Lunch Line - Greenville, NC & Augusta, GA

Argh! Just missed the Piratefest in Greenville, which was supposedly held last week. Nonetheless we had a great screening at the Greenville Museum of Art. The screening was hosted by the Cinematic Arts Guild, which is run by an enthusiastic group of film students from East Carolina University and expertly led by Alison, a sophmore. I had a great chat with Professor Mike Dermody about their growing film program. (Note: Filmmaking is no longer bound by geography.)

We were also honored to have several women, who play significant roles in the Greenville school lunch program, attend the screening. They added quite a bit to our Q&A. More than celebrities they are the folks who make a real difference in school lunch.

In the morning I flew out to Augusta, GA, and I ended up scoring a 62, which I believe is a new record at the Masters. Okay, that didn't happen, but we did have a screening of LUNCH LINE at the Morris Museum of Art. I happen to love museums -- so to have two screenings at two museums was a treat. I was able to spend a good amount of time at the Morris Museum, which focuses primarily on the art and artists of the American South. Having recently moved to the South, I found it incredibly engaging. I have a number of Southern artists that I'm now going to need to research (or at least google). The staff at Morris were great, and despite the rain (which poured throughout the day) they did a wonderful job of hosting the event. 

The Price of Blood by Thomas Satterwhite Noble (1868)

 

Lunch Line - Chattanooga post-mortem

LOOSE CANNON

The screening was great.  The Chattanooga Film Society put together a nice event at an interesting art space called Loose Cannon.  There was a good turn out comprised of people of all ages (well, probably 7 to 90ish) and we had a lively post-screening Q&A.

I ate a sweet orange and met a woman named Frances who used to be neighbors with an old friend of mine.  Years ago my friend dug a hole for her in the middle of the night so she could bury her cat.  The unfortunate feline had been killed by a car earlier in the evening.  Her boyfriend at the time had a bad back and it was raining so she didn't trust him to dig the hole.  My friend was young and available so she enlisted his digging skills.  As the story goes, my friend, Frances, and her weak-backed boyfriend stood for some moments in awkward silence around the filled-in hole.  Frances relayed with some glee the moment my friend disrupted / rescued the moment asking, "anyone got any words?"  I sent a picture of me and Frances to my friend.  Crazy small world.  Thank you Southern Circuit.

Screening Lunch Line in Chattanooga

Chattanooga has been super deluxe thus far.  We had a radio interview promoting tonight's screening broadcast live from (I think) a metal recycling firm called, P&S Metals.  Unusual in a good way.

Chattanooga  is not a big city.  It's beautiful here, situated along a river and surrounded on 3 sides by small mountains (foothills of bigger mountains?  maybe the Smoky Mountains?)

It's also the home of Moon Pies ... and maybe Goo Goo Clusters ... and the eponymous Choo Choo.  I'm working at a coffee shop that does not serve Moon Pies or Goo Goo Clusters.  That's not surprising though as from what I've seen there is a significant groundswell of environmental / food consciousness / concern here.  Hopefully that translates into a good turnout tonight.  I'll try to post some pictures.

Meet Michael Graziano and Ernie Park

Welcome Michael Graziano and Ernie Park to the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers! Their tour with their film, Lunch Line, will kick off in Chattanooga, Tennessee on April 16th. The show starts at 6:00 PM so grab your healthy snack of choice an don't be late!

Lunch Line will also be screening in Greenville, NC, and Augusta, GA.

About the filmmakers: Ernie Park and Michael Graziano formed Uji Films in 2007. Their award-winning films have aired nationally and internationally in more than 100 countries, are distributed in the educational market, and have screened at a variety of well-known film venues and festivals in the US and abroad. In addition to making films, Park and Graziano have also taught and written on an array of subjects within film and media studies, each having achieved doctoral candidacy in the field – Park at New York University and Graziano at Northwestern University.


View the trailer below: