Oxford Film Festival Wrap Up!

My God, what an amazing time we had at the Oxford Film Festival!

What a warm and welcoming staff (my good luck with festivals continues)! Great films and filmmakers. It was a wonderful time all around.

It's not a party 'till the cops are called out and we were happy to oblige (sorry Melanie)!

If you have a chance to attend this festival I couldn't recommend it highly enough. With the focus on fewer smaller films that aren't necessarily surfing on buzz, there's a great sense of discovery, and thanks to the amazing job of the programmers, you feel like you're discovering movies that really are outstanding. It's criminal how some of these films aren't screening more!

In order to do my part to help out here are some of my favorites...

Bicycle Lane



Ruggies and Don have promised to move to Seattle where we're all going to live together!



D-tour

I don't want to say too much about this movie, I'm including the trailer, but it's bigger than the trailer might lead you to believe. Extremely powerful, you won't be able to watch without being moved. PBS picked it up for Independent Lens, it's worth your time!





Dive!

Fun and informative this doc will open your eyes while putting a smile on your face. While most docs might feel content just asking some of the questions put forth in the movie, it's extremely satisfying to see the filmmaker and his friends taking action and making change instead of idly standing by and asking someone else to do it.

Trailer...HERE!



Wheedle's Groove

Our Seattle partners in crime, director Jennifer Maas and editor Michelle Whitten decided to have a small get together in their hotel room after the awards ceremony. Word got out like wild fire and it became the official afterparty. Their magnetism is equally applicable to their film, Wheedle's Groove, which is about the little known Seattle Soul scene of the 60s and 70s.





More info...HERE!

Somewhere out there are photos of Jennifer and Michelle doing some wicked keg stands from the last night of the festival...

"I Am A Man - From Memphis, A Lesson In Life"

Finally, our friend John Hubble, who we met in Memphis, has taken his movie about the 1968 Sanitation Worker's strike all over the US, but that doesn't mean you should take it for granted.

http://www.iamamanthemovie.com/

I'm leaving quite a bit out so you should check out Todd Gilcrest's great write up of the fest for Cinematical, which you can read HERE.

You can see more festival photos HERE.

Also, just found THIS recap on Melanie's Site: Oxford Film Freak.


I miss you Oxford!!!

Oxford Screening Times And Schedule!

Screening times for The Mountain, The River and The Road at the OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL are...

Friday, Feb 5th @ 2:45pm and Sunday, Feb 7th at 1pm.

Both screenings are at the Malco Theater:

1111 Jackson Ave. W, Oxford, MS 38655

You can check out our B-Side Festival page here:
http://oxford.bside.com/2010/films/themountaintheriverandtheroad_michaelharring_oxford2010

Oxford Film Festival!

Great news! MRR was just accepted to The Oxford Film Festival in Oxford, Mississippi! Not sure about the day or time yet, but you can learn more about the festival (which runs Feb 4th-7th) HERE.

This is especially significant as Memphis was the last screening I expected for MRR. Melanie Addington, Co-Director and Programmer for OFF, was kind enough to complement the movie after its screening which, along with the kind words of other filmmakers, spurred me to continue submitting to a few more festivals. When I got home I realized that I’d missed the deadline for OFF, and after initially deciding to let it go I ultimately got in touch with Melanie, who urged me to submit and even waived the submission fee.

Thanks again Melanie!

Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival screening time for THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD!

We're playing at Sidewalk on Saturday, September 26th at 11am at Alabama Power. Click for more info about the films, to see the schedule grid, or to learn more about Sidewalk.

MRR gets into Sidewalk!

Just heard that MRR is playing at Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, AL! The fest runs September 25-27 if you can make it you won't be disappointed, Sidewalk is an amazing fest!

More info as it comes...

I wasn't going to mention it, but...

The rejection from The Sarasota Film Festival came in yesterday. I wasn't going to mention it, because frankly, I don't want this blog to degenerate into a depressing list of festival rejections (then again, at least that keeps this blog updated every once in a while ; ) ).

What changed my mind was that because of some intern mistake, all the names and email addresses of the rejected filmmakers were included in the body of the rejection email. All 550 of 'em. Immediately following the rejection email was an apology from the intern who made the goof. I realize this isn't all that exciting so far, but what makes it more than just an interesting little hicup is that people started to reply.

To the festival, to each other, they started replying to the mass email. Some a bit snarky, some wishing to rally together an alternate festival, others simply voicing their pain at being rejected.

There are plenty of bulletin boards where festival rejects can commiserate and mourn another $40 flushed down the drain, but this is a little more special, a little more anarchic. Kind of like when the teacher leaves the room and the students go crazy with the chalk board. Nothing crazy, nothing diabolical, just a small expression of deviance. I think the crowning moment of this exchange is the graphic I'm using for this post, thanks to a mister Josh Lowman.

Because most of the replies also CCed the festival, the people in Sarasota have been able to follow along and have issued at least two apologies. For what it's worth, I don't need one. This is beyond the festival, this tiny error in email etiquette was a highlight in an otherwise unremarkable and drudging day and I look forward to following it as it runs its course.

On a totally unrelated note, I promise to follow this post with at least two non-rejection related posts. Or at least I'll do my best... : )

2nd rejection!

Slamdance rejection came in too.

In other news my laptop is still not working. Replacing the hard drive didn't work and now I'm afraid it's the logic board. Wondering whether to take it on myself or get help or throw it at the next asshole who I find without any pants in our apartment hallway.

It's official!

We've finally gotten our Sundance rejection! Let the festival season begin for MRR!

I'll try to post something about what I've been up to for the last month soon (Deep and Tabby's first feature film!). Needless to say I'm still doing some picture tweaking and Jason Harris-Talley is tirelessly wailing away on the sound.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!