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

One of the ways that publicity & interest is built in the indie/real indie film world right now is through blogs. So, if you are a minority or other filmmaker who wants some press from this blog, include the URL to your blog when you e-mail me or leave me a comment re: your blog. Document your production & distribution story for each film on your blog. Also write about other things that you care about at your blog; this will be a good way to build a fan base & also contacts that may be useful to you in your film production & distribution work. We definitely need to create a multi-ethnic indie film blog network; as the current indie film bloggers (that I know of) are mostly "white" and that can, through no ill-will or malice, can end up with just a lot of "white" filmmakers or films featuring all-"white" casts being hyped (as it has been the case for the last few years). Some of my favorite filmmakers are "white" & some of my f...

Even if you skip reading through the other 5 or 6 excellent posts GreenCine Daily will put up today (if they hold true to their usual rate of work), make sure you read this post about a new fictionalized Brian DePalma movie about a real life crime that took place in Iraq. Though film is used mostly for escapism, Readacted might actually be a movie that matters; a movie that affects things beyond the world of entertainment. - Sujewa

So, once again, the name of this blog has changed, from DIY FILM EXPLOSION to THE WILD DINER FILMS & NEW AMERICAN (MULTI-ETHNIC) INDEPENDENT FILM BLOG. Yeah, it's a long name, but, that's cool; I operate in the indie/real indie film world & there is plenty of room here. So starting now the main focus of the blog will be 1) my own movies and 2) other American (made in the US or with people or ideas from/related to here having significant roles in the production of the movie) indie movies featuring a diverse/multi-ethnic casts and or movies directed by minority filmmakers. In addition, I will be writing about whatever else that I feel like writing about; be it film (even Hollywood!) or politics or building time travel machines in your basement. Should be fun. - Sujewa

As the current indie fest (mainstream fests, not ethnic focused fests)/indie film press/indie theatrical distribution & indie DVD distribution scene is heavily in favor of all-"white" art/indie films, the multi-ethnic art/indie film movement (see couple of posts below for the intro to that) will most likely have to be at first a heavily D.I.Y./"underground" scene with DIY screenings (screenings produced by the filmmakers themselves) & DVD sales/distribution - self-distribution being the main methods of getting the films to the interested audiences, and the press will have to come from our own (filmmakers & fans) blogs & websites & other self-promotional efforts (plus random mainstream indie or general mainstream press that we might luck out with for a film/DVD or a screening here and there) until there are a significant number of films & sales/customers for this movement at which point I am sure the mainstream indie players will take notice ...

This article might be of interest to some people. - Sujewa

Anyone who wants to join & are: 1) making movies - indie/real indie movies now, and 2) these movies feature multi-ethnic casts or at least some significant diversity, can sign up in comments, your application will be reviewed. Eventually we will establish a membership review board. For now, leave a comment. Minority directors are highly encouraged to sign up for this new filmmaking movement. As are "white" directors (given that they are not closed off to using minority talent in front of & behind the camera). We will promote our movies, get fest & investor & theatrical & DVD & cable distro support & tons of press as Mumblecore has gotten; except of course our movies will reflect the ethnic diversity in America far better. HONARARY MEMBERS of this New American Indie Film Movement: Jon Moritsugu, Greg Pak, Gene Cajayon, James Spooner, Greg Araki, Jim Jarmusch, Jim McKay (i am sure there are more that would qualify, suggest some names in Comments) R...

It's morning in DC, just getting my day started, so I will flesh this post out later today with links & names. In the meantime there is some important info. to communicate; at a long conversation me & Tom Hall are having at the comments in this blog (see recent post re: '06 Swanberg quote) & AJ Schnack's blog, Tom has pointed out that beyond the Mumblecore films at IFC Center's Generation DIY series, there are a couple of other Mumblecore films that do have significant minority presence. He points to Aaron Hillis's (sp?) Mumblecore chart at Cinephiliac (link later) & reminds us that David Gordon Green's film Goerge Washington featured a young African-American actor in the main role, and also that the film In Between Days was directed by an Asian American director and features an Asian lead. Also, as I've said at several times, of the films at Gen DIY series, Bujalski's Mutual Appreciation does feature a significant minor character (the ...

Stephen Holden's review of Aaron Katz's new film Quiet City (opening today at the IFC Center in Manhattan) makes the movie sound interesting & good (at least for me, I like that under populated & beautiful urban look/feel in movies - as seen in Mystery Train, also possibly a tiny bit Before Sunrise type story). Here is the opening paragraph of the review: "Aaron Katz’s film “Quiet City” is punctuated with images of New York at twilight that cast a mood of reflective melancholy reminiscent of the loneliness at the heart of Edward Hopper paintings. Silhouettes of television aerials against a glowing orange and purple sky; yellow traffic lights on a nearly deserted avenue; a silvery subway train in the middle distance slipping through the dusky, blue-gray light; an industrial landscape at sunset: These and other beautiful images, photographed by Andrew Reed, resonate with the characters’ lives." Read the rest of the review here . Get info. on show times ...

Aaron Katz's first feature Dance Party, USA is screening today at the IFC Center in Manhattan. Here is the link to my review of the movie, from last year. And here is the link to my interview with Katz re: DPUSA. Screening times & ticket info. for IFC Center here . - Sujewa

Since I've been catching all manner of heat from friends, fellow indie filmmakers, & friends of Mumblecore re: pointing out (in this post ) that there is a significant lack of minority (dark skinned people was my specific complaint) participation in Mumblecore (even though the US reportedly has over 100 million minorities) I thought about why I even thought of this topic in the first place (in relation to this one group of ultra-indie/low/"no" budget/DIY filmmakers - filmmakers who I often write positive things about re: their DIYness). Then I remembered (while responding to a comment by David Lowery at AJ Schnack's blog today) something I read last year; a quote from an interview with Joe Swanberg (who I otherwise think is cool, I talked to him briefly when I went to see his movie Hannah Takes the Stairs premiere in NYC last week, and even this quote has many possible interpretations, but this was what was - in part/a significant item - on my mind, no doubt, re: ...

From Kamp Katrina review at New York Times : "Mr. Cross and Ms. Pearl kept the camp open despite not-in-my-backyard complaints from neighbors and attempts by Mayor C. Ray Nagin to shut it down. Their blunt-spoken decency is inspiring. So is the movie’s portrait of New Orleans after the flood, a debris-strewn ghost town where human kindness is overflowing." From Pioneer's site : "screening to coincide with the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina "Riveting . . . It's hard to overstate the impact of KAMP KATRINA's honesty; fresh off their acclaimed venture MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA, the filmmakers' six-month survey arguably captured the city's wounded spirit more frankly than any of its contemporaries. The result is a disturbing yet essential record."- S.T. VanAirsdale, THE REELER "You settle in with these people and become immersed in the chaos, brutality and surreal humor of their situation, seen close-up and often in fragments. Th...

Found out about this project from one of my commenters (on the diversity in indie film post/re: iW article, couple of posts below), sounds interesting. Here is a little bit from the press release: " The Momentum Experience marries the live urban theater model with the traditions of African-American filmmakers who self-distributed in the early 1900s, such as Oscar Michaeux. Momentum will offer an enhanced entertainment component to the price of each ticket. From a live concert performance by soundtrack artists to a cast meet-and-greet to a comedy pre-show, each feature presentation will be preceded by a unique added-value attraction for ticket holders." Read the rest here . The press release is from '05, so I'll have to search & learn about the current status of this project. UPDATE: Looks like Momentum's The Seat Filler did well theatrically & was acquired by Magnolia for home video - so says this 2/06 press release . If anyone has any info. on where to g...

Quiet City trailer!: Now, just because I keep an eye on ethnic diversity in indie film & speak up about it does not mean that I do not appreciate a good (possibly good for many indie filmmakers; including minority indie filmmakers) thing when it happens; an ultra-low/"no" budget DV (or is it HD?) film by a promising young director starting a week long run in the media capital of the world, at a venue owned by a cable television company that deals in indie film - OR - Aaron Katz's (of Dance Party, USA fame; which plays today 8/28 & tomorrow 8/29 also @ IFC Center by the way) new & beautiful looking feature Quiet City opening tomorrow (Wed 8/29) in NYC @ the IFC Center. If I were in NYC, I would be at a screening. LINKS!: Quiet City page at IFC's Generation DIY program Quiet City MySpace Quiet City review at New York Magazine Quiet City review at indieWIRE Quiet City review at eFilmCritic Interview with Aaron Katz at Spoutblog Buy tickets for Quiet City ...

This iW article from May '04 is still relevant & interesting; re: ethnic diversity in American indie film. Here is the introduction to the article by Eugene Hernandez: "The genesis of this article was a recent SXSW panel discussion on the "state of independent film" that included panelists Michael Barker from Sony Classics, former producer and rep John Pierson, Film Movement's Larry Meistrich, Micah Green from Cinetic Media, Newmarket's Bob Berney, Magnolia's Eamonn Bowles, and former UA and October head Bingham Ray. During the session, New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell raised a question about the lack of new African-American filmmakers emerging since the movement led by Spike Lee back in the '80s. Sitting in the audience listening to the panel of white males tackling the topic I was reminded that ethnic diversity is a major challenge within the specialized and/or independent film industry." And later in the same article, here's...

Hmmm, retiring from blogging is not such a bright idea, in second thought, 'cause the blog helps with promoting my movies & flicks by other interesting filmmakers (in these sad days of relatively uninteresting/apolitical/disengaged from the wider world low budget real indie fiction feature movies getting a ton of hype, it would be useful for many to keep this blog active). So I am back. :: Check out this great interview with Jonas Mekas at Sense of Cinema. Although I have only seen very little of his movies (so far just a few of the 365 shorts project that he is doing this year), the amount of work he's done over the years on behalf of avant-garde cinema is staggering & deserving of much respect. The Anthology Film Archives, an organization that Mekas had a key role in creating, is still around & contributing to the NYC film scene (i saw the place with my own eyes last week, scroll down a couple of posts for a pic of the venue). Here is an interesting segment from...

hey, if i am very bothered by the heavy lack of minority presence in current indie films (see post a couple of posts below), maybe i should see this thing as an opportunity & go make some good features with minority leads/multi-ethnic casts. so, i am retiring from blogging right now. i believe a lot of good things were accomplished during my blogging "career"; providing assistance with the popularization of DIY filmmaking & self-distribution, promoting some interesting movies, building networks/getting to know other filmmakers & bloggers, etc. very cool. in the future this blog/space will only be used to announce screenings of my films or their DVD & other availability. look for Date Number One on DVD announcement (before 9/15) & DNO screening announcements here soon. then, w/ in the next 3 months (before 11/27), i will be releasing my new feature Stranger Than Hollywood . both films will have minority actors in lead roles as well as multi-ethnic casts. ...

Anthology Film Archives Great World Of Sound poster at Angelika Angelika Film Center That's Brian (The Film Panel Notetaker blog), Amy (The Film Panel Notetaker blog), Stu (The Reeler) :: I have to go through a few steps to get the photos up on this blog, so the process takes some time. But, since I had a great time in NYC 8/22 - 8/24, I'll start sharing some of the photos now. The rest coming later today (Mon 8/27). - Sujewa

Those words are from a Village Voice review of the indie film Police Beat . Here is the full sentence: "Dreamlike in style, Police Beat is also a real-world vision of what American indies could be if they dared to recognize the drama in our own neighborhoods." The review is by Rob Nelson, check it out here . And, from the same review : "Police Beat didn't seem to belong at Sundance, where it stood out for being what we used to call an independent film—the sort made with unknown actors, modest budgets, innovative production strategies, and regional specificity." The film is about a Seattle bike-cop. Here's the official website for this innovative sounding movie (adding it to my "to watch" list). The movie is available on DVD . - Sujewa

According to this San Francisco Chronicle article about 1 in 3 people in the US are non-"white". Mumblecore filmmakers or as the IFC Center calls them - Generation DIY, have been identified as a grass roots movement in the indie film press & also in the mainstream press. So, I would think that it is reasonable to expect a movement that comes from "the people" to have some key players who are not "white". Yet, pretty much (if I recall correctly) all the Mumblecore movies I 've seen so far (Kissing On The Mouth, LOL, Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation, The Puffy Chair, Dance Party, USA, Hannah Takes the Stairs) have featured an all-"white" cast and all the celebrated Mumblecore directors who are on their way to Hollywood & indiewood fame & wealth are all-"white". Mumblecore may have aesthetic/film technique differences from mainstream American film & television, but, when it comes to not collaborating with minority talen...

The non-profit organization Brooklyn Young Filmmakers Center have a blog up & running. Here is an interesting portion from one of the recent entries: " This is my first blog entry, ever. But I’ve been reading everywhere about the potential power of blogs. The goal of Brooklyn Young Filmmakers Center’s blog is to test out the “THE POWER OF US” (see the BYFC News, Winter 2007 ). We are a non-profit run by volunteers of diverse ages, mostly women of color. We are working to open up a Career Guidance & Networking Center for jobs in film that will serve both adults and teens. This blog will help us get out information about film careers and film literacy to working-class people – and we hope it will help us raise support to open our center. Me, I’m a middle-age, working-class black woman. I have no health plan or savings. I have very irregular income based on freelancing jobs and teaching. I’m a renter hanging by fingertips in rapidly gentrifying Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I ca...

Even though Pamela does not call the historically significant event - The iW Blogger/Indie Film Blogger NYC Meet Up #1 - by it's name, there are some good details of the fun had in the second half of her post . My own impressions of the Meet Up: First, I expected it to be not attended very well - only by like 5 or so people, or just me & Brian Geldin. But, I was pleasantly surprised to see close to 20 bloggers & filmmakers in the room (back room at Botanica bar) at one point during the night & also to see NYC indie film press heavy weights such as Eugene Hernandez of indieWIRE fame & ST Van AirsDale of The Reeler fame at the event. And of course let's not forget Matt Zoller Seitz from New York Times & The House Next Door. I spent the 2 hours or so at the Meet Up going around & saying hello to pretty much everyone - trying to be a good host, and got into some relatively long conversations with some of the bloggers present. Hmmm, I think I'll conti...

I saw Tom DiCillo's new film Delirious on Thu 8/23 evening - well, the 12:15 or so show, at the Angelika in NYC (no matinee discounts/$11 for a noon show! - i guess that's new york :( Flick was well made, many of the audience members at the show seem to dig it, some laughed out loud several times. On the surface the overall mood of the film seems bitter, with the relative innocence & the openness of the young central character mixed in for some sweetness. Steve Buscemi was fun to watch. The worlds depicted in the movie (the mainstream entertainment industry, homeless kid with big dreams of fame) are not ones that I am too interested in so I guess I am not really the target audience for the movie (i'm like more into movies that only like 50 people are really into - made for "no money" on DV & making "no money" at theaters, unfortunately for all concerned :), but Delirious seems like it would have sold well as just a regular wide release comedy -...

Too much Mumblecore all at once. I think I need to mix in other stuff to my media & entertainment diet, so, no more writing about anything Mumblecore related for a long time (except I still need to post up photos from my NYC trip, and those are full of M-core ppl, coming very soon to this blog - tomorrow or Mon). However, I am sure that there will be lots of M-core coverage happening all over the media landscape for months to come now that NYTimes & other major media have discovered & are celebrating the M-core kids, so I think the M-core ppl are gonna be all right even if ultra-micro media like this blog gets busy looking elsewhere. - Sujewa

Check out the notes here at the hard working Film Panel Notetaker Brian Geldin's blog. - Sujewa

Over at the Film Panel Notetaker . Check 'em out. - Sujewa

Get all the info. about one of the newest NYC film fests here . I would write more but I am tired from a long bus trip, so, will get to that later. Go check out the Ace site & see if there are any movies there that you want to check out. - Sujewa

The fact that all the Gen DIY excitement is happening in NYC this week helped the event. Just stumbled back from the event, all the way to Astoria, neeeed sleep. Will have photos & notes from this nights events (Apple Store SoHo Gen DIY panel, blogger meet up @ Botanica, both on Wed 8/23 night) up here tomorrow. This trip to NYC was awesome; thanks a lot to everyone who came out to the blogger meet up today. August 2008; iW blogger/indie film blogger NYC meet up #2! Put that yummy stuff on yer calendar now. Exact date of event to be announced. The lack of presence of one AJ Schnack was sadly noticed by many during these excellent indie film peeps full days in NYC, but he's got a good excuse. Happy Birthday Mr. Schnack! - Sujewa

I got to NYC and made it to the IFC Center about 20 minutes after Hannah Takes the Stairs 's 8 PM show began. Enjoyed what I saw. Since the flick is now available on cable, I'll catch the first 20 minutes this weekend or maybe even tomorrow here in NYC (i definitely prefer to watch movies on a movie theater screen; much, much better - so maybe the theater definitely). Quick thoughts re: Hannah: Andrew Bujalski playing a lead in the flick gives a very different flavor to this Swanberg flick - a huge improvement over his previous flicks as far as my movie watching enjoyment is concerned. Todd Rohal is very funny in his role, the theater (full or nearly sold out by the way) was cracking up at the boss role Todd played. Greta Gerwig (sp?) does a very good job most of the time. And don't tell Joe Swanberg this, but to me watching what I saw (most of the film, not all) tonight, I felt like I was watching something very close to Mutual Appreciation than something closer to K...

Many have questioned me both openly and privately as to why I blog about Mumblecore (be it positively, negatively, or ambivalently, based on the exact Mumble-topic at hand) when they are, for the most part, not an ethnically diverse movement/group. There are several reasons for writing about Mumblecore, some too esoteric & distracting-for-the-topic-at-hand (such as my "theory of no race"), but there is one very good, relevant to minority, foreign, & third-world/emerging world filmmakers reason to keep an eye on the Mumblescene; they have, using easily doable techniques (more on that below) overcome limitations and obstacles that keep people ( including minorities ) from making & distributing movies. But before we go too far let's tackle an objection/excuse that some minority filmmakers have put forth re: the success (a relative thing in indie film, but getting 2 weeks or so for their films at the IFC Center & oodles of press qualifies as a success for me) ...

Get all the info. here . See ya all who plan on showing up. Should be fun, and of course we will come up with the secret plan to alter the course of indie film at this meet up. Should be a light, pleasant evening with masonic overtones; dress appropriately. - Sujewa

Have you heard about Mumblecore movies? If not, this blog Cinephilia says there's gonna be a blog-a-thon this weekend/starting Fri 8/24. - Sujewa

IFC Center page for The New Talkies: Generation DIY series . Buy tickets for the shows here . Titles, play dates @ IFC Center, & trailers/clips: * Hannah Takes the Stairs 8/22 - 8/28 * Funny Ha Ha 8/22 - 8/23 * Kissing On The Mouth 8/24 Trailer link: http://www.kissingonthemouth.com/trailer.html (didn't see it on YouTube or MySpaceTV) * Young American Bodies: Season 1 2006 8/25 The show at Nerve Video: http://www.nerve.com/video/Video.aspx?VideoGroupId=12 * The Puffy Chair 8/26 - 8/27 * Dance Party, USA 8/28 - 8/29 * Quiet City 8/29 - 9/4 Quiet City Trailer Add to My Profile More Videos * Hohokam 8/30 * Team Picture 8/30 Team Picture trailer Add to My Profile More Videos * Mutual Appreciation 8/31 - 9/1 * LOL 9/2 - 9/3 this page points to a QuickTime trailer (didn't see a YouTube trailer to embed): http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=28254279&blogID=78675623 * Quietly On By 9/4 * Mumbleshorts 9/4 The IFC site does not list the titles of...

From In The Picture blog: "She Is My Sister focuses on a young woman, Rose, from a rural village who gets to university and then is able to get a job/open a business selling imported electronics goods. This all happens before the narrative begins and we see her return to her village where she finds her childhood sweetheart who she takes back to the city and introduces to her girlfriends. The 'country bumpkin', Danny, turns out to be very good at running the shop and before long the couple are married with a small child. Danny, played by Steven Kanumba who also wrote the script and seems to be one of Tanzania's successful young stars, also becomes very attractive to Rose's friend Flora." Read the rest of the review here . - Sujewa

Date Number One Completed* in May 2006 (* 1st publicly screenable version, additional changes have been made to the film following several of the screenings) PAST * May 2006 - July 2007: 19 screenings in 5 US cities (Washington DC, Seattle, Kensington MD, New York City, Takoma Park MD), 500 - 600 audience members served PRESENT * August 2007 - working on making DVDs available for sale FUTURE * September 2007 and forward - additional screenings, week long or longer runs, DVD distribution, exploration of other distribution avenues (cable, VOD, etc.) - Sujewa

I've written about & posted the trailer to White Lies, Black Sheep earlier, so here's some fresh news from Cinematical ; the flick is going to play at the next Toronto International Film Festival . Read more about it here at Cinematical . TIFF happens 9/6 to 9/15. - Sujewa

I think it would be fair to say Rick Schmidt is the godfather of ultra-low budget real indie filmmaking because not only has he been engaged in the pursuit of that unique & often frustrating but sometimes awesomely rewarding art form since 1975 (!!!), but he has popularized the practice through his essential indie filmmaking how-to book Feature Filmmaking At Used Car Prices and the follow up book Extreme DV At Used Car Prices . Before I shoot a new film (and often during & after), I re-read one or both of his books. I've seen several of the films produced by Rick & his Feature Workshops . One of the best, in my opinion, is the well written/conceived, well acted & well shot & edited Chetzemoka's Curse . It also has the honor of being the 10th film to receive the Dogme 95 certification. And the film tells an engaging story. Find out more about the film here and here . Here is a little bit about the film: "Only the second American Dogme 95 movie, Chetze...

The prolific Chicago based indie filmmaker James Fotopoulos's Back Against the Wall (2000) sounds bizarre & interesting (available for purchase from Facets ). Check out a review of the film, by J. Hoberman at Village Voice, here . Here is a sentence from the review: "Typically shot in drab black-and-white, Cinefotopoulos is characterized by its total conviction and obsessive structure, as well as a distinctive atmosphere of poverty-row geekery that bids at any moment to loose a torrent of perversion." Read the rest here . - Sujewa

I've found that it is very easy to embed a YouTube or MySpaceTV clip on this blog, so, since I am always on the lookout for short cuts when it comes to blogging, having a trailer or a clip of yer real indie film on one of those places will make it easier for me to mention it here/provide a tiny bit of press for yer project. E-mail me with yer clips & trailers links ( wilddiner@aol.com ) or post the links/URLs below in comments and I might promote them here when I get around to it. Thanks! - Sujewa * and i should take my own advise & cut & post a Date Number One trailer, adding that item to the 2 do list now

This excellent theatrically self-distributed (in '04) real indie feature is available on DVD . Check out Matt Zoller Seitz's (filmmaker, blogger, & print film reviewer- currently at New York Times) review of Robot Stories here . Here is a sample from the review (from an edition of the New York Press newspaper): "In some ways, "Machine Love" is the most daring of the four segments. Like other memorable recent sci-fi and fantasy blockbusters–including A.I. and The Return of the King–it presents a simple concept and unabashedly emotional characters without fashionable ironic distance. The main character is a humanoid robot named Archie (played by Pak himself, in an opaque yet moving performance that seems to absorb and then radiate the emotions of whichever characters happen to be in the room with him). Archie is a docile sweetheart who aims to please, programmed to learn from his coworkers, absorbing both their physical skills and their value systems. But he qu...

The last week of not-too-much-work-during-the-summer is coming up; I am taking a little trip to NYC, mainly for the iW blogger/indie film blogger meet up on Thu 8/23 starting @ 9 PM @ Botanica bar, more info. here . I will also be visiting a bunch of indie theaters & catching a lot of movies during this trip. On this trip I'll have with me screener DVDs of Date Number One to give to several NYC people I've promised them to months ago; we are staying true to the Wild Diner Films motto: "yeah, it'll get done eventually" :). Prior to the blogger meet up I am going to try to attend the Apple Store SoHo event re: Generation DIY filmmakers, which starts at 7 PM on Thu 8/23. Get more info. on that thingy here . And I think there is a new movie opening up on Wed 8/22 at the IFC Center; a movie that I have not heard too much about in the blogz lately, a movie that SXSW film festival producer Matt Dentler is kind of excited about - find out all about it here . I am goi...

As the name of this blog indicates, I am a big fan of ultra-low budget real indie filmmakers, including Mumblecore filmmakers, getting press, getting their movies out, building careers, etc. But I was slightly bothered by the following quoted statements (from Spout blog ) by Benten Films co-owner Andrew Grant about the Beats, 80's & 90's indie filmmakers, in relation to Mumblecore filmmakers. Here is the comment I left at the Spout post: "A lot of what Andrew Grant says in the following quoted paragraphs seem like just hype by an owner of a DVD label, a label that is about to release several Mumblecore (M-core) DVDs; questionable hype that plays with facts. Might not be a big deal in the course/history of film publicity & sales, but I was bothered by it, so here's my dissection & response to it (my thoughts in parantheses (sp?)): "ANDREW: I think there’s a natural inclination to group artists under a single umbrella." (OK) "Mumblecore is ...

A clip from my favorite American movie : - Sujewa

A comment I made at Matt Dentler's blog made me look up the career of the late Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray (1921-1992). I knew he was not Bollywood, but made what we would consider art/indie films, but I did not know that he made one movie a year from 1955 until 1991 - that's a lot of Indian indie films from one artist! Here is the text from a page on Ray's work, from the excellent website SatyajitRay.org (from Subjects: Ray's World page under Filmmaking tab): " One of biggest contribution of Ray to the world of cinema was his choice of subjects. He explored a range of characters and situations. Many of these were alien to popular Indian cinema, as they were not considered suitable film subjects in India. He brought real concerns of real people to the screen - villagers, city middle-class, intellectuals, rich and famous, detectives, kings...Ray himself summed up a very important aspect of his films: "Villains bore me." Good Vs evil, white vs. black, t...

And that mmmm is re: her talent of course - writes, acts & directs. Check out the trailer for 2 Days In Paris below. Looking forward to seeing this pic. Some theater should program Before Sunset and 2 Days In Paris together. Maybe along with The Hebrew Hammer . That would be a good line up. Maybe Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Hebrew Hammer & then 2 Days In Paris. - Sujewa

Jumping Off Bridges is one of the handful of theatrically self-distributed '06 movies that I had a chance to watch. A well made, well reviewed movie. Check out a trailer here: - Sujewa

Since the topic of IFC First Take has suddenly become much talked about & contested in the web/blog world (see Brian Neman's post ), here is an article at Multichannel News that gives gross revenue figures for 15 First Take movies. The MN article goes on to question the effect First Take has on indie theaters, and points out that First Take has been very useful to some indie film producers. UPDATE: The gross figures that MN article gives are "box office" figures, so perhaps they do not include First Take's cable revenue, just ticket-sales-at-theaters figures. The article does go on to say the following: " For IFC, the first 13 months worth of films generated 1 million viewings. At an average price of $5, that's only $5 million. Not a lot of money. For a big studio, that would be a lousy weekend for a single movie. But for independent producers this is revenue they've never had before, IFC and Comcast contend. " - Sujewa

When IFC's First Take was introduced about a year and a half ago, it was one of several new indie film distribution experiments that were probably being tried to see if the then (and still) relatively broken indie film distribution system can be fixed, and probably better yet, made profitable. With the acceptance of digital production by the indie film industry & audiences post- Dogme 95 , the number of independent films being produced each year sharply increased in this first decade of the 2000's while at the same time distributors who made the 1990's indie film boom happen moved away from acquiring low budget real indie features. About a year and a half after the introduction of the program, IFC seems to be very happy with the status of their First Take initiative. Check out this indieWIRE article for a detailed look. Here is a significant sentence from the indieWIRE article : " "The growth of this service [known as IFC In Theaters on national cable syste...

Check out the article here . Here is a sample: "Any vendor that works with a distributor will also work with an independent filmmaker, it’s all the same to them, just another client. Getting your packaging together, weighing production quotes of DVDs, creating a website and setting up your fulfillment and payment options can take time, patience and follow up." Article is by Rachel Gordon. Read it here . - Sujewa

This movie Ghosts of the Heartland sounds interesting. From New Filmmaker's site: " 9:00PM NEWFILMMAKERS FEATURE PRESENTATION . Allen Blumberg GHOSTS OF THE HEARTLAND (2006, 80 Minutes, 35MM) . It's 1952, the McCarthy era is at its peak and big city reporter, Roland Lu, is returning to his hometown of Millville. When Roland arrives in town he finds that the Chinese community is experiencing persecution similar to the early stages of the Jewish experience in 1930's Germany. Roland fears that his old nemesis, McCarthyite thug, Frank Dugan is behind a plot to steal land from the Chinese., the way he did twenty years earlier from native Americans. Roland suffers from a bad case of racial self-hatred. His old girlfriend Liz, fears he will sell out the Chinese to write his big story, to win the Pulitzer, so he can be accepted into white society. Either way, Roland will have to take on Frank Dugan..." Here's the film's website , for more info. Wed. 8/22, 9 PM...

Not really sure what the numbers mean, but perhaps in the future, if I deal with making bigger budgeted movies & big production & distribution companies, this page will be useful. - Sujewa

Just read about 5 entries at Tom DiCillo's blog , re: the release of Delirious , good stuff. Check it out here . Here is a sample from his post re: Delirious adventures in Turkey: " I went to the Awards Ceremony the following night even though I knew Delirious wasn’t going to win anything. At every competition festival I’ve ever been in someone always finds a way to let you know the night before. But I figured what the hell; what else am I going to do in Istanbul on a Friday night? The ceremony was entirely in Turkish. A famous Turkish woman came out and sang a Turkish song. She came out three more times before they announced the winner of the first international competition prize. I was astounded to hear my name. I’d won the Jury Prize, the Silver Tulip. I got up on stage and looked out at a vast convention hall full of Turkish people and a live broadcast to Turkish TV. I’d not even thought of preparing a speech. “At times like these,” I said, “It really makes me wish I’d ...

I guess I am adding a zombie comedy to my "2 watch" list for the first time in my life (if I recall correctly), 'cause Grace Lee's new film American Zombie sounds interesting. Check out the Cinematical review here . - Sujewa

Speaking of Living In Oblivion (see post below), here is a trailer to Tom DiCillo's new movie Delirious: - Sujewa

I made a little progress report on my feature #3, the next movie, over at its blog Stranger Than Hollywood . The challenge, for me, with STH - an indie movie about the making of an indie movie - is to not take the Living In Oblivion path (which is one of my all time favorite movies) but still make it entertaining & worth watching for the kind of people who like watching movies or TV shows about making movies (that's my kind of people, i am a big fan of that "genre"), I think I've figured out the way. Read about it at this STH entry . STH, my film #5, feature #3, will hopefully be completed by the end of this year. You may see a drastic drop-off in how much I post here in the coming weeks, as I get busier with STH & also with the next phase of DNO distribution (DVDs this month, may not make the 8/15 deadline though, but should certainly have them by the time I go to NYC on 8/23). I hope to update the STH blog at least once a month and this blog as DNO new...

Check out a trailer to Liz Nord's doc about punk rockers in Israel : Find out more about the movie here , including info. on buying the DVD. - Sujewa

Check out the trailer to Mike "Cocaine Angel" Tully's new film Silver Jew ; a doc about the band Silver Jews (read more about the movie here ). Here's a little bit about the movie: "In the midst of the first Silver Jews world tour in the summer of 2007, celebrated poet/musician David Berman, his wife Cassie, and the rest of the band--Tony Crow (keyboards), Brian Kotzur (drums), Peyton Pinkerton (guitar), and William Tyler (guitar)--stopped off in Israel to play two shows and visit Jerusalem. SILVER JEW documents this unforgettable trip." Silver Jew Movie Trailer Add to My Profile More Videos - Sujewa ps: go md new wave! :)

Check out a trailer for James Spooner's doc Afro-Punk here: - Sujewa

Doug Block's doc about his parents' marriage is one of the recent theatrical self-distribution success stories. Find out all about the doc here . Here's a little bit about the 51 Birch successes (from the website): " The film opened theatrically on Oct 18th, 2006 to unanimous rave reviews, and went on to an almost unheard of 9-month run in over 60 cities here and abroad. It currently has a 97% “freshness” rating at Rotten Tomatoes , based on 30 reviews. Here are just some of the accolades it’s received: One of the Top Ten Films of the Year ● The New York Times ● Siskel & Ebert ● Chicago Sun-Times One of the Outstanding Documentaries of the Year ● National Board of Review ● Boston Society of Film Critics ● Rolling Stone Magazine Best Documentary of the Year ● AARP Magazine’s Movies For Grown-Ups Award ● Boston Phoenix " And now here's a trailer for the movie: Film comes out on DVD on 8/14, go get yourself a copy right here ; many people with great tast...

On The Road, one of my favorite books (I read it once every year), one that I found for the first time in the early 90's & which kept me from getting too sad during a Chicago winter, is turning 50 years old this year. In celebration here is a YouTube clip of author Jack Kerouac reading from his book: - Sujewa

Looks like we finally have an appropriate bar for this most special of bloggers meet ups (thanks to Brian "The Film Panel Notetaker" Geldin & Amy Peters for the research). The info. is below, all bloggers who post at indieWIRE blogs page are invited to come & meet other iW bloggers (i think it might be fun) & hang out. Other NYC based (or in town that night) indie film/film bloggers are also invited. See ya there! Send me an e-mail ( wilddiner@aol.com ) if there is a question & or concern about the event: iW Bloggers Meet Up #1/2007 NYC Thu 8/23, starting at 9 PM, at: Botanica 47 E. Houston St., New York, NY 10012 nr. Mulberry St. 212-343-7251 http://nymag.com/listings/bar/botanica/ Botanica said that there will be a DJ in the front area that night, but the back should be fine for conversatin' & drinkin', also that there is a back room that would be good for the meet up (will try to get there early & snag that, it is not reservable). So, when y...