Filmmaker with local roots tells “a story about transformation”

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A Eureka moment, perseverance in the face of adversity, and a deck of credit cards were the prime ingredients for documentary filmmakers who spoke Saturday on “The Lure of the Real” as part of the Williamstown Film Festival. Rick Derby, who grew up in Hinsdale, took 13 years to make his documentary titled Rocks With Wings, recounting the dramatic journey of a Navajo girls’ high school basketball team to the New Mexico state championship. “It’s a moment of clarity, less then a breath, and you think, ‘Holy shit, this is it!’ Now my life is committed to doing this,” said Derby, describing how he chose his topic, and who called his film “a story about transformation.” “Where documentary falls off is into preaching and politically correct hogwash,” he said. Derby, along with Jeff Blitz and Sean Welch, director and producer, respectively, of prizewinning and U.S. festival circuit favorite Spellbound, spoke on the obstacles and tribulations a documentary filmmaker must overcome to first, make the film, and second, get it out to an audience. And the filmmaker’s journey can itself be a dramatic one. “Sean and I didn’t have any credits at all,” said Blitz. “We were just a couple of guys who happened to own a video camera contacting National Spelling Bee families. . . If I was a parent I’d probably say No.” Blitz was a graduate student in film, taking a break from actively trying to figure out the topic for his first documentary when he happened to see the final rounds of the 1997 National Spelling Bee on television. “I could tell there were incredible stories behind these kids, and an intense drama that played out here,” he said. “I had never competed in a spelling bee, and I wasn’t particularly interested in spelling . . . but I felt responsible for bringing to life an American story.” Welch initially rebuffed Blitz’s pitches to come on board, then relented when he saw, in Blitz’s apartment, “computer printouts with all these kids’ bios and photos and a map of the United States with push pins. I always wondered what would’ve happened had it not been me at the apartment but an F.B.I. agent.” “It’s so expensive,” said Blitz. “I had foolishly thought if it was us, and the little video camera that we owned, it would be almost free.” Said Welch, “the film was made by Jeff, Sean, Master and Visa.” Their first visits with the families were “just talk, without equipment, to get to know them,” he said. In response to a question, he said they remain in contact with the families. “They’re really proud of (the film),” he said. Said Derby, “You can tell when a documentary hits the nail on the head.” His voice conveyed emotion as he quoted the Mexican father in Spellbound saying “’I’ve accomplished my life’s journey’” (through his child’s achievement). Moderating the discussion at the Water Street Grill Saturday were Williams College English professor and member of the WFF board of directors Shawn J. Rosenheim, and festival director Steve Lawson. The festival, in its fourth year, resumes this weekend. “It’s an intensely creative process,” said director/producer Derby. Said Blitz, “Every choice you make as a filmmaker comes from such a personal place. If (the subjects) are comfortable with you, they’ll open up. “(A documentary film) is a very weird blending of the filmmakers’ story and your story.” The documentarians, despite penury, maintained their determination to retain creative control, and not to compromise their vision. “The more we talked about it (signing on early with HBO or the Learning Channel), we decided to go out and do it ourselves, to take the risk,” he said. Blitz and Welch said “we don’t answer questions about how much it cost, but it was a heck of a lot of money.” And while “most documentarians dream of a theatrical release, more realistically, it’s likely to be television.” Spellbound is scheduled for release in theaters this spring. Rocks With Wings will air on PBS Dec. 11 (check local listings). Derby has “a very long resume” working on Hollywood feature films and on Dateline, but his documentary took “a tremendous amount of sacrificial toll,” he said. “As a creative documentary maker you’re really on your own,” he said. Derby recalled that he “got bounced around” among funders who tried unsuccessfully to pigeonhole his film in the various categories of Indian, African-American, women, and sports. As for what to tackle next, Blitz said he is “waiting for whatever is going to be number two to come to me in the same way. Part of creating my own luck is letting the project find me. I intend to hang on and let that happen.” Welch said he intends to “sleep for two or three months.” Derby’s projects include a romantic comedy set in Israel, a remake of Sullivan’s Travels, and a series on hockey. Asked to name their movie-making heroes, Derby named Erroll Morris, documentarian who made The Thin Blue Line. Derby’s wife Sandra Fong-Ging , who was also involved in the movie, named her husband who, despite “no money and so much rejection from people really stuck to it . . . He’s a hero to me even though he hasn’t made a lot of money.” The couple were accompanied by their daughter Kemly, 31/2, whose Navajo name, “Nanabah” means the continuing circle of life. Derby, as a teenager growing up on Ashmere Lake in Hinsdale, came to films at Images, where his documentary was screened Saturday in its New England premiere. In rehab for adult children of alcoholics, he watched educational films and remembers thinking, “Damn, I could do much better than that.” His first documentary was Voices of Sarafina, a behind the scenes look at that 1980s musical, a musical he calls “1980s politically correct hogwash.” “I had worked on big films, and I thought, ‘Is this all my life is going to be?’ When I thought about documentaries I thought that was something you did when you couldn’t get a job in film.” But a psychic he consulted told him he would work in documentaries and, overriding his objections, assured him “You’re going to love working in documentaries,” because the form would challenge his artistic creativity. Derby was at the Telluride Film Festival when he learned from some doctors from Shiprock, N.M., about the prowess of the Shiprock High School girls’ basketball team, all Navajo players, and their intense young black coach. “Everything derailed,” said Derby. “I really wanted to do something with that,” calling the film a story of “heart and blood.” Derby said he is glad fate took a hand. “It comes together when it does,” he said. “Documentaries are kind of metaphysical.” “The creative process of making documentaries is organic, holistic.” Blitz said “I had in mind what perfect shape it would be, and I had to let go and follow the story. I was trying not to be too committed to the story that I was telling.” Similarly, Derby’s film is vastly more complicated than the story of a demanding black coach who takes on a team of “oppressed, fatalistic Navajo and makes them successful.” “Sometimes stories pick you,” he said, adding, “The Lady Chieftains won this year’s state championship, by the way.” Derby recalled watching films at Images as a youngster, and spoke of how living in an area so full of culture allowed him to “cross over into that world.” His film, he said, has met a “mixed reaction” in Shiprock. “It’s a home movie for Shiprock,” he said. “A lot of the players have said to me, ‘Now I understand.’ The players have embraced the film.” But, he noted, it took eight months before he was “finally allowed to show the film at Shiprock High School.” After the screening, Derby talked to this reporter about growing up in a hilltown where only two television channels were available, and of riding his bicycle for miles to catch a bus to Pittsfield to go to the movies. He also attended plays at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge. “It fed me,” he said. He graduated from Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton in 1976, went to Westfield State for two years, and transferred to Boston University where he graduated with a major in film and English in 1980, then headed for New York City, where he still lives. “Most people in my family worked with their hands, and film making is pretty much cobblering, with your hands,” he said. “In film school I saw a lot of people making films about a homeless person, a dancer or a painter,” he said. “I said I’m not going to make a film until I have something to say.” Navajo culture is, he said, “not a natural fit” with modern American society. “It was interesting to me to see how this conquered people, enduring this invisible holocaust, resurrect themselves,” he said. “How did they do it and not lose themselves? Was this cultural vestige lost or enhanced?” The girls’ team lost their first serious attempt at the championship “because forces were not aligned properly. In our culture, it’s win at all costs. With Navajo culture, they couldn’t win unless it was in a holistic way.” “I stopped seeing the reservation as a desolate place,” he said. “Shiprock because the ultimate home.” “Somebody signed me up to this before I was born,” he said.
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North Adams Jewelry Store Has New Owner

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

Cheryl Coppens put out a call for someone to take over the jewelry business she began last spring  — jewelry maker Alexandra Padilla answered the call.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Artful Jeweler has a new owner who is looking to expand its offerings.

Cheryl Coppens opened the jewelry store in May, showcasing local artists, offering fine jewelry, and jewelry repair.

But a new grandson in Texas, and the difficulties in flying back and forth to see him, had her looking to move closer to him.

Last month, she posted on the business's Facebook that she wanted someone to take over the space and continue the venture. Alexandra Padilla reached out to her and Coppens said she met all her criteria she was looking for in anew owner.

"You have to really want to be in retail. You have to want to be in this community, priced where people can afford it. Alex is native to North Adams. Her husband, she's got two great kids, so it just felt like they would be able to continue the store," Coppens said. "So the criteria really was somebody that would work the store, not somebody that would just come in and hire employees. I didn't want that."

Padilla started taking over the store in the beginning of December. She has been selling jewelry for about three years, and has an online shop, and has worked in wholesale jewelry for about 15 years.

"I always wanted to have my own thing on it, and I wanted to bring something new, and I want to involve my family, my kids do something, and I want to be independent," she said.

Now Padilla showcases her jewelry in the Ashland Street store and plans to keep some of the local artists' items, like stained glass made by Coppens' mother.

Padilla customizes jewelry and tailors pieces to her customers.

She plans to work around her job at Berkshire County Head Start so she can open store for more hours. 

She also plans to redesign the store a little bit and bring in a couple more lines, like more rings and pearls. 

The store is open on Saturdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursdays 9 to 2, Fridays 9 to 6, and Sundays 9 to 3. The store has also been open on Mondays 10  to 5 and Tuesdays 10  to 3 for the holidays. 

Padilla thanks Coppens for trusting her and hopes customers continue to support the Artful Jeweler.

"Thank you for trusting me. I'm going to try and do my best and work hard to make it happen," she said. "This is our first time selling retail, so we hope the community supports us in here."

Coppens will be helping Padilla until she is comfortable operating the store on her own. She said it will continue to be a space of community support.

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