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

So I read all these bloggers every day of the year, and I am always looking for a good excuse to visit NYC, so, what do all the people who are a part of the indieWIRE blogs page think about meeting up for a live event/party/whatever in NYC one night this summer? Let me know if any or all of you want to do it. It might be fun. And of course we can blog about it :) - with photos! If at least 10 of the iW bloggers are interested I'll go ahead & buy my Chinatown bus ticket. Thanks! 7/27 UPDATE : See the post re: The Secret Lives of NYC Indie Film Bloggers . - Sujewa

IFC blog has an interview with Richard Wong , the director of the $15,000 musical movie Colma . I am not a fan of musicals but it is impressive that one made for $15K is playing in theaters & is getting some good press. I would say it is a low-budget triumph! :) UPDATE: Colma blog . - Sujewa

I somehow missed this article , by Anne Thompson, when it first came out in June. Just read it, interesting. Article is about indie filmmakers searching for print reviews, also about web film writing vs. print film writing. My own take on this is that yeah, print press is still very important for film distribution. Not just film reviews, but print articles about movies, movie makers, actors and about a movie (from a production or distribution angle) gets people to notice a movie. BUT, any positive press from any medium is good/useful for indie film distribution. So far I've gotten print articles, print reviews (well, at least 1 for a previous project that I painfully recall :), and several web reviews, and all have helped in selling tickets. Also, web press maybe more accessible, easier to get, than print press. And, web press can result in print press. I think, at this point, both web & print press are important for indie filmmakers and distributors. Each kind of press has it

Get the full story here at the AP article Sri Lanka fights threatned beheading of teen maid in Saudi Arabia over death of infant . From the article: "Nafeek, who was without legal representation at trial, allegedly confessed to her guilt in the child's death, according to the embassy, but then recanted, saying her confession was obtained under duress. Human rights groups say the boy's death appeared to be an accident." F**ed up, the whole situation, a dead baby and now a 19 year old about to get her head cut off. Hopefully the beheading can be stopped. Contact the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC here. If you want to tell them to stop beheading people without a fair trial, or stop beheading people all together - which would be very good. Or at least to stop the beheading of the 19 year old Sri Lankan maid. :: Embassy of Saudi Arabia contact info: Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia 601 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20037 Main Number: (202) 342-3800

I remember there being some hot moments in Henry & June, not sure if that film is on Channel 4's list of 100 Greatest Sexy Moments . An entertaining summer list, if nothing else :) Not sure when the list was made. Sexy moment No.1 comes from Dr. No. - Sujewa

That is, the first "Sri Lankan-American" or US filmmaker from a Sri Lankan background to make & release/screen a feature length fiction film in America. I screened my feature comedy Wild Diner (an '05 review of the film by Amir Motlagh here , and there's also a Washington Post article & a City Paper review from '99 out there) for a week in DC in mid-'99, followed by several one night only screenings in several venues during the following months. According to this Wikipedia entry , immigration from Sri Lanka to the US did not happen to any significant degree until the mid-'70's. Even now the number of Sri Lankans/Sri Lankan-Americans in the US is relatively small I think (i am not sure what it is, probably not even half a million, probably not even a quarter of a million). Out of that small group only a few have pursued careers in the arts & entertainment, let alone filmmaking, as far as I know. Recently I finished a one week run & the 2

Check out this review of the new film Cashback at Twitch. Finally a new movie that I might really want to see. Interesting sounding visual strategy (in a film developed from an 8 minute short) & nude models in a grocery store - what more can you ask for? Of course not really sure how it actually is, but will be checking it out. And here's another positive review, from a writer named Ashtyn Evans . And then I looked at the review quotes at the GreenCine Daily post for the movie; not totally enthusiastic - but I'll be checking out the movie anyway. Leave a comment if you've seen Cashback & at all liked it. - Sujewa

The Red Cross has been making movies since the 1920's. Get more info. here . Here is a paragraph from the document: " The first four films were produced for the 10th International Conference of the Red Cross, held in Geneva in 1921. Le rapatriement des prisonniers de guerre via Stettin-Narva (The repatriation of prisoners of war via Stettin-Narva) shows how some 40,000 soldiers returning home were transported across the Baltic Sea to Russia and Germany. Les réfugiés russes à Constantinople (Russian refugees in Constantinople) tells of the first relief provided to 170,000 Russian refugees who had landed in Constantinople in November 1920. Actions de secours en faveur des enfants hongrois à Budapest (Relief operations for Hungarian children in Budapest) illustrates the ICRC’s work on behalf of children and the poverty endured by the inhabitants of Budapest. La lutte contre le typhus: l’activité du CICR en Pologne (The fight against typhus: the ICRC’s work in Poland) is about

It is a long interview transcript that touches on many humanitarian action related subjects - including the genocide in Darfur, and refugee children in the US. Interview is from late June. Check it out here at CNN's site . - Sujewa

C. Montgomery Burns, the thin, sickly and somewhat evil owner of Springfield's power plant (& the employer of one Homer Simpson) is blogging at JetBlue's blog . Go & check out what he's plotting. Here is a paragraph from a post by Burns: "I believe customers have the right to keep quiet as I pluck every penny from their upturned pockets, but you insist on charging honest fares AND offering free TV and unlimited snacks. Mind your profit margins, man. Your rates make a mockery of the corporate greed our great confederacy was built upon. Who taught you to be a robber baron? Mother Teresa?" - Sujewa

I think a few months ago I read something like the "earth is flat" type theory when it comes to doing business at this point in time on this planet. Due to improved communication, cooperation between countries, increased trade & greater openness some companies believe that they are no longer competing within their own countries or localities only but that they are, or that they can, compete with any other company in the world in going after customers anywhere in the world. In a sense, many old boundaries in many places have come down, pretty much everyone -openly or quietly - has embraced some type of capitalism as being essential for maintaining a healthy economy. On that item, the world is one country. If we take a look at this one country we see few spots of great prosperity with law & order, individual rights - off the top of my head I'll say those few spots include: the US, Canada, "old" Europe (France, Germany, England, etc.), Japan, Australia. Tha

As reported a few days ago by Anthony Kaufman , NYC adopting rules that would require "permits and insurance for any group of two or more people using a handheld camera in one location for more than thirty minutes" ( NYCLU ) is definitely bad news for indie/DIY/low budget or student filmmakers as well as tourists & anyone else who wants to take photos or shoot video in NYC and this might also be bad news for indie filmmakers who live in other cities; because I can see other cities adopting or wanting to adopt the NYC rules in the name of "security" or whatever other equally bad for film creativity & individual rights reasons they can come up with. Here are links to a couple of groups who are working to stop that unfortunate future: - New York Civil Liberties Union document "City Agrees To Reopen Debate On Film Permit Regulations" , with links to: " Click here to read the Fact Sheet on Film Permitting Scheme Comment Period (PDF) Click here to

This post has a connection with the previous post in that the link will take you to an article that discusses Derek Jarman's film Blue. When I met filmmaker AJ Schnack at SilverDocs '07 we talked about how his film Kurt Cobain About A Son reminded me of the Derek Jarman film Blue (Blue has a blue screen with various audio elements, About A Son has a recorded phone conversation as the main audio element which is set to visuals that often do not directly relate to the audio). In his post Alex Cox talks about Derek Jarman being a well known "punk" filmmaker, and goes on to suggest a few ideas for the creation of a new punk cinema. Check it out here . Thanks GreenCine Daily for the link. - Sujewa

Check it out here . Right now it's got a great review on top. - Sujewa

OK, the Date Number One Kensington, MD 7/12 - 18 run is now over. Tonight was great - had the second highest daily turnout for the run - 14 people. People enjoyed the movie, and there was a couple of good discussions re: the movie after the show. I believe about 55 people saw Date Number One during the run (will need to count the ticket stubs later). Got a bunch of photos & thoughts to post, will get to that tomorrow. Next for DNO: fine tuning the thing to 110% before setting up the next screening, making DVDs for sale. Up soon at this blog: AJ Schnack interview re: Kurt Cobain About A Son, Amir Motlagh interview re: knock.knock and other work, and a long conversation with both the director and the star of the doc Water Flowing Together. That stuff should be up before the end of July. A big thanks goes out to everyone who made the 7/12 - 18 run possible, and to everyone who attended the event. Looking forward to the next DNO screening - probably in the fall, probably in NYC. Very