by Samantha Sumler
The realm of entertainment stands on the precipice of change. It is a time when artists within the industry are coming together to advocate for the independent voice. It is a time when audiences understand more and more how to support the artistry of film production. It is a time of reflection where Ben Fox, founder and President of the blindCAN Film Festival, feels accepted to return to the industry as he plans fall events.
Fox lives and breathes filmmaking. It’s “the sculpting of the moments with the camera… finding the stories.” Since growing up in Utah, Fox and his family attended the Sundance Film Festival to watch the lines of people, the previews, and the power of film.
One can see the memories roll as Fox tries to answer the age-old question of any cinephile: “What’s your favorite film?” With a long whistle that reverberates off the studio walls, Fox sighs. “I’ll have to go back to the movie that inspired me to become a filmmaker, “Great Expectations (1998).” Fox pauses, then laughs, “By the way, I read the book.”
He continues describing how it felt like he was watching an authentic, engaging art piece for the first time. Fox’s pivotal description of the film encapsulates why the movie has stood the test of time. “Fate, in so many ways, intertwines with this young man’s life and takes him on a journey… and I wondered to myself: could he have made different choices?” It is an existential thought that bounces across everyone’s mind wondering if their choices could have been different.
Fox continues describing his life choices and how the love of his favorite film led him to pick up his school’s old Video Home System (VHS) recorder.
At 18, he filmed 30-second perspectives from people on what God meant to them, with 30-second pauses in between. “I didn’t mean for it to be arty,” Fox describes. “But all of a sudden, Sundance Film Festival put out a call (and) LOVED it; they thought it was super arty.” He laughs, and one can’t help but bask in the glow that shines on Fox’s face.
His description of filmmaking, respect for Sundance, and joy remembering the red-carpet gala would leave anyone with a newfound admiration for cinema. The experience was “legendary.”
Yet a few weeks later, fate intervened. “The retinas started falling off both my eyes,” Fox says when doctors informed him to prepare for blindness. After several surgeries, Fox spent five weeks on his side to avoid tearing the stitches.
“I watched every movie that anybody had on VHS… every single movie, to keep my mind (going),” Fox said. He says he’ll always hold that part of his life as pivotal, recalling the stack of VHS tapes and the people visiting him. It cemented his calling to be a filmmaker, phoning set after set as a backseat director on “every B-movie that somebody brought me.”
Read the rest of the article on the Tallahassee Democrat.
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