Lights, camera, action: Hamtramck film and video festival attracts international attention

Originally printed 6/8/2006 (Issue 1423 - Between The Lines News)

By Donald V. Calamia

HAMTRAMCK - When the average person thinks about film festivals, it's the Sundance Film Festival in Utah and the Cannes Film Festival in France that come immediately to mind. But to filmmakers all over the world, Hamtramck, Michigan has become yet another important stop on the all-important festival circuit, thanks to the fourth annual Planet Ant Film & Video Festival that gets underway June 14.

Approximately 200 submissions were received this year, Festival Director Nate DuFort told BTL last week. Of those, nearly 80 films and videos from 10 countries will be shown during the four-day event. Screenings will take place at Planet Ant Theatre, the nearby Belmont Bar and the Detroit Film Center in downtown Detroit.

"The internet is a beautiful thing," DuFort laughed when asked how producers and directors learn about such festivals. "It's one of the best ways to market a film now, especially with MySpace. You can get word out on your film or your festival so fast. People are also putting snippets of their films or their trailers on YouTube.com so anyone can view it. You can even embed it in your Web pages, making it a lot more accessible for everyone to see."

Plus, DuFort noted, with digital media now so readily - and cheaply - available, anyone and everyone can now be a filmmaker. "Of course, there's a lot more garbage because of it, but there's also a lot more people making movies that wouldn't have gotten the chance even ten years ago."

This year's slate includes a broad selection of comedies, dramas, animations, music videos and experimental films. But it's the documentaries that particularly stand out, DuFort said. "They just keep getting better and better every year." One such documentary, "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea," is narrated by John Waters and tells the story of a 30-mile long inland lake near San Diego that was created by accident in 1905, marketed as a posh vacation spot in the 1950s and is now one of the country's worst ecological disasters. "It's so sad and so beautiful simultaneously, with the oddest sense of humor," DuFort said. "Something's off the entire movie. It's absolutely hysterical."

What's missing from this year's festival, however, are LGBT films, DuFort said - despite the interest generated by "Brokeback Mountain." "We've been incredibly open since our inception to all kinds of films and all kinds of themes, and last year was a great year for gay and lesbian film. This year I don't know what the difference is. We didn't get that many."

Last year, two of the three feature films had gay and lesbian themes; this year, 12 features will be shown, none of which contain LGBT themes. Judges for this year's competition include several familiar names, including Larry Joe Campbell ("According to Jim," ABC), Keegan-Michael Key ("Mad TV," Fox), Nyima Funk ("Wild 'N Out," MTV; "Style Star," The Style Network) and Josh Funk ("Wild 'N Out," MTV; Joseph Jefferson Award-winning director). Jack Cronin from the Detroit Film Center and Oakland Community College and Kristine Trever from Wayne State University round out the panel.

Winners are expected to take home thousands of dollars in prizes donated by festival sponsors such as Sony.

Running such a complex festival is a blast for the one-time film school student and cinephile. "It really is the hardest job you'll ever love!"