• Asheville musician Ben Lovett’s original soundtrack to the film Synchronicity is now available for digital purchase through iTunes, Amazon and other online stores. The CD soundtrack will be available March 11, and Death Waltz Recording Co. will be issuing the special edition vinyl edition in the spring.
“The retro-themed, time-travel noir is my first entirely electronic film score, created with vintage analog synthesizers to recapture the classic vibe of early ’80s sci-fi,” Lovett says in a press release. Written and directed by Jacob Gentry, the film centers on physicist Jim Beale (Chad McKnight), who invents a time machine. He must travel back to the past to uncover the truth about his creation and the seductive Abby (Brianne Davis), who is attempting to steal it. Magnolia Pictures has yet to release the film in Asheville, but it is available through On Demand and via iTunes and Amazon Video.
• The North Asheville Library’s February film series’ theme is “Movies Based on the Works of Jules Verne.” The 1954 version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea gets the month going Saturday, Feb. 6, at 2 p.m., followed by the 1956 Around The World In Eighty Days (Saturday, Feb. 13, at 10 a.m.), 1959’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (Saturday, Feb. 20, at 2 p.m.) and 1961’s Mysterious Island (Saturday, Feb. 27, at 10 a.m.). Free and open to the public. avl.mx/1d0
• Artivational, the team of aspiring area filmmakers that won Best Film honors at the 2015 Asheville 48 Hour Film Project, has completed its 48 Day Film Project feature. Legend Within was written, directed and edited in under two months with casts and crews from Bolivia, Dubai, the Czech Republic and South Africa. Set in modern day, the 94-minute film revolves around an elite society called League of the International Forty-Eight (L.I.F.E.)., whose members are sent on missions to help protect and create a better world.
The U.S. premiere was at the Marquee Cinema in Morganton on Saturday, Jan. 30, and a second screening will take place there Saturday, Feb. 13, at 10 a.m. Tickets are $5 advance/$8 at the door. legendwithinusa.com
• Asheville School of Film is offering a “Film Set Etiquette and Protocols” weekend seminar Saturday, Feb. 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s geared toward anyone looking to work on a film set and learn skills that will help improve productivity as a part of the film crew. Register and pay by Saturday, Feb. 13, to guarantee placement in the class. Weekend workshops “Location Sound Recording on a Budget” and “Spring into Film,” a moviemaking course for youths, will be offered in March. ashevilleschooloffilm.com
Speaking of synchronicity, the day in 2013 that Rep. Tim Moffitt filed the bill to seize Asheville’s water, was also the day that Michigan’s severe new ’emergency manager’ law took effect. The mistakes made by the State led to the poisoning of thousands of Flint, Mich. residents. This will serve as a perfect rebuttal to the State of North Carolina’s argument in front of the NC Supreme Court, that transferring control of drinking water from one govt. entity to another does not “relate” to health and sanitation.
There are no coincidences.