First Person Arts

A freelance filmmaker who claims he doesn’t watch a whole lot of movies, Andrew David Watson draws inspiration from “life experiences, documentary work, and media design.” While he has field produced much work for clients like the Independent Film Channel and Current TV, Watson also has a passion for documentary film, including his most recent endeavor: a piece on “world famous sword swallower” Red Stuart entitled Down the Hatch, which he will present (in part) during the April 9 First Person Salon at the Gershman Y. You can learn more about Watson and his projects at his website.

At the premiere First Person Salon at the Gershman Y, Miss Koco debuted Pieces of Koco, an experiment in “letting go of things” and “collecting stories” along the way. After a lifetime of (sometimes unintentionally) collecting chotchkeys, figures, and other bits and pieces, Miss Koco has decided that it’s time to give these pieces a new start: some will be given away, some will be recycled, and all will be cataloged. Miss Koco will return to the First Person salon stage this month to update her audience on the progress of her work—and perhaps bring along a few friends to share their part of the story. You can find out more about Miss Koco’s project here, and follow the adventures of one of her given-away pieces—aptly named Prague the Frog—at his blog.

Mt. Airy memoirist Lori Tharps just released a book—Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain, part travel essay and part love story—that recounts her sojourn from her hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to the coast of southern Spain, where she would meet her husband. Lori will be reading and signing books in Chestnut Hill on April 10 and at Temple University on April 15.

And unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you’re aware that the seventeenth annual Philadelphia Film Festival is now underway. Documentary pieces helmed by both veteran and up-and-coming local filmmakers are playing at locations throughout the city. Take, for instance, first-time director Katrina Bowen’s eye-opening doc Traces of the Trade, which unearths the history of her ancestors, the largest slave traders in the northern United States. (The film will screen at a special post-festival event at the National Constitution Center.)

Other Philly-related docs include Richie Ashburn: A Baseball Life, which follows the titular Phillies legend; Rocketman, an endearing portrait of the trials and tribulations of 70-year-old local folk singer Jerry Burrus; and Eleven Minutes, which follows “Project Runway” winner and Lehman, Pa.-native Jay McCarroll as he launches his first fashion line.

And don’t forget some of the festival docs we’ve already covered here on Found in Philly, including native Joe Barber’s Electile Dysfunction and Temple U instructor Eugene Martin’s Bloodlines Video Diary Project.