Slow Food San Francisco held a screening of Mad City Chickens at the Delancey Street Theater tonight, and what a treat it was to be able to meet the filmmakers and see their film on the big screen in THX sound!Longtime readers know I've been a big fan of Tashai and Robert's documentary since I first caught wind of it way back when. I purchased the DVD as soon as it was released and while I couldn't help get a screening here in Redwood City, I was more than happy to drive up to San Francisco to meet them at the Slow Food event.
There looked to be about 80 of us in the auditorium to see the film, and while I'd see the movie several times before, there's something about watching en masse that lends more enjoyment to the subject matter at hand. After all, how often are you surrounded by a group of chicken-lovers (and wanna-bes) seeing the objects of your affection idolized on the screen?
While Robert (the "t" is silent, mind you) and I had exchanged several emails over the last couple years, it was especially thrilling to actually talk chickens with him face-to-face. As you can imagine, he's just as personable as you'd assume given the loving treatment of chickens and chicken owners that he and Tashai ("not touché") infused the film with.
While it would have been nice to pick up another copy of the DVD after the show, it turns out Saturday night's screening in nearby Davis, CA with its 350 attendees(!) cleaned them out of DVD inventory.
There was a short Q&A session after the film, and I appreciate Robert's shout-out to urbanchickens.net during his time on the stage. His pointing me out led to some fun conversations afterwards with fellow attendees about chickens in Oakland, bees and chickens, edible garden design and how the keeping of chickens in Jamaica has changed over the last couple decades.
Robert, if you do wind up screening the film in Jamaica, let me be the first to volunteer to write your travel blog for you! (have a great time on Pt Reyes tomorrow)
Oh, and if you'd like to have your own screening of Mad City Chickens in a gathering space near you (it's HIGHLY entertaining and educational if you're trying to persuade folks to help you change laws to allow chickens in your city), here's how to coordinate one.
3 comments:
Thanks for your great blog!!! You offer a wealth of great chicken-related information. I'm a new urban farmer myself (with Six Chickens) and look forward reading more and viewing "Mad City Chickens," hopefully it will air at the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival!
Thomas, we're working on a largish screening here in Chicago. Trying to get sponsors to underwrite part of the cost is daunting. Any tips would be appreciated!
@urban farmer Thanks for the kind words! Would be great if it'd get into the Mill Valley FF. I know I'd go see it again if it did.
@Linda If you're trying to figure out what kinds of sponsors to approach, take a look at who's done the sponsoring so far (at the tarazod.com/blog) and map that onto the kinds of orgs in your neck of the woods.
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