May 30, 2023
The unofficial start of Summer coincided with the Inwood Film Festival this year. Beginning Thursday night with a benefit featuring a special screening of The Whale followed by a Q&A with local screenwriter, Samuel D. Hunter, this year’s installment of the local favorite once again exceeded expectations. As always, every film had an Inwood angle to qualify – made here, or by someone who lives here, etc.
Aaron Simms
The IFF has come a long way from its modest launch a few years ago in a catering hall under the el. Columbia U’s Campbell Sports Center was a major venue upgrade but Founder and Executive Producer Aaron Simms hasn’t raised ticket prices. The event remains welcoming and accessible to the community. This year the IFF sold out early. The $50 Festival Pass was the way to go if you wanted to watch a lot, or even all of, the films. A limited number of single admissions were also available at the door, but some people who waited until the last minute were turned away, unfortunately.
Takashi Harada and Carter Joseph Maggipinto
Friday night’s program featured documentary portraits that addressed Inwood’s past as a canoe club Mecca in the early 20th Century (Lost Inwood Panoramas: Tubby Hook’s Boathouse Row, directed by Don Rice), and as the home of the area’s last movie theater (The Last Movie Theatre in Washington Heights, directed by Anthony Rojas). There was also a loving portrait of local artist Takashi Harada (Takashi Harada, directed by Carter Joseph Maggipinto) and a delightful response to that eternal NYC question, “have you ever seen a baby pigeon?” (Scrawn, directed by Samuel Harrison Crow).
Aaron Simms and Samuel Harrison Crow
Saturday afternoon’s feature documentary 1.5 Million, by Gregory Hernandez took a deep dive into the literacy crisis in the South Bronx, and how politicians, community activists, and a big box book store addressed it. The film was an Official Selection for this year’s IFF (“that’s the real award,” Simms said) and it was additionally honored by an outside panel of industry professionals for Excellence in Filmmaking. Other Excellence honorees were Check YES! (directed by Luciannys Camacho), Scrawn (directed by Samuel Harrison Crow), and I Am Poem (directed by Maite Bonilla). The Spirit of Inwood honor was bestowed upon The Last Movie Theatre in Washington Heights, directed by Anthony Rojas.
Sebastian Osegueda, Marla Camila Mateo (I Am Poem); Gregory Hernandez (1.5 Million);
Anthony Rojas (The Last Movie Theatre in Washington Heights).
If you missed any of the films or just want to watch them again, you’re in luck. IFF+ offers a streaming option for just $20 here but it’s a limited run so don’t sleep on it.
Carlos Lample (My Date with a Millennial)
Cecelia Kurachi (Giant); Antonio LaGamba and Alison Midstokke (Lady Bogey); Elyssa Aquino (Secadoro).
John “Chickie” Donohue
A highlight of the Festival was a special screening on Sunday afternoon of The Greatest Beer Run Ever. The IFF program describes it as, “Starring Zac Efron, Russell Crowe, and Bill Murray, and based on the book of the same name following true story of Inwood’s own, John “Chickie” Donohue, The Greatest Beer Run tells an Inwood man’s story of leaving New York in 1967 to bring American beer to his childhood buddies in the Army while they are fighting in Vietnam.” Its improbable premise sends Chickie around the World with a duffle bag filled with cans of beer for his frens where he become a witness to the war raging in Viet Nam. There he discovers that reality is far different from the war described by official government spokes people at the time.
The film shows how the war impacted friendships and families in the States, with pro- and anti-war activists mixing it up at a peace rally up here. In Viet Nam the chaos, violence and death that Chickie witnessed tempered his support for the official government line about the war, but not for the Americans who were fighting and dying there. The film’s seemingly madcap/caper title belies the authenticity and depth that Chickie’s story brings to the movie. Efron, Crowe, and Murray all hit the bullseye in portraying Chickie, a combat photographer, and a grizzled Inwood barkeep, respectively. They neither overdid it nor oversimplified the characters they played. And unlike some of Hollywood’s ‘based on a true story’ tales, this one holds up to scrutiny: Chickie brought receipts to prove it – a replacement passport issued to him in Saigon, a polaroid of him and his buds in the warzone, and witnesses to back it all up. It was a fitting way to wrap up this year’s IFF and it really underscored how far Mr. Simms has brought the festival in just a few years.
Simms toasts the filmmakers at the Tubby Hook after party.
Following The Greatest Beer Run Ever and the Excellence honors, the filmmakers and festival attendees were all invited to a happy hour after party at Tubby Hook, a few blocks away on Broadway. This, for those who’ve never experienced IFF, was yet another one of the opportunities throughout the weekend, to mix and mingle with the actors, editors, and directors who made these terrific films. These networking opportunities help to grow the creative community up here. In addition to the film festival, Inwood Art Works has also put on concerts, theatrical performances, readings, pop up galleries, an arts hub, free movies al fresco in the park, and supported filmmakers with grants to make a movie. The first tranche of grant recipients’ films were featured in this year’s IFF.
Yudelka Heyer (Producer, I Am Poem) and Aaron Simms.
There were also some free, informative seminars on offer. How to make a budget for an indy film and navigating union contracts bookended the screening of 1.5 Million on Saturday afternoon. You can support IAW’s work by making a donation and by attending their events.
Edit: Caption corrected.