Mark Spencer realizes in his role as arts advocate in Northwest Indiana, he is most often associated with producing live theater for the Gary West Side Theatre Guild.
“But I’ve also done about 30 films, most of them short subjects, and I think sometimes people forget that part of my life,” Spencer said.
Spencer will premiere his new 12-minute short subject film “One Thousand Negative Confessions” at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 during the 13th Annual Gary Black Film Festival, founded in 2012 by Indiana State Representative Vernon Smith of Gary and hosted by African American Achievers, one of the groups who coordinate the festival.
Some years, the film screening weekend has also been branded as the Bill Johnson Black Film Festival in honor of Johnson, an actor with local roots and a successful screen career in Los Angeles.
The 13th Annual Black Film Festival returns to the Glen Theater in Gary Feb. 16 and 17, and includes Johnson attending and participating in the events.
Johnson, a 1988 graduate of Emerson Visual and Performing Arts High School in Gary, is also a classmate of Spencer from the Emerson education days, and now, he’s one of the two featured stars in Spencer’s new short film.
“In all these years, this is our first time working on a project together,” Spencer said.
“With Bill’s schedule and my busy life, it’s always been something we wanted to do but never found the right time to make it happen until now.”
In 2022, Spencer and Johnson teamed with Timeca Seretti, another successful screen talent with Gary roots, for a fast-paced 48-hour film shoot.
“Rather than shooting hours and hours of scenes and footage, I’ve found in my past filming of short film works, that about one page of script dialogue translates into about one minute of film time, and that’s been a formula that works for me for less editing,” Spencer said.
Written by Shepsu Aakhu, Spencer directed the film and it was produced by Markael Watkins.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but there are only the two characters in the film and the storyline deals with the subject of faithfulness and infidelity,” Spencer said.
Smith, as founder of the festival, says he always gives his guarantee that all of the films screened are “family friendly.”
“We get a lot of submissions, but we only select works suitable for all audiences,” Smith said.
“We have both feature films to showcase and also our popular series of shorter pieces, all including genres of comedy, crime, drama, romance, and thrillers, all of which feature a specific Black theme.”
The festival kicks off with a Friday opening night reception prior to the film screenings.
The films highlighted are all independent works and the following titles are scheduled during two days:
6:30 p.m. Feb. 16: Feature film “A Heart That Forgives 2” and short subjects “Payout,” “The Invitation,” “Intersectionality,” “Lovebugs,” “They Don’t Live Long,” and “Huey.”
7 p.m. Feb. 17: Feature film “Recession Proof” and short subjects “On Deaf Ears,” “Scars,” “Col-ored Tags,” “Death & Taxes,” “Teddy,” and “One Thousand Negative Confessions.”
Smith said the following week, there is a free documentary festival inviting audiences for more screen time Feb. 22 and 23 in Bergland Auditorium, 3400 Broadway, on the Indiana University Northwest campus with the full schedule, titles and times available at go.iu.edu/4RNd.
Carolyn McCrady, who helps with planning and coordinating the festival, said local underwriters and sponsors have helped the annual festival continue, which she describes as an investment to inspire young future filmmakers to learn from the works of others.
“Mark Spencer and Bill Johnson are two perfect examples of how following dreams and pursuing a career passion can change lives,” McCrady said.
13th Annual Gary Black Film Festival
When: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 and 7 p.m. Feb. 17
Where: Glen Theater, 20 W. Ridge Road, Gary
Cost: $20-$25 Friday or $15-$20 Saturday
Information: 219-887-2046; glentheater.wixsite.com/billjohnsonfilm
Philip Potempa is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.