Myrtle Beach’s 10th film festival begins rolling Wednesday

Whether it’s chess, a painter who’s made her whole home an artwork or remembering moonshine’s day in the sun, the world’s the limit for subjects on the screen at the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival.

The 10th annual edition of this showcase of independent movies opens at 6 p.m. Wednesday for four days at Carmike Cinemas’ Broadway 17, at Broadway at the Beach, off Robert M. Grissom Parkway, between 21st and 29th avenues North in Myrtle Beach.

Chip White, a freelance writer and producer based in Charlotte, N.C., after 20 years of TV production work in Los Angeles, teamed up with Jason Smith of Myrtle Beach on “A Chess Player.” This short, written and directed by Shea Sizemore, opens the 5-7 p.m. block on April 25. It does not show a full game of chess played, White said, for “it’s not really about chess,” but of people’s lives in general, even “more of a love story.”

About 17 different locations were used in filming, and at least 50 people appear in the 22 minutes, said White, excited to build on the momentum from its premiere at several showings last year in Charlotte. He said responses from viewers included inquiries about more of “the backstory” and the film’s characters.

White, also sold on an acting part in “A Chess Player,” said he and the moviemaking crew did not want to produce “a nice-looking video,” but rather, “an amazingly shot film.”

That extra effort included shooting in “4K … super-high” digital resolution, but with a “film look,” White said, and a customized musical score.

Although White said he knows how to play chess, and will share a game “every now and then” with his son, “I’m not a chess player.”

“That is a commitment,” he said.

Homework in making the movie also entailed consulting with a chess club “to make sure we set the board right” and so that no real-life player will not see the film with board pieces laid out backward and say, “That’s not a real move.”

Such shorts do not score in big profit, White said, but they lead to paths for other projects.

“The whole point of doing it is to get more work,” he said.

White, who grew up in North Myrtle Beach, said he “never thought there would be a film festival in Myrtle Beach.” So, selection to this fest only enhances his excitement for “A Chess Player” and for arriving Tuesday to meet other indie filmmakers and take in their work the rest of the week.

Still in a ‘time capsule’

Brady Brandwood of Lake Wylie, near Rock Hill, has delivered his entry, “Moonshine Heritage,” for its second screening in South Carolina, after its debut last April at the Charleston International Film Festival. He shot this 13-minute documentary short, the second work to screen in the Myrtle Beach fest’s opening block 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, in rural northern Georgia.

It capped off thoughts for three to four years to put this production into gear for a year, Brandwood said, sharing the perspective of an anonymous moonshine maker who never has returned to the site of his craft since its demolishing by authorities.

“I got the interview with the gentleman and went from there,” said Brandwood, also appreciative of treading on grounds where some scenes were filmed for the movie “Deliverance,” from 1972.

Brandwood said film documentaries commanded his interest in childhood.

“I’ve always been fascinated by Southern culture, especially Appalachian culture,” he said, glad to see South Carolinians take notice of the culture in “Moonshine Heritage.”

In trekking for footage, Brandwood said he “backpacked my camera gear into the mountains” three times to the site of the film subject’s still site.

“It’s really like a time capsule out there,” Brandwood said of its being untouched for 40 years. “He had the thing so far back in the woods, … and when the ‘narks’ found it, it was blown to smithereens.”

Those remnants have stood the test of time, for “all the pieces are where they landed,” Brandwood said.

The interviewee “gets kind of emotional a couple of times in this, Brandwood said, “ because he poured a lot of his personality and passion into it. There were certain bragging rights in the day; each guy had his formulas.”

Brandwood draws that personal touch to the individuality that beer and winemakers invest in their beverages.

Even in talking with the film subject, Brandwood understood why the man cannot help to this day having the reflex of looking over his shoulder.

“It goes beyond the personal investment of being chased by the law and being on the run,” Brandwood said.

That “emotional side of being in alcohol back in the day” reflects Appalachian life so well in Brandwood’s eyes.

“People are not very wealthy, so they find ways to make a living,” he said, “and this guy chose that way, and he tells a good story, exactly how it was.”

Retiree all out in art

Laura P. Valtorta, an attorney in Columbia since 1993, called all four films she has made since 2011, including her latest short, “my passion projects.”

Screening in the noon block on April 24, “The Art House” shows “a friend of the family,” Ginger Westray, who spent 40 years teaching mainly social studies and geography, and has turned her whole home into “an art installation.”

“My goal,” said Valtorta, the director and producer, “is to highlight people who are not famous but should be. Ginger is one of those.”

Valtorta admires Westray for having “integrated the school district” in Pelion, southwest of the Palmetto State capital.

“For about 20 years,” Valtorta said, “Westray was the only black teacher there, and her students stay in touch to this day.”

Viewing Westray for her generosity, artistry and almost as “a mentor,” Valtorta said she spent a year trying to convince Westray to let her film the “incredible art” in her house. With that blessing, Valtorta spent 12 hours filming “The Art House,” spread across three days, for this nine-minute short. The cinematographer, Lynn Cornfoot, based at ETV in Columbia, grew up in Surfside Beach.

Already, Valtorta has eyes on extending this project into a 30-minute documentary, because Westray “started talking of her days as a teacher.”

She said the camera graced photos of some of Westray’s students, and that her family all played a role in the film. Westray’s son, Ron Westray Jr., a jazz artist, made the music for “The Art House,” and her daughter, Valencia Westray, a Realtor and professor, shared insight as well.

Ron Westray also told Valtorta one highlight about his mother that didn’t make it into the film: She started out as “a fashionista,” making her own clothes, and got into art and studied at Allen University in Columbia.

Valtorta, who produced her first film from her own story idea,“White Rock Boxing,” said ETV has aired it statewide four times, and she’s excited on prospects for PBS to include “The Art House” in its “Shorts Showcase,” for national broadcast.

With 11 festivals so far accepting “The Art House,” as far away as California and Cambodia, Valtorta said this second-time entry into the Myrtle Beach festival marked another milestone.

International in every way

Jerry Dalton, the festival’s founder and director, marvels at its growth and global recognition. About a dozen other countries dot the list of places from where submissions originated, including Australia, India, South Korea, Venezuela and especially Germany and Belgium.

“A lot of those people are coming,” Dalton said, happy to help magnify Myrtle Beach’s growing visibility on a map.

“We’ve grown: That’s the best way to put it. We have a lot more international coverage and a lot of international films to choose from.”

Dalton said that the very last day submissions were due, 88 arrived from a group of filmmakers from Germany.

Repeatedly, Dalton complimented “the super high quality” of all 43 selections the festival will screen.

“It’s the riveting, gripping level or professionalism,” he said, “matching the quality of Hollywood, including the sound quality. They match it, and they beat it in the story lines.”

Assembling this festival results from a “long road” and about 1,000 hours a year, Dalton said, and with help from all the volunteers and the growing roster of sponsors, the whole production has been “brought up to a new level” for 2015.

Scanning the booklet of all the selections, Dalton said a specific “child friendly” film block returns, noon-2 p.m. April 25, with four movies, with lengths ranging from 12 to 46 minutes each. This sequence includes “The Magic Bracelet” and J.K. Simmons, a best supporting actor Oscar winner this year for “Whiplash,” among the cast.

Horror fans have their night, too, Dalton said, referring to the 10:30 p.m. April 24 block, with “Border Patrol” and “First Shoot the Lawyers.”

Marketing the festival doesn’t just begin and end with festivals locally, but heading out of town as well.

Dalton said plans also are under way to take the whole slate of films in September for showing at a town in Michigan, continuing past outreach efforts in the Wolverine State.

The travel works both ways as well.

Dalton said a couple he met from Virginia said they made Myrtle Beach four years ago their very first film festival attended, and they’re coming back next week.

Inflation has been left on the cutting-room floor, at least for festival prices. A film pass good for all four days remains $50.

“You can’t beat that deal,” Dalton said.

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach’s 10th film festival begins rolling Wednesday."