7th Annual Lake Charles Film Festival

Southwest Louisiana

On Friday, October 5th, at the Brimstone Museum in Sulphur, LA, the 7th Annual Lake Charles Film Festival kicked off with a series of short films and music videos and a screening of Tarzan of the Apes in celebration of the silent film’s 100th anniversary.  Kelsey Swire was the emcee for the evening and she introduced each short and music video as well as the anniversary presentation of Tarzan of the Apes.  She also introduced the guest of honor, Jay Underwood, best known for his work in projects such as The Boy Who Could Fly, Not Quite Human, and the unreleased (but much loved thanks to bootleg copies) The Fantastic Four (1994).  Festival director Patrick Bennett presented Mr. Underwood with the official festival cake and asked him to cut the cake with a celebratory sword.

After the screening of Tarzan of the Apes, the event moved to Rikenjak’s Brewing Company for a festival kickoff party where attendees, guests, and presenters got a chance to mingle with one another and talk about film and all sorts of other things.  Rikenjak’s did an excellent job of serving the party, making sure that everyone received their food and drinks in a timely manner.  There was also live music at the venue.

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I arrived early on Saturday morning to assist with the setup of some of the rooms for the festival.  I was then asked to help out in one of the viewing rooms.  Luckily for me it was the very room that Mr. Underwood would be showcasing Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four in later that day.  I presented Jim DeVault’s Azteq Vs The Prowler, an independent horror flick that mixed luchadores and a deformed killer and Brandon Katcher’s Circular Resonance, a documentary about Noah Frisch, a Didgeridoo maker, and his world travels.

After those films, Mr. Underwood presented Doomed! and provided excellent commentary during and after the presentation.  It was especially fun to hear about the rat-infested studio where the film was shot and how the cast and crew spent a lot of their own time and money to get the project finished.  After the presentation and Q&A, Mr. Underwood signed autographs, took photos, and had copies of the Doomed! documentary for sale.  I received an autographed photo from him on which he thanked me for showing his film.  That was pretty cool.

More films were shown throughout the day.  I managed to see a few of them in their entirety and a couple of them for just a few brief moments, but I enjoyed every one of them.  Doomed! was a real treat and Little Eden by the Lockhearts was my favorite music video.  My personal favorite of all of the documentaries and films that I was able to see in their entirety, though, was Last Beer at the Pig’s Ear.  It told the story of the final days at the Pig’s Ear, a 152 year old pub in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and focused on some of the people that made the place so special.  I fell in love with the people and the place, and by the end of the film, I was almost moved to tears.  It is a great documentary and I highly recommend that you check out the website here or visit and like their Facebook page.

The festival was topped off with an awards ceremony at my favorite watering hole, MacFarlane’s Celtic Pub.  I enjoyed my usual, fish and chips with delicious colcannon on the side, and I sipped on some mead as well.  Despite mosquitoes and lovely Louisiana humidity, the event was great.

Here are the winners:

Home Grown:

1. 1000 Year Flood
2. Cover Me
3. Into The Green

Feature Narrative:

1. The Maestro
2. Evol
3. One Nation Under God

Short Narrative:

1. The Hollow Earth
2. Dependents
3. Little Pictures

Documentary Feature:

1. 1000 Year Flood
2. Poured In Pennsylvania
3. Up To Snuff

Documentary Short:

1. The School of Honk
2. Western Jubilee
3. Bee-Sharp Honeybee

Feature Script:

1. The Lady Pirates
2. A Self Made Man
3. Life In The Country

Short Script:

1. Sombra City
2. Life With Bill: “Waiting On Cahill”
3. Abandon All Hope

48 Hour Film Sprint:

1. The Writer
2. Tin City
3. Tooth

Animation:

1. The Modern Lives
2. The Story of God
3. Ego

Student Film:

1. L.A. Fadeaway
2. Into The Green
3. A Hard Gamble

Music Video:

1. Mice or Men
2. We’re All Mad Here
3. Private Eye

Web Series:

1. Bail Out: I Am Lorenzo Lamas
2. So SOHA Season Two
3. The Strategy of Water

Foreign Film

1. By Blood
2. Balloon
3. Ainhoa

Scallywag Award:

Presented to Jay Underwood for his thirty plus years of work in film and television.

Be sure to come out to the Lake Charles Film Festival next year.  This event has steadily grown in size and the film selection gets increasingly better as well.  It’s a great way for filmmakers, writers, actors, and film fanatics to get together and talk about their favorite subject.

Special thanks go out to all of those that made this event happen, especially Patrick, Kelsey, Thom Trahan, and the Brimstone Museum.

As always, thanks for reading.  I’m heading to Gulf Coast Fan Fest this weekend and I’ll be posting about it in the very near future.  I’ve also got a special treat for Throwback Thursday this week.  Tomorrow I’ll be blogging about last night’s Season Nine premiere of The Walking Dead.  Featured in the episode is another great performance from Xander Berkeley who portrays Gregory on the show.  He was also featured in The Maestro, which took top honors in the Feature Narrative category at the Lake Charles Film Festival.  See you all again real soon!