It's hard to believe Hi Mom! is five years
old already. Five! That's like 88 in festival years.
The festival got started back in the fall
of 97 when a group of film students at UNC decided that Chapel
Hill needed a short film festival with prizes and revelry. That
first year, it was a homespun affair, under the direction of the
power team of Ian Krabacher, Elizabeth Ingram and Cory Ryan.ÊFilmmakersÊwere
awarded and the bestÊones won flaming trophies, which made the
staff at the Local 506 noticeably nervous. Afterward, Sankofa
and The Comas, who had yet to become fixtures in the local music
scene, played a show.
The next year, things got a little classier
as we moved down the street to the Carrboro Arts Center. Ian went
to Japan and Elizabeth went to LA, so Cory Ryan took over, and
she whipped things into shape and got dressed up for the screenings.
Local fave Roger Beebe took home a big hunk o' flaming metal for
his film "Fragmentary History of the 21st Century," and the A/V
Geeks presented an unforgettable film about touching fur coats.
A good time was had by all.Ê
This brings us up to the fall of 1999. Cory
Ryan was Down Under, frolicking with the baby wallabies, so Kendra
Gaeta and I took over as co-coordinators. It was a crazy time,
the new millennium was upon us, digital filmmaking revolution
was in full effect, and so we made some changes--we waived the
entry fee, we started accepting videos as well as films, we decided
to have two days of screenings. Hi Mom! that year brought guests
from New York, Massachusetts, Florida, Providence, and Philly.
They came for the films, but they stayed for the pancakes. After
the festival, the future of Hi Mom! was in doubt. Kendra moved
to San Francisco right afterwards, where she took over a Coordinator
position with the prestigious (and now, sadly, defunct) Film Arts
Festival. And I decided never to work on another film festival
again in my entire life, so help me god.
Next thing I know, Kendra's festival was over,Êshe
was moving all the way back to Chapel Hill with stolen trade secrets
from FAF, and we were on for Hi Mom! #4. This one was a challenge.
We pushed hard to make it bigger than ever, and the community
supported us more than ever. Harris-Chewning, the Independent,
the Cat's Cradle, and CO Copies made the whole thing possible.
We got 350 entries, filmmakers came from as far away as Israel,
and it wasÊa three-day festival instead of a paltrytwo. Ê Shortly
after, Kendra and I took Hi Mom! on the road, going on a 10-city
tour that started in Jacksonville, FL and ended up at CBGBs in
New York City. We played at colleges, bars, nightclubs, and artspaces.
While we were on tour, we saw manatees, photographed the All-Girl
Skate Jam, ate at greasy spoons, and went to the prom. It was
a whirlwind two weeks, and when it was over, Kendra went to the
Big Apple and I ended up in Austin, Texas, disorganized, broke,
and badly in need of sleep. Ê
Now it's time for Hi Mom #5, and Kendra and
I are both really excited about this year'sÊfestival, partly because
the organizers did such a great job, but mostly because we actually
get to watch the movies this year.
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