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

Twenty and thirtysomething (& slightly younger & slightly older) indie filmmakers have been making movies about or inspired by events in their lives and their friends lives since, oh, about the early 1980's or before (when was Return of the Secaucus Seven made? maybe Permanent Vacation and Downtown 81 are better examples). But, right now it is cool that a handful of filmmakers who are friends with each other are getting their blogger friends to write about them & their movies under the banner of Mumblecore. A DIY filmmaking & self-distribution friendly promotion model that can be used by other groups of filmmakers and their friends to make their films stand out from the pack of no-budget indies that come out each year at festivals or on DVD or through DIY screenings. Mumblecore crosses into print in a pretty big way, I think, with this Filmmaker Magazine article . My favorite Mumblecore movies so far are: The Puffy Chair, Mutual Appreciation, Dance Party USA, i

A Conversation with DC Based Humanitarian Activist & Punk Author Mark Andersen By Sujewa Ekanayake [from 2001, re-posted here as a part of the Humanitarian Activism Blog-A-Thon project ] On a warm, sunny July afternoon in 2001, I visited the Washington, DC based humanitarian activist, punk and author Mark Andersen (and his cat Demo) in order to learn more about Mark’s activist work. Mark is a founding member of the punk activist collective Positive Force. He has also worked for the Washington Peace Center and has volunteered with Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS). At the time of this interview he was doing outreach work for the Emmaus Services for the Aging, helping to bring about an artist/activist center called the Flemming Center and was a recently published author. Mark’s book "Dance Of Days: Two Decades Of Punk In The Nation’s Capital" (co-authored by Mark Jenkins) was published by Soft Skull Press in early 2001. The following conversation touches on many

All these wars & fighting & killing around the planet is making it difficult for us to be happy. So, those of us interested in peace must speak up, talk, tell, push, yell, maneuver & force combatants and killers and other people who use violence to try to achieve their objectives to stop. So, a project: eternal anti-violence blog-a-thon: people around the planet blogging about ending violence, celebrating anti-violence success stories, blogging about great strategies and examples - courses of action that take people away from killing & maiming & violence as a conflict resolution tool. Also blogging about related issues: ending poverty, hunger, etc. - dealing with stuff that leads to frustration & violence. This project might lead to some good things. Project starts today. Open ended, no closing date set at the moment. I am going to blog about the topic as often as I can, several times a week. If you post something related to ending wars/

I still need to see Fishing With John . Maybe Potomac Video has it, they've had pretty much everything else I've looked for lately. Looking forward to seeing the Tom Waits episode and the Jim Jarmusch episode. Check out an essay about the show here , at Criterion's website. - Sujewa

It's a 13 page document , lots of good stuff to read. Here is a sample: "After that, we took Faces to Montreal and Toronto, where it did well, and then screened it for the Venice Film Festival committee. We got admitted to the festival - and walked out with five awards. We then sold the film to the Walter Reade Organization, which released it here and in Canada. And, surprise of surprises: I had an artistic and financial hit on my hands - this time in my own country. Proving to me that it was worth all the nonsense I went through. Proving to me that moviemakers don't have to spend their time doing garbage they hate. And when Husbands performed the same way Faces did, it gave me the opportunity to line up just about whatever projects I may want to do without having to sweat the money. Unbelievable as this may sound and for whatever it's worth, I'm doing just what I want to with my life and on my own terms, without any hassling whatsoever. And never have I

Heard a tiny bit about this film, am in the process of learning more about it. Roger Ebert had some very nice things to say about Somebodies, check it out here , from early '06, from Sundance. UPDATE: This looks like the official website for Somebodies. And here's the blog , written by Somebodies director Hadjii (yeah, he only uses one name). About Hadjii, from Somebodies website : "Writer/director/actor/humorist Hadjii was born and raised in Brunswick, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a BA degree in Telecommunications Arts. In 2004, he was a finalist in the Image Film Festival Perfect Pitch Competition with his pitch for his original screenplay “My Father’s Business.” His 2002 short film “The Making of Brick City” won 2nd place at the 2002 Peach City Short Film Festival and was featured in the 2003 Hollywood Black Film Festival. He was also a semi-finalist in the 2002 Hollywood Black Film Fes

i just know that some indie band is gonna steal that name. that aside, looking forward to seeing the award winning indie flick Man Push Cart . according to this website , the flick is out on DVD in a couple of european countries and DVD availability in the US is coming up. check out the news here . - sujewa