As the name gets smaller, the event gets bigger.
The Indiana University South Bend Independent Video and Filmmakers Festival -- you could probably watch "Gone With the Wind" in the length of time it takes you to say that a couple times -- has become the River Bend Film Festival. And there's a new venue, too: the Century Center in downtown South Bend.
"So this year, with the venue change, we decided to select a more appropriate, and thankfully shorter, festival name," said festival director Tim Richardson.
Richardson started the festival in 2001 as a way for regional filmmakers to network with one another and connect with audiences. They started with a one-day festival featuring around 20 films, Richardson said, and this year it will run two days -- Friday and Saturday -- and feature close to 50 movies.
Festival attendance has been in the 200 range the last two years, and Richardson would like to see that double this year.
"Anything more than that would be outstanding," he said. "It always takes a while for something like this to get rooted and for the community to realize it's available, and that it's an annual thing."
The program for the festival is an eclectic one, with the top attraction being "Red," which comes to South Bend via last year's Sundance film fest. The movie, which was directed by Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky McKee, stars Brian Cox as a man who seeks revenge on a teenager who kills his dog. Stephen Susco, who adapted the screenplay from Jack Ketchum's novel and also wrote the 2004 horror movie "The Grudge" and its sequel is the festival's keynote speaker.
Some of other feature films to be screened include "Glass City," about a middle-aged man who is rejuvenated when he joins a theater company, and "Decomposed," about a man who hires grave-robbers to retrieve his dead fianceé's engagement ring.
There are also a number of short films on the program, many coming from local filmmakers and others from as far away as Europe. And what makes River Bend different from other festivals is its focus on the filmmaking process itself. There are workshops scheduled for aspiring directors, screenwriters and animators, as well as auditions for films to be shot locally. A schedule of all screenings and workshops, along with ticket information, is available at www.riverbendfilmfest.org.
"I've always felt very strongly about not only showing films, but to talk about how they are made," Richardson said. "That's why we have Q&A sessions after every screening with actors and directors. It's important for young filmmakers to grow and learn new things, as well as for the public to get a look into the making of independent films."
The event, which secured sponsorship from a number of companies and organizations despite the precarious state of the economy, is billed as the "first annual" River Bend Film Festival and Richardson said the plan is to return next year.
"We definitely need to get through this year's in order to see what we need to do make the next one a success," Richardson said.
TAKE 2
There will be more homegrown filmmaking talent on display May 16 when the Elkhart Civic Theatre hosts a screening of "Off the Cuff," a mockumentary (think "This is Spinal Tap" or "The Office") produced, written and directed by the husband-and-wife team of Jessica Hardy and Brent Kado, who are Elkhart natives.
The movie is set at an improv theater competition in Chicago, but its origins can actually be traced to Florida. During a Disney World vacation, the two got the idea for a mockumentary about the so-called "cast members" who play characters in Disney theme parks, but, Hardy said, "we realized we have no budget, which is the first realization of first-time filmmakers."
So they decided to shoot their first movie back home in Chicago, where Hardy studied improv at The Second City.
"The improv community in Chicago is male-dominated, and not only that, but highly political and down right competitive," Hardy said. "Like any subculture, there are things going on that no one sees. We wanted to make fun of that and take a risk. It's all in good fun, and so far many of Chicago's comedians have said that we hit it on the nose."
Others in the know agree. A review in the Chicago Sun-Times said the movie exposes "the boundless egotism that pervades Chicago's improv scene."
You can find a trailer for the film at www.offthecuffmovie.com, and the local screening is set for 7 p.m. on the 16th. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, and there's a Q&A session after the movie.
Hardy and Kado already have plans to make another mockumentary called "Welcome to Gentle Waters," which is set at a substance abuse treatment retreat center. They're shooting Aug. 12-19 in North Webster and are looking for extras and a place to house their actors during the shoot. If you'd like to get involved, send an e-mail to info@avantchicago.com.
Contact Ben Ford at bford@etruth.com.