I Kissed a Gargalese While Trippin’ in Chicago (and Indiana)

Posted in Diary of a Directrix, On the Fest Circuit
May 4th, 2010 by Devi Snively (The Directrix)

devi gargalese kiss smThings are hoppin’ and trippin’ here in the Midwest.  Our screenings at the Horror Society and Riverbend fests were truly wonderful – a marvelous way to celebrate all the fun happenings of late. And so much has happened… where do I begin?

devi gargalese smI arrived in South Bend late Thursday night, nearly as exhausted as I’d felt the day after we wrapped on trippin’.  The last 3 weeks have been positively insane with meetings, prepping for Cannes, negotiating distribution, packaging the new feature and pre-prod for Dolores among other craziness.

I must’ve slept 10 hours (unheard of for this former insomniac) and awoke to a slew of intriguing e-mails after a whole day without going online.  I juggle a few e-mail addresses and always check my personal one first where I found all of these cryptic e-mails from friends congratulating me, only for what nobody happened to mention.

devi cu women of horror smBy the time I got to my Hotmail account into which my Facebook account flows, I noticed many more messages from FB and finally worked my way backwards until I found the source of it all.  This article – sweet!  And thanks to the lovely people at Chicago Horror Society whom are responsible for nominating me.  I am truly honored and humbled.

the gang at wallys bar smFriday night we attended Riverbend where I ran into so many familiar faces I hadn’t seen in ages – the local filmmaking community, Notre Dame pals, Wally the bartender and all the regulars at my favorite bar, and even Lloyd Kaufman who was this year’s featured guest.  It was a wonderful homecoming.

team corna smOn Saturday morning, I crammed to meet some last minute deadlines with my producer, then we took off for Chicago. Our cast and crew divvied up between the Riverbend Fest and the Horror Society Fest for trippin’s screenings at both.

riverbend q aWord from South Bend is we played to a full house with great response.  I’ve gotten a variety of fun e-mails from new fans and so wish I could have cloned myself to be at both simultaneously.  It’s always a joy to play a “home game.”  Thanks for the support, Michiana!  We love you!

horror society gang smStill, I wouldn’t have missed the Horror Society’s fest for the world.  What wonderful people we met!  Mitchell and Jessica, who run the event, are wonderfully gracious and so clearly love and support the horror genre.  They put together a great program, which included a 35 mm print of Katheryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark.”

vodka theater smThe theater was marvelous and filled with the most delightful characters milling about the convention, sipping Big Lebowski-inspired White Russians by the concession stand and joining the kind of audience every horror filmmaker can hope for – responsive and intelligent. q and a all sm I was so impressed by the surprisingly intellectual questions during the Q&A.  Not one person asked us our budget or just how true trippin’s depiction of what happened is.  Instead, Jessica set the stage for  some on-topic questions about what it means to be a female director in a male-dominated genre and the audience rose to the challenge.  What a joy!  I got to think.  Sweet!

devi gargalese 2 smThe other films were most enjoyable, especially my fave of the bunch Gargalese, the lead character with whom I posed in all these photos.  I want one of my own so bad!  Check out this film if you get the chance, it’s wonderfully fun and original.

sangria sm 1In between screenings, we had a cast/crew reunion party at La Pena down the street, an Ecuadorian restaurant/dance club where we imbibed endless pitchers of sangria and consumed far too many plaintain chips – yum!

af devi suite smDear friends Wally the bartender and his awesome wife Barb scored us the most amazing hotel suite on the planet and by night’s end I drifted off as content as can be amid pure luxury.  Thanks, Guys  – you are positively the BEST!

wally barb af smWe hang with trippin’s D.P. Ian Issitt on Sunday to finally catch Greenberg and a pint at a local bar before returning to Indiana.  Greenberg was enjoyable if you like Noah Baumbach’s oeuvre (which I do), though also a bit painful.  Man, I’ve met Ben Stiller’s character in L.A. far more than I care to admit.  Shudder.

Yesterday we trekked into Michigan with Location Scout Extraordinaire Steve Russell (who appears as Leroy in trippin’) where Dolores Street came to life before our eyes.  As he drove us around, he commented, “It feels good to be doing this again.”  I couldn’t agree more.

woods on setFilmmakers make films, plain and simple.  No more shall we be film-made-ers. Anyone can have made a film.  It’s those who continue to make them that understand there is no choice in the matter.  It’s what we do, who we are.  This is where we belong, constantly creating new worlds, exploring new territory, doing what we love most no matter what.  devi wally marquee smNo money and no time are no excuse.

Man, it’s good to be back!

Thanks, Riverbend, thanks Chicago Horror Society, thanks Wonderful People who watched our film, supported us and joined our Facebook Fan Page and thanks, Amazing Team with whom I love making movies so much.  Ready for more?  See you in a few weeks, we just secured our first locations!

One Response to “I Kissed a Gargalese While Trippin’ in Chicago (and Indiana)”

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