Politics Goes to the Movies
The LakeArts Foundation, in partnership with the Rod Serling Foundation and the Make the Public Conscious (MTC) Project presented THE MAN, a recently discovered 1972 film by Rod Serling, about the rise to power of the first Black President. Based on the novel by Irving Wallace, Senator Douglass Dilman (James Earl Jones), through the law of succession, suddenly becomes the first black man to occupy the Oval Office. In addition to Jones, the film features well-known stars from television and film including Burgess Meredith, Jack Benny (in a cameo), and Martin Balsam.
Chautauqua movie goers had the opportunity to see and hear about the process of classic film preservation from Gordon Webb of the Rod Serling Foundation and actor and film preservationist who discovered the film, Clayton LeBoeuf, the star of The Wire, The Corner and Something the Lord made.
The Festival’s opening event was a screening of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, the 1962 Cold War political thriller starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, and Angela Lansbury. Based on the novel by Richard Condon and directed by John Frankenheimer, the film was released during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Actor Clayton LeBoeuf Representing the Make the Public Conscious Project at
LakeArts Foundation’s Politics Goes to the Movies Film Festival
David Zinman, the founder of Chautauqua’s popular Classic Movie series paid tribute to POLITICS GOES TO THE MOVIES with a special presentation of the 1949 Academy Award winning- film, ALL THE KING’S MEN based on Robert Penn Warren’s novel about the dramatic political ascent and governorship of Willie Stark, (Huey Long), a driven, cynical populist in the American south during the 1930’s. A Q&A followed.
Festival Opening Night
First Comes Love: Radical Spirits, Civil Rights and
the Sexual Evolution
Weeks Gallery, Jamestown Community College
An ArtParty reception celebrated the opening of the LakeArts Film Festival and the Weeks Gallery exhibition. The evening featured the photography of Barbara Proud and the music of Zili Misik, an all-female Afro-Caribbean band.
Part two of the Weeks Gallery partnership included a screening of the film MILK Sean Penn, as Harvey Milk, portrays the first openly gay person elected to public office in California as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The film received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Penn won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Black for Best Original Screenplay. The screening was followed by Q & A with members of the NY Civil Liberties Union.
Edinboro Animation faculty lead a stop-action workshop at Infinity Media and Performance Center in Jamestown, NY
Animation Workshop
Infinity Media and Performance Center
Student filmmakers made their own short, animated movies using stop-frame motion as portrayed in the movie HUGO. The workshop, presented by LakeArts Foundation, was led by professional film animators from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania who worked for Disney and Pixar. They successfully taught film animation at the 2010 LakeArts Film Festival.
Family Movie
A special screening of HUGO, Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-winning film about the mysterious adventures of a boy who lives alone in a Paris railway station. Through his friendship with the owner of a toy shop (Ben Kingsley), he discovers the magical world of early movies and animation.
Student Film Screenings
Chautauqua Cinema, Chautauqua Institution
As part of the LakeArts Foundation’s support of the next generation of filmmakers, we are proud to present the LakeArts Student Filmmakers.
The student films ran the gamut from Copernicus to the environment with a special showcase, titled OVERCOMING, featuring films by Jamestown High School filmmakers.
Hollywood Screenwriter, Brian Herskowitz
Adapting Literary Works to the Screen - A Workshop in Screenwriting Chautauqua Cinema
LakeArts Foundation presented a two-day intensive writing workshop in adapting novels, plays, short stories and other literary works for film and television. The workshop was conducted by Brian Herskowitz, Hollywood screenwriter and teacher at UCLA. Participants explored writing techniques and analyzed the specific problems and techniques unique to adapting a variety of source material to the screen. Writers viewed examples, and were given specific exercises to strengthen the craft of adaptation. Work was read in class and critiqued by the instructor and their peers.