SLO Film Fest: Katharine Ross and Hollywood Dynasties
Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 1:16PM by Nathaniel R
The opening night event about to begin
Film Festivals are a joy so we rarely pass up the opportunity to discover a new one. We're here in sunny but brisk San Luis Obispo (it's March in California) for the 25th annual edition of their film festival. San Luis Obispo was once named "the Happiest Place in America," by Oprah Winfrey, and at least four locals (kid you not!) tell us this within hours of our arrival! Does it live up to the title? It's hard to say but we did meet a gorgeous super nice 30something couple (hi Connie & Michael) who invited us to sit at their table at the opening night party and they seemed pretty happy to be there. Everyone else did, too. The fairly universal thing about film festival gathering is that everyone seems happy to be right there. Films were meant to be seen in groups, something we hope we don't lose with 'watch it on your phone / at home' ease of streaming. It's the primal sitting 'round the fire' to listen to stories instinct.
Speaking of old forms of storytelling, the opening night festivities went way back, pairing spoken word with music...