Film Festival draws film fans to Hill City

By: 
Leslie Silverman

The 11th annual Black Hills Film Festival was in Hill City last weekend.

The two-day stop in the Heart of the Hills featured five sessions and over 15 films.

The closing session, held Sunday afternoon had short films about two local artists. Director Riley Thelen, from Pierre, debuted his first film entitled, “When Life Gives You Lemmon.” The nine-minute piece focuses on the small town of Lemmon and its most famous resident, sculptor and welder John Lopez.

“The idea came from an art class,” Thelen said.

The instructor was talking about artists that use their backgrounds and “that’s kind of what Loepz does.” Thelen captured Lopez gathering scrap metal from local farmers. That metal would be used to create his famous sculptures, which are on display in the small town.

The film also showed the impact Lopez’s work has had on artists around the world. Nigerian painters, who created murals in the town, have been learning from Lopez for years.

“When I started the project I had an angle,” Thelen said. “I wanted it to be about (Lopez). But it takes on it’s own deal.”

The film, a school project for Thelen, was filmed over four weekends. Thelen was surprised to learn how  “relatable” Lopez was.

“He asked me questions,” Thelen said. “He’s approachable.”

Thelen contacted Lopez via Facebook and was appreciative of how “a guy that renown would take time for a college kid.”

The second local artist to be featured in the Sunday session was Sarah Rogers. Rogers, a resident of Spearfish, grew up in Florida and got her first break in New York City. She describes her work as “tropical Western wildlife.”

Randal Iverson, the film’s producer and director, “pays the mortgage with a camera.” The film, which is one of a three part series focusing on South Dakota artists, is intended not only to delight audiences but to show students that you “can make a living in South Dakota as an artist.” Iverson’s favorite piece by Rogers, “The Raven,” can be seen in the Warriors Work Gallery in Hill City.

The session’s closing film and the last of the festival was a 94-minute piece entitled “Patrinell, the Total Experience.” The film, a debut by accountant turned filmmaker Tia Young, chronicles the life of Pat Wright, the “first lady of gospel.”

Young explains, “I was in the choir when I was a young teenager. It was the only thing my father let me do that wasn’t school related.”

The film traces the history of the choir and of Wright, who made her way from Texas to Seattle, Wash., on a bus during the civil rights movement.

Young rejoined the choir as an adult and realized there was a special story to tell.

“I wanted to tell her story,” Young said. “I want the world to know her legacy.”

Wright has performed for three living presidents, sang at the funeral of the late Jimi Hendrix and has reached scores of children through the living experience choir.

The self-funded project, created with the collaboration from Andrew Elizaga and Katya Palladina, sends a universal message. 

It’s about bringing joy to people and making a difference in the world,” Young said. “It’s about (Wright’s) story. She didn’t care what race you were. She just wanted you to come to sing.”

Young adds the choir experience was “not just about the music and how to sing three-part harmony but about our culture and where the music came from.”

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