ONE - ARTHOUSE FILM NEWS - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene at Film Noir Cinema, NYC starting 7/12/24

* * * * :: DC's print & web publication On Tap, which deals with area entertainment & night life, has an article about Date Number One in its July issue. Here is the opening paragraph of the article: " Having already screened in New York City and Seattle in 2006, Sujewa Ekanayake’s film Date Number One , featuring a number of the District’s indie film actors, will have its first weeklong run in Kensington, Maryland this month. Comprised of five different stories, all about first dates, the film has been described as “about as charming as they come,” by Michael Tully, a SXSW film festival selected filmmaker, who continued on to say Date Number One “presents a world in which cultures don’t clash, they mesh.” Chuck Tryon, a media professor, treaded along this tangent as well, writing that the 30-somethings’ search for love in Ekanayake’s film “might be understood as the anti-Crash depiction of life in the city.” Read the rest here . Print copies of the magazine can be fo...

Foreignwood = all manner of non-US based/financed/controlled filmmaking & distribution. The Cannes film festival is a famous foreignwood event. A lot of foreignwood movies never play in American movie theaters (but there is always DVDs & GreenCine & maybe Jaman too to pick up the slack). Hollywood = the major US filmmaking & distribution industry; big money, wide distribution in the US. Indiewood = the "place" in the US where real independent and hollywood meet and give birth to Napoleon Dynamite type movies, also the "place" that produces low budget & "edgy" hollywood movies that receive relatively wide art house & beyond distribution. You should be able to catch a lot of indiewood movies at Landmark theaters, also smaller independent theaters that program Landmark type stuff & on IFC. Festwood = the US independent film festival scene. it is possible for a real indie film to do very well in Festwood but have no impact in Indiew...

Just a quick observation: about this time last year & a little bit earlier Chris Hansen , myself , Joe Swanberg , and AJ Schnack were blogging about our movies & discussing indie/DIY production & distribution. And now, about a year later, we've got some very interesting developments happening with various feature film projects: Hansen's American Messiah (his first feature) announced a significant distribution deal , my Date Number One (my second feature/third long project - over 1 hour long; more info. on previous projects here ) is less than two weeks away from having a week long run in the DC area , Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs (his third feature) announced a distribution deal with IFC's First Take , and AJ's Kurt Cobain About A Son (his second feature) is winning raves (and at least one significant award that i know of) from coast to coast at film fests. This is just an off-the-top-of-my-head list, by no means complete, because I am sure...

Added the 7/12 - 18 screenings info. to the Date Number One's MySpace page , plus a couple more things/changes. Will add new clips from the movie, maybe a trailer or two, stills in the coming 3-4 days. Go become our MySpace pal if ya haven't yet. Thanks! - Sujewa

Filmmaker/musician Amir Motlagh's band Shanks and the Dreamers ( MySpace ) has a new album called A Day Late: Instrumentals for Illegal Aliens, available now through Amazon . I've heard it (well, an earlier version of it), good stuff (it made a barely moving DC traffic jam very bearable one day a couple of months ago - also I was able to daydream to the music), get yerself a copy. - Sujewa

Check it out here at Found In Brooklyn blog. - Sujewa

Man, there are like 5 very interesting articles at the Reeler right now. Check out the one about the Afro-Punk festival . Also, when you are there, check out the interview with the director of In Between Days. The Reeler is bringing the good stuff - in significant quantities - this week. - Sujewa

Check out the article re: Rescue Dawn at The Reeler , and the comments, here . - Sujewa

Check out the conversation here at The Workbook Project . Esther Robinson is the director of the award winning doc A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory . Doug Block is the director of the doc 51 Birch Street - which recently completed an 8 month long theatrical run. Lance Weiler is the director & distributor of the acclaimed indie horror flick Head Trauma , and a digital film production & distribution pioneer. - Sujewa

From Blake : "My film " Killing Down " played at the Cannes Film Market recently and the DVD should start popping up in Europe and the Middle East in the near future. No domestic deal has been inked yet, but we have several offers. Still trying to find the best fit and honestly not in a huge hurry. My new feature is moving ahead nicely too..." Read the rest here at Indie Features . - Sujewa

Chris Hansen, director of Messiah, has the news right here . Congrats Chris & Team Messiah! - Sujewa

Thanks Film Panel Notetaker! Also, thanks to the Kensington town newsletter for spreading the word. - Sujewa

Film series Independent Week: New American Independent Cinema 2007 is happening June 30 - July 10 at the Harvard Film Archive. Films featured are: Great World of Sound by Craig Zobel, In Between Days by So Yung Kim, Hohokam by Frank V. Ross, Apart from That by Randy Walker and Jennifer Shainin, Team Picture by Kentucker Audley, Finally Lillian and Dan by Mike Gibisser, Honey by David Ball, Afraid of Everything by David Barker, Yellow by Nick Peterson, shorts Contingent , Split Pea Soup , Two , Frenesi by Nick Peterson, Sullivan's Last Call by Francesca Rizzo, We're Going to the Zoo by Josh Safdie, Chalk by Mike Akel, Hannah Takes the Stairs by Joe Swanberg, Quiet City by Aaron Katz, Frownland by Ronald Bronstein. Visit the website for the series here . - Sujewa

A while back, over here , I wrote about the goal of getting mainstream press coverage for the 7/12 - 18 Date Number One run in Kensington. There was some significant progress on that project today - the Washington Post called me & we talked about the movie, the upcoming run, etc. This is very good news because I am very interested in getting local mainstream print press for the movie & the upcoming run. The Post is as mainstream as it gets for print press in these here parts. So hopefully there will be a nice article about the movie & the run in the Post come July 12. - Sujewa

What We Do Is Secret is a new movie - about Darby Crash, the singer of the (late 70's? early 80's?) LA punk band The Germs. Don't know much about it but I am always interested in finding out more & checking out art & entertainment related to punk 'cause punk is the philosophical ancestor (that's kind of a funny line :) to DIY filmmaking as I practice it. Anyway, here is the link to the LAist review of What We Do Is Secret . UPDATE: According to this Wikipedia page The Germs appeared in the late '70's. - Sujewa

This Town is available to view, in segments, through this blog . Here is the synopsis of the film: " Is it really all about the shoes? Meet Rick, a 21st century guy facing the eternal quest of finding love that lasts. But designer footwear is only the start on the path to true love... Playing the dating game in this town requires patience, tenacity and an emotional bulletproof vest, not to mention a good sense of humor and an active imagination! Fantasy and fact merge with cheek biting repartee in this hilarious, edgy exploration of men, women and the inexplicable differences between the sexes." Here's a little bit from the blog about the making of the movie and the current promotion : " Hello, and welcome to the online version of our feature film This Town, a project made over a 3 year period, premiering at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, in 2002. Since then it has screened in several festivals, and from time to time found a venue in the Boston area. Now that we all...

Matt Dentler is the South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival Producer (see SXSW Film site here ). He is also a blogger; the keeper of an on-line journal , a fan & commentator on film who also shares notes and observations about his life and non-filmic passions. He may also be found at various film festivals around the country throughout the year as a panel member or a judge. I spoke with Matt late yesterday through the magic of e-mail regarding his SXSW career and related mysterious & exciting matters such as his current home town Austin, Texas - a place that, as I have been informed by several t-shirts, the locals are trying to keep "weird" . And while we are on the topic; click over at some point soon & check out some excellent shorts at the SXSWClick on line shorts fest. Now, the interview: Sujewa: Matt, how did you get interested in working in or with film, and specifically independent film? Matt: I've been a film buff/geek as ...

Been having some problems with the computer that I use to edit & publish my main site www.wilddiner.com , getting it fixed now, so I should be able to update the site before this week is out. I'll probably set up a back up site also - later this week. The MAP link from the 7/12 - 18 run listing from Screenings page of the main site does not seem to work. Use the MAP link off the post above - from the one announcing the 7/12 - 18 run. Hopefully that one works, if not, will update later tonight. UPDATE: Here's the MAP link . Working on posting up some new clips from Date Number One , from the final version that will screen 7/12 - 18 in Kensington. Also will be adding down-loadable stills for media, and director's notes, and other press & publicity friendly material. Gearing up for the home run - 7/12 is just around the corner, lots more news coming soon. - Sujewa

All those interviews should have been up on the blog by now, but, DNO 7/12 - 18 run work needed attention, so, those interviews will be up before this week is over. UPDATE 7/2/07: Fully busy with DNO 7/12 - 18 run prep & publicity, will post up the interviews after 7/18. - Sujewa

Check out Ali Naderzad's blog here . Quite a few interesting posts there; re: Cannes, Columbia U. film events, etc. Always nice to run into people you knew from the very early 90's (or was it '88 -'89?). Me & Ali worked at the same place for a bit back then - at no doubt the "coolest" retail store in Montgomery County, MD :) :) :) Ali is currently the film editor at Anthem magazine . Here's Anthem on Hal Hartley's Fay Grim . Now go check out Ali's blog ! - Sujewa

Check it out here . The Devil Came On Horseback is about the genocide in Darfur. The documentary is directed by Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern. Here is an exchange from the interview conducted by Pamela Cohn: " SIM : Do you think a film like this can change things? AS : It’s going to happen more and more with other documentaries, but I think something like An Inconvenient Truth broke the mold in a lot of ways in terms of making direct impacts on people’s perception of an issue and has directly resulted in putting the issue of global warming on the map. It engaged viewers at the house parties where it was shown, it changed behavior--the Prius is now the top-selling car. With our film, I feel we're using the same kind of power of “shaming.” The power of photographs and the power of documentary to compel action, that’s vital. One, it can inspire viewers to actually take on an active role in an issue, but it’s also part of the public shaming that apparently needs to h...

Fellow Kensingtonian Mark Wenner has been playing with the blues & roots rock band The Nighthawks longer than I've been alive. Check out The Nighthawks story at this past Friday's Washington Post. Here is a paragraph from the article: "On liner notes for "Rock 'n' Roll," the Nighthawks' 1974 debut two years after the addition of bass player Jan Zukowski and drummer Pete Ragusa, Wenner had written about reinventing rock-and-roll "by using the same processes with which it had been invented in the first place, going to the various sources and mixing them together -- soul, rockabilly, jump, country, R&B and etc. -- taking all these previously used ingredients, pouring them into a stew and turning it up and stirring it around and seeing what comes out again." " Check out the entire article here . - Sujewa

Chuck Tryon has written & published a review of the Andrew Semans directed, well shot & well acted short film All Day Long . Check it out here . - Sujewa

Jennifer Fox is the director of the Sundance Film Festival 2007 premiered Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman . Flying is a six hour long, six part documentary that explores the life of Fox and her female friends around the world as they deal with major issues as well as minor challenges and interesting details that come their way. Among other situations, the movie deals with Fox's own debate regarding getting married and also regarding having children, her romantic relationships, a major illness of a friend, and a divorce of another friend. Flying opens for a New York City theatrical run on July 4th at Film Forum and will be available throughout the US and several other countries through theatrical exhibition, television broadcasts and on DVD in the coming months. I spoke with Fox recently about her acclaimed documentary. :: About Jennifer Fox (from the Flying website): Jennifer Fox is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning director, producer, camera woman and educator who h...

From the introduction to the list : "...the list presents a provisional sense of a Chicano film and video heritage, one that remains outside the official histories of the American cinema." Check it out here . - Sujewa

Check it out here . Got the link from The Chutry Experiment blog. - Sujewa

The AFI 's got their list, based on their tastes & other selection criteria that does not recognize Jim Jarmusch's work, and, as far as I can tell at first glance, no minority directors other than Spike Lee (and only 1 Lee movie at that - what no Malcolm X ???). So let's make another list to go along with the AFI's list, an alternative list, featuring 100 indie movies that people who watch a lot of indie movies (& movies in general) would recommend to someone who is interested in checking out some of the best American indie films. I chose 1959 as the starting point since Shadows was released that year; because it seems as if many observers of American film history believe Shadows was the starting point of art/independent moviemaking as we now know it. I chose 2000 as the end point for the list since, well, that seemed like a good place to stop since the first decade of the '00's are still unfolding and we would need some time after the decade is over in ...

Visit the indie book company here to get the story. Thanks Just A Few Of My Days blog for the link. - Sujewa

Not enough singles in your town? Perhaps this map will come in handy when you make moving plans. According to the map lots of single men in the west, with a lot of single women in the east (i knew there had to be some good reasons for staying in the DC area/not moving to LA :). Not sure if the info. on the map is correct, but it is an interesting idea. Thanks The Chutry Experiment for the link. - Sujewa

How well do people know their favorite rock stars? When an artist gets to the level of world wide fame there is a lot of money and quite possibly several careers invested in that person. The famous entertainer at that rare height is a very valuable commodity to many and thus the image of that person being projected through media is most likely carefully managed by a team of professionals. Even if that is not the case often fans choose to see and hear what they want to believe about their stars. On Friday June 15 I attended the Washington, DC area premiere of the documentary Kurt Cobain About A Son at the SilverDocs film festival in Silver Spring, Maryland. The film, directed by AJ Schnack, reveals the deceased Nirvana front man to be a talented artist haunted by many demons and also a rather ordinary individual. In the post-screening discussion one of the audience members strongly disagreed with the suggestion that Kurt Cobain was an ordinary man. This reaction will no doubt be repeate...

The hard working SilverDocs Associate Director Amy King. On Fri 6/15 after Kurt Cobain About A Son screening. :: And now, some Moose Lodge action from Thu 6/14: somewhere deep in that frame Brian Liu is DJing. doc makers were shaking their doc making booties at the Moose Lodge on Thu night. if you can identify some or all of the people posing for photos in the Moose Lodge section of this page, then either you spend a lot of time at film festivals or you spend a lot of time reading indie film blogs, or both. there are worse ways to spend ones days :) photos copyright 2007 sujewa ekanayake Thu night was fun. Looking forward to SilverDocs '08! - Sujewa

Brian's got some interesting things up: SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival 2007 Sterling Awards CeremonyJune 16, 2007 http://www.thefilmpanelnotetaker.com/2007/06/silverdocs-2007-sterling-awards.html * DocaGora and International Documentary Conference Wrap"What’s It Worth": Value vs. Values Silverdocs Cinema Lounge June 16, 2007 http://www.thefilmpanelnotetaker.com/2007/06/silverdocs-2007-whats-it-worth-value-vs.html * The Gates - Q and A with co-director Antonio Ferrera SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival 2007 June 16, 2007 (Companion notes from June 10th's Maysles Films Program at BAM) http://www.thefilmpanelnotetaker.com/2007/06/silverdocs-2007-gates-companion-notes.html Check them out! - Sujewa

mysterious filmmaker at 4 pm, 6/16/07 sat photo copyright sujewa ekanayake 2007 I will be finishing up & posting a bunch more SilverDocs related posts in the coming week. Here is a brief look at the upcoming goodies: - Interview with AJ Schnack, director of Kurt Cobain About A Son - both an extremely specific and wildly creative/arty work, one of the most memorable documentaries I've seen due to its unusual approach to creating a portrait of an individual and due to its awesome cinematography. I talked with AJ for about an hour on Saturday, a juicy interview is being transcribed at the moment. - Interview with the director & subject of Water Flowing Together. I've talked a bit about this movie in previous posts. Another long & interesting interview about a unique & beautiful movie about the renowned dancer Jock Soto. - Photos, photos, photos. I am going through about 60 photos that I took at SilverDocs, will start posting them up in a couple of hours. - Review...

a moment from the awards ceremony on sat 6/16/07 photo copyright 2007 sujewa ekanayake Awards descriptions and descriptions of films are from the SilverDocs website . Listed in order awards were presented at the awards ceremony on Saturday 6/16/07. :: ACE DOCUMENTARY DEVELOPMENT GRANT "For the second year, SILVERDOCS is joining forces with ACE (Animal Content in Entertainment), to offer a feature documentary grant of $10,000 for projects in development that highlight animal issues." WINNER: The Concrete Jungle Directors: Don Bernier, Rachel Buchanan :: SILVERDOCS/AMERICAN FILM MARKET AWARD "Presented to a film of exceptional promise in the marketplace. The award includes passes to the American Film Market (October 31 to November 7, 2007), airfare, five nights hotel and pre-arranged meetings with potential partners (a $5,000 value)." WINNER: Big Rig "Epic journey through 45 states, 21,000 miles, and dozens of truck stops, culminating in an exhilarating look i...

Later tonight I'll have a list of all the winners & many photos from the awards ceremony. SilverDocs '07 Cinematic Vision Feature Award winner Kurt Cobain About A Son's SilverDocs page . SilverDocs '07 Sterling Feature Award winner (the most important award at the fest, with a $25,000 cash & in-kind services prize) Please Vote For Me's SilverDocs page . Few more events & movies to attend tonight & tomorrow at SilverDocs. An excellent festival's '07 version is coming to an end. Congrats to all the winners tonight. SilverDocs site may have the full list of winners soon. And they'll be listed here later tonight. - Sujewa

Check them out here at the " Pitching Critters, Demme's Home Movies and Partying at the Moose Lodge " post. - Sujewa

Check it out here . Thanks GreenCine Daily for the link. - Sujewa

Had it not been for SilverDocs I seriously doubt I would have come across Gwendolen Cates's love letter to a friend/celebration of a unique & accomplished American artist doc Water Flowing Together and that would have been a loss for me. Aside from dealing with the career of an artist, the film contemplates challenges involved in creating & maintaining a non-traditional individual identity in a multi-cultural society, aging & change, and a couple of different takes on the idea of family. I am interviewing Cates & the subject of the documentary - renowned dancer Jock Soto (a principal dancer for 20 years at the New York City Ballet ) at the National Museum of the American Indian (Soto is Puerto Rican & Navajo) in Washington, D.C. later today, and after that (later tonight or early tomorrow) I will post a review of the movie & of course the interview. In the meantime, visit the SilverDocs page for Water to read more about it. - Sujewa

Check it out here . - Sujewa

Here is the SilverDocs page for the movie . I am going to try to catch this movie on Sunday. Here is a part of the SilverDocs synopsis of the movie: " Can one man make a difference? Former US Marine Captain Brian Steidle hopes so. When he first signs on as an unarmed military observer for the African Union, he is largely motivated by money. Yet, his intentions change dramatically when he makes a life-altering decision to transfer to the strife-ridden Western Sudanese region of Darfur. Armed with nothing more than a still camera, he becomes a singular outside witness to what many call a genocide—a conflict that has displaced 2.5 million people and claimed 400,000 lives." Read the rest here . - Sujewa

Kids, don't let yer peers tell you that blogging doesn't pay off, 'cause it does, case in point: I applied for a press badge for SilverDocs & got it because SilverDocs PR likes my blog. So, what this means is I will get the chance to check out a lot of movies, interview a lot of filmmakers & write a lot about the fest this weekend. Off to go get ready for this new project. Will be catching a movie called Water Flowing Together , about a dancer named Jock Soto, later tonight. Talk to you soon re: a bunch of SilverDocs goodies. - Sujewa

Check it out here at the Still in Motion blog . That's some good bloggin'. - Sujewa

While electronically leafing through the morning blogs, I ran across J. Hoberman's Village Voice review of the new teen movie Nancy Drew (thanks GreenCine Daily for the link), and this paragraph made me laugh for like 5 minutes: "In some respects, Fleming's two-track approach recalls the old Jay Ward cartoons— Crusader Rabbit , Rocky & Bullwinkle , George of the Jungle , et al. Nancy herself resembles one of Ward's heroic nerds or super-smarties, spreading goodness as she single-handedly unravels a sinister cabal. Her character is inoculated against insufferability by the addition of a squat, amorous 12-year-old (Josh Flitter), playing a whiny Sancho Panza to Nancy's brainiac Quixote. "I wonder who tried to kill us?" she muses after a speeding SUV nearly flattens them. "I'm wondering too," he replies. "In fact, I'm kind of freaking out about it!!" " Read the entire review here . That's some good writing J. Hober...

(next time i need to smile:), L-R: me/ Sujewa Ekanayake , Matt Dentler , Brian Newman Brian, Matt, Pamela Cohn :: Doc producer & blogger Pamela Cohn & I met up at the AFI Silver theater - SilverDocs central -& then, after the freaky rain ended (and I met a writer for DCist - useful for upcoming DNO run promo i think), went for dinner at Silver Spring's Bombay Gaylord restaurant. Good Indian food, good conversation - Pamela's got a couple of interesting projects, a great blog & an upcoming Sundance producers conference type thing going on. Later we went down to the fest's Cinema Lounge to hang out. Met SXSW film fest producer & blogger Matt Dentler , Renew Media 's executive director & blogger Brian Newman, filmmaker & blogger Doug "51 Birch Street" Block (for like a minute, Doug was on his way out), & DC filmmaker (& a judge for the fest) Brian Liu & a few more people there. Pamela, Matt, Brian Newman & D...

When me & my indie/punk & other MD/DC suburban "troublemaker" friends were hanging out at the old Tastee Diner (located where the Discovery Channel world headquarters sits now) in the early 90's, Silver Spring was a charmingly run down city; the anti-Bethesda. Now, about 15 or so years later, Silver Spring is a shiny example of urban renewal with a world (or at least doc world :) famous film festival (and a huge dinosaur skeleton roughly where i used to sit & drink coffee all night) . Read all about the transformation of Silver Spring at the New York Times . - Sujewa

Read all about it here at DCist . A book of photos featuring the legendary DC punk band Fugazi (see page for the band at their own label Dischord here ). Get a sneak peak here at Rolling Stone . Here is a site for getting on the book's mailing list . Fugazi offers a good work/business model for DIY artists & entertainers, I think. :: More DC music news: Fort Reno free concert series 2007 ; June 18 - August 16. - Sujewa

Read the Cinematical article here . I think I've read some stuff Epstein wrote. Death is always tragic, even more so when the person is young. Rest In Peace Dan Epstein. - Sujewa

Well, since this week will see the Silverdocs premiere of About A Son, I guess it's cool that this blog is temporarily turning into an unofficial links site for Son stuff :) Check out this long interview with the creators of the flick, from May, at Still in Motion. More DNO news coming very soon. - Sujewa

Read all about it at the TV Guide . Here's a quote: " "I recently met a black veteran who fought at Iwo Jima and he told me how hurt he was that he could not find a single African-American in Clint Eastwood's two films," Lee said." Lee will adapt James McBride's novel " Miracle at St. Anna ", set in Italy. More here . - Sujewa

Instead of trying to buy the tickets to this Fri's Silverdocs screening of Kurt Cobain: About A Son on-line, I took a stroll out to AFI Silver around 7-8 PM tonight & found out that the screening is sold out :( I may still come into possession of a couple of tickets by the time Friday rolls around, otherwise, will have to catch Son some other time. So, after "the no-tix for Son" let down, to cheer myself up I went to the Borders near AFI Silver & checked out the latest issues of Filmmaker Magazine (Spring '07) & MovieMaker mag (Issue No. 68), bought both. I typically read material from both magazines on line, so it was kind of interesting to have the print versions in my hand. With Filmmaker mag, I know some of the writers from the on-line world, through interacting with their blogs & through some e-mails, so for me that mag is a little bit more exciting now than it was in the pre-blogs days. It was specially cool to see myself & this blog mention...

See what one of the most ferocious players in the indie film blogging game is thinking about, here at Cinematical's The Rocchi Review . - Sujewa

Just did an interview with the local DC area entertainment & night life magazine On Tap re: Date Number One , for the 7/12 - 18 run in Kensington. Will post the link here when the issue comes out. The new doc Kurt Cobain: About A Son is gonna play in Silver Spring this Fri, at Silverdocs. Gotta go buy me some tix. Though I am not a huge fan of Nirvana (Fugazi is more my cup of punk rock tea), the content of this movie sounds interesting (interviews with Cobain set to images of Seattle area) and the flick is by AJ Schnack , director of the They Might Be Giants doc Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns & fellow member of the US indie film blogger underground/conspiracy/secret society, so it should be good stuff. Go here for the AFI page for About A Son. - Sujewa

Here is a segment of the Washington City Paper article about Las Historias Mas Sexy Del Mundo!: "Cheevers’ and Mueller’s D.C.-punk-does-retro-European-sleaze aesthetic is the hallmark of the Sexy series. Shot locally on shoestring budgets, the 15-minute short films eschew any actual sex scenes and focus on the narrative, swapping the genre’s ridiculous dialogue with Socratic exchanges about Kierkegaard, theoretical physics, and neo-Luddism—all dubbed in Spanish, of course. By featuring a band in each installment, the filmmakers add an Old Grey Whistle Test twist. The first film features Childballads mastermind Stewart Lupton playing Peeping Tom to ex-Tuscadero chanteuse Melissa Farris; Farris bemoans Guy Debord’s “society of the spectacle” as the Scene Creamers perform in the background. Sexy 2 , the second of a planned trilogy, features local financial guru Matthew Lesko (aka “The Question Mark Suit Guy”) discussing special relativity with New York-based makeup artist Veroni...

Check it out here . - Sujewa

The handful of reviews I read of Paris Je T'Aime were not very enthusiastic about the movie, but, I was not feeling too well earlier tonight so it was time to take it easy with a movie, and the flick was playing near me at the Wheaton Plaza (or Westfield as it is known now, but it'll always be Wheaton Plaza to me) in Wheaton, MD, which is kind of shocking since the last time I checked the Wheaton Plaza theater carried like a dozen Hollywood mega-blockbuster type movies, I guess the demographic is changing. Anyway, saw Paris Je T'Aime, liked it, for the following reasons; the film was very well shot & had a great look, all but 2 segments (the mimes, the vampires) had the same look - colorful, nuanced, inviting, each of the stories were interesting though some failed at points to achieve the humorous or dramatic goals that they were shooting for (or so I thought), there were some unpredictable & surreal segments (the one with all the Asian ladies for example), go...

GreenCine's Jonathan Marlow wrote about real indie films about this time last year at this post and mentioned the Maryland New Wave films The Guatemalan Handshake , Cocaine Angel & Date Number One . One year later, two of the three films are still being screened at various places in the US, which is a significant accomplishment for low/ultra-low/"no" budget movies that are being self-distributed on ultra-low/"no" budgets. Go here to get info. on upcoming Handshake screenings & on screenings of Silver Jew, the next film by Angel's director. Go here to get info. on upcoming Date screenings. "Kids" from Maryland making it happen real indie style! And keeping it going over 12 months later. - Sujewa

Saw the Melvin Van Peebles doc How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It) last night. It was entertaining, very inspirational, & educational. Check out the MySpace page for the flick here . - Sujewa

Read all about it at AsianAmericanFilm.com . Here is a sample: OWL AND THE SPARROW WORLD PREMIERE - 2007 LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL SCREENING TIMES: Sat. Jun 23, 5:00pm, Landmark's Regent Tue. Jun 26, 7:00pm, Majestic Crest SYNOPSIS: Writer-director Stephane Gauger's gentle and luminous film unfolds on the tough but hopeful streets of urban Vietnam. Headstrong and irrepressible, 10-year-old Thuy runs away to Saigon after causing trouble on the job at her uncle's factory. Alone in the city, selling roses on the streets, she eventually befriends two lovelorn strangers: Lan, a beautiful but heartbroken flight attendant, and Hai, a zookeeper more comfortable with his animals than people. Pham Thi Han, in her first film role, is a true discovery as the spirited Thuy, and Gauger directs the young star with an assured, understated hand in this romantic tale of love and loneliness. Read more here . - Sujewa