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Save Our Steel in the News
Curtain goes up tonight for film festival premiere
South Side puts its own spin on the inaugural red carpet event.
By Kathy Lauer-Williams
Of The Morning Call
Tonight's premiere of Bethlehem's SouthSide Film Festival will boast a red carpet complete
with rolling cameras, and an interview booth where photos will be snapped and questions
fired at guest filmmakers who are jetting in from across the country.
But instead of klieg lights, film fans will party by the light of construction lights,
courtesy of city workers resurfacing Fourth Street. And instead of scissors slicing the
traditional ribbon, Mayor John Callahan will heft a bolt cutter to cut the ''chain'' and
officially open the festival.
It's a Hollywood premiere, South Side style — a little off-beat and not afraid to laugh at
itself.
After music and food from area restaurants in a party tent next to the Dancing Fish
restaurant, bagpipes will lead attendees ''Pied Piper'' style up to Lehigh University's
Packard Lab for the premiere of ''The American Astronaut: Space is a Lonely Town.''
''It's the South Side,'' said Jeff Vaclavik, a festival board member. ''It's eclectic. It's
funky. We can get away with kilts and independent films.''
And a week before Allentown's 19th Street Theatre debuts Michael Moore's controversial film
''Fahrenheit 9/11,'' Bethlehem's newest festival has added a last-minute midnight showing
Saturday of ''Bush's Brain,'' a documentary about Karl Rove, a close adviser to President
George W. Bush, based on the best-selling book by journalists James Moore and Wayne Slater.
''It's supposed to be good and controversial,'' Vaclavik said.
He said many of the more than two dozen filmmakers who have entries will attend the grand
opening, including Seattle filmmaker Brian Labrecque, whose ''Far Too Gone'' will premiere
at 9:45 p.m. Saturday, and Cory McAbee, who made ''The American Astronaut.''
Graham Stanford, a member of the film festival's board who has pledged to wear his kilt,
said the choice of the Mackay Bagpipe Band to open the festival is perfect because many of
the filmmakers are of Scottish background and it ''gets everyone in a fun and festive
mood.''
He said cutting a chain rather than a ribbon was ''more gritty'' and symbolized the
industrial heritage of the city.
Callahan, who said he's up to the bolt-cutting, predicted the event will be Bethlehem's
''summer blockbuster.''
He credited the hard work of South Side merchants with getting the fledgling event off the
ground.
''It's taken on a life of its own,'' Callahan said. ''That says a lot about the vibrancy and
energy of this town.''
Callahan said he was looking forward to seeing Bruce Ward's documentary of Bethlehem Steel,
''A View from Inside,'' and ''Rabbit Hash,'' the true story of a Kentucky town that elected
a dog mayor.
Vaclavik said the closure and construction on Fourth Street won't be a problem. In fact, he
said, it will benefit several events at the Goosey Gander deli, one of the film sites on the
street.
''It's like a big pedestrian mall,'' he said. ''It'll work out pretty well.''
He said a 10-minute short film by Kevin McCorry, a student at DeSales University, will be
shown before ''The American Astronaut.''
McCorry, who is the featured student filmmaker, has entered five films in the festival.
''He's really good and very intense,'' Vaclavik said.
Vaclavik said other outstanding local filmmakers include Kevin Kiernan of Allentown and
Jason Brewer and Ian Bell of Easton.
''We have such a such a good mix of local and national people,'' Vaclavik said.
Other highlights of the festival will include an open casting call Saturday for the
true-crime series ''Forensic Files'' and a seminar lunch Sunday with local costume designer
Ann Roth, who created the outfits for ''The Stepford Wives.''
The festival runs 5 to 11 p.m. today, resumes at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, and concludes
at 9 p.m. Sunday. Tickets range in price from $5 for a single film to $50 for an all-weekend
pass. For information, call 610-882-4300.
Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call
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