While 91 films made the cut to be selected in this year’s Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, three must-see films stand out – each for a unique reason all its own.
“Calendar Girls,” a look at Florida’s most successful seniors dance team of the same name, not only explores life – and fun – after the age of 50, but it’s also bringing members of the group to Chagrin Falls for the first time to perform.
“This is an example of what I believe CDFF does best,” Founder Mary Ann Ponce said.
“We have all been to Ohio, but never to the famous town of Chagrin Falls, so of course we are thrilled,” Calendar Girls founder and team member Katherine Shortlidge, 71, of Ft. Myers, Fla., said.
The film, which screened at Sundance earlier this year, has immense appeal to women over the age of 50 all over the planet, she continued.
“We’ve inspired people to look at life after retirement in a new way,” Ms. Shortlidge described. “The documentary shows us as regular women with regular aging problems.
“Through dance and friendship, we continue to inspire and have lots of fun.”
Members of the volunteer group, who book more than 200 dance performances a year for fun and charity at such venues as nursing homes, biker rallies, festivals, country clubs and more, will attend the screening at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5 at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre.
“I am coming, and I am bringing lots of dancers with me,” Ms. Shortlidge said. “We are thrilled to perform in between the screening and the Q&A.
“It’s fun for audiences to see us on the big screen and then in person,” she said.
Another must see, “Emerald Paradise, Fly Fishing in the Soca Valley,” is not only special because of the beauty showcased within it, but for the celebration of the Northeast Ohio Slovenian community that will coincide with it.
“What makes a documentary film powerful is to watch it and then to experience the culture behind the film,” Ms. Ponce said.
Narrated by first-time filmmaker Laurens Bubendorfer, an avid fly fisherman, the documentary transports viewers to the heart of the Slovenian Alps, to the pristine waters of the Soca Valley’s fairytale rivers.
It will be a first visit to Chagrin Falls and to Ohio for Mr. Bubendorfer, who will travel from a small village outside of Tolmin in Slovenia.
A child who grew up loving movies, Mr. Bubendorfer, 35, said his film “is a declaration of love to the beautiful nature and wildlife of the Soca Valley.
“It tells my very personal story of being a passionate fly-fisherman following my dreams and changing my life in order to do so,” he said.
Besides beautiful pictures and time-lapse over the seasons, people will also experience the story of biologists and researchers saving a unique trout species, the marble trout, from extinction, Mr. Bubendorfer continued.
He filmed this documentary during the course of three years, with the first two years devoted to developing the idea of the film, establishing a team then moving to Slovenia from Tirol, Austria. Mr. Bubendorfer began fly-fishing on the Soca River more than 20 years ago.
“I think that my film inspires people to follow their dreams and enjoy and take good care of our precious nature wherever they are,” he said.
The area Slovenian community will be coming out in full force to support this film. Following the screening at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4 at the Chagrin Valley Little There, a celebration of the entire Northeast Ohio Slovenian community with music and food will take place.
Fittingly, the film is sponsored by Jan Paulich Jones in honor of her Slovenian parents.
Another must-see and visually beautiful film is “A Crack in the Mountain,” making its Ohio premiere at the festival by emerging filmmaker Alistair Evans.
“This film takes us inside a place that very few humans have ever seen, and the cinematography and story behind it is just stunning,” Ms. Ponce said. “Absolutely, people will be talking about this film, and it’s a must see on the big screen.”
It will premiere at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5 at the Chagrin Falls Intermediate School Theater.
Mr. Evans, who resides in Tokyo, Japan, will not be attending the film, he said, but has wanted to be a filmmaker all his life.
“A Crack in the Mountain is about the largest cave passage in the world – Son Doong cave in Vietnam,” Mr. Evans, 38, explained. “When most people think of caves, they think of dark, dingy, dirty, inhospitable places which most people wouldn’t want to visit.
“However, to call Son Doong a cave is really underselling what it is because it is more of an underground kingdom,” he said, with its own jungle, a lake, a river and even its own weather system as clouds often form inside it.
A huge amount of light spills in from the two dolines and this means that often when you are traveling through it, it is easy to forget you are underground, he noted.
“I’ve been very lucky to travel extensively all over the world, and it is by far and away the most extraordinary place I’ve visited,” Mr. Evans said. “And at the same time, very few people have heard of it.
“So the film introduces the audience to this natural wonder they probably haven’t encountered before,” he said.
It took him five years to shoot and edit the film, Mr. Evans said, which at its core is a powerful expose about how both good and bad intentions can ultimately lead to one of the world’s greatest natural wonders being trampled for money.
The film will inspire those who care about our natural heritage to fight and protect it, he said.
The film’s title came from his interviews of visitors to Son Doong about their experience in the cave, and one described the entrance as a “crack in the mountain.” He describes his work as a “cinematic documentary.
“The cinematography and music along with the themes the film is tackling, give it a grand scope which plays very well on a big screen,” Mr. Evans promised.
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