Film Fest
Anita Weiner's movie is brief, but carries
with it hopes for a career.
SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
F
ledgling filmmakers, for the
fourth year in a row, will
have a chance to showcase
their works locally. Anita
Weiner is among the presenters.
During the Metropolitan Film
Festival, which runs Jan. 25-28,
about 100 Hollywood hopefuls
will bring the results of their cre-
ative efforts before the public.
Movies will be divided among
three theaters — the Magic Bag
in Ferndale, the Detroit Film
Theatre at the Institute of Arts
and the 1515 Broadway in De-
troit.
The Rhumba Lesson, Ms.
Weiner's five-minute
production, will be fea-
tured during a program
that starts at 7 p.m. Fri-
day, Jan. 27, at the
Magic Bag. Her entry is
the third short film she
made while living in
California to learn her
craft.
Glad for the local pre-
sentation opportunity,
she also is tracking sim-
ilar events around the
country, hoping to give
her work more visibility
as part of a 10-year per-
sonal commitment to
pursue a movie produc-
tion career.
"My purpose with
this film is publicity,"
said Ms. Weiner of
Huntington Woods, a
1991 graduate of the
University of Michigan.
"I would love people to
say they saw my film
and are interested in
seeing my next project,
perhaps as investors."
The Michigan pro-
gram is sponsored by the Inde-
pendent Film Channel, which
later will broadcast some of the
movies. The only participation re-
quirement for the filmmakers is
a $20 fee.
"The festival has the same ef-
fect as showing art in galleries,"
said Gus Calandrino, an inde-
pendent filmmaker coordinating
the noncompetitive event. "It also
can be used as an entry on a par-
ticipant's resume."
Ms. Weiner, 25, started build-
ing her resume immediately af-
ter graduating from U-M, where
she majored in Russian history.
"I did an internship at Chan-
nel 56 and worked on a docu-
mentary and other programs
there," she reported. "I hadn't
studied filmmaking at all, al-
though I'm a movie fanatic.
"When I finished my television
internship, I moved out to San
Francisco and made my first film
while taking workshops at the
Film Arts Foundation."
After making two short sub-
jects that she thought did not
meet her personal quality stan-
dards, Ms. Weiner moved on to
The Rhumba Lesson, which cost
Above:
Anita Weiner has her eye on a career.
Right:
A dance lesson and a dream.
$3,500 and utilized a crew of 12.
Only the two actors, director of
photography and one assistant
were professionals; the rest were
friends asked to volunteer after
reading up on technical tasks.
"The film is based on a short-
short story I had written when I
was in college," said Ms. Weiner,
who was the director. "It does not
have a lot of dialogue. It shows a
moment when things click be-
tween two people.
"It was my own test to go from
the beginning to the end of pro-
duction dealing with everything
from casting to striking the final
print, things I had never done be-
fore. I feel very confident that if
I wanted to make a 90-minute
film, I could do it because I know
all the steps."
Ms. Weiner, who interned on
the Disney film Nightmare Be-
films," Ms. Weiner said. "Besides
going into festivals, they possibly
can be played on college cam-
three months, often occupying puses by a distribution company.
"Sometimes theaters will put
about 20 hours of her time each
together programs of short films,
week.
The final product was shown and possibly there can be short
in November at the Film Arts subjects on cable stations. I am
Festival in San Francisco, the waiting until the film exhausts
first of four such events on her the festival circuit before ap-
proaching distributors."
schedule so far.
Ms. Weiner already is plan-
"There's not much that can be
done with short, independent FILM page 89
fore Christmas while in Califor-
nia, spent two days filming The
Rhumba Lesson. Editing took her