Secret agents, exploding hot dogs, breakdancing ninjas and the search for a magic suitcase will hit the Rosslyn Spectrum screen when local filmmaker Jai Mitchell?s latest work hits the big screen in the Rosebud Film Festival.
Mitchell, a graduate of Washington-Lee High School and the University of California at Santa Barbara film school, is one of 20 filmmakers from metropolitan region selected as finalists in the 13th annual Rosebud Film and Video Festival, sponsored by Arlington Community Television.
Judges narrowed a field of over 100 entries down to 20 finalists.
Those 20 films are eligible for five awards, including one Best in Show honro, which will be presented Sunday, May 11. Festival organizers will screen all 20 finalists on the weekend of April 12-13. Members of the public can purchase an all-day ticket to the screening for $8.
?It?s always fun,? said Chris Griffin, co-organizer of the festival. ?Every year it seems like a graduating class.?
OVER THE YEARS Rosebud has proved to be a focal point of the local independent film community, as filmmakers get a chance to see each other?s work and build contacts with other artists and actors for future collaborations.
Rob Parish, an Arlington resident for the last 13 years, entered films in Rosebud eight years in a row before finally winning last year. This year he is judging the competition. ?After losing all those years it was kind of interesting to see that process from the inside,? he said.
Judges evaluate the films according to Rosebud?s tradition of honoring ?innovative, experimental, unusual and deeply personal? works, but each judge looks for something extra.
For Parish, who refers to his own filmmaking as ?video collage,? all 20 nominees were notable for their technical merits. ?I wanted to see films that were innovative in some way,? he said. ?I was always in the market for something that was edgy.?
His own work would qualify under those standards. His winning documentary last year explored the world of graffiti artists in the District, including the infamous tagger Cool Disco Dan.
Instead of simply documenting the words and actions of the artists, Parish turned the film itself into visual art, splicing still frames with video and visuals with interviews. The result was a different type of documentary.
?Ken Burns would not have made the movie I made,? said Parish, ?Or at least not in the way I made it.? Rosebud provides a chance for experimental filmmakers to get exposure and recognition, he said.
THIS YEAR?S FESTIVAL promises to be no different. Mitchell?s entry, the only finalist from an Arlingtonian this year, had to be innovative due to the circumstances of its creation.
Originally filmed for another film contest, Mitchell had to create an entire movie in 48 hours. The lead character, a savvy female spy, tries to stay one step ahead of the villains and her bumbling boyfriend as she infiltrates an evil coffee shop to steal a magic suitcase from bad guys who rig hot dogs with explosives and breakdance between fights.
It?s an outrageous premise, but it offers a little bit of everything. ?It?s definitely a comedy, but there?s some good action in there. Hey, you?ve got breakdancing ninjas!? said Mitchell.
His actors faced many challenges, aside from working on a pro bono basis. Mitchell shot one chase scene in the middle of a parade in Alexandria. As is often the case with independent film, the crew didn?t have a permit for filming during the parade. ?I told them if they got arrested just to make sure the footage got back to me,? joked Mitchell.
No one got arrested, and Mitchell completed the film on time. The result was an action-oriented, spy-genre comedy, and an exhausted cast and crew. ?Basically you don?t sleep, you don?t shower, and by the end you?ve got a completed film,? said Mitchell. ?You just have to have a bunch of people who are really passionate about what they?re doing and are willing to work for nothing.?
Filmmakers like Mitchell and Parish say Rosebud presents great opportunities, but it?s the actually process of making movies that keeps them inspired. ?It?s just been my second job,? said Parish. ?Some people collect stamps. I make movies.?