The 9th Beaufort International Film Festival Raises the Bar. By Mark Shaffer “We have filmmakers every year who tell us that they’re going to go home and make another movie just so they can come back to Beaufort. You can’t beat that.” – Ron Tucker, Executive Director, Beaufort International Film Festival
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The Blue and Grey Clash Once More in Point South Text and Photos by Mark Shaffer In December 2012, re-enactors converged on Frampton Plantation (now called Point South) for a Sesquicentennial reenactment like no other.
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On the water with oyster farmer Frank RobertsStory and Photos by Mark Shaffer As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans. – Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
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The search for the Lowcountry’s best handmade burgers continues… Story & photos by Mark Shaffer “Man who invented the hamburger was smart; man who invented the cheeseburger was a genius.” – Matthew McConaughey, Oscar-winning actor & cheeseburger aficionado
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The search for the Lowcountry’s best handmade burgers continues… Story & photos by Mark Shaffer “You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.” – Charles Kuralt
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The search for the Lowcountry’s best handmade burgers continues. But first, a recap… Story and photos by Mark Shaffer Jules: You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France? Brett: No. Jules: Tell ’em, Vincent. Vincent: A Royale with cheese. Jules: A Royale with cheese! You know why they call it that? Brett: Because of the metric system? Jules: Check out the big brain on Brett! – from Quentin Tarentino’s “Pulp Fiction”
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Andie MacDowell and Pat Conroy head up the list of luminaries attending this year’s Beaufort International Film Festival. By Mark Shaffer Andie MacDowell is a big Pat Conroy fan. Pat Conroy is a big fan of Andie MacDowell. Next February the author and the actress will have a chance to express their mutual admiration in person as the two come together for a landmark event during the ninth annual Beaufort International Film Festival.
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The Backyard Tourist gets vocal…By Mark ShafferIt’s a breezy Sunday afternoon in May and I’m hunched over a microphone in a recording studio in the spectacular new St. Helena public library pretending to be someone else. I’m doing my best to channel a young soldier named Will Bedford. The year is 1898 and like thousands of his peers, young Mr. Bedford’s enlisted in the aftermath of the destruction of the U.S.S. Maine, swept up in the nation’s battle cry, “To hell with Spain! Remember the Maine!”
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The Burger Beat at Rosie O’Grady’s Story & photos by Mark ShafferLong ago in a misty age known as “The 80s” a visionary reporter named Jim Atkinson set out on a quest to document the great American institution of the Dive Bar, or in Atkinson’s terminology the “bar bar.” It was a risky and often thankless task, but Atkinson stuck to it and eventually published a book of his findings in 1987.
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Walking into the bar at Sweetgrass is like taking a step back in time. There’s a classic feel to the room like a beach house from a long ago family vacation back in the days of wood paneled station wagons and transistor radios.
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