Latin School Film Festival - 2003

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Bart Thornton, who will be relocating to Texas. J. R. Berger (a pupil) and the Student Government council organized the event, which showcased short films, running from 3-10 minutes, and covering a variety of genres. The writing and production values were consistently high, especially considering that the school does not have a formal "how to" program on filmmaking. Let's take a look at some of the films:  </div> <bR> <div> <B>"Take It"</B> is a film that is not afraid to address real world issues head on. It's about a young man who drops out of high school and decides to go into business for himself by setting up a crack cocaine factory in his near north suburban apartment, and then selling it on the streets. When he is relieved of some of his money, the film takes the daring step of letting the viewer decide what if any morality play is at issue here. Brought to you by Nate Greenbaum, Jordan Ross and Chuck Robinson.</div> <bR> <div> <B>"The Color of People's Money" </B>comes from a Chinese language class, and the film is sub-titled in English. It has a zany plot about preparing for a billiards tournament. Directed by Rick Baer, David Heyman, and Nick Greene.</div> <bR> <div> Ben Petuchowski's <B>"the mathaddict"</B> is a one-person character study about a man whose love for math gets him committed to the "Home for the Academically Addicted."</div> <bR> <div> <B>"Converging to Infinity"</B> is arguably the most sophisticated film presented in the festival.  Written and directed by Alice Mathias, this "experimental" film powerfully connects math as a science and also as philosophy, with thoughts such as "time corresponds to a linear sequence of numbers." The film making techniques (many learned in a special program in New York last summer) were exceptionally good. This film also fits the silent genre and it was not until the movie was over that I realized that the only sound was music.</div> <bR> <div> Cayce Marks joined the team from "..Money" to make <B>"My Stunts,"</B> a movie about illusions that appear to be the real thing. There's a "suicide sofa" where the fall could kill you; the elevator door that might crush your head; a swinging hall locker ready to break your nose and more. Lots of laughs in this one.</div> <bR> <div> Bettering recent theatrical releases of sports films such as "Ski to the Max" and "Extreme Ops" was <B>"Off Axis"</B> which had brothers Ted, Pete and Johnny Mathias doing some amazing stunts. Behind the camera was their sister Alice who once again shows her skill in the directing department. This fast moving action sports film set in Aspen has a huge "wow" factor.</div> <bR> <div> Closing out the festival was <B>"Fish Tale,"</B> a film that addresses the issue of peer acceptance…to be a hero or an outcast as a way of making your unique statement. Filmmakers Matthew Arnold and the P-Weekers have us ponder thoughts such as "catch fish, swim with the fish, or just swim."</div> <bR> <div> After the films were shown, there was a panel discussion hosted by </div> <div> JR Berger. The panel included, from public radio station WBEZ, Jonathan Miller, a highly respected and extremely knowledgeable film critic; representing Reel Movie Critic were Lee Shoquist, Brenda Sexton (whose daughter Christine attends Latin), David Spielman (also a student at Latin), Pam Singleton and me. Rounding out the panel was someone in the production end of the business, Albert Berger who is an alumnus of LHS. He is a producer for Bona Fide Productions who lives and works in Hollywood. </div> <bR> <div> The panel was uniformly impressed with the diversity of subject materials, good story telling and the high production values. When the audience got a chance to ask questions not related to the films, it was to know each of the panelists #1 film of all time. Each person preferred not to single out a given film, but when put on the spot, here's what we had to say. Pam's was "Lone Star." Brenda chose "The Wizard of Oz." Albert's favorite was "Badlands." Lee liked "Sex, Lies and Videotape." David picked "Pulp Fiction." Jonathan chose "Cranes Are Flying," and I selected "Shall We Dance." If there is any conclusion to draw from this it's that there are so many great films to choose from, in various genres and different decades. The fun in answering the question is being motivated to see enough films that one day you to can say with confidence, what your favorite film of all time is<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >¾</FONT>or at least of the last decade.</div> <bR> <div> There was plenty of laughter from the audience in the right spots, which tells us that these young filmmakers know how to tell a story. There are some talented filmmakers in the group, and as Pam said at one point during the panel discussion, one day someone may be surprised when one of their early efforts shows up on a late night TV talk show as they are publicizing their latest feature film.   </div> <bR> <div> I was suspect about what to expect from a high school film festival and pleasantly surprised that it was a worthwhile experience in a number of ways. It encourages artistic expression, makes us all <B>think</B> while we are being entertained and the ticket price is what anyone can afford…FREE. There is something truly refreshing about seeing films from the heart made by young adults. In this case each film was a "short" and it does demonstrate that it's all in the story. See you next year!</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> George O. Singleton  © 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:reelmoviec@aol.com"><U>george@reelmoviecritic.com</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="469" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="463"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="20" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="463" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>