Geese, a Goat and Harry Shearer

An Ashland goat.

Report by co-director Paul Mariano from the Ashland Independent Film Festival. 
Photos by Suzanne Chapot.

Ashland -- known for its Shakespearean festival -- is a wonderful town for a film festival also…as we learned. We arrived in Ashland for the festival on Thursday, April 7^th.  TAS was set to screen on Saturday. The staff set us up in a charming bed and breakfast just outside of town. We had a great cottage in the back, and shared our environs with a goat and a gaggle of geese in the pond just outside our front door.

A gaggle of Ashland geese.

On Thursday night we went to the Opening Night Bash, where we ran into Harry Shearer.  Harry was appearing with his documentary The Big Uneasy.  Harry and I discussed our mutual producer (Christine O’Malley…the “best of the best”)…and This is Spinal Tap, a film in which Harry starred and is profiled in These Amazing Shadows. 

Harry Shearer, director of The Big Uneasy trades quips with Paul.

On Friday, we got a chance to see three other screenings and prowl around Ashland.  Everywhere we went, there was a poster of These Amazing Shadows on display. We hoped that this was a good omen.

Saturday morning TAS was screened in the 500-seat Ashland Historic Armory.  Paul and Suzanne (who has become the unofficial festival photographer) went early to talk with the staff and “check out” the theater.  The people filed in, the lights went down, the audience got quiet….and then it started.  It might have been cold outside, but it was warm and friendly inside the theater.  The audience absolutely loved TAS.  They laughed and they cried, and when it was over, they applauded longer and louder (there was even a standing ovation from some) than any audience thus far.  It was a heart-warming and rewarding moment…one I wish that the entire crew had been present to experience and share. Our thanks to the staff of the festival and to the audience who enjoyed our film so much !

Paul on stage post TAS screening at the Historic Ashland Armory.

This is Spinal Tap (1984) was selected to the National Film Registry in 2002.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer," "Spinal Tap" mug and Paul's "Two for the Road" NFR Campaign

Book jacket for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - now to be a movie.

In our interview of Caleb Deschanel for These Amazing Shadows he said that all great story telling is a form of myth. Caleb doesn't just talk-the-talk but he walks-the-walk as the famed cinematographer begins shooting in April - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in 3-D. A mash-up of mythic proportions. Here is the story in a nutshell: President Lincoln's mother is killed by a supernatural creature, which fuels his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers. The script was penned by Seth Grahame-Smith who authored the book of the same name. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (known internationally for his Russian vampire movies, but here in the States for Wanted) it will hit theaters in June 2012. Caleb has been very busy over the past year shooting flicks for William Friedkin (Killer Joe with Matthew McConaughey, Juno Temple, Emile Hirsch) and Jim Sheridan (Dream House with Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts).

Available now! This is Spinal Tap mug from Shot Dead in the Head. This is Spinal Tap was selected to the National Film Registry in 2002.

Please support These Amazing Shadows co-director Paul Mariano's campaign to get the 1967 gem Two for the Road on the National Film Registry. Starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney, the story centers on a couple in the south of France as they non-sequentially spin down the highways of infidelity in their troubled ten-year marriage.

Anyone can nominate/vote (really the same thing) a film to the National Film Registry. Simply send an email to Donna Ross at the Library of Congress dross@loc.gov
Tell her what film you think should be selected and why. Don't forget the basic rules: films must be at least 10 years old and be "aesthetically, historically or culturally" significant. Which, as Steve Leggett of the Library of Congress says, means almost anything.
(I'm campaigning for The Times of Harvey Milk and Key Largo)