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May 11, 2009
Prioritizing
Pictured above are myself and Sean Williams, pitting our integrity against this monstrous Boca Della Verita we found tucked away in the corridors of Baltimore's Charles Theater, which this past weekend saw a procession of wonderful cinematic offerings projected on its hallowed screens. This year's Maryland Film Festival was one of the best festival experiences I've had; perhaps last year's was just as good, but as I recall, I spent most of it sitting in the hotel room, editing St. Nick. My loss, except that it paved the path for this year, when I brought that same film back and showed it twice to two wonderful audiences, and spent the rest of the weekend celebrating in the dark. There's a strange nervous energy that can infect you at some festivals, where there's always so much to do and see that you constantly worry you're making the wrong decision, seeing the wrong film, going to the wrong party. Which is why my favorite festivals are the ones where everything you do feels just right (including but not limited to going out on the town in nothing but a complimentary bathrobe, which Adam did on Friday night, with great success).
I loved all the films I saw; in particular, Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam, his first feature film since the spectacular American Astronaut the better side of a decade ago, and Michael Langan's unbelievable short Dahlia. I was greatly moved by the the 1991 French documentary Nina Simone: La Legende, which Ian McKaye had programmed sight-unseen, although it never got as good as it did in the opening scene, which finds Nina Simone riding the back of a car, listening to her own recording of Wild Is The Wind (did the filmmakers add it in later? I don't care) and tearfully wondering how she got to where she was, and why. I laughed a lot at Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad and ducked into the beginning of Jessica Oreck's Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, which I'd seen at SXSW and serves, among many other things, as a strong and beautiful explanation as to why I refuse to kill bugs. And yesterday, introducing my own film and then skipping one auditorium over to Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera just as the Alloy Orchestra were hitting the first notes of their live score - a perfect finale. I was sad to leave, which of course meant that it was the perfect time to leave and get back to business. Which is what I'm about to do right now. I'm picking up the phone.
This brings a temporary lull to St. Nick's exhibition. We'll be showing at festivals in New York and Seattle in the coming months, but excepting those events, we've nothing on the docket. It's been a great run - I'm pretty sure it ain't over - but regardless I feel that we're sitting halfway pretty.
Posted by David Lowery at May 11, 2009 2:54 AM