Nine years ago, Scott Ditzenberger and Darrin McDonald began working on a documentary about the waves of Lake Erie. Realizing
“it’s a flat lake most of the time,” they turned their attention to the
motley crew of surfers who have tried to ride the waves that
occasionally emerge. “We were going to capture the waves and then we
realized the waves are not great,” says Ditzenberger. “But we all
agreed that the surfing culture and people were exceptional.” The
resulting documentary film, Out of Place, just
premiered at the New York Surf Film Fest and the filmmakers are holding
a fundraising event at 5 p.m. Sunday, November 15, at the Beachland
Ballroom (15711 Waterloo Rd., 216.383.1124, beachlandballroom.com). “The
largest distributor of surf and skate genre films has already contacted
us,” says Ditzenberger. “We want to hold off for a few months before we
make any solid commitment. The key right now is to break into the
general indie film market.” The Barn Owls and the All Golden —
acts that appear on the soundtrack — will perform at the free
event, and a brand new surfboard by Ohio-born designer Vince Labbe will
be raffled off. Go to outofplacemovie.com for more
information.
The Akron Art Museum (One S. High St., 330.376.9185, akronartmuseum.org) is showing
Prayers for Peace, an animated video that New
York-by-way-of-Medina visual artist Dustin Grella created to honor his
brother Devin, killed in the conflict in Iraq. Dustin Grella, who got
his undergraduate degree from the University of Akron Myers School of
Art, took footage from his brother’s laptop computer that he had with
him in Iraq. To honor Veteran’s Week, the Akron Art Museum will offer
free admission to veterans and active military personnel through
November 14.
To accompany the screening of three Buster Keaton short films
(One Week, The Play House and Cops), Cleveland Institute
of Music doctoral student Shuai Bertalan-Wang will play a selection of
Scott Joplin-penned ragtime music at 7:30 p.m. Friday, November 13, at
the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque (11141 East Blvd.,
216.421.7450, cia.edu/cinematheque). Tickets:
$8.
The Sugar Babies, a documentary about Haitian
sugar cane-cutters and the harsh conditions the labor under, has a free
screening at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 14, at the West Shore Unitarian
Universalist Church (20401 Hilliard Rd., Rocky River, 440.333.2255,
westshorefilmseries.wetpaint.com).
This article appears in Nov 11-17, 2009.
