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

Ah, the topic that never dies. Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel joins the conversation at LA Times. Thanks Chuck Tryon for the link. -Sujewa

Apparently a doc called Divine Trash . I just read a chapter called Guilty Pleasures in the Waters book Crackpot where he talks about his "secret" appreciation of art movies, and I was trying to find that chapter on line to link to, but instead I stumbled upon the Divine Trash page. Here is the link to an Austin Chronicle review of the film. Need to see DT. After all, Waters is from Baltimore, a city that's just about 40 minutes from where I type this. And I liked most of Cry Baby, and I think most of that movie about indie/underground filmmaking - Cecil B. DeMented, and all of Hairspray, plus, no doubt, bits and pieces from several of his other movies (and why have I only seen parts of most of these movies so far? perhaps it is time for a John Waters movie night at the Sujewa house). - Sujewa

Go Lance , getting some of the most interesting artists around on tape. Check out conversation with DJ Spooky, the maker of Rebirth of a Nation & many other very interesting multi-media works, here . For more on DJ Spooky (aka Paul Miller) check out his website here . -Sujewa

Saw the first episode (of 6) of Jennifer Fox's documentary Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman last night. These are some initial positive thoughts regarding the movie, will write & publish a regular review of the work after I've seen all 6 episodes, which I hope to do before the July 4th premiere of the film in NYC . Flying is unlike any movie I've seen before, and I mean that in a good way (perhaps Tarnation was kind of like this, but I have not seen it): filmmaker films her own life and events in the lives of a few friends as they unfold, and discusses some very personal issues: sex, marriage, having or not having kids, divorce and separation and issues related to the aftermath of those events, a serious illness, also on going romantic & sexual relationships. Not only does it take a tremendous amount of bravery and confidence to attempt to make a film like the one Fox has made, it also takes, I imagine, extraordinary organizational & directorial skills in ord

I was busy with some less important things today (although, did come up with a great idea for a movie - on the productive side), didn't get to go to the DC opening of Hal Hartley's Fay Grim, do plan on going this coming week. Got my Hartley fix from this Filmmaker magazine interview today, check it out, good stuff . - Sujewa

i am reading a book called Popism: The Warhol 60's, written by Andy Warhol & Pat Hackett (link: a 1990 reprint at Amazon ). ran across an interesting line in the book, Warhol says: " Although I didn't buy a movie camera till some time in '63, it had certainly occurred to me to be a do-it-yourself filmmaker long before then,..." line is on page 29. the fact that he used the term do-it-yourself is interesting to me. the book has a copyright of 1980 so maybe that's not so weird after all. i didn't think artists in America used the term "do-it-yourself" to describe their work until after the punk days, late 70's i guess - so if the book was written around the late 70's, then it all makes sense. but maybe the term was in use in the 60's, at least by some people Warhol knew. who knows. aside from all that, the book is a good read, demystifies Warhol. it could all be an act, but why and how he did things is explained in the book,

Just received the entire six hours of Jennifer Fox's doc Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman in the mail. Looking forward to checking it out, maybe I can catch at least a couple of episodes this weekend. Browsing through Flying material on the web, this quote by Fox, from a Reeler interview , caught my eye: "...this film is like candy. It's not like taking medicine; it's like eating chocolate. You watch one hour, then you want to watch two and three and four. It's a little bit like a soap opera; you meet characters who reappear who are in different crises in their life and you want to know what's going to happen to them. So you need to think of it more like Sex and the City..." Sounds excellent. Even if Flying is not quite like Sex and the City, I am excited about the fact that it is 6 hours of people talking about interesting aspects of their lives. Always wanted to make a movie like that. Plus, the movie takes place all over the world, another thin

While DIY film as a career path or shall we say the DIY film industry is in its infancy in the US of A right now (indie film/filmmakers as conceived in 80's & 90's rely on indiewood distribution for the most part to make money & sustain themselves, DIY filmmakers self-distribute; and there is only a handful of such filmmakers at the moment - but more are joining the ranks every day), the DIY rock industry, at least what I know of it, is over 20 years old - at least. One branch of these musicians are the DC punk rockers who built Dischord Records ; people such as Ian MacKaye. This LA Weekly article from 2005 talks about how MacKaye & Amy Farina - The Evens -work, and talks about their music. Since DIY rock is older & well established, I check out articles on that movement/industry/scene/whatever-you-want-to-call-it to get ideas that might work for my own DIY film practices. So far ideas borrowed from DIY rock (ultra low budget self-reliant production, self-distri

The Chicago Underground Film Festival sayz: "Fees are not required of entrants who have screened at the festival in the past" Very good, a useful & innovative & filmmaker friendly evolution (unless of course this is the norm in the film fest industry, this sounds like a new thing to me). Anyway, me likes. Submission deadlines: 5/15 THAT'S TODAY! (regular deadline), 6/1 (late deadline). Fest happens August 22-26, 2007 in Chicago, IL. Here's their website . - Sujewa

As the Dead Kennedy's once criticized California by alluding to Nazi Germany, so does renowned theater director Peter Sellars in this long and very interesting speech re: art, the role of the artist in a democracy, culture and its relationship to the well being of the nation and other important ideas. The speech - The State of the Cinema address, was given at the San Francisco International Film Festival on 4/29/07. Here is a portion where Sellars talks about Nazi Germany, the last days of the Roman empire and its treatment of an honest man - a philosopher. Also about the value of digital age storytelling (transcript at SF360 ): "So, state of the state. All of those groups who say, "Why were the German people silent?" And now I have to ask, "Why are the American people silent?" The German people were told that this other set of people were just not human beings, so it didn't matter what happened to them: "Pay no attention as these people just sudd

Check out all the freshest Amir Motlagh film news at Amir's blog: - New "Still Lover" distro deal - Knock. Knock completed & ready for festivals & screenings & distro - Sujewa

For your next article (or more likely blog post) about, in favor of, or against the Mumblecore film movement, or re: young & interesting real indie filmmakers, consider adding some paragraphs re: 3 exciting, currently very active, non-Mumblecore but low-budget, self-distributing indie/DIY filmmakers who also have made some very interesting movies recently. These people are (in alphabetical order): - (myself) Sujewa Ekanayake films: Fresh Coffee (1992), Wild Diner (1999), Capital Heartbreak & Sweetness: 17 DC Poets (2002), Date Number One (2006). very indie/DIY. self-distributes. - Amir Motlagh films: too many to mention - over a dozen shorts, including popular short Still Lover, & the recent Knock.Knock. currently editing first feature Whale . also prepping to shoot a new feature called Micro this summer. very indie/DIY. self-distributes. - James Spooner films: Afro-Punk, White Lies Black Sheep very indie/DIY. self-distributes. A google search on these filmmakers will

Now that the dust has settled re: last week's debate on the state of internet film criticism & review, I am thinking that as excellence in cinema is ultimately a matter of taste, perhaps excellence in film criticism is also a matter of taste. Film is definitely art, but is film criticism also art? Is journalism art; and is film criticism more journalism/reportage than the creative sharing of one's impressions regarding a movie - a work of art/entertainment? All interesting items to think about, but for the moment let's celebrate the work of a good internet film reviewer: Chuck Tryon . [Full disclosure; I started paying a lot of attention to Chuck's writing after he attended the World Premiere of my movie Date Number One a year ago (something that i did not expect him to do since he was a Catholic U. media professor & my film had absolutely zero - media, press, etc. wise - going for it at the time besides my own DIY promotional work at this blog) & then wr

had a fun time at the party (thanks hostess jen b.!), watched Date Number One with some cast & crew members - was an excellent experience. took a bunch of photos, will upload them later today. sleepytime now. dno is now officially a year old. time for it to get out to the wider world (& for me to also get busy with making the next movie). DVDs will be on sale at wild diner films site later this week, just a couple of little things to take care of first. of course a 1 week run is happening in kensington, md july 12 - 18, with a lot more screenings in other places happening later this year. ok, sleepytime now for real. - sujewa

Here's what I know about Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman so far: it is a multi-part documentary, 6 hours long all together, in it filmmaker Jennifer Fox discusses her life & the lives of several female friends around the world. This Reeler interview makes the film sound very interesting. Here is a quote from the interview: "[Reeler] For the record, what is Flying about -- if we can summarize the six hours? [Fox] It starts with a personal crisis -- my crisis --about who am I as a woman. You know, entering my 40s, not married, no kids, multiple partners, several abortions and the whole kind of a typical modern woman trying to make sense of my life by talking to other women everywhere -- starting with my friends in New York to my friends on the West Coast, England, France, Germany, Africa, India, Pakistan, Cambodia. Trying to say what we have in common, how are we different, how can I find a mirror for my life when there are no mirrors. I don't have a difficult life,