Now Showing at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts!

Last night I screened "Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock" at the Lucas Theatre in Savannah, Georgia. This was my first time back in Savannah in more than 10 years--I really love this city. It's beautiful and steeped in history in a way that only a Southern town can be. The people are warm and friendly to match the beautiful architect and atmosphere. Over 100 people attended the screening in the 1920s Lucas Theatre. Many of the audience members were high school students who surprisingly sat quietly throughout the film. The question and answer session went on so long that the technical manager dragged the microphone out of my hands in order to get everyone out of the theater and to the reception. It was quite comical! During the reception audience members approached me to thank me for the film and share their personal stories. We actually closed down the theater--it's good to be in Georgia again!

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!

Also, don't forget to like "Eating Alabama" on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and, if nothing else, sign up for our mailing list at the website! 

One last word from Jeb Berrier

by Jeb berrier, Bag It

Hi All

Wow, what a tour!

Just got home from the Southern Circuit and am still reeling from such an amazing trip showing Bag It throughout the South.
When I last wrote I had just left Manteo, NC and was headed to Miramar, FL and then on. Miramar’s screening was the second time I had been there with ‘Bag It’ and the turn out was even better than the first. I think Jessica and Joyce had been working hard getting the word out and it paid off big time. We also had a very fun Q and A where I met, and had pictures taken with a bunch of folks, one high school student who had written an essay for school on the subject of plastic, a young man with a theater company, people who wanted to get involved in a local bag ban, and more.
The Miramar cultural center is a quite beautiful, new facility that hosts arts performances of all sorts in the city center. I also got to finally meet Theresa Hollingsworth from South Arts, who puts the whole tour together. Big high five to you Theresa for bringing us around the region with our films. Thanks!!!

Next I headed to Jacksonville for a show at the Aurora Stage Theater. Aurora Stage has been in existence for around eight years and is actually a theater inside and old JC Penny, inside a mostly empty shopping mall in Jacksonsville. The idea came from a man named Daryll Ruben Hall as a way to revitalize an area that had been hit hard by economics and crime. The place hosts not only sold out theatrical productions but also arts camps for kids and a community center of sorts. I was treated to some very fine BBQ afterwards by my host, which was delicious. Just a side note about this tour, be prepared to eat well!

Off to Winder, GA where we screened in what was once an old industrial building and is now a theater/tv studio for the city of Winder, which can be used by schools and groups throughout the region. I see a theme in these place of taking what was old and abandoned and using the arts as a way to revitalize.

After Winder I was back in the Tar Heel State for a show at Western Carolina U with a huge college crowd, some of whom were there for extra credit, but still!!!! Rachel my host did a great job of getting the word out and packing the place on a school night. Once again a great Q and A followed ‘Bag It’ with questions about the film and also quite a few about how people could affect change in their community and on a larger scale. One young man told me the film had changed his life and he was determined to go to law school so he could work at the higher levels of power to really get at the root of issues with environmental law. Wow!

Savannah was one stop I was looking forward to as it’s a place with lots of beauty and history to take in. ‘Bag It’ was screened in the historic Lucas Theater which was just unveiling its new LED, energy efficient marquee. We had a champagne toast and were told that the lights, over the course of their expected 20 year life-span, would save an estimated $80,000. I think it was worth it. And they look great!
I took in the sights, learned that the civil war was a bit more complicated than my Yankee upbringing had lead me to believe, and headed to my last stop, Alexandria, LA.

It was here that I was hosted by the delightful David and Nicole Holcombe, who have hosted every filmmaker since the beginning of the Southern Circuit. The Holcombe’s live in a wonderful art filled home and wined, dined and conversed with me in grand style. Our screening took place in downtown Alexandria before which I took a stroll with David around town and got to see the Bently Hotel, which was the headquarters for all the generals planning D Day back in WWII, as well as the river, art museum and an Irish Pub, which I visited again during ‘Bag It’. What, I’ve seen it a few times. J. The Bentley is now empty with talk of something moving in to once again help revitalize the downtown area.

After the screening I was treated to a very nice reception where I got to meet and talk plastic with most of the film attendees. 

The next day the Holcombes put me on a plane and I was on my way back home to Portland.
The trip was a whirlwind and such an amazing chance to get to see places, talk to people and share the message of our film, Bag It, with yet more people who can help be catalysts for change in our world that desperately needs it.

Thank you Theresa, Alison, and all responsible for my great time on the Southern Circuit!

Southern Circuit synergy at work!

Last Friday, Southern Circuit film alum, Sahkanaga, screened at The Majestic in Chattanooga, TN, and they debuted a very exciting and . . . familiar new cover design:

Design by Aubrey Meng Zhu of SCAD University

Poster Entry by Zhu from back in April

The featured artwork originated in Savannah, GA, as the winning entry of a poster contest to celebrate the Southern Circuit screening of Sahkanaga at the Lucas Theatre. The design, which was selected the winner by the touring filmmaker, John Henry Summerour, made quite an impression. Now the artwork graces the film's DVD cover. This version of the DVD will be available for sale on the Sahkanaga website and Amazon in 2013. South Arts congratulates Aubrey on her accomplishment and is very glad to see filmmakers taking more than memories away from their tours. We can't wait to get our own copy!

Up and down the Atlantic seaboard with An Encounter with Simone Weil

Lucas Theatre for the Arts, Savannah, Georgia

Last Wednesday, we had the honor of showing "An Encounter with Simone Weil" at the beautiful Lucas Theatre for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia. Restored in 2000, it was on the verge of being demolished when a group of local residents came together and raised the funds for its restoration. They did a remarkable job.

A glimpse of the cinema

At the reception afterward, I had some great conversations with a remarkably diverse group of audience members. A few were tourists who'd just wandered in off the street curious about this "Simone Weil", and now they wanted to run out and buy her books. One man, an historic map maker, had come all the way from Columbia, SC (2 1/2 hours away), because he'd recently discovered Weil and wanted to learn more.

The following day found me at the Miramar Cultural Center in Miramar, a suburb of Miami, Florida. Not a large crowd, but a beautiful venue and very friendly hosts. After the screening, Joyce Maddox gave me a tour of the area, which included the largest senior citizens community in the world. Century City boasts 7,000 residents with their own shops, health facility, and movie theater.

Friday, I flew up to Norfolk, VA, and drove down the coast to North Carolina's Outer Banks. The screening was in the historic town of Manteo. Dare County Arts Council hosted my visit, headed by their energetic leader, Chris Sawin. The Q &A covered both Simone Weil and the themes of mental illness that run through the film. Often the latter don't get openly discussed, so I was very pleased people were bringing them up and sharing experiences of their own. One couple had driven from Raleigh, NC (3 hours), which may be the record so far.

Me and my host, Dare County Arts Council's Chris Sawin

Saturday, I had my first day off and was able to relax by the sea. The whole area's rich with history––from the land pirates who used to lure in unsuspecting ships, to a restored Elizabethan ship, and the Wright Brothers Memorial (picture below).

Kites aloft above the first-in-flight memorial, Kill Devil Hills, NC

Plus I discovered a new fish species I'd never heard of. Contrary to its moniker, it's supposed to be yummy!

Joe Papp at the beautiful, historic Lucas Theatre

The Outer Banks, NC, to Savannah, GA -- 9/13/12
By Karen Thorsen

Up at 6:30AM – never quite enough sleep, the way my particular tour is scheduled – and, after a last glimpse of the beach, the long drive back to Virginia, the rental car turn-in and the Norfolk Airport.  3PM:  After two airplanes, my rental car pickup and the drive to Savannah, I finally arrived at the Planters Inn, literally across the street from the Lucas Theater.  A beautiful hotel, more like a luxurious home… and my corner room had a view of the park and a four-poster bed! 

I then checked in with the team at Lucas and learned the history of this spectacular theater:  built in 1921, back when organists provided the soundtrack for silent stars like Rudolf Valentino, it was shut down for a few decades and then recently refurbished, ornate molding included – and now offers everything from art films to opera.  We did a quick test-run, swapped their DVD copy of JOE PAPP for the Blu-Ray I’d brought with me and then adjusted the reds on their projector:  much better! 

I now had two hours left before the screening.  A nap?  A trolley tour of the city?  I was advised against the tour (“too many lies!”) and wound up literally criss-crossing the city in my rental car (by request, NOT a Ford Focus), following my well-marked tourist map.  I explored streets lined with 18^th century homes and spreading oaks dripping with Spanish moss, stopping every so often to read a historic plaque or to walk down an old sidewalk.  What a graceful and elegant city!  Its history is so well-preserved, from the old parks and fountains (literally every few blocks) to the cobblestoned riverfront walkways.  And the food is great too:  based on a suggestion from friends who have lived in Savannah, I ate at the Crystal Beer Palace on Jefferson Street.  First opened in 1933, it hasn’t changed much since then – and now serves a wide range of southern treats and a remarkable beer list.  Highly recommended:  crab stew, fried shrimp & oysters, Ocilla slaw, peach cobbler… That’s more than one person can eat, but worth the adventure! 

Then back to the Lucas, just in time to watch Joe Papp In Five Acts on the very big screen, do a Q&A full of anecdotes and then answer more questions at the closing reception.  Truly a gorgeous projection and venue – and the largest crowd we’ve had yet.  (Tracie, I’m sorry you missed this!)  The conversations were so animated, they spilled out into the street after we left the theater – and as a final treat, I took the free ferry across the river and back, just to say goodnight to the lights of Savannah.

SAHKANAGA - Days 3 & 4

Savannah is an intoxicating town. It's the option for people who can't take the raucous, hallucinatory energy of New Orleans. Every time I visit I feel the tension evaporate, like the live oaks are sucking it out of me in some mystical, photosynthetic exchange. My idea of heaven might be running around Forsyth Park in a never-ending loop, caught in that golden light, a creature with endless stamina, the sun-seekers filling the lawn with their blankets as the oaks twist and canopy around us. And like New Orleans, the people of Savannah are sexy. They just are. It's a totally weird and beautiful phenomenon.

Two amazing things came out of the screening at the historic Lucas Theatre for the Arts.

#1 - I got to spend time with one of my oldest, bestest friends (and one of my greatest teachers), Krista Seckinger. Krista (who is from Rincon, GA, 20 miles from Savannah) volunteered all her time and resources to make SAHKANAGA happen, and for that I will be eternally grateful. Beyond that, she taught me about Southern storytelling by introducing me (when she was my AP English teacher!) to Flannery O'Connor, William Faulkner and Eudora Welty, among others. She opened up the possibility that great art can come from small, Southern towns; that we have a unique culture that should be celebrated and explored rather than apologized for. My early exposure to great Southern literature gave me a sense of pride in my heritage, and it will certainly follow me through everything I do. I love Krista for that.

#2 - This poster, designed by Aubrey Meng Zhu (graduate student at SCAD):

For a class assignment, Meng watched the SAHKANAGA teaser and managed to nail the essence of the film (which is also a testament to our editor's skills since he was able to convey so much of the story and themes in less than two minutes). She's like a mind-reader! It's an indescribable honor when another artist responds to your work in such an intuitive, inspired way.

'Nuff said.

Meet John Henry Summerour

Welcome John Henry Summerour to the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers! John will be touring with his film, Sahkanaga. The first stop is Friday, April 6th at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, South Carolina. The show starts at 8 pm so don't miss a moment!

Sahkanaga will also show in the following communities:

Cullowhee, NC

Montgomery, AL

Winder, GA

Savannah, GA

Tupelo, MS

Clemson, SC

Alexandria, LA

Thomasville, GA

Johnson City, TN

View the film trailer below:

Days 13 and 14 for We Still Live Here

DAY 13: Tybee Island

After a wild five days of driving through Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and back to North Carolina again, it was a huge relief to board the plane to Savannah, especially since I planned to stay at the beach on nearby Tybee Island with a whole day and night off.  

After a long nap at my sweet B+B, I wandered along the beach to the mouth of the Savannah River where it pours out through tidal marshlands into the sea.  The temperature was balmy, the beach not yet crowded with kids on spring break, as it would be soon.  

For dinner, I had delicious crab soup at AJ's Dockside Restaurant and watched the sun set over the marshes and the river tides.  Then back to the Beachside B+B to rest up before the next day's screening in Savannah.

DAY 14: SAVANNAH

College kids were converging on Tybee Island for their annual rite of spring as I drove past tidal flats and sparkling rivers into Savannah for my sound check at the beautifully restored Lucas Theater. After meeting my hosts Erin Muller and Meaghan Walsh Gerard and checking the projection and sound, I had a few hours to explore Savannah on my own.

 

Everyone had warned me that hordes of people were heading into town for St. Patrick's Day weekend.  Apparently St. Patrick's is bigger in Savannah than in New York City.  I puzzled over this, thinking about Scarlett O'Hara and wondering if Georgia was seriously Irish. Everything in town was green, even the fountains!  Cops were swarming everywhere too, in preparation, one of them told me, for the drunken revels soon to come.  

 Every screening has its surprises, and there were two great ones in Savannah.  One was a handsome 13 or 14 year old boy (I can never tell ages any more!) who asked the most probing questions during the Q+A, and later in the lobby told me that he absolutely loves the Latin language, is studying it in depth at a special school, and is seriously annoyed that Italians are not reviving Latin as a living language.  The other was a tall African American guy who turned out to be Jeremy Foreman, Executive Director of HandsOn Southeast Georgia who works with ITVS on their Community Cinema program.  He and I will be Skyping on Tuesday after a screening of We Still Live Here that he has organized at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.  The film goes on and on!    

 

I would have liked to have stayed in Savannah longer, but no rest for the weary - next stop, Alexandria, Louisiana, for the tenth and last screening of the tour.

Final Reflections from Ellen Bar

Over the last two weeks, as I zipped around to ten cities in the South as part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, a question formed in my mind that became more and more urgent with each new city that I visited and with each new screening filled with curious, intelligent, arts-craving audiences.  That question was why - why doesn't this exist anywhere else?  Why doesn't every region in the United States have a circuit tour? 

From the grand, ornate Lucas Theatre in Savannah, to the Baptist-church-turned-black-box-theater in Tupelo, to the college auditoriums of Clemson and Johnson City, our thoroughly unconventional abstract narrative dance film was received with excitement, enthusiasm and gratitude.  The Q and A sessions raised questions that were insightful, challenging, and unique to the cultural viewpoint of the South.  The outreach efforts of the local venues were fun, creative and effective. 

 (In Savannah, a sneaker design contest inspired by the colorful sneakers of the film resulted in a free pair of Converse for one lucky ticket holder - and a lot of great designs that Converse should really consider.)  

Thanks to those efforts, the screenings brought together groups of people that might not normally cross paths:  cinephiles and jazz aficionados; retirees, college kids and pre-teen dance students; ex-pat New Yorkers and lifelong Southerners.  Some were longtime fans of New York City Ballet while others had barely heard of it.  Regardless of their background, most audience members seemed to relish the instant gratification of getting to share their thoughts and questions with the filmmaker, person to person, with the film fresh in their minds.  

As a filmmaker, I've walked to the post office countless times to ship our film to the 65 cities and 6 continents where it has screened theatrically, always wondering how the audience members received our unusual project in places as diverse as Johannesburg, Lisbon, St. Petersburg, and Albuquerque.  The Southern Circuit was my first and only opportunity to travel with the film and see those reactions for myself.  After the lengthy, difficult and often discouraging process of making a film, these opportunities to connect with the audience and see the film's impact have given me the much-needed inspiration to continue on to new projects. 

I hope other organizations and regions will be inspired by what South Arts is accomplishing with their Southern Circuit.  Not only are they enriching the artistic life of the communities on the circuit, but they are contributing to the tourist industry that is now at the forefront of most Southern economies.  On my few free hours during the tour, I took in local sights and ate at local restaurants, all the while plotting how and when I could find a way to come back to these charming places and really get to know them.  When a tour guide in Charleston thanked me for my business, I told him that he should thank South Arts, not me.  South Arts has created the model and proven its value; I hope that other regions will be inspired to follow suit, for the benefit of filmmakers like me, and for the benefit of communities across the country.