Tempting triskaidekaphobia

‘Growing Up Smith’ filmmaker set

for SouthSide Film Festival Q&A

This year’s SouthSide Film Festival poster has a drawing of a black cat wearing a pair of film reels as sunglasses.

Yes, it’s the 13th annual SSFF. No triskaidekaphobia (fear of No. 13), here.

This year’s festival is lucky in several ways: a new venue, a return to an opening-night party location, and an actor-screenwriter-producer in attendance with his opening night film.

SSFF 13 unreels June 14-18 at Victory Firehouse, 217 Broadway; Sinclair Lab Auditorium, Lehigh University, 7 Asa Drive; Godfrey Daniels, 7 E. Fourth St., and Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, 321 E. Third St., all Bethlehem. In addition to opening and closing nights, screenings begin at 5:20 p.m. June 15-17.

Charter Arts is a new SSFF venue. “We’re happy to be showing there. It’s a state-of-the-art theater,” says Glenn Koehler, SSFF Director.

Koehler is also pleased about the SSFF opening-night party location, 6 p.m. June 14 at Color Me Mine, 25 E. Third St., Bethlehem, former location of Home & Planet, where SSFF held opening night soirees for many years. “We used to do our opening night at Home & Planet. It’s nice to be back in that space. It’s nice to go back to our roots,” Koehler says. Catering the affair is Tapas on Main, 500 Main St., Bethlehem.

Koehler’s even more excited about the 8 p.m. June 14 festival opener, “Growing Up Smith,” about a family from India that emigrated to the United States in 1979. The comedy, directed by Frank Lotito (producer, “Big Mama’s Boy,” 2011), stars Jason Lee. Film co-producer, co-screenwriter and actor Anjul Nigam is to attend and participate in a question and answer session after the screening.

The world premier of “Growing Up Smith” (originally titled “Good Ol’ Boy’) was June 1 at the Seattle International Film Festival. A reviewer on the Internet Movie Database web site said of “Growing Up Smith”: “Anjul Nigam came up with a very realistic portrayal of an Indian father new to America trying to carefully navigate American culture ... You don’t have to be Indian to appreciate this movie. You just have to have an open mind and an open heart.”

SSFF is an annual five-day event featuring international films, guest filmmakers, juried selections, locally-produced films, seminars and networking for filmmakers and fans of independent film. SSFF is a program of The SouthSide Film Institute, a not-for-profit volunteer-run organization promoting the art of the independent filmmaker.

“We have about 15 filmmakers coming out. Last year, we had 12, which was the most ever,” says Koehler, in his fourth year as SSFF director.

SSFF bills itself as presenting “independent Films from around the world.” Credit, pun intended, Benjamin Bertalan, SSFF film wrangler, for that.

These days, Bertalan’s wrangling can be done from the comfort of a download, rather than coping with Transportation Security Administration check-in delays at airports as he travels to and from film festivals.

“We started out with VHS tapes. And now it’s almost all streaming,” Bertalan says.

This year, the SSFF received more than 200 submissions plus invitationals that SSFF officials solicited, according to Bertalan. Of these, SSFF will screen about 72 films, from shorts to features, documentaries to narratives, and animation and children’s films.

“It’s always a puzzle to put together,” says Bertalan. “But that’s the fun of it. It’s always fun. I wouldn’t be doing it for 13 years if it wasn’t fun. I love seeing these films that you won’t see any place else.”

There’s even a documentary about the SSFF showing at SSFF. “SouthSide” was commissioned last March by the SSFF. Film-makers Jennifer Suwak and Steve Abruzzese have previously shown at SSFF.

The 16-min. film was to about the chefs at the annual SSFF fundraiser. “As they got further along in the filmmaking process, it became more of a piece about how the SouthSide Film Festival fits into the community. It turned out to be a really nice film,” says Koehler. The film will be shown at 8 p.m. June 14, prior to “Growing Up Smith.” A question and answer session with the “SouthSide” film-makers follows the “Growing Up Smith” screening.

For the fourth year in a row, Molinari’s, 322 E. Third St., Bethlehem, is host for the SSFF fundraiser, 6 p.m. June 13, with five area chefs preparing hors d’oeuvres and an entree. There’s a cash bar.

According to Pattie Giordani, SSFF publicity director, participating chefs at this year’s fundraiser are Stephen Yeager, executive chef, Ye Olde Limeport Inn and The Jamison Publick House; Tim Widrick, executive chef, Edge Restaurant; Dom Lombardo, owner-executive chef, TheMint Gastropub; Stacey Emenecker, bakery manager, Vegan Treats, and Geo Dodig, executive chef, Molinari’s. Lee Minnucci, general manager-certified sommelier at Molinari’s, will pair each course with a wine from South Italy Imports, which is also donating the wine.

The SSFF closing night party is at the former location of Tallarico’s, 26 E. Third St., Bethehem.

Koehler and Bertalan highlighted their 2016 SSFF picks. Both mentioned “Tower,” 7:20 p.m. June 18, the SSFF closing night film at Charter Arts. “Tower” is a documentary that combines animation and archival footage to tell the story of the first mass school shooting in the United States in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin that took place mainly from the 28th-floor observation deck in which 49 were gunned down and 16 died.

Keith Maitland, director of “Tower,” received the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award for Best Documentary at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.

Says Koehler, “It’s a mixture of archival footage and rotoscope, where they animate over a live film. It’s extremely well-done. We’re very excited to have it.”

Says Bertalan, “It is one of the best films I’ve see this year. It’s riveting. It’s from the POV [Point Of View] of people who were there ... students and surrounding neighbors.”

Of “Growing Up Smith,” Bertalan says, “It’s family-friendly. As soon as a saw it, I knew it was the opening night film. It’s kind of like an Indian ‘Wonder Years’ or a ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding.’ It’s a family story. And you just get invested in the story.”

There’s also “The Ballad of the Dreadnought,” a documentary short about Martin Guitar, Nazareth, and the centennial of the iconic guitar, 7:20 p.m. June 15, 16, Charter Arts, with a question and answer session to follow.

“Slash,” 9:20 p.m. June 15, 16, Charter Arts, premiered at this year’s SXSW. Says Bertalan, “It’s not your usual coming-of-age film. It’s an underdog story of characters you don’t normally see onscreen.”

“K-Shop” is part of “Midnight Movies,” 11 p.m. June 17. “It’s like an updated version of ‘Sweeney Todd.’ A son takes over his dad’s British kabab shop. It’s straight-up horror. It’s pretty scary,” Bertalan says.

The “Animation Block,” i.e., grouping of films, 7:20 p.m. June 15, 16, Sinclair Lab; 9:20 p.m. June 17, Victory, drew praise from Koehler, “We have quite a big block of them this year. Some of them are by Pixar guys who did them on their own time. One of the films is by a guy whose film was so good he got hired by Pixar.”

The “Comedy Block,” 9:20 p.m. June 16, 17, Sinclair Lab, also drew kudos from Koehler: “We also have a good comedy block this year. I think it’s a really solid block of films that will get everyone laughing.”

The “Drama Block” of short films, 5:30, 9:20 p.m. June 15; 1:20, 3:20 p.m. June 18, Sinclair; 9:20 p.m. June 15; 5:20 p.m. June 18, Victory “are always really well-attended,” says Bertalan. “You can’t really see them anywhere else. It’s like a film-maker’s calling card. I’ve seen five-minute short films that tell more story than 90-minute mall movies.”

And there’s “Doc Blocks,” i.e., documentary shorts, 7:20 p.m. June 15; 3:20 p.m. June 18, Victory.

Also, children’s films will again be screened at Godfrey Daniels.

SSFF fundraiser tickets: molinarimangia.com

SSFF information, schedule, tidckets: southsidefilmfestival.com