Originally posted 3/30/07
Pioneering indie/punk/DIY filmmaker Jon Moritsugu's ultra-low budget, Hi-8 filmed, award winning feature Scumrock, a tale about the struggle between the career ambitions of aspiring young creatives and the arrival of their dreaded 30's, will screen at the Kensington Real Independent Film Festival (KRIFF) this fall. KRIFF happens September 6 - 9 in Kensington, Maryland.
About Jon Moritsugu (adapted from the introduction to an interview I did with him in 2005):
Jon Moritsugu has played his movies in, and won awards at, underground film festivals and he has also played his movies at international, mainstream forums including the Cannes film festival. He once made a 16 MM Panavision movie for PBS with a budget of over $350,000 and he has also made feature length movies for under $5,000. This versatile, very creative, always super independent, punk rock influenced and inspired American filmmaker has a two decade long resume and body of work that most creative professionals anywhere would envy. Moritsugu's 2003 feature "Scumrock", shot on the shockingly amateur and inexpensive Hi-8 analog video format and starring, among others, musician Kyp Malone from the well respected indie band TV on the Radio, won Best Feature award at the 2003 New York Underground Film Festival and Best Feature award at the 2002 Chicago Underground Film Festival. His career has being celebrated locally and abroad. In 2004 the Anthology Film Archives in New York City presented a one week long retrospective of Moritsugu's work. In 2005 the Lausanne Underground Film Festival in Switzerland presented a week long retrospective.
About Scumrock:
"BEST OF 2003"
The Village Voice Film Critics Poll
"BEST FEATURE"
N.Y. Underground Film Festival
"BEST FEATURE"
Chicago Underground Film Festival
PLOT:
Two stories: a musician, played by Amy Davis, attempts to take her band to the next, more professional, famous, and lucrative level while a perhaps massively deluded independent filmmaker, played by Kyp Malone, attempts to create a groundbreaking movie. Both characters must deal with many personal and professional obstacles and the increasing awareness that time may be running out for them to "make it" in their chosen fields.
MUSIC BY: Casiotone for the painfully alone, J-Church, the Gossip, Skull Kontrol, The Monorchid, Toni Ann, The Mollybolts, Camelot
Formats:
SCUMROCK was shot on analog Hi-8, edited on linear VHS, and mastered onto beta-sp
Screening history:
Anthology Film Archives, NYC (1 week run w/ retrospective)
Vancouver Int'l Film Festival, Canada
Singapore Int'l Film Festival
Edmonton Film Festival (closing night movie)
Wisconsin Film Festival
Microcinefest (opening night movie), Baltimore
Three Rivers Film Festival, Pittsburgh
Film Arts Foundation Festival, SF
Toronto Reel Asian Int'l Film Festival
Northwest Film Forum, Seattle
Blinding Light!, Vancouver
Other Cinema at ATA, SF
The Cube Cinema, Bristol, UK
Cinematheque, Brighton, UK
Basement Films, Albuquerque, NM
Chicago Asian American Showcase
Indie Microcinema, SF
Laemmle's Fairfax 3 Cinema, LA (1 week run)
Clinton Street Theater, Portland (1 week run)
Alamo Drafthouse, Austin
Cleveland Cinematheque
Sound Unseen Music & Film Festival, Minneapolis
Winnepeg Cinematheque, Canada
For more on Scumrock and Moritsugu, please visit http://jonmoritsugu.com/.
Sujewa Ekanayake
Programmer
The Kensington Real Independent Film Festival
http://www.wilddiner.com/kriff.htm
Pioneering indie/punk/DIY filmmaker Jon Moritsugu's ultra-low budget, Hi-8 filmed, award winning feature Scumrock, a tale about the struggle between the career ambitions of aspiring young creatives and the arrival of their dreaded 30's, will screen at the Kensington Real Independent Film Festival (KRIFF) this fall. KRIFF happens September 6 - 9 in Kensington, Maryland.
About Jon Moritsugu (adapted from the introduction to an interview I did with him in 2005):
Jon Moritsugu has played his movies in, and won awards at, underground film festivals and he has also played his movies at international, mainstream forums including the Cannes film festival. He once made a 16 MM Panavision movie for PBS with a budget of over $350,000 and he has also made feature length movies for under $5,000. This versatile, very creative, always super independent, punk rock influenced and inspired American filmmaker has a two decade long resume and body of work that most creative professionals anywhere would envy. Moritsugu's 2003 feature "Scumrock", shot on the shockingly amateur and inexpensive Hi-8 analog video format and starring, among others, musician Kyp Malone from the well respected indie band TV on the Radio, won Best Feature award at the 2003 New York Underground Film Festival and Best Feature award at the 2002 Chicago Underground Film Festival. His career has being celebrated locally and abroad. In 2004 the Anthology Film Archives in New York City presented a one week long retrospective of Moritsugu's work. In 2005 the Lausanne Underground Film Festival in Switzerland presented a week long retrospective.
About Scumrock:
"BEST OF 2003"
The Village Voice Film Critics Poll
"BEST FEATURE"
N.Y. Underground Film Festival
"BEST FEATURE"
Chicago Underground Film Festival
PLOT:
Two stories: a musician, played by Amy Davis, attempts to take her band to the next, more professional, famous, and lucrative level while a perhaps massively deluded independent filmmaker, played by Kyp Malone, attempts to create a groundbreaking movie. Both characters must deal with many personal and professional obstacles and the increasing awareness that time may be running out for them to "make it" in their chosen fields.
MUSIC BY: Casiotone for the painfully alone, J-Church, the Gossip, Skull Kontrol, The Monorchid, Toni Ann, The Mollybolts, Camelot
Formats:
SCUMROCK was shot on analog Hi-8, edited on linear VHS, and mastered onto beta-sp
Screening history:
Anthology Film Archives, NYC (1 week run w/ retrospective)
Vancouver Int'l Film Festival, Canada
Singapore Int'l Film Festival
Edmonton Film Festival (closing night movie)
Wisconsin Film Festival
Microcinefest (opening night movie), Baltimore
Three Rivers Film Festival, Pittsburgh
Film Arts Foundation Festival, SF
Toronto Reel Asian Int'l Film Festival
Northwest Film Forum, Seattle
Blinding Light!, Vancouver
Other Cinema at ATA, SF
The Cube Cinema, Bristol, UK
Cinematheque, Brighton, UK
Basement Films, Albuquerque, NM
Chicago Asian American Showcase
Indie Microcinema, SF
Laemmle's Fairfax 3 Cinema, LA (1 week run)
Clinton Street Theater, Portland (1 week run)
Alamo Drafthouse, Austin
Cleveland Cinematheque
Sound Unseen Music & Film Festival, Minneapolis
Winnepeg Cinematheque, Canada
For more on Scumrock and Moritsugu, please visit http://jonmoritsugu.com/.
Sujewa Ekanayake
Programmer
The Kensington Real Independent Film Festival
http://www.wilddiner.com/kriff.htm
