A Boutique Screening !

It has been a little over a year since our dear friend Konrad Hopkins passed away, in Paisley, Scotland - the town where he worked and resided, and where he touched the lives of so many people - encouraging, exhorting, admonishing even! - all who came within his orbit, to reach out of themselves and be bigger - to be the very best they can be! He did this with charm, wit, trenchant persistence and often - with cash money...!

As a timely tribute, as a fond backward glance at this remarkable man, there is a screening of

U & ME & TENNESSEE - an American romance...

at the Ashtree House Hotel in Paisley, just up the hill from Konrad's stomping ground near the Paisley Library & Museum, and the University of the West of Scotland.

Screening time: 2:00 p.m. Sunday, 26. June, 2011

My thanks to the kind proprietors of the Ashtree House Hotel, who generously host a number of local poetry and music events, always well attended by a substantial, lively and creative group of men and women. And also to Bill Kelly, one of Konrad's protegés, who became a real son to him.

It will be good to see Konrad Hopkins on a big(ish) screen again - and to see how this remarkable, open-hearted and honest movie affects a new audience who knew Konrad, but did not know the full story behind his 1950's romance with Tennessee Williams.

As my dear friend the late Lindsay Anderson used to sign off: "Onward!"

See you there!

MARDI GRAS FILM FESTIVAL/DOKFEST, Leipzig !

U & ME & TENNESSEE on its way !

In the past few months a LOT has happened for U & ME & TENNESSEE - an American romance...

We were invited to the DIGITAL DOK MARKET at the DOKFEST LEIPZIG, where the movie was viewed by commissioning editors, cinema programmers and fellow film makers from all over the world. Our posters were right on the front door - proudly announcing:

"A gay art house movie for the whole family!"

and we stealthily placed others throughout the main DOKFEST area at the Museum of Modern Art in Leipzig.

It was a fascinating, stimulating, invigourating week. The highlight for me was a screening of THE BATTLE OF CHILE by PATRICIO GUZMAN. Senor Guzman attended, along with the film's editor PEDRO CHASKELL - two giants who, along with their late cameraman and a small, dedicated team, managed to sharply and poignantly document just what was happening in Chile in the months before the democratically elected government of President Allende was overthrown by Pinochet and his grisly gang.

I got to meet a colleague from the Docu-Link online group - FRANCESCO UBOLDI - visit his website! - and I spent a very interesting hour chatting to PAUL WATSON, the DADDY of British documentary film makers.

Another treat was a spontaneous invitation from Woijech Szczudlo to attend a sceeening at the Polish Cultural Centre of two delightful new documentaries - KREDENS by Jacob Dammas, and NOTHING TO BE SCARED OF by Małgorzata Szumowska - We are hoping to bring them to Scotland for a screening in Glasgow!

All these movies would have delighted Tennessee Williams, I am sure (provided he was reasonably sober!) with their frank, touching and sometimes humourous portayals of democracy in action, the aftermath of death and the mischievous, unforeseen consequences of ethnic cleansing in Poland in the late 1960's and early 1970's .

But the best news recently has been the AUSTRALIAN premiere of U & ME & TENNESSEE!

DAVID PEARCE of QUEERSCREEN e-mailed a few months ago asking to see the movie - and his response was encouraging:

"I really loved it - it was surprising and not really what I expected...He (Konrad Hopkins) is such a great subject and the story he has to tell is fascinating. You possibly get more out of him than he wanted to tell. I really like the film a great deal!"

- and this led to an invitation to be an official selection at the MARDI GRAS FILM FESTIVAL!

The SYDNEY STAR OBSERVER made us the lead article on their film page!

"ONWARD!" as Lindsay Anderson used to say.

Photo copyright Alan Wylie 2006 - All rights reserved.

Text copyright Paul Birchard 2008 -All rights reserved.