Noble Johnson: a Forgotten Pioneer Invited to Barcelona Indie Awards
Esocrypt Observer Web Update
Gigi Morrison
5/14/20242 min read
River V.C., the director of their short documentaries on YouTube called "Mini-Docs" has informed The Observer That the first episode of the series has been invited to The Barcelona Indie Awards at the Zumzeig Cinema Barcelona. The Award show's website promises "...a vibrant festival with live screenings, interactive Q&A sessions, and networking opportunities, where prestigious awards, cash prizes, and international jurors create the ideal platform for showcasing your work and building connections in the indie film world." River is not known for networking. I met with them to discuss their motives for submitting to a film festival so far from its small viewer base.
G.N.M. How come Barcelona?
RIVER: I too am kind of confused about how it made it that far. I'm not going to pretend like the video was popular, I knew by starting with rather niche people I was taking a risk but this was a nice surprise, I guess I could say this makes me world recognized but it feels undeserved. I don't really know why Noble's story was picked out of the blue but I'm glad it did.
G.N.M. The festival seems more oriented towards networking, is that part important to you?
RIVER: Not really, I'm interested to see the other work there, and appreciate the craft that's there. Without a doubt. But I can't deny that I'm also just curious...
The Barcelona Indie Awards promises a Panel of judges, with OSCAR Nominated Directors, and Raindance Nominees among them. There is also an estimated 100 people in live attendance, as well as streaming on the event's website.
G.N.M. Elaborate on that?
RIVER: I slander D.W. Griffith pretty hard. I wanted to make a point that I don't care how good of a filmmaker he was, he was a F***ing Racist. He stoked the flames of hate groups in reconstruction America and in doing that pretty much wrote the book on how to use cinema to justify or dampen atrocities. I want to see the judges and audience reaction to me talking about him like that, and I want them to learn about Noble.
G.N.M. Why does it matter to you if people hear you shit-talk a dead guy?
RIVER: I...I think that it bothers me that people still consider him a great mind. Most of what he did someone did before him just in a shorter form. I believe over 80% of silent-era films are lost. We should be focusing on gathering what relics we have left, not glorifying people who don't deserve it. Bringing him down is important to me because it raises the question of who do we worship? maybe the answer is nobody. Maybe we just preserve what we can, learn what we can, and appreciate what we can.
G.N.M. How can our viewers help?
RIVER: Share it, Comment and like it of course. I did actually make a new thumbnail I'm proud of. I didn't like the baseball card like ones I had before. These look much better as standalone pieces and in a row. I truly appreciate everyone who takes the time to listen to the stories I tell. It means the world that Esocrypt exists, the viewers like you is real.
