Thanks to everyone who came out on Sunday. I was nervous but had such a wonderful time seeing old and new faces turn out at the Tivoli on Sunday afternoon. It was the first time I have seen the movie that large, and what fun it was to see my art moving at that scale. I especially valued the conversation after the film, where four of the interviewed women were there, and able to speak. Some healing moments happened, including my mother being able to connect with a work friend of Connie's that I think she so needed to meet, and I was able to meet a relative of Cookie Thornton's. I appreciated how everyone wanted to keep talking so much, that we kept pouring out into other parts of the theater and finally outdoors. I met a Kirkwood grad that I had not seen in years and learned that she was hoping to make a film about Meacham Park. I am cheering for her, I'd love to see a story about Meacham Park made by someone who grew up there. As the days have passed since the screening, I've enjoyed bit by bit, receiving email from people that attended the event or even seeing my students who came and having conversations with them. This sort of thing keeps me going.
Questions asked included- Why Animation? How is Connie's Family? What do we think about with the problems of mental illness, particularly undiagnosed? How has council changed since the shooting and to what extent have they talked about the shooting? These are just a few.
As it really is sinking in that this film is nearly finished, I begin to consider what it means to get it out into the world, I certainly want to share it within Kirkwood and I also hope to share it in cities outside of St. Louis. I also want to pause and be ok with the notion that I've already succeeded, in making the story and in sharing it with my immediate community.
Questions asked included- Why Animation? How is Connie's Family? What do we think about with the problems of mental illness, particularly undiagnosed? How has council changed since the shooting and to what extent have they talked about the shooting? These are just a few.
As it really is sinking in that this film is nearly finished, I begin to consider what it means to get it out into the world, I certainly want to share it within Kirkwood and I also hope to share it in cities outside of St. Louis. I also want to pause and be ok with the notion that I've already succeeded, in making the story and in sharing it with my immediate community.