Uptown Film Festival Features Regional Ties, Local Heart

The  in Birmingham is all about firsts — and maybe a second or two.

It’s the first year for the festival, which has been organized by the Oakland County Film and Digital Media office, Uptown Entertainment and 's Jeffrey Spilman. It’s the first festival entry for Farmington Hills-based filmmaker Andre Anton. And it’s the second year for the festival’s co-founding partner, the Detroit Independent Film Festival.

The two-day festival, which begins Friday, celebrates films made partly or entirely in Michigan, with screenings at the  and  theaters. Five feature films will premiere during the festival, culminating in the Michigan Film Awards Show on Saturday evening.

Mission to bring independent films to Detroit

Ticket sales for the festival have been slow but steady so far, although that’s to be expected with a new event, said Kristie Zamora, project manager for the Oakland County Film and Digital Media office.

The same can be said of the Detroit Independent Film Festival (DIFF), according to the festival’s executive director Robert Butler. Held for the first time last year at Wayne State University and the Burton Theater in downtown Detroit, Butler said DIFF decided to collaborate with the Uptown Festival this year to expand the reach of its festival, and to infuse Uptown's event with works from dozens of Michigan's independent filmmakers.

For Butler, the future of the Michigan film industry, as well as the state's contentious 42 percent tax incentive for all in-state expenditures for filmmakers, hinges on the future of this expanding niche: independent films. “We love independent films. We love the city. We want people to come to Detroit,” he said.

Festivals such as DIFF — which has additional showings at the Rennaissance Center and the Burton Theater this weekend — and the Uptown Film Festival provide film buffs the opportunity to see something special, Butler said. 

Both festivals aren't about making money, Spilman added, but about highlighting quality work produced by talented Michigan filmmakers. “Unlike many other film festivals aimed at selling films, the (Uptown Film Festival) is about putting a public face on the film industry,” Spilman said. “The public knows films are made here, but not necessarily what those films are.”

Butler agreed. “This is an opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge independent films," he said. "Audiences will have the opportunity to see films they wouldn’t be able to see anywhere else.”

Local filmmaker hopes to make it big

Defying Deletion is one of those films.

In fact, Andre Anton, the producer and director of Defying Deletion, is hoping the Uptown Film Festival will be his big break. His films tells the story of Iraq’s native Assyrians during the Iraqi war. It debuts at 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Birmingham 8.

For Anton, the festival is much more than the lights, crowds and big-name premieres — it’s about getting his story told.

Defying Deletion delves into the lives of Assyrians, Iraq's indigenous people. Anton, whose parents were born in Iraq and who lived there for a year as a child, said that since the Iraqi war began in 2003, thousands of Assyrians have been displaced from their homes and stripped of economic security. Women unable to work are sending their 10-year-old sons to earn a living, Anton said.  Though communities may be protected by local militia, checkpoints are still breached and kidnappings occur on a daily basis.

This is life for the indigenous people of Iraq, Anton said, and for the 25-year-old Farmington Hills resident, telling their story is his passion. Working with a film student from the University of Toronto, who captured dozens of testimonials from Assyrian aid groups on film, Anton began crafting the raw footage and creating Defying Deletion 2 1/2 years ago.

 “I promised (these people) their voices would be heard," Anton said. "And I felt compelled to do something on a grand-scale level.”

Anton worked on the film in a small studio in Detroit with only a $25,000 budget and a 12- to 15-member crew, many of whom volunteered their time and expertise to the project. Since finishing the film about five months ago, Anton has been submitting it to film festivals throughout the region. So far, the Uptown Film Festival is his first film festival experience.

“Independent film festivals provide a platform for young filmmakers like myself,” Anton said.  “Hopefully the state will push the agenda of the film incentives.”

Quick planning, hoping for big results

Zamora said planning for the festival and preparing for filmmakers' arrivals has been a whirlwind — a feat accomplished, in fact, in less than 90 days.

While downtown Birmingham has been quiet leading up to the festival — plans were kept intentionally small so as not to overburden organizers during their first year — Zamora is confident the festival will be a succcess. With VIP guests staying at the Townsend Hotel and dozens of downtown restaurants available for festivalgoers to grab a quick bite between films and events, she said the economic impact is expected to be beneficial for the area.

Zamora, too, contends it's not really about the money. While big names may draw headlines the real stars will be the independent filmmakers. "This is something we really wanted to happen, and what better way to showcase the work that's been done in the state," she said.

If you go

Ticket packages are available at www.uptownfilmfestival.com, including a $150 VIP package, which provides festivalgoers unlimited admission to film screenings, the opening gala, the two major film premieres, the Michigan Film Awards Show and an afterglow party.

The $50 event package provides unlimited admission to film screenings, with the exception of the premieres of Kill the Irishman and Things Fall Apart, and the Michigan Film Awards Show. General admission is open to individuals for a single show for $10 per person.

Check to the weekend happenings.