Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining five others in viewing and judging the short film entries in the Sundial Film Festival. It was a fascinating and inspiring process.
The festival takes place this weekend, Friday through Sunday, at the Cascade Theatre in Redding. Starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday night, “Angle of Inspiration” — a film documenting the making of the Sundial Bridge –- will be shown, followed by a talk by the filmmaker, Jessica Abbe. Afterward several of the festival’s film entries will be screened.
On Saturday, more films will be shown at 2 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., the award-winning films will be shown. The festival concludes at 2 p.m. Sunday with the remaining films to be screened.
Without being specific about any of the films, let me tell you what I liked about them as a whole: They were raw, imaginative, original and homegrown.
That’s an important distinction to make right away — these films all have some tie to our area, whether it be the filmmaker, actors, the setting or some other key element. That’s different from a lot of film festivals, where organizers gather and solicit films from all around the world.
In its inaugural year, the Sundial Film Festival is truly highlighting homegrown talent. To me, that really seems like a good place to start. There’s no reason to try to be Sundance or any kind of echo of it. A lot of people are involved in film in our region, and we should see their work.
There are area filmmakers I didn’t see represented this year (perhaps their projects are more feature-length) who I hope get involved next year.
Film is the world’s strongest medium. Nothing communicates as viscerally or directly as film.
It’s also incredibly difficult to make a great film. So many factors must come together all at once for it to work — the story, acting, filming, editing and countless other technical elements.
Among the Sundial entrants, there’s a wide spectrum of talents to admire. For instance, one film might not ace every technical element, but it could have a wonderful story running through it. Another film might be visually dazzling, but more incomplete in how it fits together.
We’ve all seen a lot of movies, but typically the ones we view in theaters come from multi-million-dollar production companies, created by teams of professionals working with the best technology available. I encourage you not to view these independent films and compare them to something like “Lord of the Rings.”
Still, I really like the “soul” of these Sundial films. I’m anxious to see several of them again and meet the filmmakers. I congratulate the organizers for launching this festival and highlighting area film artists.
If you attend the festival (especially Saturday night), I bet you’ll walk away with visuals, themes and characters from the films locked in your head. That’s the way it’s been for me for two weeks now.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students, for an individual day of the festival. A three-day festival pass is $30, or $20 for students. Tickets are available at the Cascade Theatre box office, Crown Camera or Redding Bank of Commerce.
