 |
| Wilmington's Thalian Hall |
Welcome to the 29th annual Cucalorus Film Festival!
It's my first time in Wilmington, my first time in North Carolina, and even my first time in the South–or at least the Southeast (I've been to Texas exactly once, though that was literally decades ago).
The Story Behind Seattle Film Blog
But first, a little history about this website. SIFFBlog, the original name, began in 2004 as a way for Tablet contributors and friends to cover the Seattle International Film Festival in real time on the web, rather than waiting every two weeks to produce potentially outdated print coverage.
Though Tablet died in 2005, SIFFBlog lived on. With plenty of interest and enthusiasm in covering other festivals and film-oriented events, about a half dozen of us kept plugging away. It was a pretty lively, volunteer-run site for about five years until everyone eventually scattered to the four winds. Some contributors left the state, some segued to paid gigs or at least unpaid gigs with higher-profile sites, and others stopped writing about film altogether, which is a pity--the more the merrier, I say.
That left just me, the last one at the party. Though I did one of the things mentioned above several times, i.e. segued to other sites--Seattle Sound, Resonance, The Stranger, City Pages, etc.--I never left SIFFBlog.
Eventually, Rotten Tomatoes came calling, and stated, reasonably enough, that they could only take me on as an approved critic if I changed the name--SIFFBlog sounded too much like, well, a blog owned and operated by SIFF, which it never was, so I settled on the most logical and similar–if not especially catchy or creative–name I could come up with in a short amount of time: Seattle Film Blog.
And there you have it. I never considered using my own name--or even a version of my own name--because it didn't feel right. It still doesn't. And maybe someday it'll become a group blog again (I'm open to the idea).
Though I mostly cover screenings and film-oriented events that take place in and around Seattle--not counting home-video reviews--I occasionally wander further afield, much as former contributors Anne Hockens and David Jeffers did when they would cover the San Francisco Silent Film Festival for SIFFBlog. Anne, a former Scarecrow Video worker, now lives in the Bay Area and serves as Director of Communications for Eddie Muller's Film Noir Foundation–a true SIFFBlog Success Story!
Another SIFFBlog Success Story, Amie Simon leveled up to Three Imaginary Girls. An experienced publicist and social media maven, she is now Director of Marketing for Smarthouse Creative, a local publicity and marketing agency whose clients include SIFF and Scarecrow Video.
Local critics know Amie for her empathetic approach to film writing–not least because she's still at it herself. If you're looking for a writer, podcaster, or panel moderator who really knows horror, look no further.
Cucalorus and Me, or Why Wilmington?
Named after a lighting device used in film and theater, the Wilmington festival has
served as a showcase for truly independent cinema since 1994. There are
certain other film festivals--you know the ones--that tout
their support for independent film, and they aren't necessarily lying, but the more prestigious
ones tend to program a fair amount of studio or wannabe-studio product.
That isn't the case with Cucalorus, which has more in common with Slamdance--or even the Edinburgh Film Festival--than Sundance.
As for me, I ended up at Cucalorus because Aaron Hillis, a longtime programmer for the festival, enthusiastically recommended it right when I was looking for something fun and different to do around the holidays, so that's why I'm covering a Wilmington film festival for a Seattle film site. That said, I intend to indicate, when I'm able, how Seattle cinephiles can see some of these films, if not in theaters, then at least online.
The 29th edition of Cucalorus runs from Wed, Nov 15, to Sun, Nov 19, 2023. All films screen at Thalian Hall (310 Chestnut St) or Jengo's Playhouse (815 Princess St).
For more information, please see the official site. Images: Thalian Hall (Wilmington, NC), SIFF 2004 program guide (Amazon), Wes Craven fan Amie Simon (Letterboxd), and Jengo's Playhouse (Cucalorus).
No comments:
Post a Comment