ISSUE #23
BEAM FROM THE BOOTH | GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY
[EDITED BY: GRIFFIN SHERIDAN]
Welcome to an all-new installment of BEAM FROM THE BOOTH, brought to you by GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY!
This past Thursday saw another successful FILM SOCIETY ROUNDTABLE social event. We’ve done a handful of these now, and we would love to hear your feedback, so stay tuned for both the date for our next event and a survey regarding what you think is working and what isn’t about these events.
Our July programming continues THIS THURSDAY (7/20) with LYNCH/OZ, the recent documentary from Alexandre O. Philippe that dives deep into the connections between the work of legendary filmmaker David Lynch and 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. Check out the official trailer for the film below:
You can find tickets and details about the screening further down in our ‘Upcoming Events’ section. To celebrate the screening, we have a personal foreword from one of GRFS’ own…
A LYNCH/OZ FOREWORD
[BY: CALEB FRANCIS JENKINS]
“You gotta go away to come back.”
“There’s no place like home.”
During the Summer of 2017, I moved from Grand Rapids to Los Angeles. I was a bright-eyed, eager, and naive college grad ready to take on the city. At the time, my goals were to find myself, never stop working, and achieve some sense of “the Hollywood dream.” Spoiler: I had to move back Summer 2020 due to a personal health crisis which was timed nicely with the universal mayhem of that year.
During the three years I was there, I started to discover little things about who I was, but it seemed I could never gain any traction. I kept falling behind. It was hard not to compare my journey with those around me, and it became ‘easier’ to step aside so others could take the spotlight. Less energy went into growing and fueling myself, and my friends and hobbies were slowly replaced with isolation, self-obsession, and paranoia.
I suppose I was successful in my goal to never stop working. At one point, I was working three part-time jobs along with attending acting classes and auditioning (which is a job in itself). It wasn’t healthy, it wasn’t sustainable, and it became the distraction for what I thought was ‘hustling’ to make things happen for the dream...
The d r e a m. Yes, I really wanted it, but it became blurrier as time progressed. After a while, I really couldn’t see it anymore. The shiny parts of myself diminished. I couldn’t even recognize the person I was looking at in the mirror. I got lost in manufactured studio backlots. The glow of the Studio City lights became less vibrant. I let myself tumble down the winding turns of Mulholland Dr...led to be stuck inside some place...searching for something...limited awareness...staring into space...wanting to be taken somewhere.
My last day in LA I was spiraling in my thoughts on my apartment floor; a couple days later I was back at my Dad’s house in Grand Rapids. What the hell happened? How did I get there? What now? The rest of the year was pretty rough, but I figured it out. Now I’m back to doing some things from a more balanced place. I couldn’t do that there, at least not then. Maybe again someday.
Now I think I know what David Lynch means by “you gotta go away to come back.” I think that notion informs all of his work. It’s what makes him the Dorothy of his story. We are all the Dorothys of our individual stories (hopefully treated much better than Judy Garland).
There’s truly no place like home, and home can mean many things. It can be a physical place. We take care of our homes — paint them white with green trim, cut our lawns on a diagonal, and clean the wood floors with Pine Sol. In our art rooms, we clean our brushes to paint again; carefully pack our lenses to film once more; tune our pianos to play on.
Home can also be the house within ourselves. Careful consideration of what we take in: nutrition, media, energy, and mediation all affects our centeredness. Everybody need a place to check in and recenter. It is necessary to our growth, our spirit, our lives. The theme in all of these places? We have to take care of the spaces. A well-kept home has ripple effects to everything we do.
The dream is more clear now.
I’m stepping up to bat, home base.
I can feel the ground beneath me.
If I start to drift a bit, it’s okay...I’ve done it before.
It takes a lot of work to stay with it, but there’s truly no place like here.
OPEN PROJECTOR NIGHT: SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN!
We wanted to take a moment to remind you all that SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN for our next OPEN PROJECTOR NIGHT event. If you are a filmmaker connected to the state of Michigan (from here, currently live here, have a film about here, etc.) and want to see your short film on the big screen, we encourage you to submit your work on our FILM FREEWAY page.
The entry deadline is JULY 19th, and the event is currently scheduled for AUGUST 16th.
If your film is selected, it will be screened alongside other hand-picked shorts, you will have the opportunity to take part in a filmmaker Q&A, and you could even take home a cash prize if your short wins our ‘Audience Vote’ for their favorite shorts of the night.
Have questions? Reach out to us at GrandRapidsFilmSociety@gmail.com!
UPCOMING EVENTS
LYNCH/OZ (Philippe, 2022)
WHAT: WEST MI PREMIERE! This documentary explores the undeniable influence The Wizard of Oz has had on the work of director David Lynch.
WHEN: Thursday, July 20th, 8:00 pm
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
PURPLE NOON (Clément, 1960)
WHAT: Tom Ripley takes on the identity of a rich, spoilt brat after murdering him. However, he has to summon all his skills to get the police and the victim's friends off his back.
WHEN: Monday, July 24th, 8:00 pm
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
REAR WINDOW (Hitchcock, 1954)
WHAT: Alfred Hitchcock’s classic story of a recuperating news photographer who believes he has witnessed a murder.
WHEN: Sunday, July 30th, 3:00 pm
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
And so we’ve arrived at the end of another BEAM FROM THE BOOTH! We appreciate you taking the time to read it and truly hope you’ll continue to do so. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to get each issue in your inbox every SATURDAY and stay up-to-date on all things GRFS!
Plus, join us on social media! We’d love to chat with everyone and hear YOUR OWN thoughts on everything above (you can also hop in the comments section below).
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Look for ISSUE #24 in your inbox NEXT SATURDAY, 7/22!
Until then, friends...
