The D.C. Independent Film Festival, now in its 11th year, will bring new and unique voices to the silver screen between March 4 and 15.
DCIFF will screen films at Phoenix Theatres in Union Station and hold all other festival events in the Union Station Grand Hall, according to Carol Bidault de l'Isle, the festival's executive director and founder.
One of the most important aspects of the film festival is its advocacy summit, "Filmmakers on the Hill," which will be held on Capitol Hill in the Rayburn Building on opening day. The summit gives filmmakers a chance to discuss issues in the film industry in the United States with government representatives.
"A festival really needs to create an identity," Bidault de l'Isle said in an interview with The Eagle. "For [DCIFF], the identity is D.C."
The advocacy summit is an important way of cementing that identity, she said.
"It's a fun event," Bidault de l'Isle said. "It's your 'Mr. Smith' moment."
The film festival has garnered a great deal of support in the past, touted by John Daly as the only real independent film festival, according to Bidault de l'Isle, and called "the Sundance of the east coast" by The Washington Post.
This year, the opening night's theme is "Give Peace a Chance," according to the festival's Web site. That night, an animated short, "Sebastian's Voodoo," directed by Joaquin Baldwin, and a documentary, "The Day After Peace," directed by Jeremy Gilley, will be shown.
"Sebastian's Voodoo," with its stunning animation, humanized voodoo dolls and dark frames, tells the story of a voodoo doll who must try to save his friends from being pinned to death, according to the Web site.
On a more realistic but no less thought-provoking note, "The Day After Peace" follows Gilley, the filmmaker, on his 10-year journey to establish an international day of peace and features the likes of Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, The Dalai Lama and Kofi Annan, according to Bidault de l'Isle.
Another highlight of the festival will be a screening of "Orlok, the Vampire in 3D." The film, a restored version of F.W. Murnau's 1922 classic, "Nosferatu," includes never-before-seen footage and new animated effects, according to director Keith Carter.
The three-dimensional aspect of the film is still being worked on and restored, since it is so time consuming, according to Carter. The version that will be shown at the festival is a preliminary cut.
The film marks what Carter describes as his transition to feature films from animation, but to him, it means much more than that.
"What I think 'Orlok' represents, is the collaboration I feel DCIFF has been able to create in the last 11 years," he said in an interview with The Eagle.
The collaboration he is referring to, in this case, is the one between him and producer Bidault de l'Isle, the festival's executive director. Creating that kind of collaboration is one of the many goals of the film festival. Another is to showcase unknown talent, according to Bidault de l'Isle.
"We want to be a different energy on Capitol Hill," she said. With all the creativity and innovation DCIFF brings to D.C., the festival certainly is just that.
You can reach this staff writer at mwasilczuk@theeagleonline.com.
