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RIFF Is Back (And Socially-Distanced!) This Weekend

Anya Sczerzenie | September 11, 2020

Topics: Byrd Theatre, film, Richmond International Film Festival, riff flow, riff richmond, tang and biscuit, the diamond richmond va, tilt creative production

A socially-distanced Richmond International Film Festival begins this weekend, premiering films from narratives to documentaries, as well as music sessions and screenings on the baseball field. 

The Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF) returns this weekend as a hybrid festival with both in-person and virtual events. Technically, events kicked off on Tuesday, but the big in-person events are all happening between today and Sunday, so there’s still a lot to see!

The festival was originally planned to take place in May, before the coronavirus hit Richmond and transformed the live entertainment landscape. Many other local festivals have had to switch to a virtual format, including the upcoming Richmond Folk Festival [more details on that next week; watch this space -ed]. 

The film festival kicked off this Tuesday with many restrictions, including mask requirements, and plenty more events are planned this weekend. Limited movie screenings will be shown at the Byrd Theatre, and other events throughout the weekend will provide attendees a film festival-style experience without breaking COVID-19 guidelines. 

Here’s a preview of what’s to come: 

PHOTO: Team Marco

Friday

The festival will put on a one-night film screening and live music event at The Diamond Baseball Stadium, home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, on Friday, Sept 11 at 6pm. The event is called Movies, Music, and Art on the Outfield. It will feature the Virginia premiere of the film Team Marco,  which follows a tech-obsessed Italian-American boy’s experience of connecting with his grandfather. Four tiers of tickets — from general admission in the stands to picnic spaces on the outfield — are being sold. The “Tier Three” ticket, which provides a 20×10 ft. area of field space, can accommodate a group of up to eight people. 

Limited screenings of the movies 16 Bars and The Man with the Silver Case will also be shown at the Byrd Theatre on Friday. 

PHOTO: The Magic Shed

Saturday

The Virginia Spotlight event will be held at the Byrd Theatre on Saturday, Sept 12 at 3:30pm. It will show five features: four locally-made short films, and a suite of musical performances recorded at Brewer’s Cafe in Richmond. The musical performances, called Brewers Sessions, feature Richmond artists including local rock n’ roll band Honest Debts. 

An in-person day of live music will be held in the outdoor space at Tang & Biscuit on Sept 12. A screening of music videos and web series will start at 12pm, followed by live music from 2 to 7pm. Admission is first-come first-serve, and masks are required. 

The movies Can Art Stop a Bullet, Victories Place, Illegal, and Portrait of a Rocker: B-Side will be shown at the Byrd Theatre on Saturday. 

PHOTO: Scattering CJ 

Sunday

The RIFF FLOW collective panels series will begin at Tilt Creative + Production on Sunday, Sept 13. The audience for this event, which will discuss how to navigate the film production and entertainment industry post-COVID with a variety of panelists, is limited to 25 people. 

The documentaries Scattering CJ, Magnolia’s Hope, and Life in Synchro will be shown at the Byrd Theatre Sunday. A Shorts Block featuring short films from around the world will also be shown there at 7pm. 

All Week

The festival is also holding events virtually on the Eventive Watch App. These include Q&A sessions, live music, and films. Films can be watched online or streamed on your TV through the app. RIFF’s website gives instructions on how to stream films, and viewers are instructed to make an account on the site before watching. 

The festival’s 2020 virtual film lineup is listed on their website, and includes everything from narrative to documentary films, from feature-length films to shorts, and from music videos to episodic projects. See over 50 films on demand at RIFF’s Eventive page, or buy an All Film Passport to watch them all (and vote on which films should receive the festival’s awards). Surely you have enough time to watch them all this weekend. You don’t need any sleep, right?

RIFFx Brings Richmond International Film Festival Into The Digital World

Taiya Jarrett | May 21, 2020

Topics: coronavirus, covid 19, Richmond International Film Festival, RIFFx, Virginia Film Industry

With the 2020 edition of the Richmond International Film Festival postponed, RIFF has found that the best way to stay active is to go digital.

With the effect COVID-19 has had on all our lives, entertainment has fully transitioned into the virtual realm for everyone — even your local film festival. The 2020 Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF), which was supposed to take place over a week in April, postponed this year’s edition of the festival; until they’re able to return in person, RIFF has opted in for a virtual reality.

The film industry as a whole has taken a significant hit, with productions being halted and premiere dates postponed until the fall, or later. “We’re pretty much on standby,” said RIFF president and executive director Heather Waters. “Nobody can shoot right now. I think this will be a significant loss in a number of ways for crew members, directors, actors, venues, locations.”

While they — and everyone else in the film industry — are dealing with this situation, RIFF has launched an educational online series, RIFFx. The series, featuring conversations with filmmakers, music performances, and more, has appeared in the form of live streams on RIFF’s Facebook page. The series is designed to be interactive, allowing the public to ask questions and converse with the participants in each stream. Lasting around 45 minutes to an hour, RIFFx installments, of which there have been nine so far, have featured filmmakers like Tania Raymonde, Joseph Aliberti, Mark Schimmel, and more.

“We wanted to do something innovative, rather than sit back and wait,” said Waters. “What I’m trying to do with the online series is to entertain, but make them informative and educational, all in one.”

Some of the episodes have also featured a musical component, and Waters hopes to use these episodes to introduce viewers to new artists from around the country. “We’re kind of an SXSW model,” she said. “These are up and coming, emerging, but still, cutting-edge artists that cross over to every genre.”

With the pandemic giving people more of a reason to rely on entertainment, entertainment-based organizations like RIFF are finding new ways to engage with their audience — and they’ve seen positive results.

“Seeing people doing positive things in the community to help others keep the support going — I think Richmond is doing just that by supporting festivals like ours,” said Waters. “That creates a lot of goodwill, and we need that right now.”

As of right now, Waters is hoping for the festival to be rescheduled to sometime in the late summer, but things will have to be improving for a bit before that. “We plan year-round,” said Waters. “We were about seven weeks out from the festival when we had to postpone, so we will at least need seven weeks to pick it back up.”

You can keep tabs on where things stand by following RIFF’s Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook feeds. People can also show their support by donating through the RIFF Arts Institute website.

Top Photo via Richmond International Film Festival/Facebook

Step Into The Magic Shed: Richmond’s Hometown Comedy TV Pilot

Adrian Teran-Tapia | February 27, 2020

Topics: andrew carnwath, art, carl sloppy, comedy, film, Richmond International Film Festival, richmond va, ricky shaw, robert kelshian, RVA, Television, television pilot, the magic shed, things to do richmond va, TV, tv shows

Ricky Shaw and Carl Sloppy are your typical 30-something best buds in Richmond… until they walk into the world of magic and imagination in their backyard shed. 

Ricky Shaw and Carl Sloppy are your typical best buds. They like to listen to heavy metal music, play video games and Dungeons and Dragons, and use their imaginations to go on wacky adventures together. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?

Oh… except that Ricky and Carl are grown-ass men in their mid-30s, who like to hang out in their shed to escape from the real world of adult responsibilities.

Based on the true-life friendship of show creators Andrew Carnwath and Robert Kelshian, The Magic Shed is a pilot television show that was shot and produced entirely in Richmond this past year, in partnership with Tilt Creative. 

The creators first met in Richmond in 1999, while working on a short film. At the time, Carnwath was finishing up his senior year at VCU, and Kelshian was playing in several local bands (most famously Avail). Eventually, Carnwath got his Fine Arts degree at VCU, while Kelshian obtained an MA in Film from DC’s American University.

Throughout their studies, they stayed in touch and continued working together, even writing a horror movie script together in 2003. Unfortunately, though, they weren’t able to raise enough money to produce it. Afterwards, Carnwath worked in the film industry for several years as an intern, a Production Assistant, an Art Director, and finally a Production Designer. In 2006, he began focusing on commercial work, and even picked up a few awards.

But then, in 2015, a huge drop in commercial work left Tilt Creative looking at a possible 60 percent loss of its business and revenue. It was then that Carnwath began thinking about an old TV pilot he and Kelshian wrote in 2008: The Magic Shed. When they first wrote the show, both Carnwath and Kelshian were starting families and taking off in their careers. They liked what they’d written, but life was getting in the way. 

“Life just catches up,” Carnwath said. “It got harder and harder to stay focused on it, so we put it on the shelf.”

But with the future of commercial work in limbo, the pair of friends realized they had nothing to lose. With all the resources available at Tilt, they began casting and building a set. Almost every aspect of the show was produced in Richmond — and by Richmond. Carnwath and Kelshian loved the team at the Richmond Comedy Coalition, who run The Coalition Theater. Andrew’s connections as an Art Director helped them build the set, and the pilot episode was shot entirely inside Tilt Studios.

PHOTO: The Magic Shed

The storyline revolves around childhood best friends Carl Sloppy and Ricky Shaw, and their goofy, unpredictable adventures in Ricky’s backyard shed. The shed itself is just an ordinary shed; a sort of man-cave, if you will. But with Carl and Ricky’s imaginations constantly on full-blast, the shed transforms into “toy chest for adults,” as Carnwath likes to say.

While they may be physically inside the shed, in their minds, the shed can become anything. They’ll be in space in one minute, then at the beach or on a floating castle the next. There are no boundaries or limitations. 

Although Carnwath and Kelshian say the friendship in the show is based on their own, they each relate to both Carl and Ricky in some ways.

Ricky Shaw is a straight man, who has one foot in the door of reality and one foot in the door of the absurd. His wife is pregnant at the beginning of one episode, and he struggles with the expectations of being an adult. 

“He hasn’t fully committed to the idea of [not] doing dumb shit,” said Carnwath. 

In contrast, Carl Sloppy is a “Kramer-esque” type of character. Ambiguous with no steady job, and always around, he wants to keep the good times going — but he also wants to help his friend.

“Carl wants to help Ricky; but in a way that keeps him in Carl’s world, and keeps that friendship as it always has been,” said Kelshian. “He’s trying to develop and mature his friendship with Ricky, but under his own conditions.” 

PHOTO: The Magic Shed

Although they use the shed to escape the real world, their problems tend to sneak in. Even if they do it in an unorthodox way, they still have to process them. This is seen in the strange and ridiculous characters Carl and Ricky meet inside the shed. Granted, all of these characters are made up, existing only in their minds. 

Whether it’s horny Richard Pryor-style wizards like Skeezard, or annoying childhood ghosts like Scary Barry, these characters are unpredictable and mostly obnoxious; terrible people with a small handful of redeeming qualities. 

“A lot of the characters are just amplifications of people you’d know in real life,” said Kelshian. “Carl and Ricky go to the shed to get away from their realities, but they still end up meeting these people that they struggle with. ‘How am I a friend to this person who is a total scumbag?’” 

While dealing with personal relationships, Carnwath and Kelshian are trying to find the goofiest aspects of them to play with. The duo describes the show as spazztic, goofy, unpredictable, colorful, and over-the-top theatrical. It’s an Out of the Box-style kid’s show for adults. 

Some of their influences include television shows like The Mighty Boosh, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Strangers with Candy, and Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Complex, random, and surreal humor is their forte. 

When talking about the show’s humor and vibe, Carnwath says it’s like a strange trip. 

“It doesn’t necessarily need to be drug- or alcohol-based,” he said. “[The characters] are open to the idea of letting weird shit happen, and it does.” 

PHOTO: The Magic Shed

Kelshian also acknowledged that, like their influences, he and Carnwath aren’t necessarily trying to make a “heavy” show, or make deep statements with themes. They aren’t writing anything groundbreaking, and definitely don’t shy away from a fart joke — the main goal is to stay true to these characters and their reality. 

When it comes to their writing process, the only goal is to be as absurd as possible — and make it funny. In a way, writing these characters was like having a magic shed of their own, and it helped them face adulthood while staying close to their youth. 

“There’s something about being goofy that is very attractive in my mind,” said Carnwath. “It’s okay to say crazy shit, do dumb stuff, and wear a costume one day. Don’t be complacent with adulthood.”

“As you continue to age, there is an idea of what being an adult is,” said Kelshian. “And for better or worse, there are things you feel you have to fit into. I think what this show celebrates is keeping a relationship you have with a good friend, that you can still be vulnerable with.” 

Carnwath and Kelshian are most proud of the show’s sense of humor. Its aesthetics are exactly how they pictured it in their heads, and it came together in the way they sought it out from the beginning. 

PHOTO: The Magic Shed

At the end of the day, the gang couldn’t be happier with this project they made with their friends. Their biggest fear, they noted, is that someone would want to buy it and force them to walk away, or relocate to another city like Los Angeles. The hopes are to keep the show in Richmond, with the same crew they say was so vital to making all of this happen.

“This show is a Richmond show,” Carnwath said. “Not just the T-shirts, stickers, and bands from Richmond mentioned in the show, but the people who were so crucial to getting this done — and if we can take our friends along for the ride, and it keeps it ours, that’d be awesome.”

For the past few months, the Magic Shed gang has been in the process of getting more people talking and watching the pilot. Their plan is to find a home for the show on a major network like Comedy Central, FX, or Adult Swim. They’re on the right track — in addition to plenty of positive feedback, The Magic Shed has either won or been nominated for several awards so far.

These include “Best Television Short Director” at the American Filmatic Arts Awards, “Best Director Television Pilot” at the NYCTV Festival, and nominations for “Best Comedy Television Pilot,” “Best Actor,” and “Best Actress” at the NYCTV Festival. It also caught a nomination for “Best Web & New Media” at the Indie Short Fest in Los Angeles, along with being a semi-finalist at the Chicago Independent Film & TV Festival.

PHOTO: The Magic Shed

The Magic Shed will be included in this year’s Richmond International Film Festival, which takes place in the River City this spring, from April 21-26. Learn more about The Magic Shed on its IMDb page here, and catch up with it in clips on their website.

Dirtwoman Hits The Festival Circuit

Jerry Williams | January 17, 2020

Topics: Atlanta, Cinema Diverse, Dirtwoman, documentary, donnie corker, film festivals, Florida Film Festival, Movieland Boulevard Square, Orlando, Out On Film, Palm Springs, Richmond International Film Festival, Spider Mites Of Jesus

Before its upcoming run at Movieland Boulevard Square starting January 24, Jerry Williams, producer and director of Spider Mites Of Jesus: The Dirtwoman Documentary, took his film to seven different film festivals. Here’s how it went.

Here’s a choice between two movies: One features three hot men with their shirts off and the other showcases a 300 lb. drag queen (see above). Based on the images alone, which would you choose to see?

If you picked the three hot men, you understand my movie’s fate.

Spider Mites Of Jesus: The Dirtwoman Documentary looks at the multifaceted world of Richmond native Donnie Corker. As Diversity Richmond Executive Director Bill Harrison said in the movie, “There are people in the gay and lesbian community here in Richmond who have always been embarrassed by Donnie. I never have. Because I remember back in the day, when very few people from our community would go public and talk with the media. Donnie would. And he didn’t very often package his message the way most of us would have… but he was present.”

As the producer/director of the documentary, I was met with similar responses when I entered and played LGBT film festivals around the country.

In 2017, I interviewed 70 people about Richmond’s most notorious gay icon, Dirtwoman. 

In 2018, I entered film festivals. 

In 2019, I took it on the road. 

Of the 41 festivals entered, 16 of them were LGBT. 

Of the 7 festivals where it actually showed, only 3 were LGBT (and one of those was in South Africa).

Interestingly, I had several people tell me that my doc wasn’t likely to be embraced by LGBT festivals. That turned out to be the case. The reason: most of them are looking for upstanding, inspirational subject matter. Several transgender stories and the story of a gay men’s chorus playing in the deep South were prominent at festivals I attended. Anything politically charged or aspirational had a better chance of getting accepted.

Even though Donnie Corker (aka Dirtwoman) was notorious for his sexual exploits (sometimes in public), his life was ultimately a positive gay narrative. He was courageously out in the 70s, when many gay people (myself included) were still firmly in the closet. His outrageous exploits were tempered by his generous gestures. Sure, there are stories about Donnie’s sexual encounters, but the doc also tells stories of two women whose lives he saved.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I learned about showing a gay film at festivals.

Cinema Diverse in Palm Springs

Until I visited this desert resort, I had no idea that about 50 percent of Palm Springs residents over 55 identify as LGBT. That’s a whole lotta queers in one small desert city, and they were everywhere! Sadly, this festival is held in September, when many of the residents are still living in cooler climes (it was, literally, 102 in the shade). 

As a result, the festival wasn’t packed. But there was a healthy crowd, and there were after parties every night. Almost everyone we ran into was extremely friendly (probably due to the laid-back lifestyle and their more mellow age groups). 

As for the description of how the film was received in the introduction, that’s what happened at Cinema Diverse. Most of the audience attended the other film (with the three hot guys), while only about 25 people came to experience Dirtwoman. Of those, several were former Richmonders. The emcee, who hadn’t previously seen the film, enthusiastically expressed his admiration during the Q&A. He raved about the movie and wants to bring it back for a regular run. Even so, either the jaded audience or the unfortunate publicity meant a modest crowd for Dirtwoman.

Out on Film in Atlanta

A few weeks later it was on to another city in the middle of a heat wave, Atlanta. This festival had lots of great films, but mine got relegated to Saturday morning at 11am. Again, a few former Richmonders show up, but the crowd was smaller than 20, though everyone who was there thoroughly enjoyed the film and embraced Donnie’s legacy.

The Florida Film Festival in Orlando

Even though it’s not focused on an LGBT audience, this well-established, 28-year-old  festival features a number of LGBT films. Spider Mites Of Jesus: The Dirtwoman Documentary was one of them, and Programming Coordinator Tim Anderson was a big fan of the movie. He even booked it for two showings. 

As a bonus, they offer promotional opportunities with Central Florida University, which is about twice the size of VCU. Two students in the Film Marketing and Distribution class were assigned to be my advance publicity team. They handed out postcards with roses to people at various social events and helped generate interest. Here’s the exit interview video they created after the first show:

They also organized a drag show to cap off the second showing featuring Annie Mae, Draggedy Anne and Waka Shame. Since I was paying the queens to perform, I requested that they arrive before the screening. That way, they could add some fabulousness to the lobby and enjoy learning about Dirtwoman. In typical fashion, they showed up during the closing credits! Click here for highlights of their show.

Ironically, the reception from audiences (100+ at both screenings …and mixed sexual orientation) was wonderful. Again, if people just gave the story a chance, they found it entertaining and enjoyable.

The Richmond International Film Festival

In April, 2019, the Richmond International Film Festival made Spider Mites Of Jesus: The Dirtwoman Documentary the opening night event. The Byrd Theatre was packed! Of course, this was an expectedly diverse audience of locals who had experienced Donnie themselves. Gay wasn’t even an issue. As expected, the Richmond audience at the film was wildly enthusiastic.

So, this was my challenge. How do you “sell” a documentary about a gay man, who was ultimately ahead of his time and decidedly outrageous?  What does this say about gay audiences vs. non-gay audiences? Are our straight friends more open to experience the diverse array of characters that populate the LGBT universe? Are our own brothers and sisters more jaded and less open to exploring their own?

On January 24, this movie comes back home for an extended run at Movieland. I’m expecting a broad audience to show up… gay and straight and everything in between. Hopefully, Donnie has transcended Richmond’s gay community to become an icon of self-expression that anyone can appreciate. Come find out for yourself.

Jerry Williams is the producer/director of SPIDER MITES OF JESUS: THE DIRTWOMAN DOCUMENTARY. It’s opening at Movieland on January 24 and will run three shows a day as long as it sells tickets. Click here to get yours in advance. Jerry will be attending the screenings on the first weekend.

Photos courtesy Jerry Williams

Richmond International Film Fest Kicks Off Tonight with Over 150 Films, Panels, Live Music & More

Sarah Honosky | April 23, 2018

Topics: Bow Tie, Byrd Theatre, film, Richmond International Film Festival

Tonight, the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF) kicks off at the historic Byrd Theatre, launching a week-long screening of more than 150 films. RIFF includes films from a wide range of genres and styles, from animated shorts to documentaries, and features works from over 35 countries.

The festival opens with “Nona”, a narrative feature produced by Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush, Superman Returns) that follows Central America’s sex trafficking industry through the eyes of a young Honduran girl. It serves as a stark look into the world of modern sex slavery, and her harrowing odyssey to reunite with her mother.

The piece is written and directed by Bosworth’s husband and filmmaker, Michael Polish (Twin Falls Idaho, Northfork). This is the first film the duo has produced together. Bosworth and Polish will present the film on opening night at the Byrd preceding a panel with leading experts on human trafficking. Bosworth will be awarded the festival’s 2018 Founder’s Award on behalf of the film.

Another standout film, documentary “Thank You For Your Service,”  brings Governor Terry McAuliffe and Governor Ralph Northam to the Byrd this Sunday, where Northam will present McAuliffe with RIFF’s 2018 Pioneer Award. The film investigates the failed mental health policies within the US military and the deadly consequences to the troops. After the film, RIFF will host a Q&A with director Tom Donahue and leading experts on PTSD.

Among the eclectic selection of animated films is a Canadian short, “Disposable”, that will premiere Thursday for the first time in the US. The 13-minute short is composed of 18,875 individually taken frames and took over four years to complete. The trailer is haunting, a Coraline-esque stop-motion that takes place in a town where owning toys is against the law. After a lonely young boy makes an unlikely new friend, they set out to prove that everyone–and everything– is deserving of love and kindness. Emerging Filmmaker Jenna Provost wrote and directed the piece.

Television writer and producer Lee Aronsohn (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men) will present his feature documentary “40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Band” this Thursday at the BowTie. The film follows Aronsohn’s quest to track down the scattered members of Colorado-based legends Magic Music in the search for an intangible, elusive destination: one last show.

The closing night film is narrative feature, “Buckout Road.” The horror film stars Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, Dreamgirls) as a brilliant psychiatrist, faced with an urban legend turned reality, claiming a string of victims along the most haunted road in America. Following the screening of the thriller, there will be a discussion with Glover at the Byrd this Sunday, where Glover will be presented with the 2018 Legacy Award.

Among the other categories this year, are documentary shorts, experimental shorts, music videos, and musical features. There is something for everyone, as well a variety of Q&As, panels, and live music including London-based collective Ibibio Sound Machine, who will be performing at The National on Thursday.

The RIFF festival runs from Monday, April 23  to Sun., April 29 at the Byrd and BowTie Movieland at Boulevard Square. A more extensive schedule of events can be found here. A five-film pass is $40, tickets for VIP full access to film and music is $375, and a festival film package is $195 for all films. Prices vary for individual shows and can be found here. 

 

RVA Mag #24: With its largest film lineup to date, Richmond International Film Festival proves to be a mainstay on the East Coast festival circuit

Amy David | April 25, 2016

Topics: Richmond International Film Festival, RVA film, RVA filmmakers, The Byrd Theatre

Over the past five years, the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF) has brought a wealth of art, media and collective community action to our city.
[Read more…] about RVA Mag #24: With its largest film lineup to date, Richmond International Film Festival proves to be a mainstay on the East Coast festival circuit

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