The Freckled Girl: Film Takes Flight

This past Saturday, Dylan and I packed up some sleeping bags, blankets, a cooler and hit the Great River Road (Hwy. 35) to attend the Flyaway Film Festival that takes place in Pepin & Stockholm, WI. It's one of my favorite weekend getaways -- winding hilly roads, sweeping views of the Mississippi where it meets giant Lake Pepin and stopping at the small towns on the way (like Maiden Rock, you must grab a bloody mary at Ole's Bar - they are superb). We couldn't have asked for better Fall weather (sunny and 60º) and I was looking forward to attending a festival vs. producing one.

The first film of the day was Beauty Day, a documentary about a Canadian man named Ralph Zavadil. From the synopsis: "His cable access television show, The Cap'n Video Show, ran from 1990-1995, spawing a small but loyal cult following. Each week Ralph performed a series of idiotic and occasionally dangerous stunts, challenging the sensibilities of his small S. Ontario audience. With the advent of the internet and reality television still years away, his unique brand of gross-out stunt comedy was truly ahead of its time. All it took was a broken neck for him to get noticed." My review of the film was that it was definitely entertaining, but it was a tad bit too long (could have been trimmed by 15 minutes) and they could have delved a little deeper into his personal life instead of re-running too much of his old videos. Ralph is incredibly interesting (i.e. crazy!) and there seemed to be a lot more to his story (he had a daughter he had no idea about until an old girlfriend called him 12 years after her birth to break the news). Ralph truly was ahead of his time with this little cable access show -- he was the jackass before Jackass.

After that film, I took a break to go and check out Camp YMCA, where we were supposed to be bunking (and I do mean bunk beds) that evening. Dylan decided to stay and check out another film (a documentary called How To Start Your Own Country). After checking out the YMCA, which I wasn't too sold on (a slew of teenagers had arrived the night before, there were no bathrooms in the cabins and again...bunk beds) we went to a local dive bar to grab some beers and struggled to pick out some rocking tunes on a country heavy jukebox. Dylan met up with us after his film and we headed to Stockholm (about a 7 minute drive from Pepin) to grab dinner at Gelly's before seeing the last film Silver Tongues.

Now if you're looking for a really twisted film where a couple plays cruel games on people (and themselves) -- this film is for you! The casting was well done, along with the acting and the story line was well captured. It's not the best film in the world, but it's definitely memorable and worth the watch. After the film, we headed to the Breakwater Lounge where festival filmmakers and guests could enjoy free beer and talk shop. By this time, I realized I did not want to sleep in a bunk bed and we went back to grab our blankets and hit the road back to the city. Night driving is not my favorite, especially around these parts where deer and small critters are aplenty (in which of course we spot 2 huge male deers on the way back). Once we got back to my apartment and crawled into bed, it was determined we had made the best decision.

Congrats to our friend Rick Vacius for putting on a great festival in 2 great communities that seem to really embrace the arts.