Trailerpark at The 34th Cleveland International Film Festival was as impressive as it was inspiring

Poster Design by Kristin Raimondi

Jonny Look and Patrick Muhlberger illuminate their bright futures with Trailerpark at the CIFF
Brian Kimmel looks to shine a light on the importance of eating locally with Ingredients at the CIFF
A must read interview with Cleveland International Film Festival Exec. Director Marcie Goodman: Part One
A must read interview with Cleveland International Film Festival Exec. Director Marcie Goodman: Part Two

One of the highlights of the weekend at The 34th Cleveland International Film Festival was getting to see the Ohio University media arts student produced film Trailerpark, which is based on the book by acclaimed author Russell Banks. All three of the screenings of their film were completely packed and the film was extremely well received. Well, that is because Trailerpark was really good, not simply inspiring because of what these students accomplished. This is not meant to minimize the inspiring story of its creation, just that this is now a feature film that displays a degree of professionalism and cinematic sensibility that any independent filmmaker would be proud of. It was also great to hear these filmmakers answer questions after the screenings as eloquently or even better then many veteran filmmakers. The sky appears to be the limit for these filmmakers and the success they will undoubtedly find shall be truly well deserved.

Trailerpark examines the quirky and eclectic characters that populate a trailer park in rural Ohio and the relationships that exist among them. These twelve characters are all entirely unique in their characteristics, except for this bind: the desire to feel something besides isolation which could lead them to feel connected to others, along with the realization that they must support the other members of their community. The comedic drama that ensues shows a strong grasp of character development, a keen sense of the language of cinema, and a consistent tone that can be very difficult to achieve with multiple directors and writers involved in the process. This occurs when there is a clear plan set out and followed, while allowing for things to change as needed when circumstances change. A perfect example of this was talked about by Executive Producer and the professor of the class this was done for, Frederick Lewis, as well as Coordinating Producer Conor Hogan. They had made a decision to actually build and create the trailer park that you see in the film, but it would extend the budget by around $20,000. So facing this budgetary problem, they simply went out and got the additional funding, they wrote the letters and approached the bureaucratic entities necessary to pull off the endeavor. They impressively stepped up and did what was needed to provide the filmmakers with as much control over the environment as possible and the focus to be on getting great performances as well as being able to create the world of the film in the way they imagined it.

Speaking of great performances, there were some especially notable ones. The twitchy, pushover that was Leon Leroche, played with a rarely seen authenticity by Nate Bigger, was one of those characters that will stick with you for some time after seeing the film. He was pathetically weak, yet entirely empathetic. We have all been here, in a place where you want to please the people you look up to, or in this case, feel something even more for, so you do anything they ask, no matter the results that come. There was the packrat, bit of irony in that I suppose, Flora Pease, played with vigor and passion by Merri Biechler, who was raising guinea pigs that she allowed to breed as much as they wanted. The struggling new marriage of Sean and Doreen Tiede, played with a familiarity and pitch perfect realism by John Atzberger and Dinah Alice Berkeley, created a tension and other intriguing situations that would have been lacking without there presence. Truly, all the actors did a fantastic job, and it is evident they also received consistent and helpful direction from co-directors Jonny Look and Patrick Muhlberger.

The future of this film is being explored currently, but one thing you will be able to do soon is purchase the DVD from the film’s website trailerparkmovie.com, from which the proceeds will be put back into the Ohio University Media Arts program. This is a great way to support arts education and training, and obviously, you can see the film as well. You will feel good about yourself and you will be doing a service to your community by taking a stand for the arts and their incredibly beneficial effects. Check back later tonight for more on the 34th Cleveland International Film Festival, including a report on the FilmForum screening of Ingredients. In the links below the picture at the top of the article, you can find an interview I did with the Producer/Cinematographer of Ingredients, Brian Kimmel. If you are interested in following along with the coverage of the CIFF or film festivals in the future, you can receive these articles directly as they are published by clicking on the “Subscribe” button at the top of this piece. You can also follow me on Twitter by searching for ericshlapack or by clicking the link below.

For more info:
The 34th Cleveland International Film Festival website
Trailerpark website
The School of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University
Interview I did with Jonny Look and Patrick Muhlberger, co-directors of Trailerpark
Coverage of Cleveland International Film Festival I have done
Follow me on Twitter