Michigan native Tom McPhee hits a homerun with “An American Opera”… a documentary that is so moving  and so powerful … but at the same time neutral and not a heavy-handed message piece… a true documentary that opens your eyes to part of the Hurricane Katrina disaster that most of us only heard about.
 

“An American Opera” drops us right in the disaster zone that is Louisiana, and the audience stays there through the heartbreaking, yet motivating stories that came out of the effort to rescue as many pets as possible.

As Director/Producer McPhee told me weeks before the screening at Waterfront Film Festival, he originally went to Gonzales, Louisiana to “answer the call” and help out the people in that community.   But as we see in the opening scenes that set the stage for the documentary, his plan to to help out by taking still photographs of the displaced pets and creating a catalog of them became more than a small task… the rescue of abandoned/missing/lost pets BEFORE the storm hit was a big task… that becomes monumental AFTER the storm.

Complimented by a supercharged soundtrack, McPhee does a fabulous job of staying “zoomed out” to give us the big picture while systematically “zooming in” his film to the small, but impactful personal stories that came out of the disaster.   He really hits home while weaving in the story of one couple separated from their pet and the challenges they go through.

And that’s why I’m warning you on two fronts… this movie is emotionally gripping, and weeks later, the stirring emotions and difficult images are still with me… but they are emotions and images that may be difficult for you to ignore because they are inspiring and motivating and remind us that there are still people out there trying to make the world a better place… even for our four-legged friends!!!

For that and the efforts of the subjects of this film to rescue 25,000 pets… this truly is the greatest pet rescue ever…. and one of the best documentaries I have seen in years.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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Covering my first Film Festival

UPDATED with links to my interviews with actress/activist Daryl Hannah (”Fierce Light”)… actor Jason Ritter (”Peter and Vandy”)… and director Peter Callahan (”Against the Current”).

ORIGINALLY POSTED June 16th:

So… its been a couple days since the 2009 Waterfront Film Festival wrapped up… and I’m still pumped.

Sure I battled connectivity all weekend (bad cell phone reception and internet connections) drove more than 380 miles back and forth from Grand Rapids to Saugatuck (sometimes back and forth in the same day)… and never had more than 6 hours sleep a night during a 4-day period, BUT….  BUT…. I am not complaining… just some explanation on the delay of this blog and others related to the WFF.

 While covering my first film festival I got to see 10 movies, most making making their Midwest or Michigan Premieres:

On Friday, I saw 3 movie screenings (“The Baker”, “Dare”, “Official Rejection”), attended 3 more movies on Saturday (“Women in Trouble”, “An American Opera”, “The Twenty”), and then I broke a personal record for movies watched at theater/venue in a day on Sunday, seeing 4 really good films (“The Answer Man”, “Weather Girl”, “Against The Current”, “Peter and Vandy”).   My favorites were “The Baker”, “The Answer Man”, “Peter and Vandy”   and the documentary “An American Opera”… but there were also soo many good looking films that I couldn’t make it to because of time conflicts or being sold out (”Jesus People”).

 I also interviewed actress/activist Daryl Hannah, Michigan documentary director TomMcPhee (”An American Opera”), director Peter Callahan (”Against the Current”), director Jay DiPietro (”Peter and Vandy”) and actor Jason Ritter (”Peter and Vandy”)… enjoyed Q&A with director Sebastian Gutierrez (”Women in Trouble”) and director/actor Chopper Bernet (”The Twenty”).

2009 broke the attendance record with ticket sales of more than 16,000 (up from 2008’s 14,000), day and weekend pass sales were also up, and more people attended the seminars than in years past.

It was great hanging out with die hard movie fans and I am thankful for all the assistance from the great volunteers at Waterfront Film Festival!!!

My reviews are in the works… and we’ll be posting more interviews from the weekend in the next few days.

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Michigan filmmaker Tom McPhee’s “An American Opera”

Documentary Filmmaker and Michigan Native Tom McPhee spent more than 3 years on this project to document the pet rescue in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

McPhee’s “Man Smiling Moving Pictures” is based in Ann Arbor, MI.

The award-winning film, titled “An American Opera” has made the rounds at other festivals and will play at the Waterfront Film Festival June 13th at 11:30am.

Check out my interview/preview of “An American Opera” in our entertainment section.

The documentary will also be screened July 2nd at The Harbor Theater in Muskegon at 6:15pm and July 19th at The Grandville Public School Auditorium at 2:15pm. Screenings of “An American Opera” will partially benefit local animal charities.

For more information on other screenings, (more…)