Port Townsend audiences always ask great questions of filmmakers. And the question I was anticipating as producer of THE BOWMAKERS came in just the second day of the film's engagement at the Rose. "What did this project mean to you?"
My answer was likely not as poetic as the words offered by each bow maker in the film, but there was kinship by intent. The bowmakers - Charles, Robert, Paul, Ole, Cody - each find deep meaning in continuing the centuries-old tradition of bow making. Their work is imbued with a deep, soulful respect for their teachers and predecessors, and for the act of creating something beautiful - the most important instrument you've never heard of.
As Charles, Robert, Paul, Ole and Cody feel honored to carry on the tradition of bow making, I feel equally honored to have played a part in making a record of their stunning work. People serving people is the refrain heard throughout the film. I signed on to THE BOWMAKERS to be in service of the story, but the story we discovered was even richer than anticipated.
We have several treats you can only catch this weekend, including the charming PEANUT BUTTER FALCON, a modern-day fable about the friendship between young man with Down syndrome and a small-time crook, set in the deep South. It's received rave reviews, and the Wall Street Journal promises "you'll come out smiling." On Saturday we'll be broadcasting TURANDOT live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York; this is your chance to see Franco Zefferelli's original production. And playing Saturday and Sunday is the next entry in our Community Arts Film Series - WALKING ON WATER. It follows the artist Christo on a mission to pull off one of his biggest art installations yet, a dahlia-yellow walkway atop Italy's Lake Iseo. And for the first time, the Community Arts Film Series is presented in the Starlight Room.
Starting Friday, the very popular RAISE HELL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS will move downstairs to the Rose. The Wrap calls it "as relevant as anything in today's newspaper." JUDY will move upstairs to the Starlight Room where you can watch Renee Zellweger deliver "an absolute burner" of a performance (Washington Post).
Tickets are still available for WILD RIVER, our classics film in the Starlight next Wednesday (10/16). Elia Kazan directed this beautiful 1960 drama set in the Tennessee Valley, starring Lee Remick, Montgomery Clift and Jo Van Fleet.
--Rocky