July 2003

Documentaries these days tend to focus on anomalies, people whose charming and often grotesque peculiarities partly serve to remind us of how comfortably normal we are. But every once in a while, along comes a film about someone who, despite his or her flaws, functions as a role model, shows us a possible approach to our own lives. Such is the case with director Kaylyn Thornal's documentary "A Centered Universe" about 80-year-old potter, sculptor, painter, and founder of the Cape Museum of Fine Arts -- Harry Holl. Holl has read more...

Maybe trying to catch a couple of good movies at a film festival is a sucker’s game -- like trying to see the paintings at an art opening, when there are far too many schmoozing heads in the way. One day into the four-day, eighth annual Nantucket Film Festival, which wrapped June 22, and I was already feeling frustrated. I’d half-seen a handful of films and like most festival-goers, with or without a professional interest, I was trolling for a sleeper -- the as yet unbuzzed beauty that would blow me away.

When most people think of New Hampshire, they think of small, rustic country towns, autumn foliage, and no sales tax. And those are exactly the selling points that Jay Brenchick, head of the energized New Hampshire Film and Television Office, is trying to get across in a concerted effort to bring more film and TV production work to the Granite State.

Disco was dead, and America was looking for a hot new dose of nightlife. A fresh, untapped source of chaos was brewing in Boston nightclubs, and one night Johnny Carson gave America what it wanted, a tall-nonfat, very dry shot of Beantown’s best, Steven Wright. Boston’s stand-up comedy scene would never be the same. "When Stand Up Stood Out" traces the rise and ultimate demise of the nation’s most controversial comedy landscape.

Images of "Mr Barrington," featuring the title character in a bowler hat and riding an old fashioned bicycle, may strike the viewer as being the sort of fare that is filmed in pastoral England. In reality, it’s filmed in rural Maine. Recently, I spoke with Maine-based Dana Packard (producer/director) and Jennifer Nichole Porter (writer/co-producer/composer/star) about their film which will be featured at this month’s Maine International Film Festival.

Jesal Kapadia had no idea when she moved to the United States from India six years ago that she would be the recipient of a much-coveted Artist Grant in the Film and Video category from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) in 2003. This is not because of any doubts in her abilities or ambition, but because she was already a successful graphic designer. Now an editorial board member of a major academic journal and the author of numerous video installations exhibited at MIT, the Boston Cyberarts Festival, UMass Amherst's Augusta Savage Gallery, read more...

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The tough choices faced by communities negotiating the treacherous waters between private rights and public good are at the heart of "Livable Landscapes: By Chance or By Choice?" a one-hour documentary screening this month at the 6th Annual Maine International Film Festival (MIFF).

There’s nothing like a great dream to inspire a person to action... especially if that dream is a terrifying nightmare.

"I’d have reoccurring dreams that I was dying in a plane crash," said Kaylyn Thornal. "It almost made me an insomniac."

The turbulent nightmares came at an equally turbulent time in Thornal’s life as she pondered a future in film back in 1994. She had a passion for filmmaking ever since she picked up her father’s 8mm camera as a child, but was unsure if pursuing it as a career was feasible.