For filmmakers
The Backlot: A Place for Film, a group for people interested in making movies, meets every third Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the Heritage House in at 1428 Jenkins Road. Film Festivals * Chattanooga Film Festival April 2-5, 2015 Various locations with most happening at the Majestic 12 downtown $100-$300 * Lookout Wild Film FestivalMarch 20-22, 2015Memorial Auditorium$5 per block, $10 for weekend pass
The movie scene in Chattanooga has grown quite a bit in recent years with the addition of independent filmmakers, film festivals and events such as Capture, a community-sourced 48-hour film project that puts local people in front of and behind the camera.
For the latter, which is a fundraiser for the Association for Visual Arts, people are given a topic and asked to "capture" a moment on film that showcases its meaning. Local film editors and professionals then take the raw footage and create a large finished piece. Local musicians complete the pieces by creating a soundtrack for the finished product. All of it happens in two days.
Lookout Wild Film Festival conducted its third annual festival in March at the Memorial Auditorium with around 2,000 atendees. The festival focuses on high-adventure sports like kayaking, skydiving and canoeing in extreme locations. For example, in one film, paddlers explored waterfalls in the Adirondacks, and in another cavers film their exploration of a cave in Borneo.
It also has social events that allow devotees of the various sports to intermingle.
The festival was moved to the Memorial Auditorium Community Theater this year to accommodate larger crowds and more events surrounding the films.
The Chattanooga Film Festival, set for April 2-5, also continues to grow. Now in its second year, the festival has added a third theater and expanded the number of films it will offer. It features movies across several genres, as well as guest speakers and social events for attendees and special guests.
Chris Dortch, who created the festival, also created the Mise En Scenesters, a pop-up movie theater that hosts regular film screenings at Barking Legs Theater. First Things First, a local nonprofit that deals with family issues, presents a short weekly summer series at Coolidge Park featuring family-friendly movies, and RiverCity Company presents family-friendly films during the fall in the vacant 700 block of Market Street.
ChattaCon, the annual gathering of fans of science fiction held annually at the Chattanooga Choo Choo in late January-early February, has an independent film component as well with screenings and guest speakers.
ConNooga, which takes place a month later at the Choo Choo, also has a film component. A relatively new "multi-fandom" event for gamers, anime fans, filmmakers, artists and authors, features submitted films and offers for awards for things like best directing, and best editing as well as best use of prop and the Curve Ball Award.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.