By Laura P. Valtorta
Currently I am writing a novel about a black character and a
white character that I plan to turn into a screenplay. I expect to make a lot
of ugly mistakes.
While studying how to make these characters more genuine, I
tell myself – “Woman – go forth and meet with artists and people in many
different communities. Watch. Listen. Ask questions.”
An excellent place to do that was the Long Beach Indie Film
and Music Festival, that I attended as a filmmaker on September 1-3, 2016. Here
is an email I sent to my peeps:
Family, Friends,
and Filmmakers: This weekend I attended
the Long Beach Indie Film and Music Festival in Long Beach, California (www.longbeachindie.com) where
"Queen of the Road" won best TV pilot against some formidable
competitors from Hollywood!
This
festival was special because the founder, Dr. Daniel Walker, shared with the
group a vision like my own: to see diverse people creating and sharing art.
Like me, Dr. Walker wants filmmakers to be diverse (more women, more
African-Americans), and above all, he wants audiences to be diverse so that we
can sit together, enjoy art together, and discuss what's important to us.
This
festival (180 films and performances) and the artists were diverse in every
way! Age, skin color, sex, disability, gender identity, nationality. I could go
on. At the awards banquet, I sat next to a woman my age who had a film entry in
the student filmmaker category! My table included a German director, a doctor
who made music videos, and people from Australia.
This mix of
people made for excellent talk-back sessions with directors after each film. I
felt comfortable asking questions that were really on my mind about filmmaking
and American society. Some of my questions were obnoxious – but they were
important to me.
For the
first time I did not feel out of place being an older female director. There
were other women, older than me, who were presenting awesome films.
Funny how
more diversity makes us all feel more welcome.
When Dr.
Daniel Walker spoke, it was refreshing and liberating to hear a man speak about
something we both found important -- drawing people together through art. When
I accepted the award, Dr. Walker told me that he knew about my work and thought
I was doing some great things. This was a true compliment!
Dr. Walker
teaches Latin American studies in Long Beach, which is said to be the most
diverse town of its size (500,000) in the United States. The diversity extends
to age, sex, gender identity, skin color, language, disability, and nationality
– just like the participants in the festival itself. Heaven!
No comments:
Post a Comment