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

my previous post was about possibly moving to NYC in mid-'07. but i wonder if it is better to keep living in the DC area & keep making movies here, since so few people do something close to what i do (ultra-low budget, DIY features, comedies, self-distribution) in this area. either way, the key is to make good movies & then distribute them, where i live is not that important in comparison. also, due to the internet, i may not need to live in NYC to grow my career, i think i just need to keep making good movies & getting them out. who knows, but on to more important & immediate things, like the 8/31 NYC Premiere of Date Number One THIS WEEK!!! posts re: the film, a very important review, & a reminder or two about the screening coming this week. talk to ya soon! - sujewa

that's a quote about writers & paris that i am re-working up there. yeah, US indie film as we know it was invented & re-invented in nyc - thus each indie filmmaker in the US (& also US indie inspired world cinema) has a second home - a spiritual/creative soul home if you will - in nyc, the way i see it. the filmmaker(s?) who inspired the french new wave were from & were making their movies in nyc, i am pretty sure john cassavetes worked in nyc, & more relevant to my generation of filmmakers: jim jarmusch became the filmmaker we know & luv in/through nyc. and also (and this may be the biggest reason to move to NYC :) :) :) fellow MD New Wave filmmaker & "movie star of the future" Mike "Cocaine Angel" Tully is living & causing trouble/breaking hearts in NYC now. it will be fun to try living & working in NYC for a year. i am thinking brooklyn (got a few friends there now, plus jonas mekas lives there, also indieWIRE lives there n

See ya there. Say hello, I'll be there hanging out in the theater lobby before the show, & then will do an intro to the movie, & then will do a post-show Q & A session, & then will be hanging out for a bit at the theater lobby after the show. Maybe a party after that at some nearby cool place (more on that soon). Here's all the info for the show. Advance tix are on sale now , buy some. See ya at the show! DATE NUMBER ONE http://www.wilddiner.com/ a comedy about several first dates a movie by sujewa ekanayake Thursday, August 31, 9 PM The Two Boots Pioneer Theater http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/monthly_programs/2006-08.htm#DateNumberOne 155 East 3rd Street(between Avenues A and B, closer to A) New York, New York 212-591-0434 ticket prices:$9 adults, $6.50 members Buy Tix Now: http://pioneertheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=65968 Film's Description: "Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is made up of 5 differen

Here are the stories in this week's edition of Seattle anti-homelessness activist newspaper Real Change: Resettled and Homesick : Tate Lazard survived Katrina only to experience a greater loss (page 1) In Light of Katrina : City disaster-response agency adjusts approach (page 5) The Change : Ad-hoc group pushes for transgendered policy in county jails (page 1) Radio Static : Community station KBCS aims to balance talk, music (page 3) Still Bearing the Scars : Interview: Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary says people of color need to tune into slavery’s aftermath (page 6) Just Heard : schools levy split; no food at the 13 Coins; expunging the Needle Exchange from 2nd and Pike (page 3) The Six-Ounce Problem : Tuna, America’s affordable seafood, endangers mothers and infants (page 2) This Week’s Action : End the unfair, arbitrary death penalty Elsewhere : Dr. Wes says the lifeless have only themselves to blame (page 9), The Iliad: the world’s greatest epic poem for the price of a sandwich (page 8),

yup, that's the pioneer theater. another pic from my nyc trip earlier this month. Photo Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake

took this photo when i visited nyc 8/12- 8/14/06 to promote the 8/31/06 Date Number One screening at the Pioneer Theater. more photos coming in the coming days photo Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake

So, as some of you indie filmmaker/distributor types know, most newspapers require a week long run of a movie in order for them to review the movie. Now, if the movie is screening for one or two nights in a given city the major newspapers (mainstream & alterna) may write some type of a story about the movie, but there won't be a full review. Not sure how this practice evolved, but it is with us. Now, in the music world, a well regarded musician or a band can play one show in a given city & the local newspapers will write a story about that show & they may also publish a review of the show the next day. This practice should be adopted for film reviewing. Otherwise the newspapers are mostly going to be writing about Hollywood product (as they do now), not new indie movies or foreign movies that are being self-distributed or are being distributed by small distributors (unless they are playing for a week). On the bright side, the internet is around. Here we can write about

Less than 10 days to go until the Date Number One NYC Premiere at Pioneer Theater on 8/31 ! So, in celebration of that fact I will be re-posting some of the best/most useful posts about Date Number One. Here's one from May: "Date Number One" review # 2! (very positive) Check it out here at the Hollywood Is Talking blog . Very glad that Jerry Brewington liked the movie. Here's a segment from the review: " Story 2, ‘A Romantic Dinner for Three’, was my favorite because I have to admit, I found the characters and the premise sexy, sexy, sexy. Shervin Boloorian plays Kamal and Jennifer Blakemore as Sunshine are a hip, progressive couple in the most diverse region of the Americas, Washington DC. Sunshine wants to learn about Buddhism and meditation from her friend Rupa ,played so well by Dele Williams, but she has an ulterior motive as well and, ummm, it involves the number 3." Looks like Date Number One 's got some fans in LA area now. Will write more about

Due to dayjob work & the 8/31 NYC screening of Date Number One promotions, I am running behind on getting the latest version of DNO screeners finished & mailed out. About half a dozen indie film people, mostly bloggers, to whom I promised the screeners should get them early next week. I expect to have the screeners in the mail by this Sat. Sorry about the delay folks, but it will be worth the wait (let's hope :) The retail DVD of DNO, v1, should be available for purchase in mid-late September. More on that soon. - Sujewa

See ya there. Say hello, I'll be there hanging out in the theater lobby before the show, & then doing an intro to the movie, & then doing a post-show Q & A session, & then hanging out for a bit at the theater lobby after the show. Maybe a party after that at some nearby cool place (more on that soon). Here's all the info for the show. Advance tix are on sale now , buy some. See ya at the show! DATE NUMBER ONE http://www.wilddiner.com/ a comedy about several first dates a movie by sujewa ekanayake Thursday, August 31, 9 PM The Two Boots Pioneer Theater http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/monthly_programs/2006-08.htm#DateNumberOne 155 East 3rd Street (between Avenues A and B, closer to A) New York, New York 212-591-0434 ticket prices: $9 adults, $6.50 members Buy Tix Now: http://pioneertheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=65968 Film's Description:"Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is made up of 5 different stories:

In a post today at Indie Features 06 Lance Weiler says: " The Hard Costs DIY on a large level can be a challenge and the biggest issue is finding a way to make money and then how to not spend money along the way. To help offset travel expenses I booked about $1500 worth of speaking engagements at various schools and film societies. This not only helps with cash but in most cases will lead to free lodging and also free meals. It also helps drive people to the theater. I made a run of really high quality 27 x 40 posters, which I can sell for $10 bucks each. In my experience I sell about 5 to 20 posters in a night. This money is great for food and miscellaneous expenses." Read the rest of the post here . Take notes future DIY filmmaker/distributors, take notes. - Sujewa

I am a big fan of early Hal Hartley features, looking forward to Fay Grim. And I've watched a few Godard movies since he is considered an important figure in film history. Hartley interviews Godard here, a good read, from 1994, a Filmmaker mag article: http://www.geocities.com/glen_norton/Hartly.html - Sujewa

Date Number One's screening #11 is set: back to Kensington, MD! yeah! The first time around, when the film screened here in June, a lot of the locals who wanted to see it missed it, so the Kensingtonians will get another chance to see my comedy about several first dates on Thu, 9/28 @ 7:30 PM. Here's the basic info: Date Number One screening Thu 9/28/06, 7:30 PM, $5, Capital City Microcinema / Kensington Row Bookshop 3786 Howard Ave., Kensington, MD 20895 301.949.9416 MapQuest , Directions see ya there kensingtonians & other washingtonians! * Of course screening #10 is happening in New York City on Thu, August 31 at 9 PM at Pioneer Theater. Find links to show details & advance ticket purchase through here . see ya there new yorkers! - Sujewa

LOL , Date Number One , Head Trauma , Four Eyed Monsters , Mutual Appreciation , The Guatamalan Handshake , Jumping Off Bridges will all screen in New York City starting late August (LOL & Date Number One at Pioneer Theater in August), through September (4eyed, mutual, HT & more in September), and into late '06 (Bridges in Nov at Pioneer). All of the films mentioned are being fully or partially self-distributed. I am preparing a more detailed post re: this wonderful occurrence, will have all the info - dates, places, film summaries, soon (let's say by Tue, got a few Date Number One edit things to do this weekend). Post comments here about other DIY distributed low budget indie/real indie flicks that I may have missed/not heard about yet. Will look into them to include in the upcoming more detailed post re: The Heavy DIY Season New York '06. In the meantime, check out this awesome indieWIRE article about Head Trauma & Four Eyed Monsters & their DIY distributi

Stuff Done Today/Need To Do soon: - Got about 300 fliers out in the East Village neighborhood promoting the 8/31 Date Number One screening at Pioneer theater - Spoke w/ about a dozen enthusiastic NYC people about the film, they said they will spread the word about the 8/31 screening. - Got the contact info for the IFC center programmer (one of many?) at the IFC Center itself (right by the West 4th subway station, where I got off last couple of days to go to East Village), wll be attempting to get Date Number One screenings there. - Lots of NYC theaters to contact re: DNO screenings, will be doing it this month. * if you know ,or if you are, a NYC indie screening venue (indie theater, microcinema) programmer, let me know, will tell ya all about Date Number One so that we can look into doing some screenings. e-mail me at wilddiner AT aol.com. - Date Number One Posters & post cards need to get done, DVDs need to get done - working on them this week * had some yummy sri lankan food at