Lowell Film Festival Informs, Invites, and Induces

    April 4th and 5th marked a historic weekend in the history of Lowell and UML, when, for the second year in a row, the Lowell Film festival was held at venues all over downtown.  As a part of a 2008 university grant program, several professors, community organization members, local businesses, and volunteers came together to curate and facilitate the event.  This year’s theme was fair trade; in all, 10 films were showed.

   They ranged from documentaries to comedic stunt films to feature production.  Friday and Saturday both had “headline films,” which were larger and drew a bigger crowd.  2008’s Academy Award Nominated The Garden, filled the Lowell National Park Visitors Center to capacity while Battle in Seattle, starring such big names as Ray Liotta, Charlize Theron, and Woody Harrelson drew out the campus community to O’Leary Library.  Other hits included Tableland, which packed Life Alive on Middle St., the hilarious Yes Men, which was selected for 5 film festivals and won best documentary, and The Price of Sugar, which dealt with Haitian slave labor and dehumanization on Dominican sugar plantations.

      “I almost lost it so many times during Yes Men!” said one student, upon exiting the showing, “Of course I’m coming back later!”  The festival did just that; enlighten students to the community and to broader issues.  “Something like this brings students downtown and then they say ‘Wow!’ They’re hooked and they want to come back again,” said Professor Robert Forrant, the man who first approached the school’s administration with the idea for the festival.  Students from the high school also came out too; some even volunteered and were setting up tables or serving popcorn in Lowell Film Festival t-shirts.  Many people were attracted to Lowell, some coming from as far as New York and many more from all over New England. 

      Both last years and this year’s theme linked the festival to Lowell.  As the first major industrial city, Lowell dealt with many of the issues back in the 19th century.  Many of Lowell’s downtown shops and restaurants were eager to have the films showed in-house, apart from free advertising benefit they could show films which dealt with their products and philosophies.  Hamburger America’s mouth-watering, cross country celebration of the best burgers was held inside Mickey’s Bar and Grill.  While the all-natural cafe Life Alive backed Tableland.  However, apart from celebrating Lowell, the festival’s theme was impressed throughout.

      The films, which each had a host, prompted a post-showing discussion.  This grassroots education in various subjects about the World Trade Organization, labor problems, and standards of living was certainly at the top of the agenda.  John Wooding, who hosted The Price of Sugar, put it best: “Our crime isn’t [not being able to do something,] it’s not knowing about what is going on.  75% of Americans know who is on American Idol, but only 22% can find Iraq on a map.”

      Saturday had a mid-festival Fair Trade Market, where local businesses displayed their products from a conscientious-consumer standpoint.  The films provided the basis of the problem, and this display provided examples of places which embrace the principles of fair trade.

      “Next year we’re talking about adding a night,” said an optimistic Prof. Forrant, “…we called the first one ‘annual,’ just hoping it would be…and now it’s working.”  A third annual film festival is already in the works.  The theme is undetermined as of yet but Prof. Forrant and other organizers already have many ideas.  “We’re very, very excited for the next year and beyond,” said Suzzanne Cromwell of the Cultural Organization of Lowell “this is one of the best things to happen in Lowell for both students and the community.”

Here is Prof. Forrant in his own words from an interview Monday discussing other what more there is to the festival.