So now I can say I successfully put on a film festival!

My mother flew in from Ohio to be there. I hadn’t seen her in years, so it was great to have her visit for a few days. She said I had really nice friends, which I knew already, but it is good to know I haven’t unwittingly fallen in with some riff raff.

There was only a minor technical glitch during one of the films. Suddenly the screen went black where it wasn’t meant to. A cold panic set in. But by the time I entered the lobby to find the manager, the picture had returned.

People came up to me afterwards and told me how much they enjoyed the movies. Everyone seemed to have their own favorite. Mine was “Longshots,” which was about a mother and daughter’s relationship working on a horse farm.

On Tuesday, I received an email from Meredith Stout, the filmmaker behind Walk in My Shoes. She informed me that Zelma Brown, the poet whose work is featured in the film, had passed away in her sleep. I let her know that Zelma was very much alive on the night of the festival and that her words had impact. It was an honor to be able to share her words with everyone.

My plan for the festival has been to pass it off on to someone else who feels inspired to take it over. So I will see if that happens. I’m also interested in having people in other cities have their own version of the festival. But as for me, I will be moving on to other projects.

It was a fantastic experience and I learned that I can accomplish projects that are larger than anything I had taken on before. That’s a good thing to know.

I received a package this morning from Spain. It was laden with films created by women filmmakers.  I have watched some incredible submissions in the past week and I’m quite excited about the potential lineup for the festival. There are a few late arrivals on their way, but I should still be able to make an announcement by this weekend.

So far things have been going pretty smoothly with the Something Real project. I have the venue, the website, a call for submissions, people to review films, and someone working on print advertising. I’m really fretting about the number of submissions, though. I really want to get a lot more films so there is a lot to choose from. I’ve received some definite contenders, but there are some that don’t really fit the theme.

I’ve started actively soliciting for specific films I found from other festivals and on YouTube. Hopefully that will help fill out the rest of the program.

I opened my mailbox today and there were two film submissions for Something Real! I may cry tears of joy. I had a secret fear that no one would send anything.

I still need to post on some west coast and east coast movie sites so that Monica and Kara get their fair share. I’m also very close to having a listing on Withoutabox.com, which is a great site that connects filmmakers with people running festivals.

Yay! Things are happening!

I wrapped up the Something Real web site this weekend and started posting the request for submissions on film-related sites. I’ll need to find more sites to post on this coming week.

Someone wrote me within an hour of my posting on a Yahoo! group.

She said: When is the deadline?

I said: February 29th.

She said: Okay, I’ll see if I can make a film by then.

I said:

Now I guess I just have to wait and see what starts showing up. I am grateful that my friends Monica and Kara have agreed to screen submissions. Not like any of us needed an excuse to watch more movies, but now it is for a good cause!

I am happy to say that Something Real now has a venue! The Regal Arbor Cinema will be showing the films on Monday, March 24th at 7PM! I was really worried about getting the venue, but the manager was just the nicest guy ever and all my fears were imaginary.

Now I need to get the web site up and start posting requests for submissions!

The other night I attended a mixer for Reel Women of Austin, an organization which supports and mentors women filmmakers. I told them about my project and there seemed to be a lot of interest. I got some good information, a lead for a venue and some potential films to consider. It’s really amazing what people are up to in the world. One of the filmmakers is doing a feature on the rise of feminine energy and universal shift predicted by the Mayans.

I’m really concerned about the venue. Originally, I had thought of doing it at the Alamo because it is my favorite theater, but, upon further reflection, I decided on the Regal Arbor Cinema. That’s really the go to place for independent film. So I put in a call today, but the manager was out until Monday.

Then I need to write up a request for submissions, something I don’t have any experience doing. I also need to consider putting up a web site of some kind.

If I stop to think about what I’m trying to do, I get overwhelmed and afraid. So I guess I won’t think about it and just do the next thing that needs to get done.

I had been trying to come up with a good name for my SELP project. I had started with “Many Visions for Single Voices,” which was serviceable. Then I thought “Singularity” sounded kind of good. But today I think I got it.

After fooling around with an online anagram generator, I discovered that “A Single Mother” is an anagram for “Something Real.”

Other options for “Single Mother” included “Gin Moth Reels” and “No Girl Themes.”

As part of my SELP project, I am immersing myself in films relating to women’s issues, created by women filmmakers or having to do with single mothers. To date, I’ve watched the Vagina Monologues, Thirteen and 9 Lives.

9 Lives is a series of 9 loosely connected vignettes about various women. Each vignette is a single, uninterrupted take. Each woman in the film was complex and multi-layered and yet they were just a facet of all women, a different face for a different day.

The men in the film seemed brutish and awkward by comparison, even the most gallant failing to share a plane of equality with any of the female characters.

I was pleased to see Holly Hunter again, nuanced and wonderful. If you need to be reminded of Robin Wright Penn’s acting caliber, this is the film to check out.

The final story, a simple tale of mother and daughter, enacted by Glen Close and Dakota Fanning, cut me to the core. I thought I was observing a simple slice of life, but the reveal, accomplished with the simple rotation of the camera showed me the truth.

1. 9 Lives
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I’m currently in the Self-Expression and Leadership Program, the third and final course in Landmark’s curriculum for living. The main focus of the program is to create a project that inspires you and has an impact in one of your communities or the world in general. They encourage you to think big and take on something unlike anything you’ve ever done before.

I looked at the communities in my life and I really struggled to find something where I could do a big project. There were some obvious things that I was probably going to do anyway, but nothing that really jumped out at me and lit me up.

Then it hit me. Single mothers are really important to me as they have had a big impact in my life. I wanted to do something that would empower, recognize and perhaps even aid them. Then I thought about how much I love movies. So I decided that I would enlist 10 women filmmakers to contribute or create a short 5-20 minute film on a subject that empowers women. The idea would be to have a screening at the Alamo Drafthouse. So the project would end up empowering and recognizing the filmmakers and single mothers as well.

I need to see if there are any sort of national organizations that somehow benefit or provide aid for single mothers. And I need to start talking to filmmakers, women’s groups and the like.

And I need a good name for the project.