By Nathan Deen
Published on November 7, 2007
The Pensacola International Film Festival, which took place Oct. 26-28, is not just an event that encourages people to view independent films, but an opportunity for the area’s best and brightest filmmakers to showcase their talent. Tom Roush, who manages the festival each year, says the films that were produced locally were extremely well received.
The Talent Showcase, which included 14 short subject films, proved to be one of the most attractive events at the festival.
Navarre resident Quinton Williams, along with his brother Ian, made seven of those 14 short films; “Chris Angel: Mindfreek,” “Chris Angel: Visiting Houdini,” “Chris Angel vs. David Blayne: Rise of the Jacksons,” “Scabbed,” “Hurricane Chris in Space,” “Mythbusters Parody,” and “Ted Schafers: Supernerd.” Quinton Williams said that the audience packed the theater Saturday night moments before the premiere of the “Talent Showcase.”
The Williams Brothers have been writing and shooting numerous short films in the Pensacola/Navarre area since 2005. Just this past summer, they launched their official website, www.pixiesproductioninc.com. Quinton Williams said that he and his brother come up with their ideas while doing their day job of cleaning condos. One of them will come up with an idea, act it out, go home and write a script and then shoot the film during their free time. Each film was a difficult task in its own right. The time period it takes to shoot their films, Quinton Williams said, ranged from a day to a month.
Pensacola served as the perfect location for director W. Scott Peake to shoot his feature debut film, “Permanent Vacation.” Peake was searching for a place to shoot his new comedy about a man taking his family on a camping trip that goes horribly awry, when Roush suggested Adventures Unlimited Outdoor Center. Peake was satisfied with the location and began production on the picture in September 2005.
Peake wrote the script to “Permanent Vacation” in 2001, an adaptation of a novel by Geoff Nicholson called “What We Did on Our Holidays.”
“Permanent Vacation” received a fair share of viewers anxious to see how Pensacola served as the location for the film.
“The film was really well received,” said Peake. “Everyone laughed when I hoped they would, laugh and laughed when I wasn’t sure if they would laugh.”
Probably the most anticipated of the locally produced films was the controversial documentary “Lillie and Leander.” The film explores the rape and murder of Lillie Davis by a black man named Leander Shaw that happened in Pensacola during the early 1900s and the acts of genocide that followed it.
The project was started in 2001 by Alice Brewton Hurwitz, who served as the film’s producer and is the great-great niece of Davis. Originally, the subject of the documentary was intended to be specifically the rape and murderer committed by Shaw. As she was researching the subject, she discovered that men in her family committed dozens of acts of genocide as a way of getting revenge and buried the bodies of their victims.
“I had no idea that the other stuff was there,” Hurwitz said.
Upon learning these developments, Hurwitz contemplated whether or not to continue making the film, afraid of exposing this dark secret.
“The scary part is over; putting it out there,” she said. “Now that it’s out there, hopefully it can become an informal part of history.”
“Lillie and Leander” was showcased the opening night of the festival at the T.T Wentworth Museum in Downtown Pensacola. The film was also screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Vancouver Film Festival, and the Global Peace Film Festival.