Doc Kountze Art/Film Festival March 27

The following is an announcement from organizers of the Doc Kountze Art and Film Festival:

The Doc Kountze Film Festival will be held Saturday, March 27th, at the Cohen Auditorium, located at 40 Talbot Avenue at Tufts University from 11AM-7PM. This event is sponsored by the Medford Arts Center, Inc., Massachusetts Cultural Council and Medford Arts Council.

Starting at 11AM Magician and Puppeteer Janine Rogers will perform for children. Janine is a full time professional entertainer with more than twenty years experience and is the winner of three first place awards for excellent performance of magic. Rogers is a graduate of California’s prestigious Chavez School of Magic. Her show promises to be fun for the whole family.

Following Roger’s performance there will be a silent movie on film pioneer Georges Melies. The Melies film will be followed by “Heroic Hero,” a short, silent movie by local filmmaker and Emerson grad Johnathan Carr that pays homage to the “Perils of Pauline.”

“May I be Frank,” a documentary directed by Gregg Marks and Ryland Englhart will air at 2PM. “May I be Frank” is about an ex-addict and alcoholic who undergoes a transformation due to the caring of three young coaches from Café Gratitude. The documentary will be followed by a talk with its subject, Frank Ferranti.

“Neshoba,” a story about a Mississippi town still divided about the meaning of justice 40 years after the murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, will air at 4PM. Although Klansmen bragged openly about what they did in 1964, no one was held accountable until 2005, when the state indicted preacher Edgar Killen, an 80-year-old notorious racist who is an alleged mastermind of the killings. A question and answer session will follow the film.

Throughout the day from 11:00AM-4:00PM local artists will be selling and displaying their work at the Remis Sculpture Court next to the Tufts Art Gallery. These include: Ted Adams, photography; Carolyn Dinsmoor, photography; Audrey Stanwood, jewelry; Paul Melanson, jewelry; Tom Whearty, woodworking; and Bernadette Murch, oil paint and black ink on paper. Also participating are West Medford Open Studios. On sale are MACI T-shirts, historian Dee Morris’ current book on Medford, and selections from Rob Dilman and Bestseller’s Café.

Closing the day’s festivities at 6:00PM-7:00PM is a performance by noted musician Joel Larue Smith, the director of the Tufts Jazz Orchestra (formerly the big band) and jazz activities at Tufts University since 1996. Under his direction the Tufts University Big Band has toured Cuba and Prague twice and was invited to perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2007. In the summer of 2006, the Tufts University Big Band debut CD was released. Joining Larue are Renato Malavasi on drums and Tal Gamlieli on acoustic guitar.

For further information, please contact Patty McCarthy Saunders at pattysfotos@msn.com or visit www.medfordarts.org. Medford Arts is also on Facebook.

Founded in 1997 by local Medford artist Adele Travisano, the festival is named after Mabray “Doc” Kountze, a prominent West Medford resident and local newspaper columnist who spent a lifetime writing and breaking boundaries. He was the first black reporter awarded a press pass to Fenway Park. Kountze wrote several books, including This Is Your Heritage, whose primary objective was to educate, provide and promote better interracial understanding.