Living
Email
Print
Scene & Heard - It's a Wrap: New film festival draws favorable reactions
Ed Brown Photo
Shalini Chatterjee (from left), Mitch Easter and Lea Metz.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: August 12, 2008
Winston-Salem welcomed a new festival to town Wednesday night. Revolve Film and Music Festival spun into five days and 20 films with the North Carolina premiere of Rick Stevenson's Expiration Date. After the film, at the Salem Fine Arts Center at Salem College, the fun continued at The Garage on Seventh Street during an opening-night reception.
As I've observed all the excitement surrounding the new festival during the past year, I've wondered who was helping Shalini Chatterjee, the festival founder and artistic director. On Wednesday night, I met some of the volunteers.
Trevor Shelton handed out programs at the door. Amanda Philemon and Stephanie Bray worked the box office. I ran into Lyndon Bray on his way to the projection booth, where he joined Steve Jarrett. Chatterjee's husband, musician Mitch Easter, said he helped in a "very unofficial capacity," including screening some of the films. "But this is really her (Chatterjee's) baby," he said. Mike Grohs, who has photographed Chatterjee's band performances in the past, was at Salem and The Garage with his camera.
As we waited in the small black-box theater for the 7 p.m. show to start, I chatted with several folks.
Sara Wilson, another new kid on the block, moved here from Hickory three months ago. She enjoyed the show Wednesday night with fellow Salem grad Susan Smith, who was visiting from Atlanta. "There seems to be a big music scene in this town, and this festival should go well with that," Wilson said. "I can't wait to meet Shalini. She's got her hand in everything and seems very dynamic."
Laura Phail and Andy Watkins saw a notice about the festival in Smitty's Notes. Phail said she had four or five films on her calendar. Watkins was only going to be able to see a couple since he was out of town last weekend. "This town needs more of this," he said. "The more festivals in town, the better."
From her front-row seat, Shell
y Johns, a respiratory therapist who lives in Philadelphia and plans to establish a second home here soon, also heard about the festival in Smitty's Notes. She has enjoyed the independent film and music scene in Philadelphia, New York and Europe, and said that Winston-Salem compares favorably. "Winston-Salem has a small but vibrant scene," she said. "There is a nice eclectic mix of culture, theater and music here."
Cheryl Schirillo said she enjoyed drinks at Meridian Restaurant with Ann Gauthreaux and Meribeth Robinson earlier in the night and then headed for Revolve. "You can't have too many great film festivals," Schirillo said. She said she was very impressed with the line-up of 20 quality films in five days.
Chatterjee then gave us a warm welcome and thanked the volunteers, especially Amanda Philemon, saying, "She's been running around as much as I have."
She also thanked the festival sponsors, the Australian Embassy and Carolina BMW. She also expressed her appreciation for in-kind sponsors FedEx/Kinkos of Stratford Road for monthly fliers and banner; Alpha Mailing for the color program guides and Pylon posters, and Total Wine and More of Stratford Road, with special thanks to wine manager Kevin Childers for hand-picking all the wine selections.
The narrative feature, Expiration Date, told the story of Charlie Silvercloud III, a man burdened by his ancestry. His father and grandfather were both killed on their 25th birthdays by milk trucks. Just eight days before Charlie thinks he's going to die, he meets the woman who changes his destiny.
The crowd loved it.
I caught up with Bray at The Garage, and he said everything was going well with the festival. He should know. He and Stephanie will leave on Sunday for California, where he will work as a venue manager at the Telluride Film Festival. He called Revolve "a well-managed festival" and said that the quality of films was "outstanding" with "something for everybody."
Robert Smith and Lois Koufman agreed. The festival goes a long way toward showing that "making movies is fun," said Smith, who creates his own documentaries and independent feature films, and owns Star City Studios. "Obviously, there are some very talented people working on this," he said. Koufman said she saw one of the earlier Revolve films at Wake Forest University. "I couldn't wait for the festival," she said.
Ginger Hendricks, the director of the Center for Women Writers and coordinator of cultural events at Salem College, attended the reception with her boyfriend Heath Combs. The Center for Women Writers has created a special partnership with Revolve to present screenings on campus. "Salem supports and appreciates the types of films Shalini is bringing," Hendricks said. "The partnership does a lot to expand our students."
Judith and Mac McAlister drove from Greensboro to help support the festival, which Mr. McAlister said was "produced by someone with good imagination and taste and good contacts with the film industry." Bud and Barbara Goldsmith, who live in West End, enjoyed Wednesday's film but were going to be out of town for the weekend and not able to see other films. "This is another open door," Mrs. Goldsmith said. "It's a fabulous addition."
Richard Emmett looked happy to see the after-theater crowd at The Garage. Vicky Moore, who owns Silver Moon Saloon and Elliott's Revue across the street, called the film "awesome" and said she welcomed another festival to the city. "Like bars, you need more to entice people," she said. "People like options."
■ Have a social or charity activity that you would like Scene & Heard to share with Journal readers? E-mail features@wsjournal.com and type "Scene" in the subject line or call 727-7339. You may contact Leigh Somerville McMillan directly by e-mail at leigh@studiomcmillan.com.
Email
Print
