An non-air-conditioned warehouse with exposed plumbing isn’t the ideal location to hold a film festival. But with the south of France already taken, this warehouse, situated next to Blues Alley, was the next logical choice. Now in its third year, the Georgetown Independent Film Festival screens an unconventional selection of films which the quirky atmosphere only compliments.
Clad in an electrician’s shirt with “Elvis” embroidered into the nametag, Eric Sommers is more than eager to speak about his behind-the-scenes role at the festival. In 2001, he helped found the festival in an attempt to carry on the sense of community that he felt was lost when several independent theaters in the neighborhood closed their doors. Sommers wants the festival to spread “goodness and grooviness.” (Speaking of “grooviness,” you might check out the website of Sommers’ other side project, his band The Clyde, at www.clyde55.com. A textbook example of a mid-life crisis, 55 seems to be the mean age of the members of The Clyde.)
Sommers describes the festival as “putting film back in the hands of the everyman,” as opposed to the hands of corporate giants like Loews. Instead of paying $7 for a single film at Loews, a moviegoer can pay $5 at the festival for an entire block of films. In addition, the submission fee for filmmakers is a paltry $10, and submission is open to the experienced and inexperienced alike.
Some highlights of this years’s festival included Benjamin Meyer’s What Are You Having, winner of Best Narrative Short film, which addresses the romantic cliche of spotting your ideal mate breezing through the doors at your local Denny’s. Inevitably, the young man in the movie, like the rest of us, can’t muster up the courage to introduce himself.
By Any Other, directed by Derek Frank, is a short meditation on the importance of language and labels in society, centering on a wife’s revelation to her husband that her name is actually Julie, not Sarah. Ryan Samul’s Matthew and the Dead Body is a surreal and humorous account of a dream, told by a middle school student to a corpse he discovers. Both films received awards, the former taking the special jury prize for best original screenplay, and the latter best adapted screenplay.
Among the more stirring films not awarded was Wook Heo’s documentary Texas Doughnut Shop, which follows a Korean immigrant family’s doughnut bakery in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area. Also, if case you’re looking for something to do with that Vienna sausages in the back of your fridge, the Everett Religioso’s Ingredients teaches you how to fight off evil grocery carts while shopping for your favorite shampoo … Thermasilk, perhaps?
Programming directors Tad Doyle and Jeannette Catsoulis have a very open philosophy towards selecting the films which will be shown. They send out a call for films each year and watch each submission, selecting those films they feel are challenging, intelligent, and unconventional. About 70 films from around the world made the final cut this year, diverse in length, style, and subject matter. There are no set rules as far as the final program is concerned, but the festival is committed to exposing new and local filmmakers as much as possible.
Sponsored by many local businesses and the Georgetown Neighborhood Committee, the festival also features nightly parties at swanky restaurants where, for an additional fee, moviegoers can mingle freely with directors, volunteers and actors.
Six D.C.-area filmmakers were featured this year, three of whom won festival awards. The special jury prize for best documentary went to two Catholic University students, Bridget Venckus and Kelley Vorrasi, for their Road to Calvary, about Venckus’ friendship with a homeless woman in downtown Washington. Georgetown students have yet to contribute to the neighborhood festival, opting instead to submit films to the campus festival held in the spring.
The Georgetown Film Festival offers innovative films both for aspiring filmmakers looking for inspiration and for those who just want to laugh.
