Philips Patton’s ‘Santa Cruzin’’ and Daniel Schechter’s ‘Supporting Characters’
The penultimate day of this year’s edition of the Santa Cruz Film Festival would eventually yield the strongest narrative feature I’ve seen in the festival—Supporting Characters—but before that happened, I had to patiently wait out Philips Patton’s harmless but aimless Santa Cruzin’.
SANTA CRUZ > New information kiosk aims to help people navigate Santa Cruz
What’s the closest beach? How do I get to the Museum of Art & History? How far is the Mystery Spot? Is there a good breakfast spot around here?
“If we weren’t here, who would you ask that question [to]?” says Chip, the Downtown Association executive director who goes by one name, with a grin.
“We have so much information that we’re just waiting to give out,” chimes in Kim Luke, the Downtown Association communications director. The two are standing inside of the new Downtown Santa Cruz Information Kiosk, an info hub that is now open in front of the New Leaf Community Market on Pacific Avenue.
Hundreds gathered at OPERS East Field at UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, May 12 to participate in the kickoff of Colleges Against Cancer's fourth annual Relay For Life event. Attendees were encouraged to celebrate the lives of those with cancer, remember those who have lost their battle with the disease, and fight back.
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Sam Jaeger’s ‘Take Me Home’
It’s difficult to say which film—short or feature—that I saw on Wednesday afternoon at The Nickelodeon, garnered more laughs from me, but while those chuckles are a minor badge of honor for the feature, Take Me Home, I’m not sure the short film, Alone Together, was aiming to tickle the funny bone.
SANTA CRUZ > City councilmembers and Homeless Services director announces reform proposals
More than a week has passed since the death of Santa Cruz resident and business owner Shannon Collins, who was stabbed to death by a stranger around noon on Monday, May 7. The suspect is a transient from San Francisco with an extensive history of violent crime. Collins' death spurred a widespread and heated community dialogue about public safety, homelessness, city policies, and more. Today, Wednesday, May 16, three Santa Cruz city councilmembers and the head of the the Homeless Services Center responded by announcing eight proposals for how the city can reform its handling of these issues.
NAVIGATING YOGA > NOURISH offers free yoga for firefighters
It is safe to say that NOURISH is a popular yoga studio around here. From their reasonable monthly membership of unlimited yoga, to their ongoing massage and informational nutrition consultations, it’s easy to see why the good karma has come back around in form of local newspaper readers voting them the best yoga studio for the past several years. Starting on May 15, NOURISH plans to give back, targeting their effort at firefighters.
From May 15 to June 15, “firefighters from anywhere get a free month of yoga to celebrate and thank them for putting themselves on the line for us all,” according to the NOURISH website.
Needless to say, firefighters are involved in high-risk situations that can create a lot of stress. Yoga, says NOURISH co-owner Jocelyn Dubin, is a great way to help relieve that stress.
Frances Causey & Donald Goldmacher’s ‘Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?’ and Turner Clay’s ‘State of Emergency’
On Tuesday—for the second time during the course of the Santa Cruz Film Festival—I caught up with a film that had eluded me at the Mill Valley Film Festival last fall, yet another reminder of just how much one inevitably misses at all these shindigs. In fact, it was at Mill Valley that Frances Causey and Donald Goldmacher’s Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? made its world premiere; at The Nickelodeon, the documentary screened to an audience that it hardly needed to convince.
Q&A with ‘Franky, Frankly’ writer-director Matthew Anderson
Instead of seeing any new films at the Santa Cruz Film Festival on Monday, I spent part of the day chatting with Santa Cruz native Matthew Anderson, writer-director of the short film Franky, Frankly, which appeared in the Only in Santa Cruz shorts program on Saturday. The film remains, for me, the highlight of the festival so far. Our conversation follows:
SANTA CRUZ > Residents participate in ‘I am Shannon’ march
Yesterday, Monday, May 14, marked one week since the tragic death of 38-year-old Shannon Collins, a Santa Cruz resident and business owner. Collins was stabbed to death in broad daylight in the Lower Broadway neighborhood of Santa Cruz while walking back from a hair appointment. The suspect, Charles Anthony Edwards, is a transient from San Francisco with a history of violent crime. (Read more in this week’s news section.) To commemorate Collins, a few hundred residents participated in a Take Back Santa Cruz-organized rally and march at 7 p.m. yesterday.
Kurt Kuenne’s ‘Shuffle’
With its mid-May scheduling, the Santa Cruz Film Festival, which I continued to explore at a moderate tempo over the weekend, creates the ultimate first-world conundrum for attendees: How does one take advantage of all the festival has to offer when it’s 70 degrees outside? There’s a reason, I think, why many of the world’s most distinguished film festivals happen in places(or during seasons) that wouldn’t merit an extended stay sans said festival.
