Kevin Carpenter, president of the West Virginia Filmmakers Film Festival, held annually in Sutton, WV since 2001 – there were two events that year, marking this event as the 9th edition. The films will be shown at both the Elk Theater and the Landmark Studio for the Arts. Single events tickets are $5 – $15 for all events. All of the films are well-produced, and worthy of a day trip to Sutton.
The festival runs the first weekend of October – Oct. 3,4,5 – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Awards will be given out at the festival.
Friday Elk Theatre
6:30 CRASH GORDON
83 minutes, 2007, Mountain Media
A crazy comedy that spoofs the early Flash Gordon serials. Follow the zany, intergalactic exploits of Crash Gordon as he tries to save the world from a plague of killer flatulence. Along the way he must overcome strange aliens, wonky robots, the evil Emperor Bing and his own ineptitude. This film features footage from many great science fiction classics with humor that is a cross between Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Monty Python. Crash Gordon has won awards at both the Worldfest International Film Festival and the Appalachian Film Festival. Morgan Spurlock, Director of Supersize Me and 30 Days said of the film, “It’s really funny. It made me laugh and laugh.”
8:00 JOHNNY BOY
2007 81 min. Brainwrap ProductionsSeth Martin directed this film set in
Huntington. It tells the story of a young man who wants to quit his life of crime, stealing $20,000 to leave. During the course of the film, he has to murder many others who are out to murder him. All of the characters are low-lifes who seem to have no purpose in life other than destroying each other. Obviously influenced by films such as “Reservoir Dogs.” The film was shown at the 2008 Appalachian Film Festival in Huntington and the 2008 West Virginia International Film Festival Student Film Competition. Extra shorts including one showing the hero murder 18 people at one time. Access – Ian Nolte, ian.brainwrap@gmail.com.
Saturday Landmark Studio
9:00 BRIDGEPORT TO BAGHDAD
2007 90 mins. WVPBSIn ‘Bridgeport to Baghdad,’ soldiers and families from West Virginia’s 459th Engineer Company, an Army Reserve unit from Clarksburg, describe their experiences during a year-long deployment to Iraq in March 2003. The documentary establishes their family life before 9/11, and their subsequent fear of impending war. Their march to Baghdad with the Marines ends with the construction of a bridge over the Diyala River while under fire, but a year of danger, uncertainties, and the difficulty of keeping in touch with loved ones has only just begun. The documentary presents a portrait of citizen/soldiers as proud of their skills and accomplishments, but also as family members desperate to return home. First broadcast on WVPBS in October 2007.
10:30 WV Filmmakers Guild
12:00 Filmmaker Lunch at La Dolca Vita
1:00 LISTEN TO THE WOMEN
2008 30 mins. Patchwork Films
B.J. Gudmundsson profiles Gloria Stredwick Martin – a lifetime of dedication to women’s issues and her work as an advocate for victims of family violence and sexual assault. She is a victim’s advocate and former Executive Director of the Family Refuge Center in Lewisburg which was the subject of Ann Lewis’s film “Shelter.” (“Shelter” was shown at 2001 WVFFF.) Access: Patchwork Films
1:50 DEAD GIRL WALKING 2008 35 mins. Real Earth Productions Mathias, Hardy County filmmaker Ray Schmitt traveled to Ocracoke on the Outer Banks to make a film about Marcy Brenner, a woman who faced breast cancer at the age of 34. Brenner used her family, friends, music, writing and arts to overcome the grueling reality of several forms of therapy including surgery. She talks about the back-handed gifts the ordeal has given her. She performs music as a duo with her husband Lou Casto as “Coyote.” The title of the film comes from one of her songs by the same name. Access: Real Earth Productions.
2:40 THE BATTLE OF LOCAL 5668 2007 54 mins. Shawn Bennett Shawn Bennett grew up in Parkersburg, studying film at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and studying under Julia Reichert (“Union Maids.”) His father Joe worked at The Ravenswood Aluminum plant for years, and was part of the famous lock-out that took place for almost two years starting in 1990. Using historic footage, TV news broadcasts, and interviews with people who took part in one of the most important labor struggles in recent American history, he presents a compelling story of global capitalism vs. devoted workers. The United Steelworkers and fellow union members traveled around the country and world, protesting the inhumanity of the corporate leaders in a model campaign for justice. Marc Rich, an international criminal pardoned by President Clinton during his last day in office, was the man at the top. The film’s website is at – www.battleoflocal5668.com. Access: shawn@shawnbennett.net 4:00 WV Filmmaker Dinner at Cafa Cimino 5:30 Spring, 1386 (35 mins) 6:10 Human Perceptions of Time (14 min) CASTING!
2008 18 mins. Smile or Else Productions
A slice-of-life comedy set in an extras-casting office about a young assistant with higher aspirations who must endure her overbearing boss and her unpleasant surroundings. The film – directed by James Lineback and produced by WV native Sam Holdren – has previously screened at the Rocket City Short Film Festival in Huntsville, AL. Access – samwh@temple.edu>
2008 11 mins The Production Company
Writer, Director – Sam Holdren
A night at the theatre goes awry in this comedy of manners where the audience IS the show. Previously screened at the Rockport Film Festival in Rockport, TX,
the film is an empowerment of being silly as it looks at the awkwardness we
often face as audience members.
Meshullam (2min) $#!+ Happens (6mins) The Bells of Prague (13 mins) Panacea (16 mins) 8:00 Filmmaker of the Year - Shawn Bennett 8:15 SHADES OF GRAY2008 60 mins. Allegheny Image Factory
This film peels the layers off one of the great American hoaxter’s of the late twentieth-century. Part Fox Mulder, part Mark Twain, Barker almost single-handedly created or perpetuated much of what is now taken as the “gospel” of UFO’s. But Barker’s twisting of the truth didn’t stop there. In some ways, his entire life was as much myth as anything he ever wrote. Directed by Bob Wilkinson, produced by Robert Tinnell, Jeff Tinnell and John Michaels. Website – http://www.theyknewtoomuch.com/index.html
9:30 Deadly Beauty (20 mins)
10:00 Reception at Elk Hotel
Sunday Elk Theater
11:00 COONDOG HEAVEN 2008 54 mins. Vandalia Productions
Located just outside of Charleston, WV is Shaffer’s Training Facility. They have been training coonhounds since 1987 using non-violent methods and love the dogs. They started coonhunting with Old Red, Betsy Mae, Rusty, Generator, Dolly and many others in 1977. Some of their trainees have become Nite and Grand Nite champions. Their aim is to preserve a form of hunting that is rapidly vanishing. People from all over the
U.S. bring their dogs for training at “Coondog Heaven.” Local filmmaker Terry Lively directed this film which was produced by the Shaffers. Website – http://www.shafferstrainingfacility.net/
12:00 Rise Up! West Virginia
2008 75 min. Patchwork Films Award-winning filmmaker B.J. Gudmundsson goes on a personal journey from her birthplace in Pocahontas County to the southern coalfields, where she joins the Mountain Keepers, who have been fighting a 20-year battle against mountaintop removal coal mining. Interviews include Maria Gunnoe of Bob White, Larry Gibson of Kayford Mountain, Julian Martin and Robert Gates of Charleston, and George Daugherty of Elkview, with music from Agust Gudmundsson, T. Paige Dalporto, Jim Savarino, Buddy Griffin, and others. Access: www.patchworkfilms.com
1:30 Widen Film Project
2008 55 min. Killer Productions Many people inClay
County recall life in Widen, the famous company town built by J.G. Bradley, who was a national and state coal mining leader and who personally ran the town. In 2006,
Charleston filmmaker Kelley Thompson interviewed area residents, labor leaders, and historians about the now-defunct town, its historic 1952 labor strike, the Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad, and local sports. [See “Coach Bobby Stover: The Making of a Clay
County Legend,” by Kara Perdue Stover; Fall 2007.] This production was funded by the Central Appalachia Empowerment Zone. Access: E-mail killer64@suddenlink.net or phone (304)344-1990.
2:40 Burning the Future: Coal in America 2008 89 min. American Coal ProductionsIn the wake of the coal mining tragedies of 2006 and 2007 in West Virginia and Utah, many Americans ask why we still mine coal. The reason is startling: Each time a switch is flipped, we burn coal. According to estimates, 52% of America’s electricity comes from coal, but at a shocking cost to the environment and local communities. This new film from American Coal Productions soberly illustrates the suffering of the residents of West Virginia who struggle to preserve their mountains, their culture, and their lives in the face of the omnipotent King Coal. Promoting energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources, the filmmakers encourage consumers and suppliers to take an honest look at America’s energy consumption and embrace change. Access: www.burningthefuture.org 5:00 Youth Theater Project meeting, Nuff Said (16min)
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