2008 Woodie Awards
Small potatoes take center stage !
Dilan Brown
Issue date: 2/1/06 Section: Life
- Page 1 of 1
|
The second annual Small Potato Films' Short Film Festival will take place February 1st and 2nd, and will showcase premier film-making talents from throughout the region. Filmmakers from Boise, Victor, and Lava Hot Springs, among others, have submitted films and are expected to be in attendance. Also among the films being shown are a number created by graduate students from the University of Southern California.
The group Small Potato Films have accumulated and reviewed countless submissions from all over the west. Dave Blake, an ISU theatre grad student as well as a key member of SPF, says that films are selected by how they harmonize with others chosen. This year there have been selected a number of deserving films, in several genres. These include documentaries, short fictional pieces, animated works, and others.
"We were lucky to have amazing film directors contact us," says Blake, whose interests in theatre and film were absorbed from his friends who'd already caught the bug. "People I knew were doing it. Once you get started it's like going into your own commune. It's different from any other social aspect. It's a wonderful community. It's just the thrill of performance, the thrill of watching other perform what you've written."
Started about four years ago, Small Potato Films formed with aspirations to eventually function as a unifying hub to the sporadic patches of filmmaking communities around Idaho and the western states.
"Our vision is not to be the next Sundance, though that would be nice," jokes Blake. "But we don't have Robert Redford's money. We want to be a place for filmmakers to be seen, to be able to talk to audiences and other area filmmakers, get feedback, and to form cohesion. Bring a community together."
The response after the festival's November 04' debut was promising, despite an early week showing that hinted at a lackluster gathering. Instead, Pocatello film buffs and causal popcorn-chomping fans alike entered in surprising droves to witness the content behind the catchy name.
"We had a really good response," says Blake. "Usually not many students go to the movies during the week, they go on the weekends. I think that came from there not usually being a film festival here."
"A lot of people came up to us after last year's festival saying, 'that was a lot of fun', 'you guys did a great job', says Blake. "We've met a lot of great people."
Small Potato Films are David Blake, Jeff Bosley, Philip Carlson, Michael Czerepinski, Christopher Ellis, Abigail Keifner, Chad Rodgers, and Ron Torres.
The Small Potato Film's Short Films Festival starts February 1st at 7:00pm in the Bengal theatre at the Pond Student Union, and will have its second showing the 2nd, also at 7:00. For information about the festival, the group, or to learn about submitting a film, visit www.smallpotatofilms.com