2003
Presenters and Special Guests

The Alloy Orchestra (7:30 p.m. Friday: Buster Keaton's "The General" with the Alloy Orchestra). Roger Miller on synthesizer, Ken Winokur on junk percussion and clarinet and Terry Donohue on junk percussion, saw, accordion and banjo make up this internationally-hailed group. The Alloy Orchestra has made its niche over the past decade writing original scores for silent films which they perform live during screenings. Wowing audiences wherever they go with their energetic and percussive music, this three-man band from outside of Boston has brought silent-film watching back to life on the big screen. After playing at the Telluride Film Festival in Denver, the Denver Post wrote, "they crashed cymbals, beat on all sorts of metallic devices, added a piano and accordion and left the crowd limp at the end." An absolute must-see in Roger Ebert's book. See www.alloyorchestra.com

Stephen Ambra (N.H. Humanities Council films post-film discussant). Trained in philosophy in the area of hermeneutics, Stephen Ambra shares his passion and love of film at NHTI in his film courses and with the NHTI Film Society, of which he is a founding member. He is also the Librarian for and Assistant Director of the NHTI Library as well as the Head Coach of the NHTI Women's Soccer team. An occasional film reviewer for CCTV's "Video Report Card," he also speaks about film on radio and at lectures. His recent presentation on the films of the Lumiere brothers was broadcast on CCTV. He is also a founding member of the Somewhat North of Boston Film Festival.

Larry Benaquist (N.H. Humanities Council films post-film discussant). Lawrence Benaquist is the chair, and the founder, of the Film Studies Department at Keene State College. He received his doctorate from Syracuse University in Renaissance Studies, and has seen the program grow to one hundred majors, taking both Critical Studies and Production tracks. He is a frequent speaker on film, on public radio and at lectures, and has judged film festivals and contests in the region. He has also served as consultant on film series, and the construction of movie theaters. His interest in film is in documentary production, of which he has produced three, two of which have been on public television. He is currently in production on a documentary on the life of Martha Sharp, resident of Providence, Rhode Island, who was a major rescuer of refugees in Czechoslovakia and France during the first years of world war two.

Ginger "Sugar" Blymyer (2:30 p.m. Sunday): Hairdresser to the Stars: A Lecture with Ginger Blymyer) New Hampshire resident Ginger Blymyer had the enviable task of coifing the hair (and wigs) of Hollywood super stars for four decades. She promises to relate what it was like to work with Natalie Wood, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Meg Ryan, Sean Connery, Nick Nolte, Sir Laurence Olivier and many others (in such films as Marathon Man, Far and Away, The Great Race, Barefoot in the Park and Beneath the Planet of the Apes). You will be fascinated to learn about her unusual career. Specially selected film clips will demonstrate how Ginger's finished product appeared on the silver screen. She will also personally autograph copies of a very interesting paperback book she has for sale about being "the hairdresser to the stars."

Ty Burr (N.H. Humanities Council films post-film discussant). Ty Burr is the film critic for the Boston Globe, a position he has held since July 2002. For ten years prior to that, he worked for Entertainment Weekly as the magazine's chief video critic, and also covered film, music, theater, books, and the internet. He began his career at Home Box Office in the 1980s, serving as an in-house "film evaluator" and helping to put Corey Haim movies on Cinemax. Burr has written two books, The Hundred Greatest Movies of All Time (Time-Life Books, 1999) and The Hundred Greatest Stars of All Time (Time-Life Books, 1998) and has written articles on film and other subjects in the New York Times, Spin, the Boston Phoenix, and other publications. A member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, Burr studied film at Dartmouth and New York University. He lives in Newton, MA.

Michael Eschenbach (11 a.m. Sunday: More Shorts!) is a graduate of New England College theatre department. He is currently enrolled in Goddard College's MFA-IA program and is working on his Master's Degree of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Art. He is a long time resident of the Concord community, he works for NH Hospital and (CCTV) Concord Community Television.

Fountain Square Ramblers (8:30 p.m. Sunday: Closing Reception)

Aaron Howland (5 p.m. Saturday: Shorts!), producer, Jack Milton: Fairytale Detective. Aaron co-founded the Massachusetts -based production company 7 Fluid Oz. Productions LLP in 2001. The company offers writing, producing, directing, and online editing services. Their most recent project, a DVD documentary about musician Peter Mulvey, is scheduled for release in 2004.

Kevin Kate (5 p.m. Saturday: Shorts!), actor, Jack Milton: Fairytale Detective.. Kevin was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he continues to make his home. His recent screen credits include Forensics in the White House (Discovery Channel), Dead Man Talking (Discovery Health Channel), Goodbye (Coppermine Films) and The Turtle Song (Akits Films, Inc.).

Dennis Lemoine (5 p.m. Saturday: Shorts!), actor, Jack Milton: Fairytale Detective.. Dennis is a New Hampshire-based actor. His recent screen credits include The Arc of Descent (Aurc Median Productions) and Bed Etiquette (Cinnamon Ridge Productions).

John O'Brien (Saturday, 1-7 p.m. his film trilogy Man With A Plan, Vermont Is for Lovers, and Nosey Parker) John O'Brien grew up in Tunbridge, Vermont on a sheep farm. He graduated from Chelsea High School (Chelsea, VT) and Harvard University (1985), where he majored in Government. He took an elective course on documentary production his senior year, and has been making films ever since. In addition to making and distributing movies, O'Brien runs the sheep farm and coaches debate at two high schools. He is also a Justice of the Peace in Tunbridge.

Bob Pingree (1 p.m. Saturday Lecture on Film Noir) has had a lifelong interest in movies. He has been teaching English at Concord High School for 34 years and began the Film Study course there in 1971. He reviewed films for the Concord Monitor on a weekly basis in the 1980s and appears frequently on Video Report Card on Concord Community Cable Television. He will illustrate some persistent themes in film noir with excerpts from fifty years of Anerican movies.

Deborah Scranton van Paassen (12:30 p.m. Sunday: Stories from Silence, Witness to War) Deborah Scranton van Paassen has been writing, producing and directing television features for over ten years. Some of her credits include MTV, CBS Sports, the Outdoor Life Network and ESPN. She also was a Special Assignment Reporter for Outdoor Life Network and KTVX, the ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City for four years. Ms. Scranton van Paassen is a ninth generation New Hampshire native. She recently returned to her fourth generation family farm in Goshen, New Hampshire after 15 years of living and working in New York City. Her goal as a documentary filmmaker is twofold. First, to give a voice to people who have often been excluded or seldom heard. Second, to recover stories of our common history and use them to build community. Stories From Silence, Witness to War is Ms. Scranton van Paassen’s directorial debut for a feature-length documentary.

Barry Steelman (N.H. Humanities Council films post-film discussant). Barry Steelman's mother instilled within him a love of movies at a very early age. He has maintained that romance by owning and operating a movie theatre and a video store (both with the name Cinema 93) during the past 35 years. He's begun passing along some of his movie knowledge by teaching film study classes in Henniker (New England College) and Manchester (New Hampshire Institute of Art). He hosts two television programs ("Video Report Card" and "The Late Show") on Concord's community access network. Barry is currently the chairman of the Red River Theatre board of directors. RRT co-sponsors the NHTI Friday Night Film Series and the SNOB Film Festival and hopes to create an "alternative" movie theatre in downtown Concord.

Anthony Tenczar (11 a.m. Sunday: More Shorts!) has made several award-winning documentaries. His independent filmwork and quest for the misunderstood story have led him to tattoo parlors, prisons, institutions for the disabled, post-Chernobyl Soviet Union and now a local peace vigil. Professor Tenczar teaches documentary, media aesthetics, and digital video production at the University of New Hampshire, Manchester. He has also been on the faculties of Ithaca College and the University of Texas at Austin.