ANGELO LYNN

Lloyd Komesar received well-earned recognition at what was a fabulous 10th Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. At both the opening night ceremony last Wednesday and the VTeddy Awards on Sunday night, the one-man, high-energy force behind the concept and launch of the festival received multiple standing ovations from a grateful and admiring audience.

The admiration came from more than the hundreds of festival patrons who attended this year’s five-day event that screened 130 films. It also came from the greater-Middlebury community as speakers and film honorees credited Komesar with adding greatly to the town’s “social capital,” even more than the economic benefit it also brings.

It’s no small feat that the greater Middlebury area now has the opportunity each year to see experimental films and discuss them at length with friends, new acquaintances and film directors. As a community we now understand more about the craft of filmmaking, about their production, and the trials and tribulations directors, actors and producers face. We interact with the young hearts and minds who are pursuing their creative craft of entertainment and truth-telling — and see how it can have power beyond words.

The conversations shared, the meanings pondered, the enlightenment gained from new insights are revelatory and, as in all theater, tragic as well as uplifting. To be an integral part of such a festival is to come away transformed, renewed, energized and awed by the films witnessed.

To recall the early years of MNFF and this year’s event is also to understand how much Komesar and MNFF’s Artistic Director Jay Craven have accomplished. They took a new concept with a few dozen films to watch over three days (into a somewhat skeptical but supportive community) and grew it into a five-day event with 133 films — chosen from 584 films submitted from 44 countries. They’ve made it an internationally known festival, ranked in FilmFreeway’s top 100 out of more than 10,000 film festivals worldwide.

The festival also now boasts top names in the film industry as witnessed this year with honorees Oliver Stone, John Patrick Shanley and Paul Tazewell. In addition, $13,500 in prizes were given to 10 filmmakers, with special awards going to six others, and $8,000 to the five celebrated honorees.

But what transcends this festival is community. Thanks to Lloyd’s irrepressible energy, enthusiasm, tenacity and sheer joy in what he does, the community caught his bug for film and responded in kind. Donors have stepped up with prize money, local residents share their homes with filmmakers, restaurants and inns and businesses share their goods and services to make everyone feel welcome and part of the MNFF family.

In short, Lloyd’s enthusiasm has always been contagious, and it’s what has made this festival glow brighter than so many others.

After 25 years in the film business working with the Disney corporation, Komesar allowed a bit of self-congratulations, saying Sunday night that creating MNFF has been a “worthy second chapter of my career.”

And to paraphrase his impromptu comments when given his own VTeddy for the newly created Komesar Prize to Commitment to Culture and Community he said of his work these past 10 years, “We had fun, worked hard, had some crazy times, and I think we wrote a little history here in Middlebury.”

While the festival is all about the new films and filmmakers, this year was also Lloyd’s time in the limelight as he has opted to step aside and hand off the role of executive director to Caitlin Boyle, a well-known filmmaker, activist and leader of the independent film sector. That the year-around position can now be fully funded is a testament to the festival’s financial success and community support of an event that has become a community and regional institution.

Lloyd claims the festival will benefit from new leadership, new ideas and energy and only grudgingly admits he’ll enjoy having a “supporting” role on the sidelines while letting others coordinate the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day activities and the months of planning it takes in preparation. And if history is prologue to what comes next, we’re certain Lloyd’s supporting role will also earn top honors.

So, kudos Lloyd.  The accolades pale to what you, Jay, and your team have achieved, but also to how you did it — by keeping the work fun and exciting all the while bringing mountains of joy to us all.

Angelo Lynn