The 2016 Indie Grits Festival is coming at us full steam today (Thursday, April 14th), with a great slate of films, the launch of both the Indie Bits video game showcase the Scenario Collective’s The Sweet Spot venue for the weekend, and the riverside performance of eighth blackbird.
While the gorgeous outdoor venue for the latter group is likely to steal most of the thunder of this year’s festival, particularly when the day-long festivities there on Saturday culminate with the twerking spectacle of bounce queen Big Freedia, we here at Jasper always have a special affection for the indie film heart of this annual event. In that spirit, each day of the festival we’re going to try and highlight a film or two we think is worth your time.
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The Color of Fire (70 min, dir. by Dorian Warneck; Screening 4/14, 7pm @ The Nick )
While we hate to steer anybody away from eighth blackbird’s unique performance next to the Congaree, The Color of Fire was one of the initial film announcements that really caught our eye. Directed by Dorian Warneck, a young Charleston photographer and editor at the Lunch and Recess creative agency, the documentary is an exploration of Dorian’s father Diether, who experienced the bombing of his hometown of Dresden, Germany, at the end of World War II and was an enlisted soldier in the Nazi army at the age of 15 for the final month of the war.
The younger Warneck interviews his father as the two travel to Germany to visit Diether’s elder siblings and see Dresden “for the last time.” Most of Diether’s life is filled with “love, family, intrigue, art, and personal accomplishment,” but the film’s intent on getting at how such a single, pivotal decision at a crisis point in world history can alter the trajectory and meaning of a person’s life is heavily poignant, as is Dorian’s desire and willingness to dive this deep into such a tragic part of his family history. This has all the makings of an Indie Grits selection to remember.
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