This year, Tacoma was put on the map. And the city has Philip Cowan and his Grand Cinema independent movie theater to thank for that.
Already established in the city as an entity for bringing independent, innovative and thoughtful films to Tacoma audiences, the Grand Cinema continues to evolve and make it one of the most respected epicenters for culture and arts in the city. Now, with the arrival of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” festival, 21 out of the 25 chosen artists’ works were shown at the event, which premiered Aug. 20, and 11 of the total picked were actually in attendance to speak to their work to eager audiences.
Though the “25 New Faces” has been going on for years through the magazine, Cowan affirmed this is the first time a theatre - indie or not - has decided to screen the films. And that puts Tacoma ahead of the game.
“This was my little brain child,” Cowan laughed. “We’re subscribers to Filmmaker and have seen this issue come out for years in a row. We were curious if anybody had tried to assemble their group to play the films in one place, and had the assumption someone would’ve tried. It’s a lot easier than a film festival because the group was established, but no one had done it before. They said someone had thought of the idea but no one had ever gone through with it.”
Cowan affirmed that he did most of the prep work to bring the festival to Tacoma and that Filmmaker didn’t hinder the process and helped a bit. “They are based in New York, and didn’t know of the Grand in Tacoma. In the end they e-mailed and blogged about the great event. Once they saw we were able to pull all films together, they were very interested.”
A few goals were established early on in the process to make this festival not only a success but one that would benefit the city as a whole. “My first goal with this project was to make it Tacoma-centric,” Cowan stated. “I want Tacoma to see some of these films they’d probably not see otherwise because despite their quality, many of them won’t get distributed and some would never play here otherwise. This is a good chance for Tacoma to do that.”
His second goal wasn’t for Tacoma at all, but rather for the young and budding filmmakers to get the opportunity to mix, mingle and experience each other’s work in a unique scenario. “I like the idea of them being able to meet each other. They see each other in the magazine and around, but not necessarily in a group. Since the list was named a month ago, it’s fresh in their minds. Some of them are already doing well, and for some it was a surprise to get named.”
Being the first individual and movie theater to bring the festival to a city is a big deal, and Cowan plans to keep bringing it back to Tacoma as long as he can. Though whether or not he can keep the festival a Tacoma staple in future years is something he’s not certain of now.
“Part of this was difficult in that I had a month to do everything and it was largely me doing it,’ Cowan said. “I was booking flights for the filmmakers, to making sure the films got here, and did all of the publicity. We talk about fostering film in community, and from that same respect Tacoma doesn’t have a great history of turning out for films they don’t know of, even if they’re good.
“We need a couple of years of doing this festival to build a reputation as something to see. The plan is to keep it happening over the next few years…my only fear is that another city will come in and try to take it over. Filmmaker mentioned it could tour, but if it does the filmmakers can’t follow,” Cowan said.
What he is certain of, though, is that with the recent surge in locals making full-length films, more individuals will try their hand at the very captivating, engrossing and intriguing art form.
“One of the things the Grand has helped do with the 72-Hour Film competition and being around for a years is that, for instance, both of the individuals who screened feature films this year, (Rick Gratzer with ‘Bestsellers’ and Isaac Olsen with ‘Quiet Shoes’) were previous 72-Hour Festival filmmakers. There’s a bit of a gestation period between 72-Hour shorts and a feature film, so the longer we get into cycle of individuals entering that competition, there’s a greater chance that people are going to try and do more than just that.”
In addition to holding the annual 72-Hour Film Fest this year (in which locals get 72 hours to write, film and edit a short with certain requirements) the upcoming Tacoma Film Festival in October, the two individual feature length screenings and the Filmmaker Magazine 25 New Faces of Independent Film, 2010 also took two members of the Grand Cinema to two of independent film’s most prestigious and anticipated events: the Sundance Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival.
“It was the first time for each of us,” Cowan said of his trip to Sundance and Grand Cinema’s Director of Communications Emily Alm’s trip to Cannes. “I’m planning on going back to Sundance. There is a conference before the festival that leads right into it, called Arthouse Convergence, where other people who run movie theaters like The Grand share ideas. That was the reason I went last year to go to that conference and I tagged onto Sundance. Cannes for Emily worked out as a fluke; it’s kind of a one-time thing because we don’t have the budget to go to France every year. The Grand chipped in for lodging cause she used a family member’s frequent flier miles to get there.” Alm also blogged about her experiences at Cannes at the Grand’s blog, and the entries can be read at http://thegrandcinema.wordpress.com.
All of this hubbub and excitement in regards to a national film coming to the city and an increase in interest in local feature filmmaking brings a question immediately to people’s minds: can Tacoma really become established city known for film?
“I think we’re a long way off,” Cowan said. “Only a few regions are really known that way, such as Los Angeles, New York, etc. Whether or not we’re known for film one day doesn’t matter because I still like to promote film as much as I can.”
By the time the Tacoma Weekly goes to print, the 25 New Faces of Film Festival will nearly be completed at the Grand, but Cowan hopes enough locals got the chance to visit the Grand and experience feature and short films from budding filmmakers who will hopefully become bigger names someday.
“I saw a few of these films screen at Sundance and have watched a couple of shorts. What people will like or what will resonate them will be very individualistic. On the whole we don’t get that many super young people here at the Grand, but the film “Putty Hill,” (which played Aug. 21 and screens again Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m.) that actually has a distributor so it will be coming out theatrically and we will play at the Grand later in the year. All of the actors and directors are 20-somethings, and ‘Putty Hill’ is kind of an edgy film, and the further away from your 20s you are, the less you’ll like it,” Cowan laughed. “Some of the others aren’t - it depends on what you’re interested in as there’s something for everyone.”
Though this event is doing great things for both Tacoma and the Grand Cinema currently and there will be some effects felt following the festival with more press and feedback after the event, it’s difficult to gauge exactly how the event will affect Tacoma in years to come. Despite these uncertain statistics, Cowan remains positive that a good experience here for many filmmakers will go far toward bringing people back to the City of Destiny.
“In bringing these new and budding filmmakers here, it makes a larger impact for Tacoma and the Grand. If the filmmakers come back down the road, maybe they’ll want to come back to here to screen or visit, but we won’t be able to judge impact for a while.”
Catch some of the last films as part Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film Aug. 26 at the Grand, which include: “Solitary Release” by Holden Abigal Osborne, a two-part short film that premiered at SXSW this year; “Un Attimo Di Respiro” and “Little Accidents,” two shorts by Sara Colangelo; “Babyland” by Marc Fratello, which won the Focus Features Best Film Award at the 2010 Columbia University Film Festival and “Premature,” winner of the HBO Short Film Award, “Choices” and “Cuts” by Rashaad Ernesto Green; feature-length “Opus Jazz” by Zac Stuart-Pontier and short “Big Birding Day” by David Wilson; and lastly “Putty Hill” by Matthew Porterfield.
For more information about the 25 New Faces of Independent Film for 2010, visit www.FilmmakerMagazine.com, the Grand Cinema’s website at www.grandcinema.com or pick up a copy of the issue of the magazine in stores now.
Contact the writer at dquinn@tacomaweekly.com
