Poetic Realism and a Few Drinks

An article about films of Aki Kaurismaki (whose Leningrad Cowboys Go America I enjoyed) by Adrian Martin. From Poetic Realism and a Few Drinks:

"Kaurismaki has pulled off the hardest homage of all: his model is Robert Bresson, who preached that actors should be used as models, mere figures (Ariel offers the strongest evidence of this influence). But Kaurismaki is a secular, not a mystical Bresson, and he has miraculously reworked his idol’s stern syntax into his own, lyrical language."

Read the rest of the article here.

Thanks GreenCine Daily for the link.

- Sujewa

Fans, Friends & Followers is out

Scott Kirsner's book about building a creative career in the digital age - featuring interviews with 30 artists who are doing it - is out now, get more info. here.

A group of NYC DIY filmmakers discover a new place to screen

Read all about it at One Way Community blog.

State of Film Criticism discussion with Molly Haskell, Michael Sragow, & self at Atlanta Film Festival Sat 4/18

Among other matters, one of the subjects I can introduce to the conversation & get some feedback, perhaps, from Haskell & Sragow is how self-distributing DIY filmmakers should go about securing reviews of their work from established critics & writers (such as the two mentioned - see their mini-bios at the bottom of this post, they've done a lot of interesting work over the years), specially when the films in discussion may not receive a theatrical run & may not benefit from marketing and reviews & other articles arrangement skills (pitching such articles to publications, etc.) of experienced distributors & publicists - a hot topic among some DIY filmmakers I know. Here is the description of the discussion event from the Atlanta Film Festival site:

"Saturday, April 18, 4-5:00PM

The State of Film Criticism: A discussion with Baltimore Sun movie critic Michael Sragow, film scholar Molly Haskell, and blogger Sujewa Ekanayake.

*We encourage you to screen the documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip, a film by Sujewa Ekanayake, available online in advance of this conversation on AtlantaFilmFestival.com, courtesy of the filmmaker."

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip is not yet available on the ATL fest site, but should be in a few days, definitely before the event happens on 4/18, as far as I can tell.

On the series that the event is a part of & the location:

"Starbucks Coffeehouse Conversations

Hosted by Starbuck’s at their new location (within walking distance of Landmark Midtown Art Cinema). Friday, April 17-Saturday, April 25 at 4:00 PM, join various filmmakers and other guests for stimulating and informative conversations on the latest film “hot” topics.

Starbucks
931 Monroe Drive
Atlanta,GA 30305"

More on the ATL film fest Coffehouse Conversations here.

About Molly Haskell (from ATLFF site):

"MOLLY HASKELL
Molly Haskell, author and critic, was a long-time staff writer for The Village Voice, New York Magazine and Vogue. She has written for many publications, including The New York Times, Esquire, The Nation, Town & Country, The Guardian UK, The New York Observer and The New York Review of Books. She has served as Artistic Director of the Sarasota French Film Festival, on the selection committee of the New York Film Festival, as Associate Professor of Film at Barnard and as Adjunct Professor of Film at Columbia University. In 2005-2006, she was a host on Turner Classic Movies’ “Essentials.” Her books include From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies (1973; revised and reissued in 1989); a memoir, Love and Other Infectious Diseases (1990); and, in 1997, a collection of essays and interviews, Holding My Own in No Man's Land: Women and Men and Films and Feminists. Her newest book, Frankly, My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited, will be published by Yale University Press in the Spring of 2009."

About Michael Sragow:

"MICHAEL SRAGOW
Michael Sragow, author of Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master, is the movie critic for the Baltimore Sun and contributes regularly to The New Yorker. He has also written for Salon, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone, among many publications. He edited the Library of America’s two volumes of James Agee’s work, as well as Produced and Abandoned: The National Society of Film Critics Write on the Best Films You’ve Never Seen. He lives with his wife, Glenda Hobbs, in Baltimore."

And for anything else regarding the Atlanta Film Festival, go here.

- Sujewa

Quick interview with Beeswax's Andrew Bujalski & Tilly Hatcher

Another item I saw at the ATLFF blog (a quick promo for Beeswax play at ATLFF & a bit about the flick's connection to Atlanta):

10 questions with director Pene Patrick (Playing for Charlie) at Atlanta Film Festival blog

Atlanta Film Festival 2009 will be happening soon (April 16 - 25), so here's a little bit about one of the films - Playing for Charlie - through an interview with its director Pene Patrick (from the ATLFF blog):

"The main character of Playing for Charlie, Tony, is a rugby player, torn between the game and supporting his family, specifically his younger brother Charlie. One could say life is a ruffian's game and the question audiences will most definitely mull over as they watch Playing for Charlie is: Can Tony remain a gentleman? It's not surprising that we have so many sports related films this year, since there's definitely symbolism in the distinctions between sport, where talent is instantly recognizable and rules offer comfort, and life off the field, in which rules seem to shift constantly and talent often goes neglected and undernourished.

Pene Patrick, director - Playing For Charlie

1) If you could describe your film using only 3 words, what would they be?

Heartfelt, Poetic, Uplifting.

2) Where do you see your film in 5 years?

In the homes of every sensitive person on earth."

Read the rest of the interview at the ATLFF blog.

- Sujewa

Photos from Brooklyn Fantastic production - March '09

Amir Motlagh (lead in Story 1) arrives in NYC from LA after a full day of traveling - around

10 PM at a restaurant in Queens on Wed 3/18

Susan Buice (lead in Story 2) & Amir at rehearsal

Susan at Snack Town in Bed-Stuy, meal break

Ryan Andrew Balas (boom mic) and Richard Buonagurio (audio gear hook up, back up crew) at Snack Town

Amir & Susan at Life Cafe, where many a lunch was eaten by Team BF

Trouble Bears - Sujewa Ekanayake (director) & Susan

Amir looking like a New Yorker, on our way back from B & H Photo on 3/19

Kami Locklear makes it to NYC from Baltimore to act in BF, this is at a Starbucks in Manhattan - near Penn Station, on 3/19

Kami in her character Kelly's outfit

Amir, Susan, Kami, Sujewa after wrapping a scene, about to take off to another location

Sleeping arrangements for out of town cast & crew - space age air mattress technology on right

Ryan rocking the boom mic while the production camera patiently awaits, ready to go

Susan on set for the Croom Lady scene

Ryan, Sujewa, & Rosa Salazar filming the Croom Lady scene

Rosa as Croom Lady

After lunch at a French joint near Williamsburg

A moment that Ryan & Amir are not proud of - enjoying banana splits after a long day's work/walking around in the cold & filming in Manhattan

Ryan & Amir on Amir's character Mike A.'s apartment set

"They've got printers in the basement you can use"

This is supposed to be the trailer for a new thriller (or comedy) called After Last Season that cost $5 million to make & will be seeing a "regular-wide" theatrical release this summer (more here at Knox Road). If all that turns out to be true at least the film industry will not have lost the ability to surprise people. The cardboard MRI machine in this trailer reminds me of the time I turned a living room into a diner set using bedsheets for a movie, but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) that movie did not get a regular theatrical release. Anyway, enjoy the trailer:

Sandcastles webisodes #1 & #2

Director Ryan Andrew Balas is turning his feature Sandcastles into a web series. Check out the first two episodes here.

Time article on Alexander the Last's VOD experiment

Check out the story at Time.

Thanks One Way Community blog for the link.

30 pages (out of about 90) of Brooklyn Fantastic script filmed

There's going to be 2-3 story lines in Brooklyn Fantastic. The main one is the one starring Susan Buice. Another, smaller, story is the one starring Amir Motlagh. There might be a third small story that ties into the first two, or there may not be, we'll have to see where things are by mid-April. BUT, as of right now, 30 pages out of the ultimately 90 or so pages long script have been filmed (all of the story featuring Amir, most of the one featuring Susan). It's been a largely sleepless, no-time-to-shave, no-time-to-download still photos BUT capturing great performances on the DVX100B in 16 x 9 in 24p few days recently (and shooting stuff in an old fashioned way - locked down on tripod, w/ master shots & coverage, paying endless attention to image quality & sound quality). Big thanks to Susan, Amir, & Ryan Balas & Tambay Obenson (just spent like 10 hours at his apartment today filming 2 scenes) & others (like Richard B. with the audio gear hook up) who've made all the March '09 work on the project possible. Photos soon. Maybe clips & a trailer for BF by the middle of the year or so.

- Sujewa

Neo-Neo Realism

From an A.O. Scott article in the New York Times magazine (thanks to The Daily for the link):

"But what if, at least some of the time, we feel an urge to escape from escapism? For most of the past decade, magical thinking has been elevated from a diversion to an ideological principle. The benign faith that dreams will come true can be hard to distinguish from the more sinister seduction of believing in lies. To counter the tyranny of fantasy entrenched on Wall Street and in Washington as well as in Hollywood, it seems possible that engagement with the world as it is might reassert itself as an aesthetic strategy. Perhaps it would be worth considering that what we need from movies, in the face of a dismaying and confusing real world, is realism."

Read the rest of the article here.

Wolves!

Cookies & Cream official trailer

Check it out here.

Link to an image from Susan Buice's new movie Brooklyn Fantastic

Click on the image section above to see the full image from a scene in Brooklyn Fantastic

Photo Copyright 2009 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films

Faint praise for Alexander the Last in the New York Times (But, critical responses really don't matter to DIY film - or to some DIY films & makers)

But hey, on the bright side - it's The New York Times! :) Check out Manohla Dargis's review of Joe Swanberg's latest Alexander the Last here. From what I've seen in the trailer, the visuals look pretty awesome in Alexander. I skipped Nights & Weekends (looked too raw in several ways), but am somewhat looking forward to checking out Alexander (even if I get bored with the story & the characters - which usually happens with me & Swanberg movies - I hear it was shot in Brooklyn, so that might be interesting to see).

On to somewhat related things: maybe the kind of thing Swanberg is doing is more like blogging, and most film critics & reviewers (and movie watchers, including myself), having grown up in the age of Hollywood & indiewood are not ready/not able to comprehend or appreciate it for what it is - like most critics who complain about bloggers - & critics who want "legitimate art/entertainment in films" that looks & feels like what they/we are used to seeing - & made even more legitimate when the work features name talent or are distributed by known, experienced distribution companies. Most people view DIY film in relation to Hollywood films - with Hollywood films & works closer to that in form, production methods, & distribution as more legitimate & all else as less legitimate - this is a largely useless approach to thinking about & reacting to filmed art/entertainment. It's like saying that McDonald's is more legitimate of a restaurant business than Tastee Diner in Silver Spring, MD because McDonald's makes billions of dollars & is known world wide. Back to something that I've said several times before - all films are legitimate - whether it's The Dark Knight or a film featuring two people talking for an hour and a half in a small room - each offers different things to audience members, that's all.

Perhaps older music reviewers & audiences felt the same way about the initial wave of punk rock (something like "no talent kids making music badly" :) & I am sure definitely hard core punk rock ("no talent kids screaming" :). But, over the years, things changed, punk & hard core created the field of activity that gave rise to indie rock & the whole lifestyle & world view that is pretty much a part of popular entertainment world wide at this point (kind of lifestyle being lead by at least one of the characters in Alexander - being in an indie band, touring - so I hear). So what does all this mean to Swanberg: he is definitely a pioneer. Even though I don't dig a lot of his movies & am at present disappointed a little (alleviated by the Barry Jenkins/Medicine for Melancholy story) that the same career-development breaks most of the "white" Mumblecore directors get don't seem to apply to minority filmmakers who work in a similar style & approach (granted, this is a part of an older & bigger problem than DIY filmmaking or the film business in general, & things are changing as far as equal opportunity/access to coveted jobs/careers goes - Obama is President at the moment for example) - Swanberg's productivity & the ability to ignore critics & keep doing his thing is very impressive. And other DIY filmmakers (Princeton Holt, myself, as mentioned Jenkins, Amir Motlagh - to name just a few) are taking care of the diversity thing, for the moment - when it comes to both ethnic & gender diversity (Ry Russo-Young, Kris Swanberg - just a couple off the top of my head). And the number of those directors are bound to grow in the coming years (quite possibly inspired by Swanberg).

So, ultimately, is what Swanberg is doing good for indie film? Yes, I think so. If nothing else, it will show that there is a possibility - regardless of choice in craftsmanship & story telling style - if you keep at it you might develop a small following & will be able to keep making movies, in a slightly bigger & more refined (from a traditional perspective) scale after a while. This is something that has always been true for DIY filmmakers - before Swanberg Jon Moritsugu was doing the same kind of thing in his own way, plus no doubt dozens of others that maybe even I haven't heard about. But it is always nice to have very visible reminders such as Swanberg's career to remind people exactly how much is possible through DIY filmmaking & a lot of networking.

So, congrats to Swanberg & Team Alexander for getting the movie done & out. Go here to find out about when & where you can see it. When I watch it I am going to approach it with the same expectations I have when I start reading a personal blog - maybe there will be some interesting things in there, related to the life of the author, but I am not gonna be looking for an epic or even entertaining narrative or colorful, well defined characters as I would expect from a traditional novel. And since there is no wrong way to make a movie, it's totally cool that a DIY film is a lot different in what it offers than what a given Hollywood or indiewood movie will offer - whether it works or not for a given audience member will depend on the taste of that audience member.

- Sujewa

Making "Cookies & Cream" - Episode 2

Here

On a DIY Cooking Movement & A New (post-mumblecore) Group of Indie Filmmakers Working Together In NYC

Tired of reading about a certain DIY film movement ( i am not, really, but some of you out there might be by the end of this weekend), so, here's an article about a new culinary movement happening in Brooklyn:

(note - the quote is from the New York Times, but featured in the site i pointed to above & below)

"These Brooklynites, most in their 20s and 30s, are hand-making pickles, cheeses and chocolates the way others form bands and artists’ collectives. They have a sense of community and an appreciation for traditional methods and flavors. They also share an aesthetic that’s equal parts 19th and 21st century, with a taste for bold graphics, salvaged wood and, for the men, scruffy beards."

More here.

I know very little about cooking (a lot less than what I know about filmmaking, which, some would say, is not a lot :) but, it is exciting to read about a culinary "movement" - so, this might be what it's like for people who are just discovering Mumblecore - kind of exciting.

Also, there is another, a new, bunch of filmmakers working together in NYC - at the moment they have about 5 completed features (Cookies & Cream, Uptown, Carter, Sandcastles, & Harry's Judy - just off the top of my head) & are planning in the near future/this year to have somewhere around 10 features completed - that's right - TEN - & some of them are heavily inspired by the Mumblecore filmmakers, & they do not have a "movement" label yet, but you can find news about them at One Way Community blog (& you can buy several of the completed features through the blog). I for one am glad that they exist in NYC, I've been able to fill out cast & crew roles on my latest feature Brooklyn Fantastic using members from the One Way family.

So, I guess yay for people cooking or making indie movies together (regardless of how the food tastes to me or the movies feel to me, the fact that a few new artists are working together is news in itself - and, as you can see, something that helps with marketing, & something to talk about).

- Sujewa

Jace Nicole (Cookies & Cream), Ryan Balas (Carter) & others join Brooklyn Fantastic cast

More info. & links at this post at Brooklyn Fantastic's production blog.

SpeedCine demo site is up

SpeedCine makes looking for movies on the web super easy. Right now the site is in demo phase - connecting visitors to 150 movies from various genres (from foreign & art house to Mad Max). Looks like it could be a great & popular service. Check out the demo site & test it out here.

- Sujewa

This Is The Life trailer

*

About the film:

"THIS IS THE LIFE chronicles a collective of young artists who gathered weekly at a health food store in South Central LA during the early '90s. Their mission? To shun the pervasive west coast gang culture of the time and cultivate a robust, progressive artist community. Our feature-length documentary explores the little known story of these artists known as “The Good Lifers,” the alternative music movement they developed, and their worldwide influence on the hip hop artform."

More at the film's site.

Mumblecore gets a lot of well articulated love from The New Yorker

Read all about it, with commentary, & follow the link to The New Yorker article at Filmmaker Magazine Blog. Article is not for Mumblecore haters, but for fans it's probably a very good read.
And regardless of how you feel about Mumblecore movies & makers, it might be nice to see some ultra low budget indies getting some attention and access/a warm introduction to a whole new set of audiences - possibly.

The Money + Talent + Luck Formula

Let me waste a few minutes & write something that might be fun, & maybe true:

1 - Things you need to get into DIY Filmmaking: A lot of work, talent, some money/ a day job, some luck, and there are really no gatekeepers in this filmmaking arena (or if there are, you can ignore them & just do your own thing - make your own movies, release them the best you can, build your own audience - it's almost impossible to stop DIY filmmaking)

2 - Things you need to get into Festwood: some talent & luck, & being friends with the festivals may help, also if the gatekeepers like you then you'll get in, also maybe money, & there is - if not hard work - at least some financial sacrifices involved in being a part of the indie fest circuit

3 - Things you need to get into Indiewood: A lot of money will get you in, some talent & luck may get you in if the gatekeepers like you, and, as in all filmmaking arenas - a lot of work will have to be done

4 - Things you need to get into Hollywood: A lot of money will get you in, some talent & luck may get you in if the gatekeepers like you, and, as in all filmmaking arenas - a lot of work will have to be done

On telling a story about sex work as a day job

Check out the audio interview (with a slide show - production photos & art related to the film) with Cookies & Cream director Princeton Holt, conducted by Jon Ashby of Common Film, here.

Trailer for Ryan Balas's 2nd DIY feature CARTER

For more on Ryan Balas & Carter, go here. The DVD of Carter is now available for purchase. And here is the trailer to the film:


Carter Trailer from Ryan Balas on Vimeo.

The next trend in real indie film - filmmakers creating distribution companies or similar, larger entities beyond 1-person DIY distribution

I am glad this is happening - read about one example of filmmakers getting more seriously into distribution at this indieWIRE article about the new distribution company 7-57 Releasing.

But on to the lower levels financially, to the DIY world - this same approach - creating more robust distribution operations for independent/off-Hollywood movies - can be done also by DIY filmmakers.

The difference between this approach - I am calling it Distribution Crews when we apply it to DIY filmmakers & our projects - and DIY self-distribution from 2 years ago is that the former one relied exclusively or mostly on the filmmaker having to get the distribution work done. But in this new approach, the filmmaker would take the role that a DIY/indie writer/producer/director would take during production - organizing & directing several other people in order to accomplish a complex task.

How would this actually manifest in the real world? Let's say I finish a movie, and I want to show it for a week in NYC, and right afterwards I want to sell DVDs of the movie. A year ago I would just have tried to do all the marketing & organizing & the overseeing of screenings work myself - maybe with the help of an occasional volunteer or the hired help of a part time publicist. But for my next fiction feature's release, I am going to look at approaching the release in a fashion similar to production: create division of labor - just as one person is tasked with doing boom mic operation during production, one person or a small team (2-3 people) would be tasked with doing media outreach during distribution. Just as one person is assigned the task of being the Director of Photography during production, one person or a small team would be given the task of creating all promotional material (trailers, ads, posters, etc.) for the release. So on and so forth.

Some filmmakers have wondered how the Distribution Crew will be paid. I guess we solve that problem the way we solve the problem of recruiting & keeping the production crew - working with people who want to support & make the project happen for whatever reason (including developing their own filmmaking & distribution careers) & some pay (from filmmaker/distributors day job, donations, grants, etc.).

Another way to cover the expense of the Distribution Crew is to make less films and use the savings to fund the Distribution Crew's work for an already completed work. So, let's say a given DIY filmmaker plans on making 2 films in a given year that would cost about $3000 each to produce. That filmmaker could just produce one of the two films & then use the remaining $3000 to fund the distribution work on the one completed film.

The Distribution Crew for a DIY feature will not have to be a full time, 5 days a week, all year around operation, as far as I see it now. DIY filmmakers need help when they are about to do the theatrical premiere of their work (whether at a small run, a single DIY screening, or at a festival premiere) & they/we need help when we are releasing the DVD. So, once the work that needs to be done has been clearly identified, the Distro Crew can be pulled together for a couple of weeks perhaps to prep everything, have everything ready to go, when the time comes to promoting the premiere or the launch of the film - or the Distro Crew can be pulled together for work at two separate times - a couple of months before the launch of the film, for a week or so of work, and then the few days or the week leading up the launch of the film and a few days after - to help the filmmaker properly disseminate all the material that has been created to promote the film, do follow ups with media & audiences & business partners, etc.

Will have more, & experience based, info. on the Distribution Crew approach to self-distribution of DIY movies once I do it with my next fiction feature later this year or early next year.

- Sujewa

Brooklyn Fantastic (new film starring Susan Buice) production blog is alive

I believe this is the official debut of the title of my new fiction feature - previously referred to on this blog as Brooklyn Movie - and the title is Brooklyn Fantastic. The website for the film will come alive in April, but in the meantime Brooklyn Fantastic production news can be found at its production blog, launched today.

From the welcome message on the Brooklyn Fantastic blog:

"Welcome to the production blog for the 2009 feature comedy-drama Brooklyn Fantastic - a film about attempting to start over in a new city & searching for a valuable object. BF stars Susan Buice (Four Eyed Monsters), Amir Motlagh (Whale), and features several other talented actors from the emerging NYC DIY/new independent film community. BF is written & directed by Sujewa Ekanayake (Date Number One)."

Vist the BF blog here.

- Sujewa

You Won't Miss Me screening times at SXSW

I won't be at SXSW so I'll have to catch this very interesting looking movie some other time, but, for folks who are gonna be in Austin next week, here are the screening times (as of today) for Ry Russo-Young's new movie:

"Narrative Feature :: screening in: Special Screenings
Screening Times
9:30 PM, Friday March 13th - Alamo Lamar 2 Add this to my SXSW Calendar
7:30 PM, Tuesday March 17th - Alamo Ritz 2 Add this to my SXSW Calendar
7:30 PM, Friday March 20th - Alamo Lamar 3 Add this to my SXSW Calendar
everything subject to change"

From this page at the SXSW '09 site.

The Limits of Control trailer

Here.

An episode from The Louise Log

Here's an episode from Anne Flournoy's show The Louise Log:

Box Elder returns to Ragtag Cinema for big anniversary

Get the whole story at KOMU.com.

Profiles of Noteworthy No-Budget Films

Learned of a couple - such as Crashing (pictured above), sounds interesting - that even I had not heard of - at this page at No Budget Film School site.

HDV vs. 24p/dvx100 article link & thoughts related to it

So I spent a few hours today researching, talking & arguing a little about, also calling up my own visual memories/reactions to seeing the two formats used in well made indie features, and in the end I am leaning towards using the DVX100B/24p SD for the new fiction feature vs. using an HDV camera or using a true HD camera w/ P2 cards for a couple of reasons:

- the narrative feature that was shot on the dvx100 cam using dv tape felt more like a narrative feature for the most part than the cinematography award winning, & excellent looking, HD w/ P2 cards shot narrative feature - which reminded me of a really well made high quality television show in its look & my resulting emotional reaction to it.

- also, i feel like (and this could be just an amount of $s available at the moment thing, and if money was no obstacle i may not even be having this discussion) the great access-to-poor-filmmakers equalizing breakthrough that happened with MiniDV tapes (less than $10 for 1 hour of footage) is being undone by P2 cards ($600, $800 & up for less than 1 hour of footage, and needing to possibly re-work/upgrade existing digital video editing systems). P2 cards seem like an attempt to make digital filmmaking expensive & difficult the way 16MM & 35MM was expensive - expensive & exclusive & for, really, "rich people" (i know that's a highly relative term since billions of people live on less than $2 or so a day on this planet (so i hear) & they would think i am a spoiled rich dude for thinking about using a camera that costs a couple of thousand $s instead of using the money to feeding the poor/hungry - but anyway, i digress :). i am all about keeping filmmaking costs - equipment costs - down so that more regular people (in this context it's regular people in the west/"first" world - w/ jobs) can have access to filmmaking - so the price of true HD probably colors my reaction to it. But, for a non-ultra-low-budget-DIY/investor backed/slightly higher budgeted (over the $10K level lets say) indie feature true HD would be a good option - if the director liked the way it looks/felt it was appropriate for the story.

(and there is also the third possibility - other elements of the two movies compared - music, the story, acting, the writing/conceiving were more to my liking in the 24p movie - & that highly affects how i am making my choice)

so, for the moment, for the new fiction feature, i think it'll have to be 24p/the dvx100b. mostly because the 24p recorded fiction feature that i am thinking about/how it looked - felt more cinematic to me compared to what i saw & felt when i saw the HD filmed narrative feature (both flicks were shot by experienced/skilled DPs btw, & well made by most objective/classical standards of filmed image excellence). and the story i am telling has a lot to do with a certain amount of financial desperation - i think 24p from a dvx100b would work better for it.

More on the HDV vs. 24p debate at Josh Oakhurst's site. My choices were really between 24p and HDV, with true HD being a distant possibility. I see HDV as HD-lite, so, since I seem to prefer 24p/dvx100b images to true HD images for the current project, I am thinking I won't be that impressed with HDV images for this fiction feature.

Do share your thoughts in comments on this video formats for indie filmmaking item, if you've used some or all of the ones mentioned above & have certain preferences.

and perhaps a related thought - painters prefer certain colors & photographers prefer certain film stocks - will choice of digital video image capture system become such a creative preference when money is not an issue? perhaps, in some cases, perhaps.

- Sujewa

Happy 20 Mystery Train

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Mystery Train, still my favorite movie by Jim Jarmusch and probably my all time favorite movie. In celebration, here is an MT trailer:

Modern Love Is Automatic review at Indigenity

I'll have to check out MLIA just for the title alone - very good choice whoever picked it. From the brief review at Indigenity blog (nice yellow background at that blog btw, & great title design - good job Erin):

" "No Wave Douglas Sirk" isn't a bad description for this movie, but I see shades of Wes Anderson here, too; not only with the stylization but also with the characterization of Adrian and the sadness underneath it all. Leading lady Melodie Sisk is a curvy, husky-voiced leading lady in the vein of Susan Hayward and Kathleen Turner, and Maggie Ross' comical performance conceals the innate desperation of Adrian. The only bone I had to pick, really, was the death-metal music, which came off loud on my DVD player (but maybe sounds better in a theater setting). Even that, however, seems to be compliant with The Yeah Yeah Yeahs production values of Modern Love."

Read the rest of the Modern Love Is Automatic review at Indigenity.

Erin Scherer interviews Ry Russo-Young

Read the interview at The Film Panel Notetaker.

Cookies & Cream review at CommonFilm

Read about it & hear it at One Way Community blog.

Lee Isaac "Munyurangabo" Chung interview at Cinema Without Borders

Here is the intro to the interview:

"The top prize for narrative filmmaking at the 2007 AFI Fest went to Lee Isaac Chung for his first feature, MUNYURANGABO, about two young men, one Hutu and one Tutsi, on a journey through Rwanda’s haunted countryside. Upon earning a BA in Biology at Yale as a pre-med student, Isaac Chung took a chance on his side-passion for cinema and earned an MFA in Film Studies at the University of Utah in 2005. Once Dept. Chair Kevin Hanson pointed him in the direction of the films to see, he approached cinema “monastically,” viewing ten or more films a week and doing nothing but thinking and working on the craft. After his wife began volunteering at YWAM Rwanda as an art therapist for women survivors still traumatized by the genocide, Isaac Chung joined her there, offering film instruction.

Diane Sippl:So how did Munyurangabo get off the ground?

Isaac Chung:I decided that making a film together with Rwandan students would be the best way for them to learn the art. After researching Rwanda and Rwandan cinema, I wanted to treat the film project very seriously. I invited Samuel Anderson to work on the screenplay with me, and he later joined us in Rwanda during the shoot. Jenny Lund, a fellow film student from Utah I really trusted on the set, came earlier on."

Read the rest of the interview at Cinema Without Borders.

And here is Munyurangabo's website.

- Sujewa

Funny & Real - Amir Motlagh's Debut Feature WHALE Does Not Disappoint

Whale Trailer First Feature Film by Amir Motlagh - The best video clips are right here

Just saw Whale - the debut feature by Amir Motlagh - here are some thoughts about it (am not a film critic, and am a fan of Amir's film work - have been for a while since watching the short Still Lover a few years back):

So what's Whale about in a broad sense? It's about young-ish men - dudes pushing 30, right around 30, dealing with unexpected changes (a pregnant girlfriend in one case), yet-unrealized old ambitions (an unfinished novel, a writing career that has yet to materialize despite years of work), and, for one reason or another, still living at mom's house. In a narrow sense Whale is about a late 20's Iranian-American aspiring writer who moves back in with his parents, re-connects with his old friends, & tries to figure out the next chapter of his life. The acting/non-acting is so flawless Whale appears to be a blend between documentary footage and a foreign/art house project. But one good, or bad, depending on how you look at it, thing about Whale is that even though its form will evoke a foreign/art house movie to some people - the characters & the surroundings & their dilemmas are so uniquely & obviously American - seemingly intelligent & relatively well off young people who are intensely troubled by romantic/sexual situations and the search for creative careers & greater meaning in life (both luxuries that are more easily pursued in America than in most countries in the world, as far as I know/can tell). At one point during the movie I thought to myself that this kind of thing must be what most "mumblecore" & other twenty something indie films are after - a direct revelation of their reality/personal experience presented in a way/format that outsiders may be able to connect with - but, whereas most mumblecore movies feel very unrealistic & narrow in the world that they are able to re-create on the screen, Whale feels "more real" (probably due to the fact, for me, the cast is multi-ethnic & from different economic classes & that both those facts are heavily related to how the characters see themselves & how they process their current situation in life), oriented more in the general direction of universality (a lot of dudes, even if they are not arty or whatever, but grew up in America in the 80's & 90's, will probably be able to relate well to Whale), & is funny (here I am thinking about the long discussion regarding the water skiing incident).

I know I am all kinds of biased (not only have I seen & liked most of Amir's movies (specially the earlier shorts, before knock.knock), he is working on my current fiction feature, possibly even acting in it), but, I can very comfortably say that Whale is one of the most exciting & well made indie films I've seen in a while, I'd put it up there with Medicine for Melancholy - both for freshness of voice & technical (video & audio) polish & also for creating an interesting/reflective image of ethnic & economic diversity in America.

For more on Whale, go here.

- Sujewa