Offscreen Notes

Acadiana Film Festival

April 16th, 2009

Acadiana Film Festival (Running from April 16 to April 19)

Many of us enjoy films about buddies, romance, space aliens, and even about various forms of social transgressions (relationships others disapprove of, people who break laws for money or sex), but we do not always think of films as art. However, it is true that films can express unique perspectives and change the way that we see and think about the world, some of the fundamental goals of art. It is an added pleasure to see the concerns of our own lives in films, and that is something offered to Louisiana residents by the Acadiana Film Festival. “Our line up is great this year. We have so many feature films, shorts, documentaries, panels, workshops, parties, networking opportunities,” answered festival director Jana Godshall, when asked by this writer about the festival, occurring in Lafayette from April 16th through April 19th. It is a festival with attractions for the novice as well as the expert, and can be expected to appeal to “anyone who enjoys independent cinema as we have tons of free screenings.”

The Acadiana Film Festival has events scheduled at different area locations and it will begin on Thursday, April 16, with an afternoon film editing seminar at Lite (537 Cajundome Blvd.) and an evening premier, at the Grand 14 theater, of Alex Holdridge’s film In Search of a Midnight Kiss, about a young man’s chaotic New Year’s Eve spent with a woman he met through the online advertising site Craigslist. Other film subjects include rural Mardi Gras, novelists Kate Chopin and James Lee Burke, the Creole heritage, Louisiana plate lunch houses, coastal land loss, and hurricane Katrina. There are full-length feature films and short films, films of fiction and of fact, and the festival includes instructive workshops on documentary filmmaking and on acting, as well as on sound recording/editing and marketing film projects. There will be—on April 18th—a screening of University of Louisiana students’ short films, too. One of the last festival events will be a zydeco brunch and awards ceremony recognizing a filmmaker of great impact, and named will be the best feature film and best documentary, among other award categories.

One of the goals of the festival is to support current efforts to develop a lasting film industry in Louisiana. In an e-mail exchange with this writer, festival director Jana Godshall stated, “Right now, many filmmakers are traveling to Louisiana to take advantage of our tax incentives…they’re staying in our hotels, but we want to help educate and offer the tools so we can have filmmakers staying in our homes.” It has been impressive just how many film productions already take place in Louisiana. The best known film shot in Louisiana these days is The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button, but some of the other recent films that have been made here are Cadillac Records, Jumper, Soul Men, W, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, In the Electric Mist, The Great Debaters, Déjà Vu, Pride, and All the King’s Men. Although the film Ray was shot in Louisiana, the film’s storyline settings were places such as Chicago and Atlanta, proof of Louisiana’s versatility as a location. (The Acadiana Film Festival will include location tours for interested attendees.) It has been reported that more than eighty projects were filmed in Louisiana in 2008 alone. The website for the Louisiana Office of Film and Television declares, “Since 2002, when the first tax credits were introduced, the incentives have generated more than $2 billion in new revenue and spurred creation of thousands of high-wage jobs, state-of-the-art infrastructure development and new business opportunities.” Will it be possible, as Godshall suggests, for Louisiana to have an “indigenous” film industry?

If one considers the commitment of festival director Jana Godshall and festival coordinator Julie Bordelon, the answer is yes. Says Godshall, “This is a year-round job. Julie Bordelon and myself eat, sleep and drink the film festival. It’s more than a job for us. It’s a mission. It’s something that we want those in the state to take advantage of. This is why we bend over backwards so we can offer free workshops, panels, seminars.” If one considers the many student films in the Acadiana Film Festival, the answer is Yes, there will be an indigenous Louisiana film industry. If one considers Louisiana natives, such as Susan Labry, an actress, singer, and film community activist, who gain experience in film and share that experience with others the answer is yes. Susan Labry had speaking parts in films such as Hood Life and Hearts of Men and worked as an extra in Walk the Line and Monster’s Ball. Months ago, I asked Labry about “film in Louisiana” and she sent me much material, particularly information on groups (Louisiana Produces Meet-up, Baton Rouge Film and Music Meet-up) interested in the development of the Louisiana film industry. Susan Labry declared, “I would like to see more professionalism in the film industry. I want to see our culture preserved and maintained and respect for one another’s cultures as we are a diverse culture and that is what makes it interesting.”

For those who feel the same way, they can begin by viewing the schedule for Lafayette’s Acadiana Film Festival and attending films there they might see nowhere else, films that reflect some of the events and issues of their own lives and heritage. The 56-minute documentary on Mardi Gras, Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler, screens April 17th, Friday morning, at the Natural History Museum on Jefferson Street; and the James Lee Burke documentary, directed by Frederic Le Clair and Jacques Levy, screens Friday at Cite Des Arts on Vine Street, in the early evening; and there’s much more. (Search online: Acadiana Film Festival.) Film enthusiasts can further cultivate their knowledge by looking for the print publication Louisiana Film and Video, and film critic Alex Kent’s excellent blog Louisiana Movies. (Daniel Garrett)

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