What's Happening Now

This isn't about the awesome tv show "What's Happening Now" with the grown up Rerun (although I saw the grown up Rerun on an episode of Scrubs and he is still big and cute, but now also very sweaty). It's about what is happening right now in my life, and everything that preceded it. Well, not everything, because that is more tome-length than blog-length.

In February 2010, I was walking to the parking deck after class in downtown Atl. I go to Georgia State University there. Right before I got to the parking deck, I came across a bus parked alongside the road with CAMPUS MOVIE FEST on the side. There was a woman standing outside of the bus with a CAMPUS MOVIE FEST shirt on, and she looked really friendly, so I just kept walking.

Then I was thinking to myself that a big bus with a person standing outside of it that I happen to be walking right by might probably be something I need to pay attention to, so I went back. The woman told me about Campus Movie Fest, which I understood to be as follows: I would get an HD camera, a laptop with editing software, a mic, a touch phone, and tech support for one week, for free. The point is to see what kind of movie students can come up with in that time frame, and to give budding filmmakers some exposure. The only requirement was that I be a student (check), and have two forms of I.D. (check, check).

I asked her when all of this was taking place, and she said they were about to start handing the equipment out in about 20 minutes. I happened to have 20 minutes because I had just taken an exam and was out of class early, so I went and got the equipment.

Then I made a movie. In one week. Basically the only restriction on the movie was that it be 5 min. or less. No problem! I really got into making the movie and really, really put myself out there to get across what I wanted to in less than 5 min. Overall, I was pretty impressed with myself.

So the films the students made go into a contest and the top 16 films are chosen to screen at GSU, and the top 3 of those go on to the Southern Regional Finale. My movie did not only NOT get into the top three, it did not get into the top 16. I mean I was disappointed, but the bare bones of it is that I am a psych major and my only experience with film making involved home videos of my kids, a history of film class four years ago, and about 30 minutes of editing a clip for experiments in the psych lab.

I had really put myself out there, though. The film I made is pretty intense - here is a link to it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IniB--YYhn0. It really changed me, empowered me, and part of the empowerment was telling the world about what happened to me when I was a kid. I've never had the opportunity to confront my primary abuser (my dad), and I have been so terrified of him finding out that I am telling on him. A big part of my work in recovery pertains to the management of my anxiety and fear of him, and this film is kind of like poking the proverbial bear. That is a big deal to me, turning my fear of my dad into my own personal empowerment.

So anyway, after the screening at GSU, I was like, "well, I got a lot out of that personally. It would be really awesome if someday I could afford equipment like that and start making documentaries or something."

But there is another chance to win and get into the Regional Finales: it is called the Wild Card. The way you win the wild card is through text voting. I have a family plan with unlimited texting, a fourteen year old, and very supportive friends and family. I personally voted for myself over 2,000 times. Guess who won the wild card?

So I made it to the regional finale. This in itself was exciting - my film would be screened at the Tabernacle!

And then I got an email saying that as a finalist for my school, I was automatically accepted into a program bringing students to the Cannes Film Festival. In Cannes. In France. For two weeks. Holy shit.

To be continued...