A Detailed and Personal Wrap Up of the 2010 Savannah Film Festival (Part 1)

There's a reason why it has taken me so long to write a wrap up post for the Savannah Film Festival. The fact is I'm not sure I can describe the experience in words and do it justice. It was one of the most surreal, other-worldy things I've ever been through. It was one of the best weeks of my life and, at the same time, one of the most stressful and exhausting ones. It was a time where I literally entered into a new state of mind and got to live in it for seven days.

So, with that said, I will do my best to describe what I experienced in that week.

At the end of the week, I can remember sitting in my messy apartment room, wrapping up my cut up ankles with fresh band aids. I had torn them up with my ill-fitting dress shoes that I wore the first night of the festival. I walked seven blocks to the theater and back in them and they really did hell on my ankles. A week's worth of dirty clothes sat on the ground near by. Two parking tickets lay to my right from parking in poorly labeled sweep zones in the midst of the rush of getting to screenings.

I was absolutely exhausted.

For a week, I had had barely time to breath. I had been getting up at 8 am, trying to make coffee talks with Chaney, going straight to the 9:30 am screening after and then staying in screenings until about 11:30 pm each night. Then my classmates and I would attempt to crash VIP after parties until about 2 am. Then I would return home, tired and delirious. Then I would wake up again at 7 am. Rinse and repeat for seven days.

Never before have I fallen asleep in a movie theater while a movie is playing. However, when you are averaging about six movies a day and working off of 4-5 hours of sleep, it happens. And it happens more than once (To Whom It May Concern, Ultrasuede, The Conspirator and Made in Dangenham all got the treatment... though Ultrasuede was the only one that didn't deserve it).

Still, with all that said, the Savannah Film Festival was a wonderful experience. I got to run into celebrities like Liam Neeson on the street, see great films like Black Swan and, most importantly, get closer to my classmates, whom I now consider to be my good friends.

One of the things that I was most excited about during the festival was the possibility of meeting actors, directors and other Hollywood talent. I haven't really run into many famous people during my lifetime so, for me, these people have always seemed quite other-worldy. However, as the week went on, I saw that they were all very down to Earth, humble and charming people just like you and me.

The one of the first people I met was someone who I did not know prior to the festival. The first screening I attended after Black Swan was for a documentary called Dressed. It followed Nary Manivong as he went from being homeless to putting on his own fashion show in NYC during the highly competitive Fashion Week. I went into this movie not caring anything about fashion or knowing who this guy was. However, by the end of it, I felt like I had witnessed something special. This guy came from nothing, put on a great show despite a thousand obstacles and made it. It was a very inspiring film that didn't shove anything down your throat or manipulate you. It just allowed the situation to unfold and, if you didn't care, well, there was something wrong with you.

By the end of the film, most of my classmates next to me were crying. In fact, I think most of the theater was.

Then, something special happened. Nary Manivong walked to the front stage with the director and producer of the film. The crowd erupted.

It's one thing to see someone famous that's acted in movies. It's a whole other thing to see someone in person after you've watched their life intimately unfold in front of you for the past hour and a half. It was a really crazy feeling. And everyone there felt it. It felt like we were all apart of something special and unique.

After the Q&A ended, I went outside to see Nary and the director just standing around. I got a picture with Nary. Unfortunately, it came out blurry but, hey, it's better than nothing.

The next person I met was James Cromwell.

I was driving around, trying to find a parking space for the Monday night evening screening when my classmate Kristen called me to tell me that James Cromwell was sitting outside of Leopold's, eating some ice cream. I almost wrecked my car.

I grew up watching James Cromwell. The guy has been in so many movies, it's crazy. He's been in everything from The Green Mile, The General's Daughter, and LA Confidential to I, Robot and Babe. The guy has been around and has made quite the presence in the film world.

So when I got in line right next to the ice cream shop, I was a little overwhelmed. James was right there, just minding his own business and eating ice cream. It was very surreal.

As I stood there, I tried to work up the nerve to talk to him. But the longer I waited, the more I realized that that probably wasn't going to happen. He was there just enjoying himself and no one else was bothering him. So I definitely didn't want to be that guy. So, slowly, I resigned myself to the fact that I would not talk to James Cromwell. I would just stand in line and try to act like he wasn't there.

It was about at that point when he looked up and talked to me.

"What are you in line for?" he asked.

I couldn't believe it. He was talking to me.

I told him I was seeing Conviction. He then asked who was in it. I told him Sam Rockwell and Hilary Swank. I then took the incentive and asked what he was seeing. He didn't seem to know. Finally, after fumbling through his film festival booklet, he answered Nice Guy Johnny.

Then there was a weird moment. A giant bug landed on his glass ice cream cup. James was fascinated with it. He begin to take the milk residue from his ice cream cup and started to place it on the table for the bug to eat. It was so bizarre. Then, he let the bug crawl onto his hand. He then walked over to a bush and dropped the bug into it, freeing it.

It was such an unusual thing to watch him do. But I'm glad I got to watch it.

This wasn't my only encounter with Mr. Cromwell. I saw him everywhere, whether it was walking through the lobby of the Marshall House to get breakfast in the morning or in the audience of random screenings. In one particular screening (for Truth in Numbers?), he asked a question to the filmmaker. It was after this screening that I went up to him with my classmate Rachael in the lobby and asked for a picture. He was nice enough to give it. He seemed to be a really nice man.

Out of all the people that attended the Savannah Film Festival, I think most people were really excited that Liam Neeson was present. Since Liam is such a big star, we all knew that he would be pretty untouchable as far as meeting him went. So I consider myself lucky that I was actually able to run into the guy. Literally.

The night that Liam Neeson was supposed to be at the Trustees Theater was a really stressful night. It was incredibly crowded and the theater personal seemed to be much more on their toes than usual. As we were all waiting in line to get in, an announcement was made that no video cameras would be allowed inside the theater. I was carrying my Canon T2i. So I went up to one of the theater personal (a guy in a suit who made announcement) and asked if I could bring my camera in since I just wanted to use it for pictures. He went inside and checked. He came back out and said that I should be fine. I asked if he was sure. I didn’t want to get inside and then be kicked out and lose my seat because I had a camera. Plus, because of Savannah’s horrible parking issue, I was parked five blocks away from the theater. This meant I would have to run ten blocks to put my camera up in my car and probably miss Liam Neeson’s brief appearance on stage. He again said I would be fine.

So you can imagine how pissed I was once I got inside the theater and they told me I couldn’t bring my camera inside. I ended up arguing with various theater personal, saying that the guy in the suit outside said I was fine, but to no avail. I was really furious, mostly because the situation could have easily been avoided when I asked about the camera forty minutes prior.

I finally got the personal to let me save my seat with my jacket and then I picked my camera up at the front desk and began to run to my car to put it up. I had ten minutes before Liam was going to hit the stage. I knew I was probably going to miss it.

So I began sprinting across Broughton Street in my ill-fitting dress shoes, feeling my ankle cuts opening up again. But, in that moment, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to my car and seeing Liam. I was in such a determined state that, as I was running across Broughton, I almost plowed into a tall man crossing the street.

I can remember turning around, in my head thinking, “Man, that guy was awfully tall…” Then I saw him. And he looked down at me, one arm still around Hollywood PR legend Bobby Zarem, whom he was walking with.

It was Liam.

I can remember freezing up and thinking about how bizarre it was that I was in this situation. And thinking about how tall Mr. Neeson was in real life.

A thousand thoughts were shooting through my head. I wanted to say thanks for Darkman, an obscure Sam Raimi superhero film that Liam did early in his career that I grew up watching as a child. I wanted to ask him what he really thought of The Phantom Menace. I wanted to ask him to recite the line “Release the Kraken!” to me from the recent terrible Clash of the Titans remake.

But I didn’t do any of that (thankfully). I was too scared. I was too surprised. Standing there, looking into Liam’s dark eyes, I felt my mouth begin to move.

“Hey Liam, what’s up?”

I’m not sure why I said this. But it’s what I said. Liam didn’t say anything back. He simply smiled and gave me a nod of acknowledgement. Then he moved across the street with Bobby Zarem, moving towards the theater.

I ran back to my car a little faster after that. I didn’t care if I saw Liam on stage. I knew that I had seen him up closer and more personal than most people at the Savannah Film Festival would that entire week. No, I didn’t run fast to make his stage appearance. I ran fast because I was beaming with excitement. And I couldn’t wait to tell my classmates what had just happened.

I moved so fast that I actually made Liam’s appearance. And, despite the theater’s strictness, my classmate Kristen got a picture of Liam with her much smaller (and easy to conceal) camera. Beating the man feels good.

One of the coolest celebrities I was around during the Savannah Film Festival was Vincent D’Onofrio. While D’Onofrio may not be a house hold name, you’ve no doubt seen him before. He’s a regular on Law and Order, was the creepy serial killer in the 90’s hit The Cell, was the gross bug man in Men in Black, and had a pivotal and memorable role in Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam epic Full Metal Jacket.

I had heard that D’Onofrio was pretty eccentric and standoffish in real life. So, when I heard he was at the Savannah Film Festival, I was a mixture of excited and nervous. Would he be approachable or would he be a jerk if any of us tried to meet him?

As it turns out, D’Onofrio was easily the most laid back celebrity at the festival. This was all apparent once he came out to introduce his directorial debut Don’t Go in the Woods, a low-budget slasher / musical that he made in twenty days in the woods behind his house. He encouraged us to use our cell phones in the movie, talk to our neighbors and to laugh and yell at the screen. While the quality of the movie was debatable (it ranged from unwatchable to pretty funny), D’Onofrio recognized what he had made and his introductory words made the viewing a lot more chill and fun than it probably would have been.

The Q&A that followed was just as laid back and funny. As D’Onofrio answered questions and talked about the movie, he came off as a guy you just wanted to hang out with. His responses were always quick, quirky and to the point. One of my classmates asked him what he would call a sequel to his movie if he ever made it. His response was deadpan: “I Said Don’t Go Into the Woods.” Another classmate asked if he thought the audience laughed at anything in the movie that wasn’t meant to be laughed at. After a pause, he simply said, “I think the whole thing is f*cking hilarious.”

Fortunately, this screening wasn’t the only time I saw D’Onofrio. He was around at other screenings and was a frequent visitor to coffee talks in the morning. It was quite surreal to be standing right next to D’Onofrio as he was explaining what it was like to be on the set of Full Metal Jacket and work with Stanley Kubrick. It was also really encouraging to hear his advice on filmmaking.

I wasn’t able to meet D’Onofrio and talk to him first hand but my classmates Justin and Katy did. You can see the picture they got with him on Broughton Street above.

One of the last big celebrities we got to see was Sir Ian McKellen.

I really enjoyed the way McKellen’s introduction to the film festival was handled. A 2:30 pm screening of McKellen’s film Gods and Monsters was held and McKellen did an introduction to the film and a Q&A after. Being a midday screening, there weren’t as many restrictions on seating and security. There were a ton of people there but I felt that things felt more laid back than usual. The humor and emotion of the film also put everyone in a certain relaxed state of mind.

McKellen came off as relaxed and excited to be at a screening for one of his best films. He answered the questions proposed to him very gracefully and honestly. One of my favorite moments was when he answered a question about how to do good in an audition. He paused for a moment and then gave the brutal truth: “The fact is that most people have made up their mind on whether or not they are going to cast you the moment you walk into the room.”

McKellen also offered a lot of tibits on what it was like to be an openly gay actor in Hollywood. In essence, he said that he couldn’t imagine going through his acting career without being completely open about who he was inside. He talked about how a lot of the cast and crew of Gods and Monsters were gay. He then offered the funny observation on his co-star: “All of us were gay. Poor Brendan Frasier… I’m not sure he knew what to do with himself.”

Overall, McKellen seemed to be enjoying himself on stage and he seemed to be very proud to be able to screen the great film we all got to see. In the highlight of the Q&A, he loosened up even more and volunteered some insight on playing Gandolf the Great in Lord of the Rings.

In the video below (which was recorded by Ren Brown, a SCAD student who writes for CHUD.com), you can see McKellen talking about how difficult it was to say his infamous, “You shall not pass!” line to a yellow tennis ball representing the monstrous Balrog. The highlight comes when he actually screams the line to all of us in attendance.

It was a great moment to witness live. I still can’t believe I got to see someone of McKellen’s prowess in person.

There were a lot of other celebrities that we saw throughout the week such as Tony Goldwyn (director of Conviction and most notably the bad guy from Ghost), Ed Burns (director of Nice Guy Johnny and co-star of Saving Private Ryan), Isabella Rossellini (star of Blue Velvet), Robin Wright Penn (star of The Conspirator), Bobby Zarem (famous Hollywood PR rep who coined the “I Love NY” slogan) and many others. It was a really surreal time to be walking the streets with all these people. But, if I had to learn something from it, it was that most of them were down to Earth and just like you and me.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my wrap up where I cover movies I loved, movies I didn’t care for and how my friends and I got closer through the film festival experience.