"Hexing A Hurricane" Booklist Review
The title refers to the voodoo ceremony held annually in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. Viewers watch congregants participate in rhythmic chanting and drumming in their efforts to assuage hurricane spirits in advance of the coming storms. Portraying a city and its indomitable people, the film also captures the essence of daily life for several residents prior to and following devastating Hurricane Katrina. The camera tracks a young couple returning to their decimated neighborhood and sifting through rubble that was once their home. Featuring gut-wrenching before-and-after pictures, this is a powerful study in contrasts. The stark visuals depicting rebuilt areas and those still in a ravaged state show the complexities of recovery. The program closes on a hopeful note, with scenes of Mardi Gras, political rallies, and locals determined to rebuild their lives."
-Carol Holzberg - Booklist
-Carol Holzberg - Booklist
"Hexing A Hurricane" Cinephalia Review
A year ago, to the day I'm writing this actually, the United States suffered one of the worst events in our nations history due to a natural disaster. We will all remember the hand of destruction that Katrina struck the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi and of course New Orleans. Most of us were lucky enough not have experienced this first hand, I personally couldn't imagine living through this horror. Most of us were forced to watch unbelievable event after another on our television sets. While not actually living the experience, I can safely say that we too were stricken with pain and disbelief. A year later New Orleans is still young on the road to a long recovery and while the news has moved on to its next hot topic of the moment there are documentaries coming out of New Orleans that shed light on the situation with a more personal touch. "Hexing A Hurricane" is one of the first to come out, and is actually the first documentary on Katrina filmed by a New Orleans resident.
Jeremy Campbell his film six weeks prior to Katrina's arrival at a Voodaoo Ceremony that is held annually in New Orleans. The ceremony is held to, you guessed it, help ward off hurricanes and pray for peaceful weather during the approaching season. I don't know how Campbell obtained this footage, if he was originally working on a documentary somehow focusing on Voodoo in New Orleans, but he could not have opened the film with better footage. This, my friend, opens you up to the real New Orleans. You become a part of their culture fast. After a brief and very informative lesson on Voodoo the film moves us to the real meat of the film. Campbell takes us into the world of the residents and what they are doing, what they have learned and what they have experienced after this tragedy.
I have to say that what I like most about "Hexing A Hurricane" is that the film does not focus on a certain demographic of people. Campbell doesn't try to follow in the footsteps of other docos and the news by only focusing on the poorest sections of New Orleans; instead he manages to actually build a more diverse set of subjects. We meet a young couple returning to their home for the first time after Katrina. We meet a very dedicated and driven social figure that is rallying the locals and we meet a young musician who correlates his experience to the life and lessons of Louise Armstrong. The Louise Armstrong piece really displays a strong point for Campbell; he knows what to look for that would set his film apart for other docos that are going to tackle this subject. The film isn't about who's fault it is, it isn't about the government not caring for African Americans, it isn't about pointing fingers. "Hexing A Hurricane" is about the strength of New Orleans as a people. The film bypasses the negative, but still manages to show that a lot of work still lies ahead. Even though the funding isn't coming in fast enough New Orleans will be rebuilt and their heritage and pride will remain unscathed.
Jeremy Campbell his film six weeks prior to Katrina's arrival at a Voodaoo Ceremony that is held annually in New Orleans. The ceremony is held to, you guessed it, help ward off hurricanes and pray for peaceful weather during the approaching season. I don't know how Campbell obtained this footage, if he was originally working on a documentary somehow focusing on Voodoo in New Orleans, but he could not have opened the film with better footage. This, my friend, opens you up to the real New Orleans. You become a part of their culture fast. After a brief and very informative lesson on Voodoo the film moves us to the real meat of the film. Campbell takes us into the world of the residents and what they are doing, what they have learned and what they have experienced after this tragedy.
I have to say that what I like most about "Hexing A Hurricane" is that the film does not focus on a certain demographic of people. Campbell doesn't try to follow in the footsteps of other docos and the news by only focusing on the poorest sections of New Orleans; instead he manages to actually build a more diverse set of subjects. We meet a young couple returning to their home for the first time after Katrina. We meet a very dedicated and driven social figure that is rallying the locals and we meet a young musician who correlates his experience to the life and lessons of Louise Armstrong. The Louise Armstrong piece really displays a strong point for Campbell; he knows what to look for that would set his film apart for other docos that are going to tackle this subject. The film isn't about who's fault it is, it isn't about the government not caring for African Americans, it isn't about pointing fingers. "Hexing A Hurricane" is about the strength of New Orleans as a people. The film bypasses the negative, but still manages to show that a lot of work still lies ahead. Even though the funding isn't coming in fast enough New Orleans will be rebuilt and their heritage and pride will remain unscathed.
"Don't Worry Honey... " Film Threat Review
by Phil Hall Dec. 4, 2006
Jeremy Campbell's "Don't Worry Honey, I Live Here: How Locals Celebrate Mardi Gras" provides a record of the Big Easy's most famous event in the years prior to Hurricane Katrina. With footage shot between 2001 and 2003, the film provides a glimpse of the raucous, rude and wonderfully hedonistic excess of the Mardi Gras festivities. As presented in this film, there appeared to have been three different Mardi Gras celebrations: a fairly respectable and conventional parade complete with marching bands and celebrities on floats (Jason Alexander can be briefly glimpsed throwing beads from a passing float). Then there are two distinctive neighborhood free-for-alls - one for the white folks, one for the black folks. The lack of integration is never overtly commented upon, but it is impossible not to notice.
The film is rich with plenty of kooky characters, including a pair of unicyclists staging jousting matches on a street while a woman with ten-gallon hat full of dollars circles their action ("We're collecting donations for medical bills," she explains, glancing over her shoulder at a fallen unicycle warrior).
Also, there are more than a few inebriates trying and failing to tell funny stories and more than a few street corner ministers trying to save souls amid the revelry. Neither of those camps appear very successful in getting their points across. A few bits of unamusing reality, most notably vomiting drunks and police hauling away too-boisterous celebrants, can be found.
The film also peppers the celebration with a host of interviews by "New Orleans legends" (or at least that's how they're identified in the press notes). I only recognized two of them, singer Rosie Ledet and radio DJ John Sinclair. While New Orleans natives may recognize the others, it would've been helpful if there was a proper identification for each talking head who showed up on camera. But that's the only genuine complaint to lodge at this otherwise entertaining tribute to the glory of pre-Katrina New Orleans.
Jeremy Campbell's "Don't Worry Honey, I Live Here: How Locals Celebrate Mardi Gras" provides a record of the Big Easy's most famous event in the years prior to Hurricane Katrina. With footage shot between 2001 and 2003, the film provides a glimpse of the raucous, rude and wonderfully hedonistic excess of the Mardi Gras festivities. As presented in this film, there appeared to have been three different Mardi Gras celebrations: a fairly respectable and conventional parade complete with marching bands and celebrities on floats (Jason Alexander can be briefly glimpsed throwing beads from a passing float). Then there are two distinctive neighborhood free-for-alls - one for the white folks, one for the black folks. The lack of integration is never overtly commented upon, but it is impossible not to notice.
The film is rich with plenty of kooky characters, including a pair of unicyclists staging jousting matches on a street while a woman with ten-gallon hat full of dollars circles their action ("We're collecting donations for medical bills," she explains, glancing over her shoulder at a fallen unicycle warrior).
Also, there are more than a few inebriates trying and failing to tell funny stories and more than a few street corner ministers trying to save souls amid the revelry. Neither of those camps appear very successful in getting their points across. A few bits of unamusing reality, most notably vomiting drunks and police hauling away too-boisterous celebrants, can be found.
The film also peppers the celebration with a host of interviews by "New Orleans legends" (or at least that's how they're identified in the press notes). I only recognized two of them, singer Rosie Ledet and radio DJ John Sinclair. While New Orleans natives may recognize the others, it would've been helpful if there was a proper identification for each talking head who showed up on camera. But that's the only genuine complaint to lodge at this otherwise entertaining tribute to the glory of pre-Katrina New Orleans.
Current TV, Staff Pick
What I love about the idea of Mardi Gras or Carnaval or even the Jewish holiday of Purim is the human desire to let everything go, revel, party, throw all of the normal rules out the window and just have fun. If anyone needs to truly have fun tomorrow, it's the people of New Orleans. Jeremy Campbell recently uploaded several pieces of video that capture the spirit of New Orleans, its residents and the traditions of Mardi Gras. That's why these excerpts have been chosen for Current TV's staff picks.
Los Angeles City Beat
Bayou local Jeremy Campbell always knew magic ruled New Orleans. One day in that town, he filmed a voodoo ceremony during which participants asked for protection from storms. Six weeks later, Katrina hit, and Campbell caught that action too, plus the chaos of the aftermath, assembling an entirely unique document of the region and the energy that swept over it last summer. Hexing a Hurricane screens tonight at New Orleans in Los Angeles, a one-night event to fill you with the essence of the famous city through film, poetry, spoken word, music and photography.
"Don't Worry Honey..." Review, New Orleans Times-Picayune
By Dave Walker
Shot over three Carnival seasons using the words of some of its most enthusiastic participants, a new documentary captures the local rite we're all hoping has weathered the storm.
Combining street footage the title comes from an odd encounter with bicycle-jousting revelers and dozens of interviews, it's an offhand, offbeat journey into a spiritual celebration that can't be fully explained, just experienced.
If you're lucky.
Jeremy Campbell, a former promotions producer at WGNO-Channel 26, made his movie by taking a video camera along during his own early Carnival explorations.
"I was just bright-eyed and excited about finally living in New Orleans," said Campbell, an Austin, Texas, native who grew up in Alabama. "I'd been a fan of New Orleans music all my life. I was finally here, and I just wanted to document as much of my experience as possible."
He intercut his found footage with off-season interviews with local characters ranging from float designer/historian Henri Schindler to a few of the dudes from Morning 40 Federation. Many of the interviews are appropriately bleary. But many exude daffy eloquence.
"People are at their fullest potential," says Anders Osborne of Mardi Gras. "Both ways, good and bad, so to speak. They're loaded with this day. It feels like a little miracle that there's a day like that."
What better way to explore Mardi Gras than by seeing it from the bandstand?
"Choosing the musicians was just sort of a way for me to get up close and personal with people I respected a lot," Campbell said. "Partly out of that respect, I wanted to preserve their stories. I thought it was important that their Mardi Gras memories were somewhere on the record.
"They're in the trenches, and at the same time they have a bird's-eye view."
Other interviewees include Irma Thomas, Kermit Ruffins, Jason Marsalis, Stanton Moore, John Sinclair, Johnny Angel, Rosie Ledet, Marva Wright, Benny Grunch, Irene Sage and Charmaine Neville.
To Campbell's delight, the musicians he approached cheerfully cooperated.
"No one said no," Campbell said. "One of the things I sort of laugh about now looking back is that at the time I was sort of this kid with a camera. Everybody said, 'Sure, come to my show!'
"Locals have a passionate opinion on Mardi Gras. Everyone was more than willing to share that."
Campbell worked on the documentary for years, but Hurricane Katrina -- and the threat it posed to this most precious celebration motivated him to get it done and distributed. Curious viewers unable to make its air date Saturday at 2:05 a.m., which most people probably consider late-night tonight can visit www.ten18films.com and order the DVD, which will contain scenes excised for broadcast, plus extras.
Another Campbell film worth checking out is "Hexing a Hurricane." That one features post-Katrina musings by several local lights, including Times-Picayune Living columnist Chris Rose, Harry Anderson, Garland Robinette and Angela Hill. Air date for a cut-down version of the hurricane film is scheduled for 2:35 a.m. March 3 (actually very late Thursday, for habitual night owls) on WGNO. It's also available from the Web site.
It opens with mid-summer footage of a voodoo ceremony intended to indemnify the city from hurricane damage, and eventually circles back for a "What happened?" return to the voodoo practitioners.
"I've have the same story so many people have," said Campbell, explaining how he came to live here.
Working elsewhere, visiting New Orleans a lot. Quit the job to move to New Orleans just because. Worked as barista for a while, then at Offbeat magazine. He sidelined several documentaries while working at Channel 26.
And he shot Mardi Gras with a $300 camera. Some of the footage is shaky. The lighting is sometimes raw. And interview subjects sometimes hold Campbell's clip-on microphone while they ramble.
The film feels like a little miracle, in other words.
"The hurricane definitely pushed me over the edge to find a way to do it, find a way to get the money and to clean it up," he said. "It just seemed like there was a possibility that people might forget all of that color, in the midst of the sort of black-and-white days we're in right now.
"While it might be somewhat melancholy, at the same time it's important for it to stand as a reminder of what was, and what I think will be again."
Shot over three Carnival seasons using the words of some of its most enthusiastic participants, a new documentary captures the local rite we're all hoping has weathered the storm.
Combining street footage the title comes from an odd encounter with bicycle-jousting revelers and dozens of interviews, it's an offhand, offbeat journey into a spiritual celebration that can't be fully explained, just experienced.
If you're lucky.
Jeremy Campbell, a former promotions producer at WGNO-Channel 26, made his movie by taking a video camera along during his own early Carnival explorations.
"I was just bright-eyed and excited about finally living in New Orleans," said Campbell, an Austin, Texas, native who grew up in Alabama. "I'd been a fan of New Orleans music all my life. I was finally here, and I just wanted to document as much of my experience as possible."
He intercut his found footage with off-season interviews with local characters ranging from float designer/historian Henri Schindler to a few of the dudes from Morning 40 Federation. Many of the interviews are appropriately bleary. But many exude daffy eloquence.
"People are at their fullest potential," says Anders Osborne of Mardi Gras. "Both ways, good and bad, so to speak. They're loaded with this day. It feels like a little miracle that there's a day like that."
What better way to explore Mardi Gras than by seeing it from the bandstand?
"Choosing the musicians was just sort of a way for me to get up close and personal with people I respected a lot," Campbell said. "Partly out of that respect, I wanted to preserve their stories. I thought it was important that their Mardi Gras memories were somewhere on the record.
"They're in the trenches, and at the same time they have a bird's-eye view."
Other interviewees include Irma Thomas, Kermit Ruffins, Jason Marsalis, Stanton Moore, John Sinclair, Johnny Angel, Rosie Ledet, Marva Wright, Benny Grunch, Irene Sage and Charmaine Neville.
To Campbell's delight, the musicians he approached cheerfully cooperated.
"No one said no," Campbell said. "One of the things I sort of laugh about now looking back is that at the time I was sort of this kid with a camera. Everybody said, 'Sure, come to my show!'
"Locals have a passionate opinion on Mardi Gras. Everyone was more than willing to share that."
Campbell worked on the documentary for years, but Hurricane Katrina -- and the threat it posed to this most precious celebration motivated him to get it done and distributed. Curious viewers unable to make its air date Saturday at 2:05 a.m., which most people probably consider late-night tonight can visit www.ten18films.com and order the DVD, which will contain scenes excised for broadcast, plus extras.
Another Campbell film worth checking out is "Hexing a Hurricane." That one features post-Katrina musings by several local lights, including Times-Picayune Living columnist Chris Rose, Harry Anderson, Garland Robinette and Angela Hill. Air date for a cut-down version of the hurricane film is scheduled for 2:35 a.m. March 3 (actually very late Thursday, for habitual night owls) on WGNO. It's also available from the Web site.
It opens with mid-summer footage of a voodoo ceremony intended to indemnify the city from hurricane damage, and eventually circles back for a "What happened?" return to the voodoo practitioners.
"I've have the same story so many people have," said Campbell, explaining how he came to live here.
Working elsewhere, visiting New Orleans a lot. Quit the job to move to New Orleans just because. Worked as barista for a while, then at Offbeat magazine. He sidelined several documentaries while working at Channel 26.
And he shot Mardi Gras with a $300 camera. Some of the footage is shaky. The lighting is sometimes raw. And interview subjects sometimes hold Campbell's clip-on microphone while they ramble.
The film feels like a little miracle, in other words.
"The hurricane definitely pushed me over the edge to find a way to do it, find a way to get the money and to clean it up," he said. "It just seemed like there was a possibility that people might forget all of that color, in the midst of the sort of black-and-white days we're in right now.
"While it might be somewhat melancholy, at the same time it's important for it to stand as a reminder of what was, and what I think will be again."
"Don't Worry Honey..." Gambit Weekly Review
"While most Mardi Gras coverage predicably focuses on Bourbon Street debauchery, Campbell points his cameras elsewhere: to the overall vibe and drum circles on Fremchmen Street on Lundi Gras; the Mardi Gras Indians parading under the Claiborne Avenue overpass; the confrontations between revelers and the religious missionaries working the French Quarter. And as interview subjects tell their Mardi Gras experiences, funky establishments like the Hi-Ho Lounge get their due. Campbell successfully documents the loose, spirited and funky vibe that pulses through local Carnival traditions."
-Scott Jordan, Gambit Weekly
Gambit Weekly
by David Lee Simmons
For an evening that is supposed to be a celebration, ten18's bash sure has a competitive spirit. This anniversary of the establishment of Flicker in New Orleans will certainly be a party, with Jeremy Lyons kicking off the evening with a live set. But then it gets serious; local filmmakers will present recent works that will be judged both by audience members and a jury panel. Winners of either category will have their works shown in other Flicker satellite cities: New York City; Los Angeles; Richmond, Va.; Asheville and Chapel Hill, N.C.; Athens, Ga.; and Austin, Texas. Local filmmakers submitting their work include Pamela Burke, Carlos Cantu, Nicole Eden, Kimberly Gibb, Eric Laws, Louise Matthews and Mark Morris. Artists Award judges are Rick Delaup, Courtney Egan and Aaron Walker.
For an evening that is supposed to be a celebration, ten18's bash sure has a competitive spirit. This anniversary of the establishment of Flicker in New Orleans will certainly be a party, with Jeremy Lyons kicking off the evening with a live set. But then it gets serious; local filmmakers will present recent works that will be judged both by audience members and a jury panel. Winners of either category will have their works shown in other Flicker satellite cities: New York City; Los Angeles; Richmond, Va.; Asheville and Chapel Hill, N.C.; Athens, Ga.; and Austin, Texas. Local filmmakers submitting their work include Pamela Burke, Carlos Cantu, Nicole Eden, Kimberly Gibb, Eric Laws, Louise Matthews and Mark Morris. Artists Award judges are Rick Delaup, Courtney Egan and Aaron Walker.
Birmingham Weekly
By Glenny Brock
When Norwood Cheek staged his first Flicker Film Festival in Chapel Hill, N.C. back in 1994, his foremost goal was "to preserve the art of filmmaking on film." To Cheek, having a whirring and rattling projector (16mm or Super 8) visible and audible was an integral part of experiencing films. Moreover, earnest independent efforts had tremendous value but their description was so limited that they often seemed invisible outside of film circles. So Flicker was born: a lo-fi film festival that showcased the work of just about anybody, provided that the efforts were less than 15 minutes long and shot on film.
Fast forward nearly a decade and one of Cheek's secondary goals has been achieved - Flicker is everywhere, or at least it's getting around. What began as a forum for local work has become an informal distribution system. There are regular flicker festivals in Asheville, N.C., Richmond, Va., Austin, New York City, New Orleans, even Bordeaux, France. Each of these cities has an established Flicker chapter that stages either a monthly or a bimonthly festival, and all of them swap films. Cheek, now based in Los Angeles, is the unofficial leader of them all, and his man in New Orleans, Jeremy Campbell, recently convinced Cheek that the show should go on the road. The idea is that the films could still draw big audiences in cities without Flicker chapters. Birmingham audiences will get a chance to check out Flicker films next Wednesday, Feb. 12, at WorkPlay.
"This first tour is a thermometer for how far this tour will go," Campbell says. "Ideally, I'd like to come back with more films in a few months."
Campbell spent his first several years out of school working in television. He was the co-host of a syndicated late-night show called The Lori and Jeremy Show, which was gaining momentum - drawing big-name guests like Liz Phair, The Flaming Lips and Cyndi Lauper - when the parent network switched to all-Spanish programming.
"We couldn't exactly make the switch," Campbell laughs. "So I decided to make independent films."
His first outing into filmmaking was a short documentary titled Sorry Mom, I'm a Drunk. Shot on the streets of New Orleans, the five-minute film offers a glimpse into the excesses of the Mardi Gras celebration.
"So this actually started for me about a year ago when I was looking for a place to show my film and learned about Flicker," Campbell says. "When I saw that other cities had a chapter, I sent an email to Norwood Cheek. He's always looking for people eager to start Flicker in new cities."
The New Orleans chapter has had great success, with Campbell serving as curator for three sold-out shows. The big turnouts convinced him to try taking the show further. Flicker will come to Birmingham as part of a four-city tour that will also take the films to Huntsville, Atlanta and San Francisco. Those stops may seem like strange test markets, but Campbell had his reasons. Huntsville was close to where he grew up, and Atlanta and San Francisco are major cities without Flicker chapters of their own. While Birmingham is not as large a city, the growing local support for independent film made it a worthwhile stop.
"Each Flicker has a personality of its own and each chapter reflects the personality of the town," Campbell says. He emphasizes that every chapter should be a flourishing chapter.
"The Athens chapter has a venue of its own - a bar called Flicker, where it's a regular thing for people to kick back and drink and while they watch films. Then Chapel Hill is totally different, and there's L.A., where the festival is more Hollywood-y than the others but all shot on super8 and 16mm."
Since all of the Flicker chapters exchange films, the network functions as a widespread, independent distribution system, allowing filmmakers' work to be seen in cities where it might never show otherwise. Whoever curates a Flicker festival can choose from dozens of films already making the Flicker rounds.
"My Flicker shows focus on edgy, controversial - maybe offensive - but really fine films," Campbell says.
He mentions a few of the films in the touring lineup that have made the strongest impression on him.
"There's Timmy's Wish. It's not my favorite but it makes me the most curious about how the audience will react," Campbell says. The film tells the story of a little boy who gets upset with his parents and prays to God to take them away. Jesus shows up and answers Timmy's prayers in a pretty unbelievable fashion.
Campbell also really likes Just a Kiss of the Hops, a filmic debate over Pabst Blue Ribbon versus Schlitz. The program also includes three or four other documentaries, a few experimental films and nearly a dozen that Campbell describes simply as "fun."
By taking the Flicker films on the road, Campbell has had the added advantage of encouraging local filmmakers in new cities to submit their work. Birmingham filmmakers Chris Garrison and John Walker, best known in Birmingham and among independent film fans for their popular debut The Electric Heartbreaker, will have a new short in Wednesday's Flicker program. Nether Regions: To Err was finished just in time for last year's Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.
"The synopsis in brief is that it's a sort of Twilight Zone spoof," Garrison says. "Let's see, how do we usually phrase it? 'A renowned doctor reveals the dark secret of his past.' We usually don't really say much more than that because it's only a 13-minute film."
Unlike most of the Flicker films, Nether Regions is shot on digital video. Although Cheek is a purist about film, he encouraged Campbell to accept DV films, both in New Orleans and for the tour, provided that they represented excellent creative work. Campbell himself shoots DV.
"The beauty of DV is that spare bedrooms become editing suites," Campbell says. "People who never could have afforded filmmaking have a way in."
Also showing at the WorkPlay installment of Flicker is Reciprocity, a short (shot on film) by local filmmakers Chuck Hartsell and Chance Shirley.
Campbell has collected nearly 20 films to show during the tour. If well-intended, these road shows not only get wider audiences for independent films, they might also encourage the development of other Flicker chapters.
"These show really flows," Campbell says. "That's the most important element. Flicker has really great films to share."
The Flicker festival will be held at WorkPlay on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $7.
When Norwood Cheek staged his first Flicker Film Festival in Chapel Hill, N.C. back in 1994, his foremost goal was "to preserve the art of filmmaking on film." To Cheek, having a whirring and rattling projector (16mm or Super 8) visible and audible was an integral part of experiencing films. Moreover, earnest independent efforts had tremendous value but their description was so limited that they often seemed invisible outside of film circles. So Flicker was born: a lo-fi film festival that showcased the work of just about anybody, provided that the efforts were less than 15 minutes long and shot on film.
Fast forward nearly a decade and one of Cheek's secondary goals has been achieved - Flicker is everywhere, or at least it's getting around. What began as a forum for local work has become an informal distribution system. There are regular flicker festivals in Asheville, N.C., Richmond, Va., Austin, New York City, New Orleans, even Bordeaux, France. Each of these cities has an established Flicker chapter that stages either a monthly or a bimonthly festival, and all of them swap films. Cheek, now based in Los Angeles, is the unofficial leader of them all, and his man in New Orleans, Jeremy Campbell, recently convinced Cheek that the show should go on the road. The idea is that the films could still draw big audiences in cities without Flicker chapters. Birmingham audiences will get a chance to check out Flicker films next Wednesday, Feb. 12, at WorkPlay.
"This first tour is a thermometer for how far this tour will go," Campbell says. "Ideally, I'd like to come back with more films in a few months."
Campbell spent his first several years out of school working in television. He was the co-host of a syndicated late-night show called The Lori and Jeremy Show, which was gaining momentum - drawing big-name guests like Liz Phair, The Flaming Lips and Cyndi Lauper - when the parent network switched to all-Spanish programming.
"We couldn't exactly make the switch," Campbell laughs. "So I decided to make independent films."
His first outing into filmmaking was a short documentary titled Sorry Mom, I'm a Drunk. Shot on the streets of New Orleans, the five-minute film offers a glimpse into the excesses of the Mardi Gras celebration.
"So this actually started for me about a year ago when I was looking for a place to show my film and learned about Flicker," Campbell says. "When I saw that other cities had a chapter, I sent an email to Norwood Cheek. He's always looking for people eager to start Flicker in new cities."
The New Orleans chapter has had great success, with Campbell serving as curator for three sold-out shows. The big turnouts convinced him to try taking the show further. Flicker will come to Birmingham as part of a four-city tour that will also take the films to Huntsville, Atlanta and San Francisco. Those stops may seem like strange test markets, but Campbell had his reasons. Huntsville was close to where he grew up, and Atlanta and San Francisco are major cities without Flicker chapters of their own. While Birmingham is not as large a city, the growing local support for independent film made it a worthwhile stop.
"Each Flicker has a personality of its own and each chapter reflects the personality of the town," Campbell says. He emphasizes that every chapter should be a flourishing chapter.
"The Athens chapter has a venue of its own - a bar called Flicker, where it's a regular thing for people to kick back and drink and while they watch films. Then Chapel Hill is totally different, and there's L.A., where the festival is more Hollywood-y than the others but all shot on super8 and 16mm."
Since all of the Flicker chapters exchange films, the network functions as a widespread, independent distribution system, allowing filmmakers' work to be seen in cities where it might never show otherwise. Whoever curates a Flicker festival can choose from dozens of films already making the Flicker rounds.
"My Flicker shows focus on edgy, controversial - maybe offensive - but really fine films," Campbell says.
He mentions a few of the films in the touring lineup that have made the strongest impression on him.
"There's Timmy's Wish. It's not my favorite but it makes me the most curious about how the audience will react," Campbell says. The film tells the story of a little boy who gets upset with his parents and prays to God to take them away. Jesus shows up and answers Timmy's prayers in a pretty unbelievable fashion.
Campbell also really likes Just a Kiss of the Hops, a filmic debate over Pabst Blue Ribbon versus Schlitz. The program also includes three or four other documentaries, a few experimental films and nearly a dozen that Campbell describes simply as "fun."
By taking the Flicker films on the road, Campbell has had the added advantage of encouraging local filmmakers in new cities to submit their work. Birmingham filmmakers Chris Garrison and John Walker, best known in Birmingham and among independent film fans for their popular debut The Electric Heartbreaker, will have a new short in Wednesday's Flicker program. Nether Regions: To Err was finished just in time for last year's Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.
"The synopsis in brief is that it's a sort of Twilight Zone spoof," Garrison says. "Let's see, how do we usually phrase it? 'A renowned doctor reveals the dark secret of his past.' We usually don't really say much more than that because it's only a 13-minute film."
Unlike most of the Flicker films, Nether Regions is shot on digital video. Although Cheek is a purist about film, he encouraged Campbell to accept DV films, both in New Orleans and for the tour, provided that they represented excellent creative work. Campbell himself shoots DV.
"The beauty of DV is that spare bedrooms become editing suites," Campbell says. "People who never could have afforded filmmaking have a way in."
Also showing at the WorkPlay installment of Flicker is Reciprocity, a short (shot on film) by local filmmakers Chuck Hartsell and Chance Shirley.
Campbell has collected nearly 20 films to show during the tour. If well-intended, these road shows not only get wider audiences for independent films, they might also encourage the development of other Flicker chapters.
"These show really flows," Campbell says. "That's the most important element. Flicker has really great films to share."
The Flicker festival will be held at WorkPlay on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $7.
Where Yat: September
Is independent film dead in New Orleans? If it was, it isn't any longer...
Ten18Films, a new film production company founded by Jeremy Campbell, is doing its part to bring existing New Orleans independent films to the Crescent City. Ten18's FLICKER, a mini-festival of film shorts at the Shim Sham Club, brought over 200 people together to celebrate and screen works by numerous local filmmakers, vitalizing film as a legitimate artistic avenue for residents of New Orleans.
Ten18Films' goal is to produce video snapshots that showcase New Orleans' culture, art, music and traditions. So far three video shorts have been released to critical acclaim at film festivals around the country. Currently though, it appears Campbell has switched his focus from production to promotion and is making the push to transform the city's consciousness into a film-viewing culture. To do this, Ten18Films is offering weekly screenings of award-winning feature-length films in a four-week series called FILM LOUNGE.
FILM LOUNGE fights the proliferations of corporate and mainstream cinema in New Orleans by featuring films that would otherwise never be presented. With Movie Pitchers being turned into a superfluous parking lot and the Prytania showing movies like Runaway Bride, avenues for independent film have either closed or transformed within the past couple years. FILM LOUNGE also aims to create a film-screening environment that fits the atmospheres of the city; this means abandoning the stodgy theatres for the welcoming environs of local bars and other non-traditional venues.
FILM LOUNGE will be held every Tuesday in the month of September at the Mother-in-Law Lounge. With an 8 o'clock show time, top features from independent film festivals in NYC, Boston, and San Francisco, and a $3 cover, these films are worth the price of admission.
Ten18Films, a new film production company founded by Jeremy Campbell, is doing its part to bring existing New Orleans independent films to the Crescent City. Ten18's FLICKER, a mini-festival of film shorts at the Shim Sham Club, brought over 200 people together to celebrate and screen works by numerous local filmmakers, vitalizing film as a legitimate artistic avenue for residents of New Orleans.
Ten18Films' goal is to produce video snapshots that showcase New Orleans' culture, art, music and traditions. So far three video shorts have been released to critical acclaim at film festivals around the country. Currently though, it appears Campbell has switched his focus from production to promotion and is making the push to transform the city's consciousness into a film-viewing culture. To do this, Ten18Films is offering weekly screenings of award-winning feature-length films in a four-week series called FILM LOUNGE.
FILM LOUNGE fights the proliferations of corporate and mainstream cinema in New Orleans by featuring films that would otherwise never be presented. With Movie Pitchers being turned into a superfluous parking lot and the Prytania showing movies like Runaway Bride, avenues for independent film have either closed or transformed within the past couple years. FILM LOUNGE also aims to create a film-screening environment that fits the atmospheres of the city; this means abandoning the stodgy theatres for the welcoming environs of local bars and other non-traditional venues.
FILM LOUNGE will be held every Tuesday in the month of September at the Mother-in-Law Lounge. With an 8 o'clock show time, top features from independent film festivals in NYC, Boston, and San Francisco, and a $3 cover, these films are worth the price of admission.