physical and mental health; the checks from sponsors and advertisers have yet to come in, etc , and the primary venue does not have the DVD equipment they told us would be in place,.

Yet, somehow, we continue. The oft mentioned Kevin and Anna are taking initiatives, and Marla is doing a heroic job in trying to get pr/

As an old nun who taught my ex-wife, used to say, "You do the best you can with the time and space avaiable," and that's what we seem to be doing - all for the love of film..

BORN Into BROTHELS

A truly compelling documentary certainly worthy of its Oscar win.

I needed a theatrical movie fix badly, and since the pickings are pretty sim at this time f year, I went to the only movie Itryly wanted to see. I couldn't stay for all, but I would wilingly see it all the way through

Everyone knows the basic premis, the chidren of Indian prostites who live ina totally sordid atmosphere, and whose change for escape is close to zero, because they cannot go to boarding schools because their parent is a criminal.

But this is hardly a Dickensian tale of poverty. The kids are great, and the scenes of them going to the beach or taking a taxi ride show the joy that is possible in simply being a kid. And, of course, it only increases our anxiety about their futures. And, that they have been given cameras to record what they see is extraordinary. A few years ago, documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick conducted an experiment in a LA high school where all of the seniors were given a video camera for a week where they had to film some significant aspect of their lives.
the resulting fim was one of my favorites.

The Indian children were only given a still camera, but some of the work could be on exhibit.

What is astonishing, and also disturbing, is how kid-like they are, growing up in the pathology of prostitution. But, occasionally, in some well-selected close up, we see the anxiety about the future, especially in the eyes.

Some questions remain - the extraordinary access to the subjewct matter, but I was impressed by the filmmaker, neither teacher nor social worker, who not only worked hard to get the children into the kind of educational program that could get them hope, but, more important, that by giving them cameras, she also gave them the gift of self-expression. But amidst the hope, the film still has this sense of futility, not unlike the caste system that dominated India for so long.

BORN INTO BROTHELS is a remarkable film.

INSIDE SATURDAY NIGHT = OPEN WATER, THIRTEEN AND ALONG CAME POLLY

It must be age, anxiety or inertia, or some combinaion of the above, but instead of going out, I went over to a friend's house and watch a movie, and good parts of two others. I haven't been to a movie in a theatre in l-l./2 months. I usually get the DT's But watch tv I did.

OPEN WATER almost lived up to its reputation. Less the suspense thriller that I had expected, it was a lean (80 minutes) doom lated (massive cloudy skies matched the open water. And, the yuppie-like couple accidently left behind in shark-infested waters felt real. It was an effective low budget indie feature that occasionaly felt ike an exercise, but neverthless was compelling.

I wish I could have stayed awake for more of THIRTEEN, the more humane and seemingly less cynical approach to the simiar subject in KIDS. And, Holly Hunter does manage to get her share of interesting roles )THE PIANO, CRASH, and even the voice of a fish)

I wish I could have slept through some of ALONG CAME POLLY, so that I could have seen more of THIRTEEN. This somewhat amiable but thoroughly formulaic comedy with the ubiquitous Ben Stiller and the annoyingly bland Jennifer Anniston tells about the relationshipo between this uptight guy and this free spirited woman. How many times have I seen this? HAROLD AND MAUDE is a masterpiece next to this. It was interesting to see Philipo Saymore Hoffman as the nasty sidekick, and Alec Baldwin in rehearsal for his role in THE AVIATOR, but really, why do people make this crap? and why do people pay to see it?

COUNTDOWN IN THE BUFF

BUFF is l8 days away, and I feel that where we are is where we should have been a month ago. We're still getting ads, and we're still having screening nights. We're not sure of our party venues, and how to pay for all of this is not an immaterial question. In addition, we don't have the administrative infrastructure in place. We have a great program, but will anybody know about it?

And, as attractive as the notion of being involved in running a film festival might seem, the reality of it is another matter. As is the stress, which makes the personalities involved in running the festival reveal themselves (as may be appropriate for the BUFF). Almost noone really understands what it takes to run a film festival. Showing and programming movies is one thing; running a festival is another. The evolving Board in Northampton realizes this in the selection of David Leo as the Festival Director.

Fortunately, I've been here before. It doesn't make it any easier, however. I only hope that the heroic and dedicated efforts by Kevin and Anna work out so they are not discouraged from continuing this kind of work. They have spent countess hours, are personally overextended in time, money and energy, and are beginning to realize that a festival needs money and an organizational infrastructure. It isn't all about the program.

This is the 7th year for BUFF, and there will be an 8th. When, in year 2, the Directyor disappeared on me, and my office manager Kat Thomas, a full time honors undergrad at BC, took over, exuding a confidence that was a little out of touch with reality. At pne point, when she was spending over 40 hours a week on the Festival, and tensions were running high, I said, 'We've got to count to 10. We've become friends, and we can't have the stress of the Festival wreck that friendship." We still talk a couple of times a month. She's out in LA, with a full time job, a relationship, taking acting lessons, auditioning, etc. Sp she still multi-tasks and overextends.

There are few rewards in running a festival. Certainly not financial. I've said before that there's something of both a masochist and perhaps an egotist in running a festival. In Northampton, Charlie Burke has stepped down as Director, but he still is actively involved in going to meetings and talking about programming.

BUFF will be good, and, as a former teacher myself, I know that it will be a valuable learning experience for Kevin and Anna, who have done so much good work to make this festival happen. But they also realize how much more work needs to be done and that the implementation of the festival wil have to be reexamined.

And, l8 days from now, we'll all stand naked with the program.

ANNA AND KEVIN IN THE BUFF

Three weeks ago I wrote about it being cruch time for BUFF, Guess what? We're still crunching.
And it wouldn't be happening at all if it weren't for the heroic efforts of the two Managind Directors, Kevin Monaham and Anna Feder. In addition to BUFF, Kevin has two jobs, one full time, and Anna has a job at BU, where she is a full time graduate student in Film. Fortunately, they are a couple, so communications issues in an understaffed operation like BUFF have been minimal. And they've both seen at least 200 films apiece that are being considered for BUFF. Kevin has contacted filmmakers whose works we want to show but were not formally submitted, and has supervised the development of the website, while Anna has recruited volunteers for getting advertising, doint PF, and soliticiting sponsors And, she has gotten someone to come up with an incredible poster design.

What is different about these two as managers, is that they really want to run festivals. They have excellant alternative taste and, like many festival directors, can deal with the inmbalance of time and money that come with the turf. They may have not realized how difficult it is to put on a festival, but their commitment to making BUFF 2005 happen has not been deterred.

I've often said when things have come up a little short, "This year is about next year." I hope this year has been a positive learning experience for Kevin and Anna, and that next year it will be even better. I also hope that Anna and Kevin will continue to find outlets for their programming sensibility. In an age of increasing homoginazsation, such people are necessary.

Thanks for getting involved, Kevin and Anna..

BILL PLYMPTON IN THE BUFF

Legendary animator and peverse artist Bill Plympton has been a good friend of the B oston Underground Film Festival for almost all of its history. One year, he was a judge, and we showed his latest film EATING as a work in progress. It went on to win an award at Cannes. Last year we spremiered GUARD DOG, which went on to get an Academy Award nomination this year. (Note: in spite of its "underground" status, BUFF has premiered a film that went on to get a nomination every year - COPY SHOP, Don Herzfeld's REJECTED, Wendy Tilby WHEN THE DAY BREAKS, etc)
I met Bill more than 10 years ago through John MacNeil, of Boston Camera and Moody Street Pictures. Through me, Bill has also partipated in the Woods Hole and Northampton festivals.

Bill has also recruited films for us. In last year;s festival, we showed SON OF SATAN, based on a piece by Charles Bukowski, which went on the get the Best of Fest award. He also got us our popular DELIVERANCE; THE MUSICAL. His associate, Signe Baumann, who did the animation for Mitchell Robbins' XXXY, and also does the Filthy Fest in New York, did the same for BUFF last year.

This year we're showing the Boston premiere of Bill';s HAIR HIGH, a spoof on teen-age styles and manners of the early 60's. It's very good. Although it has foreign distributiion, it still does not have domestic. Even more unfortunate, the film cost so much that Bill had to give up his studio on 23rd St. in Chelsea and move operations into his loft.

For a man of so much talent, so much vision, and so much generosity, he shouldn't be struggling this hard. I was reminded of this when I just watched another film he sent us, this year's Oscar nominee, RYAN, a Canadian film about a homeless Canadian animator. It's powerful stuff.

Thanks, Bill

DRACULA FOR CHILDREN

Civilization's crumbling! Bat abductors, zombie wives, and a hero who ives of the blood, often menstrual, of injocent maidens, and one who can die only with a stake in his heart after he has been weakened by the presence of crucifixes.

Such is the story of Dracula, now set in operatic form performed by the Boston's Chiuldren's Opera in a church basement in Belmont. What has the world come to!

What goes around comes around! Years ago, I was asked by the then 3-i/2 year old daughter of a very good friend of mine to tell her a story, "a scary story." Not being a natural story teller, I decided to give her a watered down version of NOSFERATU. I thought I cleaned it up pretty musyh, but, when her mother called me, two days later, to tell me that her daughter had been traumatized by the story, couldnt sleep, etc., When she came to visit, she couldn't enter the living room b ecause of the poster of the Werner Herzog remake of NOSFERATU. The story became part of "Uncle David" lore.

Then, over six years later, I get a call from young Ana, a precocious little girl with remarkable poise and beauty, who also has a keen sense of irony, as well as a promising singing voice.

She called to tell me that she was playing one of the three Brides of Dracula in the Boston Children's Opera production. Of course I had to go, and relish the eerie effects, the racoon eyes, and the trance like movement of the brides.

Quite frankly, I found the entire thing to be an ambitious enterprise. The man who composes the opera, Newfoundler David Budgell, does six such projects during the year, with almost 400 children. Each opera has six casts of at least 16 roles. That's over l00 children he has to rehearse. And he has to put on a show for families, where the adult relatives can be expentantly supportive, but the siblings and peer friends do sit through a two-hour performance in support. The sheer volumn is astounding, and what might get sacrificed in individual voice training gets compensated for in the building of self=confidence.

After the performance, I joked with the director, who, perhaps unwittingly had done a score that was part Gilbert and Sullivan (England is a great place for someone like Count Dracula to come and learn to be civilized)_ and part SWEENY TODD. After all, how often does one hear an aria on blood transfusions. And, it could have been camped up.

Alas, and necessarily, it was done straight, but without premeditated irony, it was interesting to watch a cast of pre and early pubescent girls performing a work that has implicit rite of passage themes.

But, on a far more innocent level, I was pleased to have been invited by young Ana, who did confess to occasionally scaring herself in rehearsal, but who now can come into my living room and confront the poster of NOSFERATU.

CHELSEA AND BLOGGING

Earlier today, my old friend and associate Chelsea Spear, filmmaker, dog walker and true alternative film cineaste, called. It had been a while. It was Chelsea who introduced be to the concept of blogging, for she had seen my name crop up on the blog of a local filmmaker, whose film I'm helping out. Som praise or blame can go to Chelsea for having gotten me the idea to do this.

But when I asked her why she hadn't called in so long, she said she did'nt want out conversations to be the subject of a blog (too late, Chelsea!), or that I might ramble on about some contgroversial issue in the film community. You see, Chelsea and I are both opinionated. and she knew that I probably got in trouble for the some of the things I wrote.

Anyway, welcome back, Chelsea, and I'm glad you're excitid about some of the films we're showing in BUFF, particularly film by Guy Maddin, Noam Gonick, and the risky showing of the legendary THUNDERCRACK

SCORSESE AND CASSAVETES

JI didn't get out to Garth Donovan,s revised cut of his John Cassavetes styled FENCES AND FINGERNAILS. It was all the way out in Dedham, and I was tired, the weather was bad yket again, and after a day of anxiety,, and some good breaks, about BUFF (it;s only 3-l/2 weejs away), I was more in a TGIF relaxing mode.

But just as Garth's film is quite autobiographical, so, too, were two early films by Scorsese, MEAN STRETS, about wiseguy wannabes in New York's Little Italy, and his short ITALIAN=AMERICAN, a documentary portrait of his parents.

I recently showed MEAN STREETS in my independent film class. I often make it the third film in the course, after leading off with the Cohen Brothers first film BLOOD SIMPLE, followed by Cassavetes first film, SHADOWS.. In the case of BLOOD SIMPLE, I shows a highly controlled script, with highly controled technique. It;s lighting and camera angles are almost Hitchcockian, and seemed as pre-planned, Not only does the film show off that they went to film school, but it also leaves n o room for improvisition. On the other hand, SHADOWS with its (somewhat calculated) use of a hand held camera, is called an "improvisation."

MEAN STREETS is something of a synthesis of these two contrastive films. On the one hand, film school grad quotes ow budget films, and has a color scheme and elaborate pre-planned tracking shots, that also show off (effectively, I maght add.) On the other hand, the acting, other camerawork (the fight scene in the pool hall) have an entirely spontaneous feel, appropriate for a film where the violence is explosive and unexpected, not unlike the epilectic fits Amy Robinson has.

Cassavetes expert Ray Carney tells of the personal bond between Scorsese and Cassavetes. One, in the early 70's Scorsese crashed on Cassavetes \' sofa. Later, after the critical success of MEAN STREETS, Scorsese's short documentary, ITALIAN-AMERICAN got accepted into the New York Film Festival, while Casavetes' masterpiece WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, was rejected. Cassavetes called Scorsese and asked him to intervene by threatening to pull his film. Scorsese dis;; WOMAN got in, and the rest is history.

It's the risk taking spontaneity that I've I've grown to miss in Scorsese's later films, Stylisticly, they are not unlike the self-conscious perfection of the Cohen brothers...... Amd. Scorsese still shows he knows his film stuff. But, still, a Scorsese film is an event, and, not unlike Cassavetes, they are the product of passion.

JIMMY TINGLE IN THE BUFF

Home grown comedian Jimmy Tingle has a l50-seat space in Somerville's David Square that is good for more than an intimate setting for stand up comedy. He has installed a screen and a DVD deck and projector that makes it ideal for fimmakers who want feedback on their emerging works. We plan to use it for the Boston Underground Film Festival for pane discussions and screenings of short films. It aso has a bar, in an ae that already has a good share of cafes and pubs.

Dais Square has replaced Harvard Square as a good place to hang out. Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway Theatre is a great adition.

CANADA IN THE BUFF, II

Canadian films have always had a significant presence in the Boston Underground Film Festival, thanks in part to my friend Ambrose Roche, and the people I've met through him at the Toronto Film Festgival. In the past, we've premiered Guy Maddin's HEART OF THE WORLD, Ann Marie Fleming's BLUE SKIES,and THE MAGICAL LIFE OF LONG TAK SAM, AND jAY dIXIT'S it all happened so incredibly fast.

This year is even more strongly Canadian, whhat with the premiere of Noam Gonick's STRYKER, as well as HEY HAPPY, ZOMBIE NURSES IN LOVE, and programs curated by Judy Gladstone of BRAVOFACT, and Dave Barber of the highly creative Winnepeg Film Group. There's even a tantalizingly named short called GUTS OF THE GODS.

Stay tuned for more

CANADA IN THE BUFF

And, there might even be a surprise with Sarah Polley

THE WANG, THE COOLIDGE AND THE NON-PROFIT MISSION

It was with dismay last year that the non-profit Wang Center kicked out a major local cultural institution, The Boston Ballet, to b ring in a road company version of The Rockettes Christmas show. It was also with some sadness that I saw that the Coolidge was playine one film, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, that is playuing at l5 theatres in the Boston area, an another, HOTEL RWANDA, that is playing at seven.

In the case of the Wang, lit has brought in blockbuster touring shows before, the Andrew lloyd Webber stuff and the like, lbut crass commercialism like the Rockettes should raaise aneyebrow or two at grant giving sources. It is true that the Wang does have little publicized educati9nal programs and some outreach, but The Rockettes - really!

At least with the Coolidge, these are quality films, and they have the screening room where they have quality smaller films exclusively, like TO BE AND TO HAVE, etc. And, as much as any other venue, they have programs and special events that serve both the Brookline community and the independent film and video community. They have recently converted their old office space into something of a classroom, and for years they have been the home of Video Balagan

And both venues have done a wonderful job of restoration.

And both venues have high overheads at a time when grant money is slowly drying up. They have to pay attention to the bottom line. But at both non-profit venues the image is fading that they are presenting something truly special.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

We all know that film is a collaborative art, but it is also true that those responsibile for creating films are not always willing to take reasonible feedback. That is why I like rehearsed readings of scripts, where the writer is iling to take feedback from both the actors and the audience' and, I am a fan of rough cut screenings open to the public, witha q &a with both the director and the editor.

In the past week I have had three encounters with filmmakers who have gone through the process, as patience-trying as that process might be. The first, Steven Croke's THE BUSKER, I have already blogged about. With two editors, one for first cut, another for fine cut, the film has been submitted to the Boston Independent Film Festival for a rough cut screening. In so doing, it does not prohibit its chances for Sundance, and a further cut could still be shown in Woods Hole this summer. The audience there is always astute, and the creative team could make a final determinatin of a film festival strategy.

The same is true for Joe Gotta's NUMBER 2 PENCIL, which in its latest cut, with the inclusion of animation and some tightening of the narrative, seems much more surreal, demented and Twight Zone-y. It also seems more approprite for the Boston Underground Film Festival whan before. And there it will have a rough cut screening, after which its producers, among whom is Local Sightings graduate Carey Zolper, will plan for the future.

Finally, there is DIXIE STORMS, a script by Christy Scott Cashman about the relatioship between two women from the South, one who has stayed in the small Bible-belt southern town, the other who has fled to Memphis, where she runs a blues club. The script has been almost four years in development, and the draft I read last week has gone through at least four revisions with the help of others, including ON GOLDEN POND's Ernest Thompson. Not only is the script vastly do-able, but with the right talent both in front and behind the camera, it could make a very affecting movie. But what most impressed me, when I met with Christy and talked about my own reactions, she quickly went to her office, brough out a piece of paper, and wrote down my comments, ready to consider and possibly implement some of the suggestions I had made.

In each of these instances, the filmmakers have put aside their own egos and have listened. In commerciial films, this process often leads to projects that are compromised;; in indepedent films, it more often leads to quality films that reflect the initial inspiration for the creators.

NIFF GETS A NEW LIFE

Heading into its 11thyear, the Northampton Independent Film Festival seems to he headed toward a promising future. With an energetic new director, David Leo, and a working board, there is less the masochistic labor of love in the past than organizational strength. Also,. in spite of the fact that it is not a fund raising board, the financial commitments for the coming year are not out of line with reality, and in line with the realities of cash flowand fund raising. And, it is not a break from the past. Former director Charlie Burke wil work with David to set up a system that will hopefull avoid the Festival's becoming a one man show or a one man burden. And, I will serve in some capacity like Program Director. In terms of additional help, David and members of the board visited a local college not just in the hopes of setting up an internship program, but with the purpose of setting up a class in festival management. So, it looks ike we'll make it toNIFF 11.

THE CONSTELLATION CENTER

Sometime in 2010, at a site in East Cambridge/Kendall Square, , about a block from the Kendall Square "T": will open the four auditorium state of the art Constellation Center, a multi-functional arts center, with special attention to music nd film. This is the brainchild of former venture capitalist Glenn KnicKrehm, a man whosew passion for both art forms is matched by his overwhelming desire for technical excellence in presentation

The auditoriums, which will range in size from just under l25 to about 750, will fill a need for medium sized venues for performing arts groups. At the same time it will be a gathering place for lovers of independent film and classic film. It will also provide an exccelent venue for smaller arts organizations who do not have a regular home. Glenn wants the facility to be highly interactive, and I can see a use for screenings of works in prograss as well as completed films. He also has amassed an incredible number of vntage 35mm prints of classic films al in mint condition.

Glenn started the project almost l0 years ago. He has pursued the evolution of the concept with an almost childloke sense of curiosity. His research and contacts, both locally and natinaly, are astounding. His contribuion to Boston area arts will be profound. I will keep you posted on further developments.

THE BUSKER'S EDITING TEAM

Last night I had dinner with the editors of a locally produced independent film called THE BUSKER, a film by Steve Croke about a teenage street musician who is something of a prodigy, whose father was mistakenly killed in a racial incident. Shot in Lowell, it is good to look at and boasts strong acting. But it needs work.

I often think about the collaboration between the director and the cinematographer to be the most important, but certainly, after meeting with the editors last night, I'm open to a wider point of view.

The first editor was Chi-Ho Lee, a BU graduate who teaches Final Cut Pro and has a reputation as a great technician. He edited David Rothauser's DIARY OF SACCO AND VANZETTI, which has shown in festivals and aired on WGBH

Chi-Ho had to leave because of other professinal commitments, and I found veteran editor Loren Miller to fine tune the project. Loren edited the student films that put Boston University's film program on the map. He edited Oscar nominee KUDZU (with Jimmy Carter and James Dickey) Oscar winning KARL HESS, and the fabulous I REMEMBER BARBRA, about people who grew up in Barbra Streisand,'s old Brooklyn neighborhood. Loren likes creative challenges, and, just as HIGH NOON was made in the editing room, so was I REMEMBER BARBRA. Since THE BUSKER is a film about music, Loren brought in Don Wilkins, head of the film music department at Berklee College of Music, to assist. As good as the film is turning out to be, its success may come in part from the sound track.

Steve Croke reminded me of the od addage that a film has three versions - the screenplay, the shooting, and the editing. . I've read the script, seen two cuts of the movie, and am eagerly anticipated the latest cut. This film has a chance, and whatever success it may have will come from Steven's willingness to take the advice of others, especiallyhis editors.

CLOSER

On the morni ng of the Oscars I caught a 1045 show of CLOSER, hardly the kind of film towake up to.

As a fan of Mike Nichols' WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF/ and CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, I was looking forward to a return to form. Although Nichols did a good job of making us forget its stage origins, and the production design was excellent as well as the acting (Julia Roberts was a particular surprise), I found the film to be overly schematic. The choreographed couplings, the significant profession, the photographer, the obituary writer, the dermatologist, and, above all, the vulnerable stripper all became obvious symbols, and well as the photographic exhibit "Strangers" in a movie called CLOSER. But, above all, in spite of the acting, I never really saw what attracted these people to one another in the first place, let alone what kept them together for whatever time they were together.