The documentary "Big Time" is hitting the big screen during the 2011 Landlocked Film Festival in Iowa City from Aug. 25 to 28, 2011. The film, by University of Iowa graduate Kara Kurcz, chronicles the ways and means of launching and growing a small business. (Kara Kurcz photo)

By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group

University of Iowa graduates Devon Terrill and Kara Kurcz can’t wait to bring their debut documentaries from Los Angeles to Iowa City’s Landlocked Film Festival later this month.

Both have made films from the heart.

Terrill, 37, who grew up in Marshalltown, has captured her family’s journey through autism in “Gork!”

Chicago native Kurcz, 34, based “Big Time” on her own joys and frustrations of nurturing a small business.

“It’s been my dream since I was a little girl to make a film. I just didn’t know it was going to be about me,” Kurcz says with a laugh during a recent phone interview from her home in Los Angeles. “When you finish something so important, you want to share it. It’s important for me to share it in Iowa City and Chicago.”

“The Big Time” hits the Englert Theatre screen at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 27. “Gork!” follows at 7 p.m. that day at the Bijou Theater in the Iowa Memorial Union.

Kara Kurcz , filmmaker and entrepreneur

“Our Iowa City connection is pretty serious,” Terrill says. “I went to school there, my dad went to med school there, my brothers went there. I’m hoping we can reach out to everybody we have there and blow out this screening and literally have people standing outside the door.”

Both filmmakers have what Landlocked is looking for.

“We like high-quality films where somebody has a story to tell, whether documentary or narrative,” says festival president Mary Blackwood, 54, of Iowa City. “Somebody who can make a film from the heart that’s a real story, a real feeling, a real person or a real topic that’s going to grip the audience.

“We’re very interested in presenting a program audiences are going to enjoy,” Blackwood says. “We like to have a diversity of topics. We like to have some (films) from different corners of the world and some from Iowa.

“Every one is an independent film — one is that not produced by the Hollywood movie-making system.”

The festival runs from Aug. 25 to 28 in downtown Iowa City, with most feature film screenings at The Englert and The Bijou. Other films, workshops and panel discussions will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Hotel Vetro and the Iowa City Public Library.

Mary Blackwood, Landlocked Film Festival president

Run entirely by volunteers, Landlocked is just in its fifth year and already is attracting 200 entries, which boggles Blackwood’s mind.

“It’s a strange thing,” she says. “It’s been so steady. I don’t understand why, but the quality we’re getting is going up, very definitely.

“We now have an established presence,” she adds. “A lot of films have come from around the country, especially from Los Angeles. A lot of them have come to our festival and are passing the word around among their filmmaker friends.”

Seventy-two films were chosen for Landlocked, including narrative features and documentary features in the 90-minute range; narrative and documentary shorts from 6- to 65 minutes; animation, some for adults, others for all ages; music videos; and student films.

“We like to encourage young filmmakers who are going to be making the big-time film in the future,” Blackwood says.

International entries, all with English subtitles, come from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Syria, Uganda and the Ukraine.

Diversity is what it’s all about, Blackwood says.

“We hope (audiences) understand there’s an incredible variety of films that they’re not getting through the venues they’re used to,” she says. “You can learn things about something you never even considered before, find actors you’ve never heard of before. We want audiences to find out there’s much more than you can get from Hollywood.”

Terrill and Kurcz have made documentaries designed to entertain, as well as educate.

This Terrill family photo shows baby Adam, front and center. Now 30, his story is the subject of big sister Devon'€™s film, "€œGork!" (Devon Terrill photo)

“Gork!” focuses on Terrill’s adopted brother Adam, who was born to a 14-year-old incest victim, left on a doorstep, then brought to the emergency room where Terrill’s father worked. Adam came to their home as a foster child when he was just four days old, and as he grew, his physical and mental differences emerged. He’s had many diagnoses, from mental retardation and autism to severe ADHD.

Now 30, he has a job and lives in a group home in Charles City.

Terrill says Adam’s story is told in a frank, realistic way, infused with the humor — some of it politically incorrect — that helped his family deal with his challenges.

The film took about 10 years and $50,000 to make, with lots of “freebies” and favors from friends in the industry. It also includes footage from the one-woman show about Adam’s life, starring sister Autumn, who was especially close to him growing up.

Filmmaker and Marshalltown native Devon Terrill

Kurcz also hopes “Big Time” will be inspirational, as it shows not only the struggles of starting a small business, but of seeing it through a recession.

She took a leap of faith seven years ago and jumped from TV production to fashion design. She had an instant hit with her line of handbags that would light up inside, making it easier to find keys and other items. But the recession hit and nearly ended it all. She managed to weather the storm and has even expanded her Solas line.

Other successful business owners join Kurcz in offering advice to budding entrepreneurs through the documentary. And like Terrill, Kurcz used donated time and equipment to shave film production costs from about $100,000 to $30,000.

“We’ve gotten away from the idea that as individuals we have the power to make things happen for us,” Kurcz says. “America is a great place of opportunity, but it’s up to us to take ahold of that opportunity and turn it into something.”

FAST TAKE

What: Landlocked Film Festival

When: Aug. 25 to 28, 2011

Where: Downtown Iowa City: The Englert Theatre, Bijou Theater, Iowa City Public Library, Sheraton Hotel, Hotel Vetro

Admission: Mostly free; $5 to $7 for select feature films or $50 movie pass at www.llff.org/fest.html#tix

Extras: Green Carpet reception, 6:30 p.m. Saturday at The Englert; workshops, panel discussions; ticketed workshop on launching independent film projects, www.llff.org/projectworkshop.html

Information: www.llff.org/