"If you are a film lover or filmmaker, this weekend is about you” -Keith McDaniel
This weekend was just that. It was all about the experience and watching people’s creativity come to life on the big screen. I had the pleasure of meeting Keith McDaniel himself, the executive director of the Knoxville Film Festival.
He talked about how this event was originally called the Secret City Festival and was renamed after making its home Knoxville. McDaniel created this event to give independent filmmakers a platform to gain recognition for their work. He also expressed that it had always been a desire of his for these films to be shown in an actual movie theater, just like any movie premier.
It may have been the 14th annual Knoxville Film Festival, but it was my first. As a matter of fact, it was many people’s first times producing Independent films.
“Is it okay if I take pictures in the theater”, I asked McDaniel. “Of course you can. You can take pictures during the Q&A”. I followed him into “Theater Two”. There I watched a few scenes from a film titled “The Tree”, a story based on a relationship between, the director, Stephen Pruit’s mother and her childhood friend. In the bit that I did get to watch, I was drawn in. As I observed from the back, based on the audience’s reactions, I felt like I had watched the entire movie from start to finish. Then the lights came on and I heard the applauses from the audience.
“And now it’s time for the Q&A”, said McDaniel. The directors of “The Tree” were not present, but amongst the people in the audience was Nina Marinov.
She wasn’t the only director I met. I also got to meet John Rush. During the festival we discussed the films being played that day, but he never once brought up that he was a filmmaker or that his film was going to be played. Instead, he chose to act as a normal person coming to enjoy the festival.
Right as I was leaving, I said, “It was nice meeting you”.
“Same to you”. Then I turned back around and said, “Have you produced any films playing this weekend?”, and he said yes. It was almost as if he was waiting to see if I’d ask and I finally did. I took his picture, which he was a bit hesitant. Rush said that he wasn’t really a picture person, but I convinced him that the man behind the camera deserves the spotlight.
He was the director of the film, “Totality”. The Knoxville Film Festival was hosting its 7-Day Shootout competition for the 9th year, and “Totality” was one of them. The competition consists teams of filmmakers who use only seven days to make a four to seven-minute film. The award ceremony was set to take place Sunday, September 17. Unfortunately, it was only Friday, so I did not get to witness the winners of the competition, but I did bump into another filmmaker.
“Excuse me. Are you the official photographer for this event?”, Cheryl Allison asked me.
Cheryl Allison directed and played the lead role in her film, “Far from the Tree”, a story about a rocky relationship between a mother and her son, as she come face-to-face with a sexual assault incident that happened in her past. What I found most interesting about this movie is not only that Allison played a role in the film, but she got to work alongside her close friends and relative, such as David Lear, the screenwriter and her god son, Gabriel Rush, who played the role of her son. This film only took three days of shooting and a great amount of support.
The 2017 Knoxville Film Festival was an amazing experience. It was my first time experiencing the vibe and creation of a film festival, and it was definitely worth it. If I could do it all over again I would.
