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Locals honor "King" Donen
Who is Stanley Donen? Famed Hollywood Director Stanley Donen was born in Columbia. He is the son of Mordecai Moses Donen and Helen Cohen who owned an elite clothing store. Donen graduated from Columbia High School and, according to hisen.wikipedia.org , attended USC. At 16, he went to New York and tap danced his way into the Broadway show Pal Joey starring Gene Kelly. In 1988, Donen was granted an honorary Academy Award "in appreciation of a body of work marked by grace, elegance, wit, and visual innovation." In his acceptance speech, he danced with his Oscar statue while singing Cheek to Cheek and declared one of the secrets to being a great director is "You show up, and stay the hell out of the way. But you gotta show up or else you can't take the credit and win one of these guys."
Donen began his dancing lessons at the Ruth Hunter Dancing School in Columbia on Woodrow Street. Two dancers who also took from Ruth Hunter, Betty Jane Moore, now living in Rock Hill, and Betty Stockman, who still dances, remember he was "wonderful and could do any kind of dance." Donen also was taught by Roy McCulloch, who took over the school after Ruth Hunter passed away. Roy McCulloch later sold the school to Betty Stockman. A Columbia film festival showcasing the art of a new generation of film producers is being dedicated to Donen. It began May 4, when Donen's classic movie Singin' In The Rain was shown at the Columbia Museum of Art. The festival continues May 31- June 3, when the Donen Film Festival will show the movies of several entrepreneurs in an unusual variety of venues, under the logo of Scarf+Screen Columbia.
In honor of Donen, the Columbia Music Festival Association in partnership with The Nickelodeon will present the following features: Thursday, May 31: Lumera , a film by Alex English Jr., at the Columbia Museum of Art, 8 pm Friday, June 1: Indie Grits , a series of short subjects, in The Arcade Building on Main Street, 8 pm Saturday, June 2: The Last Confederate : The Story of Robert Adams by Julian Adams, at the Hampton- -Preston Mansion, 7 pm. Sunday, June 3: Awards Ceremony, Trustus Theatre, 1 pm, to be followed by re- screening of the winners beginning at 2 pm. "This is the first of what we expect to become an annual event," said John Whitehead of the Columbia Music Festival Association. "We are opening doors for creative artists and making it a point to show their work in non- traditional arenas."
Lumera Alex English Jr., whose father was a superstar in college and pro basketball, graduated from Heathwood Hall and the University of South Carolina, and has since been in Los Angeles honing his craft in movie production. The story of Lumera spans 200 years of Southern history and romance. The film was done by LordshipFilms LLC in conjuction with The Auntie Karen Foundation. It is the feature film directorial debut of Alexander English Jr., and Cherisse Rejman Leopold (founders of LordshipFilms LLC). The Film stars NBA Hall of Famer and star of the 1988 TriStar Picture Amazing Grace and Chuck , Alex English, who also does double duty as an executive producer.
The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams Julian Adams is the son of Columbia's Weston Adams and Elizabeth Nelson Adams. He grew up in South Carolina and Malawi, Africa where his father was U.S. ambassador. Adams credits his father with his success saying he gave him the will and perseverance to do the film. Adams is an alumnus of Georgia Tech. His movie The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams, is being released this month by ThinkFilm. It will be released June 26 on DVD. The Civil War drama is based on the true story of the romance between Adams's great- great grandfather, Confederate Captain Robert Adams, and a northern girl, Eveline McCord. Much of the filming was at Wavering Place Plantation, which is where a lot of the true story began. The movie has already won eight awards, one of which named Adams Best Actor. (See page 2)
Indie Grits Local Showcase Indie Grits Local Showcase will include works by several local filmmakers. These include The Playground by Jeffery Driggers; Orphan Film Ist by Lauren Heath, Mike Johns and Erin Curtis; Suitable for Framing by Katherine Perry, Incubus by Lyon Hill, The Science Scare by Patrick Nugent; Beyond the Barre featuring William Starrett and the Columbia City Ballet; and The Long Way Home by Bubba Cromer. Other films by local filmmakers include Boloba by Lee Ann Kornegay (Wed., May 30, 3 pm Nickelodeon); The Dead Reflect by John Padding and Shigeharu Kobayashi (Fri, June 1, 11 pm Nickelodeon); The Gibbering Horror of Howard Ghormley by Steve Daniels (Fri, June 1, 11 pm Nickelodeon); Philosophy 101 by Austin Grebenc (Fri, June 1, 3 pm Nickelodeon); The Prophet by Darren Wilbanks (Fri, June 1, 11pm Nickelodeon); Revenge of a Monkey's Uncle by Tom Parsons (Fri, June 1, 11pm Nickelodeon); and a series of documentaries produced by USC students on rural health care in South Carolina (Wed, May 30, 3 pm Nickelodeon). The awards ceremony will take place at 1pm on Sunday at Trustus Theatre (over $7,000 in awards will be given out). From 2- 7pm on Sunday there will be encore screenings of all award winning films at Trustus. The Indie Grits shorts will make up a series of programs to be screened during the weekend, all at the Nickelodeon Theatre except for the special "Locals Only" showing at the Arcade Mall on June 1. Tickets for each screening cost $5. A festival pass that allows entry to each of the 12 Indie Grits screenings is $50. VIP passes that allow entry to all 12 Indie Grits screenings plus VIP parties on Thursday and Saturday are $100. Passes are available by calling 254-8234 or andy@indiegrits.com.
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