Lake Charles, LA: Tea and Antiques

Day 4: November 13th
LAKE CHARLES, LA: Arts & Humanities Council of SWLA

"the film must have been a success, because three of our local professors attended the screening, two of which don’t normally come..."

Lake Charles, Louisiana was full of friendly, intelligent and well-traveled folks. We were surprised to find people in the audience from Philadelphia, New York City, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Becky Suttle, one of the women who brought teapots to the screening, lived in Japan for many years, and her friend Jackie Dowden lived in the same town in Japan only four years after she left. Small world. ;)

read more...

Auburn University: Art and Academia

Day 3: November 11th
AUBURN, AL: Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art

“tea gets transformed into a new way of addressing an age-old problem...”

The drive from New Orleans to Auburn was LONG. At just over 5 hours, it swept away the majority of our afternoon. When we arrived at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, we were struck by the beautiful exterior. There was a lake in front. In the back, there was a reflecting pool with a large abstract bronze sculpture prominently displayed behind it.

read more...

Baton Rouge, LA: Star treatment

Day 2: November 10th
BATON ROUGE, LA: Manship Theater

"Why did you go to Taiwan and not China?..."

Over dinner with brightly-clad Terry Serio, or Terrio, as I came to think of her (when I wasn’t calling her Kathy by accident), we learned that the Manship Theater in Baton Rouge hosts many scintillating music performances by musicians and local celebrities. While many of them come from New Orleans, a 1.5 hour drive away, there are just as many who hail from Baton Rouge. The city, with just under a million people, is thriving with culture, and we couldn’t wait to get over to the theater to meet some of its residents.

read more...

Ashland, KY: Tea Party at Historic Site

Day 1: November 9th, 2008
New York, NY --> ASHLAND, KY: Paramount Arts Center

“part of our job is getting people used to seeing films here again..."

Sleep deprived from moving to my new apartment the day before, I stumbled out into the dark abyss at 5:30 AM and rolled into the car waiting to take me from Brooklyn to Manhattan. There, I would rendezvous with director Scott Chamberlin Hoyt for our flight to West Virginia, en route to the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY, the first venue on the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.

read more...