Port Townsend Film Festival Celebrates Creativity, Community, and Thought-Provoking Stories Under Blue Skies
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The Port Townsend Film Festival brought films to the streets as well as local venues. Photo by Angela Downs [/caption]
Art news by Angela Downs
The 26th annual Port Townsend Film Festival wafted through downtown this past weekend, with blue skies, live local music, popcorn, movie lovers, filmmakers and their movies.
The charming filmmakers' parade featured kelp dancers, highlighting one of Port Townsend’s local resources, and old cars, evoking old Hollywood. Each car had its unique color, sound, and charm of its era. Charioting smiling faces, the celebration of time felt remarkably American.
“Jimmy and the Demons”, directed by Cindy Meehl and produced by Beth Westrate, showed in the Rose on Saturday. Living life with purpose, wonder, and humor, 82-year-old artist James Grashow welcomed the filmmakers into his process of the creation of “The Cathedral”, a five-foot wooden sculpture. The work was a struggle with life, death, mortality, and the eternal.
The film began with Grashow’s emphasis on being an old man and the need for play in creativity. His daughter later gave thanks to her father for the moments of wonder that he wove into her and her children’s lives growing up.
Grashow’s career always included teaching the youth. And at Saturday’s community meeting, leaders in our local youth support programs, such as OWL360 and The Benji Project, gathered to discuss how to support young people interested in film. How to offer access to tools, teachers, and inspiration was a highlighted focus of the talk.
One example of how to include kids in film can be seen in the outdoor screening of “Soul”, an animated film about the internal struggles of a young girl. Folks sat close to the inflatable screen in camping chairs, and high on the stairs at the fountain to watch from afar.
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“Michael and Damian” star Michael McCutcheon was one of the featured presenters at a community discussion on homelessness. Photo by Angela Downs [/caption]
Out from the darkened rooms in the sun, moviegoers reviewed the films, chatting about the voting ballot scale or their internal response to the often moving themes. One festival participant reflected on how so many of the films were addressing death and loss. Such as “Come See Me in the Good Light”, telling the life story of poet Andrea Gibson, who recently died of cancer.
“Lost Wolves of Yellowstone”, directed by Thomas Winston, also revealed the intimacy of cancer through the story of the first woman Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Sniffles could be heard around the packed Legion Hall. The stirring film exposed complexities between humans and the wild, resilience, dignity, belonging and the difficulty of establishing home.
The room was filled to capacity for a community discussion about homelessness in our county. Hosted by “Michael and Damian” star Michael, a recovery advocate, the film’s maker, Gabe Van Lelyveld, and an OlyCAP representative, people asked questions about the life of being an advocate, what it was like to create the film, and what to do after November 3rd, when the people camping behind the Department of Social and Health Services will no longer be allowed to camp there.
The event wove the strength and creativity of women through almost every aspect. Space was made for children to be welcomed, celebrated and encouraged. And the emphasis on community gathering continued a Port Townsend legacy.
If you missed a movie you were curious about, you can access them through the online film festival from Sept 22-28. See details and purchase a ticket here.
