The third annual Collinsville Film Festival will take place Friday to Sunday, April 1 to 3, with screenings of four feature documentaries.
One of those is “A Dog Named Gucci” by New Haven filmmaker Gorman Bechard, who made his name on documentaries about rock ‘n’ roll. This time, he tackles an entirely different subject: animal abuse. “I realized there is a power behind documentary films. Maybe they can actually make the world a better place,” Bechard said. “Both wife and I have a passion for dogs.”
“Gucci” tells the story about a horribly abused puppy in Alabama and the man who rescued him. That man eventually spearheaded a successful campaign to make animal abuse a felony in that state. The film also profiles other pet owners and activists who brought similar laws to other states.
Bechard said one of the attractions of starting his story in Alabama and then taking it wider is New Englanders’ lack of knowledge about Alabama. “Being in Connecticut my whole life, I say to people ‘I’m going to Alabama’ and they make a face. That means they know nothing about Alabama today,” he said. “Alabama is looked upon in a bad light, you know, ‘That sort of thing just happens in Alabama.’ But it happens everywhere.”
“A Dog Named Gucci” will be shown Saturday, April 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 3, at 1:45 p.m. It is preceded by the short “Rip It Up and Start Again,” about a love letter. Bechard will be present on Saturday night.
Three other docs will be shown, as well as shorts blocks. The opening-night film is “Thank You For Your Service,” a doc about mental health issues in the U.S. military. It will be shown on Friday, April 1, at 7 p.m., with filmmaker Tom Donahue in attendance. It will be shown with a short film “Birthday,” about a wounded soldier. A party will follow at Gallery 526 at 20 Depot St.
On Saturday, April 2, children’s shorts will be shown at 10 a.m. Adult shorts will be shown April 2 at noon and Sunday, April 3, at 11 a.m. Admission to all shorts events is free.
At 3 p.m. April 2, Neal Broffman’s doc “Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi” will be shown. It tells of a college student wrongly suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings.
The closing night film is “Janey Makes a Play,” a doc about a 90-year-old who writes and directs a community theater play. It will be shown Sunday, April 3, at 4 p.m.
All of the films are shown at Canton Town Hall, 4 Market St. Ten percent of ticket sales benefit the Canton Historical Museum. Single and all-festival tickets are available. Free events require paper tickets also. Details: collinsvillefilmfestival.com.
