I feel strangely liberated. Last week my son started calling me a jerk and he hasn't really stopped since (sometimes he varies his name-calling and classes me as an idiot). I was expecting this to happen - I don't know anyone who didn't consider their father an arshole at some point in their lives - but maybe not quite so soon (Sam is 5). But the change in nomanclatures, from "you're my dad" to "you're stupid" have allowed me to become more detached in my parenting.

So why is a grown man being so sensitive about such a petty thing? I guess I hold great store by Sam's opinion of me. If we're not getting along 100% then I'm failing in some way - even though it's hard to work at a 5-year-old's level all the time (it's hell on the spine, for one thing).

Before much longer Sam will be calling me worse names and I'll try not to take it to heart. Even though the abuse is inevitable, I like to think that deep down, my son will feel like he doesn't really mean it. In the meantime, I'm trying not to call him names in response... but what else can you do when you're trying to communicate with a preschooler? Like I always say, when in munchkin land, do as the munchkins do.

We planned this year’s Folly Felder Film Festival to be a smaller, simpler event than last year. It didn’t turn out that way. Both nights ran on way past my bedtime (9.30 p.m.), and on the second night the audience threatened to revolt when we ran out of booze; a quick dash to the nearest liquor store rectified matters.

The best films submitted to the festival won trophies, certificates, a mention on our website and, for first place, a check for $500. For the record, this year’s victors were:

• VERY HONORABLE MENTION: ANDY’S STORY by Richard Almes
• BRONZE PALMETTO AWARD: CATNAP by Dayton Colie
• SILVER PALMETTO AWARD: LE CROISSEMENT by Brad Jayne
• GOLD PALMETTO AWARD: THE GIBBERING HORROR OF HOWARD GHORMLEY by Steve Daniels.

The winners are a good reflection of the varied entries we received this year. Andy’s Story is a documentary covering child abuse, a subject close to Richard Almes’ heart. I wasn’t sure what To make of Richard when he first called me, asking if I knew any child actors who play mistreated kids. But the worthy results calmed any concerns I might have had.

Catnap is a comedy by Dayton Colie, which sent the judges into a fit of hysterical laughter. Colie is a graduate student in the Media Arts Program at the University of South Carolina. He believes that media arts will benefit his students at Stall High School and is aggressively trying to establish the school's program as one of the best in the state. He will soon be filming in the Dominican Republic, and producing and directing his first feature length movie.

Along with Catnap, he provided a stop motion animation epic called Action Figure Dance Party for the festival, which also got a raucous response from the audience.

Le Croissement is another one of Brad Jayne’s wild ideas. Last year he sent us Untitled Timer Project, a short with no dialogue and no ending. This year, he decided to film a French movie in Charleston SC with American actors. We only got one complaint from an audience member – a French lady called Simone, who didn’t like the “broken accents.”

The Gold Palmetto Award winner truly deserved first prize. The Gibbering Horror of Howard Ghormley had to be shot twice; trying to save money, director Steve Daniels sent all his negatives to get processed at once & they were destroyed. It took a total of 18 months to make the 12 minute frightener.

Daniels dropped my colleagues a line today, saying:

"I was utterly surprised, yet utterly excited that The Gibbering Horror of Howard Ghormley was selected for your Palmetto Award. I am so thankful the Folly Felder Film Festival was established to give SC and other regional filmmakers an opportunity and a venue for their films to be seen by an audience who loves and appreciates independent filmmaking. Once again, on behalf of myself and all the people who worked extremely hard on making Ghormley what it is, we thank you and the judges of the Folly Felder Film Festival for awarding our film with your festival's top honor."

Sounds like a nice guy. We’re now accepting entries to our 2006 festival – you read it here first, folks…

Flattery

A little while ago, my editor at the Charleston City Paper paid me the greatest compliment I’ve ever received from a newspaperman. This was his response to an article I’d written:

thanks Nick. looks good

(NB - For someone who has to oversee thousands of words a week, my ed’s a man of few of ‘em.)

I’d worked hard on the story and I felt ambivalent about the results – I usually feel that if I’d had more time, I would have written something better – until I read his e-mail. It made me feel good, positively charged, complimented. It gave me the wherewithal to start on the next feature, covering the Halsey Gallery's Alive Inside exhibition.

I must be pretty shallow to allow such an offhand comment to affect me. Am I really that sensitive? This week, my editor read another piece and said:

thanks man.

From him that was quite a compliment, although I didn’t feel quite as elated as the last time. But as I continue to write my reviews and articles, a small part of me hopes for another flattering remark to boost me again. Maybe it’s got something to do with the solitary nature of my job. It’s hard to type and pat myself on the back at the same time.