A unique film festival that celebrates female filmmakers and artists begins Saturday, and one of the participants says she is excited about being part of the inaugural event in Hot Springs.
"Women film festivals show films that are not often found in the mainstream cinema, unfortunately. ... I think we need to join hands and celebrate each other's victories and each other's festivals," filmmaker Leslie Ann Coles said.
According to its website, the festival accepts all projects that have at least one woman in one of the key production positions, such as producer, director, writer, cinematographer, editor, or lead actress. Projects that are produced or directed by men are accepted as long as there is a female protagonist or the story is based around women.
A total of 13 feature-length and short documentaries will be shown at this weekend's Hot Springs International Women's Film Festival. Among them is a feature-length documentary by Coles, "Melody Makers," that dissects the archives of Melody Maker magazine's chief photographer, Barrie Wentzell.
Coles is the founder and executive director of the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto, which she started in 2001 with the intent to create an internationally competitive film festival where each film is directed by a woman. Over the years, the festival has evolved to include script development programs, directors round tables, and filmmaker panels.
Her film started after she met the chief photographer for Melody Maker magazine in the United Kingdom from 1965 to 1975. In an era where journalists had unprecedented access to famous musicians, thanks to the lack of the paparazzi, photojournalist Barrie Wentzell spent 10 years capturing breathtaking, candid images of some of rock 'n' roll's greatest legends.
"During this 10-year period prior to 1975, Wentzell amounted this incredible archive. ... I just knew I was going to turn the camera on him one day because he had so many great photos with wonderful stories behind them," Coles said.
Melody Maker magazine served as one of the world's earliest music weeklies that largely catered to musicians looking to advertise their talents and book gigs, Hot Springs International Women's Film Festival Executive Director Bill Volland said. By the mid-1960s, the magazine had featured some of rock 'n' roll's most-famous musicians, including Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles.
Coles said she spent several years working on this documentary film, even traveling to London to interview journalists, managers, and different musicians. Her film features exclusive interviews with the likes of Eric Burdon but focuses more on Wentzell's photographs and the birth of rock journalism.
"I come from a dance background and I really choreographed, for lack of a better word, filming the archive, filming the negatives, and filming the contact strips. I didn't just want to slap up a JPEG; I wanted to actually give the audience the real experience of seeing photos of Jimi Hendrix with a really lush background on a 30-foot screen," she said.
While digging through Wentzell's archives, Coles learned that there were numerous photos he had never seen himself. Because he worked for a weekly publication during the era of film cameras, he simply did not have time to print the negatives and go over them with a fine-toothed comb under the red light of the darkroom.
The photos she chose to incorporate into the film are meant to paint a portrait of rock 'n' roll's greatest years; Volland calls the film a must-see for anyone who loves rock 'n' roll.
Coles is one of six filmmakers who plan on attending the festival and will host a question-and-answer session following the premiere of her film on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the historic Central Theater.
In addition to Melody Makers, Central Theater will screen 12 other documentaries, in addition to 14 feature-length and short horror, animated and experimental films.
The festival kicks off Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with a filmmaker meet and greet at Will's Cinnamon Shop and screenings begin promptly at 10 a.m. Weekend passes to the festival are available for $45 and day passes are $24. Tickets can be purchased for individual screenings for $10 per film.
Local on 03/15/2018