Cinemania

The Algonquin Independent Film Festival brings film enthusiasts and industry insiders together in New Hope, Pa.

By: Amy Brummer

Syad Ashref’s Letter from an Immigrant: Underground is one of the films slated for screening at the Algonquin Indiefest, a four-day film festival in New Hope.

   Everyone’s got stories to tell. Real and imagined, serious and funny, some as old as the dawn of mankind. Others happened last week.
   "It was like a movie," some people say when they recall a particularly meaty tale, rich with characters and unexpected twists of fate.
   But would it make a good movie? Are the characters interesting enough to rivet an audience? Is the writing fresh enough to keep it from falling into formulaic cliché? Does it actually have an ending?
   At Pitchfest, screenwriters and filmmakers can put their stories to the test. A part of the Algonquin Indiefest, which takes place in New Hope, Pa., Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, Pitchfest brings together screenwriter Mark Rosenthal, producer Tammy Tiehel Stedman, director Steve Rash, casting agent Cathy Wickline and acquisitions expert Eugene Hayes as a sounding board for new ideas.

Photo: Sandy Stefanowicz

David Duzenski stars in Touched, a film about a casting director living in Philadelphia.

   Mr. Rosenthal, a New Hope resident whose screenwriting credits include Mercury Rising and Mona Lisa Smile, has been involved in the industry for more than 20 years. A Philadelphia native, he left for Los Angeles in the ’80s with little concept of what the movie industry was all about.
   With no money to rent an office, he and his writing partner, Lawrence Konner, set up shop at the food court of the Beverly Center, turning out their first script, The Legend of Billy Jean, which eventually made it to the big screen with Christian Slater in one of the lead roles.
   For their next project, they were called upon to pitch an idea for the sequel to Romancing the Stone, which not only put them in the hot seat, vying against more than a dozen other writers, but squarely in the halls of Hollywood royalty — the office of Michael Douglas. As a result of that meeting, the two writers developed the script for The Jewel of the Nile and have continued collaborating ever since.
   Mr. Rosenthal says the most important factors in presenting a pitch are to have fresh, original stories and strong characters. The latter is particularly important in Hollywood, where putting together a strong cast can be a determining factor in its success.
   He also encourages first-time pitchers to practice in front of an audience first, even if it is a parent or a spouse.
   "Sitting in a room and telling a story forces you to make specific choices," Mr. Rosenthal says. "It will let you know if your idea will hold up. A lot of people have a great idea about how to start a movie, but they don’t know how to end it. Going through it with someone will reveal the holes. It will not only reveal if you have a good story, but if you have a bad one."
   Ms. Stedman’s advice is to keep it short and simple, stay focused, and be enthusiastic. Eager to hear stories from people in the region, both she and Mr. Rosenthal look forward to giving participants feedback and guidance.
   Two films that Ms. Stedman produced, the Oscar-winning short film My Mother Dreams the Satan’s Disciples (2000), directed by Barbara Shock, and Touched, directed by Philadelphia casting agent Mike Lemon, will be screened at the festival. Both films are narratives based on the directors’ experiences, with Satan’s Disciples leaning toward humor, and Touched more toward drama.
   When Ms. Shock was living in Manhattan, her mother, visiting from South Dakota, was somewhat unnerved by the Hell’s Angels, who had a clubhouse across the street from her daughter’s apartment. By the end of her stay, she had worked up the courage to cross the road and speak with the bikers, asking them to keep an eye out for her daughter.
   The film is shot in dream sequences that have the mother entering the clubhouse, which the film crew reconstructed a few blocks away with the consent and support of the Hell’s Angels, who asked only that their name be changed.
   Touched focuses on Mike, a casting director living in Philadelphia who has all but given up on finding love, or at least a lover. On this particular night, he cruises the bars in a final attempt to make a meaningful connection and meets Michael, an attractive fellow 30 years his junior. Under the guise of a one-night stand, the two return to Mike’s apartment, where the young man reveals his true intentions. Over the course of the evening, they find a common bond in their loneliness and make a profound impact on each other’s lives.
   In the nonfiction category, Ray Glanzmann will premiere his film Broads, a series of interviews with notable Hollywood actresses, many with careers that date back to the 1940s.
   Mr. Glanzmann, whose acting credits include roles in the television drama Homicide: Life on the Street and the 1994 film Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, turned to scriptwriting to give his career another dimension. Looking to cast an older woman for a part in his film, he spoke with the actress Maureen Stapleton about getting involved. As the conversation turned to stories about her career, he realized he had stumbled onto something.
   He put his script on hold and turned his camera on Ms. Stapleton and other actresses of her generation — Patricia Neal, Celeste Holm and Estelle Parsons, to name a few — exploring their histories and addressing issues such as the changing role of women and ageism in Hollywood.
   "Some of the actresses aren’t as well known by name," Mr. Glanzmann says, "but they are immediately recognizable, like Elizabeth Wilson, who played Dustin Hoffman’s mother in ‘The Graduate’ and Roz in ‘Nine to Five.’" Both Ms. Neal and Ms. Holm will attend the premiere of the film, which is in its final stages of editing.
   Also presenting a film in post-production will be Donna Dudick, director of the festival. Ms. Dudick started the Algonquin Film Festival in response to what she saw as a lack of opportunities in Bucks County for regional filmmakers to screen their work. In creating her films, the Warrington, Pa., resident used cast and crew from the region, but found the only venues to share the fruits of their labor were in Philadelphia.
   Capitalizing on the wealth of talent in the area, Ms. Dudick put together last year’s program, which featured 28 films from 21 independent filmmakers, and presented the first Hoopla! Award for Film Achievement to screenwriter Ted Tally, who won an Oscar in 1991 for Silence of the Lambs. Mr. Tally is currently working on Baz Luhrmann’s Alexander the Great, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and will be on hand at this year’s event to introduce Christopher Durang’s short film, A Day in the Life of Playwright Christopher Durang, starring Mr. Durang, Sigourney Weaver, Julie Hagerty and Christine Estabrook.
   This year, the Hoopla! award will go to Susan Seidelman, director of Desperately Seeking Susan and, most recently, Gaudi Afternoon, starring Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Davis and Lili Taylor.
   Ms. Dudick will present her film, The Middle Voice, a noir feature focusing on small-town residents involved in a medical insurance scam. The experience of filmmaking, she says, can be very isolating, especially when people are starting out, budgets are tight, and everything from writing to editing can fall on the shoulders of one person.
   The festival is an opportunity for people involved in all aspects of the process to come together, network and share their efforts.
   "We’ve had a fabulous response from people in the film industry," Ms. Dudick says. "It is terrific to know that all of these people are willing to give back to those of us who are new to the craft."
The Algonquin Indiefest takes place at the Eagle Fire Hall, 46 N. Sugan Road, New Hope, Pa., Jan. 29-Feb. 1. Day passes cost $32; four-day passes cost $99. A Family Film Day will be held at the Bucks County Convention and Visitors Center, 3207 Street Road, Bensalem. Tickets cost $10 per person or $25 per family, available at Farley’s Bookstore, 44 S. Main St., New Hope, the Radisson Hotel, 2400 Old Lincoln Highway, Trevose, and the Lambertville Trading Co., 43 Bridge St., Lambertville, N.J., or by mail: Box 504, Warrington, PA 18976. Tickets also will be available at the door. For information, call (267) 981-1139. A complete schedule of screening and event times is available on the Web: www.algonquinfest.org