Press Sun Bulletin Review of Conversations/BOTH experience

Elizabeth Cohen at the Press and Sun Bulletin has written an incredible article about the "Blood of the Hog" Conversations event. Enjoy! Click HERE see the original article.

Indie-film screening is window into Tier potential

Take one frigid night, one tiny theater and one promising young filmmaker, and what do you get?

The night of pure delight that took place last Tuesday, when Nat Bouman, who grew up in Montrose, Pa., but went to high school in Binghamton, debuted his feature short "Blood of the Hog."

It was one of those ever lovely "hometown boy makes good" moments, with an added plus: It brought out so many of those involved in this hometown's arts scene. And it took place in Binghamton's new-ish Art Mission Theater.

It was just awesome all the way around and underscored, yet again, the promise that the arts are delivering to Greater Binghamton of renewed life-blood and energy. The momentum is here.

The event was set for 8 p.m., with the promise of a discussion with the filmmaker afterwards. That never really happened, because so many people turned out that the film was screened two additional times, and folks just mingled with the filmmaker (and some of the crew) on their own after the screenings in the reception/ gallery area.

I repeat: The film was screened three times. In other words, on a frigid Tuesday night in March in Binghamton, maybe 200 people (I approximate here -- it may have been more; some people came and, seeing the crowded lobby, didn't stay) came out to see Bouman's film. I would say that is something of a phenomenon for an event that was guerilla-publicized.

The storyline of Bouman's comedic film: A banjo player, who seems to be fixed in a time circa 1950, lives in the present day. His very hot Caribbean girlfriend does not appreciate his "classic" car, straw hat or overall shtick. He also has a little problem with a gambling debt. His debtor forces him to pay off his debts with a "job." (You see where this is heading ... ?)

Anyway, he does so and meets up with two Spanish hit men who make him play his banjo for them and then proceed to have a discussion about the meaning of life and the possibility of an afterlife during his performance, all during a shootout scene.

I won't give away the end. But I will say that Bouman, a Columbia Film School grad student, made a short comedy that features not only decent comedic acting but also stars a number of locales any Southern Tier resident would recognize. It was a blast to see it.

So, confession: This was my first experience at the Art. This is not a function of my lack of interest in film arts, but, rather, a function of the paucity of West Colesville babysitters. That being said, I have now been there, so I can say it: Bravo to Nat Bouman, bravo to the really fabulous Art Mission Theater and bravo to Binghamton.

I used to think of ours as "the little arts scene that could." But these days it is clear: it is the growing arts scene that can.