High Falls Film Festival - Coffee With The Filmmakers Nov.10, 2005
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A discussion with filmmakers and filmgoers
Filmmakers joined filmgoers at Coffee with the filmmakers at the Crown Plaza yesterday morning for a discussion of their projects. Local filmmaker Renee Sotile and her co-director/producer Mary Jo Godges discussed the four year project that led to their film, Christa McAuliffe: Reach For The Stars. Sotile became enamored with McAuliffe and decided to begin this project with the idea that it would be basically a one-year project. One year into it Godges realized that “It had become a pretty big thingâ€. The Documentary acquired Susan Sarandon as narrator within the past two weeks. Sarandon met up with the filmmakers at another festival and they recruited her for this project, Sarandon donated her work pro-bono. “We didn’t tell anyone we had Sarandon as narrator until we had it on tape†said Sotile. “We gave her the written script and a DVD and she really did her homework. She said she would have been here if she weren’t filming. It was all one-on-one, no lawyers, very easy and she signed the releaseâ€. “One of the hardest things to do was to get the trust of the family†related Sotile. The filmmakers discussed how it took one year to get an interview with her sister on tape. McAuliffe’s son, who is now 29 said “I will do this once and never againâ€. The filmmakers emphasized the role Christa McAuliffe’s mother, Grace Corrigan, plays in keeping the memory of her daughter alive. The film is scheduled for Sunday night at 7 p.m. at the Little Theatre #1 followed by a Q and A with the filmmakers. Argentinean Art Director Marcela Bazzano (Live In Maid, 2004) arrived in Rochester shortly before the start of Coffee with the Filmmakers. Bazzano’s film was a collaboration between Argentina and Spain. Bazzano explained the difficulty in making the film in the interior of the country due to the need to satisfy funding sources. Live In Maid portrays the complex relationship between two women when the economic collapse in Argentina becomes the impetus for radical change in their lives. Live In Maid is scheduled for tonight at 6:45 at The Little Theatre (Back A), followed by a Q and A with Bazzano.
