Here’s a photo dump from Mental Filmness Night One courtesy of Jim Laczkowski. Overall it was a successful evening at the beautiful Chicago Hope Academy. Spacing out the films allowed more time for conversation, and our filmmaker guests were very gracious with their time. I was thrilled to see a decent turnout and most of all thrilled by the connection and conversation that was had. I need to plan even more time for this—audience members really opened up, displayed vulnerability and laughter and tears, and wore their heart on their sleeve, and I was happiest of all when I saw everyone talking afterward: filmmakers talking to other filmmakers, audience members talking to the filmmakers and other audience members, etc. People didn’t want to stop talking or leave, and I didn’t have the heart to try to end it. That is exactly what I want the festival to be about.
