Sarasota Film Festival Says, "Yes!"
I've put off posting about this until everything was in place, but at last I can blog that "All God's Children" will have its world premiere! And it's in my home state of Florida. I feel like I've probably told everyone that reads this blog the good news, but wanted to make sure it gets its own post and that the words of happiness and thanks are recorded in the annals of blog history.
If you scroll down the right of my hompepage and in the Categories section and click on the "All God's Children" link, you'll see how long I have been keeping record of the progress of our film. Basically, right after we received the Jerome Foundation New York Media Arts Grant. We had interviewed the Beardslee family, but the Darrs and Shellrudes were yet to come.
I feel very fortunate to have been on the minds of the indieWIRE guys when they were thinking who to invite into the new world of blogs they would host. The only thing cinematic going on in my life was the doc, so I figured I'd use the blog platform to serve as a journal for the films production, hence the name, a doc's journal.
Regardless of why you make films, after you've shot and edited and often before, you begin thinking about who will see it and where. We thought we were finished many times before and have entertained many festivals as its' first screening. We've even contemplated the sad realities of not having that opportunity at all. But then comes the kind words of Tom Hall telling you that your film, "is a powerful story of abuse and the path to recovery and we would be honored to show the film at the festival." And we knew Sarasota was perfect. We have only heard rave reviews of the staff, screening venues, accommodations and hospitality from filmmakers and industry alike.
So we will have two screenings within the opening weekend of the festival: Saturday, April 5th at 2:30 and again on Sunday, April 6th at 3:30. All but two of the participants in the film (as well as their families) will be attending. Most of my family and even a posse of our dear old Florida friends will be attending. There is also rumor that there will be a press conference. And because the denomination has a large retired population living in Florida, we may even some controversy. We could only hope.
We are utterly ecstatic to be premiering our film at this years Sarasota Film Festival. We think it's a perfect fit and an awesome place for the film to begin this new leg of its journey.