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

And you thought Date Number One screenings were all done, didn't ya? Silly human. We are just getting started. Screening # 12 was just set up in DC for early Nov. & a couple of 1 week long runs are in the works, but before we get to all that, here is all the info. on screening # 11, at Capital City Microcinema/Kensington Row Bookshop. The new & improved version of the film will unspool (or, to be more accurate, digital info will convert to images & sound, whatever that process is called) for the first time at this screening (& I might have some of them brand new retail DVDs of the flick for sale at this event): DATE NUMBER ONE http://www.wilddiner.com/ a comedy about several first dates a movie by sujewa ekanayake Thu Oct 5, 2006 :: 7:30 PM :: $5 Capital City Microcinema at Kensington Row Bookshop 3786 Howard Ave., Kensington, MD 20895 301.949.9416 :: MapQuest :: Directions "Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is

Read them here , features a conversation between Scott Macaulay of Filmmaker Mag & a head of Miramax. Thanks Brian! -Sujewa

The Potomac Video near Chevy Chase Circle (DC) is awesome. Pretty much any hard to find or rare indie/foreign movie I want, they have. Huge collection downstairs - a lot on VHS, & a lot on DVD. Last night I picked up two movies I've been wanting to check out for a while: John Cassavetes' Shadows & Andrew Bujalski's Funny Ha Ha . Watched Shadows first. As a historical artifact, it is fascinating. As entertainment - it is OK. But, like Citizen Kane, to some it must have been something awesome at its debut period. The music in Shadows was good, jazz. Also it was brave of Cassavetes to tackle an "interracial"* romance related storyline in his first feature, made in the mid to late 1950's, a conservative time that was also cooking up, in the basement, massive social changes that would erupt above ground & shake & re-arrange life in the US in the 1960's & after. The film foreshadows some of the conflicts & changes - the sexual revolution

The "star" of a small, self-distributed US indie feature gets VIP treatment in Chile. Here is a taste of Mutual Appreciation's lead actor Justin Rice's notes from his trip to Chile to accompany a screening of the film at a festival there: " Then it got surreal. I went to a lunch at the Bi-National Center, and sat at the head of a giant table complete with white tablecloth. As the waiters, who looked sharp in their tuxedos, poured glasses of wine and served up the four-course meal, I was introduced to various filmmakers, producers, festival programmers, and animators, most of whom were old, and all of whom were baffled that young people responded so well to the festival in general and to Mutual Appreciation in particular. A few weeks ago, the U.S. embassy asked me for a bio, and I wrote one that was meant, mostly, to be funny. Tounge, cheek, etc. They had translated this bio into Spanish, and read aloud to the assembled host. I had a little ear bug so I cou

Team Jumping Off Bridges is taking their movie across the country on a D.I.Y. tour. Read the latest update here , by the director of the movie Kat Candler. - Sujewa

I dig the technical "flaws" in movies such as Godard's Breathless & Moritsugu's Scumrock, but many of my important peers in the indie film biz do not & certainly not many of the US audience members who I want to make happy with my movie. So, as painful as it is, major changes are being made to Date Number One . So, the version of the movie that will be screened on 10/5 will be much more "slick" & much, much less "rough", and will be shorter - perhaps by as much as 10 minutes. Since the movie represents not just my dreams/wishes/ambitions but the dreams of investors & actors & other collaborators AND more importantly, there are certain basic audience expectations (including reviewer expectations) that must be met in order to get a certain number of ticket & DVD sales in the US at this point in time, sacrifices are being made. The new version of Date Number One will not have the scenes w/ the iris problem in Story 2 (where the

" The result? The first week at AMC Kabuki, "The Debut" outdrew every other screen at that theater -- $30,000 in admissions. The film also spurred $15,000 in merchandising sales, which Cajayon credits as essential to the film's success. It was the last four-walling he would have to do. He now has a rep, and splits with the house." Read all about it on this 2001 indieWIRE article . - Sujewa

And the answer is affirmative, at least in the case of Lance Weiler/The Last Broadcast. Read the article here . - Sujewa

This Wired article spotlights Netflix's work with indie filmmakers. Of special interest: 1) Netflix buying 500 DVDs of an undistributed indie film from its maker & the film getting on HBO possibly because of Netflix customer interest, 2) future possibility of Netflix taking a look at all 3,000 or so Sundance film festival submissions BEFORE the fest selects or rejects films. Read the article here . Thanks Anthony Kaufman for the link.

subodh samudre as Ananda, the bookstore worker * rashard harrison as Watalappan, a bookstore customer [i am playing around with the screen capture function on this lap top that i am using right now, these images are from the opening 5 mins of Date Number One . enjoy.] & john stabb schroeder as Mark H. Temonium, the ninja! more pics coming soon * * Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films

Two things gave me idea #1: 1. I needed a couple of hundred dollars last summer to pay for an editing related expense for Date Number One , did not want to wait 'till I got my dayjob pay, so I asked a friend who likes my movies if he wanted to loan me the money. He said he will just pre-buy 10 DVDs of Date Number One instead of doing a loan, w/ units to be delivered to him whenever they are available for sale. It was a simple solution, so I went ahead with that transaction: 10 DVDs were sold in advance, I had most of the $s I needed to solve the editing problem. 2. I will go see (or buy or rent on DVD) works by certain filmmakers regardless of what reviewers & other audience members say about the works - stuff by Jim Jarmusch, Amir Motlagh, Hal Hartley, Jon Moritsugu, etc. Filmmakers with such a hard core fan base maybe able to pay for the production & start of distro (at least making a few thousand DVDs) cost of certain ultra-low budget films of theirs by pre-selling the D

Working on it now, read the update to members below: The plan is to post video clips on YouTube and promote, discuss them at a blog. Test blog & YouTube page for attempting to offer trailers & clips from works by members of the US DIY Film yahoo group have been created. Both web pages will be fine tuned & tested out in the next few days. Before this weekend is over I should be able to post info. on how the US DIY Film yahoo group members can start using both the blog & the corresponding YouTube page. In the meantime, here are the links to both for you to bookmark: The blog: http://usdiyfilm.blogspot.com/ The YouTube page: http://youtube.com/profile?user=USDIYFilmChannel1 To participate in all this, if you are a DIY filmmaker interested in self-distribution, join the US DIY Film yahoo group . Thanks! - Sujewa

At least this looks new to me, posted on 9/10/06, article by Matthew Ross re: everyone's favorite blog & its parent comany GreenCine. Check it out (you'll need to register to read beyond the first couple of lines). - Sujewa

Lance "Head Trauma" Weiler just posted a list of DIY distribution friendly indie film theaters, tips on dealing with theaters & contact info. at the US DIY Film yahoo group . Join the group & check out the useful info. future DIY distributors! - Sujewa

one of my photo editing software packages can create a "cartoon" version of photos. reminds me a little of images from Waking Life. this pic is of me & pioneer programmer ray in front of some audience members doing post-show q&a on 8/31, following the Date Number One NYC premiere at the Pioneer Theater. original photo by Brian Geldin (!thanks brian!) photo/image copyright 2006 sujewa ekanayake/wild diner films