Last Tuesday was the November edition of IndieWorks! We screened 5 films and had 40 people in house. The lineup was a moving & thoughtful mix of documentaries and narrative films exploring larger social issues as well as small personal stories, with a focus on family & childhood. The screening itself went well with a lot of audience engagement. However, the night as a whole was a bit of a mess. Since moving to The Local as our venue in Year 4, we’d say that the bar in front is nearly empty 75% of the time with the few people there typically respectful during the films, but sometimes there ends up being a chatty group at the bar . On most occasions when that happens, we can get them to speak softly while the films play. But, unfortunately, this evening wasn’t one of those occasions. We actually experienced a first for IndieWorks where we had to stop a film and eventually restart it because there was a drunk, misogynist at the bar who talked loudly during the first half of films and then began screaming vulgarities at the bartender. We stepped in to help get him out of the bar. It took 20 minutes to get him to actually leave. Thankfully, no one was hurt and we were able to continue the night with no other disruptions (though his friends stuck around to continue drinking & unfortunately became quite loud towards the end of our event). We’d like to apologize to the filmmakers & audience whose enjoyment of the films and conversations were lessoned by this occurrence. We try our best to create an immersive experience each month, but we don’t have full control of the space. The trade off for getting to keep attendance free while creating a welcoming environment where attendees can mingle between and after the screenings over affordable drinks & a chill atmosphere, is having to sometimes contend with rude people at the bar. (To be honest, as much as we appreciate The Local for their hospitality, large inviting space, and beautiful screen, the ability to create a free but private event and have a bar owner who’s on top of getting rid of belligerent people swiftly & smoothly is something we really miss about our original home The People Lounge & its wonderful owner Heinz.) Nonetheless, the filmmakers and audience did seem to enjoy the evening as a whole, and great conversations were had throughout the night.
We'd 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 the films (despite the noise), as well as the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts. We know some connections were made! AND we hope you'll join us again for our December screening on 11th! It’ll be a moving & uplifting slate of films that explore overcoming trauma and creating art.
See photos from the evening:
The Films of the night:
The Method (Directed by Michela Monte)
Living in Brooklyn (NYC) has become an act of resistance. The housing market is dominated by money and often ruled by unscrupulous landlords. Families, children and working class New Yorkers are violently pushed out of their affordable homes and made homeless. In South Williamsburg aka « Los Sures » the community has developed his own « Method » to fight back.
Unwelcome (Directed by Ida Theresa Myklebost)
The 2017 short documentary film "Unwelcome" takes an unusual approach in covering the Syrian war by giving the microphone to a six year old refugee boy and letting him narrate the film himself.
Oatmeal (Directed by Alessia Gatti, Written & Produced by Martha Frances Williams)
A woman struggling to balance her lofty work ambitions has an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend and recovers her lost spark.
The Fifth Date (Written & Directed by Claire Brooks)
A single mother struggles to find a babysitter and takes the risk of inviting her date over after her 3 year old daughter goes to sleep.
The Rocket Ship (Written & Directed by Taishon S Black)
Seven year old Livy has seen her mother (Angie) deal with heart break and sadness too many times over; where in that she feels she has to do something.
Watch our Q&A Recap. *Please know there are some film spoilers - feel free to look for an opportunity to catch the films at a festival or computer screen near you & then come back to watch!
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 rating system of 8 categories: Story, Dialogue/Writing, Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, and Production Value, along with a nuanced discussion focused on inclusion and originality. The Silver Whiskers winner goes on to screen again at our end of year Best of Fest screening next April.
The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform and 50% off 4MileCircus' post-production audio cleaning service for a future project.
For the November 2018 lineup, our winning films were:
Audience Choice Award: "The Rocket Ship"
Silver Whiskers Award: "Unwelcome"
