You may not have been aware, but a momentous -- dare I say historical -- event occurred in Boston last month. I’m talking about something on par with Reagan meeting with Gorbachev, Ford breaking bread with Toyota, or the bullpen at Marvel having lunch with the gang at DC. The second Wednesday of June 2009 witnessed the first joint meeting between the Boston Avid Users Group (BAVUG) and the Boston Final Cut Pro User Group (BOSFCPUG). If you’re saying to yourself, “Uh, so what?” then you are obviously not an editor.

Applying Science to Art

Tell me the answer to this oft-told tale: You’re seeking an atmospheric sound for your opening scene. Do you use the hauntingly slow music, or a modern, jaunty piece? Many filmmakers use their intuition to guide them, but what if you really want to know what resonates more with your audiences?

It is rare that childhood aspirations become grown-up realities, but Waterville, Maine native Alec Helm has done it for himself. From goofing around with cameras at family get-togethers to freelancing as a cameraman and editor, Helm has been toiling in film since he was in junior high.

Now as a 23-year-old filmmaker with a film degree from Vassar College, Helm is finishing up his first feature-length film, The Kings, which is set to premiere at the Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) this month.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Orangeburg Massacre, what journalist Tom Brokaw calls one of the most shameful events in the history of the American civil rights movement, took place at South Carolina State College, an all black school in Orangeburg, South Carolina. It was 1968, two years before the highly publicized killings of four white students at Kent State College in Ohio created a national uproar. The killings at Orangeburg were kept so quiet that even local people did not know of their occurrence.

Women of Faith, Cape Cod filmmaker Rebecca Alvin’s documentary about women who have dedicated their lives to the Catholic Church, opens with Sister Mary Francis Hone drawing open a curtain that was once used to separate the nuns from parishioners who came to them seeking spiritual guidance. Following suit, Women of Faith draws open the curtain of mystery that has shrouded the lives of nuns, and provides insight into how these women find the strength and commitment to devote themselves to the Church.

Although Beth Healy is an experienced investigative journalist for The Boston Globe, where she specializes in financial reporting, the battle for gay marriage in Massachusetts captured a part of her imagination that went beyond the printed word. She grabbed a video camera and started filming. The resulting short film, To Have and To Hold, debuted at Boston Film Night and has inspired Healy to think about a second film project. NewEnglandFilm.com recently caught up with Healy to learn more about making this storytelling transition.

There are some dispatches you read from film fests where it is obvious the writer has encountered one or more boredom-breeding films -- from the damp, bland descriptions and disappointed critiques, it’s not hard to visualize the screening: the writer passing their fingers thru their hair and peering at their watch in the dark -- and of course the inevitable re-positioning in the chair, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath. The Newport fest was -- gloriously -- not one of those experiences.