ARTHOUSE FILM NEWS - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene at Facets, Chicago 11/29/23

Check out the most excellent and fun movie Forbidden Power at Vimeo VOD - FORBIDDEN POWER from Paul Kyriazi on Vimeo .

Pardon me for being hysterically positive about Sujewa Ekanayake's latest indie comedy creation, Werewolf Ninja Philosopher , but when a no-budget flick like this shows up with everything in place – great casting, great B&W images, clever scriptwriting, perfect music, gutsy editing and scene-building, both meaningful and funny too – it's time to cheer for the entire (thought-of-as-dead) real indie scene.   An original 'breakthrough' feature like this, helmed by an artist who did the whole job himself, of scripting, directing, shooting, cutting & producing, should be enough to add Ekanayake's name to the list of Brooklyn film notables who dare to risk all for their cinematic art.   – Rick Schmidt * Werewolf Ninja Philosopher from Sujewa Ekanayake on Vimeo .

Werewolf Ninja Philosopher from Sujewa Ekanayake on Vimeo . * In WEREWOLF NINJA PHILOSOPHER someone is killing art filmmakers in NYC. The City calls on Werewolf Ninja Philosopher - a werewolf who is a ninja, a philosopher, and a private detective - to help stop the killings. A deadpan, slow cinema, minimalist, black & white, NYC art/indie/DIY/underground werewolf noir comedy by Sujewa Ekanayake. Starring Art Shrian Tiwari as Werewolf. Also featuring Kirsten Dwyer, Alia Lorae, Rachel Dixon and others. Music by Kevin MacLoed (full music details coming soon). Copyright 2018 Sujewa Ekanayake. "...The cinematography was seamless and controlled with a style that's personally Sujewa Ekanayake's...It had an intelligence to it with long scenes that held your attention much in the way of film noir, and the acting was consistent. The Werewolf himself was marvelous." - Edgar Grana, School of Visual Arts Instructor, Musician "“Werewolf” never takes itself serious

School of Visual Arts instructor and musician Edgar Grana saw Werewolf Ninja Philosopher on 10/25/18.  Here is his response to the movie - in video, and in text below. * * I was invited to the opening of Werewolf Ninja Philosopher. and I must say it was a delightful surprise. The cinematography was seamless and controlled with a style that's personally Sujewa Ekanayake's. It had an intelligence to it with long scenes that held your attention much in the way of film noir, and the acting was consistent. The Werewolf himself was marvelous.  I was amazed that I was willing to watch a Ninja walk down the streets of New York and Brooklyn. There were marvelous moments of philosophical asides when Werewolf was speaking into his cell phone. There were moments of cutaways to a strange and mysterious woman sitting in the park, a great foil. I will say that it was well worth the evening. The music cutting was controlled and crafted, never overdone.  There were moment

*  Werewolf Ninja Philosopher screening at Maysles Cinema 10/25 - 31 -  https://www.maysles.org/calendar/werewolf Buy tickets here -  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/werewolf-ninja-philosopher-film-screenings-tickets-50954489249

* * Event link for the 10/25-31 screenings at Maysles Cinema . - S

* - full trailer for the film coming next week! * Tickets for the 10/25-31 Maysles Cinema screenings of Werewolf here . The event on Facebook . * Werewolf Ninja Philosopher website here . The movie on Twitter . - S

From recent Pinnland Empire blog review of Amir Motlagh's new feature Three Worlds - "Los Angeles is a strange place with its own unique set of rules (much like any popular city). Filmmaker Amir Motlagh taps in to this with his latest feature;  Three Worlds  - a story that mixes semi-personal journal entries with the existential drama found in the works of Terrence Malick or even Shane Curruth ( Upstream Color  to be specific). This is also an important film about cultural pride and the impact of therapy." Read the review here -  http://www.pinnlandempire.com/2018/09/three-worlds.html Get more Amir Motlagh links at his site . * The Films Here's Three Worlds on Amazon Prime .  See the link for the movie on Vimeo VOD below. Three Worlds from Amir Motlagh on Vimeo . * MAN from Amir Motlagh on Vimeo . * CANYON - MIRS (visual album) from Amir Motlagh on Vimeo . * Whale from Amir Motlagh on Vimeo .

"‘I’m Like the Last Leaf of a Big Tree’: A Conversation With Jonas Mekas He was the Voice’s first film critic and a revolutionary figure in independent cinema. Now 94, he's still making movies, publishing books, and has big plans for Anthology Film Archives. by  BILGE EBIRI SEPTEMBER 21, 2017" READ THE ARTICLE HERE  * *       Jonas Mekas - Walden (Excerpt) from Re:Voir Video on Vimeo . * Jonas Mekas - A Letter From Greenpoint (Trailer) from Re:Voir Video on Vimeo . * Check out Jonas Mekas movies at Fandor. - S

*  *   Also on Amazon Prime - https://www.amazon.com/Man-Amir-Motlagh/dp/B07G2Q3ZP1 * Three Worlds from Amir Motlagh on Vimeo . * PRESS Canyon The visual work of LA’s own Amir Motlagh is something rivaled only by that of the more auditory variety. Artists come in all capacities and mediums. In a place like Los Angeles, the amount to choose from becomes so plentiful that standing out can be the first and last key step of one’s career. That said, it’s pretty safe to admit that the filmmaker shown off here has done just that. Matching a level of creativity with an equal amount of quality, the films of Motlagh have always fluctuated in style, tone and subject matter. While some tend to be stand alone pieces of cinema, others also have an extra utility attached to their existence. In this case, that utility I’m speaking of is that of the musician’s preference. In recent years, the idea of releasing a full length album or E.P. through the means of a visual c

Pre-order now, available on 9/7! Three Worlds from Amir Motlagh on Vimeo .

Werewolf Ninja Philosopher is in the works - much work getting done on this film NOW - September.  I should be able to share trailer, clips, etc at end of month! Also other NYC FANTASTIC films of mine will get done this fall - at least 3 other ones (older projects, and 1 experimental feature) will be finished soon.  More info as things get done! - Sujewa

Check out the interview here at Criterion site . - S

Check out the interview here at Criterion site . - S

MAN - teaser trailer (feature film 2018) from Amir Motlagh on Vimeo . * Check out MAN on Amazon Prime - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G2Q3ZP1/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_cdsyBbJYQQ2PZ

Here he is - in Brooklyn, on the trail of a serial killer.  Film screens at Maysles Cinema Oct 25-31.  More info coming in August.

* SUNSET PARK AT NIGHT from Sujewa Ekanayake on Vimeo .

In 2014 when I screened the then current version of my feature Breakthrough Weekend in NYC Village Voice reviewed it. For the most part a positive review. Ignore the first paragraph about image quality, perhaps the reviewer received a bad DVD screener, the image and sound quality of the movie is excellent. People will be able to see for themselves in late July of this year when I release the movie on VOD. Also the story about the German couple mentioned in the review may not be in the final version of the movie because we were not able to film a part of that story. Otherwise, great review :) From the review - "...Breakthrough Weekend has audacity and poker-faced wit on its side; its wayward pacing and peculiar rhythms recall early Jim Jarmusch, though it has a New York–centric spirit all its own." More - "It’s all pretty weird, and yet not as weird as it sounds. Ekanayake’s deadpan approach makes every event seem comically reasonable, especially for New York, a

Shot this recently as a test project for establishing some solid possibilities for my new feature film Werewolf Ninja Philosopher's look, music, cinematography approach, mood and more.  Check it out: SUNSET PARK AT NIGHT from Sujewa Ekanayake on Vimeo .

First, let's get the more fun of the 2 Do items out of the way - the trailer! * * * Alright, down to the details :) - Who is Scout Tafoya?  Until a few hours ago I did not know that he made movies.  But he said he released 6 features in the last year/recently.  That's some hyper productivity (even in this digi-camcorder-blogging-24/7-work-age).  I did run into Scout briefly at a party for Matt Zoller Seitz's puppet sci-fi movie Space Rabbit last year - but I did not know Scout made movies.  Alright, the official intro to Scout as a filmmaker & critic, from Roger Ebert site - "Scout Tafoya is a blogger and filmmaker living in Doylestown, PA. He writes for and edits the arts blog Apocalypse Now and directs both feature length and short films, many of which are free to watch at honorszombiefilms.com . His list of peculiar achievements include teaching a class on the cultural importance of zombie movies while in high school, lecturing on Dystopian sci-fi

* Press Conference - LE LIVRE D IMAGE de Jean-Luc GODARD

Are Film Festivals the Future of Cinema? A Conversation with Locarno Festival Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian from Acropolis Cinema on Vimeo . From the Vimeo page - "As the commercial distribution of art cinema from around the world continues to drastically shrink—not only in the U.S., but everywhere—the main question for audiences and lovers of this cinema is a simple one: How can we see it? Movies don’t exist without an audience, and a movie is never really a movie until it’s presented on the big screen. This is where the film festival steps in. Festivals are where art cinema thrives, where artists and audiences can meet. Is this the future of cinema, and how can festivals make this future exciting and sustainable? In the above video, filmed on April 7, 2018, Locarno Festival Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian sits down with Locarno in Los Angeles co-artistic director Robert Koehler to discuss what makes Locarno one of the world's great and most adventurous film festiva

Art as Film In the past people took Hollywood and other film and re-categorized it as art.  That is a valid way to go - as underneath the epic financial and business structure needed for Hollywood filmmaking and distribution, there is a lot of creativity in the actual movies.  The opposite can also be done.  An art project that ends up creating a work that resembles, in some ways, a Hollywood or other film, is also valid.  Art as film.  The main difference being that an art project does not need to be made according to Hollywood rules or independent filmmaking rules.  It can use work methods inspired by paintings (one creator typically), or experimental film (non-narrative, one creator typically) or art film (one or more creators, work is made for creative expression purposes primarily).  The art work can be made for $0 or $1 million or more - whatever money the artist has available or whatever money the art project/the film requires.  Once the work is completed it can be distributed

Charlie Ahearn (Wild Style), Sara Driver (Boom For Real), Jessica Green (Maysles programmer) * BOOM FOR REAL 5/2/18 Sneak Preview screening at Maysles Cinema, NYC - event notes I had not watched a movie at Maysles Cinema before so I was excited to go see Sara Driver's new documentary BOOM FOR REAL , about artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, on Wednesday 5/2/18 night.  I was glad that I got there early - the event sold out.  Maysles Cinema is a small venue but when I sat down I was very impressed with the size of the screen.  I am showing my new movie Werewolf Ninja Philosopher at Maysles 10/25-31 of this year, so it was nice to see that I would be screening at a great venue.  All of the seats got filled, and the Maysles staff had to break out some folding chairs for the overflow crowd, and then the event started. Maysles programmer Jessica Green gave a great introduction to the show. Here are some thoughts I had about the movie: I had seen a couple of docume

So says the Whitney - https://whitney.org/Exhibitions/Film .  That's a lot :). 

Indie film has gotten kind of boring.  That revolution may be over (it succeeded well).  At present (and maybe always, since the 1980s) indie or independent film is an attempt to do what Hollywood is doing but at a low budget, and also it was an attempt (successful) to expand the type of stories that were being told, and to add greater diversity to the movies (also successful as of now).  And was also a path to break into Hollywood (maybe not everyone wants that.  hollywood is interesting, but also seems like a lot of work and money spent and dealing with a ton of problems to produce a limited range of products).  But, by and large, indie film was always a Hollywood facing project (there are a few exception).  What if the next wave of indie filmmakers looked in the other direction (but remain open to working with whoever wants to work w/ them - Hollywood, Netflix, Amazon, art galleries, small movie theaters, non-profits, ad agencies, ordinary people with interesting stories, community

Porcupine Lake trailer: * About the movie - " Thirteen-year-old Bea (Charlotte Salisbury) wants a best friend more than anything else, and when she meets rambunctious Kate (Lucinda Armstrong Hall), the pair form an unexpected bond that will change both of their lives forever. Ingrid Veninger’s PORCUPINE LAKE takes the time to explore the feelings and experiences of young girls with a thoughtful honesty that sets the film apart from most contemporary fiction, creating a story sensitive to the secret world of her characters, set during a fateful summer when adulthood has not yet arrived, but childhood is quickly vanishing."  From page linked below. Screening info for 4/28 & 29 are here -  http://montclairfilm.org/events/porcupine-lake/ Here are a couple of interviews with Ingrid Veninger.  One recent, about the new film:   And this one is older, from 2012, long interview about Veninger's approach to filmmaking and more - * - S

Click on the images below for the full episode 478 featuring all the guests.  Or see the YouTube video segment of Amir Motlagh segment only at bottom of page. *    * Info on the screening at Chicago Filmmakers here . - S

Charles Borg is the co-producer of the upcoming Amir Motlagh feature films MAN and Three Worlds.  Borg is also the co-writer and co-editor of MAN.  The two films screen on 4/21 at  Chicago Filmmakers. A vision of time – through two feature films by Charles Borg   Charles Borg MAN is a film that explores the relationship between ‘man’ and technology and how that’s grown to the apex that it is today. The film hits on modern romance, which (in many cases, for the millennial generation and those to follow, at least) is shaped by tech. Simply put: this is a new world. Amir and I seek to create content that reflects that – in a realistic, gritty way. “Realism.” You may have heard this term as it’s related to filmmaking, but the idea is to never emulate other work. It’s about thinking outside the box. “Realism” was a movement. MAN isn’t trying to be that. It needs to be it’s own thing. Everything about MAN defies the ‘norm’ that most other films follow. A lot of talk surroun

Check out the review here -  http://diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com/2014/05/breakthrough-weekend-review-by-rick.html Breakthrough Weekend should be available on VOD later this year.  It screened in NYC and DC in 2014.

Post will be update until 4/21/18 and possibly beyond. The basic info: (media can e-mail me  here for screeners, to be added to press list, etc - I am doing promo work for this screening) TWO FEATURE FILMS - 'MAN', 'THREE WORLDS' BY AMIR MOTLAGH, PREVIEW SCREENING ON 4/21/18, 6 PM AT CHICAGO FILMMAKERS IN CHICAGO, IL Award-winning LA based Iranian-American filmmaker Amir Motlagh, along with producing partner and Chicago based filmmaker Charles Borg, are set to preview two new feature films - MAN, Three Worlds - in a double feature screening hosted by Chicago Filmmakers on April 21st, 2018 at 6 PM in Chicago, IL. From Chicago Filmmakers, event information - http://www.chicagofilmmakers.org/screenings/2656 4/21, 6 PM MAN & THREE WORLDS AN AMIR MOTLAGH DOUBLE FEATURE PREVIEW SCREENING MAN (85 mins), Three Worlds (90 mins) Ticket Price: $10 Reception: 6PM - 6:30PM Screening: 6:30PM A brief intermission will occur between films. Chicago Filmmakers

Tax comedy :) - "Write It Off" - Taylor Swift Tax Parody! See more videos here . - S

I have been a long time fan and supporter of Amir Motlagh's film work.  I screened his movies in Maryland a very long time ago - back in 2005 or so - when this century was still brand new.  We are almost 20 years into this new century now, and Amir has just completed two new feature length films for 2018 release.  He has made I believe around 15 or so films thus far - three features and the rest shorts.  I liked the first film that he showed me - I believe it was Still Lover - and I've liked most movies he has made since then.  Amir is a true art/indie/DIY filmmaker.  Not sure if this is completely by choice, but he also does commercial work for clients, and works in the LA film industry.  But, his own films, he makes those as a painter or a musician makes their work - in his own way, mostly by himself and at times with a small support team, and to express ideas that he is concerned with and to share his experience of the world, views of the world with others.  His movies have