Every now and then, a little homegrown movie makes a big splash.
In the case of “CityBall,” the ripples are still spreading.
Directed by Stephen Spiegel for the Metro Sports cable channel, this feature-length film was nominated for nine regional Emmys and last month won in the best documentary category.
Set in the Kansas City School District, the film follows student athletes through a year in which they take joy in playing despite little public support and dwindling budgets.
My colleague Aaron Barnhart has written that “CityBall” proves that “even in the roughest neighborhoods, after-school sports help kids stay in school and off of drugs.”
The first anniversary of the initial broadcast of “CityBall” will be observed with a free “town hall live event” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Truman Forum at the Plaza Library, 4801 Main St. Spiegel and his fellow filmmakers will be joined by many of the student athletes featured in the film.
“CityBall” will be screened at 7 p.m.
The event is keyed to the release of the movie on DVD. The home video package includes the original film, outtakes, a mini-doc updating the lives of the major characters and footage of high school competition.
Sales of the DVD, available at the event or through www.city ballmovie.com, will benefit the CityBall Scholarship Fund which sends local children to sports camps.
‘Good Soldier’
One of the most intriguing films of this fall’s Kansas International Film Festival will receive a special showing at 2 p.m. Nov. 15 at the Tivoli.
“The Good Soldier” is a documentary look at the job of soldiering. It follows combat veterans from World War II, Vietnam, the first Gulf War and the Iraq War who describe their recruitment, training and wartime experiences. In each case, they have emerged with a new idea of what constitutes a “good soldier.”
Invariably, these warriors found themselves grappling to balance duty with their own humanity.
This is one of several screenings of the film around the country to observe Veterans Day.
Tickets are $6.50 at the Tivoli box office. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with veterans.
Call for entries
Kansas City FilmFest has issued a call for entries for its 2010 edition, scheduled for April 14-18 at the AMC Mainstreet.
Filmmakers are invited to submit shorts and features — dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation or experimental work — completed since Jan. 1, 2008.
For entry forms and information, visit www.kcjubilee.org or e-mail kcjub@kcjubilee.org.
In addition, the sixth annual Every Picture Tells a Story competition will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Just Off Broadway Theatre.
Participating filmmakers worked with an artist of their choosing to create a five-minute film on a particular piece of art, an artist’s body of work or a story about the artist.
In the past, entries have addressed a photographer who is losing his eyesight, the output of an artist suffering from social anxiety disorder, sidewalk chalk drawings and even a tattoo artist.
Every Picture is one of the most popular events sponsored by the Independent Filmmakers Coalition here. Visit www.ifckc.com.
Tickets are $8 or $5 for IFC members.
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