June 20th and 21st saw Serenity descend upon Portland, Oregon as the Hollywood Theatre hosted the Rose City’s part of the 2008 ‘Can’t Stop The Serenity’ event. The international event, now in it’s third year, benefits Serenity and Firefly creator Joss Whedon’s favorite charity Equality Now with the Portland screenings also raising money for the Women’s Film Initiative. ‘Can’t Stop The Serenity’ has become a yearly Mecca of sorts for Portland fans of the film’s television genesis Firefly. These fans affectionately refer to them
selves as ‘Browncoats’, taken from the separatist band of main characters from the televisions series.
Things kicked off Friday evening with a cocktail party at a local pub, the Moon and Sixpence, where those in attendance had a chance to meet and talk to Amanda Sullivan, the Director of Equality Now’s Women’s Action Network. From there it was over to the Hollywood Theatre for the first Serenity screening of the weekend. Amanda also spoke before the movie and the first raffle was held following the film.
Saturday began with Serenity in the early afternoon followed by more great items being raffled. The second screening of the day took a break from the Whedonverse and featured two special Film Action Oregon films which were presented as part of the Women’s Film Initiative. First up was the award winning short film Person, Place or Thing. Written and directed by Elle Martini and starring Zoe McLellan, this short shows a snippet of the life of Alexis, a drifter living out of her car and what happens when her routine is changed due to an unexpected encounter. Elle introduced her film and talked a bit about how Film Action Oregon really came through for her and made it financially possible for her to finish the project.
The second film, A Sentence For Two, was written by Randi Jacobs and Dee Dixon and directed by Jacobs. This documentary presents first-person narratives of three pregnant inmates and one ex-offender who gave birth during her incarceration. The documentary focuses on how each woman ended up in prison, what pregnancy and incarceration is like and ultimately, what happens to their babies and the families they have on the outside.
During a break in the screenings, we took a few minutes to talk to the man responsible for first organizing the Serenity charity screenings, a man known to everyone as The One True B!x. This year, B!x stepped back from working in an organizational capacity for the event and was there strictly as an attendee. Being an observer and seeing it from the outside allowed him for the first time see how the event has grown over the last three years. We also took the opportunity to speak with the Artistic Director of the Hollywood Theatre, Richard Beer. Richard talked about the Women’s Film Initiative and what events and films are coming up at the Theater. Look for our full interview with Richard up at the end of the week.
After the WFI films was the final Serenity screening of the weekend. Before the movie began, two special guests took the stage to provide fans with a bit of insight on some upcoming Whedonverse projects at Dark Horse Comics. Scott Allie, editor for Dark Horse Comics Serenity line and Sierra Hahn, an associate editor on the Buffy Season 8 ongoing series both gave a rundown of what could be expected from their titles over the coming months. Scott spoke about his long association with Joss Whedon in the arena of comics and hinted at things to come. Sierra talked about leaving a great job at DC Comics and living in New York City to move over to Dark Horse and Portland for the opportunity to work on Buffy Season 8. She then read an introduction written by Adam Baldwin for the upcoming Serenity: Better Days TPB.
The last of the donated items were raffled off after the final Saturday night screening, including a hand-made stuffed Serenity ship which even included stuffed likenesses of the ship’s crew. However, that didn’t mark the end of the evening, as things moved down once more to where the weekend began at the Moon and Sixpence for a final shindig. There, the Portland Browncoats enjoyed a costume contest along with an evening of mingling and merriment.
‘Can’t Stop The Serenity 2008’ was a great weekend where fans across the country gathered together to support a terrific film, celebrate friendship and raise much needed money for two great causes. Thanks go out to the PDX Browncoats and the Hollywood Theatre for an amazing shindig!
Want more from the ‘Can’t Stop The Serenity’ 2008 Portland screenings? Head on over to our photo gallery and take a gander!