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PANAMA CITY — Around sunset in Historic Downtown Panama City, people were dressed in lavish red outfits as they meandered below streetlights wrapped in red plastic on April 26.
They were headed to a masquerade ball at the same time as others were preparing for a burlesque show. The Gilded Age attire and festivities arrived in conjunction with the Redfish Film Festival.
Throughout the weekend, documentary films played in venues across downtown. Mosey’s Downtown, the Panama City Center for the Arts and the Downtown Boxing Club are just some of the institutions that hosted viewings.
Keeping in line with the ritzy theme of the occasion, filmmakers came to and from the upscale Hotel Indigo, where organizers had lodged them, to the events around the neighborhood. A reporter with the News Herald was able to catch two of them, communicators for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on their way to a screening.
“I was actually here last year for the inaugural year and loved it so much that we decided to come back this year too,” said Madison Tuttle, spokesperson for the NASA filmmaking duo. “Our (movie) we screened today is all about kind of the juxtaposition between Kennedy Space Center being on this massive wildlife refuge and all the, you know, technological and scientific advancements that we’re making.”
Tuttle said this year’s iteration seemed to significantly expand its footprint over the inaugural event, with the whole downtown getting involved with the occasion.
“It’s great to see kind of how the town is embracing this,” Tuttle said. The two creatives parted ways with some NASA stickers and patches before moving along to another viewing up the street.
Outside of the St Andrews Towers Apartments on Harrison Avenue, another attendee sported red bedazzled fingernails, a gilded crown and red heart-shaped sunglasses in line with the festival’s themes. She said she and others were making their way across downtown to get through her “drink like a redfish” checklist that Sunday afternoon.
“I’m actually heading to go see the ‘What Michael Created’ (movie),” said Alice Dawsey, the costumed attendee. “I lived here through Hurricane Michael and I’ve seen so much resilience in our town, and so many neat things, like a person (who) strapped their mailbox to a nightstand when their mailbox got destroyed.”
Dawsey said her favorite part of the festival was the speakeasy and expressed enthusiasm for the many events that coincided with documentary viewings.
After Dawsey departed for the movie, the News Herald joined Dayna Reggero at the Downtown Boxing Club to watch the debut of her new film “Apology to Earth.”
More than a dozen viewers piled into the stuffy metal building to view the documentary about the effect of liquid natural gas facilities on coastal communities. While the film took Reggero around the world, she started in the nearby town of Port St Joe, where community residents had successfully fended off the construction of an LNG facility.
She took questions from the crowd, emphasizing the importance of listening to and learning from their communities, as she believed they were doing at the local film festival. Attendees found relief from the cooler outside air as they filed out of the boxing club and to other venues after the brief panel.
Organizers thought the festival was successful for its second go around.
“The festival’s been going great,” said Kevin Elliott, the co-founder and director of the festival. “All the feedback we’ve gotten so far, people have been saying that year two really leveled up from year one. Whether it was our screening venues, our side events, our art installations, everybody’s really been giving us good feedback.”
Elliott said that they screened more than 70 documentaries across five venues and had themed art events each night.
“You have films all day then parties all night, and it’s a real community event,” Elliot said. “It’s not just us and the films. It is all of the arts community coming together around this one event and really showing the heart of our historic arts district. We’re super proud.”
Organizers told the News Herald that “On Firm Ground” won best feature, “Wild Horses at the Door” won best short film, and “Blue” won best student film.
Many of the attendees who were stopped by the News Herald suggested they would try to be back next year and can’t wait for what organizers have in store for next time Harrison Avenue turns red.
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