Something special happened on the downtown streets of Ocala recently. The Silver Springs International Film Festival was a success for many reasons, however, the best part of the seven-day event was the most surprising. I knew the films would be outstanding, unique and informative. And Saturday’s awards dinner al fresco was nothing short of extraordinary. Yet I did not expect the festival to resonate on such an intimate level.
Let’s start with Tim Walker. An accomplished animator who worked on cartoons including “The Flintstones,” “Scooby Doo,” “Winnie the Pooh” and “Aladdin,” Walker creates timeless art. But it was his personal story that captivated the festival crowd. For more than 50 years, Walker drew cartoons with his right hand. Then he was diagnosed with Lateral Parkinson’s, a disease that would first attack his ability to use his right hand. So he learned to draw with his left, creating animations he credits as some of his best ever.
But his condition began to impact his left hand, too. Walker didn’t let that stop him, continuing to work with major Hollywood studios. During his visit in Ocala this month, he told a rapt audience where there is life, there is hope.
And where there is inspiration, there is friendship — which brings me to Woody Wise, one of Tim Walker’s best friends who traveled from California to participate in the festival. Wise and Walker are featured in “The Brotherhood of the Popcorn,” a tender portrait about a group of men who, for the past 35 years, have met at Wise’s house every Saturday morning to watch classic movies.
“Movies bring us together,” Wise says with an engaging grin in the documentary.
Of course there’s more than a love of film that has kept this eclectic brotherhood together; it is a love for each other.
Same thing with Tony Spiridakis and Joey Pantoliano. The Manhattan Film Institute founder and “The Sopranos” actor, respectively, have a deep bond that was evident as they shared their stories during the festival workshops. No topic was off limits. Sure, they talked about film and art and creativity, but interwoven in their conversations was the other real stuff of life – fears, insecurities, addiction, relationships, illness. Anne Welles, a producer/writer/filmmaker, joined their panel discussion at the standing-room only crowd at the Brick City Center for the Arts, provoking the audience to tears as she relayed the challenges of keeping her professional dreams alive while also caring for her sick teenage son.
Australian filmmaker Lisa Heenan captivated a movie audience with her exploration of the world of regenerative farming after debuting her film,”Polyfaces.” Mark Emery, Ocala’s own cinematographer star, was a hit with his hometown inviting us all into his walk in the woods as only he could capture.
By Saturday evening, as guests visited with one another at their well-adorned dinner tables outside our beloved Marion Theatre, the mood was festive, yet, informal like we had all gone over to someone’s house for dinner. In “Brotherhood of the Popcorn,” one of Wise’s movie buddies says his group is a camaraderie of friendship, a “buffet of life in that house.”
Which is exactly what the festival felt like by the time the last award was given and the band started playing. Everyone danced on the street – filmmakers, actors and festival goers alike – who ended the evening exchanging email addresses and Facebook contacts.
That’s the kind of magical moment you can’t force. It just happens. And I’d like to think it happened not only because of the incredible and tireless work of the festival organizers and volunteers, but also because our city knows how to make a stranger a friend. Festival visitors toured Silver Springs in a glass bottom boat, met with high school and college students, ate at local restaurants, and walked among the locals.
“I decided to take a walk in one of the neighborhoods nearby today,” said Pantalioni at the awards dinner, “and someone from a house yelled, ‘Hey, Joey!’”
The actor paused, then smiled. Throughout the week, Pantalioni and other festival participants invited us into their world and we returned the favor. It was a week of mutual inspiration, but I suspect our new friends discovered this is just another day in a very special city.
