It’s that time of year again – no, not time to start Christmas shopping or even getting ready for Thanksgiving. It’s time for the 2017 SNOB Film Festival, and this one figures to be as good as ever.
You always knew (and loved) it as the SNOB (Somewhat North of Boston) Festival, until the name was changed last year to the New England Indie Fest. The idea was to make the name more far-reaching and point out that it’s not just movies but a whole slew of independent things that are celebrated during the week.
But after hearing from fans and enthusiasts following that change, the organizers decided to go back to the classic name we’ve all become so familiar with, so SNOB it is, once again. (They’ve retained the New England Indie Fest moniker, which is used in press materials, but SNOB has taken over as the primary name of the festival.)
On the off chance you have no idea what we’re talking about with all this SNOB businesses, here’s a quick rundown of what it is:
The festival showcases the work of independent filmmakers (including several local ones) in a relaxed and fun environment. There are four days of film screenings at Red River Theatres which are broken up by genre, and there are several kick-off and celebratory events taking place all over the city (and state, for that matter) in the days leading up to the actual film screening portion of the festival.
A full schedule of all of the films, including times and which theater they’ll be shown on (which are subject to change, by the way), can be found on page 10, so we won’t bog this piece down with too much of that information.
We will, however, tell you pretty much everything else there is to know about the festival.
It all gets started (well, technically SNOB-associated events began Nov. 1 at Rockingham Brewery, but we’re not here to talk about the past) with a burrito release event Tuesday (the day this paper comes out) at Dos Amigos Burritos at 8 p.m. Dos Amigos will once again whip up a custom SNOB burrito that will be available all week or while supplies last. As of press time, they were still working on what the burrito will be, but if it’s anything like the one they created last year (which we got to try), you’re in for quite a treat.
Also at this burrito event, you can try the SNOB special beer by Concord’s own Lithermans Limited, called Soundtrack IPA. Adding to the indie flavor of the night, musician Jim Tyrrell will be on hand to serenade the crowd. All in all, this will be a night to remember and one you won’t want to miss – if you see this paper in time to check it out, that is.
While we’re on the topic of food and drinks, we should mention that Dos Amigos isn’t the only local restaurant that will have a special offering for the festival. The Barley House has also once again created a custom burger to celebrate the festival, which was released Monday (the day before this paper came out) and will be available through the end of the week. The Kind of a SNOB Burger, as they’re calling it, will be a fresh house-ground patty on a large English muffin, smoked gouda cheese, grilled kielbasa, a fried egg and a tarragon aioli. Sign us up for that.
On Wednesday, Area 23 in the Smokestack Center on North State Street will join the party with an event of their own. Billed as “Open Mic and More,” it will be a night of free, indie fun featuring local musician Dean Harlem playing covers of Bruce Springsteen classics. It will also be an opportunity for musicians to bring their own instruments and play along. You can play Springsteen covers or other Boss-inspired songs, and you’ll want to make sure you’ve practiced, because there’s a prize involved.
The best performance will win the performer tickets to the screening of Almost Boss – a documentary about a Springsteen cover band that’s supposedly the longest-running cover band in the world – at the SNOB festival on Thursday.
Apart from the open mic night, the Soundtrack IPA beer will also be on tap, so you can really get a good taste of the festival all in one stop.
The fun at Area 23 starts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, and there’s no cover charge.
Thursday is the super-official, big-time, for-real opening night of the proper SNOB Film Festival. Starting at 5 p.m., Red River Theatres will open its doors for a New Hampshire craft beer tasting event with brewers Lithermans Limited, Rockingham Brewing Co., Great North Aleworks, Henniker Brewing Co., 603 Brewery and Woodstock Inn Brewery.
Then, at 7 p.m., the cult classic beer movie Strange Brew will be screened, with awards given out for best costumes and the top trivia scores. After the film, a panel of beer experts and enthusiasts will lead a discussion and answer questions from the audience.
After that, the festival will be off and running, showing dozens of films across two screens at Red River until Sunday, when there will be some kid-friendly events.
While we do have the film schedule on the next page, we thought it couldn’t hurt to fill you in on a couple of flicks with strong local ties.
One of them you may have heard of by now – Mr. Connolly has ALS, by local director Dan Habib. This film follows Gene Connolly’s battle with the disease while he continued to work as the principal of Concord High School, and though it premiered in May, Habib said many people did not get a chance to see it then, meaning this will be your best shot at seeing it the way it was meant to be seen – on the big screen.
The film will screen Saturday at noon at Red River, with a post-film discussion led by Habib and his son, Samuel. And if you haven’t seen this one yet, don’t miss your chance to check it out, because it could go big time before you know it.
That’s because Mr. Connolly has ALS just last week was nominated for the International Documentary Association 2017 IDA Award for Best Documentary Short. If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically the second-most prestigious annual documentary award given out, behind only the Academy Awards. Variety magazine just wrote a piece all about it, which you can find at variety.com.
Another film to keep on your radar is The Second Life, by Concord filmmaker Pedro Pimentel.
You might remember Pimentel as a high school filmmaker who came onto the scene a few years ago with The Priest. Now he’s all grown up and ready to present his next film, which is closer to a full-length feature at 37 minutes.
The Second Life is based on a short story by the same title written in 1860. The story follows Jospeh Maria, a peculiar character who finds his way to the house of a bishop, where he shares stories of his past lives.
It was the biggest undertaking yet for Pimentel, who will also be on hand to answer questions and lead a discussion after the film shows.
The Second Life will be shown on Saturday at 11 a.m., with the discussion with Pimentel and the stars of the movie to follow.
As far as logistics and pricing for the festival, there are many options. Full-day passes for Friday and Saturday are available for $25 (Friday) and $50 (Saturday). These passes will get you into every film. Festival passes, good for the whole festival, can be had for $75. If you’re only interested in one or two films, individual film passes are also available, with prices varying slightly depending on the film.
For more details and to buy tickets, go to snobfilmfestival.com or redrivertheatres.org.
