'She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry' and the Mountain Tour!

Monday started off the third day of Southern Circuit, driving from Athens, Georgia to Johnson City, Tennessee, an epic adventure – thrilled by the mountains, lakes, and gorgeous scenery on I-26 W.  I wanted to stop and take it all in; however, it was hard to keep driving.  But there were students to meet!   

I arrived at Eastern Tennessee State University early that afternoon and met with two terrific classes on women’s issues and gender studies taught by Hilary Malatino. The students had great questions, and it was such a pleasure to get to talk with them.    

  

I enjoyed a delicious Thai dinner with some of the ETSU staff and students before screening 'She’s Beautiful' to a packed audience that night.

An additional treat, our youngest viewer ever, nine-month-old Charlie, was all eyes for the film!

The ETSU team did a fantastic job of publicizing the event.  Many thanks to Heidi Ehle and Phyllis Thompson, and Anita DeAngelis, the Director of Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, for sponsoring this whole event.  There was a lovely reception afterwards in a gallery with a brilliant installation on violence against women, the body and blood, by Native American contemporary artist Luzene Hill. What a powerhouse team! Many thanks to Lisa Gail Cutshaw for the great photographs.

As I was driving back down the mountain roads the next day, I became a fan of country music radio, especially the song, “Crash and Burn,” which I sang along with in the car because it’s on all the stations and no one could hear me!  My next stop would be Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. I drove through so many fascinating places, including Maggie Valley, and realized that the South can be habit-forming. Yes, I love the Smoky Mountains!

At Western Carolina University, I met with the next dynamic duo Francis Ann Ortiz from Campus Programs and Maven Mayfield, her student associate – what an amazing team! 

They made the screening fun and interactive with a wall poster for students to write about their views on feminism as well as a special frame for photos, not to mention popcorn!! There was a great Q & A after the screening and then more discussions about the film and feminism in the hallways.

By then it dawned on me - every site on Southern Circuit is full of more than great audiences, but also deeply dedicated staffers who are making sure that it’s a wonderful experience for everyone. Lucky me! 

Two more stops on the road to go,  TO BE CONTINUED……..

All best,   

Mary Dore

Katie Damien, My Toxic Backyard - Johnson City & Memphis, TN

The latest updates from filmmaker Katie Damien, touring her film My Toxic Backyard on the Southern Circuit:

Day 5
Soaking up as much of the Florida sun as I can before heading to Johnson City Tennessee tomorrow. Excited to meet the folks at ETSU.

Day 6:

East Tennessee State University turned their screening into an interactive event complete with student lead environmental groups with booths and a selfie station where people could pose in front of a giant poster!  And they drew one of the largest crowds they've ever had for a screening at nearly 200 people. Another successful screening!

Day 7:

Flew into Memphis with just enough time to have some amazing food at a restaurant in an alley, in a basement. I had to circle the block before I could find it, but it was worth it! Can't wait for the screening tomorrow.

Day 8:

Great screening at a real movie theater in Memphis! Saw the national civil rights Museum. It was very moving. What a city.

Till Schauder - Till Talks Tennessee!

Hello everyone. I'm Till Schauder, director of THE IRAN JOB. Last night was the first screening of the film's tour at ETSU in Johnson City. I had looked forward to this tour for months now but last night far exceeded my expectations. My fabulous hosts - Anita, Shara, Heidi, Lise and all the volunteers - were fantastic representatives of Southern hospitality. And the audience was much more diverse than I expected. I never thought I would meet an Iranian blue grass musician in Tennessee -- or anywhere in fact! But there he was, the fabulous Erfan, who seems to have quickly grown into a local legend - for good reason.

Check out Erfan's video

The diversity continued today, when I was picked up for a guest lecture at Shara's ETSU film class by Martin, a student from Spain. It seems the world is coming together in Johnson City, and it's fabulous. As Martin walked me over to the class he told me about a short doc he recently completed about… an Iranian guy who came all the way from Tehran to Tennessee to study… bluegrass music. So Erfan is well on his way to becoming the next big thing and Martin's film proves there's some serious filmmaking talent in this school. I encouraged Martin to make this a feature length doc, or at least an hour long piece -- and I think FROM TEHRAN TO TENNESSEE would be a cool title (Full disclosure: I had a working title once FROM TEXAS TO TEHRAN, which ended up not working for that film (which later became THE IRAN JOB) -- but I still like the TT alliteration and think for this Erfan project it would be just perfect.

Martin's short doc on Erfan

After the class (pics attached) I drove from Johnson City to Cullowhee, NC today for a screening tonight at Western Carolina University -- a beautifully recreational drive compared to NYC traffic - and am now looking forward to the show tonight. Already sad that my stint here is over after tomorrow's screening at Clemson University, but I know the folks who'll come down to represent the film once I leave - our associate producer Julien Segui and my co-producer (of films and babies) Sara Nodjoumi - will have a magical time as well. I am so impressed by what Teresa and South Arts are doing here. I already want to come back next year -- with the kids! No better way to see the South!

Jeremy Seifert - ETSU

An update from Jeremy Siefert, currently touring his film GMO OMG:

I drove up to Johnson City, TN, with my son, Finn, for the screening at ETSU last night. We chatted the whole way up about our favorite kinds of trees (Coastal Redwood, Sequoia, ancient oaks, and sugar maple) and also about various wild mushrooms, mostly the ones that can kill you. The leaves have mostly fallen in the mountains that border North Carolina and Tennessee, making it easy to spot all the evergreens that dot the ridges.

The screening at the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts on campus was fantastic! There were well over two hundred people from all over the community in attendance, and Earth Fare provided an amazing spread of appetizers afterward. Finn participated in the end of the Q&A, answering a few questions about what we grew in our garden last year. He also sold GMO OMG t-shirts after the screening and chatted with people for over an hour....he's learning all about life on the road! On the way back home at 11PM, he said he was so exhausted from talking to everyone, "I mean, I talked to like a thousand people and for like 30 minutes each!"

A big THANK YOU to Anita DeAngelis and her team for making it an event to remember.

Jeremy

gmofilm.com

Follow the Leader heads to ETSU

Our Southern Circuit tour started off at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. Arriving in town after spending the previous weekend getting into the Southern swing in Oak Ridge a couple hours away, the ETSU Pride signs were everywhere on arrival – this University where we'd be screening was clearly the focal point of the city, and a budding powerhouse educationally in the region. I was lucky enough to come across Cootie Brown's restaurant while driving along the highway (pictured), and when I asked the students what I should check out while in the area, they all agreed: “Go to ETSU!” That's not something I hear everywhere I go, I must say!

After checking-in at the Red Roof Inn – where the proprietor had charmingly matched his tie to both his watch and the monogrammed initials on his shift (all lime green) – I headed over to ETSU to meet our principal host Anita DeAngelis, Director of the Mary B. Martin School for the Arts. We were honored to find that we would be screening the film on what was in fact the 5th anniversary of the death of Mary B. Martin herself – who I understand was an early investors in both Microsoft and Lowes before becoming one of the most generous benefactors in the local region along with her husband, who continues to carry on their good works. Less fortunate in terms of our timing was that the screening was being held on the night of the NCAA Men's Basketball final game...while on campus, earlier in the evening there was a big meeting on campus to discuss bringing a football team to ETSU for the first time next year. I met one-on-one with students studying film production, and then enjoyed some great pizza and discussion with our local hosts at the Main Street Pizza Company in downtown Johnson City.

While sports seems to trump the arts most places most of the time, we nonetheless had a great screening with 50-60 loyal documentary fans coming out. I understand there were more students from the video production class in the audience than before, as their Professor was so kind to tell me. During the screening, I texted film participant D.J. to let him know that ETSU had included his face inside the “o” in “to” in their Spring events program, which carries the tagline “Dare to Imagine” (see pictured). The questions following the screening were all thoughtful and thought-provoking, and then an all-friendly group (see picture, photo credit Lise Cutshaw) stayed around to continue discussing the film over cheese, crackers, punch, and other assorted snacks – with enough extra fruit for me to take home for the following morning!

Everyone involved with FOLLOW THE LEADER is very grateful to our hosts Anita, Shara Lange, Heidi Ehle, Lise Cutshaw, Jeff & Joe in projection – and to everyone who came out to make it an engaging night...and a great way to start off our tour!

- Jonathan Goodman Levitt

Johnson City Here We Come!

Monday morning we drove into Johnson City, Tennessee from Winder, Georgia--it was a lovely scenic drive through South Carolina, North Carolina and finally the mountains of Tennessee. Johnson City is a pretty city dominated by the East Tennessee State University. Our hostess Dean Anita DeAngelis went out of her way to make us feel at home--within one hour of meeting her it's as if my friend Kalin Thomas and I had known her forever. In the early afternoon we were invited by Prof. Tammy Hayes to speak to her television production class about our careers in the television and film industry. The class of about 10 students enjoyed Kalin and my war stories of life at CNN and our advice on how to make it in television an film.  Later that evening the screening was held in the theater of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts and despite the pouring rain about 65 people showed up to see "Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock." The question and answer session with the audience was really dynamic--they asked a lot of intriguing questions about Daisy Bates, the Little Rock Nine, and film process itself. My favorite question was "What was the range of emotions I felt while making the film." My response was that in seven years I felt every range imaginable--happiness and deep despair--usually these emotions were tied to the fundraising process which can make or break a filmmaker. After a lengthy discussion with audience Anita DeAngelis launched a beautiful reception outside the theater where I got to interact with the audience directly. In all it was a wonderful evening!

EATING ALABAMA, on the road...

I'm going to opt for a hastily put together photo-essay of my time traveling with the Southern Circuit rather than writing too much about my experience. I think the web is most dynamic as a visual medium and I tend to take lots of pictures when I'm traveling - especially when I'm traveling alone. Susan Sontag wrote in her book "On Photography" about this American inclination to photograph when we travel - many of us turn to photography as a way to continue the "work" we're leaving behind. We can't really be idle. Not even on vacation.

I wouldn't call the Southern Circuit a vacation, despite the wonderful screenings and the interesting locations and the (occasionally) good food. It's more like a rock and roll tour without the bandmates, without the groupies, without the gear. It's a lot of time in airports and rental cars and planes and motels. But it's an amazing way to share your film with an audience you might otherwise never have an opportunity to interact with. It's really a great program, and the audiences thus far have been spectacular and genuinely excited about my movie. Which is more than I could ask for, frankly...

DAY ONE & TWO: Departing for Savannah, GA. My tour was split up a bit - the first screening was a one night affair in Savannah, where I flew in just for the screening and then came back home. You'll notice in this photo that it's been digitally processed. This one, like many others here, has been processed through the photo-sharing service Instagram. I'm a little skeptical about my inclination to process photos this way - the over-saturation, the boosted contrast, the distressed edges. These are all techniques used to create an instant vintage affect which ramps up the nostalgia factor of the image. Nostalgia and vintage both imply age and durability - they communicate authenticity through their staying power. But this image was quickly snapped, processed digitally and distributed to my social network feeds without any process of reflection. So, what is its value other than an aesthetic one? If you're interested in what someone much smarter than me thinks about all this, check out this essay from The New Inquiry.

DAY ONE: Even Instagram photography benefits from good light - this is the marquee of the venue in Savannah as the sun is going down. Photographers and filmmakers talk about this time (and the hour of sunrise) as the "magic hour." When the sun is low in the sky, the shadows are elongated and the contrast is ramped up. It makes things easier to see. Or conceal. The screening itself was wonderful - the Lucas is a great theatre and there was a nice crowd, too. I spent the evening hanging out with my friend Jared who's a musician based in Savannah. He played accordion on the score for the film.

DAY TWO: On my way to the airport, I snapped this one. I love the live oaks in places like Savannah.

DAY THREE: Day three of the tour was separated by a few weeks from the trip to Savannah. First up was a drive from my home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to a small town called Winder, Georgia about an hour northeast of Atlanta. The film still hasn't played in Atlanta, so there were actually a handful of people who drove up to see the movie. My friend Lane, there on the left, drove over from Athens and I was fortunate to be able to spend the night with he and his wife Sarah. There in the middle is our friend Julia who drove up from Atlanta. But the winner of the farthest distanced traveled was an old college friend who drove three hours to see the film! It was a nice screening with a great Q&A moderated by a local filmmaker. Probably the most insightful questions I've gotten in a Q&A - thanks Christopher!

DAY THREE: On the way from Winder to Athens, Lane and I stopped in at an antique auction where he was bidding on some old woodworking tools. I saw this essay from around the 60s in a random box and took a picture.

DAY FOUR: After a great night with friends in Athens I drove through the fog and the rain to Johnson City, Tennessee for a screening that evening at Eastern Tennessee State University. I dropped in to an Environmental Studies class that afternoon and talked about filmmaking, the documentary genre and writing. Somehow, we ended up talking a lot about John McPhee and this interview I recently read with him from the Paris Review. The subject was the making of these sometimes complicated nonfiction narratives - namely, how do you assemble all the often disparate threads of your story to form a coherent whole?

DAY FOUR: When I remember, I like to take pictures of the audiences during Q&A or before the screening. It's always nice to share what it looks like from my perspective! The screening was packed out - I believe there were about 200 folks. It was a great and enthusiastic audience and I was glad to talk with a couple of local food advocates from the area. Thanks ETSU!

DAY FOUR: Saw this smokestack and had to take a picture. This was in route to the screening near Asheville, NC.

DAY FIVE: From Johnson City, TN to the Outer Banks via Charlotte. When I arrived in Kill Devil Hills (where I stayed and where I screened the film and, yes, the actual name of the place), I went on a short walk to the beach. The Atlantic always seems too cold for me, no matter where or when I visit. I was raised on the bathwater warm Gulf of Mexico and it's the only beach I can call home... I grabbed dinner at a local diner and sat at the bar waiting for my food. I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me who was a detective from Charlotte, NC. He asked about what I do and I told him about the film and he launched into his own story of losing his family's farm. I'm always surprised at how universal my family's story of leaving the farm is to many Americans. He wanted to talk about filmmaking, but I was far more interested to hear about what he does for a living - especially when he told me that he and his partner were in the area because they were attending a two day workshop on serial killers being held at the local Nags Head police department (yes, the actual name of the city is Nags Head). 

DAY SIX: I'm not going to lie, day six was epic. Starting at 9am I went and spoke to a high school English class. This is their library - that monument out the window commemorates the spot of the first flight of the Wright Brothers. The high school, aptly enough, is called "First Flight High School." The students were great and had some questions about food and farming and filmmaking, but I steered us toward a conversation about the South. Namely, are the Outer Banks the South? Why or why not? It was an interesting conversation. I then went to speak to another class at the local alternative high school. There, many of the students' families were involved in the food industry - either through commercial fishing operations or through the hospitality and service industry. Then it was back to First Flight for another two classes where we talked about food and filmmaking and social media.

DAY SIX: After the schoolday I had a small window to go visit the Wright Brothers National Monument and see the spot where they took their first few test flights. Being a bit obsessed with the past and with the way in which we remember (or misremember) our own history, I'm always intrigued to see these locations. My father-in-law is a pilot and has a real affinity for the history of air travel which has become something of an interest of mine too. I wasn't able to absorb the whole museum, but I looked at the exhibits and walked around their test flight monuments.

DAY SIX: This sentence from Orville struck me as a really interesting way of putting it: "Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so that we could discover them!"

DAY SIX: My time at the Wright Brothers field was cut short because I had to Skype with my class at the University of Alabama. Just because I'm away from the classroom doesn't mean I didn't teach! Here they all are - hard at work on their own documentary projects. It was my first time doing a class session like this and, while it certainly wasn't ideal, I was pleasantly surprised with how it worked!

DAY SIX: The screening venue was in a very cool place called the Outer Banks Brewing Station. During the screening, I had a wonderful chat with the owner about local foodways, natural childbirth and our contemporary cultural zeitgeist for the handmade and handcrafted. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of conversations with strangers... Check out all that the OBB is doing to support sustainability!

DAY SIX: My very first screening in a bar! It was a delight - great audience, great Q&A. Thanks Outer Banks!

DAY SEVEN: Heading out to the airport I took one more short walk on the beach. 

NEXT UP...I'm headed out to the final four dates of the tour in a couple of days. Check back for another dispatch soon!

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