CHARLOTTE FILM FESTIVAL RECAP

The 3rd annual Charlotte Film Festival officially closed yesterday evening after a screening of F.W. Murnau's Sunrise. Over a four day span, from Thursday through Sunday, over 70 movies were shown on five different screens at five different locations. From what little I have heard from other people, it seems that the festival was a success and that everyone who came to see at least one film enjoyed themselves. I am one of these people.

As I believe I said in the previous Charlotte Film Festival post, I was disappointed and upset with myself for not attending last year's festival. I was determined to make up for it this year. Over the weekend run of the festival, I was able to sit in on three film screenings. They were all enjoyable experiences, although some more than others. I was very excited that I was able to see the film from Germany that was brought over as part of the new Mecklenburg Connection that the Charlotte Film Festival started this year. It basically involves a connection with the film festival here in Charlotte and a film festival in Mecklenburg, Germany (the connection should be obvious to Charlotte natives.) Starting this year with the 2008 Charlotte Film Festival, one film will be brought to Charlotte and screened for our festival from the FilmLand festival in Germany, and vice versa. I think that this effort says a great deal about how culturally open Charlotte is becoming and I hope that it continues. As I mentioned, I saw three films during the festival weekend and I thought I would post briefly about them and about the experience.

The first film I saw was the Friday evening screening of the German exchange film. The film is called Nacht vor Augen (A Hero's Welcome). Now, digging back into my German classes from college, I knew that "Nacht vor Augen" does not translate into "A Hero's Welcome." The movie is about young German soldier that has just come home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Upon his return, we watch as he tries to deal with the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (a common problem that soldiers coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from.) We watch as, one by one, each of his relationships crumble and fall apart because of his mental problems. As an American watching this film, none of the situations seemed unfamiliar or new. There have been so many films made about American soldiers suffering after time overseas that we can almost write our own movie about it. We, the audience that night, learned from the German festival representatives that this, however, is something completely new for Germans. They haven't been in a war since the '40s, and they arrived in Afghanistan much later than Americans. This gave the film a much more meaningful impact for me. The movie was superbly acted, directed, and shot; an all-around great film. Back to the title for a brief second. Now, it has been a long time since my German classes in college, but I was pretty certain that "Nacht vor Augen" did not translate into "A Hero's Welcome." As I was watching the film, I was trying to figure out the exact translation. I knew it meant something to the effect of "night over the eyes" (that was my very rough translation, mind.) After the screening, I was able to ask the German festival reps about the title. I was mostly right about the title. In English, it means "Night before Your Eyes." At least that's what I think they said. "A Hero's Welcome" was a title the film was given for its international distribution and, incidentally, the director was not happy about that addition. I completely agree. The original title gives the film a much more haunting feel. I truly hope this film gets a wide international release. It is very, very good and deserves to be seen.

Well, I can't help but notice that I have rambled on much more than I expected about the first film. So, I am going to be extremely brief with the other two films I saw. I was able to see Henry May Long. It tells the story of two men in 19th century New York. One, Henry May, has spiraled into debt and shame. The other, Henry Long, watches all of this take place while he obsesses over being with May. Long offers May financial help if he will spend time with him while he is ill. Both men enter into the relationship with hidden motives and, of course, that never bodes well. There are some definite sexual undertones in Long's obsession with May, but nothing ever comes of it. It makes one wonder why even hint at something like that if it is never confronted and brought to the surface. The craftsmanship of the film was very good, but the story came up lacking for me. If it makes it to DVD, it might be worth a look, but I'm not holding my breath.

The last film I saw was Earl Owensby's Rottweiler, a independent horror film from the '80s. The experience watching this film with the audience that was there that night was worth the price of admission, even if the film was awful. The film was shown as part of the festival honoring the local North Carolina film maker, Earl Owensby. Don't get me wrong, the entire movie is bad. But it is one of those movies that is CHEESE instead of just cheese. A CHEESY movie is one that kind of celebrates and basks in its awfulness. You can tell that the actors and film makers know how bad it is. Sitting in a theater with fellow movie lovers (people knowledgeable about films, not just people who like movies) made the movie so much fun. As knowledgeable movie-goers, we laughed till we cried at the absurd script and the amateur acting. If you ever do see this movie, make sure you watch it with other people who know movies so you can all appreciate the absurdity.

All in all, the 2008 Charlotte Film Festival was a great experience, and I applaud everyone who contributed time, money, or just came and saw a movie. You all are encouraging the establishment of Charlotte as strong cultural and artistic center in North Carolina. You are also encouraging these young and unknown film makers to keep making movies and expressing themselves in one of the world's greatest art forms. Now, for those of you who did not participate in this year's festival......DO NOT MISS IT NEXT YEAR! As I'm sure 2009 Charlotte Film Festival will be even better than this one, it would be a crime to miss out on the experience.