Double Feature: Show Me Digital Film Festival is back for act two, bigger than before

Pat Bond is a mellow dude.

As he sits at Breakaway's, where he has a real job as a bartender to pad his independent filmmaking, he's ultra-relaxed talking about the future of his burgeoning film festival and his small group of renegade filmmakers, the Cape Filmmakers Cooperative.

He talks about the hundreds of small independent film festivals around the country. Bond knows his Show Me Digital Film Festival is like them, a newborn struggling to live.

"You don't see a lot of 10th annuals," says Bond. Bond's philosophy -- if you get past the fifth year you're here to stay.

"I want to have a sixth annual or seventh annual, just because there's never been anything like that here."

That day in Breakaways he had about three weeks to go before the Nov. 11 and 12 festival dates, and all the films were in place. They've come in from around the country, 17 in all, some with Cape Girardeau roots like the feature-length comedy "BachelorMan," showing Nov. 12, with Jackson native Dave West and David Deluise, son of the famous Dom Deluise.

West also boasts two short films in the festival, the comedy "PuddleJumper" and the dramatic piece "The Do Over."

Some of the films are dark, some are feel-good comedies and at least one, the feature length documentary "The God Who Wasn't There," playing Friday, is very controversial. The makers compare it to "Super Size Me" and "Bowling for Columbine," billing itself as a funny-yet-serious and biting look at Christianity.

"The God Who Wasn't There" doesn't scare Bond, no matter how controversial it is.

"I'm proud of every movie that's going in there," Bond says with a smile.

The local indie film pioneer is proud, but Bond had to spend a lot of time just clearing his name and the reputation of the CFC before the festival could even happen. He's now on a good footing with a lot of big players locally, but it took some time.

This summer the big buzz in Cape Girardeau was that the town was in the running to host some production on the major studio film "Killshot," based on an Elmore Leonard book of the same name that is partially set in the city. When word got out that producers were scouting Cape Girardeau, the problems started for the CFC.

Then co-chair Mike Huntington made several local civic and business leaders angry, including Mayor Jay Knudtson and Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Chuck Martin, by sending out a series of emails in which they thought he took credit for bringing the production to Cape Girardeau. They thought the maverick Huntington would spoil the deal.

Huntington said in emails that he never attempted to take credit for bringing "Killshot" to Cape Girardeau and that local leaders were out to get him, from the mayor's office to the Arts Council.

"I have never taken or claimed any credit for bringing the film here or that we were the contact for the production," wrote Huntington in an August email. "Such suggestions are a slander upon myself and defamation of my character -- because they are not true."

The negative reaction caused Huntington to resign from the CFC and start his own new group, the Cape Independent Film Association, free from what he calls the "compromising attitude" of the CFC.

They're still on speaking terms, said Bond, but the organizational relationship is over.

"You're not talking for me ever again," Bond recalls telling Huntington. And he admits he is a more compromising fellow that his former partner.

Their relationship started in March 2004, when Bond was introduced to the world of local filmmakers after showing his psychological thriller "Dark Garden" in Cape Girardeau. When the two got together, they saw each wanted to bring local filmmakers and others interested in the craft into one group, and the CFC was born.

From the beginning the CFC has been a loose group of filmmakers, writers, actors, musicians (Bond likes to use Catatonic's music for his soundtracks) and others. The membership numbers vary, but the CFC is at the core of an underground film movement locally. The members make no money from their projects and labor on in relative obscurity. They do it for the love of filmmaking.

There are no big budgets, no big special effects. Bond, for one, relishes the challenge.

"When you're making movies for $100 or $200 you have to be creative. Obviously, you can't do 'Titanic.' And I wouldn't make an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie on a $100 budget."

The lack of a big studio also gives the indies the satisfaction of complete control.

"We're still doing what we want to do," Bond says.

The film festival seeks to promote that independent spirit in filmmaking.

Last year a capacity crowd showed up for the one-day festival, many of them 10 minutes before it began, said Bond. He's hoping for the same turnout this time, but this year's festival is even more ambitious. This time it runs two days, Nov. 11 from 5 to 10 p.m., Nov. 12 from 4 to 10 p.m.

Bond's calm demeanor hides some nervousness.

"I always worry about these things up until the last minute," he says.

Hopefully Bond's festival can avoid a sophomore slump and grow from infant to toddler.

For more information on the festival, call (573) 270-0159 or (573)270-4769.

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Movie synopsis

The God Who Wasn't There

Genre: Documentary feature

Director: Brian Flemming

Running Time: 62 min.

"The God Who Wasn't There" is a sarcastic and funny indictment of religion with a societal focus in the vein of "Bowling for Columbine" and "Super Size Me." Unafraid of the taboo, this documentary is not for the easily offended.

It holds Christianity to a bright spotlight and asks the hard questions.

BachelorMan

Genre: Comedy feature

Director: John Putch

Running time: 90 min.

The crowds at the 2003 Palm Beach International Film Festival loved "BachelorMan," awarding it the Audience Award for Best Feature against stiff competition like "The Pianist," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "The Kid Stays in the Picture." This comedy about a ladies' man who falls in love stars David Deluise, son of Dom Deluise; Missy Pyle, who played in "Dodgeball; and features a supporting role by Jackson native Dave West, writer/director of other festival films "PuddleJumper" and "The Do Over."

An Uzi at the Alamo

Genre: Comedic feature

Director: Chris Sparling and Raymond Lepre

Running time: 90 min.

Sounds interesting, right?

In this feature-length comedy, a young writer searches for himself and true love while dealing with a highly dysfunctional family.

Hopeful

Genre: Musical Tribute

Director: Charles Parsons

Running time: 4 min.

A stirring and poignant tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and a powerful message about their cries for help.

Marvelous Marso

Genre: Animated short

Director: Becky Donovan

Running time: 4 min.

Winner of the Best Film Award at the St. Louis 48-Hour Film Project,

"Marvelous Marso" tells the story of Marso as he tries to stop the space dog Rupert from brainwashing the world's cats.

Permian Flow

Genre: Experimental short

Director: Bill Kersey

Running time: 6 min.

"Permian Flow" is an exploration of the relationship between time, nature and collective memory. Radio voices from World War II to Sept. 11 provide the counterpoint to the changing seasons in the mountains of Arizona and Colorado.

Viral

Genre: Dramatic short

Director: Joe Price

Running time: 7 min.

This film walks the line between drama and dark comedy, relying heavily on shadows and color to tell the story of one girl's struggle with a facial abnormality.

87 Topaz

Genre: Documentary short

Director: Bill Kersey

Running time: 8 min.

A sentimental documentary that examines the memory of a late grandfather through diary excerpts, photographs and musings on cars.

Pilgrim's Progress

Genre: Experimental animated short

Director: James Dingle

Running time: 4 min.

This animated short uses videogame graphics to explore the world of politics, culture and religion.

Free Admission

Genre: Experimental Short

Director: Louie Benson

Running time: 6 min.

Another experimental short, this one set to the classic music of the great Pink Floyd.

The Do Over

Genre: Dramatic short

Director: Dave West

Running time: 9 min.

If you could change one moment in your life, not knowing what the outcome would be, would you do it? That's the choice an overworked, overstressed event planner must make when he gets to "do over" his last moments with a friend. Written and directed by Jackson native Dave West.

Garpenfargle

Genre: Comedy short

Director: Bill Kersey and Edward Kim

Running time: 4 min.

The master is leaving and Hobbs is left with only one instruction: Stay out of the trash.

The Last Job

Genre: Action short

Director: Pat Bond

Running time: 5 min.

This year's Cape Girardeau entry in the St. Louis 48-Hour Film Project, directed by CFC chair Bond, is a tale of the classic airport mix-up with criminal implications.

Fundamental Fairness: One Man's Journey to Judgment

Genre: Documentary short

Director: Patricia Scallet

Running time: 28 min.

This documentary explores the flaws of the American justice system. Even though trials are constitutionally mandated to be fair, it doesn't always work that way.

Solace

Genre: Dramatic short

Director: Bill Kersey

Length: 4 min.

In "Solace," a lyrical montage of still images tells the story of a man, his grief and his guitar.

Pulse

Genre: Dramatic short

Director: Pat Bond

Running time: 9 min,

Another Bond original, "Pulse" is the story of a woman pushed to her breaking point, with no one to rely on.

PuddleJumper

Genre: Comedy short

Director: Dave West

Running time: 13 min.

Ever had Montezuma's Revenge after going to Mexico? This Dave West film is the story of a man going through Mexico, who meets a beautiful Mexican girl, but has to fight off a champion bowel movement while wooing her.