ANDERSON, Ind. — There are a dozen people in this town who knew something that few of us did: You can spend at least 12 hours watching professionally made films that have an Anderson connection.

Twelve hours may just be the start, judging by the 18 offerings shown Saturday at the premiere Homegrown Hollywood Film Festival (H2F2, to be hip) at the Paramount Theatre.

If you didn’t attend, mark Sept. 24 on your calendar for the next festival. Films early in the day are family-friendly; evening shows take on more adult themes. All movies have a link to Anderson.

Though the day was split into three sessions, which could be purchased individually, I paid $21.50 for a full-day ticket and bought DVDs of two films for $20, a T-shirt for $15 and enjoyed hours worth of popcorn. It was worth it. All proceeds benefited the historic downtown theater.

First, the 12 people responsible for the festival: local filmmaker Jim Dougherty, Paramount executive director Gayle Jones Burris, Rick Vale, Jay Hinkelman, Katherine Putzginer, Rhonda Tinch-Maze, Ronn Johnstone, Adam Tran, Cameron Bourquein, Genevieve Carmany, John Taylor and Joshua Hull.

All Indiana cities are experiencing economic ills. This film festival is a positive response to that downturn that lifts a community’s spirit. The hope shown by these 12 is inspiring — a testament that the local arts community has vision.



Taking them all in



Here are a few short takes on some films:

• Jim Dougherty’s 26-minute witty and sharp “Waffles for Virginia” starts with a young girl (Madison Pay) asking about Santa. An attempt to explain just gets the dad (Ronn Johnstone) in deeper (Santa on a mothership?). The tale sparkles with animation.
•  The 6-minute “I Could Be Great” features 13-year-old Fishers teen Olivia Rusk, who has the hair-loss condition called alopecia, in a music video that takes her from overcoming bullies to her making an appearance as a model. Her personal Olivia’s Cause website is on Facebook.
•  “Kavi,” nominated for a short film Oscar and edited by Anderson University grad Chris Witt, is a heart-wrenching tale of current-day slavery in India.
• With a partially local cast, “Star Trek vs. Batman,” mixing the 1960s TV shows, is 45 minutes and too serious for its own good. More costume and concept than camp and comedy.

♦ A highlight was the evening showing of the quirky road trip “Jeffie Was Here,” directed by Anderson’s Todd Edwards (now living in California) with producers Katie (his sister) and Timothy Hooten. The filmmakers discussed the film in person and made us even more proud of local influences in the film world.



Paramount featured

“Vagabond, Indiana” is Benjamin Lancaster’s personal tribute to four Hoosier movie palaces, including the Paramount. The 2010 film was produced for showing on WIPB, the PBS affiliate.

One of Lancaster’s early films, “Finding Xanadu,” was also on the festival program. It’s a mockumentary about a filmmaker in a small Indiana town filmed at the Paramount. The Paramount, he said, was the inspiration for “Vagabond, Indiana.”

“My other film we had shot on location here and it was really kind of a way to say thank you to them,” said Lancaster, who spent the day at the festival.

“Whenever you watch your own project, you only see the flaws, I’ll put it that way …. But I’m really proud of it. I’m glad we can finally show it to an audience.”

Saturday’s showing was the first public viewing of “Vagabond.”

“The small regional festivals like this one are really key for me as a filmmaker to get a foothold in kind of the festival world. A lot of your larger festivals, your Sundances, your Slamdances, you just don’t stand a shot of getting in. If you don’t have a few-million-dollar budget, you’re going to have a hard time,” Lancaster said.

“I feel like these smaller festivals, especially ones that are focused on regional areas, are key in helping out the artistic community around here.”

The same feeling was expressed by other filmmakers. That speaks to the promise of the Homegrown Hollywood Film Festival. Reserve Sept. 24 and find out for yourself.

H2F2

• The Homegrown Hollywood Film Festival features films, music videos, documentaries with various themes, of sci-fi, student productions, drama and even a zombie comedy or two — all with Anderson connections. The next festival is set for Sept. 24 at the Paramount Theatre, 1124 Meridian Plaza. Keep up with its progress at www.homegrownhollywoodfilmfestival.com or www.andesonparamount.org.

Contact Scott L. Miley, 648-4230, scott.miley@heraldbulletin.com