Phil attends the Opening Night of the 30th Annual Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival - March 3, 2020

It's that most amazing time of the year!! That's right folks!! Tonight was the opening night of the 30th Annual Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival!! I am expecting to see some of the very best in independent, foreign, and documentaries here for the next thirteen days! Once again I got to see some of my old friends like Jason Wiener from Jason Watches Movies as well as my old buddy Roy from the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Terra Wood-Taylor, Michael Rabehl, and a few others. At this year's festival I hope to once again make new friends and as well as new memories. Back in 2014, I set an all-time personal record by attending 60 screenings in 13 days! Let's see if I can even bet that record this year!!

The opening night was held once again at the beautiful California Theatre on South First Street. There was the traditional red carpet with numerous filmmakers talking about their films to the press and posing for the cameras. Soon I found my way towards the front of the stage, bouncing in my seat with excitement. Then at 7:15pm, the lights slowly dimmed and the show began!

Cinequest director and co-founder and Halfdan Hussey came out and greeted everyone and thanked all our sponsors. He then had the theatre screen this year's festival trailer, which was done once again by SF Bay Area production company Guerrilla Wanders. We also saw SJ Mayor Sam Liccardo, a touching and inspiring trailer from Stand Up to Cancer (which was founded by Laura Ziskin, who passed away from breast cancer in 2011). After, Halfdan introduced Dave Gilliam from Cisco, TJ Rogers from Clos de la Tech (one of the new sponsers of the festival), and comedian Matt Donaher performed a hilarious stand-up that had the audience in stitches! We then saw the funny animated short film CRUEL SHOES, narrated by Steve Martin,and directed by Kevin Peterson, who also introduced his short. And then, it was time to watch the festival's opening night film JOHN PINETTE: YOU GO NOW.

The documentary tells the life of comedian John Pinette, who would become one of the hottest and fastest rising young comedian of all time. Told by family, friends, and peers like Lewis Black, Dane Cook, Bill Burr, Howie Mandel, and Iliza Shlesinger just to name a few, we're told the story of Pinette's early years dealing with loss and personal setbacks to becoming one of the biggest stars in stand-up, to his tragic fall from grace, his redemption and comeback, to his final days. Throughout his ups and downs, we get a better understanding of who John Pinette actually was; the man behind the laughs, the fat jokes, and his smile he wore to cover up his pain.

Truth be told, I had totally forgotten about John Pinette. I used to see his Comedy Central specials back in the day, and it was fantastic to see this footage in the documentary, along with several clips of him doing his stand-up throughout the years. I found myself laughing uncontrollably one minute, then wiping away my tears the next. Pinette hid his pain well from the rest of the world, and it was so tragically sad when he passed away on April 5, 2014 at only 50 years old. After the screening, there was a Q&A with the filmmakers, which was very informative and heartfelt.

Now I just became aware that Cinequest here will be having an encore screening of the documentary on Monday, March 9 at 6:45 at the Hammer Theatre. This is the first time Cinequest ever had an encore of their opening night film, which makes this a very rare and special occasion.

After the Q&A, everybody headed over to the lavish after party, which was held over at The Glass House on 12 South Market Street, where there was plenty to eat, drink, and music to shake our booties to all night long! Drinks were once again provided by Tito's Vodka, as well as by  Hendrick's Gin,  Drake's Brewing, and J. Lohr Winery!!

JOHN PINETTE: YOU GO NOW was the perfect film to kick off Cinequest 30! And there's still 12 days of movie watching left! So what are you waiting for? Now you can partake in this very important downtown event. The 30th Annual Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival runs from March 3rd to March 15th!! To view film schedules, information about the festival, and to purchase tickets and passes, visit their website at www.cinequest.org.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!