First the film test, then the film festTwo Little Silver men want to create a
Red Bank Film Festival
JEFF HUNTLEY Michael Lucio Sternbach and Matthew Aldrich discuss plans for “Freedom Film Test,” to be held Dec. 2 at the Internet Café in Red Bank to gauge the public’s receptiveness to a more ambitious film festival planned for August.
Red Bank will have a film festival next summer if two ambitious young film producers get their way.
The two Little Silver men want to create a Red Bank Film Festival that would be held in August and would attract cutting-edge filmmakers from far and wide.
"We would like to become a regular event like RiverFest and put Red Bank on the film community map," said Michael Lucio Sternbach and Matthew Aldrich, founders of Freedom Film Society Inc.
Sternbach and Aldrich, both 22, think that Red Bank is hip enough to embrace an avant-garde film festival.
"Why not here?" Aldrich asked.
"We’ve got proximity to Manhattan, Kevin Smith making films here and the Clearview Cinema."
The two creative college graduates know the task is daunting, but they feel emboldened because of the digital revolution in film production and distribution, making it cheaper to produce and distribute films.
The film program will be very different from what Red Bank has seen before. "We have looked at what’s going on with short films and plan to run top-quality shorts at the festival," Aldrich said.
Both Red Bank Regional High School graduates have been friends since kindergarten, sharing their love for film and art through middle school and high school. where they were involved in film production.
They parted ways when selecting colleges. Aldrich attended the New College of the University of South Florida in Sarasota and majored in humanities with a concentration in film studies. Sternbach attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and majored in film production and theory.
While at opposite ends of the East Coast, they kept in touch by mail and saw each other on breaks. "We always talked about what we wanted to do when we graduated. We knew that we wanted to collaborate on a creative project.
"We also talked about why this town does not have a film festival. We did research and talked to people who had run film festivals. We discovered that we needed to found a film society first," Aldrich said.
Around that time, Aldrich says he met another old friend, Mike Peduto, at the Globe, Front Street, one night. He mentioned his idea for a film festival. Peduto became excited about the project and came up with the name Freedom Film Society.
Since then, Peduto has become a part of the project, as a public relations person and another friend, Rich Ahlert, also is involved. "He’s our media and marketing person. He’s good at making contacts." Aldrich explained.
Founded as a nonprofit educational and arts organization, the Freedom Film Society is dedicated to providing the Red Bank community with cutting-edge media.
Still Aldrich and Sternbach have some reservations as to whether Red Bank is ready for experimental films and the new technology.
"As we were planning the film festival for next August, I thought it would be a good idea to run an event immediately, to test the water so to speak," Aldrich said.
The idea for a "Freedom Film Test" was born. To be held on Dec. 2 at the Internet Café, 1 W. Front St. in Red Bank, it will be a free evening of film screenings and live music to introduce the public to the film society and to see if the public responds.
The music will be provided by the New York City jazz quartet TEST.
Starting at 7 p.m., the Film Test will include experimental films like Sternbach’s Down to the Crux, a feature film about how the jazz revolution in the ’60s paralleled and converged with the civil rights movement. "It’s about how the music was a reflection of a sound insurrection here and abroad," Sternbach said.
"It’s 45 minutes long and includes archival footage of the civil rights movement. It was mostly shot in New York City and along the East Coast."
Sternbach said the musicians spotlighted in his film haven’t been given the recognition they deserve — musicians like John Coltraine, Nat Coleman or Archie Shepp. "I studied ethnomusicology under Schepp. We spent many nights drinking bourbon and listening to ragtime," Sternbach said.
Sternbach, who has curated this event, also directed the film Wake Up Angels, an experimental short shot in 16mm, which examines a young woman’s immersion into the subliminal.
There are three other films being shown: Beyond the Screams, which Sternbach calls a rare insight, by the people who live it, into the U.S. Latino/Chicano punk scene from the late ’70s to the torchbearers of today.
From Here to There, a short experimental video, explores a small pocket of hidden female rage. It attempts to establish a community, a gathering, a network of women’s reflections on sexual violence, Sternbach said. And Ode, which is a dreamy Super 8mm film, attempts to reconcile modern morality with a tradition-bound faith, and asks whether it’s possible to commit a sin against a religion that won’t even have you as a member.
Both men share a rough vision of what they want the August festival to be like.
"The theme may be ‘Do it digital,’ " Aldrich said.
"And there will be two parts — an esthetic and a technological part," Sternbach added.
Explains Aldrich: "The digital revolution is making film production more democratic because it is more affordable."
Aldrich said he realizes that some not very good films can be made, but he believes that "the cream will rise to the top."
Adds Sternbach: "Because of digital technology and production, a new film esthetic is emerging with the movement and placement of the camera that creates more casual, intimate settings. It’s the closest thing we’ve ever seen to a drama portraying real life. It creates a new dimension in story telling."
On the technological side, he said, "Digital technology is changing the way films are projected and distributed. Theaters will replace traditional projectors with digital light projection which allows for films to be projected in high definition.
"Right now, distributors have to print reels and run them through projectors. In the near future, a distributor will no longer have to send reels to the theaters, he will send just a file."
What Aldrich and Sternbach would like to do during the summer festival is to show high-definition transfers of recent digital films, using a digital light projector.
"We want people to see how films are going to be projected possibly in only two years," Aldrich said.
"If we do that, it will be an important festival," Sternbach added. "We are currently accepting submissions and plan to advertise in industry journals."
Right now it is not costing them very much, but in order to go ahead with the August festival, they will need to purchase a digital light projector. That would cost approximately $200,000, according to Aldrich.
"It’s important that we start getting some significant sponsors. We are planning to put together proposal packages very soon," Aldrich said. But first, they have to pass the test.