Thursday, June 05, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Film: Films fit for the King

Mercury Short Film Festival reveals a wealth of local moviemaking talent

By Anthony Allison

"I never thought I'd be accepting an award from Elvis," quipped filmmaker Steven Bordelon after festival director Kai Murphy, resplendent in a bejeweled white jumpsuit and shaggy Presley wig, handed Bordelon the prize for best live action narrative at last weekend's Las Vegas Mercury Short Film Festival.

Murphy's outfit, unorthodox garb for a festival boss but entirely fitting for the neon nirvana, served the dual purpose of avoiding the over-seriousness of other, more pretentious festivals ("I just wanted to make it fun," says Murphy) while spotlighting the event's chief troubleshooter: "If you have a problem, go see the King."

Thanks to Murphy's royal organizational skills and Kinglike tirelessness, this inaugural event passed off with precious few problems, aside from a couple of minor technical glitches. "For a first-year festival, this has been very good," enthused Bordelon, whose California-shot sci-fi thriller Phoenix boasts striking acting, camerawork and editing and, for such a shoestring production, some amazingly good special effects.

"The best festivals are all about the films and the filmmakers," said Vegas-based documentarian Stan Armstrong, whose Native Americans of the Civil War, presenting intriguing highlights from a work in progress, won the best documentary prize.

The consensus was that this fest met that criterion, by focusing on a program of remarkably high-quality films, many from local filmmakers. Fifteen of the two dozen films selected for the festival competition were local productions and six of the eight prizes (with one tie) went to Sin City cineastes. Judging by this sample, the valley is brimming with budding Spielbergs and Tarantinos.

Saturday's big winner was Vegas filmmaker Roger Tinch, who nabbed the future filmmaker award and will receive $25,000 of in-kind services (Kodak film stock, Panavision camera rental, lighting equipment from JR Lighting and location scouting/permit help from the Nevada Film Office) to shoot a new film in Las Vegas.

"It's perfect timing," enthused the 24-year-old graphic artist, whose award-winning movie Untitled is an acerbic satire with a clever twist, about a graffiti artist (Nathan Van Dyken) exposing a fraudulent artist (Deon Doughty) who's been buying his paintings and passing them off as his own. Tinch and Brian Sodoma, staffers at the Las Vegas Press, have written "a psychological drama, The Sixth Sense meets Requiem for a Dream, about an insurance salesman who buys a condo and discovers that the previous owner, a high-profile detective, committed suicide there."

With the new script practically finished, Tinch thinks he'll easily meet the main condition of the MSFF prize--that the film be made in Las Vegas and showcased at next year's festival. "We're way ahead of schedule," says Tinch, who's aiming for an October shoot. "I hope to surprise [next year's] audience with something fresh."

Another Sin City winner this year was Doug Shutte, who earned the best local filmmaker award with One Dollar Difference, a deceptively simple, two-minute gem starring Dakota Whidden as a cute kid who teaches an overworked waitress (Darcy Mae Wright) a powerful lesson about generosity. Shutte effusively thanked his cast and crew and said the experience of his one-day shoot was "like having an extra family for a day."

Perhaps the most notable local filmmaker to display the talents of his extended film "family" is Pat Kerby, whose Essence of the Force won the award for best live action alternative film. Kerby explained that the impetus for making this witty Star Wars spoof was to showcase the wealth of filmmaking talent in Southern Nevada. The result is an entertaining, remarkably professional-looking film with great costumes, makeup, camerawork, editing, music, sound and special effects, not to mention some cool fight scenes by stunt men Thomas Dupont and Steve Sharp. It epitomizes the skill, passion and can-do attitude that's a prerequisite for all indie filmmakers. Or, quoting the Yoda-esque epigram that Kerby says inspired the movie, "There is no try, only do."

Other local winners were brothers Mike and Jerry Thompson, whose Thor at the Bus Stop is a riotously daffy romp in which the Nordic god of lightning inexplicably appears at a suburban bus stop. This surreal, zero-budget effort shared the best of fest audience award with a much more pricey-looking production, Fueling the Fire. Tanja Mairitsch's truly suspenseful drama, exploring contrasting views of a gas station shooting, is a powerful meditation on truth, reality, prejudice and the vagaries of human perception, that benefits from its American Film Institute pedigree, where Mairitsch made it as her MFA thesis film.

Equally impressive was Vegas filmmaker Christopher Broughton, who won the best music video prize with his slick, MTV-ready effort featuring Gladys Knight, accompanied by a chorus of adorable tykes, singing "This Is Our Time."

The sheer professionalism of that and other local productions bodes well both for the health of the Vegas film scene and the future of this latest addition to the festival calendar. "Everyone felt it was worthwhile," said fest king Kai. "It proved that there is a place for another film festival."

As for "future filmmaker" Tinch, he had gracious compliments for Murphy and his fellow contestants: "I really appreciate Kai bringing this to Vegas. It was a good, eclectic mix and I was greatly impressed not only by the number of local filmmakers, but the level of quality. A lot of those films deserved to win."

And the winners are...

Best Live Action Narrative

Steven Bordelon, Phoenix

Anisha Pattanaik, Retirement Rehearsal (Second Place)

Tracie Laymon, Up (Honorable Mention)

Best Live Action Alternative

Pat Kerby, Essence of the Force

Curtis Schmitt, What Remains (Second Place)

Kevin Mason, Know Self (Honorable Mention)

Best Animation

Eric Anderson, Horses on Mars

Ed Chen, Rattle (Second Place)

Chad Simmons, Who Makes Your Reality? (Honorable Mention)

Best Documentary

Stan Armstrong, Native Americans of the Civil War

Best Music Video

Christopher Broughton, This Is Our Time

Scott Michael, Hysteria (Second Place)

Eddie Guerra, Last Night (Honorable Mention)

Best Local Filmmaker

Doug Shutte, One Dollar Difference

Best of Fest (Audience Award)

(tie) Tanja Mairitsch, Fueling the Fire; Mike and Jerry Thompson, Thor at the Bus Stop

Future Filmmaker Award

Roger Tinch, Untitled