BIFF Exclusive: Post-Awards Interview with Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone on the red carpet at the Boulder International Film Festival, where he received the Master of Cinema award, on Sunday Feb. 20, 2011. [Photo by Katelyn Hauge-Aldridge]

By Kaity Hauge-Aldridge

Boulder International Film Festival Field Reporter

After the commotion of the Closing Night ceremony at the Boulder International Film Festival on Sunday night, Feb. 20, I managed to catch up with director Oliver Stone, recipient of BIFF’s first Masters of Cinema award, to ask him a few final questions about his impressions of Boulder and the film festival before he took off for a night of bar-hopping around town.

The film festival marked the occasion for the third visit of Stone to Boulder. He recounted each of his three visits to Boulder, each with a very different purpose.

In the ‘90s, Stone visited Boulder for the first time in the cause of vindicating Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who was convicted for the aiding and abetting the murder of two federal agents. When here, Stone interviewed A-Man-In-A-Hood, an American Indian who testified on camera that he had been responsible for the murders for which Peltier had been convicted.

Stone was brought to Boulder the next time in the early 2000s, this time to visit the Buddhist community at the Naropa Institute. And now BIFF.

“To me,” said Stone, “the town represents different facets -- first American Indian, Buddhism, and now the film festival. It’s not just granola and mountains.”

Stone welcomed the award.

“It’s nice that you think of me,” Stone said. “It’s nice to be remembered. It makes sense to come back -- like an old ham actor replaying the roles that you were once known for.”

BIFF Photo Gallery Five -- Workshops and Panels

Here are a selection of photos of our 2011 workshops and panels! These were taken by our new Workshops & Panels Coordinator, Kathy De Bay. She did a great job, by the way -- these were the most extensive and best-attended in BIFF history!

FIRST THREE PHOTOS: From the "Make Your Own Short Film" workshop, held on Saturday morning, Feb. 19, in the Mighty Fudge Studios at 1017 Pearl St. Boulder Digital Arts personnel were there to lead the session.

NEXT TWO PHOTOS: Six directors joined us for the the seventh annual Filmmakers Panel at the Boulder Public Library on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 19.

NEXT THREE PHOTOS: The "Animation Station" workshop, presented free and exclusively to students age 13 to 18, took place Sunday morning at the Might Fudge Studios. An animated short for YouTube created by this class should be posted soon . . . we will put it up here as well!

BIFF Photos, Gallery Three -- Sunday

All the photos in this gallery were taken by Katelyn Hauge-Aldridge:

U.S. Representative John Lewis (left) speaks with BIFF's Ron Bostwick on Sunday afternoon at the Boulder Theater, in conjunction with a screening of Stanley Nelson's "Freedom Riders," which took the first-ever BIFF People's Choice Award. 

Director Jim Bigham accepts the award from the Boulder International Film Festival for Best Call 2 Action Film on Sunday night in the Boulder Theater. 

Oliver Stone arrives at the Boulder Theater on Sunday night to receive the Master of Cinema Award from the Boulder International Film Festival.

Oliver Stone on the red carpet at the Boulder Theater on Sunday night to receive the Master of Cinema Award from the Boulder International Film Festival.

Oliver Stone and Ron Bostwick converse, and Stone answers questions from the audience, during his tribute at BIFF on Sunday night.

2011 BOULDER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL -- AWARDS

Director Jim Bigham accepts the award from the Boulder International Film Festival for Best Call 2 Action Film on Sunday night in the Boulder Theater. [Photo by Katelyn Hauge-Aldridge]

These awards were presented by festival directors Kathy and Robin Beeck on Sunday, February 20, 2011 in the Boulder Theater.

Vanguard Award winner (presented Saturday) – James Franco

Best New Filmmaker – “Touch,”Jen McGowan

Best Animated Film --- “Thembi’s Diary,” Jisoo Kim

Best Call 2 Action Film, “For Once in My Life,” Jim Bigham

Best Colorado Film – “Mother,” Christophe Fauchere

Best Short Film – “Glenn Owen Dodds,” Frazer Bailey

Best Short Documentary, “One Thousand Pictures: RFK’s Last Journey,” Jennifer Stoddart

Best Feature Documentary, “Regretters,” Marcus Lindeen

Best Feature Film – “Mamas & Papas,” Alice Nellis

People’s Choice Award – “Freedom Riders,” Stanley Nelson

Master of Cinema Award winner – Oliver Stone

History in person: John Lewis and “Freedom Riders”

U.S. Representative John Lewis (left) speaks with BIFF's Ron Bostwick on Sunday afternoon at the Boulder Theater, in conjunction with a screening of Stanley Nelson's "Freedom Riders," which took the first-ever BIFF People's Choice Award. [Photo by Katelyn Hauge-Aldridge]

One of the highlights of BIFF 2011 was “Freedom Riders,” the feature documentary about the battle to end segregation in interstate travel in 1961. It garnered two sold-out screenings, both of which were attended by a very special guest, civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis.

The Congressman, who turns 71 tomorrow, was welcomed to the stage of the Boulder Theater after the screening with a standing ovation. BIFF’s Ron Bostwick interviewed him, and the audience joined in for a question-and-answer session as well.

Here’s the gist of his discussion:

He described growing up in the small town of Troy, Alabama and “tasting the bitter fruits of racism – I didn’t like it.” His parents urged him not to rock the boat. However, he noted that when he was 17 he met Rosa Parks, whose famous refusal to give up her bus seat to a white person had taken place two years earlier; the next year, when Lewis was 18, he met Martin Luther King, Jr. “Then,” he said, “I started getting into trouble.”

He talked about learning the philosophy of non-violence in college at Fisk University. “We learned it not as a tactic or as a technique,” he said, “but as a way of life. As Dr. King told us once, ‘You just have to love the hell out of everybody.’”

He described the occasion of his first arrest on Feb. 27, 1960: “I felt liberated. I felt so free. I felt as though I had crossed over . . . I came to that place where I lost all sense of fear. What we believed in was so good, so right, so necessary that we had to do what was necessary to end racial discrimination. In a real sense, we were soldiers, on a mission to redeem the soul of America.”

He talked about the importance of music in the civil rights movement as a source of cohesiveness and forward impulse. “If it hadn’t been for music, the civil rights movement would have been a bird without wings,” he said.

During the Q & A period, he spoke to the topic of the recent protests that brought regime change in Egypt (“It’s not obsolete!” he remarked of the non-violent approach), the phrase “illegal immigrants” (“There’s no such thing as an illegal human being,” he said, to great applause).

He talked about looking forward to the 50^th anniversary reunion of the living Freedom Riders, who number about 300 today.

When asked about what one can do in everyday life to advance the cause of human rights, Lewis said, “Say ‘thank you.’ Say ‘excuse me.’ Why are we so mean to each other? Is it old-fashioned, is it out of date, to be human?”

It was remarkable to see and hear this peaceable warrior speak of the stuff of childhood memory and life-long admiration. For those of us old enough to remember those dark times and the bravery of the few who changed society for the better, it was a powerful affirmation. For the very young, I hope it served as an inspiration.

From the field: BIFF talks to the filmmakers

Katelyn Hauge-Aldridge talked to many folks yesterday at BIFF -- here are just a few of her interviews!

Tomas Sem Lokke-Sorensen [Photo by Katelyn Hauge-Aldridge]

At the VIP dinner at Ted’s Montana Grill on Saturday, we caught up with Norwegian filmmaker Tomas Sem Lokke-Sorensen. The Boulder International Film festival is one of Lokke-Sorensen’s many stops on his tour of film festivals around the world that are screening his short film “The Unhappy Woman.” This five-minute comedy/drama focuses on a dialogue between an actress and a director, whose conversation quickly turns from business to personal, and ends very unfortunately for a certain camera operator. The film has already gained recognition within the film community -- it was the winner of the 2010 Aspen Shortsfest: Best Short Short Award in April of 2010.

For Lokke-Sorensen, this film was a challenge to his talents as a filmmaker.

“The film is shot in one scene with no cuts and only two actors,” said Lokke-Sorensen. “It was a challenge to myself. We shot for only one and a half hours total. It’s a very simple film that shows how people must learn commitment and communicate to avoid arguments.”

This film has brought Lokke-Sorenson to the United States for the first time. When asked about his impressions of Boulder and the community of filmmakers who have gathered here, the filmmaker had nothing but good things to say. “The people here are very friendly and love to have fun. It’s a great community.”

Henry Phillips

Phillips in a still from his feature film, "Punching the Clown."

Filmmaker and actor Henry Phillips brought his feature-length film “Punching the Clown” to the Boulder Film Festival this year. In his semi-autobiographical film, Phillips plays a performer/comedian who rises to fame in Los Angeles due to a series of misunderstandings. But his fame doesn’t last long and after becoming the victim of a terrible rumor, he is run out of town.

“The film is sort of a metaphor for myself,” said Phillips. “It was inspired by a series of my own life stories that I told to director Greg Vienz. Its sort of autobiographical, but the stories are over exaggerated for the film.”

Phillips screened his comedy for Boulder Film Festival audiences on Friday and received an incredibly warm reception. As an independent filmmaker, Phillips hopes that the screening of his film at the festival will help bring his film further recognition.

“We have basically no ad budget, so we have been showing the film at festivals to spread the word about the film. We have a lot of great support from musicians and comedians, and we are hoping to broaden our adudience,” he said.

Phillips’ film is now available on Netflix and Amazon, and clips of the film are also available online.

Suzan Beraza [Photo by Katelyn Hauge-Aldridge]

Saturday’s filmmaker panel brought a wide variety of voices and views to the Boulder Film Festival -- from independent filmmakers to Disney producers. Among these was documentary filmmaker Suzan Beraza, whose film “Bag It” was screened earlier that day.

Beraza’s film is a “quirky and approachable documentary” that focuses on the impact of the use of plastic products in today’s society. Originally, Beraza intended only to make a short film about a competition between the towns of Telluride and Aspen, CO to reduce use of plastic bags in 2008. However, as Beraza learned more and more about the subject, she quickly became passionate about plastic and the repercussions of its use on the environment and chose to expand her documentary’s focus to create her first feature-length film. Beraza’s film has been screened at several film festivals across the country, and was the winner of the Best of Festival Award at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival in Monterey California in 2010.

As one of six filmmakers on Saturday's panel, Beraza was happy to be part of the variety of talent who spoke about what they are most passionate about -- film.

“I really liked the variety of people that were on the panel. It was a great way for the audience to connect with us about all the dimensions of making a film,” Beraza said. “There is no one right answer to how to make a film. The process is different for everyone.”

Clips of Beraza’s film are available online, and it will be aired on PBS in April of this year.

BIFF reporters, Gallery Two -- Katelyn Hauge-Aldridge

James Franco flashes a smile on the way into the Boulder Theater for his tribute Saturday night.

Here are some more wonderful shots of BIFF in progress, taken Saturday in and around or venues, these taken by the promising young talent Katelyn Hague-Aldridge.

At the BIFF Filmmakers Panel (left to right) Directors Vadim Jendreyko ("The Woman with 5 Elephants"), Suzan Beraza ("Bag It!"), Don Hahn ("Hand Held"); panel moderator Brad Weismann; directors Jen McGowan ("Touch"), Christophe Fauchere ("Mother"), and Kurt Norton ("These Amazing Shadows").

Director Don Hahn, who produced "Beauty and the Beast" for Disney, talks abut the very different experience of obtaining distribution for his independent documentary film, "Hand Held," during the Filmmakers PAnel on Saturday.

BIFF Social Media Director and Filmmakers Panel moderator Brad Weismann calls for questions from the audience during the session.

Good times! Fun at the VIP Filmmakers Reception at Ted's Montana Grill on Saturday night.

Henry Phillips ("Punching the Clown"), second from left, talks to BIFF attendees at the VIP Filmmaker Reception.

James Franco in conversation with BIFF's Ron Bostwick on Saturday night.

Franco and Bostwick.

James Franco has a laugh during his interview on Saturday.