| a SHOWCASE of SHORTS – City Arts Theatre Company | | Print | |
| Written by James R. Johnson | |
| Tuesday, 05 September 2006 | |
 City Arts Theatre Company presented a festival of short film Sunday, Sept 3rd at the 40th Street Stage. It was an exciting experience to see the hard work of Hampton Roads filmmakers and animators.
As the show time drew near, the line at the box office was out the main door. By the time the first film began, chairs were coming out of nowhere and many patrons stood along the sides to see the spectacle. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that the audience was mostly comprised of cast and crew from the slated films. Nonetheless, local filmmaking is gaining a greater recognition. Bravo to City Arts Artistic Director Eileen Boarman and Showcase producer Hunter Thomas for their efforts.
Standing proudly as the greatest hit of the night was the ventriloquism mockumentary, “Forgotten Stars” from BrianCo. This is the story of a dummy and his partner through their careers from the first great war through the fifties. It was no wonder that this film has garnered several festival awards. In authentic documentary fashion the likes of which E! would have been proud, the film chronicles the sad and joyous lives of the duo. Although the “antiquing” effect on many of the photographs was a bit too blurry, it did not detract too much attention away from the stars. Another film that spoke volumes through the moving picture was Lauran Holton’s “Abigail”. Technically, the film was fluid and well paced. The editing was excellent. Simple in its story, a little girl envisions the spirit of a crippled woman dancing in carefree abandon. The effect on the little girl is moving and gripping. An excellent film from Lauran Holtan.
A film that was clearly not designed for this kind of venue was the documentary “A Tidal Flat Through Time: 2.9 Billion Years of Life” by Dina Bower. Created for ODU by a grant from NASA, this interesting documentary spoke to an audience that has some prior knowledge of geology and biology. Had the narrator broken the explanations into more layman terms and the camera shown more than close-ups of rocks, it may have made a more palatable presentation. The dramatic short “Falling Away from Me” by Crystal Swain showed the mark of a hastily assembled project. The script was meager in substance, and actors were lacking in emotional conviction. Editing seemed to be more of a chore than an effort in finessing.The subject was easy enough to identify, but the execution of the idea needed much more work. Perhaps a deadline or monetary constraints lead to this disaster. The idea is a good one and a more detailed attempt at the project is encouraged. The documentary “Got Nitro” by Riescha Curran simply failed to capture the attention of the audience. The idea of a documentary on R/C racing is fascinating. However, the product delivered little in the way of excitement. Many members of the audience became restless awaiting the end of the film. There was not much fluidity, rather like segments loosely strung together by a common theme. Again however, the evening was an overwhelming success and many other great (and not-so-great) films were screened. If you missed the event, I highly encourage you to seek out the next festival of this kind. Hampton Roads artists are always on job putting great films together.
The films screened:
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Nearly four hours and twenty films is quite a bit to digest. Many films zoom to mind as fantastic - clever ideas with innovative execution, while others stand out for lacking real quality. As a whole, the evening was electric. One can certainly not dispute the range of talent the Hampton Roads area has to offer the film industry.
“Samaritan” by Star Circle Pictures boasts to be the first film to shoot and edit without the use of film or tape. While the script raises interesting questions, the film’s real achievement is in the visual effects. At times it seemed to be a bit overdone, but amazing still. The use of light and color added significantly to the overall feel of the film.