Last Wednesday was the March edition of IndieWorks, and our first time trying out Subject (near where the People Lounge was). We're so grateful to them for letting us use their space, but unfortunately, just like Stone Creek last month, it was a bit smaller than suitable for our needs. We again screened 5 films instead of our usual 6, but still about 60 audience members showed up overfilling the place. Unlike last month, we did have just enough space to fit everyone, but there was more standing than sitting, and we were told it was a bit harder to see the screen and the filmmakers during the Q&A. Because of this, we're removing Subject from the running for our permanent venue. Next month, April 19th, is our Best of Fest (where we rescreen the 10 best films of Year 3) and it's being held at The Local in Long Island City. The space is much larger, has a beautiful, big screen and is run by super cool artist & indie friendly people. We're very excited about this space and they've already offered it to us monthly. We're going to see how Best of Fest goes before deciding between it and Stone Creek. The Local would mean permanently moving to LIC and Tuesday nights, but the perks do seem pretty sweet. Sticking with Stone Creek would mean trimming our lineup to 4 each month and having more privacy but less space to work with. So, we will see...
Anyway, aside from the room size issue, last Wednesday night was a lot of fun! We had an eclectic lineup with varying approaches to storytelling and filmmaking. The filmmakers seemed to enjoy themselves, especially during the Q&A, and everyone in attendance seemed to enjoy the films and the night as a whole.
We'd just like to say thank you to everyone who came out to support the filmmakers and spend the evening with us & them. We do hope you enjoyed all the films and the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts, and we hope some connections were made!
See photos from the evening (by guest photographer Grayson Davis):
The Films of the night:
Wade in the Water (Directed by Abbesi Akhamie)
Follows a young African-American boy on the day of his baptism. Jamal must decide whether to go forward with his baptism and please his mother or continue his silent protest of the religious ritual.
Meet Me Here (Directed by Maria Riboli)
After yet another huge, embarrassing public lovers’ quarrel Nestor makes the inconvenient offer to his girlfriend, Jeri to meet him on an abandoned building. Jeri shows, believing this to be yet another reconciliation. And Nester shows with his own version of a truce.
Living the Dream (Directed by Chris Beier)
Perhaps being an actor isn't as glamorous as one thinks.
The Fragrance Thief (Directed by Tanmaya Shekhar)
Arian (8) & Fragrance (12) are in love. When Fragrance's family leaves town Arian is heartbroken. Twenty years later Arian journeys to find Fragrance.
The Confession ( by Jaclyn Gramigna & Michael DiBiasio)
Jacob and Ellen wander through Brooklyn, the morning after spending the night together for the first time. Jacob's acting strange. Ellen wonders why. A confession is coming. And it's not what you expect.
The awards go to...
At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmakers for both Audience Choice Award & Silver Whiskers Award. The Audience Choice Award is voted upon by all those in attendance, and the Silver Whiskers Award is judged by the CongestedCat Team based on a system rating 8 categories of Story, Dialogue/Writing, Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, and Production Value. The Silver Whiskers winner goes on to screen again at our end of year Best of Fest event on April 19th!
The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform, and both winners received a free 2016 subscription to Bright Ideas Magazine and have the opportunity to be interviewed for our Insider Series.
For the March 2016 lineup, our winning films were:
Audience Choice Award: "Living the Dream"
Silver Whiskers Award: "The Fragrance Thief"
You can actually watch both films in full below:
