Getting My Film Fix and Hearing about Hemp

Inebriating the public at the Wine Expo kept me too busy today to attend the Independent Film Fest at the Byrd Theater.

Luckily for me, tonight was the monthly Project Resolution at the Firehouse Theater, so I was still able to get a healthy dose of independent film making before the day was over.

You never know what you'll end up seeing at P-Res, but since it's always entertaining, I'm willing to take that chance every month. Local filmmakers bring their shorts (5 minutes and under) to be shown and discussed and the evening ends with the P-Resentation, a longer format film chosen to be featured.

After each screening, the filmmaker explains his goals and process and the audience shares their opinions and critiques. Given the make-up of the audience (mostly film geeks) it's always enlightening to hear what they have to say.

"Assassin's Promise" was an example of guerrilla-style filming, made in one day with no money.

"Pantheon Black" was a trailer for a movie that has been five years in the making and is finally approaching completion.

"The Artie Lange Driving School" was film of a stand-up comedy routine shot at Cafe Diem.

We saw a promo piece for a moving graphic designer, Charles Bevan, demonstrating a sampler of some of his best work.

"Rel-A-Tiv-I-Ty" was another guerrilla style project made by the same director, but a different crew; the story, written in an hour, was a perfect example of telling a story concisely.

The P-Resentation was Eric Miller's "Taste the Blood of Frankenstein," a 23-minute piece divided into chapters and absolutely hilarious. His next step is submitting it to film festivals. Turns out that most of the crew were people he had met through P-Res.

Another benefit to attending are the announcements letting people know about interesting upcoming events, usually film-related, but not always. Tonight we heard about Hemp Fest in Monroe Park on May 8th. There will be acoustic music and rallying for legalization.

And, much like during the Civil War, if you're too busy to attend such an important event, it was suggested that you send a substitute in your stead.

Coming up April 17th at the Byrd will be a 2:00 screening of "The Taint." The filmmaker displayed the flier and explained the premise of the film. "The water in the town is turning men into misogynists who want to kill women by crushing their heads."

Before the audience could even get their heads around that plot line, he finished with, "It's a comedy." Now that's a film I don't want to miss.

Such is the pleasure of attending Project Resolution.