‘Mijo ( My Son)’ is a short 10min documentary that organically grew out of my “Foreign Puzzle” production. This vignette has now taken a life of its own and is being received very well in several festivals across the globe. In February 2012, Mijo played in five festivals in three countries and won two awards – “The Best Documentary Award at WaterSprite: The Cambridge International Student Film Festival, United Kingdom” and “3rd place Best Short Documentary Award at Winnipeg International Film Festival, Canada”

As the director of this short but poignant film, I make every effort to attend as many film festivals as possible. The two factors that make it hard to attend every festival is the cost of travel/Lodging  and scheduling conflicts.

February’s screening for “Mijo (My Son)’ began with Thin Line Film Festival 2012. Mijo was in a short’s compilation titled ‘Love” with four other beautiful documentaries. The other documentary films in the block were as follows: i) The Oldest Lesbian in the world: A lively portrait of a nearly 100 year old Bobbie Staff. The film whimsically exposes a rare and revealing insight into the romantic life of a butch lesbian born in 1913.

 ii) Love Hacking: is a sweet contemporary love story where Mormons and Hindus come together in a journey of faith, technology, and marriage. iii) Helen’s Ducks: is a portrait of a Helen’s obsession with rubber ducks. iv) Irma: is an intimate portrat of a former world women’s professional wrestling champion.

Q & A Thin Line Festival

It was delightful to share Mijo amongst films about love with an engaging audience in Denton Texas. I was the only filmmaker present for Q & A. Initially, it felt strange to hog all the limelight which was meant for five filmmakers but then rarely does one get ample opportunity to talk about the travails of the production, so it was very gratifying to talk about the making of ‘MIJO’ and answer all the questions that the audience had without time restrictions.

Unfortunately, I could only be in Denton, Texas for one night. I had to fly to Washington D.C. and then drive to Richmond Virginia to attend “Mix International Film Festival” where “Mijo was screening on the 15th of February 2012. The same weekend Mijo was screening in Starkville, Mississippi at the “Magnolia Independent Film Festival”. I had committed to attend Mix Festival first and hence could not attend Magnolia Festival.

The Mix International Film Festival was a mixed bag experience. Heather Waters the festival director made an incredible effort to organize a memorable debut film festival and the films were screened at the majestic “Historic Byrd Theater” in Richmond. But the festival attendance was rather poor and there were a few unexpected glitches in the form of interruptions and technical difficulties at the projector room during the actual screening process. Although Mijo’s screening went well without any technical glitch, the festival could definitely improve its screening methodology. The festival more than adequately made up for the lack of audience and technical glitches by hosting the filmmakers well and organizing a lovely closing ceremony. “Mix” also had several prizes for the filmmakers and screenwriters and the selections were well deserved. I am sure ‘The Mix International Film Festival” will be around for years to come doing a wonderful job showcasing independent films.

The last weekend of February Mijo was scheduled to play at “Winnipeg Real to Reel Film Festival” in Manitoba, Canada and was nominated for Best Documentary Award “Watersprite: The Cambridge International Student Film Festival” in Cambridge, United Kingdom. I chose to go to Cambridge instead of Manitoba as the travel expenses were partially supported by bursaries from ‘The University of Texas, Austin’ and ‘Watersprite’. Watersprite was simply marvelous. Therefore, I have decided to devote an entire blog posting to discuss the festival experience.

In March, Mijo is expected to play at the listed festivals in U.S.A (Alabama, Illinois, California, Wisconsin), United Kingdom (Lancashire) and France (Paris).

1. George Lindsey UNA Film Festival March 1st 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
2. Talking Pictures Festival March 10th 2012 at 4:00 p.m
3.  Pennine Film Festival March 12-16th 2012
4. International Family Film Festival, Raleigh Studios, Burbank, CA on March 24th 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
5. Green Bay Film Festival, Green Bay, Wisconsin on March 24th 2012 at 1:15 p.m.
6. European Independent Film Festival, Paris, France on March 31st at 1:40 p.m.

Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend any of the screenings in March, as I will be filming Sharon Marroquin, the protagonist, of Mijo and Foreign Puzzle in Austin, Texas. She will be performing “the Materiality of Permanence”, a dance she has been choreographing for over a year.

If you or you know someone live close to the film festivals please let them know. Film Festivals are excellent venues to watch independent films that don’t make it to the big screen. And if you happen to be in Austin on March 23rd, 24th and 25th get your tickets for Sharon’s show.

- Chithra Jeyaram ( Director, MIJO)