Matt Porterfield’s little-seen first film, Hamilton (2006), will screen in 3 American cities next month!

1) On Sunday, June 6th, at 5:30PM, Hamilton will screen at Sound Unseen International in Duluth, Minnesota.
Matt Porterfield and producer, Steve Holmgren, will be in attendance.

2) Hamilton will have its Seattle premiere at the prestigious Northwest Film Forum on June 12th and 13th at 5:00PM.
While you’re there, check out Putty Hill at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival on June 10th, at 9:30PM!

3) Finally, 92Y TRIBECA will host a screening in New York on June 16th, at 8:00PM, sponsored by IFP and Shooting People.
Director Matthew Porterfield will be present for a post-screening Q&A with filmmaker and Hammer-to-Nail contributor, Mike Tully.

For Those Who Sleep…

photo Joyce Kim (2010)

Directed by MATT PORTERFIELD / Produced by JOYCE KIM / Shot by ISAAC DIEBBOLL / Edited by MARC VIVES

DOUBLE DAGGER on UK tour NOW: http://www.myspace.com/doubledaggersucks

We are so stoked to playing our film for a home-town audience at The Maryland Film Festival this weekend. Matt, Joyce, Eric, Jeremy, Marc, and Steve will all be present, as well as a lot of the cast. Both screenings (Friday at 10PM and Sunday at 4:30) will be at The Charles Theatre and will be presented by the filmmakers and followed by a Q&A. Online tickets will no longer be sold after Thursday, 11:59PM, so if you haven’t yet purchased tickets, get to the the theatre early — the box office opens at 10AM. While you’re there, pick up tickets for some of the other great films screening this weekend, like DOGTOOTH, COLD WEATHER, and LIVERPOOL.

If you’re interested in learning more about PUTTY HILL, check out some of the great press we’ve received in Maryland this week…

- WYPR / Maryland Morning with Tom Hall
- Marc Steiner interviews Matt Porterfield
- The Baltimore Sun

On the 13th of this month, I departed a wet and blustery Baltimore for SxSW with Putty Hill director Matt Porterfield, editor Marc Vives, and our friend Amy Belk. As soon as we stepped out of the airport into Austin’s perfect, sunny, 77 degree weather, we knew immediately that it would be an amazing trip. We drove with the windows down just because we could, looked out in awe of the new landscape, and psyched ourselves out for the delicious meals to be had with every BBQ and taco joint we passed.

We arrived at the charming house we’d be renting for the week, just over a mile outside downtown Austin, and couldn’t resist relaxing outside for a while just to take it all in. When we finally went to pick up our badges at the Austin Convention Center, the hub of SxSW, we were overwhelmed. As we made our way through a sea of film and interactive attendees and volunteers, we passed the trade show over here, promotional stands and panel rooms over there, and hundreds of posters hanging up everywhere. There was no doubt that this festival, in true Texan spirit, was huge.

On Sunday evening, the whole Putty Hill family got together: Myself, Matt, Marc, Amy, Jeremy Saulnier (cinematographer), Eric Bannat (producer), Steve Holmgren (producer), and Rachael Rakes (publicist). Even our producer and co-writer Jordan Mintzer flew in from Paris and spent less than 24 hours in Austin just to make the premiere. We met up at a food truck on E. 6th St called Lucky J’s to enjoy some pre-North American premiere chicken and waffle tacos, which, I might add, were delicious and are highly recommended.

Our premiere was at the Alamo Lamar, one of the bigger theaters at the festival. There were some minor issues with the image quality of our projection, but no one seemed to mind as the film was very well received by our audience. One woman even commented that Putty Hill was “the most authentic film she has ever seen”(!)… does it get better than that? Following our North American premiere, in true Putty fashion the team went to local dive bar The Liberty for a modest but memorable celebration. We don’t remember what happened next.

Our two remaining screenings were at the Alamo Ritz, in the heart of downtown on 6th street. This theater was smaller but a nice size; more intimate, and very well-suited for our film. Matt, Marc, Amy and I all sat through the final screening last night, and we were glad we did because it was an interesting experience watching the film with an American audience after our premiere last month in Berlin. I enjoyed hearing laughter at certain nuances and moments of humor in the film, which I think were missed in our screenings in Germany. The projection looked perfect, and again we had a really wonderful Q&A with people who were enthusiastic about the film and asked thoughtful questions.

Aside from the beautiful weather, friendly atmosphere of Austin, and our successful screenings, I can’t forget to mention another highlight of this trip… the FOOD. I love the food truck culture in Austin and my favorite was Chi’lantro, which served up Korean-Mexican fusion. The Al Pastor plate from Al Pastor restaurant, as introduced by SxSW Manager/Programmer Jarod Neece, was a delicious deal. We even ventured out to Driftwood, TX to eat at the famous Salt Lick, which was easily the best BBQ I’ve ever had.

After all these eats it’s likely I’m returning home 20 pounds heavier, but I’m also returning 20 pounds happier. Overall, it’s been an amazing trip. We’ve met some wonderful filmmakers, made new fans and friends, all the while accumulating some great press – and it’s just the beginning! In April alone, Putty Hill will screen at BAFICI (Buenos Aires), CPH:PIX (Copenhagen), Atlanta, IndieLisboa, and IFF Boston. If you haven’t seen the film yet, what are you waiting for? Matt will be attending all of these festivals, so please come out to say hi! I, in the meantime, will hang back in Baltimore to work off these tacos…

- written by Joyce Kim, producer, for the IFP blog.