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

The House Next Door blog reports that filmmaker & critic Matt Zoller Seitz's wife Jennifer Dawson has passed away. Am shocked and saddned by the tragic news and I wish the best for Matt & his family in dealing with their terrible loss. Goodbye Jennifer Dawson, lots of people will miss you. - Sujewa

John Stabb Schroder as the ninja Mark H. Temonium from Date Number One Julia Stemper & John Stabb Schroder from a scene in Date Number One :: Copyright 2005 Sujewa Ekanayake John Stabb Schroder is a DC based actor & musician. He was the lead singer in the punk band Government Issue (G.I.) from 1981 - 1989. Starting this year (DC 5/13, Seattle 5/19 - 21) John can be seen playing a ninja who goes on a blind date in my new movie Date Number One. I did an 11 question interview with John last year, here's 3 of the exchanges, the rest can be found here. Enjoy. Sujewa: What were your thoughts when I first explained to you that you will be playing a ninja in this movie? John: When you offered me the role, I jumped at the chance! I’ve always enjoyed Bruce Lee movies and thought “I’m going to play a f’n ninja!” And the moment I slipped into the ninja outfit and headgear, I was ready to take on any martial arts actors. David Carradine, Chuck Norris, Michael Dudikoff, Uma Thurman

Latest news from the Sri Lanka based unit of the international peace activist organization Nonviolent Peaceforce : April 25, 2006 While this report is being prepared, LTTE-controlled sea side areas close to our office in Mutur in the East are being targeted in a coordinated action by the Sri Lankan Navy and Airforce. The bombs and shelling by a naval craft and fighter jets, which can be felt and heard by the team members from their position in the office, are part of a retaliation for the suicide bomb attack on General Fonseka, Chief Commander of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces, at the army headquarters in Colombo earlier today. Meanwhile, the Airforce has assured us that the Mutur town and our team are safe. The town has lost electricity and reports of casualties from the area targeted are coming in slowly but the exact numbers will not be known until the enforced curfew expires. It appears the suicide bomb was set-off by a young female, who pretended to be pregnant while visiting the arm

Gi-normous companies want to carve up the internet for themselves. Bad news for indie artists, small biz people & alternative views. Go here to help stop the sale of the internet to the highest bidders. Thanks. - Sujewa

Angry Filmmaker Kelley Baker outside of Kensington Row Bookshop on Thu 4/20/06 in Kensington, MD, where he screened his film Kicking Bird at a Capital City Microcinema event. photo copyright 2006 sujewa ekanayake At his blog DIY filmmaker Kelley Baker writes: " The tour is going great! Arizona and Texas were a ball, I had some great screenings at the Alamo Draft House in Houston, my work shops went well, and it was good to see some old friends. From there Moses and I went to Grand Rapids, MI for a guest lecture and a self distribution work shop. I did Rochester, NY at RIT. I went from doing just a Visiting Artist gig to 4 class lectures over 3 days. Not bad... After that I hung out with friends in Mass then off to Kensington, MD for a sound design workshop and a screening. A small but enthusiastic group. Even though we had a brief power outage during the movie everyone stayed until the end." Read the rest of that entry here. - Sujewa

The last time I saw DIY filmmaker & self-distributor Kelley Baker he was riding down the highway, heading south w/ his laid back dog Moses, and that was about 9 hours ago, after 2 days of activity: a sound design class, couple of fun dinners, a screening where almost every customer in attendance bought a DVD, meals w/ 2 local producers (one of them invited Kelly to come back to DC in the fall to play a popular local festival), and many inspiring conversations and stories. I am too sleepy right now to go into all the details, but soon - maybe on/by Tue, I'll write a longer account of the 4/19 & 20 activties, & will post some related pics. Kelley's latest feature "Kicking Bird" is excellent.

Lance Weiler, director of The Last Broadcast & the new flick Head Trauma is now blogging at Indie Features 06. Here's his first entry: http://indiefeatures06.blogspot.com/2006/04/hello-from-philly.html - Sujewa