Cindependent Film Festival 2019

We left home Wednesday morning for Cincinnati.  Lots of road construction, so we meandered after a while on back roads.  We checked in to our (complimentary) hotel, a first class joint with a gallery of changing contemporary art.  We freshened up and headed uptown to a pub where the meet and greet took place.  We checked in, got our (complimentary) V.I.P. lanyards, and sat down at a table to relax.  Deb ordered some food and I grabbed a pint of local pale ale.  We were soon joined by Justin Z., a filmmaker from Portland, OR.,  and so much more.  His film was showing Saturday at noon, but we would be departing Friday at noon.  Justin was also staying at our hotel, so we ended up hanging out with him for the entire visit.

Justin also writes graphic novels, works at a film production company in Portland, and runs a film festival there!  A busy guy.  So we had some interesting discussions over the few days.  While the three of us were sitting there, shouting at one another (the pub was crowded and noisy), Justin noticed a very tall, handsome, older gentleman sitting down at the table beside us.  Joel joined us, and again proved to be a most fascinating and fun-to-be with human being.  He is a sculptor, and also runs a theatre group in Cincinnati.  He was attending to scout for local actors.  So the four of us became a sort of team.  Joel turns out to have two websites, one for his sculptures and one for his peace poles.  Believe it or not, his website is joel.com.  Check it out to meet Joel--he is an amazing man!  From there you can link to his peace poles, of which he seems to have cornered the world market.

As to the festival itself, we attended 39 (short) films, including three by Deb.  She was on stage two times, to talk about her films and answer questions.  We saw some totally amazing films, and several that were quite forgettable.  In fact, in reviewing what we saw on the drive home, we could not remember anything at all about a film called Gloria, other than we saw it.  Deb's film And She Rode Forth looked completely amazing on the big screen! 

All films were shown here, at the Woodward Theatre.

 Film schedule poster, and reflections.

 Some of the immediate neighbourhood, filled with pubs, stores, cafes, and restaurants.

 Deb on stage Thursday morning. 

 ...and again, next day.

 Deb and Allyson, the festival organizer.

Cincinnati has some impressive forested hills surrounding the city.

Near the theatre.

The Ohio Bookstore, downtown near our hotel.  I picked up 9 SF paperbacks.

Cafe clock.

Downtown skyscraper. 

It was a whirlwind trip, and it would have been nice to stay for all three film days.  Not sure we'll be back next year, but if so we might consider a longer stay.  It's a perfect film festival to attend.  Everything is close by, Cincinnati is a large and very animated city, and there is lots to do if you want a break from watching films.

Mpman Mike