HATCH Asheville begins: The latest on the April 15-18 festival

Posted on by Jon Elliston

The first annual HATCH Asheville—a creative-arts-and-mentoring festival featuring more than 25 free events—runs Wednesday, April 15, through Saturday, April 18. The official guide, which appeared as a pullout section in last week’s Xpress, is also available at festival venues and at special distribution boxes in downtown Asheville. In addition, a full schedule, event details and breaking news about the festival can be found at www.HATCHasheville.org.

HATCH a plan: The HATCH Asheville guide, published in last week’s Xpress, will also be available at festival venues and in special distribution boxes downtown.

Festival attendees should note a few late-breaking changes and other details not mentioned in the guide:

• One of the film groundbreakers wasn’t listed in the guide: Marianna Palka (pictured) is an award-winning writer/director/actress from Glasgow, Scotland. Besides working on and appearing in numerous films, she is co-founder of the production company Morning Knight. Palka wrote and directed Good Dick, which is screening at the Fine Arts Theatre several times during HATCH Asheville.
• The festival’s filmmakers will be hosting Q&A sessions after selected screenings: Everything Strange and New, Friday, April 17 (7 p.m. screening); Good Dick, Saturday, April 18 (4 p.m. screening); the directors of all the short films, Friday, April 17 (4 p.m. screening); Made in China, Saturday, April 18 (7 p.m.).
• Two of the artists listed in the guide—music groundbreaker Chuck Lichtenberger and photography mentor Jeff Whetstone—won’t be able to participate in the festival.
• The Design & Technology exhibit reception (Friday, April 17, 6 to 8 p.m. at 21 Wall St.) will feature a geodome immersive-learning environment produced by The Eluminati, a West Asheville-based firm.
• A limited number of official HATCH Asheville T-shirts will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 15, at 21 Wall St.
• Tickets to the closing night celebration (8 p.m. at The Orange Peel, $25) can now be purchased online (at www.theorangepeel.net).

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About Jon Elliston
Former Mountain Xpress managing editor Jon Elliston is the senior editor at WNC magazine.
View all posts by Jon Elliston →

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One thought on “HATCH Asheville begins: The latest on the April 15-18 festival”

  1. AshevilleObserver

    Not sure where this comment belongs, since it’s about the Mountain Express’s adoption of Twitter and its growing emphasis on online technologies as a way of delivering “content.” It also relates to “Citizen Journalism.” But the “content” of this comment grows out of reading about, visiting, and trying to understand HatchFest, so it’s posted here.

    Not clear how the Twitter comments illuminate the HatchFest experience for someone who is not in attendance. For example, someone says, “RT @AskAsheville Eating a bagel outside of the Grove Arcade, getting ready to hear Julie Shapiro on Journalism at Hatch Asheville #hatchavl.” This is Citizen Journalism?

    More to the point, however, are the remarks by SmithMillCreek, who in his or her 140 characters is dubious about the HatchFest experience. For example, “SmithMillCreek:#hatchavl Not saying they aren’t talented, just that they are trivial & frivolous” and “the “creative” panel reveals that they are in fact selfish & clueless” and “Makes me deeply question Hatch. Who invited such eco-clueless people? They’re mostly under 35.
    Apr. 17, 3:39 pm . . SmithMillCreek:#hatchavl Moderator asks creativity panel what the role of designers is, given climate. Their answers: deeply pathetic & self-absorbed.”

    This pretty strong stuff, but hard for a reader to evaluate. Is Twitter supposed to stimulate a dialogue? Why is no one responding to SmithMillCreek? If the value of Twitter is its real time” quality, shouldn’t supporters of HatchFest be replying?

    And, as editors and professional journalists, are the staff of Mountain Express, who are also Twittering about HatchFest, paying attention to SmithMillCreek? Aren’t you curious about what’s prompting his remarks? Should a reporter seek him out and find out what’s going on? Invite him to write a commentary (longer than 140 characters) about HatchFest?

    Maybe the Twitter aspect of Citizen Journalism is not yet well-developed.

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