On Friday night, the bright, familiar pink and white lights of the Tower Theatre will shine. Moviegoers will flock inside to find the historic theatre temporarily converted into a massive movie theatre. Projectors will shine movies never-before-seen by Fresno residents.
And had it not been for the hard work of John Moses, Fresno City College film instructor and president of Fresno Filmworks, the movies shown this weekend would have probably never reached Fresno residents.
Ian Porteous, a second-year Cell and Molecular Biology major at FCC, said he had attended a Fresno Filmworks presentation about a year ago and found it very enlightening. He attended one of Fresno Filmwork’s viewings held on the second Friday of each month.
He watched a showing of Army of Shadows, a film noir classic. The film detailed the French resistance during WWII. “It was nice and bleak,” Porteous said. Roger Ebert hailed it as “the best foreign film of the year” in 2006.
But this Friday’s viewing brings something especially unique. Independent films from nine different countries will captivate attendees as Fresno Filmworks celebrates its fourth annual Fresno Film Festival. The festival runs April 18-20 and features a variety of films.
“We try to have as much diversity as we can in terms of style and genre and, within the limits of 29 programs, even national origin,” Moses said. He described the festival as “a venue with a difference.”
The festival opens with the French film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a movie that received dozens of major awards worldwide but failed to make it to Fresno. The film tells the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the successful editor of French Elle, who believes he is living his life to its fullest when a sudden stroke leaves him in a life-altered state.
The program in its entirety includes six feature-length films and 23 shorts. Seven of the films, including one feature, have a connection to the central San Joaquin Valley.
Hotel Fresno is one of those films. It runs as part of Sunday’s 2 p.m. shorts program and is directed by Fresno’s own Teresa Flores. The film takes the viewer on a short tour through Fresno while exploring the lives of the overlooked.
Attendees, festival pass holders, and visiting filmmakers may attend the opening night reception at the movie’s conclusion. The reception includes a Mediterranean feast, champagne, and dessert. Scats On The Sly, a local swing band, will provide entertainment.
Collaborations in an effort to create Fresno Filmworks occurred in 2001 and by March the next year, it presented its first showing at the Fresno Art Museum. “We did that for three months and the audiences were so large that we needed to find a bigger venue,” Moses said.
Three months later, Fresno Filmworks began showing from the Tower Theatre, a move that dramatically increased both its costs and audience. Six years later, the decision has proved itself prudent. Viewings have been held every second Friday of the month since.
