It’s hard to say what the most exciting part of the March 27th meeting of the Mobile Film Group was. There was the fabulous view from the chicly appointed Skyview Lounge on the top floor of the Riverview Plaza Hotel. There was the accomplished, interesting documentary “Dick-George, Tenn-Tom” by local filmmaker Gideon Kennedy, at the center of the gathering.
But I think the most exciting part of the night was the sheer number of people there (50!) and the genuine thrill of being in a roomful of people interested in, even devoted to, film. And not just movies, but local film. Where have you been all my life? It was, dare I say, a scene.
We have Charlie Smoke, Director of Community Development for the Mobile Arts Council, to thank for setting up the film group. He assembled an ever-growing contact list of people involved in film in Mobile and, through e-mail, keeps us updated on screenings, festivals, grants and meetings.
The big draw of the evening was the film screening. The theme of the meeting was “The Art of the Editor” so Kennedy and editor/co-director Marcus Rosentrater showed two versions of his film to illustrate stages of editing. A testament to the film’s interest was the fact that 50 people gladly watched it two times in a row. The filmmakers describe their documentary thus:
“In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon visited Mobile, Ala., for 104 minutes, during which time he shook 100 feet of hands, lost a cufflink and shared a stage with his biggest political rival, Governor George Wallace. ‘Dick-George, Tenn-Tom’ is a sardonic look at their rivalry, the creation of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, and the attempt on Wallace’s life less than a year later.”
While working at Bienville Books downtown, Gideon Kennedy uncovered some old magazines on Nixon’s visit here. What began as exercise with his new computer became what he describes as “an obsession” and through research and ingenuity, Kennedy put together a fascinating, pithy story full of ironic twists, local color and disturbing telephone calls. This is an accomplishment for a tale of less than 15 minutes! It was illuminating, entertaining, and a little frightening, and the subject matter goes far beyond a mere local curiosity.
Kennedy put it best when he said of the film, “What I loved about it was that this was a finite event, Nixon was here for 104 minutes, that was so well documented that I could trace almost every moment. And while not much actually happened, these little moments spoke volumes to me about the men there.”
Kennedy’s film speaks volumes, too; go to www.climenole.com/films/DickGeorgeTennTom to watch it or to www.myspace.com/climenole for more information that didn’t make it into the film. In addition to promoting it themselves (they made campaign buttons!) Kennedy and Marcus Rosenstrater are submitting the film to festivals and working with Snowden Tatarski, a brand consultancy out of Athens, Georgia.
With the long hours of leisure they must have in the midst of all that, the filmmaking team is editing their next project, tentatively titled “Clandestine.” It is half documentary and half narrative fiction and concerns a shortwave radio phenomenon known as Numbers Stations, enciphered communications from home governments to spies in the field. It will be composed entirely of found footage, such as old newsreels, movie series, educational films and the like.
If you’re as inspired as I am by all this and you’d like to hobnob with the kind of people who make great movies in their spare time, e-mail Charlie Smoke at csmoke@mobilearts.org to join the mailing list for the Mobile Film Group. The next meeting is April 24 at a not-yet-determined location and I for one hope we can keep up the momentum that was generated at the Skyview Lounge. Hope to see you there.
Contact Asia Frey at afrey@lagniappemobile.com.
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