This year, April 15 can be about something more than tax day. It’s also the day that the New Art Film Festival (NAFF) kicks off at the Art Theater at 5:00 p.m. The beginning of the film fest runs concurrently with the eighth annual Boneyard Arts Festival, and runs through April 20, right before this year’s Ebertfest begins.
This Thursday is also the anniversary of President Lincoln’s death, which is why it’s the perfect time to show The Transient, a film about Vampire Abraham Lincoln. Sanford Hess, operator of the Art, said he was convinced that “We’ve gotta play that, even though it’s a little longer than most of the other pieces [that day]. Plus, it’s just a really great piece.”
The Transient will play during the festival’s first block of content, a repeating segment (running three times on Thursday) that also includes previews for films throughout the fest, a couple of additional short films, and music videos by Matt Harsh.
At last year’s predecessor to the NAFF, locally made films were shown during the four-hour “Local Cinema @ Paradiso,” hosted by C-U Confidential. “Growing from the… one-night event during last year’s Boneyard to the New Art Film Festival this year was a simple two-step process,” explains Jason Pankoke of C-U Confidential, who also had a role in planning the NAFF. He elaborates, “One, it took someone with the willingness to host an expanded event in a proper theatrical venue, satisfied very nicely by Sanford once he took over at the Art. . . . Two, it took someone else to get on his horse and gather enough quality material from the restless filmmaking natives as well as long-time filmmaking colleagues in the greater Midwest to fill out a prospective program.”
Proceed and Be Bold!, a documentary by Laura Zinger, will play on Sunday afternoon (April 18) at 2:30 p.m. Hess said, “I’m looking forward to that one. I love documentaries myself . . . you know we’re not showing too many documentaries. . . . It [NAFF] goes across all genres. It’s not like a documentary film fest, or any one thing; it was just things that were tied to the area.”
Zinger, who graduated from UIUC in 2002, said, “In Proceed and Be Bold!, I was really interested in seeing how Amos’ choice to become an artist affected his relationships with his family and loved ones, as well as his relationship with middle class America.”
But it wasn’t her experience working in L.A. that provided her with the momentum to start shooting. Zinger said, “It was the experience at Naperville Community Television, Channel 17 that gave me the skills and confidence I needed to go ahead and make Proceed and Be Bold! . . . I was initially inspired by just trying to get better at shooting with a camera and interviewing people for a documentary. . . . I was primarily doing research for documentaries about Naperville history and I really wanted to improve at the production side of things. I knew that Amos was in town for a gallery show and I really loved his work and adored him, so I asked him if I could tape an interview with him. . . . n one week, it got 800 hits [on YouTube]. At that point, I realized that Amos’ message to make art and go live your life was really resonating with people, . . . and I decided to make a feature.”
The NAFF also features some of the first public C-U screenings of several films: A Certain Point of View, Disposable, The Lifeline: Trilogy, Return in Red, and more.
This film festival is an opportune time to celebrate the creative community that’s growing in Chambana and elsewhere in central Illinois. Hess said, “we want the Art to be seen as the supporter of the local culture. . . . I’d like to be able to do more stuff like this on an ongoing basis; this just happens to be the first one.”
What else can audiences expect from the festival? Pankoke said, “People who give the New Art Film Festival a chance will see, at least this time out, that it does not have set in place all the trappings of the larger, commercial events ― sponsors, celebrity guests and panelists, and so forth. It’s all about the movies and the numerous talents behind those movies. This event is also meant to provide Champaign-Urbana citizens with concrete proof that while a large percentage of us love to go watch movies collectively, as exemplified annually by Ebertfest, there’s a smaller ― but growing ― population who want to contribute to the movies being made today by making their own. Some of them just happen to be our friends and neighbors. Attending the New Art Film Festival is one big way to acknowledge and support their efforts.”
Hess conveyed a similar opinion. He said, “I’m really excited to have a lot of these people get recognized, because, you know, they spend [an] incredible amount of hours and dollars doing these things, and very little chance to actually have it screened for people, especially in the theater.”
On Tuesday, April 20, the last night of NAFF, the “Best of Fest” film selections will have a reprise showing, followed by a discussion on local filmmaking. “We’re gonna tie in with the Champaign Movie Makers group,” Hess said. “They’re going to talk about what the group does and how they support it. . . . They’ve provided a lot of the energy towards local stuff. I think it’s a huge, huge thing, and we want to recognize that too.” In an email to the group, CMM leader Johnny Robinson described Tuesday evening as “an exciting conjunction of movie efforts in the area.” Two of Robinson’s films will be shown as part of Sunday’s lineup.
The New Art Film Festival also celebrates Illini Film and Video‘s ten years in existence and marks the ten-year anniversary of publication for Micro-Film and C-U Confidential magazines.
Consider visiting the Art Theater in downtown Champaign for as much of the New Art Film Festival as you can. Many of these Midwest-flavored films are stories you can’t just drive down to a multiplex and experience. The full schedule is available on the Art’s website (pdf), or you can visit the fest’s Facebook event page. The opening block of shorts and previews on Thursday will be free, and then discounted admission prices will apply throughout the festival.
UPDATE: Here’s a bonus trailer of Seven Signs (which will be shown at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 18) from Todd Tue of Milk Products Media.
Seven Signs: Music, Myth & The American South from Milk Products on Vimeo.