Playful poker film premieres here

By Lauren Bishop
Cincinnati Enquirer
October 3, 2010


Here are some highlights of this year's Cincinnati Film Festival, which starts Friday and runs through Oct. 16. It includes more than 85 feature-length and short films showing in 11 regional venues.

Find a festival schedule at www.cincyfilmfest.com.

The world premiere of "Hitting the Nuts," the locally produced mockumentary about the 2009 Scott County, Ind., Texas Hold 'em poker championship as told by those who were there: The town preacher, the busty waitress, the redneck dad, an Amish farmer and the returning champion. It was written and directed by Joe Boyd, a teaching pastor at Springdale's Vineyard Community Church and an alumni of the Second City and Groundlings comedy troupes who also stars in the film. It premieres 8 p.m. Saturday at Hollywood Casino, with encore screenings at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 and 5 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Esquire Theatre.

"The Beethoven Project," the regional premiere of a documentary about Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conductor Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen as they prepare to play all nine of Beethoven's symphonies in four days at the 2009 Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Germany, the composer's hometown. 1 p.m. Oct. 10 at Cincinnati Art Museum and 5 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Esquire.

The 2009 British horror movie "Colin," which made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival last year, not just because it's the first horror film told from the perspective of a zombie, but also because of its unbelievably low budget of just $70. Its regional premiere is 8 p.m. Friday at Holiday Auto Theatre in Hamilton, with encore screenings at 11 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Esquire.

The regional premiere of "Saturday Night," which reveals what it takes to create an episode of "Saturday Night Live." Directed by actor James Franco, it stars cast regulars Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, Seth Meyers, Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis, plus John Malkovich and Franco. 5 p.m. Saturday at Hollywood Casino and 6:45 p.m. Oct. 10 and 9 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Esquire.

The documentary "Family Affair," which made its local premiere at the Esquire this spring and much of which is set in Cincinnati. Boston-based director and former Cincinnatian Chico Colvard's film, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, tells of how he accidentally shot his older sister causing a chain reaction that exposed the childhood abuse of his sisters. 1:20 p.m. Saturday and 3:10 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Esquire.

A variety of short film programs, including Cincinnati Film Festival-selected short films from all over the world; some of the best shorts from the American Film Institute, hosted by AFI vice dean Joe Petricca; Underneath Cincinnati's Local Shorts program; and the 48 Hour Film Project: Take Two, in which local teams got a second shot at their original two-day film projects.