FESTIVALS, PLAYGROUNDS AND NANTUCKET
Cannes, that mixture of polemics, partying and film, is going on now. With its bikini clad and unclad starlets and serious film professionals, it is often the Mecca for film people. That was why I was glad to hear that my entertainment lawyer friend, Vinca Jarrett, with whom I had lunch on the opening day of Cannes, was not going. Having gone for several years, she dropped out. My take is that there is too much schmooze and too little substance. The same way Sundance has become.
Here in New England, we face a mini-version of the same problem. In the middle of June, just before the start of the tourist season, but still having the benefit of warm beach-going weather, three oceanside towns host film festivals, two of them on the same weekend. Newport comes in first, with Provincetown and Nantucket going head to head on Father's Day weekend. So much for family values.
All three festivals have drifted away from reginality and toward celebrity. A few years ago, former UA head and board member Bingham Ray urged Nantucket to cultivate a New England program. Instead, the festival has gone for celebrities. Last year it was Charlie Kaufman and Jim Carrey. This year it's Steve Martin. Certainly worthy participants, but... (To be fair, the absence of sponsorship from the state run Mass Film Office, now out of business, may have contributed to this) But this year, there are only five New England films in the program: STOLEN, SAME SEX AMERICA, GAME SIX, and two short films. Programmer Tom Hall, with whom I talked yesterday, is happy about the program
As much as I have liked Nantucket in the past, I will probably go the Provincetown this year. I have a friend who has a film in the festival, and, quite frankly, it is not as much of a logistical hassle to get there, nor is it as expensive. And it's great to be sitting at a cafe and see John Waters bicycling up the street.
In this context, however, another seaside community, Woods Hole, has to be commended for refusing to go the celebrity route. To be sure, there have been important people there: Gordon Willis, Julie Harris, etc. Here it is, a festival at the height of tourist season (late July-early August), with rooms scarce and lines at restaurants, and there is more of a commitment to regional filmmakers than the other three festivals combined. And it is a fun, filmmaker-friendly festival. And it is the oldest of the four. Director Judy Laster is to be commended not only for her steady hand on the growth of the Festival, but for her commitment to regional filmmakers, whose participation in the festival helps make the festival so festive.
Here in New England, we face a mini-version of the same problem. In the middle of June, just before the start of the tourist season, but still having the benefit of warm beach-going weather, three oceanside towns host film festivals, two of them on the same weekend. Newport comes in first, with Provincetown and Nantucket going head to head on Father's Day weekend. So much for family values.
All three festivals have drifted away from reginality and toward celebrity. A few years ago, former UA head and board member Bingham Ray urged Nantucket to cultivate a New England program. Instead, the festival has gone for celebrities. Last year it was Charlie Kaufman and Jim Carrey. This year it's Steve Martin. Certainly worthy participants, but... (To be fair, the absence of sponsorship from the state run Mass Film Office, now out of business, may have contributed to this) But this year, there are only five New England films in the program: STOLEN, SAME SEX AMERICA, GAME SIX, and two short films. Programmer Tom Hall, with whom I talked yesterday, is happy about the program
As much as I have liked Nantucket in the past, I will probably go the Provincetown this year. I have a friend who has a film in the festival, and, quite frankly, it is not as much of a logistical hassle to get there, nor is it as expensive. And it's great to be sitting at a cafe and see John Waters bicycling up the street.
In this context, however, another seaside community, Woods Hole, has to be commended for refusing to go the celebrity route. To be sure, there have been important people there: Gordon Willis, Julie Harris, etc. Here it is, a festival at the height of tourist season (late July-early August), with rooms scarce and lines at restaurants, and there is more of a commitment to regional filmmakers than the other three festivals combined. And it is a fun, filmmaker-friendly festival. And it is the oldest of the four. Director Judy Laster is to be commended not only for her steady hand on the growth of the Festival, but for her commitment to regional filmmakers, whose participation in the festival helps make the festival so festive.
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