Our wonderful tour manager, StellaWiki, has an equally wonderful family.
Her husband, Cyrus has big dreams, too. He wants to make movies. Towards that end, he
signed up for the Richmond, VA 48 Hour Film Project, an international endeavour
that gives production teams in 100 cities one weekend in which to make a movie,
from genre selection through story, scriptwriting, casting, filming, scoring,
editing, rendering and final submission. A pre-selected character name, prop and
line of dialogue are required to appear in each film. It’s a challenge that
tests any group’s talents and patience, not to mention stamina and ability to
function on little to no sleep, but Below the Knees Productions managed it, with
eight minutes to spare.
Cyrus had fallen in love with one of Edward’s songs, Waffles at One, and
asked permission to use it in the film, called ‘Samsara’. Flattering as that
was, Cyrus also had other music scored, using elements of the song. The score
and soundtrack flowed beautifully into the song itself, which plays throughout
the closing credits of the short film.
Edward and I were fortunate enough to be able to go to Richmond for the
premiere of ‘Samsara’, along with other films submitted to the Virginia project.
A total of 47 films were screened over two days at the beautiful Byrd Theatre,
an old movie palace that is being lovingly restored to its former glory. Ours
was in the first set of films, and it was tremendously exciting to meet so many
other people who worked on the film as we gathered in front of the theatre on a
Saturday afternoon. There may not have been a physical red carpet, but the
excitement and ‘dressy clothes’ were definitely there!
‘Samsara’ actors, crew, friends and family alone filled three and a half rows
of the theatre, and the house was nearly to capacity. Films that represented
Science Fiction, Romance, Comedy, Film de Femme, Musical, Suspense, Silent,
Period Piece and Action Serial were screened with ours, which filled the Time
Travel niche. Several of us were a little overwhelmed as Edward’s music, and
then voice, poured forth from those big screen speakers. It was a proud Mom
moment that I wouldn’t have missed for anything.
After a short Q-&-A period with the directors of all the films, we headed
out to a lovely French bistro down the street to celebrate. So many people came
up to congratulate Edward and express how much they enjoyed his music in the
film, marvelling at so much talent in such a young man. He took it all in
stride, as he does, graciously accepting the compliments and redirecting their
focus to Cyrus’ vision.
The results of the judging will be announced on August 14, again in Richmond.
We won’t make the trip this time, but our fingers are crossed for good news.
The winner of each city’s Film Festival goes into the international competition,
the Grand Prize of which is $3000 and a screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
A selection of the Best of the Festival will also be screened at Cannes, so even
if we don’t take the Grand Prize, there is still a good chance we might have to
get passports!
Tremendous thanks go out to Cyrus and the terrific members of Below the Knees
Productions for putting together such a great film, and for letting Edward’s
music inspire you all. Best of luck on the 14th!
Extra love and thanks to Stella for feeding us and the kids for letting us
take over their rooms for a couple of nights.
‘Samsara’ is viewable at http://vimeo.com/32693359.
Her husband, Cyrus has big dreams, too. He wants to make movies. Towards that end, he
signed up for the Richmond, VA 48 Hour Film Project, an international endeavour
that gives production teams in 100 cities one weekend in which to make a movie,
from genre selection through story, scriptwriting, casting, filming, scoring,
editing, rendering and final submission. A pre-selected character name, prop and
line of dialogue are required to appear in each film. It’s a challenge that
tests any group’s talents and patience, not to mention stamina and ability to
function on little to no sleep, but Below the Knees Productions managed it, with
eight minutes to spare.
Cyrus had fallen in love with one of Edward’s songs, Waffles at One, and
asked permission to use it in the film, called ‘Samsara’. Flattering as that
was, Cyrus also had other music scored, using elements of the song. The score
and soundtrack flowed beautifully into the song itself, which plays throughout
the closing credits of the short film.
Edward and I were fortunate enough to be able to go to Richmond for the
premiere of ‘Samsara’, along with other films submitted to the Virginia project.
A total of 47 films were screened over two days at the beautiful Byrd Theatre,
an old movie palace that is being lovingly restored to its former glory. Ours
was in the first set of films, and it was tremendously exciting to meet so many
other people who worked on the film as we gathered in front of the theatre on a
Saturday afternoon. There may not have been a physical red carpet, but the
excitement and ‘dressy clothes’ were definitely there!
‘Samsara’ actors, crew, friends and family alone filled three and a half rows
of the theatre, and the house was nearly to capacity. Films that represented
Science Fiction, Romance, Comedy, Film de Femme, Musical, Suspense, Silent,
Period Piece and Action Serial were screened with ours, which filled the Time
Travel niche. Several of us were a little overwhelmed as Edward’s music, and
then voice, poured forth from those big screen speakers. It was a proud Mom
moment that I wouldn’t have missed for anything.
After a short Q-&-A period with the directors of all the films, we headed
out to a lovely French bistro down the street to celebrate. So many people came
up to congratulate Edward and express how much they enjoyed his music in the
film, marvelling at so much talent in such a young man. He took it all in
stride, as he does, graciously accepting the compliments and redirecting their
focus to Cyrus’ vision.
The results of the judging will be announced on August 14, again in Richmond.
We won’t make the trip this time, but our fingers are crossed for good news.
The winner of each city’s Film Festival goes into the international competition,
the Grand Prize of which is $3000 and a screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
A selection of the Best of the Festival will also be screened at Cannes, so even
if we don’t take the Grand Prize, there is still a good chance we might have to
get passports!
Tremendous thanks go out to Cyrus and the terrific members of Below the Knees
Productions for putting together such a great film, and for letting Edward’s
music inspire you all. Best of luck on the 14th!
Extra love and thanks to Stella for feeding us and the kids for letting us
take over their rooms for a couple of nights.
‘Samsara’ is viewable at http://vimeo.com/32693359.
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