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

slowly figuring out the details re: Date Number One theatrical for rest of '07. should have the exact dates & venues worked out in/by July, will announce the details, most likely, after the July 12 - 18 DC area run (in Kensington, MD). so, if I can do at least 1 week each in NYC & LA this year (on top of the upcoming 1 week in the DC area), that would be a minor theatrical self-distribution success for DNO (for '07 at least). will have DVDs available for sale in June ( from my website ), working on them as I write this, for everyone who does not live in DC, NYC or LA (or also for those who do & want to see/own the flick on DVD) . hopefully i can screen the film at several more cities this year, aside from the week+ long runs in the 3 cities mentioned. but DC, NYC & LA is a very good start for longer/1 week+ runs (beyond a day or a weekend, we did 13 of those in '06 & so far in '07) for DNO. yeah, it is entirely possible that this initial distribution

Check it out here , at Landmark Theater's house organ FLM magazine . Here is a sample: "I have been asked a number of times, “Is Hollywood racist?” I fear that the people who pose that question are in denial. I hate when people counter by saying, “If Hollywood is the problem, make your own films, create your own studio and distribution system.” Anyone who knows this business knows that is not the answer. " Read the rest here . - Sujewa

originally posted 5/21/07 See Michael Rapaport announce the Live Mansion lead actors & director here. Steve is very excited. He did an excellent job in Date Number One (lead male in Story 3, the one with the bell). Looks like he will be getting a bit more fame from this upcoming project. From comingsoon.net (red highlight mine): " The winners of the LiveMansion: The Movie Casting Call and Director Competition are: Damian Maffei is Jack Keelen Monahan is Envin Joe Pacillo is Clyde Steve Lee is Derek Julie Wions is Rebecca Hannah Fierman is MeeGan LaMyra Kinzer is Janelle Melissa Roth is Sabrina Mitch Gettleman – Director LiveMansion: The Movie is the creation of LiveMansion.com, a social network of film fans, actors, directors, producers and those aspiring to be. Over a thousand actors competed to win one of the eight main roles and over two hundred directors competed to win the rights to direct the film, which will be a thriller. More than 700,000 votes were cast

* * * * * * * * Julia Stemper as Anne the Karate Woman & John Stabb Schroeder as Mark the Ninja from Date Number One . photo copyright 2006 sujewa ekanayake/wild diner films * Originally published 5/20/06 Tom Kipp, Seattle resident (& former film reviewer for the Seattle alterna weekly The Stranger, if I heard correctly), came to the 7 PM show today. Here's an interview: Sujewa: So Tom, how did you hear about my movie playing at NWFF tonight? Tom: Well, I was checking the NWFF website yesterday for info about LOVE STREAMS, and quite randomly found the blurb about DATE NUMBER ONE. I read parts of your blog, and couldn't resist a film about D.C.! [I lived in Burke, VA for five years--'87 to '92--and used to hang out in D.C. all the time.] Sujewa: Excellent. Glad you came. So how did you like the movie (feel free to elaborate :)? Tom: I thought the framing device you deployed [having all the characters in some way appended to the Adams-Morgan bookstore] was quite e

As I go, for the six hundredth time, over certain scenes in Date Number One while preparing the final version & the DVDs of the movie, one thing that keeps me refreshed is the excellent bluegrass & rock music created by Cory & Yann Seznec (brothers from Maryland by way of France) and Shervin Boloorian (from DC by way of CA & UK & Iran); known, for the purpose of this movie, as "The Punk Mariachi All-Stars" (the band exists in the world of the movie, in our world they do not, thus quotes must always be used when writing their name in our world). More "PMAS"/DNO music notes coming soon. In the meantime, check out the The Seznec Brothers website, they've got some music there. Also check out music by Cory's new band The Groanbox Boys (under Projects, here ). - Sujewa

yup. started shooting Date Number One , my "no" budget self-distributed DV comedy/romantic comedy feature in summer of '04!!! about 3 years later, was it all worth it? F*** YEAH! making this movie has been one of the best things i've done in my life! and the fun is just starting; distribution is gonna kick into higher gear starting this summer. thanks a lot to everyone who has made it possible to come this far with this project. we will all hang & party very soon. - sujewa

Check it out here . From last year. Good stuff, with nice pics, thanks H.I.T! - Sujewa

From last year. Here is a morsel: "The atmo of DN1 reminds me a bit of a few 60s-era underground films or post-punk works like Downtown 81 or Liquid Sky , though DN1 's cast of characters are a lot friendlier and live a few stories higher on the under/above ground scale. - David Hudson, GreenCine Daily " Check it out here . - Sujewa

Originally published 9/06 Forget Factotum man, if you want to experience some modern (not 35MM holly-indie-foreign- wood weak reflections of) down & out seedy existence complete with substance addiction & prostitution, and of course Bukawski esque humanization of the afflicted, go check out Mike Tully's Cocaine Angel . The movie will most likely make yourself feel a lot better about whatever partially self-created & temporary indie hipster tragic situation that your life may be at the moment. Whatever it is, the kids in CA got it worse. A well made movie, here's an interview with the director Mike Tully: Sujewa - Hey Mike, how do you feel about the upcoming NYC premiere of Cocaine Angel at the Brooklyn Independent Cinema series? [note, this happened last year,2006] Mike - we feel very excited about it, of course! to be honest, i haven't really thought about the film or watched it for quite some time, so i'm a tiny bit nervous about how it's going to pla

Check out peace activist Cindy Sheehan's Memorial Day/"resignation" letter at Daily Kos . Here is a paragraph: " I am deemed a radical because I believe that partisan politics should be left to the wayside when hundreds of thousands of people are dying for a war based on lies that is supported by Democrats and Republican alike. It amazes me that people who are sharp on the issues and can zero in like a laser beam on lies, misrepresentations, and political expediency when it comes to one party refuse to recognize it in their own party. Blind party loyalty is dangerous whatever side it occurs on. People of the world look on us Americans as jokes because we allow our political leaders so much murderous latitude and if we don’t find alternatives to this corrupt "two" party system our Representative Republic will die and be replaced with what we are rapidly descending into with nary a check or balance: a fascist corporate wasteland. I am demonized because I don

Just saw an episode. Good, powerful & moving stuff about the hurrican Katrina disaster's aftermath. Show runs until June 1. Here is a description of the show from this PBS page : "Beginning in January 2006, Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme filmed in and around New Orleans, chronicling the lives of dozens of people—each of whom has their own unique story. The result is a documentary on the pioneering individuals and families who have chosen to exercise their self-granted “right to return” to their devastated homes and rebuild their lives following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Tavis accompanied Demme to New Orleans to visit with some of these courageous people who are central to the culture of the Big Easy." Find out more about the show here . - Sujewa

Before I jump into "all Date Number One news all the time" at this blog I want to wrap up an old idea that I started talking about at Filmmaking For The Poor blog & then at this blog under its various names: DIY filmmaking as a career or making a living through ultra-low/"no" budget, self-financed, self-produced & self-distributed independent feature films. Initially the inspiration was DIY punk/indie rock: some bands from the 80's & 90's & beyond operated, and some still do operate, outside of the mainstream rock industry & on a smaller scale than their big-corporations-financed cousins. These indie bands (such as DC's Fugazi ) manufacture their own CDs, book their own tours and pretty much are in control of all creative & business aspects of their art making careers. Another area of inspiration is certain ultra-indie filmmakers/films from the recent past: Jon Moritsugu self-distributing several titles, Gene Cajayon self-distrib

Of course I will wrap up & post a couple of non- Date Number One related articles (Amir Motlagh interview, Jennifer Fox interview, a couple of reviews perhaps) but starting now this blog will focus only or mostly/99% of the time on DNO realted news. It's a big country & a bigger world, a lot of work needs to get done in order to complete the DNO distribution project, which should generate some stuff to blog about on a regular basis. On the next post I can hopefully announce the DNO DVD being available for sale & give some links to some new DNO press; specially stuff related to the 7/12 - 18 run in Kensington. And, from time to time, brief posts about films by friends may get into this blog. But other than that, from now on, all DNO news all the time over here. 'cause we are taking the DNO self-distribution project to the "next step" right now. it should be a most rocking & deeply delicious experience. - sujewa

By the time I heard about the PBS airing of The Slanted Screen, a doc about Asian & Asian American men in film & TV, I had missed about half of it. What I saw was good, interesting & hopeful. Also it was fun to see some Asian-American indie filmmakers on the program; Gene "The Debut" (awesome theatrical self-distribution success story) Cajayon & Eric Byler. Here is a description of the program, from this PBS page : "THE SLANTED SCREEN From silent film star Sessue Hayakawa to Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Jeff Adachi’s film explores the portrayals of Asian men in American cinema and television, chronicling the experiences of actors who have had to struggle against ethnic stereotyping and limiting roles. Through a parade of 50 film clips spanning a century, the film presents a critical examination of Hollywood’s image-making machine. The program includes interviews with actors Mako, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, James Shigeta, Dustin Nguyen, Phillip Rhee,

Amir Motlagh is a prolific D.I.Y. punk/indie rock influenced west coast based filmmaker, actor and musician (Shanks and the Dreamers - MySpace ). Although Motlagh has yet to release a feature (a situation that should change this year when his first feature Whale, currently in post-production, is completed), he is the director of over a dozen short films (short short 5 minute films and long short 40 minute films, more information here ) including two of my favorites: Still Lover and My Break Ups Into A Million Pieces. Motlagh's latest short film Knock.Knock tells the story of events that happen in a day in the life of a comedian who is moving a little bit up in the world. The comedian (played by Chris Manz- MySpace ), wakes up and goes to work, has a somewhat amusing encounter with an actress (Lene Penderson) and then has a more dramatic encounter with a former girlfriend (Keaton Shyler). In the end, Manz's character seems to have a new understanding about his past, the present