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Beautiful Things interview at Film Panel Notetaker

Brian Geldin speaks with Tambay Obenson about his feature Beautiful Things and other matters; check it out here . A little bit of the conversation: " TFPN: How did the idea of Beautiful Things come about? Obenson: I’ve always been interested in exploring relationship dynamics. We seem to spend a significant part of our lives in some stage of coupling – we’re either looking for a partner, or we are with a partner and are working to make the relationship long-lasting. The need for companionship is after all very human. I wanted to deconstruct that notion on film." Read the rest here . Go here to buy the Beautiful Things DVD from Amazon . - Sujewa

Coming soon to your DVD player - Mardi Gras: Made in China & a bunch of other real indie movies from Carnivalesque

From Carnivalesque Films : "June 4, 2008 - Carnivalesque Films will release the Award Winning documentary MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA in stores everywhere on July 29, 2008. Winner of twenty national and international awards, Mardi Gras: Made in China follows the path of Mardi Gras beads from the naked streets of New Orleans during Carnival – where revelers party and exchange beads for nudity – to the disciplined factories in Fuzhou, China – where teenage girls live and sew beads together all day and night. Blending curiosity with comedy, Mardi Gras: Made in China is the only film to explore how the toxic products directly affect the people who both make and consume them. Carnivalesque Films is a new production and distribution company whose goal is to explore how personal stories relate to complex social issues. David Redmon and Ashley Sabin - directors of the award winning films KAMP KATRINA and INTIMIDAD - founded Carnivalesque Films and will release three award winning films ORP

Met a dude who makes his living selling used books on Amazon

There are people - types, let's say - that may, in the future, be considered unique folklore figures from the turn of the 21st century; such as people who make a healthy living selling items on the web. These people exist, for most of us, in entrepreneur profile pieces on magazines, newspapers, & the web itself. But I met one of these people recently - a real live one, in the flesh. Dude is relatively young, lives in a Montgomery County, MD suburb, got a small family, and the basement of his large house is full of used and rare books. His work day consists of listing books for sale on Amazon, and then fulfilling orders (sometimes around 40 orders a day he said), & also going out & buying new merchandise/books for selling. Dude is an expert in his specialty (also has broad knowledge of many subjects; history, art, etc.) - specializes in one type of books, and knows his sector of the market well. Dude needed help; had tons of books to enter into Amazon, and I cou

About '61 premiered The Exiles, doc about Native Americans in LA in the '50s

From Dennis Lim's NYT article on The Exiles: "In focusing on the first wave of Indians relocated in the 1950s by the Bureau of Indian Affairs , “The Exiles” documents a displacement that Mr. Alexie says has received scant notice from a younger generation of Indians. “None of us made that movie,” he said. “Nobody writes about the relocated anymore. In a sense that first generation has been abandoned even by other Natives.” He added: “They were the immigrants, and by and large everybody in America loves to pretend they’ve always been here, even the people who’ve always been here. Ignoring the first generation of immigrants makes you feel like you’ve always belonged.”" Read the rest here . More Exiles links at GreenCine Daily . - Sujewa

Studio action

That's IndiePix Studio action; a new website from IndiePix, w/ new services for filmmakers; site is at www.indiepixstudios.com . From the announcement post : "Since its launch, IndiePix has worked with over 150 filmmakers, including director Jennifer Venditti and producer Chiemi Karasawa on the award-winning documentary essay ‘Billy the Kid’, and Jeremy and Randy Stulberg on compelling American lifestyle documentary ‘Off the Grid’. The website’s primary objective will be to increase the transparency and visibility of individual filmmakers’ earnings from IndiePixfilms.com by providing up-to-date online sales and rental information." Sounds great, more here at the IndiePix blog , and at the studio site itself. - Sujewa

Black Box Office - Mid Year Review

At The Obenson Report . From the post: "So, there you have it! A ridiculous 6 films out of 300 (2%), released during the first 6 months of 2008, and every single one of them exists somewhere between "garbage" and "average," although I'd say most fall closer towards the former." More here . - Sujewa

Texas Snow world premiere St.Louis July 24th

Back in NYC July 25 - 27 for blogger doc interviews

At the end of this month, Fri 25 - Sun 27, I'll be heading back to NYC to interview bloggers for The Indie Film Bloggers doc. Any NYC based indie film bloggers (also indie filmmakers who might want to share their opinions re: blogs, also others who are deeply interested in indie film & indie film blogs) who are interested in participating in the doc can contact me to discuss the possibilities. More on upcoming IFB shoots, completion plans, here . - Sujewa

Top 100 Liberal Arts Professor Blogs

Need some more blogs to read? Then check out The Top 100 Liberal Arts Professor Blogs . "Our own" (meaning, from the indie film related blog world) Chuck Tryon is on the list; congrats Chuck. - Sujewa

Sun article on the Afro-Punk festival

Check it out here. From the article : "But the festival's breaking news comes courtesy of its premieres of new efforts, such as Mr. Spooner's feature "White Lies, Black Sheep" and Jennifer Sharp's "I'm Through With White Girls." Both films, as per the impetus of the festival itself, center around characters who don't fit convenient notions of how someone is supposed to be "black." In "White Lies," a 20-something club promoter named A.J. (Ayinde Howell) comes to terms with his heritage while feeling increasingly alienated within a mostly white circle of friends on the Williamsburg nightlife circuit. His processed hair and tight-fitting jeans earn him jeers when he visits his father in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and his white buddies chastise him for only pursuing the affections of white women." More at New York Sun . And here's BAM's page for the fest , happening now & through this weekend. - Sujewa

New article on Ballast's self-distribution plan

At indieWIRE , check it out. From the article (by Anthony Kaufman, about the Sundance '08 fave Ballast by Lance Hammer): ""It may be a total financial failure," Hammer admitted. "But if I were to go with one of the established distributors, it'd be certain that I'd lose all my money. But if [I] try it myself, aligning myself with very experienced, creative people, there's a chance that it won't be a failure. And then I can prove that I've done it once and I can do it again. And more importantly, other filmmakers like me can do it, too."" A lot more here . - Sujewa

Yes, indie filmmakers do live in Astoria; new film & maker - New York Lately & Gary King

When I visited NYC this past weekend to shoot interviews for The Indie Film Bloggers I stayed in Astoria . Me & Brian Geldin - The Film Panel Notetaker - were wondering that weekend if any indie filmmakers & or indie film bloggers lived in Astoria (we assumed "probably"). Now we have proof of the existence of an Astoria based indie filmmaker & blogger; Gary King - and we also have news of a new indie film; New York Lately . Check out Gary's blog An Indie Life here . From a recent post: "Last month prior to heading to Georgia to shoot DISMAL, I sat down with INDIE PRODUCTION SOURCE to talk about the project and my experiences as a director. The guys (Charles Stewart Jr., Kelly Neilon, Matt Hacker) who run it are really nice and belong to the North Carolina indie film community as well." More here . About Gary's movie - debut feature - New York Lately : " NEW YORK LATELY is a drama following multiple characters as they weave through their dai

I think I'd also like to interview a few critics, others for the indie film blogger doc

As the profession of film criticism is going through big changes at the moment, perhaps due to, in part (maybe a small part), the existence of a large number of websites devoted to film, it may be interesting to get the opinions & perspectives of a few film critics (specially current or former print film critics) on indie film blogs for my feature documentary The Indie Film Bloggers. If any NYC/DC/Baltimore area critics (current or former) would like to be interviewed for the doc, let me know ( wilddiner@aol.com ). The invite also goes out to others who do work related to the art/business of indie film (or are just big fans of these kinds of movies) and have strong/interesting opinions about indie film blogs. Thanks. - Sujewa

Brandon Harris on The Wackness & Gonzo

If you are in the mood for a couple of well written posts about two new films, check out Brandon "Cinema Echo Chamber" Harris's recent posts about The Wackness & Gonzo . Brandon on The Wackness : "The carefully molded world of the movie is one of its major selling points for a large portion of the target youth audience that geriatric seeming Sony Pictures Classics is hoping it can lure with this sweet and sugary, yet oddly colorless summer of 94’ hip-hop fantasia. From the desaturated hues of its early and middle passages to the alabaster pallor of almost its entire cast, this movie is lily white, regardless of how many Nas, Biggie and Wu-Tang Clan songs can get stuffed into the final mix." Read the rest here . And from the post on Gonzo : "As a man of letters, the precocious middle class kid from Louisville, one who loved guns, dope and America with equal measure, was remarkably erratic and perhaps, in the end, not good enough to attain the furthest r

Full Movie - SNEAK PREVIEW - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene And The Mystery Of Immortal Time Travelers

NEW - COSMIC DISCO DETECTIVE RENE (2023) - TRAILER!

The Secret Society For Slow Romance (2022) - available to rent as a new release starting January 1

Werewolf Ninja Philosopher at Vimeo VOD

Reading Material

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip