Get ready to see double! This fall Southern Arts Federation will launch two concurrent Southern Circuit tours throughout the Southeastern United States for the 2007-2008 season.
In its current configuration, Southern Circuit sends six filmmakers on tour to eight venues in the South. With the addition of a second concurrent circuit, the program will expand its potential for connecting communities across the region with independent filmmakers and their work.
Southern communities are able to apply to host the 2007-2008 Southern Circuit - Tour of Independent Filmmakers until 5:00pm Eastern on Wednesday, March 28th. Sites for the upcoming tours will be selected in April.
Click here for more information on how your community can host the 2007-2008 Southern Circuit
Filmmakers interested in joining the 2007-2008 tour have until Friday, March 30th to submit their application online.
Click here for more information on submitting your film for consideration for the 2007-2008 Southern Circuit - Tour of Independent Filmmakers
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Steven Ross - Day 9
Belatedly, I am writing about the final stop, Asheville, NC.
Frankly, I feel like I have hit the wall. How do touring music acts and stand-up comics do it? Hours on the road, a new town every day, a new motel, restaurant food.
Sadly, I will not have real time to explore Asheville and its environs. Not far away is Black Mountain, former home to the legendary Black Mountain College, one of the most fabled experimental institutions in art education and practice. It was here that Buckminster Fuller created the first geodesic dome, Merce Cunningham started his dance company, and John Cage staged his first happening.
As I walk the streets of Asheville, I am reminded of Haley Joel Osmont's character in the movie, Sixth Sense ("I see dead people.")
For me, it is "I see hippies." I feel like I am in a time warp or a Grateful Dead convention. Looking at the local news weeklies, I decide that this must be the spiritual center of the universe. There are a full two pages of options if you want to seek enlightenment or inner peace. Additionally, a thriving arts community advertises a full plate of options.
Oddly, in scouring the movie pages of three arts weeklies, I see no mention of my films. Passing the movie theater, the marquee advertises Venus and Notes of a Scandal. With very low expectations for a good crowd, I arrive and am elated to see a hardy group in the theater. It is a great crowd and the Q&A sessions are very lively.
Of note, I meet a couple who were Peace Corps volunteers in Liberia in the late 60s. Watching the film and seeing the destruction actually brings them to tears. They speak of going to dances at the 4-star Ducor Hotel - today home to hundreds of squatters seeking basic shelter.
After the show, I choose sushi for my evening's fare. A gent walks up and compliments me on the films. He is one Jack Sholder. Director of feature films (A Nighmare on Elm Street 2, The Hidden) and television (Tales from the Crypt, Mortal Kombat: Conquest), he is a lively conversationalist. Fed up with the Hollywood scene, he describes selling his Malibu home and relocating with his family in the hills outside of Asheville. Currently, he is the Director of the Motion Picture & Television Program, and a Professor in the Department of Communications at Western Carolina University.
I trudge back to the Best Western and pack for a final time. Tomorrow, I will arise early, drive the 120 miles back to the Charlotte Airport, and head home to Ohio.
What a great experience it has been - showing the films, meeting a diversified group of great people, and seeing the South.
I will carry these memories for a long, long time.
Frankly, I feel like I have hit the wall. How do touring music acts and stand-up comics do it? Hours on the road, a new town every day, a new motel, restaurant food.
Sadly, I will not have real time to explore Asheville and its environs. Not far away is Black Mountain, former home to the legendary Black Mountain College, one of the most fabled experimental institutions in art education and practice. It was here that Buckminster Fuller created the first geodesic dome, Merce Cunningham started his dance company, and John Cage staged his first happening.
As I walk the streets of Asheville, I am reminded of Haley Joel Osmont's character in the movie, Sixth Sense ("I see dead people.")
For me, it is "I see hippies." I feel like I am in a time warp or a Grateful Dead convention. Looking at the local news weeklies, I decide that this must be the spiritual center of the universe. There are a full two pages of options if you want to seek enlightenment or inner peace. Additionally, a thriving arts community advertises a full plate of options.
Oddly, in scouring the movie pages of three arts weeklies, I see no mention of my films. Passing the movie theater, the marquee advertises Venus and Notes of a Scandal. With very low expectations for a good crowd, I arrive and am elated to see a hardy group in the theater. It is a great crowd and the Q&A sessions are very lively.
Of note, I meet a couple who were Peace Corps volunteers in Liberia in the late 60s. Watching the film and seeing the destruction actually brings them to tears. They speak of going to dances at the 4-star Ducor Hotel - today home to hundreds of squatters seeking basic shelter.
After the show, I choose sushi for my evening's fare. A gent walks up and compliments me on the films. He is one Jack Sholder. Director of feature films (A Nighmare on Elm Street 2, The Hidden) and television (Tales from the Crypt, Mortal Kombat: Conquest), he is a lively conversationalist. Fed up with the Hollywood scene, he describes selling his Malibu home and relocating with his family in the hills outside of Asheville. Currently, he is the Director of the Motion Picture & Television Program, and a Professor in the Department of Communications at Western Carolina University.
I trudge back to the Best Western and pack for a final time. Tomorrow, I will arise early, drive the 120 miles back to the Charlotte Airport, and head home to Ohio.
What a great experience it has been - showing the films, meeting a diversified group of great people, and seeing the South.
I will carry these memories for a long, long time.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Steven Ross - Day 8
From the rarefied air of Beaufort, I arrive back in the real world in Orangeburg. A working-class town south of Columbia, it is the home of South Carolina State University (SCSU). Founded in 1896, this HBC (historically black college) has an open admissions policy and is consistently among the national leaders in producing African-American students with degrees in biology, education, business, engineering technology, computer science/mathematics, and English language/literature. Not surprisingly, I learn that the traditionally white-dominated South Carolina legislature has favored South Carolina University and Clemson University, and funding to SCSU has significantly lagged behind.
In Orangeburg, my host is Ellen Zisholtz, citizen/activist/advocate extraordinaire. Ellen, among other things, grew up in the Bronx, went to CCNY, has taught in Spanish Harlem, worked for choreographer Bill T. Jones, raised four kids, and finally emmigrated to the South. Formerly, the head of the Arts Council of Beaufort, she is now the Director of the I.P.Stanback Museum & Planetarium and an Assistant Professor in Visual and Performing Arts at SCSU. Once meeting her, it comes as no surprise that, though she has only been here a short time, she has hit the ground running. Oh, she also throws a great dinner party.
Ellen gives me a tour of the museum, and the current beautiful exhibit of 20th century African-American art. As it turns out, it is from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Walker. Now, for the uninitiated, Darrell Walker was from Chicago (I believe a childhood friend of Isaiah Thomas), was an All-American basketball player at University of Arkansas, and then the number one draft pick in 1984 for my then beloved New York Knicks. I was told that while they were Knick teammates, one of my all time favorites, Bernard King, turned Darrell on to the joys of art collecting.
We pass a local bowling alley on the way to the campus. Ellen tells me some history about the establishment. On February 8, 1968, around 200 protesters had gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University to protest the segregation of the then All Star Bowling Lanes. Students set grass fires and tried to burn down a vacant house. An altercation ensued in which several South Carolina Highway Patrol officers were struck with thrown objects. The officers also stated that they believed they were receiving small arms fire during the incident. However, evidence that they were being fired on was inconclusive, and there would appear to be no evidence that the protesters were armed or had fired on officers.The officers responded by firing into the crowd, killing three young men, Samuel Hammond, Delano Middleton, and Henry Smith, and wounding 27 others. The ensuing trial, billed as the first federal trial of police officers for using excessive force at a campus protest, led to the acquittal of all of the defendants. Though this predated the the Kent State shootings, and was the first incident of its kind on an American university campus, the Orangeburg Massacre received relatively little media coverage. The university's gymnasium is named in memory of the three men, and a memorial square was erected on campus in their honor.
As it turns out, it is Spring Break at SCSU, and the place is a true ghost town. A smallish crowd of 30 watch the films. An intimate gathering, but fun nonetheless.
Next and final stop, Asheville, NC.
SR
In Orangeburg, my host is Ellen Zisholtz, citizen/activist/advocate extraordinaire. Ellen, among other things, grew up in the Bronx, went to CCNY, has taught in Spanish Harlem, worked for choreographer Bill T. Jones, raised four kids, and finally emmigrated to the South. Formerly, the head of the Arts Council of Beaufort, she is now the Director of the I.P.Stanback Museum & Planetarium and an Assistant Professor in Visual and Performing Arts at SCSU. Once meeting her, it comes as no surprise that, though she has only been here a short time, she has hit the ground running. Oh, she also throws a great dinner party.
Ellen gives me a tour of the museum, and the current beautiful exhibit of 20th century African-American art. As it turns out, it is from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Walker. Now, for the uninitiated, Darrell Walker was from Chicago (I believe a childhood friend of Isaiah Thomas), was an All-American basketball player at University of Arkansas, and then the number one draft pick in 1984 for my then beloved New York Knicks. I was told that while they were Knick teammates, one of my all time favorites, Bernard King, turned Darrell on to the joys of art collecting.
We pass a local bowling alley on the way to the campus. Ellen tells me some history about the establishment. On February 8, 1968, around 200 protesters had gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University to protest the segregation of the then All Star Bowling Lanes. Students set grass fires and tried to burn down a vacant house. An altercation ensued in which several South Carolina Highway Patrol officers were struck with thrown objects. The officers also stated that they believed they were receiving small arms fire during the incident. However, evidence that they were being fired on was inconclusive, and there would appear to be no evidence that the protesters were armed or had fired on officers.The officers responded by firing into the crowd, killing three young men, Samuel Hammond, Delano Middleton, and Henry Smith, and wounding 27 others. The ensuing trial, billed as the first federal trial of police officers for using excessive force at a campus protest, led to the acquittal of all of the defendants. Though this predated the the Kent State shootings, and was the first incident of its kind on an American university campus, the Orangeburg Massacre received relatively little media coverage. The university's gymnasium is named in memory of the three men, and a memorial square was erected on campus in their honor.
As it turns out, it is Spring Break at SCSU, and the place is a true ghost town. A smallish crowd of 30 watch the films. An intimate gathering, but fun nonetheless.
Next and final stop, Asheville, NC.
SR
Steven Ross - Days 6 and 7
I make the relatively short drive south to go from Columbia to Beaufort, SC. This beautiful little town on the Atlantic Coast is in Beaufort County, one of the South's fastest growing counties, primarily because of the development of resorts at Hilton Head and other Sea Islands. During the Civil War, the Union Navy occupied many of these islands. As a result, the whites fled to the mainland leaving their slaves behind. After Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, it was Union naval officers who read the new law to the black population and let them know that they now were free.
Small and quaint, with beautiful homes and Spanish moss, Beaufort has an arts community with great vitality. I am being hosted by Carol Tuynman, who heads the Arts Council of Beaufort. She is a transplanted New Yorker and we have lots to gab about.
During the afternoon, my first stop is Bluffton High School, in a town not far from Beaufort. In spite of the tony feel of Beaufort proper, there is significant poverty in the area. It truly is the tale of two worlds co-habitating . Carol has arranged to have the films shown to a large parcel of students, many who are in the high school video program. We pull into the school parking lot - it is huge by any standards - and I am amazed at the quantity of cars. Apparently it is just de rigeur for a student to have a car, no matter what it costs or where your family sits on the economic scale. At the high school, I am introduced by one of the teachers. Wow! These people truly work for a living. I have long understood how lucky I have been teaching my small classes at Wesleyan and Ohio University. Facing off - cajoling, humoring, reprimanding, demanding - with an auditorium full of hormonally charged high schoolers requires a skillset that I generally don't have to call into play. There is only time for one film to be shown. Rather than going for the supercharged Liberia, I opt for Fishers. I reason that they have been living near the sea their whole lives and might appreciate this "exotic" fishing economy of Dar es Salaam. All in all, they are an extremely respectful audience, and we have a nice discussion afterwards.
Before the evening's show, I am taken to dinner at Panini's, a lovely restaurant in Beaufort. A festive time is had by me - the food is great and a big group of interesting locals are in attendance.
The screening yields the most expansive and interesting Q and A so far. Again, in the audience, there are some people who had spent time in Liberia. An elderly white couple from Beaufort, they were part of a Baptist missionary group and were there during the elections from September to December 2005.
Saturday is an off day - no screening and no early morning rise. I have gotten in to the swing of the circuit, but the rest is appreciated. As some may know, the South Carolina coast is a real golf mecca (Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Kiawah Island). Though I do not go whole hog by heading to Hilton Head, I do find my way on to a very nice course and satifsy my passion for the little white ball. After the round, I take a nice ride on a country road up to my next stop - Orangeburg, SC.
SR
Small and quaint, with beautiful homes and Spanish moss, Beaufort has an arts community with great vitality. I am being hosted by Carol Tuynman, who heads the Arts Council of Beaufort. She is a transplanted New Yorker and we have lots to gab about.
During the afternoon, my first stop is Bluffton High School, in a town not far from Beaufort. In spite of the tony feel of Beaufort proper, there is significant poverty in the area. It truly is the tale of two worlds co-habitating . Carol has arranged to have the films shown to a large parcel of students, many who are in the high school video program. We pull into the school parking lot - it is huge by any standards - and I am amazed at the quantity of cars. Apparently it is just de rigeur for a student to have a car, no matter what it costs or where your family sits on the economic scale. At the high school, I am introduced by one of the teachers. Wow! These people truly work for a living. I have long understood how lucky I have been teaching my small classes at Wesleyan and Ohio University. Facing off - cajoling, humoring, reprimanding, demanding - with an auditorium full of hormonally charged high schoolers requires a skillset that I generally don't have to call into play. There is only time for one film to be shown. Rather than going for the supercharged Liberia, I opt for Fishers. I reason that they have been living near the sea their whole lives and might appreciate this "exotic" fishing economy of Dar es Salaam. All in all, they are an extremely respectful audience, and we have a nice discussion afterwards.
Before the evening's show, I am taken to dinner at Panini's, a lovely restaurant in Beaufort. A festive time is had by me - the food is great and a big group of interesting locals are in attendance.
The screening yields the most expansive and interesting Q and A so far. Again, in the audience, there are some people who had spent time in Liberia. An elderly white couple from Beaufort, they were part of a Baptist missionary group and were there during the elections from September to December 2005.
Saturday is an off day - no screening and no early morning rise. I have gotten in to the swing of the circuit, but the rest is appreciated. As some may know, the South Carolina coast is a real golf mecca (Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Kiawah Island). Though I do not go whole hog by heading to Hilton Head, I do find my way on to a very nice course and satifsy my passion for the little white ball. After the round, I take a nice ride on a country road up to my next stop - Orangeburg, SC.
SR
Friday, March 09, 2007
Steven Ross - Day 5
I leave Clemson and head to the center of the state to Columbia, SC. As I approach Columbia, the state capital, I get a little hungry and prompted by many billboards, I stop for barbeque at the well-advertised Maurice's Bar BQ. After placing my order at the counter - it is a big barn of a restaurant - I take note of a display case and books for sale. Unwittingly, I have landed in the establishment, part of a major chain, of one Maurice Bessinger. In West Columbia, he opened his flagship Piggie Park restaurant, the headquarters of Maurice's Gourmet Barbeque, in 1953. Outside that restaurant, along with an enormous sign proclaiming Maurice's has the "world best barbeque," there's a big Confederate flag, biblical quotes and a sign proclaiming Buchanan for President. Go inside and you'll find conservative political and religious tracts, including one claiming blacks were blessed to have been brought to America in slavery. And I thought shopping at WalMarts was politically incorrect.
In the evening, my films will screen at the Nickolodeon Theater, Columbia's sole art cinema house. Small and comfortable, it sits a few hundred yards from the Capital Building. Some may recall the controversy a few years back when the Confederate Flag was ordered off of the top that building. I am met by Larry Hembree who has been running the Nickelodeon since 1979. Our time together is short as he is off to catch a flight to New York where a friend/filmmaker is premiering his new film of the legendary Brother Theodore, a monologuist and comedian known for rambling, stream of consciousness dialogues which he called "stand up tragedy." Larry leaves me in good hands, his new assistant, Andy Smith.
I meet Andy across the street at the local hot spot restaurant, Hunters and Gatherers. I discover that Andy got his M.A. in Film Studies at UCLA several years ago. Eschewing the offer to continue in UCLA's Ph.D program, he, a South Carolinean, decided to return home. What a great spirit he has. After being the primary assistant in the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor (he just lost by a mere 3000 votes - not bad in this neck of the "red" woods), he has signed on to be part of the new Nickelodeon. This non-profit local gem of an enterprise has been fighting the fight to bring interesting films for a long time. And now, they have received state funding to move the theater into bigger and better digs on the other side of the Capital. There will be two screens and the potential for really growing the film culture in Columbia is there. This year, Andy is launching a new film festival at the Nickelodeon, the IndyGrits festival. My guess is that in five years, Columbia will have a small, but special name as an independent film venue.
At the screening, there is a brother and sister who had spent a substantial part of their childhood growing up in Monrovia. Their parents were doing missionary work and had been part of a radio station, ELWA (Eternal Love Winning Africa). ELWA was a major source of independent and balanced news for all segments of the population before being bombed by President Doe in early July 1990. This station was also a training center for most of Liberia's prominent broadcasters. I am no longer surprised by who you might meet on the road when you show your film.
After the screening, Andy and I go for a beer. We walk by the Capital, past the large statue of Strom Thurmond, and have a final beer together.
Off to Beaufort on the coast.
SR
In the evening, my films will screen at the Nickolodeon Theater, Columbia's sole art cinema house. Small and comfortable, it sits a few hundred yards from the Capital Building. Some may recall the controversy a few years back when the Confederate Flag was ordered off of the top that building. I am met by Larry Hembree who has been running the Nickelodeon since 1979. Our time together is short as he is off to catch a flight to New York where a friend/filmmaker is premiering his new film of the legendary Brother Theodore, a monologuist and comedian known for rambling, stream of consciousness dialogues which he called "stand up tragedy." Larry leaves me in good hands, his new assistant, Andy Smith.
I meet Andy across the street at the local hot spot restaurant, Hunters and Gatherers. I discover that Andy got his M.A. in Film Studies at UCLA several years ago. Eschewing the offer to continue in UCLA's Ph.D program, he, a South Carolinean, decided to return home. What a great spirit he has. After being the primary assistant in the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor (he just lost by a mere 3000 votes - not bad in this neck of the "red" woods), he has signed on to be part of the new Nickelodeon. This non-profit local gem of an enterprise has been fighting the fight to bring interesting films for a long time. And now, they have received state funding to move the theater into bigger and better digs on the other side of the Capital. There will be two screens and the potential for really growing the film culture in Columbia is there. This year, Andy is launching a new film festival at the Nickelodeon, the IndyGrits festival. My guess is that in five years, Columbia will have a small, but special name as an independent film venue.
At the screening, there is a brother and sister who had spent a substantial part of their childhood growing up in Monrovia. Their parents were doing missionary work and had been part of a radio station, ELWA (Eternal Love Winning Africa). ELWA was a major source of independent and balanced news for all segments of the population before being bombed by President Doe in early July 1990. This station was also a training center for most of Liberia's prominent broadcasters. I am no longer surprised by who you might meet on the road when you show your film.
After the screening, Andy and I go for a beer. We walk by the Capital, past the large statue of Strom Thurmond, and have a final beer together.
Off to Beaufort on the coast.
SR
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Steven Ross - Day 4
It is Wednesday, March 7th, which means I am in Clemson, SC at Clemson University.
Upon his death in 1886, Thomas Clemson willed a tract of land to be used to begin an agricultural college. Mr. Clemson - scientist, mining engineer, diplomat to Belgium, and considered the first secretary of agriculture - was the son-in-law to none other than John Calhoun. Calhoun lived here from 1825 to 1850. He served as a US representative (1811-1817), secretary of war to James Monroe (1817-1825), vice president to John Quincy Adams (1825-1829), vice president to Andrew Jackson (1829-1832), US senator (1832-1843), secretary of state to John Tyler (1844-1845), and again as US senator (1845-1850) at the time of his death. Calhoun pushed the theory of nullification, a states' rights theory under which states could declare null and void any federal law they deemed to be unconstitutional. He was an outspoken proponent of the institution of slavery, which he defended as a "positive good" rather than as a necessary evil.
I am confident that Calhoun was an advocate for the creation of the American Colonization Society, the organization that paved the way for freed former slaves to return to Africa and settle in Liberia. The American Colonization Society was established in 1816 as an attempt to satisfy two groups in America. Ironically, these groups were on opposite ends of the spectrum involving slavery. One group consisted of philanthropists, clergy and abolitionists who wanted to free African slaves and their descendants, and provide them with the opportunity to return to Africa. The other group was the slave owners who feared free people of color and wanted to expel them from America. The Society's members relentlessly pressured Congress and President Monroe (for whom Monrovia, Liberia's capital is named) for support. In 1819, they received $100,000 from Congress, and in January 1820, a ship, the Elizabeth, embarked from New York and headed for West Africa with three white American Colonization Society agents and 88 blacks. Eventually, this ship landed in an area that is now northern Liberia.
So it all seems fitting that I am showing the film here.
I have a great time at Clemson. The university has a similar feel to Ohio University, a land grant school with about 20,000 students. The screening is packed and my hosts are wonderful. What a vibrant group of young scholars - funny, engaged, committed - Amy Monoghan (English/Film Studies), Julie Huntington (French), John Smith (English/Film Studies) and Jonathan Field (English). Before the screening, we dine on classic Southern fare - sushi. (Eventually, I am confident that I will be getting more indigenous fare.) The dinner conversation is no slow-paced drawled affair. Amy (Boston) and Jonathan (Boston) are hard core northeasterners and the pace is frenetic. Jonathan's brother, Rick, I learn, was a former New York film technician - a boom operator - though I do not believe we crossed paths on any set. Now he has his own pickle business - Rick's Pics - and one of his venues is the open market in Union Square. This was about two minutes from where I cut the Liberia film in Manhattan, and I know, good Jewish pickle-loving boy that I am, that I sampled his wares.
Heading to Columbia, SC tomorrow.
Bye y'awl.
SR
Upon his death in 1886, Thomas Clemson willed a tract of land to be used to begin an agricultural college. Mr. Clemson - scientist, mining engineer, diplomat to Belgium, and considered the first secretary of agriculture - was the son-in-law to none other than John Calhoun. Calhoun lived here from 1825 to 1850. He served as a US representative (1811-1817), secretary of war to James Monroe (1817-1825), vice president to John Quincy Adams (1825-1829), vice president to Andrew Jackson (1829-1832), US senator (1832-1843), secretary of state to John Tyler (1844-1845), and again as US senator (1845-1850) at the time of his death. Calhoun pushed the theory of nullification, a states' rights theory under which states could declare null and void any federal law they deemed to be unconstitutional. He was an outspoken proponent of the institution of slavery, which he defended as a "positive good" rather than as a necessary evil.
I am confident that Calhoun was an advocate for the creation of the American Colonization Society, the organization that paved the way for freed former slaves to return to Africa and settle in Liberia. The American Colonization Society was established in 1816 as an attempt to satisfy two groups in America. Ironically, these groups were on opposite ends of the spectrum involving slavery. One group consisted of philanthropists, clergy and abolitionists who wanted to free African slaves and their descendants, and provide them with the opportunity to return to Africa. The other group was the slave owners who feared free people of color and wanted to expel them from America. The Society's members relentlessly pressured Congress and President Monroe (for whom Monrovia, Liberia's capital is named) for support. In 1819, they received $100,000 from Congress, and in January 1820, a ship, the Elizabeth, embarked from New York and headed for West Africa with three white American Colonization Society agents and 88 blacks. Eventually, this ship landed in an area that is now northern Liberia.
So it all seems fitting that I am showing the film here.
I have a great time at Clemson. The university has a similar feel to Ohio University, a land grant school with about 20,000 students. The screening is packed and my hosts are wonderful. What a vibrant group of young scholars - funny, engaged, committed - Amy Monoghan (English/Film Studies), Julie Huntington (French), John Smith (English/Film Studies) and Jonathan Field (English). Before the screening, we dine on classic Southern fare - sushi. (Eventually, I am confident that I will be getting more indigenous fare.) The dinner conversation is no slow-paced drawled affair. Amy (Boston) and Jonathan (Boston) are hard core northeasterners and the pace is frenetic. Jonathan's brother, Rick, I learn, was a former New York film technician - a boom operator - though I do not believe we crossed paths on any set. Now he has his own pickle business - Rick's Pics - and one of his venues is the open market in Union Square. This was about two minutes from where I cut the Liberia film in Manhattan, and I know, good Jewish pickle-loving boy that I am, that I sampled his wares.
Heading to Columbia, SC tomorrow.
Bye y'awl.
SR
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Steven Ross - Day 3
I leave at the crack of dawn from Jackson, MS, fly to Charlotte, and then on to Lynchburg, VA. A short drive and I am at Sweet Briar College in Amherst, VA. As a Wesleyan grad who hated all things Amherst, I will have to cope. And cope I do. Sweet Briar is one of the most beautiful colleges I have ever seen. A small women-only liberal arts college (only 700 students), I am told by my gracious host, Eleanor Salotto (who teaches courses in English and Film Studies) that Sweet Briar has been ranked the third most beautiful campus in the United States (following Pepperdine and Princeton). It was founded by Indiana Fletcher (one year after her death) who had inherited her father's plantation - Sweet Briar - to commemorate the memory of her dear child Daisy who had died unexpectedly at the age of sixteen.
During the day, I travel back to Lynchburg and walk a bit of this sleepy and lovely town. Sitting on the banks of the James River, it had been a booming seat of commerce as late as the post-WW II. It is a town with a strong sense of its history. I visit a restored house named Point of Honor. This was George Cabell's mansion on the James River. Cabell was a friend and physician to Patrick Henry, and a frequent correspondent to Thomas Jefferson. I receive a personal tour of the house by a lovely lady from Lynchburg who certainly knew her history.
I am a mere two hours east of my beloved West Virginia (specifically, Bluefield, WV) where I participated in a shoot on and off for almost a year in the early 90s (West Virginia: A State History / a six hour PBS documentary). Bluefield, WV lies in the southern coal fields, and is not far from Matewan. I still have strong memories of that dark and provocative landscape.
At the evening's screening, I am surprised to receive a special introduction by one Kerry Scott. Officer Scott, now a Sweet Briar security officer, is a retired military attachee who had been in Liberia in December 2003 just two months after I had first been there. We swapped some good "war" stories, and I was happy to present him with a copy of the film. Ironically, he is about to return to Africa. Where? Of all places, Tanzania. He and a group of friends are going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and then move on to a safari in the Serengetti. I never had the courage (or stamina) to do the ascent, but the safari trip was probably the best vacation of my life. It was a pleasure to meet Officer Scott and all the nice people at Sweet Briar.
Tomorrow - Clemson University.
SR
During the day, I travel back to Lynchburg and walk a bit of this sleepy and lovely town. Sitting on the banks of the James River, it had been a booming seat of commerce as late as the post-WW II. It is a town with a strong sense of its history. I visit a restored house named Point of Honor. This was George Cabell's mansion on the James River. Cabell was a friend and physician to Patrick Henry, and a frequent correspondent to Thomas Jefferson. I receive a personal tour of the house by a lovely lady from Lynchburg who certainly knew her history.
I am a mere two hours east of my beloved West Virginia (specifically, Bluefield, WV) where I participated in a shoot on and off for almost a year in the early 90s (West Virginia: A State History / a six hour PBS documentary). Bluefield, WV lies in the southern coal fields, and is not far from Matewan. I still have strong memories of that dark and provocative landscape.
At the evening's screening, I am surprised to receive a special introduction by one Kerry Scott. Officer Scott, now a Sweet Briar security officer, is a retired military attachee who had been in Liberia in December 2003 just two months after I had first been there. We swapped some good "war" stories, and I was happy to present him with a copy of the film. Ironically, he is about to return to Africa. Where? Of all places, Tanzania. He and a group of friends are going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and then move on to a safari in the Serengetti. I never had the courage (or stamina) to do the ascent, but the safari trip was probably the best vacation of my life. It was a pleasure to meet Officer Scott and all the nice people at Sweet Briar.
Tomorrow - Clemson University.
SR
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Steven Ross - Day 2
I feel a bit like I am on a shoot.( I remember several prolonged trips shooting for Pepsi back in the early 90s). Traveling to a new place each day by plane and/or by car, then into the motel, and then off to the location. Today is Jackson,MS and Milsaps College. Milsaps is a small, private, liberal arts college (only about 1300 students) that is fighting the valiant fight to excel in a difficult economic climate.
I am met by Michelle Acuff who teaches Sculpture, Video, Drawing, and Painting, and then we are joined for dinner by her colleague, Holly Sypniewski who teaches Greek and Latin as well as civilization courses on the legacy of Rome and concepts of love in the ancient world. Holly has been Milsap's lead person with the Southern Circuit for a number of years now. Over a lovely Cajun dinner (fried pickles, shrimp creole, crawfish etouffee), she explains how the selections are made for the Southern Circuit. After the submissions are made by the various filmmakers (approximately 50-60 this year), there is a yearly meeting with representatives from all of the host venues and the Southern Arts Federation. Long days of screenings and then discussions and, I am guessing, a bit of arm-pulling and negotiation, and then a vote is taken. This year, six filmmakers were chosen. I feel very fortunate and honored.
Holly suggests that we screen Fishers and then have a short discussion before showing Liberia. This proves to be the right way to go. Given the provocative subject nature of Liberia, Fishers is already a distant memory if discussion is only held at the end of the double feature. I am forced to admit to a bit of film trickery when some smart viewer wonders whether all the sound in Fishers is original sound. Coming clean, I tell the story of doing a bit of extra recording in Manhattan - peeling shrimp, scraping fish, stirring oatmeal - all for the cause.
Again, the audience seems very engaged and asks smart questions. I am having good fun and am definitely being well-treated.
Tomorrow, I am up at 4am for a 6am flight to Lynchburg, VA and Sweet Briar College.
SR
I am met by Michelle Acuff who teaches Sculpture, Video, Drawing, and Painting, and then we are joined for dinner by her colleague, Holly Sypniewski who teaches Greek and Latin as well as civilization courses on the legacy of Rome and concepts of love in the ancient world. Holly has been Milsap's lead person with the Southern Circuit for a number of years now. Over a lovely Cajun dinner (fried pickles, shrimp creole, crawfish etouffee), she explains how the selections are made for the Southern Circuit. After the submissions are made by the various filmmakers (approximately 50-60 this year), there is a yearly meeting with representatives from all of the host venues and the Southern Arts Federation. Long days of screenings and then discussions and, I am guessing, a bit of arm-pulling and negotiation, and then a vote is taken. This year, six filmmakers were chosen. I feel very fortunate and honored.
Holly suggests that we screen Fishers and then have a short discussion before showing Liberia. This proves to be the right way to go. Given the provocative subject nature of Liberia, Fishers is already a distant memory if discussion is only held at the end of the double feature. I am forced to admit to a bit of film trickery when some smart viewer wonders whether all the sound in Fishers is original sound. Coming clean, I tell the story of doing a bit of extra recording in Manhattan - peeling shrimp, scraping fish, stirring oatmeal - all for the cause.
Again, the audience seems very engaged and asks smart questions. I am having good fun and am definitely being well-treated.
Tomorrow, I am up at 4am for a 6am flight to Lynchburg, VA and Sweet Briar College.
SR
Monday, March 05, 2007
Steve Ross - Days 1 and 2
After a fairly tiring day of travel - Athens to Columbus, Columbus to Charlotte, Charlotte to Montgomery, AL - I am in my Malibu navigating the Montgomery roads to get to my first of many motels on the tour. Quick check-in at the Best Western and off to the Capri Theater to meet my contact Martin.
Neurotic New Yorker that I am, I come with multiple DVDs and a DVCAM copy of Liberia: A Fragile Peace; I have the 16mm print, a VHS copy, a DVCAM copy and two separate burnings of the DVD of Fishers of Dar. Just to be sure, I also bring my own video deck (Sony DSR-11) which can play the DVCAM. The Capri is one of only two venues on the tour that "offers" to play 16mm. Truly it seems that 16mm film projection is going the way of the eight track tape. Sad. Sad.
I arrive at the Capri. After being told that the 16mm projector really hadn't been used for years and the sound was questionable, we resolve to test out my deck. All goes well. The video projector at the theater is a beaut and we are all set. Martin and I dine next door, and then the show is on.
A nice-sized audience (Martin had me prepared for the worst) of 60-70 are in attendance. The screening goes off without a hitch. A nice Q&A follows.
I had never seen this double feature before. I am struck how well that they work well together. After watching the whole of Fishers of Dar and the various views of this fisher society and economy, one turns to Liberia: A Fragile Peace where the first shot is of the garbage-laden shoreline in Monrovia. Kind of tells the story of the two countries.
Off this morning for the five-hour drive from Montgomery to Jackson, MS. Yesterday, as many of you know, Hillary (and Bill) and Barack and numerous others, descended on Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday (March 7, 1965) when Dr. King led the march in Selma on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Today, ironically, I am driving over the very same bridge. I remember back in the 60s and early 70s just having a sense of fear about traveling in this part of the deep South. This was not exactly a tourist destination for hippie boys from the North in those days. Today, on a sublimely clear and beautiful day, the town of Selma, one day after the big doings, was a beautiful Southern town on a normal work day. Live oaks and Spanish moss and a real sense of history.
With Dylan's memoir, Chronicles, on the CD player and a sense of the connection of former freed slaves to the formation of Liberia, there was a lot to think of on this drive.
I am writing from Jackson where the films will be playing tonight to an audience at Milsaps College.
SR
Neurotic New Yorker that I am, I come with multiple DVDs and a DVCAM copy of Liberia: A Fragile Peace; I have the 16mm print, a VHS copy, a DVCAM copy and two separate burnings of the DVD of Fishers of Dar. Just to be sure, I also bring my own video deck (Sony DSR-11) which can play the DVCAM. The Capri is one of only two venues on the tour that "offers" to play 16mm. Truly it seems that 16mm film projection is going the way of the eight track tape. Sad. Sad.
I arrive at the Capri. After being told that the 16mm projector really hadn't been used for years and the sound was questionable, we resolve to test out my deck. All goes well. The video projector at the theater is a beaut and we are all set. Martin and I dine next door, and then the show is on.
A nice-sized audience (Martin had me prepared for the worst) of 60-70 are in attendance. The screening goes off without a hitch. A nice Q&A follows.
I had never seen this double feature before. I am struck how well that they work well together. After watching the whole of Fishers of Dar and the various views of this fisher society and economy, one turns to Liberia: A Fragile Peace where the first shot is of the garbage-laden shoreline in Monrovia. Kind of tells the story of the two countries.
Off this morning for the five-hour drive from Montgomery to Jackson, MS. Yesterday, as many of you know, Hillary (and Bill) and Barack and numerous others, descended on Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday (March 7, 1965) when Dr. King led the march in Selma on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Today, ironically, I am driving over the very same bridge. I remember back in the 60s and early 70s just having a sense of fear about traveling in this part of the deep South. This was not exactly a tourist destination for hippie boys from the North in those days. Today, on a sublimely clear and beautiful day, the town of Selma, one day after the big doings, was a beautiful Southern town on a normal work day. Live oaks and Spanish moss and a real sense of history.
With Dylan's memoir, Chronicles, on the CD player and a sense of the connection of former freed slaves to the formation of Liberia, there was a lot to think of on this drive.
I am writing from Jackson where the films will be playing tonight to an audience at Milsaps College.
SR
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