The opening night of the 2019 Florida Film Festival was celebrated with a
thrilling film premiere at Enzian Theater (1300 Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL 32751). The opening night film was Woman in Motion directed by Todd Thompson. To most of the known universe, Nichelle Nichols is Lieutenant Uhura, the
communications officer aboard the Starship Enterprise. On Star Trek
she broke barriers as one of the first African Americans to star in a
network show and as a participant in television’s first interracial
kiss. In reality Nichelle Nichols was a pioneer, a fiercely intelligent
and passionate advocate for African Americans, women, and minorities.
She worked with the NAACP and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a role model
for young black children and women. Beyond that, Nichelle Nichols is
arguably the single most important figure in history for the recruitment
of women and minorities to the field of space exploration, specifically
the NASA space shuttle program.
After the premiere, patrons sampled food and cocktails from favorite
local spots and an open bar at Eden Bar. It was an outdoor feast where patrons could
mingle and celebrate with all the folks would be their new cinematic best
friends for the next ten days. Patrons ate, drank, were merry, and discussed all the
films that might be seen at the festival ahead. This legendary
party launched a non-stop, fun-filled, ten-day celebration of Film,
Food, and Friends.
When Pam and I arrived, I quickly sat in a open spot to sketch the moon shaped orb that illuminated the lawn next to the Eden Bar. Pam explored a bit and sat with Scottie and Brendan to catch up. When My sketch was done, Scottie asked if I had included him in the sketch. Unfortunately he was out of my line of sight.
Pam and I tried a few vendors food booths to see what was available at this gala opening party. First up we tried a slice of pizza from Medici Pizza. It was kind of hard to judge the pizza since it was ice cold. We picked up a flyer anyway and might go to the restaurant to try a hot slice instead. Roque Pub was offering bites, beer and wine. Better yet they had a $10 off coupon and a bumper sticker. Now I don’t put stickers on my bumper,but I did place it on the cover of my sketchbook which is mighty fine ad placement for hundreds of years to come. Should you be a local business wanting sticker exposure look no further than the AADW sketchbooks. The other food treat I tried was from La Empanada and that was delicious. After a couple of bites of cheese I had seen enough. I had my sketch and the party was in full swing. We decided to get back home since I had to get up early to teach all day Saturday.
Today is the final day of the Florida Film Festival, so get out and support independent cinema.