The inaugural Savoy Lumière, presented by the Chambana Film Society, kicked off Thursday night at Phoenix Theatres’ Savoy 16 + IMAX. The festival presents feature-length and short films and aims to highlight unique voices and showcase local talent.
Ahead of opening night, The Daily Illini sat down with Nat Dykeman, director of the festival, to discuss the Lumière’s origin, purpose and the films scheduled.
“I watch a ton of stuff and maybe (find) 5% where I’m like, ‘these are amazing … I have to show this,’” Dykeman said. “I have to tell everybody to go see this. But they can’t just walk into the multiplex and see it like it’s the ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie.”
Opening night presented four short films ahead of the main event, “Brim,” a transgenerational drama about racial trauma and resilience. Shot entirely in Champaign and Piatt counties, audiences could recognize background locations such as Allerton Park, Curtis Orchard and Skateland Savoy.
“A big thing that we loved about shooting in Champaign is that there’s a beautiful film community here, and there’s a theater community, and they’re really strong,” said writer and University alum Trude Namara in a Q&A after the screening.
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Night two was genre night, featuring a screening of science fiction short films. Unlike typical examples of the sci-fi genre, the films were understated, focusing on “worlds that look just like our own, but with a slight twist,” according to the Lumière website.
After the first screening, audiences participated in a Q&A with Andrew Pritzker, director of the short film “HomePlanet,” which follows a disoriented man suspected of being a space alien as he is picked up by police, escapes and wanders toward home.
“I’ve written comedy, I’ve written sci-fi, I’ve written thrillers and I’ve written horror,” Pritzker said. “Ultimately, it comes down to putting together a story that the audience can connect to. It’s the emotional bond between you and the screen that actually makes the cinematic experience.”
The second screening of the night was Argentine action film “Gatillero,” a raw and emotional account of a former hitman’s journey through one night in his neighborhood. The 80-minute film was masterfully shot in one take, as a single camera follows the action over fences, in cars and through the buildings of Isla Maciel.
With the goal of bringing art to the community, the Savoy Lumière plans to continue as an annual tradition, adding onto regular film presentations from the Chambana Film Society and possibly expanding in the future.
“I picture potentially multiple festivals,” Dykeman said of his plans in the area. “I just found out Rantoul has a 100 seat auditorium. I don’t see any reason why I can’t also have a Rantoul Lumière. I think my pie-in-the-sky (goal) … is basically to try and coalesce people that are into independent movies, foreign films and documentaries. I’d love to operate inside of a multiplex with just one screen once a week, and get all these people to converge around a film.”
The Savoy Lumière continues all day Saturday and Sunday, with a final screening Monday night, at the Savoy 16 + IMAX.
