Screen scene: Local film news

LOCAL LENS: Andrew Shearer sets up a shot on the set of his short film 'Son Up,' which went on to play over 20 festivals and win seven awards. The Asheville filmmaker has entered his proposed feature comedy 'Give and Take' in Seed&Spark's Hometown Heroes contest. Photo by Erin and Justin Hamlin

• Filmmaker and Asheville School of Film instructor Andrew Shearer is participating in Seed&Spark’s Hometown Heroes contest. The crowdfunded project has the potential of receiving a grant from indie filmmaking icons Jay and Mark Duplass, who will serve as executive producers on up to five features.

Shearer’s proposed film, Give and Take, is a comedy about a well-intentioned father who loses custody of his suddenly wayward daughter and kidnaps her to get her back on the right track. All goes according to plan until the school guidance counselor handcuffs himself to the dad. The film will be shot in Asheville with local talent. In the vein of Richard Linklater’s Bernie, Shearer plans to combine documentary-style interviews with traditional scripted scenes.

To qualify for the contest, Shearer must meet his goal of raising $20,000 and gather at least 500 campaign followers on his Seed&Spark page by Friday, Oct. 13. Of the successfully funded campaigns, the 10 with the most followers will move on as finalists and prepare a 30-second video pitch to the Duplass brothers. seedandspark.com/fund/give-and-take

• The team behind the Cat Fly Indie Film Festival, which debuted in April, hosts a Halloween film festival on Friday, Oct. 13, at UpCountry Brewing Co., 8 p.m.-midnight. Feature and short horror films will be shown and a gift card to UpCountry — which is collaborating with Cat Fly on a randall beer for the event — will be awarded for the best costume. Other prizes include an Audience Favorite Award for the scariest film, and there will also be a raffle. Tickets are $16 and available online. catflyfilmfest.com

• Tickets are on sale for the 8 Days of Harry Potter festival at Asheville Pizza & Brewing. The Sorcerer’s Stone (Thursday, Oct. 12), The Chamber of Secrets (Friday, Oct. 13), The Prisoner of Azkaban (Saturday, Oct. 14), The Goblet of Fire (Sunday, Oct. 15), The Order of the Phoenix (Monday, Oct. 16), The Half-Blood Prince (Tuesday, Oct. 17), The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Wednesday, Oct. 18) and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Thursday, Oct. 19) will each be screened three times a day. Tickets for 7 p.m. shows are available online; tickets for noon and 3:45 p.m. screenings are only available at the box office. $3 for each show. avl.mx/450

Grail Moviehouse’s and the Asheville Jewish Community Center’s monthly Israeli Film Series continues Sunday, Oct. 8, at 3 p.m. with The Wedding Plan. Rama Burshtein‘s 2016 romantic comedy centers on a 32-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman whose fiancé calls off their wedding with only a month’s notice. Instead of returning to life as a single person, she trusts in fate and continues with her nuptial plans, confident that a suitor will appear within 30 days. A discussion will follow the film. Tickets are $7 and available online or at the Grail box office. grailmoviehouse.com

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About Edwin Arnaudin
Edwin Arnaudin is a staff writer for Mountain Xpress. He also reviews films for ashevillemovies.com and is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) and North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA). Follow me @EdwinArnaudin

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