Cuckoo in the Clock and Roundabout to premiere at 2014 Atlantic Film Festival

Tangentially related to the world of the paranormal, I have two feature films premiering at the 2014 Atlantic Film Festival here in Halifax in September - the Cuckoo in the Clock, and Roundabout. If you're in town, come on down to Cineplex Park Lane on Thursday, September 18th, and check them out (and say hello)... or keep an eye out for them at a festival near you over the next few months.

Here are the festival write-ups for the films:

The Cuckoo in the Clock:

"Two desparate lovers, Eve and Lara, are on the run from the Mob and flee the city. They eventually take refuge in what appears to be an abandoned rural home. They soon discover that they’re not alone when they encounter Nick, the handsome and charming caretaker who offers them sanctuary. The situation quickly descends into a dangerous three-way dance of temptation and jealousy, until a terrifying secret is revealed that threatens to destroy Eve and Lara unless they can find a way to escape the hell that they have created for themselves."

Roundabout

"When Leda, a radio talk show host whose specialty is the para-normal, is haunted by the memory of her best friend’s death, a series of events begin to unfold that tears at the fragile nature of everyday reality. Starring Annie Briggs in a bracing performance as Leda, Roundabout is a feature film that blends science fiction, romance and politics and pits it all against a winterized East Coast land, sea and cityscape resulting in an intensely dramatic and richly visual experience."

Paul Kimball

Flatwoods Monster in Nova Scotia?

Whilst on location yesterday shooting my next feature film Roundabout, one of my crew members took this photo. It's either a self-portrait... or the dreaded Flatwoods Monster! You make the call!! 

Paul Kimball

Synchronicity

Long before my recent Los Angeles run of what Walter Bosley called "synchronicities", I actually made a performance film for Bravo here in Canada called - you guessed it - Synchronicity. This film featured pianist Heather Schmidt and cellist Shauna Rolston, talking about their friendship and creative collaboration, and performing music written by Schmidt, including a piece I specifically commissioned for the film titled - you guessed it again - "Synchronicity".

In the context of the paranormal, and the possibility of interaction with an advanced non-human intelligence, I think Shauna's comments about communication, and the relationship between the composer and the musician as interpreter, are particularly interesting.

Heather and Shauna also talk about how they "fit together". I always wonder whether these kinds of things are just coincidences, or whether there might be something more at work. Do we just get lucky when we meet people with whom we have a connection, or do we meet these people for a reason? Perhaps, if you give any credence to the idea of reincarnation, we travel through our "lives" linked to the same group of people, each of us fulfilling a different role in the next life (my dad, for example, might be my son or daughter in the next life, or my best pal). Maybe that's why, when you first meet someone and feel like you've known them your whole life, you have - just not this "life", but one before... or, if you see time not as a linear construct but more of a circle, then perhaps a "life" still to come.

That would be the ultimate synchronicity.

Paul Kimball

Filmmaking 101, Vol. I

Nobody knows how hard it is to get a feature film funded, and then made, more than I do (apropos of Eternal Kiss, which will be an entire chapter someday in my autobiography). In that light, I present the following to you for your consideration:

Of course, this has nothing to do with the paranormal, so just file it under "life and how to live it", and then check out Jeremy Vaeni's Kickstarter page for his film Free Space, and consider making a contribution.

Paul Kimball

"Denis" - a short film

Denis is a short animated film by some young Halifax filmmakers / animators, including Jullian Reynolds, the son of my good friend, Veronica Reynolds, that touches on the difference between the society that we have built for ourselves, and the one that we need to build for ourselves.

Paul Kimball

The Other Side of Paul - Eternal Kiss

I'm out in Los Angeles on a combination of business and pleasure - just signed co-production deals for two new feature films, which is always exciting - and as I was walking back from the LA Farmer's Market this afternoon, I thought I would make my first feature, Eternal Kiss, available for viewing for a while (I did this for a couple of weeks back in February).

So, here it is:

I learned a lot making this low budget feature, knowledge that I'm going to put to good use on the bigger budget projects to come. 

Speaking of filmmaking, fellow traveler and good friend Walter Bosley has started an IndieGoGo campaign to help him finish his first feature, Greenspot Road.

As is the case with Greg, Nick, and yours truly, Walter's interest in the paranormal is only a very small part of the overall picture. Proper thing!

Paul Kimball

Beyond Best Evidence & The Ability To Think For Ourselves

There is now less than a month left in the fundraising campaign for Beyond Best Evidence: The UFO Enigma, and the response has been very disappointing, I'm afraid. I remain hopeful that this home stretch will see a jump that moves us further towards our goal, if perhaps not all the way there, but despite myriad radio appearances to talk about the project (and over 8,000 visitors to this site since the campaign started), and nice write-ups from folks like Greg Taylor at The Daily Grail and Greg Bishop at UFO Mystic, the support hasn't happened (note: many thanks to the hardy "band of brothers" who have contributed so far).

Crowd fundraising developed as a way for filmmakers (and other artists) to maintain an independent voice in a world where media consolidation has diminished the ability to make those voices heard. As I've said before, a film like Beyond Best Evidence, with a thoughtful and intelligent discussion about the UFO phenomenon and all of its possible facets / explanations, simply isn't going to get made in the mainstream media system these days (note: if someone can do a similar film in the same way, I'll happily admit I was wrong). Networks don't try to enlighten these days - they are solely concerned with selling advertising, and sadly, in our consumerist society run amok, that imperative has trumped any other considerations when it comes to documentary filmmaking in particular, especially where it concerns a subject like the UFO phenomenon, which has been tabloidized and commercialized virtually to the point of no return. As a result, we get "reality TV" and what the networks call "factual programming", which is about as close to Orwellian "doublespeak" as you can get.

But maybe that's the world we live in these days. Maybe people are happy to sit back, not get involved, and just digest the grey glop that the multimedia conglomerates feed them. Maybe they don't want to be challenged. Maybe they don't want to think, or confront uncomfortable subjects. Maybe they've forgotten how.

In the New York Times yesterday there was a great opinion column by Charles Blow. In "A Summer to Simmer" Blow wrote:

At a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee about oil subsidies, John Watson, C.E.O. of Chevron — which reported last month that first-quarter net income rose 36 percent from the same period last year to $6.21 billion — said that “I don’t think American people want shared sacrifice. I think they want shared prosperity.” The problem is, Mr. Money Bags, that you and other corporate interests are the only ones sharing in the prosperity. For Americans on the lower end of the income spectrum, it’s all sacrifice. 

The people who run these massive corporations - like the health insurance  companies that want to raise health insurance premiums while reporting record profits for a third straight year, even as people forgo critical care - don't want an informed populace. They want slaves to the system.

But what does this have to do with the UFO phenomenon?

On the surface, nothing. But underneath, where free thought exists even in the worst of times, it has everything to do with the UFO phenomenon, because UFOs are something that can't be controlled by those giant monopolistic corporations, and the politicians who have sold their souls to those corporations. UFOS represent something subversive - possibilities that they would prefer we not think about, because if we do, then just maybe we'll start to take a different view of our world, and our lives. In short, we'll start to think for ourselves again.  

Whatever UFOs might be (including the possibility that they can all be explained in prosaic terms), just considering them in a serious and thoughtful way is dangerous to the existing order... and we live in a world where we need a lot more dangerous thinking, because we've been placed in an existential trap, and it's time we tried to find a way out.

Is Beyond Best Evidence: The UFO Enigma going to get us out of that trap? Of course not.  No film can do that, regardless of the subject matter. But it will be a small step in the right direction of reclaiming our ability to imagine a world other than the one that we've been told is the right one, and that's what I've always tried to do as a filmmaker. I don't try to encourage people to agree with me, or anyone else; rather, I encourage them to think for themselves about the world in which we live, even when their conclusions might be different than my own.


Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Sightings from Paul Kimball on Vimeo.

I wrote at the beginning that I'm very disappointed by the response this campaign has received. The reason isn't because it will take profit away from my company (all profits from the sale of iflm will go to charity), or because I particularly want to spend months traveling and conducting interviews and then editing the film (not exactly the most profitable use of my time and talents), but because I think the film would be important, on a number of levels not just related to the specific question of "what are UFOs?"

Those are the kinds of films that I think should be made. The disappointment stems from the fact that not very many people seem to agree with me...yet. I'm asking for your help over the remaining 27 days to change that, so that we can move forward together,  to raise a little hell.



Words of wisdom from some fellow Canadians!

Paul Kimball

Speaking of Time Travel...

Speaking of time travel, it may or may not be one of the themes in the film The Grey Wall, which has just gone through development with my company and looks good for production later this year (or early 2012, depending on scheduling). Not to give too much away, but here is an excerpt that touches on the idea of time travel... sort of:

SAM

How long have I been here?

Lawrence sits down opposite him.

LAWRENCE

Ahh... an interesting question.

Lawrence pulls a small piece of paper from his pocket, and places it flat on the table in front of Sam.

LAWRENCE (cont’d)

You see time like this piece of paper, flat, with edges, and defined parameters. Past, present, and the future. From one edge of the paper to the other, with a distance that is clear.

Lawrence points at an edge of the paper, and then starts to draw an imaginary line between the two with his finger.

LAWRENCE (cont’d)

Here is what has happened...

He points to the center of the paper.

LAWRENCE (cont’d)

Here is that which is happening now...

He points to the opposite edge.

LAWRENCE (cont’d)

And here is what will happen. But what if...

He folds the paper in two, so that the opposite edges touch against each other.

LAWRENCE (cont’d)

... you could bridge the gaps.

He pauses, and then slowly crumples the paper in his palm.

LAWRENCE (cont’d)

What if there were no gaps at all...

He opens his hand, and the paper is gone.

LAWRENCE (cont’d)

... just a road, circling back on itself, like a wheel in motion. An eternal now - where what once was may not be what is, or what will be.

(pause)

Does that answer your question?

SAM

I have no idea what you’re saying.

Lawrence pauses for a moment, and then smiles.

LAWRENCE

Proper thing.

Sam thinks for a moment.

SAM

Who are you?

Lawrence opens the palm of his other hand, to reveal the paper, which is folded once, and places it in front of Sam.

LAWRENCE

A friend.

Sam picks up the paper, and starts to unfold it. Written on the paper is a number...

“6164”

SAM

What is this?

LAWRENCE

Some would call it a deus ex machina.

(pauses, smiles)

I’d call it an address.

We're casting now... but one role is already covered - that of co-lead "Sarah", which will be played by one of Canada's great young up-and-coming actresses, Christina Cuffari, who has also been with Doing Time since its first theatrical run here in Halifax back in 2007.

The Grey Wall will be out just in time for the 2012 apocalypse!

Paul Kimball

The Other Side of Paul - filmmaking

It isn't all UFO documentaries for me - indeed, as I explain almost everytime I get interviewed, the films I've made about the UFO phenomenon are only a small part of my resume.

Currently, besides Beyond Best Evidence, my company is developing a couple of feature films. I've mentioned the first, Doing Time, here before (it's based on the scifi play I co-wrote with the late Mac Tonnies in 2007). It's taken a back-seat at the moment as we press forward with the other one, a supernatural thriller called The Grey Wall.

Here is the synopsis for The Grey Wall:

The Grey Wall is a supernatural love story about two people who have to find their way out of the purgatory they have created for themselves.

On the surface, Sarah and Sam seem like the perfect young couple. But when Sarah gets her big break as an aspiring actress and begins to spend less time with Sam, he begins to wonder whether he’s good enough for her, particularly as he’s stuck in a dead-end job at a collection agency. Events develop which lead Sarah and Sam into a maelstrom of betrayal and mistrust.

Things take a supernatural turn with the appearance of Lawrence and Lorelei, two supporting characters in Sarah’s play who reveal themselves to be much more than they appear. The world that Sarah and Sam believe to be real is turned upside down, and everything they thought they knew about their lives, and each other, comes unraveled, as the evil Lorelei uses her mysterious powers to set them against each other. Meanwhile, Lawrence offers cryptic advice and help, but refuses to become directly involved for his own reasons.

Ultimately, Sarah and Sam arrive at a moment of truth, where they’ll have to look beyond the “grey wall” of the anger and hurt that they have built between themselves, to once again believe in each other and their love in order to find their way “home”.

If they don’t, Lorelei and an eternal darkness are waiting for them…

Beyond Best Evidence is probably the last film I'll make about UFOs, assuming we raise the money we need. One should never say "never", of course, but there are a lot of other things that I want to do, and at the moment I can't imagine anything about UFOs after I'm done Beyond Best Evidence that would be interesting enough to warrant the year or so that it takes to make a good film.

Paul Kimball

Atlantic Filmmakers 2010

My appearance on Atlantic Filmmakers, recorded in September, 2010, at the Atlantic Film Festival. The interview is primarily focused on filmmaking in general, and my career, but towards the end, I talk about filmmaking and the paranormal.

Paul Kimball

Kimball on UFOs and Filmmaking

I appeared on the Eastlink program Aperture Atlantic this past season to discuss my career, filmmaking, and so forth. It seems I can't do an interview without the subject of UFOs coming up - this clip shows that segment, along with some remarks about the YouTube generation and UFO filmmaking.

Paul Kimball