There was wind but it looked like the rain would hold out until after midnight. And it did. The rain started just as the movie ended. So we got lucky. Really, really lucky.  Brooklyn Film Works was a go!

Our crew, Henry, Dan, and Derek, put together the aluminum frame, which was designed by Bob Usdin at Showman Fabricators, very quickly. Then they tied the screen onto the frame with the webs and gromits.

The cabana/projection booth nearly blew away while we were assembling it. Bricks and string helped a lot.

Probably the most dramatic moment was raising the screen against the truck and then securing it to the truck. It was like that barn raising scene in Witness. I felt like crying when I saw our beautiful screen standing up for the first time. But then I got nervous that it might fall over in the wind. That’s why we had lots of rope.

Luckily, crewmember Dan loves heights and was willing to climb a 16 ft. ladder and walk on the top of Greg’s truck to rope the top of the frame to the truck.

By 8 p.m. the projector, the speakers, DVD  player and monitor were all set up in the projection cabana and projectionist Bill Lyons was ready to begin.

Then it was a waiting game until it was dark enough to begin the show. One little girl kept walking up to me "when is the movie going to start?"

Stone Park Cafe set up a food concession, which was fantastic. They served short rib tamales wrapped in banana leaves for $5 dollars, lemondade, and delicious cup cakes. They will be offering food at all JJ Byrne Park summer events (Blues in the Park on Thursdays and Shakespeare plays in mid-July).

Mary Engel, the daughter of Ruth Orkin and Morris Engel, talked aboutthe making of  Little Fugitive (1953), which was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. She introduced her moving short documentary about her mother called, Ruth Orkin: Frames of Life, that was at Sundance and 20 other film festivals.

Both films looked fantastic on the screen. It didn’t rain. It felt wonderful to be out on the lawn watching movies. Watching Little Fugitive, I could think of at least two films that make reference to it: Truffaut’s 400 Blows and Wim Wender’s Alice in the Cities.

This film festival was a great, great idea. The next show is on July 11th. It’s Ric Burns’ documentary about Coney Island. We haven’t decided what short we’re showing first but it’ll be great. Something fun for the kids.

Join us on July 11th. This is really, really special.