The Film Festival of Columbus returns to town Thursday night with another new spate of unseen and unforgettable independent films, along with filmmaker panels, special guests, a homegrown shorts program, and a tribute to the great independent gem, Napoleon Dynamite.
John Daugherty, Executive Director of Film Columbus (Greater Columbus Film Commission) and FFOCOL co-programmer since its inception, talked with Columbus Underground about this year’s event and the way the festival helps realize the same goals as Film Columbus.
CU: How long have you been part of FFOCOL?
JD: Chris Hamel and I started it together four years ago, so from day 1.
CU: Back in the beginning, before Film Columbus, what were you doing that generated the festival?
JD: I was with Vital Companies (a film collective based in Grandview). We’d always talked about how we needed more productions to come through town. So, we kicked around some ideas on how to do that – about having a film festival to bring in directors and filmmakers and showcases our city, not only as a great arts and film city, but as a filmmaking destination.
So it was kind of a back door approach to getting films here. We talked to Chris Hamel at Gateway Film Center to see if he wanted to get involved, and of course it was a resounding yes.
When I left Vital at the beginning of this year to take over the Executive Director position of the film commission, part of my deal was that I took the film festival with me.
CU: How does the festival meld with the film commission’s mission?
JD: It’s showcasing the city as great filmmaking destination. We’ve gotten more traction over the past three or four months than we have over the past three years, for sure. We have some bigger directors and talent coming into FFOCOL this year just because of that. It’s all about raising awareness for film in the city and raising awareness of the city as a film destination for productions.
CU: How important are local filmmakers to the mission of FFOCOL and Film Columbus?
JD: Oh, they are super important and the reason is that local filmmaking helps build crew, and right now, as more people outside of the state are interested in coming here to shoot, their biggest concern is crew base and having enough qualified crew here. The more local film productions we can support, both in the festival and Film Columbus, the better off it is for everybody. Growing that crew base is so key right now.
CU: Has your part in FFOCOL changed at all due to your position with the film commission?
JD: With the title of Executive Director, it’s easier for me to reach filmmakers, directors, and producers, for sure. That definitely has made it easier to reach out to them, their agents and managers. They’re more likely to call an executive director back than some guy who runs a small production company. It’s been advantageous in that way.
CU: What movement have you seen in terms of improving Columbus as a filmmaking destination?
JD: Chris Hamel and I went out to the Los Angeles film festival and met some people out there who are thinking of coming to Columbus, and we’re building relationships that weren’t there before with production companies in LA. I got off the phone with a producer last week who said to me, “There’s a lot of talk about Ohio and what you have to offer.” We want to take full advantage of that.
Full Film Festival of Columbus schedule:
Thursday, 8/13
7:30 pm: The Keeping Room
Director: Daniel Barber; Cast: Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, Muna Otaru
Friday, 8/14
FFOCOL at Food Truck Fest – Columbus Commons
FFOCOL will present the “best foodie scenes” in movies.
Saturday, 8/15
2pm: Landfill Harmonic
Director: Brad Allgood, Graham Townsley; documentary
4pm: Blind
Director: Eskil Vogt; Cast: Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vera Vitali
6:30 pm: Filmmaker’s Panel
Panelist filmmakers: Valerie McCaffery, Sarah Wilgrube, Eric Obenauf, Michael Maloof
7pm: By Demons Be Driven
Director: Jonathan Kimble; Cast: Austin Barnard, David Beckwith
Sunday, 8/16
2pm: T-Rex
Director: Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper; documentary
Canepari will attend and do a Q&A after the film.
4:30pm: Tom at the Farm
Director: Xavier Dolan; Cast: Xavier Dolan, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Lise Roy
Monday, 8/17
7pm: Future Weather
Director: Jenny Deller; Cast: Perla Haney-Jardine, Lili Taylor, Amy Madigan
Introduced by Deller with Q&A to follow the film.
6pm: Zipper
Director: Mora Stephens; Cast: Lena Headey, Dianna Argon, Alexandra Breckenridge, Patrick Wilson
Tuesday, 8/18
7pm: Orange Dog
Director: Angel Puado Velo; Cast: Toni Ferri, Damian Varea, Abraham Arenas, Fele Pastor
9pm: Actor for Hire
Director: Marcus Mizelle; Cast: Omar Alex Acosta, JT Alexander, Danielle Allaire
Wednesday, 8/19
7pm: Shorts Night: Table Reading
8pm: Shorts Program
Thursday, 8/20
4:30 pm: Shorts Program
7:30pm: Shondrella Avery (Napoleon Dynamite’s LaFawnduh) presented with the first Spirit of FFOCOL award.
8pm: Napoleon Dynamite
Director: Jared Hess; Cast: Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez, Jon Gries, Shondrella Avery, Aaron Ruell
For more information, visit filmfestivalofcolumbus.com.
Read more from Hope at MADDWOLF and listen to her weekly horror movie podcast FRIGHT CLUB.