Some filmmakers offered to sell hugs on the internet, some risked imprisonment or worse, several looked to get a good grade and others tried to push the envelope of stop motion animation. Whatever the directors’ motivation, Film Fest Petaluma was full of some of the best short films in the world.
The Mystic Theatre in downtown Petaluma hosted the sixth annual Film Fest Petaluma on May 3. The 31 films selected by curator Mike Traina, Santa Rosa Junior College instructor, were submitted by filmmakers from as far away as Iran and as close as the SRJC film program.
The eclectic audience of film lovers delighted in the shorts festival from 2:30 p.m. until after midnight Sunday morning. The films ranged from the very serious to the hilarious and spanned genres from animation to music video. The unifying thread that wove the films together was that they were all under 20 minutes long.
SRJC student and amateur filmmaker Miles Levin screened his movie about addiction, “Ten Grahams,” at the Fest. “Ten Grahams” was one of three student-made films selected at the Associated Students Film Festival in March.
“It’s been a fantastic experience,” Levin said. “What an awesome opportunity for a student filmmaker like me to take advantage of.” Levin spoke of his experience in the college film program, “You walk into that class and then they show you, maybe it’s a little embarrassing, but they show you that you don’t know everything. As long as you assume you don’t know everything, that’s how you become a better filmmaker.”
The filmmakers in attendance were invited onstage to answer audience questions about their creations. Joining Levin on the panel was Michael Cusack, an Australian director whose stop motion film, “Sleight of Hand” has been wowing audiences across the globe since its debut in 2012.
Cusack said that although “Sleight of Hand” had done really well in the U.S. at festivals, this was the first time that he had watched his film with an American audience. “You wouldn’t know watching it that there’s over 14,000 moves going into the animation,” Cusack said. “No computers involved,” he added.
American director Cylan Shaffer’s film, “The Light,” is a surreal tale about two men’s struggle against fear that is actualized in contemporary dance and music. Unique among the other films, Shaffer’s dance film revolves around universal themes of fear and joy. Shaffer said that he chose the medium because it was unique as an art form. “I think it’s a fun way to tell stories,” he said. “Obviously if anyone’s a dancer, they come up to me immediately. The dance community is so tight that they are just like, ‘I love that kind of stuff, and I wish there was more of it.’”
Shaffer’s next project, a film about depression, is currently being crowd funded on Indiegogo.com. Many of the films in the festival had received their initial funding from crowd sourcing websites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter. Crowdsourcing has become an important source of revenue for small projects like the ones showcased at Film Fest Petaluma.
One of the selections funded on Kickstarter was “Fool’s Day,” the black comedy by American director Cody Snider. Snider had originally requested $8,000 but received nearly $11,000 in 14 days from 119 enthusiastic supporters. Funders were promised anything from a hug from Snider to associate executive producer credits on the finished film.
“Fool’s Day” tells the tale of what happens to a grade school class when an April Fool’s Day prank goes terribly wrong. On his Kickstarter page, Snider writes, “I have long wanted to make a film centered on kids and shot from their eye level. I want to make the audience feel like they are children again, transport them back to the third grade for 15 minutes.” The audience at the Mystic Theatre was transported to the third grade for 20 minutes and was simultaneously horrified and humored by Snider’s vision.
Not all the films at the festival were comedies.
“More Than Two Hours,” a 2013 Cannes Film Festival and 2014 Sundance official selection by Iranian director Ali Asgari and writer Farnoosh Samadi enveloped the audience in the harrowing tale of a couple in Iran desperately searching for a hospital that will treat the young woman without involving her parents. A social commentary on the ultra-conservative Iranian culture, the film is based on a true story about a girl who had to endure much pain and humiliation due to bureaucracy and strict adherence to male-dominated cultural rules.
Asgari and Samadi joined the conversation on stage after the film and described briefly the danger that they faced to make a film with such heavy themes. Asgari described how Iranian filmmakers must receive permission from the Minister of Culture to film.
“We didn’t get permission for making this film. In fact, we got permission for another script, but we shot this one,” Asgari said.
“More Than Two Hours” has been seen at more than 200 festivals around the world, but has never played in Iran. Asgari and Samadi received a visa from the U.S. State Department to show the film at the festival.
Steve Tucker, a former SRJC student presented his documentary “Michael Garlington: Built To Burn” about a local artist who builds intricate sculptures that are then burnt at the Burning Man festival. Tucker is the founder of Bay Area Media Masters, a local video production company.
“We try to make stuff that’s entertaining, that’s watchable, that attracts viewers and we try to do it on a fine budget,” Tucker said.
Ariana Victor and Joey Emmons created the music video for “Bleeding Black” by Jaclyn Mae, which opened the late-night screening. Victor said she has had a camera in her hand since she was a little girl. Victor and Emmons made the video for SRJC professor Brian Antonson’s Intro to Digital Filmmaking class. They are both currently working on new films.
Films from every corner of the globe and every genre of filmmaking find their way to downtown Petaluma every year to the delight of local cinephiles, thanks to the efforts of Traina and the entire Petaluma Film Alliance. The Mystic is a stately venue steeped in tradition as an entertainment hub for Sonoma County. It is not too early to begin looking forward to the next round of films in the Fest.
