San Diego has this whole music thing on point -- and now there’s a film festival to supplement your senses. The Point Music Film Festival comes to our fair city on Nov. 8 for its inaugural run and screens features that follow the development of music styles and those pioneers who expanded the scene, whether you knew it or not.
“Steve White: Painting the World with Pictures” falls into that latter category. The film, co-produced by our own Tom Zizzi and directed by Clint Burkett of Encinitas, follows the late Steve White, the San Diego musician you never knew you should know. Though White went largely unnoticed in the States, he packed huge concert halls across Europe, where his fans came by droves to watch the one-man band stomp, strum and hum his way through song after song.
It’s a labor of love for Burkett, who felt drawn to White’s story and compelled to tell it, and a new venture for Zizzi, who, as a news photographer -- and the man behind the lens for all of SoundDiego host Daye Salani’s segments, and the party scenes on the TV show -- was able to explore long-form for the first time in his career.
“There was always a fire to do documentaries,” Zizzi told us. “But that fire has grown a little hotter now.”
The day-long festival sets up shop at the 10th Avenue Arts Center in downtown on Saturday for dual screenings in two theaters. And of course, it wouldn’t be a music film festival without the music -- James Reams & the Barnstormers, Johnny High-Hat, the Palominos, the Mike Michaels Program and the Grind are performing. It’s a smooth $25 for all the films and music, plus there’s a private rooftop party to kick the whole thing off with free beer and wine. And nothing says "rockstar" like a rooftop party -- fingers crossed someone's there with a camera to document it all.
The Point Music Film Festival takes place at the 10th Avenue Arts Center on Saturday, Nov. 8, beginning at 11 a.m., $25, all ages.
Hannah Lott-Schwartz, a San Diego native, moved back to the area after working the magazine-publishing scene in Boston. Now she’s straight trolling SD for all the music she missed while away. Want to help? Hit her up with just about anything at all over on Twitter, where -- though not always work-appropriate -- she means well.
