Volume 124 Issue 39
kansan.com
Monday, October 17, 2011
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Lawrence Through the Lens The growth of the Kansas film scene
Contributed photo
A still from "Candy Apple Red" directed by Todd Norris.
Lawrence is notorious for fostering creativity. On any given night there is live music, and on the last Friday of every month, talented artists display their work along the sidewalk and in various storefronts downtown. Friday September 30th was no exception to this tradition, but this time another medium was thrown into the mix: film.
As Mass street bustled with activity, the 20th annual Harvest of Arts Film Festival took place at the Granada Theatre. Twenty eight short films from a variety of genres were featured, and no awards were distributed. Mark von Schlemmer, a KU graduate and film professor at the University of Central Missouri, has organized the festival since its inception. "The original spirit of the Harvest of Arts was neighbors showing their art work to each other," Schlemmer says.
For Schlemmer, the idea behind the festival wasn't to reward local filmmakers for their work, but to offer a chance for Lawrence residents to see the work coming out of the area. "What happens is we have a lot of local people making these films, but no one near by necessarily knows about them. They send them off to film festivals in other areas, but other people in lawrence don't necessarily
see these films," Schlemmer says.
The festival consisted entirely of short films, none of which exceed 15 minutes in length. Short films, as Schlemmer says, are not financially driven. They are a way for filmmakers to exercise their creativity and develop their skills without many of the constraints associated with feature films." There's room for experimentation, and there's also room for people to tell the stories they really want to tell without the pressures of a studio telling them they need to have people that are beautiful, blonde and thin in their movies," Schlemmer says.
Although Kansas is not generally regarded for its film scene, the number of people creating their own projects in the Lawrence and Kansas City area is growing. Kevin Willmott, associate professor of film at the University of Kansas, and director of such films as the Confederate States of America, and The Only Good Indian, has worked in the film industry for 30 years. He has written screenplays for Hollywood productions, but he prefers making his own movies in Kansas because of the excitement and freedom associated with independent filmmaking here. "I came to the conclusion early on in my career that I needed
to be an independent filmmaker to be able tell the stories that I wanted to tell," Willmott says. "I've always believed in taking advantage of the freedom we have in Kansas, particularly in Lawrence and Kansas City. People are not jaded about film in the area, people are really supportive."
Kansas, unbeknownst to many, offers what Willmott says is a very supportive environment when it comes to filmmaking. "In Hollywood your ideas have go through kind of a corporate filter in a sense, and for them it's still a business before it's anything else," he says. "The key thing about independent film is that you do something that Hollywood is not going to do."
JEFF KARR
Mark von Schlemmer says another reason for the growth of the independent film scene in Kansas is the fact that, after graduating, many students are realizing they don't have to go to Hollywood or New York to get jobs. "There's a lot more homegrown talent now," Schlemmer says. With groups like KU Filmworks, the number of people collaborating on films and creating projects of their own in Lawrence is on the increase. KU Filmworks, which receives funding from the University to make their own projects, has played a big role in increasing the film presence in the area. "A lot of our members do projects outside of school, they have these projects that are really close to
them, and they just look for the best people for the job and they create these really stunning films," says Laurie Winkel, president of KU Filmworks.
Willmott, who grew up in Junction City Kansas and had his first hand's-on experience with film in high school using a reel to reel machine, also attributes the growth of the Kansas film scene to the accessibility of film equipment. "One of the big changes is the technology. Our students come to our department, and a lot of them have their own cameras. A lot of them have their own editing equipment," he says. "It takes more than the knowledge of technology to tell a good story, and that's what I think we offer more than anything."
Contributed photo A still from "Love and Buns" directed by Jason Badgett.
Contributed photo
A still from "Hell Week" by Patrick Rea.
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Jason Phoenix explains different gestures for responses during the demonstrations held by protesters participating in Occupy Lawrence. The local movement has expressed solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. The group is working toward promoting change in local government ordinances.
The "Russian Jayhawk," as the small carving has come to be known, was a gift of gratitude from an unknown Russian prisoner of war to Conrad Hoffman, a Kansas alumnus working with the YMCA in Germany during World War I.
It's a symbol of the long-standing connection between the University and its students doing good in Russian and Eastern Europe, said Marc Greenberg, chairman of the Slavic department.
On Wednesday evening, he made another journey, this time to the offices of the department of Slavic languages and literatures in Wescoe Hall, where he'll live for one year in a glass display case.
Kansas, making his home first in Stauffer-Flint Hall — where he sat, forgotten, until 2009 — and then in the University Archives.
"I want the carving to help draw attention to the things
Hoffman went to Germany in 1915, and it was common for him to receive presents, said the article, from the thankful prisoners who he worked with.
The YMCA post was "an important non-governmental service performing a moral and social function during the First World War," Greenberg wrote in his article "Hoffman's Hawk."
According to the article, the YMCA worked in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, providing education and coordinating social and athletic activities for the prisoners. The YMCA also helped prisoners develop trades and hobbies by giving them tools and arranging exhibitions and sales of their artwork.
In 1913, Conrad Hoffman became the secretary of the VMCA at the University, leaving his position as a professor of bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin.
A gift of gratitude
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According to a pencil inscription on his side, the Russian Jayhawk was given to Hoffman in 1917. He was probably carved by either
SEE JAYHAWK PAGE 3
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