PTFF News
Newsletter Archives
September 10, 2007
Contents- Filmmaker Charles Burnett riding a new wave
- Sherry Grover new PTFF general manager
- Advanced ticket sales begins September 10
- Do we still need volunteers? Does the wind blow in Port Townsend?
Filmmaker Charles Burnett riding a new wave
Rare
’Äî rare, as in almost never ’Äî is the occasion when film critics reverse
themselves in judgments made about a particular film. If they do acknowledge
a hasty review, it's usually in passing when reviewing another film some
months, more often years later. Only two examples come to mind where
critics reversed themselves and wrote a new review in atonement. The
first was Arthur Penn's 1967 BONNIE AND CLYDE, which in first viewing
was dismissed as unnecessarily violent. Bosley Crowther of The New York
Times called it "a cheap piece of bald-faced slapstick comedy that
treats the hideous depredations of that sleazy, moronic pair as though
they were as full of fun and frolic as the jazz-age cutups in Thoroughly
Modern Millie." The movie quickly opened and closed. But the film
became a cult classic and soon reconsiderations were surfacing in print.
The second case in point is Charles Burnett's 1977 KILLER OF SHEEP, the opening night film of the eighth annual Port Townsend Film Festival. Read this excerpt from Roger Ebert's reconsidered review published in July of this year:
Ordinary daily life is one of the hardest things for a movie to portray, because so many other movies have trained us to expect patterns and plots. In my own 1977 review of... KILLER OF SHEEP, I made that mistake of expectation so wrong-headed it cries out to be corrected: "But instead of making a larger statement about his characters, he chooses to show them engaged in a series of daily routines, in the striving and succeeding and failing that makeup a life in which, because of poverty, there is little freedom of choice. Surely I should have seen that what Burnett chooses to show is, in fact, a larger statement. In this poetic film about a family in Watts, he observes the quiet nobility of lives lived with values but without opportunities. The lives go nowhere, the movie goes nowhere, and in staying where they are they evoke a sense of sadness and loss.
He has published eight collections of poetry, including Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, Picnic, Lightning, Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes, Sailing Alone Around the Room: New & Selected Poems, Nine Horses, and The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems.
Ebert was not the only critic who missed the importance of KILLER OF SHEEP in its original release. He was lucky to have viewed it all. Filmed in 16mm for $10,000 as a master's thesis work at UCLA, Burnett was unable to get a general release because he couldn't afford the $150,000 in music rights for the accompanying soundtrack which is as important to this movie as light is to film. And so the movie languished, seen by a few at rare film school screenings. But while it basically sat in its cans on the shelf for 30 years, it received the critics' prize at the Berlin Film Festival and was among the first 50 films on the Library of Congress list of American films worthy of permanent preservation. ¬ÝBurnett went on to make 15 other films, shorts as well as full-length, for television as well as movie theaters, keeping true to his vision which is neither splashy nor melodramatic, but humanistic and character driven.
With the remastering of KILLER OF SHEEP into a 35mm print and a new release schedule, Burnett is busy these days and PTFF is fortunate to be able to introduce him and his work to our film audience. It was a bit of a scramble getting him here because a major Eastern college wanted him the same weekend, but as it turned out they were able to reschedule. No longer "famous for not being famous," Burnett will attend the full weekend with screenings of his re-edited, remastered second film, MY BROTHER'S WEDDING on Saturday, Sept. 29, and a program of four short films on Sunday, Sept. 30.
Sherry Grover new PTFF general manager
The
appointment of PTFF's new general manager, Sherry Grover, has been one
of those unannounced announcements, appearing in one newspaper, but not
in another, something that's been told to all core volunteers but not
the whole membership. Nothing mysterious about it; just a question of
journalistic priorities and our own inattention to planning news releases
in the midst of getting the festival up and running.
So, here's the story.
Sherry will be the PTFF general manager, responsible for the business side. Peter Simpson's position of executive director is being abolished, but he is remaining as artistic director, responsible for selecting the festival's annual roster of films. Nancy Sendler, who is now in her third year as operations director, will remain in that position, vital to almost everything and everyone.
Sherry developed her love of film when she moved to Port Townsend in 1994. ¬ÝAfter spending years living and working aboard boats, she missed most of the films of the late seventies and eighties. ¬ÝShe met her husband, Max Grover, in Bread and Roses. ¬Ý"I remember shortly after meeting Max, he was appalled that I had never seen Broadway Danny Rose." ¬ÝThat was the beginning of a film education that grew into a twice-weekly film group that met in the Grover's uptown studio for four years. ¬ÝNow they have an 8-seat theater in their home, the Black Cat Bijou, and watch films nightly ’Äì last year over 200.
In the meantime, they opened the Max Grover Gallery on Water Street and are beginning their fifth year of business. ¬ÝGrover discovered her organizational and business skills not only benefited the gallery, but she began helping artists promote their careers.
Now she is bringing her business, marketing and promotion savvy (and her love of film) to the Port Townsend Film Festival. ¬ÝShe has attended all seven festivals and has a consumer's eye for how the Festival is run. ¬Ý"I don't want to change any of the things that make our Festival such a success. ¬ÝFine-tuning is my goal."
The PTFF has grown into one of the most interesting conversation starters in Port Townsend. ¬Ý"The three-day festival provides a wealth of ideas that spill out of the theaters and onto the streets where people talk, agree and disagree far into the night." ¬ÝOne of Grover's goals is to enrich and deepen that conversation during the Festival and all year round through promoting membership, the Festivals growing film library (members have borrowing privileges), special programs and finding grants to support interesting film-based projects.
"I'm all about helping along the conversation. ¬ÝMax and I discovered that film is the best excuse to have a discussion with friends and strangers who may become friends. ¬ÝPort Townsend is a place where conversation matters; it strengthens the community's connections. ¬ÝThe Film Festival plays a big part in that process."
¬ÝAdvance ticket sales begins Sept. 10 for PTFF members
Starting Monday, September 10, active members of PTFF will be able to buy advance tickets to specific screenings at the eighth annual Port Townsend Film Festival at three different venues: Uptown Theatre, Rose Theatre, and Rosebud Cinema.
On Monday, the festival schedule will be posted online. Orders can be placed and paid online or by phone 360 379-1333.
Starting Monday, September 17, advanced ticket sales will go on sale to the general public. Advance tickets are $8 for members, $10 for the general public. (Tickets for Saturday night's A Very Special Evening with Elliott Gould, featuring a screening of CALIFORNIA SPLIT, are $20.)
Do we still need volunteers? Does the wind blow in Port Townsend?
Yes, of course. In all kinds of departments, so if you have not signed up, please do so online or by coming to the office, 211 Taylor St., #33. We're located in the Mount Baker Block Building the big grey office building on the corner of Water and Taylor, about four doors down from the Rose Theatre.