Sunday, May 3: Watts Neighborhood Film Festival
In conjunction with the Echo Park Film Center
After Sunset (around 7:30pm)
The Echo Park Film Center Bus
Echo Park Film Center rolled into Watts on Saturday, May 2nd, in what Yana Cerant called a “pimped-out bus.” They gave out little Flip cameras to the neighborhood kids, who spent the next day filming themselves, their friends, the volunteers, the ice cream man, and the Watts Towers security guard.
Yana Cerant films using her Flip camera.
On May 3rd, the bus returned, and this time Paolo Davanzo and the other Echo Park Film Center volunteers worked with the kids to edit their raw footage into compelling short films - about school, generational gaps, the Watts House Project and its progression (from the point of view of the neighborhood flowers), cooking, friends, and the power of dance. After the sun set and the neighbors had set out a delicious potluck of chicken salad, spaghetti, taquitos, fresh guacamole, and quinois, the hungry WHP volunteers, residents, kids, and their friends gathered to view the films. A fantastic energy was in the air, and the bonds of community were palpable.
The Watts Neighborhood Film Festival