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May/June, 2005
No Umbrella Goes to the NPFF
By Nick Callanan
The screening room was perfect:
Two 12-foot projection screens at either end of a large banquet hall. A podium in between the screens, with a spotlight that shone a bit too brightly for presenters to see.
Rows of comfortable chairs were chained together in front of the screens. The dark room and big screens made it easy to watch the hours and hours of paddling footage.
I was like a little kid watching Saturday morning cartoons: eyes glued to the screen, munching on goodies we had smuggled in our backpack.
At the National Paddling Film Festival in Lexington Kentucky on February 26, I sat and watched nine hours of paddling movies straight through. The event was hosted by the Bluegrass Wildwater Association at the Lexington Convention Center, which abuts the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Though we didn’t have a room at the Hyatt, I was thankful for the rooms that new friends did have (and even more thankful for hotel-room safety meetings in between films).
Though the event was a competition, my favorite part was just seeing all the different films.
There was definitely a fair share of tight, kayak porn: like Sickline 3, Twitch V, and more.
Documentaries such as Russian Wave, Saving the Free Magpie (which we missed thanks to a flat tire on the way to the Festival ... grrr) and other films were well done and provided a nice break from the visually intensive kayak highlight reels.
I enjoyed the amateur films most, because of how inspiring they are. And it’s neat how you get to know someone from their film. Dan Piano made a cool film called Cold Summer and I also liked an Upper Yough Story by Paul Lange.
One movie, Chris Gorman’s, had the people squirming in their seats with its R-rated rap song playing over the kayaking footage. That was quite funny, as the family rafting crowd headed for the doors as the killer footage of the Tallulah River in Georgia played over Mannie Fresh’s "Real Big."
The Convention Center is a huge complex, with three floors and a lot of floor space. It was bigger then I thought necessary for the event - which began 23 years ago in a barn. But this was the NPFF’s first year in the Convention Center, and there’s certainly room enough for the festival to grow in the Convention Center.
But, on the other hand, the screening room at the Convention Center was very comfortable. It was easy to concentrate on the films because it was a dark, quiet room. The chairs were pretty comfortable, and the projection screens were 12’ across.
Outside the screening room there was a tradeshow atmosphere. The space was in two parts: one a 50 x 50 carpeted area where Lotus, Jackson Kayak, AW, WaveSport, and others had tables set up. Later, this area would serve as the dancefloor for the band, Born Crosseyed (no one really danced: too much bright, white light over the dance floor).
The other area was a runway alongside a banister that looked down onto two floors of mall-style storefronts below. The runway was 12’ wide and led past the screening room entrance to the door out to the convention lobby. There was a high glass wall separating the lobby from the festival area. A house-run bar ($2.50 for a Kentucky Ale: pretty tasty dark beer. I didn’t get a mixed drink) kept people lubricated, but nobody got hammered too early.
&n
bsp; Come to think of it, maybe it was good it wasn’t in the barn.
A bunch of companies set up tables at the event so people could check out their products: Lotus, Jackson Kayak, WaveSport, FoamieFun.com, Bluegrass Wildwater Association, the Underwear Guys, American Whitewater and probably others too.
They had a podium up in the screening room and a fellow whose name I should probably know was the emcee. He would give brief introductions to the films and draw tickets for door prizes. He was funny because every time he got up to speak, they’d shine the lights right in his eyes and he couldn’t see a damn thing. Poor guy. Adding insult to injury was the fact that the door prize drawings never seemed to acheive a winner.
"How about a yellow ticket ... number 549832? No? Are you guys even checking your tickets? This is ridiculous!!"
I felt for the emcee.
One prize that was awarded, however, was a new Jackson Kayak. This contest was a spontaneous gesture by Jackson Kayak founder Eric Jackson. He challenged the audience to become/renew American Whitewater members and the new members would all get a shot at the boat in a random drawing. A woman named Penny won. (Kristen was just two numbers away!)
Kentucky as a state was a cool place to visit. Lots of pretty fences, lots of pretty horses. Cattle farms, tobacco fields and a lot of friendly people.
The paddlers at the event that I met were mostly from the Southeast: Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas. Despite the fact we had to cross the Mason-Dixon line to attend the event, people were more than friendly; and the talk around the campfire at the Friday night party on the shore of Boone Creek on the eve of the Festival was par with any you might expect to find at the old Big Eddy Campground, the Kayak Haven or at Ball Mountain Campground: lore of epic holes, sick moves, trips gone wrong and successful rescues.
People were impressed we’d traveled down from Maine for the event, and we, in turn, were impressed with the event itself. I hope to make it back there for next year’s show, and hopefully there will be some Maine films entered.
One funny side note was the fact that there were snow flurries at the airport when we landed and when we took off at Lexington Airport. So much for a midwinter getaway from Maine. No seriously, besides the airport, we saw only blue skies in Kentucky, with temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s.
I’d also like to thank the Wildwater Bluegrass Association for working with No Umbrella to provide NPFF footage for our Spring NPFF Paddling Series to benefit the Run of River Project. These guys really do it up right.
For more information visit the Bluegrass Wildwater Association’s home page at www.surfbwa.org
The National Paddling Film Festival 2005
Winners of the 2005 NPFF are:
Best Paddling Image:
John Michael Cox
Best Of Amateur:
A Russian Wave
Becky Bristow
Best Accomplished Documentary:
The Grand Canyon
Rick GusicBest
General boating Accomplished:
Freestyle Trilogy: The art of kayaking
Andrea Desky
Best Of Accomplished:
Freestyle Trilogy: The art of kayaking
Andrea Desky
Best Professional Documentary:
Long Live A Free Magpie
James Mcbeath & Lisa Utrenki
Best Professional Instructional:
The River Runner’s Edge
John Davis
Best Professional General Boating:
TWITCHIN V
Eric Link
Best Of Professional:
The River Runner’s Edge
John Davis
Best Of Festival:
The River Runner’s Edge
John Davis
Paddlers Choice Award:
A TIE
Sickline 3
Olaf Obsommer
&
A Russian Wave
Becky Bristow
The William Nealey Award
The William Nealy award is given to honor extraordinary distinction
in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of
paddlesport arts and imagery, or for outstanding service to the
National Paddling Film Festival.Kent Ford
Awarded in 2005
Past recipients:Bob Sehlinger 2002
John Davis 2003
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
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