APFS Afterglow - LOOP, August 20th

LOOP Poster

It had been a tough couple of weeks leading up to the APFS screening of my own feature, LOOP.  I had been busy, ill, busy and then ill again.  My birthday was coming up on the 18th and I was resting in bed on Monday the 16th – with a slight fever -- wondering if I should cancel the screening.  I had not been able to promote with my normal vim and vigor.

However, by Wednesday, I was feeling much better and although we had a small crowd, 30-35, I'm glad that I didn’t cancel.

The LOOP audience.

We were celebrating our one- year anniversary and in response to some members who wanted to see LOOP, I thought it was as good a time as any to screen it, and screen it for FREE.  But I had no idea (and this is something to remember for next August) that so many people would be away on vacation.  Before the screening, many people kindly let me know that they would be away and wanted me to know that it was nothing personal.  Of course, I completely understood.  It was fortunate that it was my movie playing that night, and not one belonging to an out-of-town filmmaker who had traveled to Annapolis to support their movie. But what was most satisfying to me is that the audience that did show up was very enthusiastic and supportive.

Two Friends from DC with a LOOP Bookmark.

LOOP is an abstract and very discomfiting narrative movie about fear and and the changes in our society after 9-11.  The story is built with tremendous amounts of information and visual rhetoric - in some ways, both the experience and one of the messages of the movie is about information overload.  It has made many an audience edgy and when people I had never seen before came strolling in I started to become nervous.  I really wasn’t concerned if people were going to “like” LOOP -- it is not a feel-good movie that people "like" -- it is more of the kind of film that people experience and think about.  It will beat on an audience like a drum, and despite its experimental structure, it is a very tight narrative that continues to unfold from beginning to end, demanding total attention from its audience.  By the end, a LOOP audience will be all at once somber, contemplative, and also very curious.

Me during the LOOP Q&A

We had visitors from Connecticut, a person who just moved into town, and others whom I didn’t recognize.  When the credits rolled, there was applause, which was a relief, and the Q&A started with immediate questions.  It moved quickly from my motivations as a filmmaker to the symbols in the film, LOOP’s critique of politics and society, and its overall existential theme.  There were a few silent faces of consternation; there were also a few people who completely related to the content, and there were kind words so humbling I almost broke down crying.

LOOP Composer, Adrian Bond and Vocalist Joanne Juskus

As I always say, I am very proud of our audience and I respect their intelligence.  We have such a high level of films and filmmakers come through town that I was a little nervous that LOOP might be a bit of a letdown.  Apparently, I was wrong.  I have always been proud of my little no-budget homebrew movie, and I was proud to show it at The Annapolis Pretentious Film Society.

Before LOOP screened we showed a short called HONEST WORK from a director named Phil Holbrook from Brainerd, Minnesota.  He is currently working on a feature called TILT that I am very excited about. He is collaborating with Chicago based KingisaFink Productions and they raised their meager budget through crowd-funding.

Phil’s short is quite good.  It is good the first time you watch it, and gets better if you watch it again.  If you didn’t make it out on the 20th, and chances are you didn’t, here it is…

I want to thank everyone for their continued support of our screenings.  We will be announcing our September show before you know it.

Cheers,
Pericles