Chattanooga Film Festival Executive Director Chris Dortch loves a good Blu-ray or DVD extra. As a passionate fan of films, he enjoys the illuminating glimpses into how the magic that captivates him as he watches a movie is cast.
So, as Dortch and his team began to envision the sixth iteration of CFF, April 11-14 at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, one of his objectives was to offer festivalgoers experiences that contextualize the films on the schedule and offer insight into why they’re special.
“We want to present great movies, but we also want to deepen the experience of watching them,” Dortch says.
One of the dozens of offerings on this year’s schedule is a 1984 coming-of-age drama titled “Suburbia,” which will be screened Friday at 3 p.m. Featuring a group of kids who adopt the punk lifestyle as they squat in an abandoned suburban home, the film was one of the first to portray counterculture kids as human beings, Dortch points out.
“They weren’t caricatures that showed up at a party brandishing a switchblade.”
To illustrate the shift from how Hollywood had been representing punk rock, CFF will host a class called Punks on Film Saturday at 10 a.m. The session will be led by Zack Carlson, co-author of “ Destroy All Movies!!!: The Complete Guide to Punks on Film.”
“It felt like a fun and intelligent extra feature,” Dortch says. “Presenting the movie by itself would have been a good thing, but the class will help people understand why the movie is special.”
“Lords of Chaos,” a 2018 thriller that offers a semi-fictionalized account of the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene, will also come with a CFF extra. The film itself will screen Friday night at 11:30. Then, Josh Zeman, director of Netflix’s “Murder Mountain,” will host a workshop titled True Crime Cinema Sunday at 5 p.m.
“True crime subject matter is on the rise, and a lot of people have expressed a desire for us to showcase something along those lines,” Dortch continues. “So, we’re happy to have a bone to throw to them because not only is ‘Lords of Chaos’ a bizarre true story, Josh is a true crime expert.”
While “Suburbia” and “Lords of Chaos” appeal to Dortch’s love of music, a third film on the schedule for CFF 2019 will tap into the hearts of those who love classic monster movies: “Creature from the Black Lagoon.”
CFF will screen the 1954 pic for free Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at Miller Park Plaza. To prepare fans for the showing, the festival will bring in author Mallory O’Meara, who on Friday at 3 p.m. will discuss her book “The Lady from the Black Lagoon,” which details the previously hidden history of the design of the famous creature.
“Mallory discovered that a woman named Milicent Patrick, who was the first female animator at Disney, had created the original design for the Gill-man from ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon,’ which is one of the most iconic monsters in the history of film,” Dortch explains. “Then she was swept under the rug, and the credit was given to her male counterpart. It’s a crazy story.”
One of the challenges of pulling off a film festival is scheduling activities in a user-friendly manner. But these movies and their extras were intentionally scheduled to take place on different days.
“I love that you can go to Mallory’s talk and book signing Friday, and by the time Saturday rolls around, you’ll have this completely new experience and understanding of the movie,” Dortch says. “You’ve had a chance to sleep on it; you’re not just running to the next thing.
“We’ve tried to create a path through the festival, no matter what kind of experience you want to have.”
More than monster movies
The misperception in some circles of the CFF experience has rubbed a sore spot on Dortch, a self-professed genre fan whose taste in film nonetheless runs the entire gamut of movies. Still, because he gravitates toward horror, CFF typically serves up a heaping plateful of those kinds of movies.
The 2019 version of the festival serves as an example of the films Dortch would eagerly screen for friends in his living room. From “DeadTectives,” a comedy horror offering that follows a team of paranormal investigators on a reality TV series, to “Hellbound,” a black and white psychedelic biker flick shot on 16mm film, there’s plenty of fodder for horror fans at this year’s CFF.
Hence, many have branded CFF as a genre festival, which Dortch acknowledges has been both a blessing and a curse.
MovieMaker Magazine recently named CFF one of the top 30 genre festivals in the world, giving the event global credibility. This led to the festival receiving unsolicited movie submissions from the kinds of filmmakers who didn’t know Dortch from a boom pole six years ago.
The flip side of that coin has seen funding from a local source that supported CFF in its formative stage dry up. “We’ve lost some of the faith in us because of the type of content we have,” Dortch admits. “We even had someone refuse to sell us an ad this year because we should quote, unquote ‘be embarrassed of what we show.’”
But Dortch insists CFF is not a genre festival. Rather, it embraces every kind of movie. “One of the reasons we named ourselves the Chattanooga Film Festival, not the Chattanooga Genre Film Festival, or Chattanooga Fantastic Fest, is because that would paint us into a corner,” Dortch says. “We want to be able to show a little of everything.”
Truer words could not be spoken about this year’s slate. From “Memphis ‘69,” a new film that features previously unseen footage of the 1969 Memphis Country Blues Festival, to “Woman at War,” an environmental drama from Iceland, CFF defies any categorization that extends beyond its motto, which is simply, “Respect cinema.”
Dortch is particularly excited about screening “Woman at War,” which is on the schedule for Thursday at 8 p.m.
“It’s terrific. You’re laughing one minute, and the next minute, it feels like an action movie, and then the next minute, there’s some incredible character work and drama,” he says. “That movie has it all.”
Dortch hopes the public understands that CFF has it all as well, and is truly for everyone, not just genre geeks like himself.
“I’m trying to take myself out of the equation and think, “Is an audience going to love this, or is it just me that loves it?’” he asks. “There are things in the schedule that 100 percent reflect me, but like ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon,’ they have a place in history. I don’t feel bad about there being one for me.
“But then I feel a need to find a ‘Woman at War’ or something else I know our audience will dig.”
Some of the non-genre films Dortch says are destined to be audience favorites are “Wild Rose” (Sunday at 2:40 p.m.), a charming musical drama that revolves around a single mom who’s fresh out of jail in Scotland and dreams of becoming a Nashville star; “A Bread Factory Part 1” and “A Bread Factory Part 2” (Friday at 10 a.m.), a four-hour epic about the transformative power of art; and “Lost Holiday” (Sunday at 12:30 p.m.), a laidback comedy in which a New York social worker who finds herself caught up in the kidnapping of a Washington D.C. socialite.
Dortch says he and his team of festival curators sit through thousands of hours of content in an effort to put together “a mix tape of the best movies” for audiences. “We offer a blend of new independent films, some deep cuts for cinephiles and a few buried treasures that are on the cheesier side,” Dortch says. “We have a responsibility to show films from around the world, and by filmmakers of every genre and culture, so I’ve really tried to make CFF as well rounded as it can be.”
Hail Satan?
In spite of its inclusiveness, CFF has courted controversy this year with its opening night selection, a documentary titled “Hail Satan?” The film, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, examines the origins and political activism of the Satanic Temple.
The title of the film alone is a short fuse to a barrel of public outcry and has sparked what Dortch calls “hate mail from people who don’t understand why [he’s] ... showing a film that glorifies evil.”
“If you read the title on paper, there’s a question mark. It’s actually a hilarious, very satirical documentary about people who are not to be taken seriously,” he says. “That said, the film raises intelligent questions about what freedom of religion means today. Where does the line get drawn? How do we create balance?
“And even though the title might turn off some people here in the buckle of the Bible Belt, those might actually be the people who would be the most interested in seeing this film.”
While CFF makes every effort to incorporate feedback from the public, the festival is not backing off from the controversy and will screen “Hail Satan?” as scheduled. “We’re not going to pull any punches,” he says. “That doesn’t mean everything we’re showing is transgressive, evil, in your face art, either. We have a lot of incredible, crowd-pleasing stuff.”
World premieres
Few things give a film festival bragging rights like a world premiere. And audiences at CFF 2019 will have the opportunity to see three films before anyone else.
Dortch describes “Fingers” (Thursday at 10:30 p.m.) Is a “crime caper with a little comedy, a little David Cronenberg and unbelievable performances.” Director Juan Ortiz and actor Jeremy Gardner will be attending the premiere.
(Like many cinephiles, Dortch uses filmmakers’ names to efficiently describe a film’s style or content. Through movies likes “Scanners,” “Videodrome,” and “The Fly,” Cronenberg came to be known as the father of body horror. What this says about “Fingers” remains to be seen.)
CFF will also be premiering “Arrows of Outrageous Fortune” (Saturday at 2:30 p.m.). In the surreal comedy, a man leaves his only son a mansion filled with bizarre women. Director Mickey Reece is bringing the film to CFF and will talk with audiences about the endeavor.
Finally, CFF will also be showing “Hellbound” before anyone else.
As excited as Dortch is about CFF premiering these films, the opportunity to show them first was unrelated to their selection. Rather, he simply states they’re great movies that deserve an audience.
“Some festivals are so world premiere driven, they won’t even screen a piece of content unless they’re first,” Dortch says. “I’m just as content to have a movie that isn’t a world premiere if I know it’s damn good.”
Is that George McFly?
Although the Scenic City is located far from Tinseltown, CFF has attracted some genuine film celebrities in its day. From “Lord of the Rings” alum Elijah Wood to “Mayberry” star Clint Howard, the opportunity to rub elbows with a movie or television star has been one of the festival’s smaller lures.
CFF 2019 promises to have one of the more fascinating celebrity appearances when it hosts actor and director Crispin Glover, who’s best known for his role as George McFly, Marty McFly’s father in the first “Back to the Future” film.
Festivalgoers will be able to spend an entire evening with Glover, who Friday night will do a one-hour dramatic presentation, screen his second film as a director, “It is Fine! Everything is Fine” and then take part in a book signing and meet and greet.
Dortch sees a kinship between Glover and CFF in that both are difficult to categorize. “Crispin exists in all corners of the film world.
He’s in things as mainstream and accessible as ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and ‘Back to the Future,’ but then he’s in movies by David Lynch, or he’s collecting arcana and doing bizarre vaudevillian slideshows around it.
“He truly feels like a Renaissance man – a guy you can’t pigeonhole. That’s what I hope CFF is, too.”
CFF mainstay Joe Bob Briggs will be returning this year with a two-hour session Thursday night titled “How Rednecks Saved Hollywood.” Also, director Gary Sherman will introduce his classic 1982 crime drama “Vice Squad” Saturday afternoon at 4:20 p.m. and host a panel about the making of “Poltergeist III” Sunday at 10 a.m.
Many other actors and filmmakers will be taking part in CFF 2019 as well. While their projects will vary, Dortch says the common thread between them will be the lack of pretension many associate with Hollywood’s elite.
“Any festival can pay a celebrity too much money for 15 minutes of their time and then hand them an award. I want people who are on the ground for the whole festival – that are mixing it up with our fans,” Dortch says. “If you went to CFF the year Clint Howard was there, you were probably able to eat barbecue with him. Elijah Wood was everywhere, mixing it up with the locals, seeing movies and watching Joe Bob’s lecture.
“Those are the people I want at CFF. They help us to drop the lines between content creators and fans and create something that’s as special as the movies we show.”
A wallet-friendly festival
Since launching in 2014, CFF has encouraged people to come together and experience films collectively on a big screen. But the convenience of streaming a film at home, combined with the abundance of content available on services like Netflix, has some box office sages sounding the death knell for the theatrical experience.
Even Dortch, who sees as many new theatrical releases as his schedule allows, is worried that the night out at the movies could go the way of the dodo as digital entertainment grows in popularity.
“That’s where art houses and film festivals become even more important,” Dortch says. “They’re the guardians of that experience.”
But as the availability of vinyl records at Target stores nationwide suggests, some traditions will never be forgotten. Dortch prays the big screen movie experience is one such tradition.
“You could rent ‘Lords of Chaos,’ but the experience of seeing it on a big screen with a crowd of like-minded individuals and then going to a heavy metal-themed party is a little more wacky and P.T. Barnum than I’m going to get sitting on my couch,” he explains.
To help preserve the communal experience of watching a film in a theater, CFF is introducing new pricing schemes that ensure everyone who wants to attend a festival event can. In addition to several free events, including the screening of “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” Zeman’s true crime panel, a movie trivia contest, a karaoke party, a whiskey tasting and more, CFF has introduced new badges Dortch says will make the festival more accessible.
These include The Dabbler, which allows a person to see any four movies throughout the entire festival, badges that provide access to a single day of the festival and the Weekend Warrior.
“Even if you don’t have a dollar in your pocket, you can go to a class or workshop. And if you only have a couple free hours in your day, you can pick up a Dabbler and dip your toes in the water,” Dortch says. “Making sure there are lower price points and even free content so we’re not turning anyone away is a big deal to us.”
As always, a full access pass, now called T.R.I.P. for “Totally Rad and Important Person,” is available as well. While the badge costs less than previous V.I.P. badges, it still costs a pretty penny.
Dortch might argue against that last point, as the more a person takes in at CFF, the more value the badge delivers – and there will be plenty of content to absorb.
From over 30 feature-length films, to four blocks of painstakingly curated shorts, to a secret screening Dortch promises will blow the minds of music fans, CFF celebrates the art of filmmaking and honors the people who bring those visions to life in a big way.