2010 was a hectic whirlwind of festival screenings and events. Late in the year, we were honored to receive the Rosebud Award at the Rosebud Film & Video Festival! The recognition meant so much and we couldn’t have done it without the support of our friends, family, and fans.

2011 brings some exciting changes. First and foremost, we’re happy to announce the formation of Self-Reliant Film! Since 2006, Paul Harrill and I have collaborated on films together like For Memories’ Sake. Over the last year, we decided to officially partner to distribute our films together under the banner of Self-Reliant Film. With this partnership comes a host of exciting changes, some of which are currently underway: we have created a new fan page for Self-Reliant Film on Facebook, a SRF twitter account, and will soon launch a new website that will enable us to make our films available online!

We will have LOTS of exciting things to share with you via Self-Reliant Film in the coming year, including special filmmaking tools and web posts and updates from our March filmmaking tour across the Southeastern US on the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers!

So, please make the switch and stay in touch with us at Self-Reliant Film. Click here to join the new fan page. And watch for new designs and updates as we get ready to launch the new www.selfreliantfilm.com!

The producer of For Memories’ Sake, Paul Harrill and myself were selected to take part in the 2010-11  Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. We’ll be sharing our films across the Southeast at 11 different cities/venues.

This amazing opportunity is supported by the Southern Arts Federation, which describes the tour this way:

Southern Circuit provides communities across the South with a tour of highly talented independent filmmakers. Audiences have seen more than 200 films and have engaged filmmakers in post-screening discussions in more than 44 communities across the Southern United States.

Southern Circuit is the nation’s only regional tour of independent filmmakers, providing communities with an interactive way of experiencing independent film. The tour takes the audience away from their televisions, DVD players, and computers to connect them with independent filmmakers and encourage them to talk with one another about the films and their meanings.  Southern Circuit transforms watching independent films from a solitary experience into a communal one.

More details will follow in 2011!

Though the article fails to mention it, the film’s amazing producer, Paul Harrill, is a Knoxville native and will be in attendance at the screening to answer any burning questions you might have about For Memories’ Sake. See you Friday!

Attendees are invited to bring samples of their family photos or home movies for me to inspect and I’ll share some preservation tips! Details and a press release are available here.

Those across the pond can catch For Memories’ Sake as a special screening at “Saving Private Reels: An International Conference on the Presentation, Appropriation and Re-contextualization of the Amateur Moving Image,” to be held in Cork, Ireland from September 17-19th.

I’ll be in attendance at the conference, along with a who’s who of amateur film scholars!

Knoxville tastemaker and writer Jack Neely interviewed both Paul Harrill and Ashley Maynor on his live Internet talk-show, “The Scruffy Citizen” on July 28, 2010. We discussed our latest films, including For Memories’ Sake. Check it out! (Note: You may have to scroll to the July 28 episode to watch.)

For Memories’ Sake was shown at the Nashville Film Festival. I didn’t see it. I don’t recall any local media covering it. But one of my friends saw it at the film festival kind of by accident (it was showing alongside another documentary she did mean to see) and she could not stop talking about it.”Have you heard anything about it?” she asked me. I hadn’t. “But it’s about a woman who lives right by you who takes pictures, every day. Like twelve pictures a day. It’s really strange. But it will blow your mind.”

Well, of course, I could not resist the twin promises of a documentary about a woman who lives by me and having my mind blown, so I got in touch with the filmmaker, Ashley Maynor, who hooked me up with a copy of her film.

Which I then watched about ten times in a row. And then, I could not stop thinking about it. I tried to talk Jim Ridley into writing about it, so that someone who understands movies could explain to me what the hell I was seeing, but he declined.

So, the basic premise is simple enough. Maynor’s grandmother, Angela Singer, lives between Joelton and Ashland City, up by my vet. Every day, for the last 30 years or so, she’s taken at least a handful of pictures. Some are ordinary, like pictures of family members or cows or flowers. Some are stranger, like pictures of checks or multiple pictures of her son’s grave or self-portraits of her dressed like an Indian.

But the film is more than that, it’s a really poignant meditation on artistry and creativity and legacy and what it means to witness, all crammed into about 30 minutes.

It did blow my mind. And I feel like the community got cheated out of knowing about this film, because it didn’t get any coverage.

So, I asked Maynor some questions I had after watching the film, which she was gracious enough to answer.

Indianapolis fans have two chances to catch For Memories’ Sake at the 2010 Indy Film Festival. The film screens alongside Wo Ai Ni Mommy (I Love You Mommy) on Sunday, July 18th at 8:30pm and Wednesday, July 21st at 6:45pm. Save the dates!

Libraries, universities, and other organizations can know purchase institutional copies of For Memories’ Sake on DVD! The institutional license includes public performance rights for non-profit screenings and classroom use. And, of course, the DVD includes a number of bonus features great for teaching or for film clubs.

Find out more on the DVD purchase page!

For Memories’ Sake had two awesome screenings at the Nashville Film Festival as part of Tennessee Film Night 2! Producer Paul Harrill, Director Ashley Maynor, and Angela herself were in attendance. The first screening was followed by a lovely catered reception, and Angela was even asked to sign a few autographs!

We finished off the night taking photos on the red carpet. Thanks to all the Nashville folks who came out to support independent filmmaking!