Last night I met my friend Lyda and her associate produce Erin at Passports Resturant for a glass of wine and an appetizer before Lyda’s screening of Love and Other Anxieties. They both loved Eric’s popovers (who doesn’t?) and we were all stunned by the enormity of the crabcakes, which were simply perfect. Golden brown and a tiny bit crunchy on the outside, and within, very nearly all crabmeat, with just a very small amount of breading to hold the crabmeat together; served on a bed of fresh greens and roasted red bell peppers.
We then walked the two short blocks to the Cape Ann Community Cinema. Movie tickets included dinner. That struck me as a little odd and I didn’t quite understand how they could pull that off. Dinner is prepared by none other than neighboring Virgilios–a piping hot concoction of pasta, chicken, and broccoli in a creamy cheese sauce along with a lovely garden salad and ginormous chocolate cupcake. And Cape Ann Community Cinema recently acquired their liquor liscense. You can enjoy a glass of wine while dinning, sitting on a large comfy sofa, all while viewing the movie.
Kent, Lyda, Erin, and Rob
Lyda’s screening went beautifully and her movie played to a crowd of enthusiastic and engaged attendees. The audience stayed for about 45 minutes following the film for an informal talk with Lyda. I think we all found the discussion highly informative and inspiring. Special thanks to Rob for hosting Love and Other Anxieties.
Erin and Lyda
Check out Cape Ann Community Cinema’s summer long schedule–what a fabulous events venue Rob has going here. By the way–any leftover dinner goes straight to our local shelter.
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Love and Other Anxieties is having it’s Gloucester premier at the Cape Ann Community Cinema on Monday night. I loved the film–hearfelt, poignant, and funny–I think you will too! Come join us Monday night. Tickets include dinner and the screening of the movie with Lyda.
Kent, Lily, and Lyda
Kim Smith: We’ve been friends now for at least ten years, when I helped you with the interior design of your home.
Lyda Kuth: I had heard about you—you had been in the film business early on as a set designer, and then you turned interior designer. As soon as we met, I felt we had a shared sensibility, which made working together such a pleasure. I remember you encouraging me to use a fabric for a couch that I was afraid would be too “busy” for my taste. But you encouraged me to be bold, and you were absolutely right.
KS: When I saw Love and Other Anxieties in Somerville, I thought it was so beautiful and heartfelt. You speak about your marriage with Kent in such an open way. Everybody who is married asks the kind of questions you ask. It’s a story that everyone can relate to, certainly anyone who is married or in a long-term relationship.
LK: The film is intended to be provocative, and perhaps allow people to voice some things that don’t often get voiced.
KS: I love that your film has examined marriage so intently, by examining yourself, but in such a way that feels universal. One of these themes is wondering what life will be like after the kids leave home. Is anticipating the empty nest part of why you made Love and Other Anxieties?
LK: Yes, but what’s funny about that, this was largely unconscious at the outset. Over the course of making the film, which took five years from start to finish, it became blatantly obvious. I realize that one of the things I hope audience members take home is that there is a “second life” that starts to happen after your kids leave home, and it can be equally as rich.
KS: Seeing your daughter Lily on screen, getting ready for prom, reminded me so much of what it felt like for me, when my daughter Olivia was a senior and I was telling her how wonderful college would be but thinking, “Oh my god, she’s leaving and what will our family unit feel like with one is person missing? We’ll never be a whole family again.”
LK: Did any of your anxieties about this turn out to be true?
KS: I haven’t told this to many people, but at the same time that Olivia left for college, there was a massive Monarch migration through Gloucester– something that only happens every ten to twelve years. I was amazingly transported out of myself and began writing about and photographing the butterflies, which then led to my learning how to film as well.
LK: Isn’t it interesting how the title of your book, “Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities!” alludes to fresh beginnings and reflects what lay behind the creative work we each took on, in one way or another? I wasn’t consciously aware that the imminent departure of my only child was motivating me. And yet some part of myself was preparing me for this transition. It’s reassuring to know there is something at work, mapping the next step, at a deeper level than my “ruminations,” which are generally circular in nature!
KM: The other aspect of your life, which also finds its way into your film, is your long time role as director of the LEF Foundation, based in Cambridge. When we met, you had already been introduced to Gloucester and the Cape Ann community through having supported artists including Henry Ferrini and Dana Salvo.
LK: Yes, and what stands out for me is having the photographer Dana Salvo introduce me to the wonderful, rich tradition of the Feast of St. Jospeh, and being invited into people’s homes to see their alters and to be part of their tradition. I’ll never forget it.
KS: Yes, it is an extraordinary experience. And Henry Ferrini’s father was the poet laureate of Gloucester; and now Henry, in addition to making films–which is what LEF supported–has co-founded something right in my neighborhood, the Gloucester Writers Center.
KS: Do you foresee having chatting time after the screening at Cape Ann Community Cinema?
LK: Absolutely. The Cape Ann Cinema is just the right kind of place to screen my film– an intimate and somewhat informal setting that allows for conversation. I’m really looking forward to it!
Tickets include dinner and a screening of the movie with director Lyda Kuth. Love and Other Anxieties at the Cape Ann Community Cinema on Monday July 23, at 7:30 pm, 21 Main Street, Gloucester.
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Filmmaker Event: On Monday July 23, at 7:30 one of my dearest friends, Lyda Kuth, is showing her beautiful and touching film Love and Other Anxieties at the Cape Ann Community Cinema. Lyda will be there to talk with the audience and answer questions. Many artists in our community know Lyda from her other role as an arts funder. She is the founding board member and executive director of the LEF Foundation.
Come say hello to Lyda and see her moving film. I’ll be there introducing Lyda and look forward to seeing you there! Click here for Advance Ticket Sales
Faced with the reality that her only child will flee the nest for college, film-funder turned filmmaker Lyda Kuth gets anxious not only about how her daughter will fare in today’s world of love and romance, but also about her relationship with her husband of 20 years. What will life be like after her daughter leaves? What is the real meaning of love, marriage, and long-term commitment?
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My friend Lyda Kuth’s film Love and Other Anxieties played to a packed house yesterday at the Independent Film Festival Boston. Beautiful and heartfelt, Love and Other Anxieties is a personal exploration about the meaning of love and long-term commitment.
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You can see in the above photo the line for Love and Other Anxieties stretched the length of a city block, wrapping around the corner, and ending behind the theatre.
Arriving early allowed a few minutes to have fun with street photography. My x100 is terrific for photographing people without being noticed and for the most part, passers-by don’t mind even if they do notice. Davis Square was teeming with people and the restaurants were jam packed.
With 98 films playing over the course of a week, and the greatest number of films shown during the weekend, I was impressed with how well organized is the festival–run entirely by volunteers.
I was hoping to take a snapshot of Lyda with her family after the film, but we were hurried out of the theatre to make way for the next film. Lyda was surrounded by a throng of well-wishers and friends and I was so happy to see her happiness. Congratulations to Lyda for the successful launch of her beautiful and touching film, first of many I hope!
Kent, Lyda, Erin, and Rob
Erin and Lyda
Good Morning Gloucester 