I spent Saturday and Sunday at Blackbird Film Festival for a screening of my short “Night In,” and to teach Seed&Spark’s Crowdfunding to Build Independence workshop. I really enjoyed the festival last year when I screened “Enough,” so when they reached out about offering the Crowdfunding workshop, I knew I’d like to attend again. I planned to submit my latest short “The Gaze,” but when the deadline was approaching and I realized I wouldn’t finish that new project in time, I decided to submit “Night In,” since it’s always a fun one to screen in front of an audience and I had only recently released it online.

I again drove up with my amazing mom and we had a fun time over the weekend together. We didn’t get to experience opening night because we were actually coming from Toronto, where I taught a workshop as part of Hot Docs. And We didn’t get to stay beyond Sunday morning because I had a 6am flight to catch for more workshop teaching (this time in beautiful Grenada)! But from what we experienced all-day Saturday and Sunday morning, it was another strong lineup with uniquely curated blocks and tons of opportunities to connect with other filmmakers. I especially enjoyed spending time with some of my NY-filmmaker friends who I don’t get to see very often outside of when we happen to be at the same festival. The overall local attendance was excellent, with most screenings averaging 75 people. Opening night had 125, I was told, and even the 9am Saturday block had 60. My screening, The Dark Side, was unfortunately the lowest attended with just over 50 people; but still a solid turnout when compared to most festivals and especially when considering the late hour, genre focus (for a non-genre festival or audience) and the fact that there was only one local film in the bunch. Like last year, I felt the horror Q&A was more rushed and less personalized than all the other blocks, which was disappointing (my only real critique of the festival and one I will offer feedback on for hopeful improvement), and “Night In” didn’t get the laugh I had gotten used to with genre and especially women in horror fans, but it was still well received. And it was just nice seeing it on the big screen again after a year since the last live screening I was able to attend. All in all, the weekend & festival were a lot of fun, and I hope to be back again next year!

-Christina

Local Vegan Treat:

Brix Pubaria has a great vegan menu, with vegan s’mores as a listed dessert. I didn’t try it but hope to next time!

This weekend marked the end of the festival run for "Night In," and the beginning of one for "Enough;" and what a weekend it was! After last year's experience screening "Hello" at the Ax Wound Film Festival, I knew I wanted to attend again this year. I submitted "Night In" as soon as the festival opened up for 2017 submissions. The lovely festival director (and creator of Women in Horror Month), Hannah Forman, immediately watched it, loved it, and accepted the film for the new year. Then when I finished "Enough," I sent her a link asking if the festival would be down with something less horror/more of a thriller. She loved it as well and told me to submit it because they'd definitely screen it. So I submitted; and thankfully ended up getting to screen two films at the fest! Then also, because I knew Hannah was looking to expand this year's program with more workshops and panels, I offered to teach Seed&Spark's Crowdfunding class at the festival. I love getting to share what I've learned with other filmmakers and helping to empower them to build audiences for their work and make content on their own creative terms. So getting to do that specifically for a room full of bad-ass, women genre-filmmakers was a privilege. And, on top of all that, 4milecircus asked me to be part of a live podcast panel they organized for the festival. So, needless to say, it was a super fun & productive weekend indeed!

It was especially special because I asked my mom to come along with me for the weekend. We hadn't attended a festival together since SUMMIT screened in Rhode Island 2 years ago. My mom's one of my best friends (and my biggest supporter!) but not someone I get to see as much as I'd like due to my ever-increasingly busy schedule. So it was a ton of fun getting to experience such a great festival with her.

As for how the festival went, it was just as warm, welcoming and supportive as last year, but with even more thrills, gore and laughs in the lineup. Expanded to a night and a half, I was basically living and breathing the festival until we left this morning. "Night In" opened the whole festival Friday night. With just under 30 people in attendance, it was a lively group. The film got laughs in the right places and some compliments after the Q&A. The whole block was 15 films across 2 hours, which is a lot to sit through. But the films were so unique, compelling and flat out fun, that it never felt stagnant. The Q&A after was a thoughtful conversation with host Jay Kay of (Horror Happens Radio) and the audience. I loved getting to know the two women I shared the stage with, Caitlin Koller and Misty Dawn, both of whom made very different but equally impressive shorts. Caitlin, who's the director of the brilliant "Blood Sisters," which was already one of my favorites from the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival, mentioned to me after the screening that she was at the Sick Chick Flicks Film Festival and the audience there LOVED "Night In." She said they exuberantly laughed and clapped through the credits. That was really awesome to hear because that was one of the fests I was especially bummed to miss.

Day 2 was jam-packed, from 10am to 11pm. My mom and I missed most of the first lineup since I was prepping (read: caffeinating) for an interview and then my Crowdfunding class at 11:30am. The class overall went well. I had to condense it into an hour, but the audience still seemed to walk away with a solid amount of helpful info. (And it was really cool having my mom see me teach because she hadn't before and was excited to get to.)

Right after was the next block of films, which included "Enough," 4milecircus's "Mare," and 12 other shorts, most of which had filmmakers in attendance. With about 40 people in the audience, it was a really eclectic and engaging lineup with some extremely effective and evocative work (all of which apparently makes me want to use adjectives that start with "e"). I was curious how "Enough" would feel amongst such dark, gory, and/or macabre films. I've only screened it once before, at our own CongestedCat Screening, and it felt intense in our more dramatic but lighthearted lineup. But paired with the real intense films of this lineup, it was super tame. The sound was a little too low during its screening, but I don't think that hurt it much. And despite it maybe feeling a tad out of place, the audience had some nice comments afterwards. I'm debating whether or not I want to submit to more of the genre fests where I screened "Night In," since it isn't quite horror but is definitely a genre film. I'll have to see how broad the other fests are with their horror label. In any case, it was nice getting to experience it with an audience; and, of course, getting to be part of the excellent Q&A after, which included 12 filmmakers and was again hosted by Jay Kay. What I love about this festival, other than getting to see such good films and meet such inspiring filmmakers (who all happen to be woman-identifying), is how much it reflects the diversity in style, tone and perspective that exists not just within in the genre but also within work by women. I feel so often like my artistic perspective is supposed to represent all women because I'm so often the only woman in a room, on a panel, or in a lineup. So it's just wonderful getting to see such original, unique, and personally specific work coming from so many different women -- and getting to just be me, not having to represent my entire gender, in the process. (I also love attending the festival and not having to fear that I'll be sitting through hours of rape porn and other violence against women, as is so often the case with male dominated horror fests. While some work by women may have violence against women, it's almost always subversive, rarely exploitative, and always framed through the woman's lens and experience.)

After that Q&A, I participated in the 4milecircus podcast (which is always a blast), watched a thought-provoking presentation on Horror in the Trumpian era, and finally watched the last block of films. All in all, I saw 40 of the 48 shorts; I loved a bunch and enjoyed or appreciated most. And, best of all, I made some talented new friends! I'd like to thank Hannah, Ashlee Blackwell, and everyone else who helps put on this amazing event for allowing me to be part of it. And, of course, my mom for ... everything. Hope to be back with new work (or just to attend) next year!