THANK YOU!

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Here in the States, we were busy as well. In the morning I received notice that ‘Reparando’ was featured on PasteMagazine.com as one of 10 documentaries to see this fall.

For lunch, Paul took me to meet Cort Langeland of Compass Film Academy. We toured their facility and ate across the street at a great deli. Compass is doing some incredible things with future leaders in the film industry. I highly recommend their program to anyone who wants to get involved in Film.

Later in the evening we held a planning and brainstorming meeting for the October Premiere here in Michigan. I am thrilled with the ideas that are developing in this community! After the meeting, we drove over to the Founders for some more engaging discussion, music, and a sampling of their wares. We swapped stories and dreamed of future initiatives late into the night. Stay tuned for details on some very unique events in Michigan!

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Shortly after my arrival, I drove over to the Celebration Cinema to check in and pick up my filmmaker packet. This is where the story turns into a “little did he know”. My excitement quickly waned as the Festival representative shuffled through the filmmaker packets several times and came up empty handed. It was like being in a fast food drive-thru and being asked to “pull forward” while other people race by with burgers in hand. I’m not sure what the cause was, but for some reason my packet wasn’t there. The rep asked me to check back later. After a 10 hour drive, this was not exactly the experience I was hoping for. Just picture me standing there in a crowd of filmmakers receiving their packets …. “No .. but for real …. I am the producer and director … really … LOL …”

So, I found a quiet room and took a nap for about an hour. My packet never arrived. The festival rep reassured me the packet would be available tomorrow but that I could go in and enjoy the festival without the magic packet … So I did.

The Festival kicked off at 7PM with a pretty swanky welcoming reception in the lobby of the Celebration Cinema. I spent some time enjoying some food, and discussion with fellow filmmakers and wrapped the opening event with a premiere of a movie called ‘The Genesis Code’.

After the festival events I drove over to a “friend of a friend’s” where I am staying while I am in GR. We sat on the front porch talking late into the night about film, Guatemala and creative endeavors … great discussion and a wonderful end to a long day … I now consider Paul a friend without the middleman and am thankful for his family’s hospitality.

I really do love road trips. The great thing about a journey is not the destination, but the experience along the way. Upon further reflection, I have decided that this was an absolute perfect way to start my first film festival – not just the great discussion at the end of the day, but also the awkward and somewhat humiliating experience that happened earlier in the day with the “missing packet incident”. I’m not a glutton for punishment. I don’t enjoy being humiliated. But, this was a perfect reminder that this isn’t about me. It’s not about putting me in the spotlight. Its about something bigger than me, something I could never dream or do on my own … A road trip planned by someone with a much better map than me.

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‘Reparando’ is an official selection in the 2010 Kansas International Film Festival.

SHOW TIME:
10/06/2010 at 5:40 PM

Festival Passes can be purchased here:
http://www.ebizmgr.com/KansasFilm/products.php?cat=7

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I don’t necessarily consider myself an insecure person. Normally, I don’t care what people think about me. I’ve never struggled with peer pressure. If I believe I should do something, I do it. That has been the case with ‘Reparando’. Over two and a half years ago, I believed this was something I should do. So, I committed to see this project to completion. It was hard work, like climbing a mountain at times … but all in all, not overwhelming. I just focused on the goal and kept moving forward one step at a time. However, now that I have reached that goal, I find myself feeling strangely defenseless, like I climbed a mountain and now I am standing on top naked for everyone to see. I have been asking myself why, because I thought I was pretty confident.

A couple weeks ago, about 30 minutes after Amelia and I put our sons to bed, Micah came downstairs crying hysterically. We were able to calm him down enough to ask what happened. Evidently, some kids were playing outside his bedroom and he opened the window to say hello. I won’t go into the fact that he should have been sleeping … that is another story. Long story short, these kids said some mean things and hurt Micah’s feelings. Wow … This was a new emotion for Amelia and me. We were both distraught over the whole ordeal. Someone hurt our son and we didn’t like it. We could hardly sleep that night.

I don’t share this story as an attempt to be even more naked on a mountain. I share it because it helps me realize why I feel the way I do about ‘Reparando’. Art is a product, of it’s creator, much like a child is a product of their parent. I can raise Micah with love and support, mold him into a way that I believe is best, but at some point, I will have to let him go into the world. I will have to trust that Micah’s life has a purpose outside of my hands. Some people won’t embrace Micah, or his purpose, but I will still have to let him go. The same holds true for ‘Reparando’. I have thoroughly enjoyed molding ‘Reparando’ into what it is. I’m creative and love to create, but now it is time to let go.

We were accepted into Grand Rapid’s Film Festival right about the time we shipped the final product to replication and I was feeling pretty good about our ‘baby’. But shortly after, I learned that ‘Reparando’ wasn’t accepted into a couple other festivals. I immediately began to feel like that previously mentioned naked mountain climber. I began to question the time and energy I spent producing this project. Suddenly, I was insecure.

I shared my heart with a close friend who reminded why I did what I did … why I spent two and a half years producing this documentary. I didn’t do it to win an award. I didn’t do it to make money for myself. I did it because I had to. I had to respond. I believed it was the right thing to do. Right after our conversation, I received an email notifying our acceptance into the Kansas International FIlm Festival. We’ve entered about 25 film festivals so far and are batting .500 for the 4 who have made decisions. 50/50 … not so bad when I think about it. But I don’t want to think about it too much. That is what made me insecure in the first place.

I know this: We’re sharing a powerful story about Guatemala and it’s people that needs to be heard. Despite my own imperfections, I trust that it has a purpose outside of my hands and that it will connect with those who God intends. I can be secure in that.

And some day … I will watch this work of art with my Guatemalan sons. That is worth more to me than any award I could ever imagine.

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Here are the details:

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We also submitted Reparando into the following film festivals, bringing the total potential festivals up to 22 with international entries into Mexico and Canada.

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Through an amazing website called withoutabox.com we were able to enter into 17 film festivals scheduled from August 2010 through March 2011 with relative ease. We will notify you as soon as we know if our film is accepted into each festival. We look forward to sharing this amazing story with the public.

The table below details the film festivals we have entered so far and are listed in order of festival dates.

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