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

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