International Film Festival Highlighted by Educational Panels on Saturday, June 25th

BY Raymond Rolak

DETROIT - At this years fourth annual Detroit-Windsor International Film Festival, the special attraction is the free Tech-Fair on Saturday June 25, from 11:30 to 4:00 PM in Prentice Hall and DeRoy Auditorium.  All the events will all take place on the campus of Wayne State University.

Sponsored by Wayne County and The College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State, the DWIFF is actually two events.  Besides the juried film presentations there is the ‘Moving Media’ Student Film Competition.  The latter are film submissions from area college students.  Mostly shorts, there are five categories- documentaries, music video, experimental, narrative and animation.  Kelly Gottesman of WSU Communications said, “We are pleased to have so many entries from nearby schools.  That is part of the mission statement, to hopefully develop young filmmakers.”

Some of the premier presentations will be the Hawaiian comedic romp “Get A Job” to be shown on June 25, at 5:00 PM at the WSU Welcome Center (42 W. Warren Ave.).  Director Brian Kohne will be in attendance to answer post viewing questions.  The movie and soundtrack includes features Uncle Willie K., Eric Gilliom, Willie Nelson, Pat Simmons and Jake Shimabukuro.  Also, “World of Art” by Mike Allore and “Certain Essential Elements” by Jeff Schultz are not to miss productions.  Tickets and show times at www.dwiff.org

The DWIFF opening will be Wednesday June 22, at 6:00 PM in the Community Arts Auditorium on campus.  It will feature renowned film editor and Lecturer in Residence at WSU, Richard Chew.  Also John Kelly, founder of the DWIFF will make an address along with Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano. 

Frank Collins of WSU-TV put together an impressive panel of presenters for the Tech- Fair including Darryl G. Shreve who will do a workshop on Final Cut Pro, an industry editing tool.  Other presenters include Brad Yarhouse, Alicia VanHeulen, Kristen Miller and Marc Ruiz.  Collins stressed, “The Tech-Fair features a wide spectrum of educational and professional development activities targeted to both seasoned professionals and aspiring students alike.”

Also showcasing are Chuck Cirgenski, John Kerfoot and Nic Izzi. Cirgenski will present an overview of the fundamentals of film producing.  He will outline the Producer’s role from both the creative and business side, primarily what you need to do to attract funding.  Cirgenski, who commutes to Hamtramck from New York had a recent project “4-Pictures” featuring Heather Kozlakowski.  Izzi will host a discussion on 3D techniques. 

Included for the afternoon sessions are Mark Adler, Lucas DelCastillo, Nabil Awsana, Dan Belleville, Wayne McLean and Robert Joseph Butler.  Belleville will highlight all the ways to incorporate music with a project.  In addition, there will be a session on 3d Stereoscopic filmmaking.  Adler, head of the Michigan Production Alliance will emcee another presentation, ‘Boot Camp-How to get involved in the industry’?  McLean is one of the premier script-supervisors in Canada.  He was a principal reader for Longshot Pictures in London, Ontario and is a member of The American Film Institute.  His presentation will be ‘Building Blocks of a Successful Screenplay’.

Current and popular trends in the industry are the development and presentation of video gaming techniques.  An added special presentation will be a behind the scenes look at the production of the animated music video produced by Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears and created locally.

“The creative community is invited to be an integral part of this unique event that celebrates the art of cinema from both sides of the screen and camera,” added Collins.

Also Ric Viers, author of The Sound Effects Bible is supporting the special session at 2:30 PM in the lower level of DeRoy Auditorium.  He is a renowned specialist in the sound effect field and will be part of the Final Cut Pro presentation.

DWIFF cheerleader and all-around ambassador, Scott Paul Dunham said, “This is the special time for creative folks and organizations to join us in this very important event for our community.”
 
Support for the attendee’s at the workshops is being sponsored by Artbeat, Focal Press, Peachpit Press, The Detroit Chop Shop and Creative Cow Speakers.

Films scheduled and advanced ticket sales for presentations can be found at: www.dwiff.org

Admission to the Tech-Fair is free to students and the public although pre-register online is required.  Lodging for out of town participants can be found at  www.detroitsports.org  and www.motorcitycasino.com and MARRIOT >>

Courtesy of
www.mypolishtimes.com
www.waynesmovieworld.com
www.getajobthemovie.com