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Ticket line at the 14th Annual 2008 Sedona Film Festival at the Harkins Six Theater in Sedona. |
Feel good "The Flyboys" wins best film at
2008 Sedona
Film FestivalThe Festival was
dedicated this year to the memory of Georgia Frontiere. by Carl Jackson
Sedona, AZ -
As a film lover, I confess that the Sedona Film
Festival is my favorite Sedona event. Looking at
this year's audience turn out, it seems I'm not
alone.
According to the Festival's effervescent Executive
Director, Patrick Schweiss, attendance at the 14th
Annual Sedona Film Festival was 7,500 people, up
about 20% over last year.
Held at the Harkins 6 Sedona Theater over
a five day period beginning on Wednesday, March 27th
(there were previews on Monday and Tuesday), almost
130 films were shown, including short films, in all
six theaters at Harkins plus a spill over theater at
the Sedona Red Rock High School.
Movie going generally began at 9am and went late
into the evening, sometimes until midnight. Many die hard moviegoers watched
well 20-30 films during the week.
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Mary Stuart Masterson, the director of "The Cake Eaters" at the 14th Annual 2008 Sedona Film Festival at the Harkins Six Theater in Sedona. Click for video of
Ms. Masterson's Q&A (edited). |
The theme
of this year's Festival was "Women in
Film" with directorial debuts from Helen Hunt
("Then She Found Me") and Mary Stuart Masterson
("The Cake Eaters"). On the acting side of the
ledger, Sigourney Weaver and Minnie Driver gave
strong lead performances in "Girl in the Park"
(Weaver) and "Take" (Driver).
But when it came to picking the winners, both the
audience and the Film Festival directors had
something else in mind.
Taking the 2008 Audience Choice for Best Feature
Film was "The Flyboys" with Stephen Baldwin and Tom Sizemore, and
directed by Rocco DeVilliers. The film is about two
kids from different sides of
the track who sneak aboard a private plane to check out
the cockpit. When some mob-types come on
board with guns, the kids are forced to stow away in
the luggage compartment.
After the plane takes off with them still on it, the
kids are shocked to find that the entire crew has
parachuted out, leaving them alone to land the plane...with a bomb on board. The film shows the power
of friendship, courage, and that even mafiosos have
a heart.
At the showing of "The Flyboys," the theater was packed with students from West
Sedona and other nearby schools. There were
some good
performances by Mr. Baldwin and Tom Sizemore.
Those who have followed Mr. Sizemore's rocky
personal life will enjoy seeing him as a tough mob
boss who has a soft spot for his screw-up brother
(played by Baldwin) and kids.
Perhaps reflecting a Northern Arizona bias, the
2008 Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary was
a tie: "Water Flowing Together" and "Standing
Silent Nation." Both films have their roots on
an Indian reservation. "Water Flowing
Together" is a beautiful film directed by
Gwendolen Cates about Jack Soto, one of the most
influential modern ballet dancers, who is part
Navajo. "Standing Silent Nation"
directed by Suree Towfighia is about the plight of
the Lakota tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation in
South Dakota trying to survive by farming hemp, a
relative of marijuana.
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Gwendolen Cates, director and producer of "Water Flowing Together," the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary
at the 2008 Sedona Film Festival. |
The 2008 Directors' Choice Award for Best Feature
went to "Ripple Effect" by Phillipe Caland
and stars Mr. Caland, Forest Whitaker, Virgina
Madsen, and Minnie Driver. The film explores how a
troubling memory can affect a person's future.
The 2008 Directors' Choice Award for Best
Documentary went to "Semper Fi, One Marine's
Journey." The film explores the life
of a gay, church going, Marine sent to Iraq, and how
the experience profoundly changes his opinion of the
U.S. occupation there. Semper Fi is the
Latin motto for the U.S. Marine Corps and means
"always faithful."
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Actor/Director/Producer, Phillipe Caland
from "Ripple
Effect," the Directors' Choice Award for
Best Feature at the 2008 Sedona Film
Festival. |
Actor Jeff Key, from "Semper Fi, One Marine's Journey," the Directors' Choice Award for
Best Documentary at the 2008 Sedona Film
Festival. |
Between films, the audience could relax, listen to
music, attend workshops, buy vintage posters and
Festival merchandise, and order food and drink in
the large Festival Pavilion tent set up on the
parking lot outside the theater.
There was one downside to the week, however: long
lines and sold-out films.
Last year I purchased a "Six Film Pass" because I
wasn't sure I had the stamina to watch five films a
day for an entire week; but this year I purchased an
"All Films Pass" that allowed me to see an unlimited
number of films; but I still had to wait in line.
I could have paid more for a "Gold Priority Pass"
that would have allowed me to purchase tickets in
advance.
This year, all non-priority pass ticket holders
had to purchase their tickets for the next day's
movies at 7pm the previous night. Lines
generally began forming at 5:30pm, so you weren't
able to watch a movie during that time.
Unfortunately, before the box office even opened,
the Gold Priority Pass holders had snagged tickets and films were sold out. This left
those in line scrambling to change their picks,
leading to frustration and general confusion.
Eventhough I purchased an "All Films Pass," I
never got to see Helen Hunt's "Then She Found Me,"
or Diane Ladd in "Jake's Corner" that was filmed in
Northern Arizona, nor the Best Humanitarian Film,
"The Human Experience."
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Audience Choice |
Directors' Choice |
| Best Feature |
The Flyboys |
Ripple Effect |
| Best Documentary |
Water Flowing Together (tie)
Standing Silent Nation (tie) |
Semper Fi, One Marine's
Journey |
| Best Short |
Milk Bum |
Validation |
| Best Animation |
Papiroflexia (Origami) |
Papiroflexia (Origami) |
| Best Foreign
|
Ben X |
Ben X |
| Best Humanitarian Film |
|
The Human Experience |
| Most Compelling Documentary |
|
Fields of Fuel |
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