Young Filmmaker Witnessed Tragedy While in NYC

Adam Blair, a young independent filmmaker from Rochester, traveled to New York City early in September, excited at the prospect of having his film, "One Thousand Words," screened at the New York International Independent Film Festival. He got a lot more than he bargained for, becoming witness to an historic and horrifying event.

Blair, a 1997 graduate of Rochester High School, graduated from R.I.T. in May with a B.F.A. degree in Film Video Production. Having his film accepted at the festival in New York was another step on the path to what he hopes will be a successful professional career as a film director.

Blair arrived in Manhattan Thursday, Sept. 6 to attend the festival’s opening night gala at Madison Square Garden, which honored the filmmakers and gave them an opportunity to meet other filmmakers and people in the film industry. Five days after the festival began, he was in a bank on 29^th Street in Manhattan, about 30 blocks north of the site of the World Trade Center, when he heard that two commercial airliners had hit the twin towers.

"I walked as far down as I could get, which was about 10-12 blocks away on Canal Street," Blair recalled. "I saw the buildings collapse. Many people were just standing in the streets staring. There were people covered in ashes and other people were helping them and getting them water. Some people with cars parked on the street turned on their radios and 30 or more people would be gathered around each car to hear what was being said."

"That night I just sat tight in my hotel room and watched the CBS news," Blair said. "It was horrifying."

"The festival was closed down Sept. 11 & 12," Blair explained, "but it re-opened Sept. 13. They took the films that had to be canceled and squeezed them into the schedule for the remaining days." Over the course of the festival, 200 films were screened at three different theaters in Manhattan.

He said the festival lived up to his expectations, with a good turnout for most of the films and "a lot of camaraderie among the filmmakers."

Blair had his own cheering section at the Saturday, Sept. 15 premiere of his film, since his parents, Cheryl Blair and Ray Harvey of Rochester and Ron and Leslie Blair of Hancock, traveled to the city for the event.

Blair wrote and directed "One Thousand Words," and was co-producer of the film with Angelo Mancuso, one of the actors in the film. The original music for the film’s soundtrack was co-written by Blair and his friend, Peter Slater. The two also performed the music with another friend, drummer John Mansfield of Warren, and recorded it with Roger Stauss at Noteworthy Studios in Granville.

Where to now? Blair has submitted "One Thousand Words" to the Telluride Indi Fest and the Slam Dance Independent Film Festival, both in Colorado. Slam Dance runs at the same time as the famous Sundance Film Festival. He said he should hear in November if his film gets accepted and has plans to submit it to other festivals as well.

Meanwhile, on the home front, Blair is currently working on a historical film to commemorate the 200^th birthday of the Rochester Federated Church. He’s also working on writing the script for a new full-length feature that he hopes to start filming within the next year.

By Martha Slater