FULL FRAME: “Shooting Beauty”
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival began today! I have been looking forward to this four day peregrination through the real life for a while now, and its FINALLY here!
I set out my outfit last night, cleared out my bag of all unessential festival weight and laid my head down to wake up today. I did just that, then fell back to sleep…then popped out of bed 30 minutes behind schedule!! DAMN IT! I through on a graphic tee and slung my trendy Macbook Pro heavy bag over my shoulder. I pushed my truck Red Thunder to the limit of a shaky 75mph storming towards Durham 45 minutes away.
I got here to find that the parking deck across the street is undergoing some repair and is at half capacity and now FULL! I was able to sweet talk my way in to the Full Frame Volunteer parking and set out to get my pass.
I had already missed about 45 minutes of my first screening, but I had nothing else to do, so I nipped in the back. Like years before, Full Frame offers a free to student film that local schools make a field trip of. This years film was called “Shooting Beauty” a film about severely disable people given a still camera to shoot what they see. Much like “Born into Brothels” a number of years ago, “Shooting Beauty” provides a intimate look into the ignored lives of people around us. I kick my self for sleeping in and missing the first half of the film. The impact of what I did see could only be magnified 20 fold.
In years past, the student screening was well enough full, but still had seats sprinkled around. This years “Shooting Beauty” was packed nearly entirely with High School and Middle School students. It is something very special to watch a documentary in a theater full of young kids that probably haven’t seen any docs, and more then likely didn’t want to come save for the time away from the class room. Each year you can feel the energy and excitement that the youthful audience emulates as they connect with real people, real stories, and real emotion that is void in the “reality” TV they consume on MTV and the like. Once the film ended the kids cheered like at a Jonas Brothers concert, and when one of the subjects of the picture come out on stage they gave a rock-concert standing ovation chanting his name. During the Q&A the students struggled and wiggled there hands in hopes of being called on, I’m sure their teachers wished this same enthusiasm in the class room.
It was in High School that I was hooked by documentary films and I think in this sold out theater in Durham North Carolina it happened again, and again, and again. This is why I love this art and this festival.
Check out the trailer for the film:
Old Man Foltz said,
Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 12:43pm
So Shawn, how much lead time do I need to plan on to get a good seat? Should I get there 10, 15, 30 minutes early?
Shawn said,
Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 5:28pm
Mr. Foltz, They begin letting people in 15 – 20 before the film starts, however, I’m in line for a movie now 40 minutes before it starts. I will save you a seat too. Cheers.