Lance Around Orlando

Happy 20th Birthday to the FFF

[Editor’s Note: While SunnyStefani enjoys her first FFF Revel Party, LanceAround is attending his third. Today’s post looks at two perspectives on this year’s party…]

SunnyStefani: When I arrived at the Eden bar I ran into a staff member who was telling me that things are running very smoothly this year, minus having to throw a bum out for asking customers for money! There was even a live band at the party.

LanceAround: I was disappointed when I heard that this year’s party was going to be held at the Eden Bar and the other outdoor areas of the Enzian. Although we love the Enzian, it’s not a very conducive atmosphere for a large gathering. As the caterer from Spencer Tracy’s Father of the Bride would point out–there’s no “flow.” Contrast that with the previous two years when the party was held at the Maitland Art Center and Full Sail campus–two very different yet fabulous venues for a party.

I ran into Jordana Meade and asked her about the venue. She explained that since this was the 20th anniversary, we were holding a free party for the entire community.  Unlike previous years, when you had to pay an entry fee for the party, this year was free and featured small cupcakes to celebrate the anniversary. The theme, consistent with this year’s Festival, was Florida. One could purchase Florida grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and other typical Florida outdoor party grill foods.

SunnyStefani: Walking around looking for someone intriguing to talk to I stumbled across a gentleman who was wearing a ‘filmmaker’ pass. So of course I was instantly drawn to him. After introducing myself, I found out he was Lavado Stubbs, who directed After: The Kellie Greene Story. He is from the Bahamas and is an international student at Full Sail University with only one more month until graduation.

“The festival has been amazing,” said Lavado, “This is a big thing; I’m loving it. I wrote the concept for the documentary” for a school project. This movie is a documentary about rape survivor, Kellie Greene, and her triumph of overcoming such a drastic event. I was given three days to shoot, but “I weaved in an extra day with my professor and got it extended to 4 days.”

Lavado said it was a very long editing process and he’s glad his female colleague was in charge of it. After: The Kellie Greene Story was “selected as one of the 16 finalists. It’s entered in the American Pavillion Emerging Film Maker Showcase at Cannes Film Festival,” exclaimed Lavado. He told me he’s “super excited, it’s amazing to reach such masses. This is a very heavy association, only 16 out of 400 films were selected” and Lavado’s was one.

LanceAround: One of the most rewarding things about the Florida Film Festival is being surrounded by film lovers. Everyone you encounter is eager to talk about films. There is a wealth of knowledge about independent film, film history, film techniques–you name it. Just walking around the party and overhearing all the conversation about film is so much fun.

SunnyStefani: David Iton, a friend of Lavado said they go to Full Sail University together. He’s getting his Masters in Business. Today was the first time seeing this film and said it was “pretty interesting.”

Both Lavado and David are going to be enjoying the rest of the night at the Eden Bar before they leave to go to their friend’s shoot. Being a Communication major I can relate to Lavado because my senior project was ‘The role of a producer.’ I enjoyed my time talking and getting to know Lavado.

LanceAround & SunnyStefani: Make sure you join us tomorrow for it is the last day of the FFF 2011.

Rainn Wilson as Crimson Bolt

I made it to the Regal with enough time to stand in line with the other press and volunteers. A staff member told me the line to see Super was wrapped around the theatre. We were waiting to enter the theatre because they wanted to let all the stand-bys in. After about thirty of the stand-bys were let in, the press followed along with the volunteers and staff.

The theatre was packed! I’ve never seen such a packed movie theatre before, there did not appear to be a single seat empty. As I looked around to find an empty seat, I discovered one next to Justin and Mary Ann, who are both from the Orlando area. Mary Ann had previously seen Hamill and Norman at this years FFF. Regarding Hamill, she told me she was “surprised about the political battle between sign language and the spoken word. It was a big part of the movie,” which she liked. The dark themes in Norman also caught her attention.

Finally after the remainder of the stragglers came into the theatre and scarfed up the last available empty seats, Super was about to start. Not reading much about this film prior to watching it I was terribly excited that none other than Kevin Bacon was in it. Yes, that’s right, Kevin Bacon! For those of you who are avid Kevin Bacon fans you know there’s a game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, which is a trivia game that links any individual through their film role to Kevin Bacon within six steps. You would of course also know he has a commercial out with Logitech that’s about being in love with himself. I may or may not know this because of a close friend of mine who’s obsessed with Bacon. Yes, my friends a guy.

Super, directed by James Gunn, is a humorous superhero movie about Frank (Rainn Wilson). Franks wife, Sarah (played by the gorgeous Liv Tyler), leaves him for Kevin Bacon, who plays the Jock. When the finger of God touches him, he realizes all it takes to be a superhero is the choice to fight evil.

Frank decides to do ‘research’ about superheros that don’t have special powers and use weapons. He runs across Libby (Ellen Page) at a comic book store where she proceeds to wonder why no one takes matters into their own hands and becomes a superhero.

Frank makes a horrible make-shift superhero outfit and starts beating up ‘villains’ with a pipe wrench. The news outlets begin to refer to him as the “Crimson Bolt.” While beating people with his pipe wrench he tells them, ‘don’t steal,’ ‘don’t molest children,’ or ‘don’t do drugs.’ Libby becomes his ‘kid’ sidekick, despite the fact she’s 22 and is referred to as “Boltie.”

This movie was more graphic than I was expecting, which is great considering my love for horror films. The audience was in love with this film during the whole showing. There was nonstop laughing and clapping during the film. By far number one on my list of movies at this years FFF. Super was super awesome. I’d call it a twist between Kick-Ass and Super Bad. Good versus evil. I really enjoyed this film.

I talked with Mary Ann after the film who said she was “embarrassed of the sex scenes with my nephew next to me.” Justin is her nephew who is only 14. “I enjoyed it but I was worried about Justin. Even though it was violent, the theme came through. I liked it. “

The audience cleared out pretty quick. I’m assuming, like myself, that after the showing they made their way down to the Enzian for the special event they were having at Eden Bar for the 20^th anniversary salute to the FFF. I’ll tell you all about the party in my next post!

Tania, played by Anne Coesens

After driving around for ten minutes at the Regal trying to find a parking spot, I finally raced into one as a car was leaving. I worked a 9 hour day and came straight to the film festival from work. So yet again, I arrived at the film right before it started, limiting my interviews with the line.

Not terribly thrilled about any of the features showing tonight, I decided on Illégal. Being a horror buff, I’m normally drawn to foreign films because of their creativity and ability to think outside the box.

Illégal is about illegal immigrants who become captured and detained like animals. Tania, the main character, is captured by authorities. The movie shows the struggle she goes through to protect her son, Ivan.

She lived her life on the run; not only with a fake ID but also by burning off her fingerprints. She was taken from her son and placed in a home, which was more like jail. Because she refused to give the authorities her name for fear of being deported back to her native country. She was given a badge number, 9648, which they used to identify her.

This was a very powerful story about abuse, enslavement and determination. Through everything, the captured illegal aliens made light of the situation by having fun such as playing sports and having food fights. Unfortunately, Aissa, Tania’s roommate, couldn’t handle the hell hole and depression she was under. She hung herself in the shower.

What an inspirational, eye-opener about a fight for freedom while being completely violated and even strip searched. If an illegal was captured, they could opt for a voluntary return to their country, however, most feared for their life going back to their home country.

This was such a dark, gloomy, brutal movie about the courage to survive. Illegals were treated horrible and even subject to police brutality. This film was not what I was expecting and threw me for a loop. It left the audience, and myself, completely stunned, speechless, and in shock.

I spoke with some audience members after the film. Kathryn said it was “really intense and hard to see.” She helped market the movie I saw last night, Hamill. She has a degree in Business and Marketing. This is her 7^th year attending the FFF and her 4^th year as a volunteer. She then proceeded to tell me that it’s great to be able to see all the films she wants for free (one of the perks for being a volunteer) and that the FFF was among the “top 20 film festivals in the country.”

Not quite my favorite film because I don’t enjoy watching people get beaten, literally, to death. But it was a great film to bring awareness to what life is like for those detained.

Make sure to join me on a less serious note tomorrow with Super. Nothing like a little comic relief to lighten the mood.

Producer, Eben Kostbar, with SunnyStefani

After a long day at work, I arrive at the theatre right before the showing, with no time to my usual interviews with FFF patrons who are waiting to see the film. As the theatre was filling, I figured I’d grab some popcorn. Standing in line I see three people signing and assume they, like myself, are here to see Hamill.

The movie is about Matt “The Hammer” Hamill, who was born deaf and raised among those who can hear. His life started with wrestling, and three national collegiate championships later, he turned into a UFC mixed-martial-arts fighter. I was drawn to this movie because of my love for competition and martial arts.

Hamill captures an inspirational true story about support and determination. This was yet another great film to add to my collection at this years FFF. Although, at times, Matt became frustrated, he found ways to compensate for his lack of hearing through vibrations and an intense focus to succeed at anything.

This film had outstanding transitions. A world was created between those who can hear and those who can’t. It was great filming to be placed in Matt’s shoes by removing the sound during scenes shot from his point of view. The lady next to me was chomping her popcorn with her mouth wide open. As I sat there, I thought, “if only I could disregard that noise and tune out life around me.”

The audience was very involved during this film. The crowd was laughing, clapping, and yelling things like, “He’s down!” during the wrestling matches. At the end of the movie, we had the opportunity for a Q & A session with the producers.

They shared that they initially approached Matt via MySpace after they heard of his inspirational story. The amazing script was the longest aspect of production, taking close to three of the five years they spent creating this film.

Russell Harvard as Hamill

A very interesting fact is that every deaf character was played by a deaf actor because they wanted it to be authentic. The film also featured deaf crew, producers, and makeup artists. They worked with a budget that was very small and plan to release the movie in a small way, such as through Netflix.                                                                                                            

The entire film was shot between 28 to 30 days in Rochester because of RIT–Rochester Institute of Technology–where Matt transferred during his sophomore year after a disastrous year at Purdue. Rochester, NY was diverse and they could cheat it to represent Ohio as well (where Matt grew up.) The editing process took six months because they didn’t want to settle on cuts so they went back to the drawing board a lot.

Matt was involved very early in the process and the movie reflects what actually happened–it’s very accurate. When he saw the film Matt was in tears. He loves and supports the film.

After the film I was waiting to talk with Eben Kostbar, one of the producers, when I ran into Rachel and Tara and asked them about their reactions to the film. Rachel said, “I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t know if I would like it after I read about it but it was inspirational and different than anything I’ve seen.”

Tara, not being able to top Rachel’s answer, agreed with her and added, “it was real cool to see an underdog movie about a deaf person.” Both girls know how to sign a little, but not fluently. Tara informed me she is taking classes next year to become more fluent.

After the FFF crew shoed us out of the theatre, I meet up with Eben Kostbar. He said, “You get one time to put your work out there. Every person dreams, and I was inspired to do something start to finish that people are gonna enjoy.” He proceeded to tell me that it was a great “story about a guy believing in himself that people are drawn to.”

He originally was working on a thriller when he got together with Joe, his partner. Joe explained that Matt was very responsive to a movie about him. He was drawn to Matt’s story because the story really inspired him. He met Matt and they hit it off right from the start.

Eben said the “cool part about all this was the deaf residential story that I got to know Matt and other deaf people. I was inspired by the deaf community; I started taking classes to get to know and to learn to sign.”

Eben is such an open, down to earth guy. He’s currently working on Free Samples which will be coming out in the Fall. You can join him on Facebook at Hamill the Movie or by going to their website HamillTheMovie.com.

As I finished with Eben, I talked to one more audience member . His name was Jeff and he’s from Venice, FL. “I thought it was great; amazing that [they] could produce such a good movie. The whole package was great; it was an ambitious film.”

I’ll never know what it’s like to just block everything out or never hear the words, ‘I love you.’ But when you don’t give up and put you’re mind to something, you can accomplish anything.

On that note, good night until tomorrow.

Writer/Director, Simon Arthur

Talk about a thrilling, bazaar, romantic twist of a double life. Simon Arthur’s Silver Tongues left the audience thinking.

This film is about a couple who travel around playing “games” and testing people’s judgment. Before the film I got to speak with some thrill seekers waiting in line.

Carrie from Lake Mary, Florida, has been to the FFF several times before. This is her “first film of the festival. I read the synapses and it fit my schedule.” She and her husband, Ron, have 28 tickets to use before Sunday. They are members of the Enzian because it’s “something original and an original idea.” They also suggested some other things I might enjoy in the area such as the French Festival and Mad Cow Theatre.

Angie said she “came last year which was her first year. I wanted to see a thriller and this worked with my schedule.”

Mario and his stunning wife “came once before, a couple years ago.” This wasn’t their first film of the festival as they joined myself and may others opening night to witness Project Nim. They wanted to see an “action, thriller,” and Charlene profoundly stuck out that Mario will “like the sexual parts” in this film. They won 10 free tickets from the Radio Station and will be joining me throughout my quest during the rest of the film festival. Four years ago they won tickets to the film festival in Texas. Charlene stated “it was the last day of the contest. I won tickets, airfare, hotel, limousine, food, and $500 cash!” Obliviously this isn’t their first walk in the park and they love it. Mario proceeded to tell me “I must be truly blessed to have such a great opportunity” as he gave me a kiss on the check.

No filmmakers were present at the screening; however, I was informed that the writer/director Simon Arthur will be at the Enzian Friday at 1:30 pm. I wasn’t sure what to think of this film as it was very graphic and explicit. From a production standpoint I did enjoy the camera angels and score during the film. The film was very compelling and during the film someone actually shouted out “Get it on” during a sex scene.

Before the film started I noticed someone walk in wearing a Silver Tongues t-shirt. I made it part of my mission to catch up with him after the film to get the scoop. He informed me his name was Mitchell Rand and that he was “helping market the film for the film festival and that he really likes it.”

I ran into Mario and Charlene after the film as well who used their hands to show me the jaw dropping feeling they were left with. Charlene started “just when you think you got it, they throw something else at you.”

The East coast premier of Silver Tongues is a cruel, heartless story of rape and destruction to lives for pure pleasure.

Don't Get Lost At This Year's Florida Film Festival

I returned home Saturday morning around 2:30 am after a long, exhausting Friday night at the Enzian theatre where I experienced my first film and first party of the FFF. After some well rested sleep, I woke up ready to start day two!

I leave around 2 pm with the intent to make it to the Regal in time to see Kinyarwanda. Surprising, I don’t hit any traffic on I-4 and make it down to Fairbanks Avenue with plenty of time.

I remember turning on Fairbanks with LanceAround and the family the night before. However, that turned into an epic fall as I got lost for two hours within a five mile radius of where I needed to be for the FFF, no thanks to my amazing TomTom GPS system.

I text and call LanceAround to get directions to the theatre … being new in town I’m not as familiar with the area. We have a little bit of a communication problem as he is trying to text me while watching the shorts program. I wasn’t really concerned because I’m a women, I have no problem stopping to ask for directions.

I stopped and talked to about 10 different people, none of which could give me directions to the movie theatre, which I found extremely odd. I knew I was in the right area but no one seemed to know a theatre existed. Still not concerned, I Google the FFF to get a number so I can call and have someone amazing guide me to the correct location.

The first number I called directed me to another number, and so forth and so on. I never ended up talking to a real person and even though the recording said “press 4 for directions,” no directions or address was ever given to me.

After driving around aimlessly for 2 hours with a now dead phone from making numerous phone calls and searching the internet, I hopped back on I-4 to return home, with defeat.

LanceAround seemed to be having rather the same day I was having between zoning out from exhaustion from the night before and the phase cancellation during Thule.

Despite missing two exciting days of the FFF, I’m eager to say I can’t wait to get back to the excitement today with Silver Tongues … if I don’t get lost again that is.

For those of you who are new to the FFF, here are the correct addresses to put into your GPS so you don’t get lost as well:

Regal Winter Park Village 20
210 N. Orlando Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789

Enzian Theatre
1300 S. Orlando Ave
Maitland, FL 32751

When you do come to the FFF this year, be sure to find me and let me know how you like my blog posts!

Stephanie & Bob Take Questions After The Opening Night Film

James Marsh is a brilliant artist who brings out things that weren’t scripted.

I witnessed my first film of the Florida Film Festival tonight, Project Nim. Talk about a truly stunning evolutionary process. James Marsh directed this documentary based around raising and nurturing a chimpanzee, Nim, as a human child.  Nim Chimpanzee was an intentional take on the name Noam Chomsky the famous American linguist, because the goal of Project Nim was to see if animals could learn word order language and sign language.

Stephanie LaFarge was Nim’s first human mother who stated, “They violated his nature as a wild animal and seduced and exploited him.”

This was such a great experience. Despite the heartlessness of Herb Terrance, the Columbia University professor in charge of the study, Chimpanzees appeared to be extremely humanistic. This was not the first time Stephanie has seen the film with an audience and she said, “people don’t know how to react. It always leaves them stunned.” In fact, I did feel speechless by the end of the movie. I could tell that others had the same experience. What do you make of a film where the lead admits to raising a chimpanzee as human by breast feeding him?

I was fortunate enough to be able to interview both Stephani and Bob Ingersoll, another character in the film who worked tirelessly to rescue Nim after he was sent to an NYU lab for medical experiments. Stephanie said this was her chance “to make amends for what we did with them and Marsh made a film that I’m very pleased with.” Marsh took raw material and manipulated it to convey an experience–and he did it well. What a great way to start my adventure.

At the end of the movie, Stephanie and Bob stood up for some Q & A.

Bob spoke about how the most human factor chimpanzee have is their personalities. He got extremely passionate and began to cry as he said, “we’re the only western country that does this to chimpanzees. In the EU it would be illegal.”

At this point, my colleague, LanceAround raised his hand and was called on. A tense silence descended on the audience as LanceAround asked, “Do you believe humans have a soul and, if so, do you believe Nim had a soul?” The tension was broken as, after a thoughtful pause, Bob said, “I’ll let Stephanie answer that one.” Unable to contain himself, however, he quickly pulled back the microphone and said that he’s a messed up Catholic and that question is a religious, political one but that whether or not he believed Nim had a soul, the love he had for Nim was real and the love he felt from Nim was just as real.

Stephanie said she is the exact opposite of Bob, without going her first 30 years stepping foot in church. “If humans have a soul, then Nim had one,” she proclaimed.

After the Q & A we offered Bob a ride to the Opening Night Party at the Enzian. He agreed and we hoped in the LanceAroundMobile to make our way to the party. But first, LanceAround took a moment to interview Bob’s parents, who were at the movie. More about that shortly…

Project Nim - Opening Night Movie

It’s 6pm and SunnyStefani is with Mrs. LanceAround, Number One Daughter and Number One Son as we rush to the Winter Park Theatre to be first in line for this year’s festival. Anticipation is running high.

Surprisingly, we got beaten to the front of the line by a gentleman who’s lady escort refers to as a tall, dark & handsome guy.  He won’t give me his name, but he beat me to first in line even though he uses a wheelchair!  I ask why he’s so enthusiastic that he rushed to be first in line when his female companion says, “It’s because we thought the movie started at 6.” We all chuckle.

The opening movie is entitled Project Nim.  It’s a documentary by James Marsh–the Academy Award winning documentarian for the 2009 film Man on Wire. The film tells the story of a chimpanzee who was taken from her mother at two weeks old to be raised by humans. The study, by a Columbia University linguist, was an attempt to see if animals other than humans could learn sign language. You can feel the electricity in the air. Everyone’s excited about this year’s festival.

Another patron named Mary is near the front of the line despite the fact that she mistakenly went to the Enzian first before being redirected to the Winter Park Theatre. This is Mary’s first festival.  She was thinking about it for several years. It’s Friday and she has no other pressing engagements so this is the year for her to enjoy her first film festival!

Kyle has never been to a film festival before. He’s heard good things about this movie from his date who volunteers with chimpanzees so she wanted to see Project Nim. If he likes it, he’ll be back.

Two women, Connie Jordan and her friend, are here. Connie says she started showing independent films at the Orlando Museum of Art over 26 years ago and helped to convince Mr. Tiedtke to start a theatre. She’s been going to the FFF since the beginning twenty years ago.

Matt overhears my conversation.  “People take film festivals very seriously,” he quips before acknowledging he’s never been to a film festival.  “This is our first one,” chimes in Evie Dunbar, who’s eager to get her name in print on my blog. “Most definitely,” she acknowledges as she I say that sentence out lout, “It’s fun to see your words printed.”

An FFF staff member introduces us to Stephanie LaFarge, who was Nim’s first human mother. I remind her that she is the one that is referred to in the movie literature as the promiscuis, rich hippie.  She laughs in complete agreement with that characterization. Her easy going nature is obvious and we develop an instant rapport.

I ask her how it feels to be a movie star. Instantly her smile drops as she says, “I’m not a movie star.” She thinks the most important thing is what it’s like for a civilian to have someone like James Marsh chronicle her life.  “It brings to light the very, very, very poor choices that were made as scientists and as human beings regading the life of an animal.  I’m here because I want to make amends for what we did to Nim.”

She sees her work with Nim as a violation of nature; inducing him into thinking he was a human being and that he became an experimental animal overnight.  “We exploited his animal feelings in order to pursue a scientific goal.”

I ask her if she’s been speaking with PETA.  She acknowledges that she now works for an animal welfare program—The ASPCA–because of her awareness of how human beings can unintentionally be harmful to animals. She has a Ph.d. in Psychology—the degree she was working on during the timeline of the film.  She was working with Dr. Herbert Terrace, of whom she says “had an exciting vision to create a paradigm shift comparable to the shift Galileo or Freud created. His goal was to demonstrate that other creatures could use word order language. Any film, even a documentary, can only tell part of the whole story. There’s nothing inaccurate in the film,” she says. “How does it portray you?”I ask. “None of the human beings stand out as very admirable,” she admits. “Being in a film created by James Marsh has the experience of being like those tribes who say, ‘if you take my picture you steal my soul.’ I can see how they feel that way. James Marsh didn’t steal anything but he has a phenomenal ability to extract the story from you.”

Speaking of James Marsh she continues, “An artist takes raw material and arranges it, manipulates it, in such a way that it gives the audience an experience. He took all the material we gave him and created a film we believe in.”

At this point, the staff member returns to usher Stephanie into the theatre and we walk in behind her with a lot of anticipation about the film we’re about to see…

SunnyStefani Lends Her Distinctive Voice To LanceAroundOrlando

[Editor’s Note:  Today we have the pleasure of introducing LanceAroundOrlando’s newest correspondent–SunnyStefani. She comes to us from Lake in the Hills, IL via the Erie, PA campus of Penn State where she received her BA in Communications. SunnyStefani will be covering the 2011 FFF right alongside me. Join us every day, beginning this Friday, for updates on the festival–LanceAround]

You’ll never meet a bigger horror junkie than me! Last year I attended my first film festival, the Eerie [sic] Horror Film Festival. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the VIP pass I was given by my professor, who had produced a film that was showing at the festival.

To my surprise, I have the great and unexpected opportunity to attend my second film festival, the Florida Film Festival, thanks to my new job at an astonishing vacation rental home company. As the newest official blogger for LanceAroundOrlando, I have to confess I have no idea what to expect, aside from seeing some great films (and probably some not so great films.) I couldn’t be more excited.

Hours of endless films and meeting new people is right up my alley. Being surrounded by a sea of people who are just as interested in films as I am brings me to a state of bliss.

If my journey is anything like the experience I had during the Eerie Horror Film Festival, I know I’m in for quite a treat. This will be a wonderful, new opportunity for me because my previous film festival was solely themed around horror films (my absolute favorite.) I am, however, very intrigued to be exposed to movies of many diverse genres. 

I can’t wait to expect the unexpected and get a real flavor for a film festival. I don’t know what the following two weeks have in store for me but I sure am horrified to be a part of it. I mean it!

[We’re so excited to have SunnyStefani joining us for the 20th anniversary of our favorite–The Florida Film Festival. Be sure to check in often to hear Sunny Stefani and LanceAround discuss this all the films and events at this year’s festival.]