'Hotdish Hoedown' photo by Mitch Deitz
A combo photo showing Karen Faster in the snow, a still from her film 'Hotdish Hoedown' of people in a potluck line, and the logo for the film festival.
Karen Faster, left, and a still from her 'Hotdish Hoedown,' which will appear as part of the 53704 Frame by Frame fest.
In 2015 a flock of turkeys took over Atwood Avenue, causing a flutter in the 1,500-member Turkeys of Madison, Wisconsin Facebook group.
The vigilant turkey watchers posted hundreds of videos and photos of the flock to the page for over a year, documenting the birds as they roamed east side streets, harassed U.S. postal service workers and even got plowed down by a Madison police car (the turkey walked away with a limp, leaving a few bloody footprints — or clawprints).
Madison filmmaker Gretta Wing Miller combined these clips in what became her documentary Turkeys of Atwood Avenue, a 22-minute film chronicling the flock.
Turkeys of Atwood Avenue is just one of the short films that will be shown on the big screen at the Barrymore Theatre during the new 53704 Frame by Frame Film Festival, slated for Nov. 4. It will feature narrative and documentary films either shot in the 53704 ZIP code, or by current residents, or by filmmakers who used to live in the area but have since moved away. That ZIP code encompasses the north side and much of the near east side of Madison, including the Schenk-Atwood, Emerson East and Eken Park neighborhoods. Many of the films accepted so far, like Miller’s documentary, focus on life there.
While some of the films in the program are set, festival organizer Karen Faster is still encouraging submissions of all types of films by all 53704-related creators — as long as films are short. Those new to filmmaking or experimenting are welcome to get involved, as she wants the festival to feature diverse perspectives and content.
Faster thought up the 53704 Frame by Frame festival after plans to show her 2019 film Hotdish Hoedown: The Endless Table at the Barrymore were derailed by the pandemic.
“I wanted to share my work with the neighborhood and I thought there were plenty of other filmmakers who wanted to do the same. I opened it up once I knew there was enough footage out there to make a festival,” says Faster.
Faster moved to the Atwood neighborhood in 1990 and began hosting a small potluck that grew into the Hotdish Hoedown, an annual event with over 100 attendees.
To celebrate the 30th Hoedown in 2019, Faster produced a documentary that tells the story of the potluck and its participants.
Mitch Deitz attended the Hotdish Hoedown for more than 15 years, and after he graduated from UW-Madison in 2019, Faster asked him to direct Hotdish Hoedown.
Deitz grew up on the east side, attending Lowell Elementary School, O'Keeffe Middle School and East High School before graduating from UW-Madison with majors in history and communication arts.
There are a variety of reasons filmmakers prefer in-person film festivals to online viewing options. “The internet is a place where things get lost in the ether. The power of filmmaking in the first place is really that screen in front of an audience,” Deitz says.
Growing up as an aspiring filmmaker in Madison, there weren’t many opportunities to show short films to the community on a big screen, Deitz says. He is excited for his first screening at the Barrymore, and he hopes there are more opportunities for screenings for young filmmakers in the future.
At East, Deitz worked at student-run Tower TV. Deitz recalls using what he learned when he began working on his first-ever film at UW-Madison, and emphasizes the power of showing your film to an audience when you are a beginner.
“Getting high schoolers involved in that film festival mindset early on — it’s really fun and gratifying to see your stuff on the big screen” Deitz says.
That will happen for a group of Madison eighth-grade students who made a parody campaign video called “If You Wanna Be My Guv’nor,” a takeoff of the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe,” which will be shown at the festival.
Jackson Jarvis grew up in Madison, attending O’Keeffe Middle School and East High School before an early passion in film led him to Ithaca College, where he studied cinema and photography. He lives in New York, and works on films in Mexico, Ecuador, Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.
Jarvis will be showing his 10-minute narrative short Mover, which he describes as a meditation on grief and loss. Mover tells the story of Sam, who wakes up one morning in a Brooklyn apartment and discovers there are strange moving men taking her things.
East High history teacher John May has been making films since 1997 as a hobby. May creates stop-motion animation films, and will be showing his 1998 film Isolation, a nine-minute film about identity, as well as his 2008 film Someday, and 2018 film The Last Squidfish.
For more information on submitting a short film for consideration, email organizer Karen Faster at producer@ohioavenue.com. Filmmakers should notify Faster about submission by Aug. 1, with a rough cut ready for preview by Sept. 1.
Faster has booked The Barrymore from 2 to 10 p.m., to be able to include plenty of submissions. (The start time could even be moved earlier, says Faster.) Advance tickets for the 53704 Frame by Frame Festival are $15 and are on sale (cash only) at MadCity Music, 2023 Atwood Ave., and Star Liquor, 1209 Williamson St. Tickets also can be purchased via Barrymore’s website for $18.
