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

Pretty much everyone is blogging today about the indie film non-profit IFP/The Independent Feature Project ignoring their pro-indie mission & nominating 3 big budget Hollywood films for their Gotham Awards program, so I will begin by pointing to The Reeler's excellent entry re: the subject. So, why bother with the pretense of independence IFP? Just change your name to the Feature Project, drop the Independent from the title (which will only be a symbolic gesture now since you've already shown your preference for Hollywood/the-budget-&-stars-makes-it-impossible-to-ever-call-it-indie films with this year's Gotham Awards nominations), & have yourself fully funded by the big studios in exchange for getting them some press & publicity for their movies. Looks like the era of big indie film non-profits is coming to an end, with 2006 being a significant year for that slow death. Some organizations die due to lack of member interest (AIVF), while others sell their a

Photo Copyright 2004 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films And that is Dele Williams, who plays the character Rupa in Date Number One 's Story #2. A favorite DNO story of many, including Amir "Whale" Motlagh & Jerry "Hollywood Is Talking" Brewington . - Sujewa

What is the biggest link between Tadpole, Personal Velocity & Pieces of April? They are all good movies, true, and they are all movies shot on digital video, true again, but the biggest link is that they are InDigEnt movies. InDigEnt is America's answer to Dogme 95. Find out all about them here . I need to go see Wim Wender's Land of Plenty, another InDigEnt movie. I saw Lonesome Jim recently, yet another InDigEnt movie, pretty good. Been seeing Sorry, Haters DVD box checking me out at the video store, may have to rent it, another InDigEnt movie. - Sujewa

Scott Kirsner of the CinemaTech blog has compiled a list of sites that allow filmmakers to sell their work on-line, mostly through streaming & downloads, & a few cases of DVD "on demand" burning services, plus links & descriptions of several relevant up & coming services. Here is the introduction to the document : " New revenue opportunities are emerging with the recent boom in video viewing on the Web. On this chart, I've tried to list all of the Web sites that enable video producers to make money from their work. I've ranked the sites subjectively, based on how much traffic and buzz they've been attracting, and also how likely it seems that a video producer would actually manage to earn a significant return by posting a video to them. The majority of these sites are geared shorter-form content, but a few, like Brightcove, EZTakes, and GreenCine, make it possible for producers of hour-long or feature-length projects to generate revenue."

I remember reading something about this film a long, long time ago, and I just ran into a write up on it, check out this page on the 1991 British film Young Soul Rebels , sounds interesting: the film is apparently about 2 DJs in 1977 UK. It's going on my WATCH list. Has anyone seen it? What did you think? - Sujewa

Hey DC Area Indie Film Fans, There is a very interesting & funny movie called Mutual Appreciation playing in Dupont Circle this weekend http://www.fandango.com/TheaterPage.aspx?wssac=58&tid=AABXW&wssaffid=11480 and the film's director & distributor, Andrew Bujalski, will be there for tonight's (Fri), & Sat night's & Sun night's shows. Here is the movie's website for more info (the film is about a young musician who moves from Boston to NYC): http://www.mutualappreciation.com/funfacts.html The movie has won all kinds of awards, and it is entertaining & is a good example of low-budget filmmaking excellence. Unlike many of us contemporary DV lovin' indie filmmakers, Andrew uses motion picture film for his movies, and Mutual was shot on 35 MM B&W. Very interesting. Check it out & chat w/ Andrew if you feel like it. I am sure the event will be entertaining & educational & inspiring to many DC indie filmmakers. Thanks!

Andrew Bujalski's charming '05 film Mutual Appreciation f-i-n-a-l-l-y gets a more than 1 day run in DC, starting tomorrow, Fri 10/20 @ Dupont Circle. Mutual was one of my favorite films of '05 (i saw it on DVD), & I am looking forward to seeing it on the big screen, the way it should be seen, in a couple of days. It tells the story of a young musician who moves to NYC from Boston. Mutual is far, far better than Funny Ha Ha (Mutual is the Stranger Than Paradise to Funny Ha Ha's Permanent Vacation). For more appreciation of Mutual, go here . And then go check Mutual out at the theater this weekend with some friends. - Sujewa

In this week's Washington City Paper the punk authors Mark Andersen & Mark Jenkins (who is also a CP film critic) have a conversation with Paul Rachman & Steven Blush, the makers of the doc American Hardcore, which opens in DC tomorrow (Fri 10/20). Hardcore's got a lot of DC in it, thanks to Bad Brains, Dischord Records, Minor Threat & no doubt countless others who made the early 80's scene happen. Looking forward to the history lesson this weekend. Here is the link to the interview. Here is a bit of the interview: " Andersen: In the film, Ian MacKaye says something to the effect of, “I didn’t leave hardcore. Hardcore left me.” And of course Ian is part of something that happened in D.C. in 1985 called Revolution Summer, which in many ways is a reaction against the limitations and the contradictions of hardcore. What do you think Ian was trying to say? Rachman: There are two quotes in the film that are really important. There’s that quote, and there’s G

There is one up-and-coming field of indie film/film distribution where the no/low-budget filmmaker/distributor may be able to rule (or at least have a fair chance of competing well in), and that is internet VOD (video on demand). Doing D.I.Y. theatrical screenings & tours is a lot of work, & can get expensive, and the range/how many places the film can be delivered to in a short period of time - can be very limited. Same for playing the festival circuit. Even hawking the DVD can get expensive, 'cause you may have to buy a lot of ads in the non-web world to let a lot of people know about the existence of the DVD. Internet VOD should be far less work & far less expensive to use as a distribution method - customers can pay $s through the web & the film can be delivered to them through the web, and blogging & reviews can create free publicity for movies that are available through internet VOD. But what is the current state of internet VOD? Are filmmakers making a si

Here's where I heard about it: http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2006/category/arts/278 Here's the MySpace page for the band O'Death: http://myspace.com/odeath From an article about the band ( http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=48714&category=22153 ): "An ensemble of guitar, banjo, electric fiddle, ukulele, and junk percussion, their ingredients—like some crazy backwoods whiskey mash—are varied. Old-timey ghost songs and gospel call-and-response rave-ups meet punk sensibilities. Guttural howling over twangy instrumentation, stomps and shouts, and the sinner's simultaneous pleading/don't-give-a-shit evocation of greater power surge through each raucous number. At other moments, the songs are more deliberate, measured, pensive—the day after a drinking binge during which you punched your best friend in the face and then went home alone to savor the memory of someone lost and gone. But even this, to a certain degree, is celebratory—every party

Shooting People picked this blog as a Pick of the Day today. Check it out here: http://shootingpeople.org/cards/viewcard.php?act=act&card=45560&message=256976 Thanks Ingrid from SP for checking out the blog. & thanks Brian, The Film Panel Notetaker for letting me know about the SP pick this morning. - Sujewa