Blog: Look Out Sundance, Albany FilmFest Has Arrived!

I had the pleasure of attending the on Saturday at the Albany Community Center, where a total of 32 films were screened. I will admit right now that I did not see all 32. As much as a film buff as I am, sitting inside a darkened room from noon to 8:30 (especially on a particularly gorgeous day!) was not going to happen. But I saw many, many films and got a good feel for the event in general.

First I compliment the organizers who turned the ordinarily sunny meeting space into a proper screening room. And providing free popcorn, coffee, sparkling cider and (yum!) cinnamon rolls was a nice touch. Just outside the screening area was a red-carpet photo opportunity where you could pose with a cut-out figure of Barack Obama wearing one of the festival T-shirts that boldly declared: CANNES, SUNDANCE, ALBANY! Tickets were a reasonable $5, and raffle tickets a bargain at $2 apiece.

It was , from the gritty urban drama Thicker than Water (which ended up winning the Best in Show award, as well as first place in the narrative category), to silly romps such as Where in the GPS?, in which we experience the frustration of being in a car with three lost bridesmaids on their way to a rehearsal dinner.

The categories ran the gamut as well: narrative, animation, documentary, Youth (6-12), Youth (13-17), and "Tiny Movie," (the flash fiction of the cinema world, running three minutes or under).

It was a rare opportunity to see film shorts, a format I really enjoy. Now I can't say that I loved every one I saw, but the beauty of watching shorts is that if you're not particularly fond of one, it will be over soon, and you'll be offered another. To critique all the shorts I saw would take much longer than many of them lasted, so I will focus on a few.

Cancel My Two O'Clock, winner of the Tiny Movie category, cannot be described without giving away the big plot twist, but it was a darkly funny what-if tale that involves a would-be burglar. 

Evan Abramson's Carbon For Water, the documentary winner, went deep into Kenya's Western Province to illustrate its most pressing problem—the need for clean water. Probably the most professionally done film in the bunch—it had corporate sponsorship—the production value was impressive. It featured several interviews of the residents who benefited from the program and those who worked hard to reach an ambitious goal, as well as sweeping shots of Kenya's disappearing forests.

I have to say that I was sorry to miss Ken Waits. (I was getting hungry and needed some fresh air!) It had the best synopsis in the bunch: Waiting for Godot. With Barbies.

My favorite of the day was a quiet narrative, March April, which featured a boy who had just moved to a town and a girl who was spending her last day in the same town before moving away. The two form a strong bond in the course of a day even though they are unlikely to ever meet again. The two young actors were so natural that I felt as if I were listening to real conversation. The girl was endearing without being cutesy or snarky, traits too often assigned to female characters of this age. I felt great affection for these characters. Alas, it didn't win any awards at the festival. But it won my heart.

One of the more heartbreaking pieces in the festival was Monica Zinn's Perfection, a youth (13-17) entry that focused on three young women with eating disorders. Two quotes particularly struck me: "If it's a good day, I'll let myself eat breakfast" and "People loved me when I was thin."

I experienced a few surprises during the festival. Twice I recognized kids I knew, which is not something I generally experience when I go to the movies. Jasmine attended the school where I used to teach and is an acquaintance of my daughter. Because she was one of seven teenagers featured in a documentary that explored mixed ethnic identities, she was not acting but revealing intimate truths about herself. It was odd realizing that by watching a film I learned so much about a girl I had met years earlier but didn't really know

The second surprise was recognizing the star of Gone, an entry in the youth (13-17) category. In the days when I taught an after-school musical theater class, Henry was one of my more promising students. What I remember is his knack for comic timing,which he didn't get to showcase in this role as a mourning teen who is dealing with the loss of his father. But here he was, the star of a film short, and I can say I knew him when.

In addition to the festival entries, the audience was treated to four films that were not vying for prizes and two from last year's crop of Albany-grown movies that had done well.

The most charming of the guest filmmakers' offerings was an animated short from a father-daughter team. GeeFwee Boedoe previously worked for Disney and Pixar but is now an independent animator. Bought Some Cheese, based on Coralie's drawings of a mouse on his way to market, was delightful, and Coralie's original song provided the soundtrack.

Award-winning filmmakers and Albany High graduates Hoku Uchiyama and Waylon Bacon presented two of the bonus films screened. Waylon was on hand to answer questions about his film, Help Wanted, which was a funny twist on the horror genre. (Think: Night of the Living Dead meets Dilbert.)

The evening ended with a feature-length film about Albany resident Gerry Gaxiola, The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists, who sings, paints, and makes his own sequined cowboy outfits. Documentarian Les Blank spotlighted this bigger-than-life character whose quest was always to be a pure artist, not a businessman who sells his paintings.

I must confess that the two factors that made the evening particularly special to me were (1) I spent most of my time there on one of the couches, which was infinitely more comfy than the folding chairs where I started out, and (2) my husband Dave won the second prize in the raffle! So we went home with a really nice bottle of wine and four tickets to the Rialto (my favorite movie theater!), where I will be going soon to see more movies, because it's what I do.

For more of my musings, read For Words @ www.tanyagrove.wordpress.com.