Third Award

Oh and . . . in the mail on Friday we got a nice certificate from the Bayou City Film Festival saying that we won an "Honorable Mention" in their "Best Feature Film Competition". So that makes three, the Redemptive Storyteller award, the Best of the Northwest award from Bendfilm, and the nice folks in Texas.

Bless them! Hoping that a few winner laurels on the postcard and the site will look good to that eventual sainted distributor that I pray about meeting every day . . .

"Maturity is the ability to delay gratification." - attributed to Jung

*self-mocking grin*

WYSIWYG

Well, it was interesting . . . playing in an unjuried festival for the first time was odd to say the least, though you got to love those WYSIWYG folks, they sure know how to pray! They prayed for the movie and for me, and for every other movie . . . it was such a different atmosphere than most festivals :)

The meeting with the distributor went well on Thursday. We are in a discernment process, of course, to know how to proceed. In my talks with both producer's reps that have approached us, and in this talk with an actual distributor, I have been cautious because Larry is so cautious, and I don't want to say or do anything that might be incorrect. Nothing has seemed like The Thing to Do yet to Larry, and I trust him, and live with my hunger to sell this movie and get on to the next one. Went to hear Kathleen Norris last night with Terry and Scott and Pam, and saw Luci there.

Waiting. It is very difficult for me.

Screening Tonight (Wed. Nov. 5th) 7pm, San Francisco

If you happen to know anyone in San Francisco, please tell them to come to 1970 Ocean Avenue for the WYSIWYG Festival and see "The Dark Horse". Thanks!

I flew in last night, driving to the hotel amidst rampant street glee all over San Francisco. Three black guys ran at my car, screaming "OBAMA!" which would have been a hair disconcerting, if they weren't giggling so hard.

Talked to Terry on the phone, and we both keep spontaneously tearing up, have ever since I head the speech over my cell phone as Terry held our home phone to the home T.V., as I drove to the hotel last night. It is just so unbelievable! The Doonsbury cartoon this morning says it all, I don't have it here before me, but Terry read it to me as I waited in line to sign in at the festival this morning, while a happy woman danced by us singing "I have a black President!". In the cartoon, three soldiers are in a foxhole in Iraq, and the black one is celebrating, and the white one says "Hey, he is half white too you know!" Everyone is claiming him today :) As the mother of a mixed-race child, I am getting teary all over again. Sniff.

So we screen tonight, and I meet with several distributors tomorrow at 11 am PST, if you have a spare prayer! I have no idea who will show up tonight, but at least my getting up at 6:30 this morning bore fruit - I was 5th in line and will screen in my chosen time slot! YAY!

Anyway, I am deeply thankful to be here, though I wish I could be with Terry today. It has been a very long wait to experience this kind of stunned joy.

Going to San Fran Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I am boarding a 200.00 priceline flight for San Francisco to go to the WYSIWGY Fillm Festival, which may be the maddest thing I have yet done with this movie. It is a really weird one, it is unjuried and the audience votes at ten minutes in whether or not they want the movie to go on (I know, huh?), but I just watched the first ten minutes of the movie on Ben's advice, and it actually sets the story up pretty well, and leaves you tantalized, at the ten minute mark. So . . . for 200 bucks I am gonna head down there. And pray. Cause they are having every filmmaker who screens get meetings with several distributors. And having two recent festival wins under our belt is a nice way to go in. At least I hope so!!!

Won't know when we are screening until Wednesday but we will screen that day, they say, if I get there early enough (GROAN!!!!). Doors open at 9am. I hate that so much.

Ben is tweaking the gorgeous "Dark Horse" press pack he made even as we speak, and that is incredible since we are both doing NaNoWriMo this year!

Hoping my bod holds out . . . any spare prayers gratefully appreciated!

Redemptive Storyteller Award

Well they really gave me one, a lovely trophy designed by the same firm that makes the Oscars *grin* - "The Dark Horse" got its second award. And there was much rejoicing! Here are some pictures, one with my new friend Dondra Vaughn and me (she made a heartbreaking and beautiful doc called "Blinding Faith" about a minister in India who had to sign his own death warrant to be able to preach). One is with Joshua Weigel, who made an astonishing 168 film called "Stained", shot on a Red Camera, that just plain took my breath away with its quality. But of course my favorite movie (other than mine!) was the gorgeous, heartfelt "Pie 'N Burger" by the amazing Clare Sera and her Act One team. I knew many of the folks in the credits, and I was so very glad it won.

Doctor Chris Cunningham also asked which filmmakers had come the farthest to the festival, and both Father Christopher Wolf, S.J. (who came from Germany with his amazing doc about people doing prayer retreats at Auschwitz called "In Spite of Darkness: A Spiritual Encounter with Auschwitz") and me, who came all the way from Seattle heh heh. So they gave us scheduling and budgeting software! Yay!

We did not see Pat Robertson, but we saw his horses . . . his house is on campus, walking distance to CBN, and his horses are behind alarm-equipped electric fences. Truly astonishing.

Having written my 2k words today on my novel for NaNoWriMo and received my award, I am finally going to bed! Can't wait to get home tomorrow and see my family! Our screening was embarrassing yesterday with its technical difficulties (Argh I am so frustrated with home DVD production!), but at least Dondra and her Mom saw the movie. Instad of watching it for the nine millionth time, I got to go to a radio interview with Greg Gregoire of "The Jesus Film Project", which was fascinating. Spent all afternoon getting to know Greg, and chatted with his lovely wife a bit at the ice cream social last night. Some truly incredible folks. Sadly the lady who interviewd me in 2006 to possibly direct their movie "Magdalena: Released From Shame", Jill Schrag, is no longer with the project. I hope that was not too sad a parting, I really liked her.

So many wonderful people to meet. I am glad I came. Bless Dr. Cunningham and his incredibly hard-working team! May this festival proper.