Film Fest Infests Planet Ant

South End, June 21, 2006

By Shannon Mongomery | Contributing Writer

Held over four days in three different venues, the Planet Ant Film & Video Festival ran for the fourth year in a row June 14-17.

The festival, which took place mainly in Hamtramck and had just under 1,000 people attend, featured films produced across the state, country, and world, with entries from as far away as Australia.

"We got submissions by just posting on a lot of film bulletin web sites," said Nate DuFort, the festival's director. They also contacted various Michigan and Midwest universities, filmmakers, and received submissions through Planet Ant's myspace, DuFort said.

Featuring over 70 different productions, this year's event shows how the festival has grown from the one-day affair it began as.

"I started noticing that even the (Royal Oak) Main Art Theatre was playing corporate films," DuFort said. The festival was created to give underground producers a chance to showcase their work.

Films in this year's festival were judged based on a number system, with about 10 categories for each creative and technical merit.

Cinematography, quality of sound, and acting were among the many categories ranked, said DuFort.

This year's jury included Larry Joe Campbell (ABC's According to Jim), Keegan-Michael Key (MADtv), Nyima Funk (MTV's Wild 'N Out), Joshua Funk (MTV's Wild 'N Out), Kristine Trever (Wayne State University) and Jack Cronin (Oakland Community College). All of the jury members are friends of the Planet Ant Theatre Company, having been involved in past productions. Key was even one of the Company's founding members.

Winners from the festival were: for Best of Festival, "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea," directed by Chris Metzer & Jeff Springer; for Best Drama, "Firefighter," directed by Vanessa Ruane; for Best Comedy, "Hooch & Daddy-O," directed by Donna Northcott; for Best Documentary, "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea;" for Best Music Video, Triboro Sound's "Last Train Ride," directed by Gokhan Okur; for Best Animation, Billy Collins "The Country," directed by Brady Baltezore; for Audience Award, "The Passenger," directed by Jamie Sonderman and for Audience Award (Honorable Mention), "I'm a Big Brother," directed by Marty Shea, and "Caught," directed by Michael Madigan.

"I'm always surprised by what the jury picks," said DuFort. Having screened everything beforehand, he "falls in love with different films for different reasons."

Next year's festival will see a few changes, said DuFort. Corporate sponsors were involved for the first time this year, and with the success of this addition, Planet Ant hopes to get more companies onboard next year.

"Corporate sponsors really helped get the word out, just by having their name attached to the festival," said DuFort.

The festival also hopes to take place in bigger venues. Although they have tried being featured in 200-300 people venues before, the company believes that now they are established enough to fill them.