Ebony/Jet picks Shadow & Act as Editor's Blog Pic

After just a couple of months of existence, the African diaspora filmmaking focused blog Shadow & Act (founded by, among others, Tambay Obenson who was featured in my doc Indie Film Blogger Road Trip) received some appreciation from a well known publication this month. Congrats Shadow & Act!

- Sujewa

Some upcoming screenings

At Thanks for the Use of the Hall blog - links to a couple of July screenings.

Keeping "it" somewhat real in Brooklyn - a quick look back 1 month after start of FT living & work in NYC

If you've noticed a slow down of posts here, that's because I am less bored now (for the last month) & there's a lot to do - since the move to living full time in NYC (and by NYC I mean Sunset Park, Brooklyn). I've been spending a few days or a couple of weeks in NYC every month since December '08 (Maryland, the state of my previous permanent residence is only 4 hours away, so it is possible to work FT there & hang out in NYC part time, at least for a while, 'till you get tired of the back and forth) - but starting June 1 I've lived & worked in NYC on a full time, 5 days + a week, basis. Here are some things I learned:

- First, why move to NYC anyway?

Answers:

- Because it was there, not too far away from where I was living, & it's a massive city, with an epic & romantic (in a romanticizing of ordinary existence/On The Road kind of way, not like in an Annie Hall/indie rom com way - well, maybe a little like that too) history.

- I like meeting new people. And, as soon as you walk out you are surrounded by hundreds of people in NYC - can't avoid 'em, even at 2 in the AM, lots of people take the subway & I do too - I think for some people being around other people is an exciting thing - so maybe I am one of those people. So, people are another reason - lots of them here, not in cars and not miles away, but all around, pretty much all of the time. It's like one big party, even on weekdays.

- Injecting a dose of higher productivity & ambition into the system: lots of people are very busy in NYC - specially people who've moved here from other states & other countries. I know a few people here, & a lot of them work multiple jobs & or have multiple passions (a Starbucks employee I met is a substitute teacher in Brooklyn & acts & has a couple of other jobs, a young attorney I know in Manhattan owns a couple of businesses that employ a few people, etc.). So, people are ambitious here - and ambition is not looked down upon as they may be in some parts of the suburbs - so, that's pretty cool.

Alright, now on to some observations & notes:

- NY parking enforcement officials do have a soft side, they do cut some people some breaks sometimes (like letting someone i know slide about parking a u-haul truck close to a fire hydrant for a couple of hours, btw - in nyc there needs to be 15 feet of clearance on either side of a fire hydrant)

- New Yorkers are generally friendly on the streets & the subway (in a keep it to yourself unless you need some help way - i have not gotten lost on the subway or elsewhere 'cause people here tend to be very helpful whenever i need help)

- there is quiet a bit of day job work for creative types here (if you are not super picky) - lots of professionals are busy/not enough time in the day for them - so, they are on the lookout for reliable assistants - probably pretty good gigs if you can carve out some free time for your other/more important pursuits, also just all kinds of other work - 9 million or so people living in a relatively small space = several million tasks that need to be done each day just for survival = lots of work for lots of people

- some parts of Brooklyn (& i imagine elsewhere in nyc) have a great D.I.Y./start up quality - people opening up small new businesses (just saw a new French cafe/carry out in a neighborhood that otherwise is wall to wall cheap Chinese carry out joints & fast food places like McDonald's. saw the two owners - i assume - of the place hanging out outside their place & taking a cigarette break, one of them was the cook, told me about the tiramisu he makes - anyway, seemed like they were in their early 30's at most, interesting), & joints like art galleries - so, maybe a more entrepreneurial city than most cities - specially for odd & interesting little businesses

- have not had too much time to spend in Manhattan (maybe less than 5 trips there this month - couple of them were work related), so, need to go there more often - LOTS to explore there, and it's less than 30 minutes away if I get on the right train

- it took me a whole month but finally got things worked out so that I will have a significant amount of time to work on my movies & still be able to pay the rent & bills on time & not starve :) So, July should be interesting - more productive on the indie filmmaking front (which was #1 reason for moving to nyc in the first place).

- met/have seen a lot of hard working Latin American immigrants & families

- met/have seen a lot of hard working Chinese immigrants

Also, I like the fact that it is probably impossible for any one person to ever fully explore NYC - 'cause by the time you are done going through all the interesting places in Manhattan, Brooklyn & elsewhere once maybe a few hundred new places & things have started happening - no doubt a cycle that keeps repeating - so - an endless amount of interesting things here - nice place for people who get bored easy.

Maybe NYC is like a visible heart of America (if NYC were one of those see-through body parts from plastic see-through man science/biology toys): the past, present, & the future -and the hunger for success & the immigrant/transplant dreams & hopes are ever present & always new here - in other places those things are underneath several settled & calm layers accumulated through perhaps some wealth collected over time, perhaps families having spent generations here, & perhaps lots of losses over time - a blue layer, & other reasons - but in NYC a true and positive side of humans are on display/hard to miss/easily visible: that constantly on the move, trying new things, taking new risks, open or at least tolerant of differences (maybe not fully out of choice, but making the best of the situation) side. So, America is gigantic & kinda sleepy in most places - but, as shown by NYC - there is a lot of work happening here, & lots of people trying hard to make their dreams come true - in a way/degree/intensity/scale that may only be possible in America & just a few other places in this world for most people.

NYC is like television or the movies - only a little better - when it's good. It's a full immersion in a dream experience - like Jurassic Park - except not for dinosaur related attractions but for human ambition & urban history: big bridges, tall buildings, a train that runs all over at all times of the day, and lots of people with intense desires exist here. That tinge of sadness you get when a good movie or a TV show comes to an end when you are living in most places of the world does not exist here - 'cause most likely, a block or a few subway stops away something far more interesting than the movies is happening, & you can be a part of it - instead of just watching it on a screen - and the show never ends here.

- Sujewa

What, only 6,912?

According to the site Ethnologue, Languages of the World, there are 6,912 living languages on Earth. Check out this page for links to info. on countries & their languages.

What exactly are we seeing in Stargate? Is it a TV show about democracy/"democratic imperialism" vs. monarchy/theocracy/old style imperialism?

I like the TV show Stargate SG1 (i think it's original run of maybe 4 seasons is over, i am catching up on many missed episodes on hulu, UPDATE: 10 seasons). On the surface level it's a fun TV show to watch to unwind after a long day - space action show, featuring McGuyver (Richard Dean Anderson) in the lead role, battling a host of baddies from far off planets. But there are some interesting/maybe not all good stuff beneath the surface, here is a brief list:

1 - The key bad guys - the gaould (don't take my spelling of their name to be the exact one, i am not that much of a stargate nerd to go research it at the moment) - use (or i should say the tv show uses) terms & mythology from ancient Egypt. But on top of that, they aren't really human - they are a snake like parasite creature who take over human bodies as hosts. So, right off the bat, elements of a non-Western culture are used to represent the evil force or one of the main evil forces in the story.

2. The good guys - the four key members of SG1 - are, in a modern social sense - multi-ethnic & international/inter-planetary (more to the point in this case), so, smart move there, deflecting any criticism or a lot of criticism related to the good guys being represented only through traditional Western images & symbols (at least from American TV & film - a group of "white" people going out to save or take over the world). One of the 4 members is an ex-warrior for the gaould - so, representing the good guys as a team that would EVEN take on a former enemy as one of their own - good idea.

3. The show is definitely a pro-military show. Actually the good guys are a part of the US Air Force (a secret unit, but a part of USAF nevertheless). The SGC (Stargate Command) is often shown to be under, ultimately, elected civilian control - so on that front all is good. HOWEVER, in the show both the government & the USAF are keeping a great secret from the general population - that the US gov is fighting an inter-planetary war with aliens - without the consent of the general population/citizens. This element of the Stargate reality is never questioned (at least I have not seen it) by sympathetic/important/good characters. The down side of this approach to things is that it assumes that a few people (few elected officials & a few in the military) know what's good for millions of their fellow citizens. Which is pretty much an anti-democratic idea. Basically the spirit of American style democracy is being subverted here & conducting secret wars for "the good of the people" using people's money & authority granted to the government is presented as generally a good thing. A very dangerous approach to the world in the real world. But, I guess this is only a TV show reality that we are talking about here :) - (or is it? :) When that type of an outlook is transplanted to the real world we have secret wars, alienation between the general population (who are being lied to by the government) & the government, forming of an elite warrior class with special privileges & access to important but secret knowledge, generally not very healthy things for a democracy. So watch out Stargate fans.

4 - The show, like Star Trek before it, is definitely a tool for spreading American values (or some American values) abroad & also reflecting same within the country. On the positive side: immigration can be cool & very helpful, teamwork & sacrifice = good, the individual is valued, blind obedience to self-proclaimed gods & religious domination of life (theocracy) is contested & fought - so on those fronts, good. Oh, also, obviously, the show is in favor of space exploration - both for gaining a military competitive edge & also for civilian purposes (medicine, history, etc.).

5. Stargate might not be entirely fiction! There are, & have been, countless secret military programs in the country (so i've heard), & if a collaboration between the US government & aliens against a common enemy were happening, it would probably be kept a secret for as long as possible - as it is in the show.

6. Both the SGC & The Gaould & other enemies travel the universe & interfere in the affairs of other worlds & people. The Gaould of course do it to enslave others & the SGC do it to liberate others. However, from the perspective of the other world people who are affected by these two alien groups, both can be seen as "imperial"/often using force to get their way in a planet that is not their home planet, and also to secure benefits of one kind or another for themselves. Both are acting out of the belief that their world view is the right one, & the other/all challengers should be defeated. No matter which side is ultimately victorious, I can see people from other planets resenting & ultimately rebelling against either.
- on the bright side, the show asks the following important questions: who do/should we (America) help, who do we ignore & leave to their own fates (even if negative), and why? Probably a very good question for people to think about.

That's it for now, some thoughts on Stargate.

- Sujewa

Sean Meadows' 5 day feature: articles at The Guardian & indieWIRE

Read about it at The Guardian.

UPDATE: Oh, wait, indieWIRE's got a great article on the Meadows film, with a link to the trailer (perhaps this is why i should visit the main page of iW more often instead of just reading the blogs page :) From the article:

"Having first appeared on the DVD extras of Meadows’s “Once Upon a Time in the Midlands,” they were never able to find “an outlet for Donk.” But after the emotionally draining shoot that was 2006’s “This is England,” Meadows “was ready to have some fun.” The result is this 71-minute film, which follows Le Donk’s selfish quest to find fame through getting his lone client, Scor-zay-zee (played by real-life rapper Dean Palinczuk - who joined the project literally a day before it began) a gig opening for the Arctic Monkeys - or “Artical Monkeys,” as Donk calls them. Meadows takes part as well, playing himself as the director of the documentary within the mockumentary (check out a trailer for the film here)."

Read the rest of the iW article here.

- Sujewa

A wild ride for a group of French tourists in NYC

Appeal from Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, recorded 6.23.09

From Times' Lede blog:

"this video appeal from Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the great Iranian filmmaker was recorded in Rome on Tuesday. In it, Mr. Makhmalbaf encouraged Iranians abroad to continue supporting the opposition (in Farsi with English subtitles):


"

Meeting Andrei Tarkovsky press screening tomorrow :: Doc screens at Lincoln Center July 7, 8, 9, & 14

For more on the documentary Meeting Andrei Tarkovsky (& to also inquire about the press screening tomorrow in NYC) go to this site (there's also a Facebook link on the site, might be a good way to get in touch with producers of the press screening tomorrow).

About the doc, from the Film Society of Lincoln Center site:

"In 1987, a year after Tarkovsky’s death, Dmitry Trakovsky and his parents emigrated from Russia to the United States, where he grew up feeling a special relationship to the images, sounds, and themes in Tarkovsky’s films. Here, he goes in searchof other lives affected by the auteur’s work: collaborators Erland Josephson and Domiziana Giordano, friends Krzysztof Zanussi and Franco Terilli, an Orthodox priest, and even the director’s son. Andrei Andreevich Tarkovsky. The result is a touching, highly personal and provocative record of the lingering effects of Tarkovsky on an extraordinary range of individuals."

More at the site, including screening dates & times.

- Sujewa

Remembrance of Specialty Film Things Past with Reid

That could be a web show (get on it Reid! :), but, for the moment, a blog entry will have to do. From Reid Rosefelt's recent post "What Andrei Tarkovsky Said About Francis Coppola":

"In the early 80’s, I was running a movie PR firm called “Reid Rosefelt Publicity.” The title sounded impressive, but it was only me and an assistant or two working out of my bedroom in my apartment on Riverside Drive. Some of the people who worked with me included future Premiere Magazine editor Howard Karren, director/producer Sara Driver (mentioned last week), writer Jane Hammerslough, leading New York unit publicist Julie Kuehndorf, and filling in for a few weeks as a favor, Adam Brooks, who would go on to write Jonathan Demme’s “Beloved” and direct “Definitely, Maybe.” Among the films that were promoted out of my bedroom include Jim Jarmusch’s “Stranger Than Paradise,” Susan Seidelman’s “Desperately Seeking Susan,” Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo” (and Les Blank’s “Burden of Dreams”), Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Querelle,” Bertrand Tavernier’s “A Week’s Vacation,” Paul Verhoeven’s “The 4th Man,” Jeanne Moreau’s “L’Adolescente,” Stephen Frears’ “The Hit,” and Dennis Hopper’s “Out of the Blue.” I might add that before Jarmusch made “Stranger,” I hired him to put up posters for a re-release of “The Seven Samurai.” (He had a lot of experience, having done it for his band, The Del-Byzanteens, and knew where the good spots were.)"

And that's just the intro - read the entire story at Rosefelt's blog.

Roy Andersson interview from 2001

Old, but still good, from the interview article at The Guardian:

"Andersson's cast members are not actors playing faceless figures, but non-professionals who bring their physical peculiarities (pretty extreme peculiarities at that) to bulk out his dream world. Some of them are familiar to Swedish TV viewers as regulars in Andersson's commercials; nearly all are fished at random from Swedish society. They include a lawyer, a retired insurance clerk, and a former embassy chauffeur. The whale-like Lars Nordh, who plays a depressive businessman, was spotted shopping at Ikea; he's since become famous as a mean-spirited farmer in Andersson's dairy ads."

Read the rest of the article at this link.

And here's a clip from Andersson's You, the Living:

The long history of Iran

Older than most countries & civilizations on this planet & now in the world news for disputed election related unrest - but if you are just starting to read a lot about Iran, here is a whole lot of info. - links from Wikipedia covering over 5,000 year (that's right, FIVE THOUSAND - that's like 50 or more human lifetimes - if you were lucky enough to live a 100 years every single time) - apparently one of the oldest nations in the current world (up there with Egypt, China, India, & one time peers of the Ancient Greeks & Romans):

" History of Iran
Empires of Persia · Kings of Persia
BC
Prehistory
Proto-Elamite civilization
3200–2800
Elamite dynasties
2800–550
Kassites
16th–12th cent.
Kingdom of Mannai
10th–7th cent.
Median Empire
728–550
Achaemenid Empire
550–330
Seleucid Empire
330–150
Parthian Empire
247–BC 226
AD
Sassanid Empire
226–651
Afrighid dynasty
?–995
Patriarchal Caliphate
637–651
Umayyad Caliphate
661–750
Abbasid Caliphate
750–1258
Tahirid dynasty
821–873
Alavid dynasty
864–928
Sajid dynasty
889/890–929
Saffarid dynasty
861–1003
Samanid dynasty
875–999
Ziyarid dynasty
928–1043
Buyid dynasty
934–1062
Sallarid
942–979
Ma'munids
995-1017
Ghaznavid Empire
963–1187
Ghori dynasty
1149–1212
Seljukid Empire
1037–1194
Khwarezmid dynasty
1077–1231
Ilkhanate
1256–1353
Muzaffarid dynasty
1314–1393
Chupanid dyansty
1337–1357
Jalayerid dynasty
1339–1432
Timurid Empire
1370–1506
Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans
1407–1468
Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans
1378–1508
Safavid dynasty
1501–1722*
Hotaki dynasty
1722–1729
Afsharid dynasty
1736–1750
Zand dynasty
1750–1794
Qajar dynasty
1781–1925
Pahlavi dynasty
1925–1979
Islamic Republic of Iran
since 1980
* or 1736
Timeline"

More at this Wikipedia page.

Feels a little bit like Moon - Japan's The Clone Returns to the Homeland

Saw Moon, liked it. Have not seen The Clone Returns to the Homeland yet, but maybe it's playing with some of the same ideas. Check out the trailer:

From novel A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

Found the novel A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo - enjoyable book so far (on page 34 at the moment) - the book is about a young woman from rural China moving to London. Had to share these few lines (in the book the character's English improves from chapter to chapter, as she learns more of it):

"American films strange in London. People at Language School tell me use student card, I can have cheap cinema ticket. Last week I go Prince Charles in Chinatown. They say is cheapest cinema in London. Two films screening: Moholland Drive, and Blue Velvet. All together is more than 4 hours. Perfect for my lonely nights. So I buy tickets and get in.

What crazy films! I not understanding very much the English speakings, but I understand I must never walk in highway at night alone."

Funny. Get a copy of Concise here.

- Sujewa

Some actual, old style journalism happening: Roger Cohen reports from Tehran

While other traditional media outlets are quoting Twitter feeds & YouTube clips, The Times' Roger Cohen is in Tehran, seeing the second Iranian revolution happen in person & dealing with tear gas attacks. From the article:

"Dark smoke billowed over this vast city in the late afternoon. Motorbikes were set on fire, sending bursts of bright flame skyward. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, had used his Friday sermon to declare high noon in Tehran, warning of “bloodshed and chaos” if protests over a disputed election persisted.

He got both on Saturday — and saw the hitherto sacrosanct authority of his office challenged as never before since the 1979 revolution birthed the Islamic Republic and conceived for it a leadership post standing at the very flank of the Prophet. A multitude of Iranians took their fight through a holy breach on Saturday from which there appears to be scant turning back."

Read the rest of Cohen's article at New York Times.

5 minutes on a Tehran street

In this 5+ minutes long, uninterrupted video footage protesters are out on a Tehran street, shouting slogans, picking up rocks to use against Iranian government's forces, and the body of a dead protester is carried away by other protesters:

Iranian government attacking protesters, some protesters fighting back

Get updates from Day 8 of election related unrest in Iran at Andrew Sullivan's blog.

A video that was identified as showing the death of a young female protester after she was attacked by Iranian government's forces:




Another video, identified as showing protesters fighting riot police, driving them back in one area:

Links to 45 NYC film festivals happening in 2009

Not quite 52 (a few months back I got the notion somehow that there are more film fests in NYC than there are weekends in a year), but close (and it is possible that I missed a few, or a lot). Here are links to 45 film festivals happening in NYC in 2009 (if you've got links for any missing ones, post them in Comments please):

1. Acefest

2. African

3. African Diaspora

4. Anarchist

5. Asian American International

6. BAMcinemaFEST

7. Bicycle

8. Blackout

9. Bosnian-Herzegovinian

10. Brooklyn International

11. CineKink

12. CMJ Music Marathon & Film

13. Coney Island

14. First Run

15. Food

16. Gen Art

17. Gotham Screen

18. Harlem International

19. Havana

20. HBO Bryant Park Summer

21. Human Rights Watch

22. Imagine Science Films

23. Jewish

24. Margaret Mead

25. Migrating Forms

26. Native American Film & Video

27. New Directors/New Films

28. New York

29. New York City Middle School

30. New York International Children's

31. NewFest

32. NY Asian

33. NY International Latino

34. NY Minute

35. NY United

36. NYC Horror

37. PictureStart Awards

38. Short

39. Soccer

40. South Asian International

41. Sprout

42. Surf

43. Tribeca

44. Urbanworld

45. Uzbek


- Sujewa

You Won't Miss Me at BAMcinemaFEST on Fri 6/19 & Tue 6/23

Get all the info. here.

Video, short version, of Satrapi & Makhmalbaf's statement re: disputed Iranian election/coup to European Parliment

*
From Times' Lede Blog. Here is the link to the longer, unedited version of the video, "with more of Mr. Makhmalbaf’s statement in Farsi" - from Lede Blog.

Why Iran Matters post at Sullivan's blog

From Andrew Sullivan's post Why Iran Matters:

"Moreover, Iran is at the very heart of the global struggle between the forces of distorted and politicized religious tyranny and the power of real faith and freedom. This struggle was never ours' to impose, however good the intentions. It was always there for the people themselves to grasp. And grasp it they now have - with astounding courage, clarity and calm."

Read the rest of the post at this link.

Kinda silly - the NSFW (so they say), banned in the US Calvin Klein jeans TV ad that suggests a foursome

See what all the drama is about at this link, at the Calvin Klein site.

Not about the movie (or is it? :) - Mlodinow's post The Limits of Control

Maybe it was a phrase that was always in use, but I only started noticing it after I heard about the Jarmusch movie The Limits of Control. Here is a segment from the post titled The Limits of Control by Caltech professor Leonard Mlodinow, from the New York Times site:

"That people are prone toward feeling in control even when they are not probably endowed our species with an advantage at some point in our evolution. Even today, a false sense of control can be beneficial in promoting a sense of well-being, or allowing us to maintain hope that a bad situation can improved."

Read the rest at The Limits of Control post.

- Sujewa

Uncharted territory for Iran - Laura Secor essay in The New Yorker

The New Yorker's Laura Secor takes a look at possible options available to the Supreme Leader of Iran as he deals with an unprecedented popular movement against a most likely fraudulent election. From the essay:

"What are Khamenei’s options? With protesters yelling “Down with the dictator” in the streets of nearly every city in Iran, his position could not be more precarious. He has staked his very legitimacy, and perhaps that of the edifice he sits atop, on forcing Iranians to accept Ahmadinejad’s supposed landslide victory. He can continue to try to force that down their throats with a show of raw power, or he can bend, which would show the opposition that he and the system are not really so powerful after all, that they are vulnerable to pressure from below. If he takes the latter road, it would be a radical departure from his style of governance up until now."

And:

"This is uncharted territory for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Until now, the regime has survived through a combination of repression and flexibility. The dispersal of power throughout a complex system, among rival political factions, and with the limited but active participation of the voting public, has allowed a basically unpopular regime to control a large population with only limited and targeted violence."

For the rest, check out The Supreme Leader's Next Move.

Lots of Iran election results protest updates at Andrew Sullivan's blog, Times' Lede Blog, Tehran Bureau

Check out Sullivan's blog here.

Times' Lede Blog here.

Also check out Tehran Bureau.

Thanks to this Gawker article for those & other links - check it out, article has a timeline of election results protests related events in Iran.

Hmmm, I don't think the riot police in Iran will be able to hold like a million people back

In the end of this Iran protest video from 6/14 there's a seemingly endless number of protesters marching down a large street in Iran, more reactions against the most likely fraudulent results from the recent Presidential election:

In "stunning turnaround" Khamenei (Supreme Leader of Iran) orders investigation into allegations of election fraud

From an AOL news article:

"Iran's supreme leader ordered Monday an investigation into allegations of election fraud, marking a stunning turnaround by the country's most powerful figure and offering hope to opposition forces who have waged street clashes to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

Read the rest of the article here.

- Sujewa

An Electoral Coup in Iran post, other links re: possible election fraud in Iran

From Abbas Djavadi's Iran & Beyond blog (thanks Filmmaker blog for the link):

"The “electoral coup,” as many in Iran interviewed by Radio Farda called it, has changed the face of the Islamic Republic. It has formalized the exclusion of still moderate clerics, founding fathers and technocrats of the Islamic Republic, and consolidated the rule of a new elite led by Revolutionary Guards, intelligence offices, and radical Islamists who feel to be well-represented by the Ahmadinejad leadership of the last four years. It is widely assumed that the coup cannot have happened with[out?] the clear approval by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. As Supreme Leader, he is charged with protection of the Islamic Republic beyond all political groups and personalities. Khamenei has repeatedly said that a “truthful election with a high turnout” is the “clearest symbol of the system’s legitimacy.” Last night’s rigged vote count seems to have left that legitimacy in shatters."

Read the rest of the post at An Electoral Coup in Iran. Check out the comments too.

More Iran & possible/most likely election fraud links at The Daily.

Also, filmmaker James Longley reports from Iran, at Around the Block.

New York Times' Roger Cohen has a video update on the suspicious events related to the election.

Another video clip, from NBC news, on the NYT site re: the unprecedented (in recent years) outpouring of popular protest in Iran.

And an update from Washington Post.

Trailer for BANANAS! - doc about ill workers vs. Dole court case

BANANAS!* trailer from WG Film on Vimeo.

And here's the site for the movie.

Here's a post at the site about Dole & allies trying to stop the screening of the film at the upcoming Los Angeles Film Festival. The film & the court case accuses Dole of using banned pesticides in Nicaragua & harming workers, from the site:

"One of the pesticides, a DBCP-based compound called Nemagon, was banned in the USA in 1977 for causing male sterility. Standard Fruit—now Dole—continued to use the pesticide in its plantations outside the USA up to 1982."

Got the link from All These Wonderful Things.

UPDATE: LA Times article: Lawyer faces contempt charges in pesticide case against Dole

Showbiz interview ends with a slap fight

Bradley Cooper vs. Zack Galifianakis (w/ some early 90's computer graphics, ferns, & Carrot Top thrown in):

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis from Between Two Ferns

Links to 25 NYC film festivals (soon I'll have links to ALL of the active ones!)

I have a hunch that there may be over 50 film festivals in NYC (and that's almost as many weekends there are in the year), so I started creating a links list. NYC maybe crowded, not as clean or spacious as the suburbs (& the subway is definitely not as clean & smooth like the one in DC) but for someone interested in indie & or other interesting/non-Hollywood/off-Hollywood films & WATCHING THEM ON THE SCREEN, WITH A THEATER FULL OF STRANGERS (or friends) the trade off is pretty great - literally 1000s of interesting movie watching options in this city each year, with dozens (probably) of only-in-NYC screenings happening daily. So here are links to 25 active (meaning a version of the fest is happening in 2009) film festivals in NYC, add more links in comments if you know of some NYC film fest recommendations, & I will try to get this list completed over the weekend:

African

African Diaspora

Asian American International

Bicycle

CineKink

CMJ Music Marathon & Film

Coney Island

Gen Art

Havana

Human Rights Watch

Imagine Science Films

Margaret Mead

New York

New York International Children's

NewFest

NY Asian

NY International Latino

NY Minute

NY United

NYC Horror

PictureStart Awards

Short

Sprout

Tribeca

Urbanworld

::

- Sujewa

Another indie filmmaking superstar is moving to Brooklyn

I say another because I think several already live here. Anyway, once this filmmaker that I am referring to gets settled in this summer, I'll see if he wants to do a brief interview re: making the move to NYC from the other coast, etc. At present he seems pretty excited about moving to NYC. Yay, one more filmmaker in Brooklyn! (i am all for lots of filmmakers living close to where i live, so that we can have live meetings instead of just e-mail & phone/text, Facebook, Twitter, etc. - live is better)

David Gordon Green interview from Making Of

Here you go, one for all you DGG fans out there,from a new site called Making Of:

Badass Bloggers 2009 list at Madlab Post :: Somewhat related - very interesting little visit to the Angelika today

Check out Madlab Post's list of 5 Badass Bloggers.

Which reminds me, I wanted to see what was playing at the Angelika theater in Manhattan today (technically yesterday - 6/9 Tue PM), walked in, & there was some kind of a premiere event or a promo/special screening event happening there (several photographers & a couple of video crews taking photos & video of a bunch of well dressed people). I asked a nearby person about what was going on, & he said it was an event for a doc called Food, Inc. There were several well dressed model type ladies there, plus dudes wearing interesting suits & shoes (i think i saw some yellow snake skin pattern loafers on one dude, i guess a film event is a great opportunity to break out such shoes :) - & the person I talked with said that the big players (not exact term) in the NYC food scene were at the event (i think that's a good thing, my relationship to that scene ends at occasionally eating at restaurants :), so I do not know much about that scene - yet). And then I talked with the new acquaintance some more & turns out dude is a filmmaker, & will be doing a rather expensive premiere for a short film of his this summer in NYC (more on that soon). Also he's into film blogs, so I told him about my doc about film blogs - and then we proceeded to try to figure out how to make good use of the new found resources (filmmaking & publicity resources that we knew about/had access to) for our respective projects. I think the point of this little story is: interesting events are happening all the time in NYC/walk around a bit in Manhattan & you may run into one, & some filmmakers are still very much into blogs & find them useful.

Rooftop Panorama action for tomorrow (Wed 6/10): Tales of Mere Existence

Wednesday, June 10

Tales of Mere Existence

Funny films about anxiety, awkwardness and existential emotions, featuring the animations of internet sensation Lev. Plus a live reading from Lev's new book.

Venue: On the Roof of Brooklyn Technical High School

Address: 29 Fort Greene Place (Fort Greene, Brooklyn)

Directions: B/M/Q/R to DeKalb Ave. or 2/3/4/5 to Nevins St.

Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location

8:00PM: Doors open

8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music by Glass Ghost

9:00PM: Films

Tickets: $9 at the door or online at http://www.rooftopfilms.com/

Presented in partnership with: Crunch, Cinereach, New York magazine, IndiePix, Shooting People & Brooklyn Technical High School

BUY TICKETS: http://newyork.going.com/event-602739;Rooftop_Films_Panorama_Tales_of_Mere_Existence

Secret park with an awesome view of Manhattan

Sunset Park is not really secret but I only discovered it after living in Brooklyn for about six months. The story: went to see an apartment in early May, it was an alright apartment, kinda smallish, then walked out & up the hill & walked into Sunset Park - sunny day, weekday I think, day time, not many people around, kinda chilly, but with a magnificent view of Manhattan (feels close enough to touch, if you had maybe 200 feet?, 500 feet? 2 miles? long arms). Took some photos from my not so high quality still camera, but to get the full effect of the park you have to go their physically. Closest subway is 45th Street on the R line (N late nights). So, yes, Sunset Park will definitely make an appearance in Brooklyn Fantastic. Oh, mainly because of the proximity to the park I took the apartment. The park adds a certain Maryland quality to the neighborhood, which I dig, 'cause the living is easy in MD/good memories, & w/ a lot of trees around & stuff. Nice to be able to get some of that green & sunshiney & easy flavor in NYC on a regular basis.

MC Hammer dance flash mob

A bunch of shoppers at a store in Sunset are surprised & entertained by several dozen gold parachute pants wearing dancers who appear all of a sudden:

The Dabbler... trailer

Makes Reid Gershbein's 2 Week Film look very exciting & interesting:

Cell phone data used to measure the economic impact of a tourist attraction

For those interested in the intersection of new tech habits & money, this article might be a good read (also, maybe, in the future, the methods mentioned in the article could be used for relatively quickly & accurately figuring out the economic impact of film festivals & other indie film biz related events/tourist attractions). From NYC Waterfalls: How Real-Time Cell Phone Data Can Impact Local Economies:

"From a research point of view, the point of NYC Waterfalls was to map the distribution of visitors to the exhibit, and reveal where they took photos and communicated with their mobile phones. So the scope of this project was more than the previous research in cities such as Florence and Rome, where only the presence and movements of tourists was mapped."

And:

"The lab's findings were many. While the results may not be surprising (the waterfalls attracted more visitors!), what's important is that cellphone data provided quantifiable data about how much of an increase in activity the waterfalls generated. For example, the number of phone calls showed an increase of the "attractiveness" of waterfall vantage points by 39.1% in comparison to other points of interests in the vicinity - such as the WTC site, City Hall and Wall Street. This was based on historical cellphone data of the area, as well as the waterfall time period."

Read the rest of the article at ReadWriteWeb.

The Broken Hearts Club review link

Reid Gershbein posts another enthusiastic review (i think that's the only kind of indie film review that Reid writes :) of an indie movie at his site - this time about Angelo Bell's The Broken Hearts Club. Check out the review here.

A better review of After Last Season at Twitch

The previous review I linked to was short on opinion, but the Twitch review of After Last Season makes up for it, check it out here. Yes, it sounds like the trailer does represent the look & editing style & acting style of the whole movie. I can't wait to see it!

Review link for After Last Season

Check out one review of one of the most talked about movies (among some freaked out web surfers) here.

360 degree turn in front of Angelika - early May '09, NYC

Shot this video from my still camera while waiting to cross the street to watch The Limits of Control at the Angelika theater in early May '09 in Manhattan.

Don't forget, After Last Season opens this weekend!

If I lived close to one of the five theaters that the film is opening at, & I did not have anything to do this weekend, & if someone paid me to check it out, I would definitely go see After Last Season. Looking forward to reading about it, however (tip = want to get a ton of hits on your blog? then go watch ALS & write a lot about it!).

Link to article "The TRUTH about the SAG ultra low budget agreement"

I haven't really been tempted to go SAG for an ultra low budget indie movie in years, and it'll probably be a long time before I have to really worry about using SAG talent, but for those indie filmmakers who are contemplating that move for an upcoming project, this article might be worth reading. From the article (The TRUTH about the SAG Ultra Low Budget Agreement by John G. Thomas):

"So, like many filmmakers I was excited when I first heard about SAG’s attempt to cross the street and work with us. Actors for a hundred bucks a day, relaxation of all those silly rules and regulations, no first class airplane tickets for actors and more – heck the Ultra Low Budget Agreement seemed like a fantastic idea for productions budgeted less than 200K.

“SAGIndie,” as they’ve chosen to re-cast themselves, has even gone so far as to stage monthly “contract workshops” to cleverly “explain” the wonders of this new agreement to all comers.

With SAG, as always, the devil is in the details.

Paragraph 1 of the Ultra Low Budget agreement says, in part:

“It, (the Ultra Low agreement) is not intended for pictures produced for television broadcast, cable use, video/DVD markets or otherwise produced primarily for commercial exploitation.”

Translation: Go ahead and make your movie but you’re not supposed to sell it.

Well, that’s just great, huh? (Unless you’re making movies only to give a free copy to Uncle Harvey.) It’s what SAG doesn’t tell you in those oh-so informative workshops that’s most important."

Read the rest of the article here.

And if any SAG reps read this or the referenced article & want to discuss the issues addressed in that article, please do so in Comments.

Reid Gershbein's sweet review of Indie Film Blogger Road Trip

The next superstar of the real indie film world - Reid Gershbein (he just finished his second feature & posted it on line, & is I believe getting ready to shoot a third feature soon, & already has a recognizable visual aesthetic of his own) - has seen Indie Film Blogger Road Trip. From Gershbein's review:

"Wow! I love this film and I think that people who are the a similar junction between film production, tweeting, blogging, press, film festivals, distribution, self-distribution, etc. will feel the same way. What Sujewa Ekanayake brilliantly captures in his film are the amazingly insightful, thoughtful, and passionate people who are navigating the wild west frontier brought on by the democratization of film criticism and the new digital world of independent cinema.

This film, like my favorite documentaries, conveys a real sense of the people behind the independent film bloggng movement, and it hits home so strongly for me because it articulately talks about the exact same concepts that are floating around in my head at this time. If you are someone who is tweeting or blogging about film, independent or mainstream, in anyway then this is a must-see film for you.

If you are someone who is involved in independent film and not involved in the blogging and social network communities, then this film will probably convince you to get online right away. As independent filmmakers know, it is a lonely and hard world out there if you don't have people and a community of like-minded people to talk to."

Read the rest of the review here.

About non-actors & making real indie movies, and Oscar winning non-professional actor Haing S. Ngor

Trained actors are easier to work with in some ways (they may show up on time, may be able to memorize a lot of dialogue, may be able to deliver a performance of a certain intensity time after time/take after take), and difficult to work with in other ways when making real indie movies (they have a complex process to go through when creating characters, may need lots of guidance/explanations/instructions for performing relatively simple actions/are interested in the meanings behind things, may worry too much about camera placement & lighting & other technical issues). There is also a healthy tradition on non-actors/untrained actors/people who do not typically think of themselves as actors being able to do a good job in movies of all kinds (indie, hollywood, foreign, etc.): I thought Sasha Grey did a good job in The Girlfriend Experience (no, acting in porn does not count as acting experience related to regular movies, and TGE is definitely a regular movie - mostly a dialogue driven drama about financial uncertainty), Robert Bresson's movies (see a clip here), and dozens of first or second time & or low budget indies. Also, since non-actors are most likely not traveling on a Hollywood/Indiewood/the film biz/Festwood inspired career trajectory (meaning, they most likely have regular/non-industry related jobs & if they get a chance to act in a movie they might approach that opportunity without career ambitions/with enthusiasm), they may be more interesting to work with & perhaps easier to work with for real indie/off-Hollywood/non-Hollywood/non-Indiewood filmmakers. So, as I am getting ready to film again (this summer, second half of Brooklyn Fantastic), I've been doing some research on instances where non-actors and good movies have successfully crossed each other's paths. That led me to finding out about Haing S. Ngor. And now I have to see The Killing Fields, to check out Ngor's work.

About Ngor, from this site:

"Dr. Haing S. Ngor was born in Samrong Young, Cambodia March 22nd, 1940. He was a highly skilled surgeon and gynecologist, practicing in Phnom Penh Cambodia, when in 1975 he was ordered out of the city, along with two million other residents, as part of the Khmer Rouge takeover. After four years in a "concentration camp", he and his niece Sophia Ngor took refuge in Thailand, and subsequently the United States. Although Dr. Ngor had no acting experience, he was chosen for the role of a journalist's assistant trapped in the killing fields of Cambodia. Haing Ngor's real life experience in Cambodia's killing fields enabled him to deliver a performance that was so realistic and moving, that it earned him an Academy Award in 1985 for "Best Supporting Actor". Dr. Ngor's Oscar winning performance in "The Killing Fields" was followed with roles in 16 other feature films, as well as numerous television appearances."

Read more about Ngor here (Haing S. Ngor Foundation site).

And now, a clip from The Killing Fields, featuring Ngor (the hugging scene is apparently true to life, see last clip re: that):



And a short piece with Dith Pran, the real person portrayed by Ngor in The Killing Fields:

DIY restaurant review: Balthazar in NYC (80 Spring St, NY, NY 10012)

The Story:

Saturday night - around 10-something PM, a VIP in the LOS (Life of Sujewa) was upset that I was not putting a sufficient amount of work into celebrating her birthday (I was tired from moving from one part of Brooklyn to another that day, & also was just into hanging out & enjoying the new apartment at that moment, & her birthday was technically not until the next night - even though we did plan on doing something to celebrate it that night - before the chance/request to move a day earlier came from the landlady...), so, anyway, to resolve the situation well we went out & got off the subway at Prince St. area (without any clear plans as to what restaurants, if any, may be open in that neighborhood at that time - about 11:30 PM). The first place we stopped at was a sushi joint, kitchen was closing. They recommended a couple of restaurants down the street, including Balthazar. So, naturally, I immediately got lost, took a wrong turn. Then I decided to give up on eating in that area & tried to get a cab to go to Lower East Side. No cabs were stopping, walk light came on. So we decided to walk another block & see what we could find. We found Balthazar - bright, red, like something out of an old French movie (not that I've seen too many old French movies, but, something like my idea of a grand restaurant from some period in French history).

Will have some photos & videos later.

Besides the aesthetic value, the most important thing at that moment was that the restaurant was open.

Here's my DIY restaurant review (though I no longer do film reviews since there is always a conflict of interest when filmmakers write film reviews, I can write a restaurant review since I am not a cook :):

Balthazar

80 Spring St., New York, NY 10012

The look: Awesome. And by awesome I mean it's a big place, with tall ceilings, with huge mirrors, looking like something out of a French movie.

The sound: good - old jazz, French rock that sounded like some 90's US indie rock - but in French, some other classical (pre-60's?) & good jazz/blues/pop standards

Service: Excellent. Very friendly hostess, great servers. Special note: the first waitress (shift changed while we were eating) had what I think was maybe a 60's French(?) hair style, something to keep in mind for a character in the future).

Food: Excellent. And such large portions. We were full & had leftovers by the time we were done.

Other customers: Mostly energetic, an eclectic bunch: some tourists, some locals, some hipsters, from early 20's to like late 60's/early 70's I guess - overall seemed like a nice group of people who were having a good time eating & hanging out at the venue.

Overall Effect: Girlfriend was very happy with the dinner, said it was one of the best birthday dinners she's had. Which makes my life easier (ladies have long memories when it comes to certain things like not doing something special for b-day, etc.) - thanks Balthazar.

Price: Mid-range I guess (not an expert on the price ranges, I don't usually compare restaurants nor do I ever read restaurant reviews - well, maybe one or two in my life thus far). I think it was less than $70 for two after tip. Not bad for an awesome birthday dinner in 2009 US, I think.

Filmmaking related note: The lighting, the large/old timey looking mirrors that take up walls, decorations create a very interesting look, might be a good place to keep in mind for set design, also possibly a good place to film a scene for a movie (plenty of space for gear & to move around, for one thing)

Also, fans of the French movie Amelie will probably enjoy the look of the restaurant.

And that's my DIY restaurant review. Go here for more on Balthazar.

- Sujewa

Hey, this new David Lynch project reminds me of Indie Film Blogger Road Trip

Hmmm - a project where a filmmaker drives around (well, in Lynch's case the country, in my case part of the east coast) & interview "outsiders" (outside of middle class life? in Lynch's project, on my film I am not sure what, if anything, film bloggers & writers are outside of - maybe outside of Hollywood?) - reminds me of Indie Film Blogger Road Trip (see top of blog for a clip).

However, we are here to link to David Lynch's Interview Project - episode 1 is up! Check it out yo, looks good.

I am still a big fan of Lynch's Dune, no matter what the "experts" say about it.

- Sujewa

Rooftop filmmaker Frank Rinaldi's blog

Check it out here.

New indie features "The Original Soundtrack" and "The Dabbler..." are now available to view on the web for free

Instead of waiting around for film festival premieres, & hammering another nail into the coffin of indiewood, some indie filmmakers are debuting their features on the web, for free. Two recent ones:

The Original Soundtrack by Mike Peter Reed

The Dabbler... by Reid Gershbein

Both films were created for round 1 of The 2 Week Film Project. Go check them out now. If you want to read a little about them before you watch them, the links above will take you to some review links.

I am working on setting up a possible August screening (w/ director in attendance) of The Dabbler... & Here. My Explosion (another feature by director of Dabbler - Reid Gershbein) in Brooklyn. More on that event later this month.

- Sujewa