The Chattanooga Film Festival returns, bigger and better than ever
For the last five years, the Chattanooga Film Festival has been the best event the city has to offer. While the big events Riverbend continues to roll out of uninspired acts from twenty years ago occasionally please the masses, the CFF has consistently brought films that can’t be found elsewhere, films that challenge and inspire, films that deserve to be seen.
Better still, the festival often brings the filmmakers, which allows attendees to spend time interacting with artists on a personal level in a way that can’t be found elsewhere in the region.
From an appreciation perspective, from an educational perspective, from an entertainment perspective, the events of the Chattanooga Film Festival cannot be matched.
The fifth anniversary brings a few changes (moving the location of the festival to the Chattanooga Theater Center being the biggest) but what stays the same is the quality of the curation, the presence of working filmmakers, and, of course, Joe Bob Briggs.
Whether you’re a VIP Badge holder or simply want to see a few movies, the CFF makes the first week of April the best time of the year.
Every year, I select my route through the festival, giving advice on what to see and how to see it. Every year, I abandon my plan after seeing the first film and wander through the rest of the festival blindly.
There’s no wrong way to enjoy the CFF, and even the best of plans fall to the wayside as the weekend goes on.
There’s no way to schedule the events so that you can see everything—so there’s no reason to try. Some events I suggest will likely happen at the same time as other events—you’ll have to weigh which ones fit your style.
Whatever you choose, you’ll be right. All of the events are can’t miss, so you might as well spend as much time as you can at the festival. My recommendations, though, are as follows.
THE MOVIES
▪ Lowlife is billed as a “darkly comic, sublimely cinematic, and strangely heartwarming crime tale that explodes off the screen like a Molotov cocktail.” Lowlife has a lot of buzz both online and at the festival. Recommended strongly by festival director Christ Dortch himself, this is a film that is required viewing for the CFF.
▪ The Devil And Father Amorth is a documentary by director of The Exorcist William Freidkin, and follows Father Gabriele Amorth , an Italian Roman Catholic priest as he performs his ninth exorcism on an Italian woman. It’s a film that allows you to peel back the curtain of fiction and see the disturbing reality of the practice.
▪ RBG is a documentary that details the life and work of legendary Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The film paints an intimate portrait of this American hero, highlighting just how important she is in light of the current political climate.
▪ The Last Movie Star is a film about “an aging, former movie star, portrayed by Burt Reynolds, being forced to face the reality that his glory days are behind him.” While it might not be a wholly new story, every story is a retelling of something, and The Last Movie Star shows that path we all eventually take.
▪ Wolfman’s Got Nards is “a heartfelt documentary” that “explores the power of cult film told through the 1987 classic The Monster Squad and the impact it has on fans, cast and crew, and the industry.”
▪ One Sings, The Other Doesn’t is a 1977 French film as timely and necessary as ever. Billed as a “feminist musical about the bond of sisterhood…throughout years of changes and fraught relationships with men,” this is a unique opportunity to see a piece of film history. The CFF hasn’t had many musicals—don’t miss this one.
▪ The History of Exploitation Cinema: If you only go to one event at the CFF this year, make it a lecture by Joe Bob Briggs. Every year, his talks are hysterical, enlightening, and fascinating. Go see him. You won’t regret it.
▪ Hot Summer Nights, is “a charming coming of age drama set during a summer at Cape Cod” starring Timothée Chalamet, of Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird fame. This film has yet to be released wide, so now’s your chance to see the film before everyone else does.
▪ Borley Rectory is an “animated documentary chronicling what came to be known as “the most haunted house in England.” Beyond just my interest in an animated documentary, this film highlights the career of one of the most famous paranormal investigators in history.
▪ The Power Of Glove is “the true tale of the rise and fall of Nintendo’s Power Glove in the 1980s.” Everyone wanted a Power Glove when I was a kid. While I never had one, I was envious on anyone that did, even though I was never clear on exactly how it worked. Hopefully, this documentary will help me understand the finer points of NES gaming.
▪ To Hell And Back: The Kane Hodder Story is a documentary film about genre film star (and man beneath that Jason mask) Kane Hodder, which “traces his struggle to overcome a dehumanizing childhood and endless bullying, to his rise in becoming one of the true living legends of horror and genre cinema.”
▪ The Endless is called “one of the most incredible and mind-boggling films you’ll see this year,” and was previously screened during last year’s Frightening Ass Film Festival. According to festival organizers, “during CFF you’ll have the chance to catch a special encore screening for free, but…there’s a catch; you’re going to need to join a cult to attend. Start doing your homework for this screening now at ourmultiversesavior.org.” I’m pretty sure I’ve done worse things for less.
▪ I Kill Giants is one of the closing night films of CFF and is called a “crowd-pleasing powerhouse fantasy brought to life by the producers of the Harry Potter films.” It’s based on a graphic novel of the same name and carries with it themes of escapism and fantasy.
According to festival organizers: “There is no better sendoff to CFF’s fifth anniversary than this film. If you could hug a movie, you would want to start with this one.”
THE WORKSHOPS
▪ “Socio-Political Themes In Horror Film” is a workshop discussion exploring the similarities between films like Get Out, Night of the Living Dead, They Live, and The Stepford Wives. Led by filmmaker and journalist Izzy Lee, this workshop discuss how horror films have “used the medium to explore subversive elements of society.”
According to festival organizers, “Izzy is an alumna of CFF 2017 (For A Good Time, Call...) and FAFF 2017 (the Rondo-nominated Rites of Vengeance), and her short film My Monster will play CFF 2018. She’s a writer, filmmaker, and journalist for Birth.Movies.Death., Rue Morgue, and Diabolique, as well as an editor for ScreenAnarchy.”
▪ “Building Character: Crafting 3D Characters In A 2D Medium” is another workshop meant to explore the “simple mechanics that make up a well-designed, fully fleshed-out character.” Character building is likely the hardest part of writing in the narrative form. How to write real, interesting people is crucial to good storytelling.
The workshop is led by C. Robert Cargill, a “former film critic turned screenwriter (Sinister, Marvel’s Doctor Strange, Locke and Key) and author (“Sea of Rust: A Novel, Dreams and Shadow”’).
THE SHORTS
▪ My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes: For whatever reasons, we never know our parents as well as we’d like. There will always be a distance, some missing time, or simple selfishness that keeps up from seeing the complete person.
Filmmaker Charlie Tyrell explores these ideas in this short, a “touching documentary” where the filmmaker hopes to gain “a better understanding of his deceased father through his personal effects—including a stash of VHS pornography tapes.”
Aim Center Shorts: The AIM Center started my journey into education when I worked there as an AmeriCorps member in my mid-twenties. That these films are being shown at the CFF is nothing short of heartwarming. The shorts are “a compilation of 12 stop-motion animations created by members of the AIM Center under the direction of artist Judith Mogul and videographer Trey Forbes.
▪ AIM is a center for psychiatric rehabilitation located in Chattanooga, Tenn. Using cutout paper in the style of filmmaker Lotte Reiniger, members manipulated their created forms to tell intimate, humorous and often poignant stories. [They] provide moving insight into the minds, hearts and souls of people living with mental illness.”
As always, the Chattanooga Film Festival is what you make of it. I attend all of these events. I may attend just one or two before finding a new path through the weekend. What’s important is that you take in something.
Chattanooga is extremely lucky to have such a well-managed, well-curated, professional festival. Most cities the size of Chattanooga couldn’t hope to come close. If we want this event to continue, and believe me, we do, makes sure to see as many events as you can.
Support local film.
Our own resident film critic John DeVore has spent a significant portion of his life in dark theaters. From an early age, he was drawn to strong storytelling brought to life through the magic of the silver screen.