DURHAM -- Severe storm activity didn't much faze Durham's Full Frame Documentary Film Festival on Saturday. It was a good day to be inside.
Early forecasts prompted organizers to reschedule Saturday night's outdoor screening and food truck fair to tonight - 8:30 p.m. in Durham's Central Park.
The Durham Convention Center lost power for about 20 minutes just around 3:40 p.m., but it was fortuitously timed, coming in between screening blocks.
Otherwise the fest weathered the storm just fine on its third and busiest day. Even as loud thunderclaps rattled crowds in the Durham Convention Center, record-breaking crowds resulted in several sold-out screenings. Early estimates suggested the festival had already passed last year's revenue totals by Friday night, executive director Deirdre Haj said.
The big buzz so far at this year's festival doesn't center around any particular film. Instead, some of the most coveted tickets were to guest curator Rick Prelinger's events.
Filmmaker, writer and free-culture advocate, Prelinger is founder of the Prelinger Archives, a collection of more than 60,000 film clips of U.S. cultural history. The Library of Congress acquired the archives in 2002, and many of the films are available to the public for unrestricted creative re-use.
As part of Full Frame's thematic program, "One Foot in the Archives," Prelinger presented several films and discussions concerning "archival material" - including the old newsreels, home movies and historical footage that so many documentary films rely on.
Clearly, the thematic program resonated with the Full Frame crowd. "We were surprised to see the tickets going so fast," Haj said. "And they were going mostly to the other filmmakers."
On Saturday, Prelinger presented his archival film collection, "Lost Landscapes of Detroit," a sequence of mostly-silent home movies and industrial films of the Motor City in its heyday. Introducing the film, Prelinger encouraged the audience to call out comments and questions, and to interact with the film as it unspooled. "Use of social media devices is also encouraged," he said.
Prelinger specializes in these kinds of unique movie-going experiences. His semi-annual "Lost Landscapes of San Francisco" events have been a Bay Area favorite for years.
In a festival packed with quality films, "Lost Landscapes" stood out in the way it played with the theater-going experience itself. Members of the "Detroit diaspora," as Prelinger termed it, called out from the crowd - sharing memories and jokes. For instance, a home movie of a snow-buried Detroit street prompted one ex-Michigander to yell, "Early June!"
As a Triangle cultural event, the Full Frame festival connects with the community in many ways, direct and indirect. For instance, the Friday evening screening of "The Last Mountain," critical of strip-mining in West Virginia, had a message for local audiences: Mining pollution in the Appalachian headwaters results in heavy metal contamination of all Southeast water supplies.
"This is a real American atrocity happening right before our eyes," said producer Clara Bingham.
Over at the Carolina Theatre, a free film screening demonstrated how Full Frame connects with the Triangle area in a more direct fashion. As part of festival's community outreach program, about 300 local high school students lined up for a free screening of "Force of Nature," a documentary on environmentalist and broadcaster David Suzuki.
Addressing the crowd before the screening, Haj encouraged the room full of students to engage with the films and topics they bring to light. "This is the world you are all inheriting in about five minutes," Haj said.
Meanwhile, back in the convention center, Prelinger participated in a Q&A session with local film archivist Skip Elsheimer, curator of the A/V Geeks Educational Film Archive in Raleigh. In attendance were several members of the Full Frame Fellows program, a workshop for college film students from 14 local and regional colleges.
Full Frame provided some direct and practical advice to at least one member of the community, as well. At the Q&A, an attendee asked how he could preserve home movies.
"Moisture and heat are the big killers," Prelinger advised. "Just put 'em under your bed - film likes the same kind of environment people do."
Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.
Eric Braeden, who plays Victor Newman on ‘The Young and the Restless,’ brought his famed moustache to Bath recently. 
The suits have knocked off the superheroes at the box office. 
The movie takes the old story in new directions, but it raises expectations it never intends to fulfill. 
Coming in second on "American Idol" may still be a path to superstardom, but it no longer offers guaranteed paychecks worthy of the next pop idol or rock star. 
“Man on a Ledge,” “Gone” and “We Need to Talk About Kevin” head the list. 
Koka Booth launches its ‘Movies by Moonlight’ summer series with ‘Crazy Stupid Love.’ 
The heartfelt comedy can barely contain its cast of veteran British actors. 
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij know how to write their way into a grippingly suspenseful movie. They just don’t know how to write their way out, and the uneven result is “Sound of My Voice.” 
The flaccid movie suggests director/writer Lawrence Kasdan has said everything he needed to say long ago – and more cleverly. What to do? Find out with out free entertainment newsletters, delivered straight to your inbox!
Subscribe to Lifestyles - it's free!
Subscribe to Movies - it's free!
Subscribe to Restaurants - it's free!
Subscribe to What's Up - it's free!
