RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 21, 2011, Local Arts News, Film
Earliest efforts meet latest visions
Independent Filmmakers Coalition of Kansas City in collaboration with CinemaKC present the inaugural First & Last Film Festival revealing the artistic progress of area movie-makers.
The journey from fledgling filmmaker to accomplished auteur can take many years. But it will take only a couple of hours to enjoy the First & Last Film Festival, featuring the very first and latest short films by selected local filmmakers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 22 at the Screenland Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd.
The inaugural one-night festival is presented by the Independent Filmmakers Coalition of Kansas City (IFCKC) in cooperation with CinemaKC, a not-for-profit organization connecting groups devoted to film in Missouri and Kansas.
“The last few years have seen an explosion of high-quality independent short films and features from the Kansas City area,” said festival creator Timothy Harvey of the IFCKC. “But every filmmaker started somewhere, warts and all. The festival is an opportunity to show where we began and how far we’ve come. While it’s primarily a showcase, there is also a competition angle to it, with the audience picking the best of the first films, the best of the most recent films, and the filmmaker who has come the farthest in storytelling and filmmaking.”
Tickets to the First & Last Film Festival are $8 ($5 for IFCKC members). A free mixer begins at 6:30 p.m. in the theater’s lobby, and filmmakers will answer questions about their work and what they’ve learned in their careers. The evening is part of the monthly series of CinemaKC, a group devoted to area filmmaking.
For more information, visit www.ifckc.com.
Indie Film Editor
Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.
In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.
Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.
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