Locally made film kicks off fledgling Delta fest

By ROGER W. HOSKINS
BEE STAFF WRITER
(Published in The Modesto Bee: Friday)

(BACK)

Film lovers can hit the "Jackpot" and a lot more this weekend at the first annual Delta Film Festival in Manteca.

On screen, there's a match in search of its fiery destiny, the moon trapped by her lover and a foreign film that examines the metaphysical side of human suffering. There's also a touch of celebrity and a one-of-a-kind workshop.

Actor James Hong, the festival's lifetime honoree, will be at the Hospitality Suite at the Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinemas for autograph sessions Saturday and Sunday, and he will help host the Awards Gala Saturday night. Wong has been seen on TV shows including "Seinfeld" and in feature films such as "Big Trouble in Little China."

"Digital Filmmaking on the Fly" teaches aspiring folks how to produce a film from scratch. On Saturday, participants will run through brainstorming an idea, scripting and shooting.

On Sunday, participants will edit with computer technology. The finished project will be shown at the "wrap party" on Sunday at Kelley Brothers Brewing Company.

The workshop is taught by KOVR camerawoman Cyndy Green. Workshop hours are 10 a.m. to noon Saturday and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Manteca City Council chambers, 1001 W. Center St.

There are 42 films being shown on six screens in Manteca.

"Jackpot" is the movie filmed in and around Modesto by a Modesto filmmakers Eric Raingruber and Sean Stencil. It is the story of a teen-ager's moral dilemma when she lies about her age to buy a lottery ticket. To her delight and then regret, she hits the jackpot. The film will be screened for the first time Saturday at 4:15 p.m. in Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema.

Here are some of the other nuggets filmgoers can look forward to:

FEATURE FILMS
"Jane White Is Sick & Twisted": Saturday, 1:15 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. David Michael Latt directs the story of an unstable female whose life is so wrapped up in television that she imagines Jerry Springer to be her long-lost father. Desperate to rejoin him and leave her agoraphobic, overprotective mother, she sets out on a quest to become a guest on Springer's show.

"Thicker Than Water": Sunday, 2:20 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. Director Steven C. Willoughby shows how the loyalty between two brothers is put to the test as financial problems and a secret threaten to destroy not only their lives, but those closest to them.

ANIMATED
"Moontrip": Saturday, 3 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. While traveling outer space, the moon finds Earth and falls in love. While visiting the planet, the moon risks losing its freedom and is trapped in Earth's gravitational pull forever. It all happens in four minutes.

"Match Scratch Fever": Saturday, 2:05 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. A match escapes the box and enters the world. He soon discovers his true destiny and embarks on a three-minute mission to fulfill his dream.

DOCUMENTARIES
"David Mairs: Meeting with a Remarkable Man": Saturday, 2:45 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. Director Chris Angelos shows how one man copes with a debilitating illness, amytrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). This runs 45 minutes.

"Downtown Stockton, a Video History": Sunday, 3 p.m. at Manteca Library, McFall Room. The Edison High School communications department produced a five-minute film telling the general history and progress of downtown Stockton from its early waterfront founding to urban center, recent decay and current renewal.

"Evolution of a Pumpkin Corn Maze": Sunday, 2:25 p.m. at Manteca Library, McFall Room. Rich Clinton depicts the actual evolution of a 20-acre corn maze -- from artist conception, planting, growing, cultivating, shaping -- to a fully grown, 14-foot-tall maze.

"I Could Have Been Human": Sunday, noon. Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. Barbara Medajska directs this Polish film that tells the touching story about coal scavengers living in a waste dump in Poland.

"Love Life": Saturday, 10:30 a.m. at Manteca Library, McFall Room. Ray Brady directs this English film about how Scott spends too much time having fun and not enough time growing up. The results are too many clubs, drugs and drinking sessions, a one-night stand and pregnancy.

"One University, One World": Saturday, 4 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. This two-minute film by UOP students depicts the creation of a universal "thread" uniting and touching both the East and West coasts after the events of Sept. 11, showing the inherent beauty of the human race and how love, no matter what the circumstances, brings people together.

SHORT FILMS
"Blush with Death": Saturday, 2:20 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. A cosmetics saleswoman sells door-to-door for 12 minutes in a ghost town in the Deep South, wielding good -- or is it evil? -- with her magic makeup kit.

"Death Voice": Sunday, 1:50 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. Director Barbara M. Hammond tells the story of Randy, in his last hours until his execution for killing his best friend.

"First Light": Saturday, 5:35 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. Alexander Galant directs a 20-minute Canadian film with familiar theme: Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy must find girl before she dies ... again. For 900 years, these souls have never found each other in time. Can destinies be changed before first light?

"Keeping Romeo": Saturday, 4 p.m. at Marketplace Stadium 10 Cinema. Director Bob Simonello tells the story of Julianne and Carter, who went to Woodstock in 1969 and never left. Now it's their 25th wedding anniversary. He has gift for her. Within days, their easygoing life is turned inside out.

Films are rated PG-13 and R, not intended for children. Admission Saturday is $20, Sunday $15. A two-day Director's Pass is $35. Workshop tickets only are $10 for both days. For information, call 823-7229.