David Carradine rocks Grants
Actor awarded during filmmaking fest

Director, producer, writer, and actor Christopher Coppola points out the individualization on the PAH-Fest Keeping the Torch Lit Award to Carradine on Wednesday evening at the PAH-Fest in Grants. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

Andy Lovato, lead guitar for the band Common Ground, strums his guitar on Wednesday evening during the PAH-Fest opening ceremonies held at the Double Six Gallery in Grants. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

GRANTS — The glamour of Hollywood landed in Grants this week.

The town turned out in full force Wednesday evening for David Carradine's reception at the Cibola Arts Council/Double Six Gallery. Unlike the glitter and glitz of the LA crowd, this affair was a night of down-to-earth New Mexican hospitality mixed with a celebrity meet-and-greet.

Carradine, star of the both the silver screen and the small screen, came to Grants to receive the Keeping the Torch Lit Award for keeping the spirit of independent film alive and well, as part of the PAH-Fest festivities this week. Doors opened at 6 p.m. and the gallery filled quickly as the community came out to enjoy an evening of arts and music.

People worked behind the scenes for days, preparing the Double Six Gallery for the gala. Doug Bocaz-Larson, president of the Cibola Arts Council, made sure the night of notables ran smoothly, and he handled the master of ceremonies role for the evening with charm and wit. Prior to the arrival of Christopher Coppola and Carradine, the standing-room-only crowd was treated to a mixture of music from a local band called Common Ground, who played an assortment of rock and roll with a New Mexican flavor.

Between songs, various PAH-Fest participants and aspiring filmmakers competing for the awards spoke to the crowd about their individual projects and their visions for the finished products. Bocaz-Larson explained the PAH-Fest process.

"In our main competition, we have people submit ideas and then we help them make their movies from start to finish in three days. The first day they finalize their scripts and find locations, then the next day they shoot their movies, and on the third day they edit their movies. In this case, by Friday and by Saturday they will have a finished product," Bocaz-Larson said.

After Christopher Coppola, brother of renowned actor Nicolas Cage, began the first PAH-Fest a couple of years ago, others in the arts and film world became interested in the concept. Coppola was invited to a mini- PAH-Fest in Germany, and since then the concept has grown and is now a popular festivity in parts of Europe and the United States. "So now, little old PAH- Fest here in Grants, New Mexico, is now becoming an international festival," Bocaz-Larson said.

At 6:40 p.m., the announcement was made that Coppola and Carradine had arrived at the gallery. They entered the crowded room and headed for their seats in the front, where they would spend 30 minutes talking about filmmaking and their careers. At one point, Carradine, an accomplished musician, got up and played a bluesy guitar song with Common Ground to entertain the crowd.

"We've been invited to fire up PAH-Fests in places like Norway and Trieste, and is going worldwide but Grants will always be the capital of the PAH-nation. Because Grants is the capital, I will always give away the Keeping the Torch Lit award here in Grants," Coppola said about the Grants PAH-Fest.

Coppola then introduced Carradine, who spoke about his early aspirations to be a sculptor and to write operas. He instead ended up in the acting business, following the trail blazed before him by his legendary father, John Carradine.

"At first I wanted to write operas because nobody was writing American operas, so it seemed like an open field. I also wanted to be a sculptor, but I realized I'd spend my life in a room with a cool north light and a big piece of rock, and maybe a pretty model. But the other thing is that it's really hard to make a living as a sculptor, it's a very expensive process with the foundry and everything, and who wants to pay $10,000 to $15,000 for an unknown artist's work? And that's what it costs to make it."

Regarding the TV show, "Kung Fu" and the character he played, Carradine said, "It's not so much that the show changed me, it's not that they hired me because I was wrong for the part, I was pretty much there already."

He also talked at length about his music and the music of his two brothers, who are also highly accomplished musicians. When it came time for the award presentation, Coppola reached into a large box and pulled out the glass Keeping the Torch Lit Award.

"The award is a totem that has all the things on it that are important to David in his life, such as music and film," Coppola said as he presented the award to Carradine.

Carradine accepted the award to a round of applause. After a short break, they showed the first episode of "Kung Fu."

Although Hollywood was in town for the night, the brightest star was Grants, the undisputed capital of the PAH-Nation.