Ready For Their Close-Up!

Valley Film Festival 2002 Gives
New Filmmakers a Place to Shine
Cover Story by Ariane White

        A little more than a year ago, Tracey Adlai was frantically searching for a venue to launch the Valley Film Festival.  After weeks of fruitless attempts to find a cinema in the east San Fernando Valley willing to open its doors free of charge to this new, non-profit venture, Adlai finally negotiated the rental of Pacific Theatres' then soon-to-be-reopening multiplex at the Sherman Oaks Galleria.  This proved to be a fortuitous partnership, for the buzz generated by the reopening of the Galleria spurred publicity for the Valley's first-ever film festival, held during the last weekend in October 2001.

 
        "Orchestrating the first year was difficult because we were a first year non-profit, a first year festival that nobody had heard of, and in the Valley," says Adlai.  "If you're not from the Valley or live in the Valley, it's hard to steer people away from the stereotype that the Valley is a cultureless wasteland of traffic, strip malls and Valley Girls."
 
        Now, Adlai is gearing up for the second annual Valley Film Festival, which runs from November 1 to 7, hosted this year by the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood.  Adlai acknowledges the challenges the festival has faced in the past, and will continue facing, as it carves out a niche for itself on the festival circuit.

         "We're not a festival that strictly celebrates women filmmakers, documentaries or foreign films.  We're all of that and more.  We're trying to showcase Valley filmmakers and, at the same time, acknowledge and play on what those outside of the 818 think the Valley is known for-porn and pop culture trends."

Focal Points

         This year's schedule of eight feature-length films and eight short films evinces this inclusiveness and appreciation for diverse perspectives.  At the same time, it celebrates the efforts of local natives and features several films shot right here, in the Valley.
 Director Diane Bloom's "An Unlikely Friendship," a documentary about the emergence of a friendship between a black woman activist and a Ku Klux Klan member in the 1970s, explores the complexities of racial conflict and the potential for its resolution.
 
        "I have always been skeptical of people's ability to change and transform," says Bloom, a qualitative researcher and independent filmmaker from Chapel Hill, N.C. with a Ph.D. in developmental psychology.  "The two heroes of this film, Ann Atwater, and especially C.P. Ellis, did change … If two people as different as C.P. and Ann can make such a profound transformation, anyone can."
 
        "An Unlikely Friendship" has been accepted to six other film festivals this year.  Its first west coast screening will be at the Valley Film Festival. Bloom hopes her film will "be a trigger for discussion on topics of race, bridging differences, and transformation."  She views the friendship of the film's two heroes as a strong argument in favor of integration.  "The change in C.P. and Ann could not have taken place if there hadn't been a structure which brought them together."
 
        A different set of complex issues is explored in "White Like the Moon," written and directed by Marina Gonzalez Palmier.  This film takes an uncompromising stance in revealing the challenges faced by a young Latina girl growing up as a member of a minority in a predominantly Caucasian society.
 
        The poignancy of "White Like the Moon" stems from the way the protagonist's family internalizes racism.  The struggle between mother and daughter mirrors society's arbitrary standard of beauty that, by its very definition, excludes Latinos and other minority groups, condemning them to never being good enough.

         An actor and a dancer, Palmier completed "White Like the Moon" - her first film - in the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women grant program.  Palmier feels lucky to have been chosen as one of seven participants in the AFI workshop this this year.  "This program forced me into a position to write roles for Latin women," says Palmier.  "It is a story I've been wanting to tell for a long time."
 Palmier has been approached with the idea of expanding "White Like the Moon," currently a 20-minute short, into a feature-length film.  She is currently working on this project, while juggling her full schedule as a working actor.  This TV season, Palmier appears on "CSI: Miami" and "Kingpin."
 
        "White Like the Moon" has already won numerous awards at film festivals in New York, New Jersey, Santa Clarita and Pasadena, and will be screened at seven more festivals before the end of the year.  Palmier is excited about the Valley Film Festival, since she considers Los Angeles her home and looks forward to an opportunity for her friends, and family to see an official screening of her film.

Girl Filmmakers
Just Wanna Have Fun

     The Valley Film Festival is likewise a homecoming for Brooke Keesling, writer and artist of "Boobie Girl" - an animated short film about a girl who yearns for large breasts and then suffers the consequences of adolescence and the challenges that come with getting what she wants.  "Boobie Girl" has screened at over 60 festivals to date - including the Lunafest, sponsored by Luna/Cliff Bars, from which all proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Fund.

     "Even after seeing ["Boobie Girl"] play with so many different audiences, I am still so happy that such a simple story with stylized, colorful animation makes such a nice impact on the audience…Plus I have fun passing out Boobie Girl stickers to the audience members," says Keesling.
 Despite the apparent simplicity of "Boobie Girl," the project required Keesling to sketch more than 4,000 drawings by hand and then color them in with markers; this process took approximately a year.  "It was very encouraging," says Keesling.  "Every time I finished a scene, I would test it, and it was thrilling to see a little character that I made up start to come to life."
 
    After touring the country with the film for much of 2001 and 2002, Keesling will be glad to come home for the film fest.  "I've traveled more this year than my whole life combined until this point," says Keesling.  "I look forward to playing "Boobie Girl" to my hometown.  It'll be like stepping into a warm bath."

Denizen Directors

     Chuck Griffith, first-time director and producer of "Thank You, Goodnight" - a feature-length film about the comedic misadventures of a group of 20-somethings in New Jersey, trying to score a record deal - is similarly enthused about the festival.  He appreciates what he considers its truly independent spirit, in contrast to some of the more established film festivals that are primarily star-driven or that require films "to convey some kind of dark, social commentary."

     "The program at the Valley Film Festival seems to be for the fun of film, where the filmmakers are the stars," says Griffith.  Having said that, Griffith admits that "Thank You, Goodnight" does have a few star cameos of its own, including Billy Davis Jr. from The Fifth Dimension and Danny Wood from New Kids on the Block, but he says these  are merely "hidden little jokes," and not what drives the film.

     "Thank You, Goodnight" is an ensemble piece with five main characters shot at 32 different locations, mostly in the San Fernando Valley.  Griffith's budget was so low, that he could not afford to use existing songs on the soundtrack.  The musicians in his film had to write their own songs - not an unusual problem among indie filmmakers.
 
    Griffith sees "Thank You, Goodnight" as a testimony to all that the Valley has to offer a production team, with more resources and facilities than any other comparable location, making it possible to produce a full-length film on a truly shoestring budget.  Given the proximity to many major studios, the quality of the crew cannot be matched, he says.
 
    Griffith says the benefits of shooting here in the Valley - the quality of available crewmembers and the versatility of the suburban location - far outweigh other, less expensive, remote locations, where inexperienced crews and lack of resources can  waste valuable time, driving up the film's overall cost.
 
    Griffith also expresses tremendous enthusiasm for the Valley as a location for a film festival:  "People tend to focus on the other side of the hill rather than what's in their own back yard."  He likens the Valley to other lesser-known festival locations, where people get excited about the event and use it as an opportunity to deepen a sense of community spirit.

From Cinema Verite
 to Comic Hijinx

     Several other lighthearted feature films are on this year's schedule.  The protagonist in Mark Foggetti's latest film, "Checkout," orchestrates an underground computer dating service from his job at a supermarket, in which "the whole town is falling in love at the grocery store."
 
    A darker comedy, "The Rose Technique," directed by Jon Scheide and written and produced by Ray Stroeber, depicts the absurdity and danger in clinging to untested psychological theories as dogma.  Stroeber's inspiration for his screenplay resulted from his experiences in a graduate psychology program.

     "I found that psychologists are no different than most people-they have their own agendas.  ["The Rose Technique"] is about psychological theories that are cliché-ridden and don't make sense," says Stroeber. The main character in "The Rose Technique," Dr. Lillian Rose (played by JoBeth Williams of "Poltergeist," "The Big Chill" and many other movies), invents her own psychological theory called the R.O.S.E. Technique, an acronym detailing her bogus process toward improved mental health.  The movie follows her rise and fall based on the initial popularity of her new method for better living and its heavily foreshadowed negative outcome.
 
    Stroeber fears that audiences will misinterpret the message of this film and accuse him of "bashing psychotherapy."  He says this is not his intent. "'The Rose Technique' shows how people can be manipulated by someone in power when they don't look beyond the surface.  [It shows] the danger of following false prophets."
 "The Rose Technique" won awards this year for Best Comedy at WorldFest Houston and the New York International Independent Film Festival.  The Valley Film Festival will be its first screening in the area where it was filmed-over half the film was shot at the Drama and Music departments at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

     This year's lineup also includes several international feature-length films, including "Soul Assassin," directed by Holland's Laurence Malkin, "Raging Dove," directed by Duki Dror from Israel, and "The Last Supper," directed by Vojko Anzeljc from Slovenia. Spanning the spectrum of filmmaking from horror to politics to (dark) comedy, these films introduce distinctive voices from around the world and help to cultivate the inclusive sensibility inherent to the Valley Film Festival since its inception.

     "Raging Dove," the most recent documentary by Israeli-born, UCLA-educated director  Dror, follows the career of welterweight boxing champion Johar Abu Lashin.  The documentary explores Lashin's struggle for identity, given his origin as a Palestinian-Israeli, while his fame becomes increasingly known.  No matter how he identifies himself, he manages to alienate one side or the other-arousing the anger of Israelis by displaying the Palestinian flag at one victorious match, angering the Palestinians by waving the Israeli flag at another.

     In "The Last Supper," a darkly comedic plot is utilized as a mechanism through which to call attention to the process of filmmaking.  The action follows two mental patients who steal a video camera and escape from an institution.  The entire film was shot within one week-a structure designed to sustain the tension and pressure of the two patients' escape and to create the mood for their subsequent adventures.  Much of the action is recorded with the camera actually held by the actors on their wanderings, and the occasionally abrupt shifts in perspective are intentionally pushed to the foreground of the audience's experience.

Get Out the Vote

     This year, the Valley Film Festival will break with a longstanding tradition that other festivals - and even this one - have followed.  The audience will cast votes to select the winning entries, rather than a panel of selected judges - the standard convention set by many established film festivals, and adhered to at the 2001 Valley Film Festival.

     Many of the filmmakers agree with the change.  "There are no experts when it comes to judging film," says Ray Stroeber, producer of "The Rose Technique."  " Watching films is visceral; everyone's opinion counts." Last year's participants, too, respect and appreciate the decisions made in organizing the Valley Film Festival.  Several of last year's festival participants look back fondly on their experiences and express high hopes for the years to come:
 
    "The Valley Film Festival seems to truly identify and respect the art of filmmaking.  It is first concerned with the filmmaker and a quality film, and second with image or glam," says Rachel Connolly, director of "Wing's Castle," a 10-minute documentary showcased in 2001. Kevin Spekmaier, director of feature-length "Middlemen," attributes much of the festival's success to its founder, Tracey Adlai.  "Tracey struck me as a bundle of energy who refused to allow a lack of venue dissuade her from creating her own festival."
 
    The festival, under the umbrella organization (818), with the mission "to further the education, production, and distribution of filmmaking in the San Fernando Valley through screenings, panel discussions and workshops," brings the festival circuit onto home turf for many of the directors and for the film industry, as a whole.

     In festival founder Tracey Adlai's own words:  "The Valley Film Festival, the only showcase of its kind in the area, provides filmmakers from all over the world an opportunity to screen their films in the true capital of film production…just North of Hollywood."