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OK, retirement over, back blogging due to "popular" demand :: Jonas Mekas interview @ Sense of Cinema

Hmmm, retiring from blogging is not such a bright idea, in second thought, 'cause the blog helps with promoting my movies & flicks by other interesting filmmakers (in these sad days of relatively uninteresting/apolitical/disengaged from the wider world low budget real indie fiction feature movies getting a ton of hype, it would be useful for many to keep this blog active). So I am back. :: Check out this great interview with Jonas Mekas at Sense of Cinema. Although I have only seen very little of his movies (so far just a few of the 365 shorts project that he is doing this year), the amount of work he's done over the years on behalf of avant-garde cinema is staggering & deserving of much respect. The Anthology Film Archives, an organization that Mekas had a key role in creating, is still around & contributing to the NYC film scene (i saw the place with my own eyes last week, scroll down a couple of posts for a pic of the venue). Here is an interesting segment from

blogging dayz are over - off to make a bunch of movies with minority leads/multi-ethnic casts

hey, if i am very bothered by the heavy lack of minority presence in current indie films (see post a couple of posts below), maybe i should see this thing as an opportunity & go make some good features with minority leads/multi-ethnic casts. so, i am retiring from blogging right now. i believe a lot of good things were accomplished during my blogging "career"; providing assistance with the popularization of DIY filmmaking & self-distribution, promoting some interesting movies, building networks/getting to know other filmmakers & bloggers, etc. very cool. in the future this blog/space will only be used to announce screenings of my films or their DVD & other availability. look for Date Number One on DVD announcement (before 9/15) & DNO screening announcements here soon. then, w/ in the next 3 months (before 11/27), i will be releasing my new feature Stranger Than Hollywood . both films will have minority actors in lead roles as well as multi-ethnic casts.

4 photos from NYC, Blogger Meet Up (rest coming later on Mon)

Anthology Film Archives Great World Of Sound poster at Angelika Angelika Film Center That's Brian (The Film Panel Notetaker blog), Amy (The Film Panel Notetaker blog), Stu (The Reeler) :: I have to go through a few steps to get the photos up on this blog, so the process takes some time. But, since I had a great time in NYC 8/22 - 8/24, I'll start sharing some of the photos now. The rest coming later today (Mon 8/27). - Sujewa

"Dreamlike in style, Police Beat is also a real-world vision of what American indies could be..."

Those words are from a Village Voice review of the indie film Police Beat . Here is the full sentence: "Dreamlike in style, Police Beat is also a real-world vision of what American indies could be if they dared to recognize the drama in our own neighborhoods." The review is by Rob Nelson, check it out here . And, from the same review : "Police Beat didn't seem to belong at Sundance, where it stood out for being what we used to call an independent film—the sort made with unknown actors, modest budgets, innovative production strategies, and regional specificity." The film is about a Seattle bike-cop. Here's the official website for this innovative sounding movie (adding it to my "to watch" list). The movie is available on DVD . - Sujewa

America's minority population at over 100 million, yet the grass roots film movement Mumblecore do not seem to have any dark skinned friends

According to this San Francisco Chronicle article about 1 in 3 people in the US are non-"white". Mumblecore filmmakers or as the IFC Center calls them - Generation DIY, have been identified as a grass roots movement in the indie film press & also in the mainstream press. So, I would think that it is reasonable to expect a movement that comes from "the people" to have some key players who are not "white". Yet, pretty much (if I recall correctly) all the Mumblecore movies I 've seen so far (Kissing On The Mouth, LOL, Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation, The Puffy Chair, Dance Party, USA, Hannah Takes the Stairs) have featured an all-"white" cast and all the celebrated Mumblecore directors who are on their way to Hollywood & indiewood fame & wealth are all-"white". Mumblecore may have aesthetic/film technique differences from mainstream American film & television, but, when it comes to not collaborating with minority talen

Brooklyn Young Filmmakers are now blogging

The non-profit organization Brooklyn Young Filmmakers Center have a blog up & running. Here is an interesting portion from one of the recent entries: " This is my first blog entry, ever. But I’ve been reading everywhere about the potential power of blogs. The goal of Brooklyn Young Filmmakers Center’s blog is to test out the “THE POWER OF US” (see the BYFC News, Winter 2007 ). We are a non-profit run by volunteers of diverse ages, mostly women of color. We are working to open up a Career Guidance & Networking Center for jobs in film that will serve both adults and teens. This blog will help us get out information about film careers and film literacy to working-class people – and we hope it will help us raise support to open our center. Me, I’m a middle-age, working-class black woman. I have no health plan or savings. I have very irregular income based on freelancing jobs and teaching. I’m a renter hanging by fingertips in rapidly gentrifying Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I ca

Impressions of Gen DIY event & blogger meet up at Still In Motion blog :: Also, what I did at the Meet Up

Even though Pamela does not call the historically significant event - The iW Blogger/Indie Film Blogger NYC Meet Up #1 - by it's name, there are some good details of the fun had in the second half of her post . My own impressions of the Meet Up: First, I expected it to be not attended very well - only by like 5 or so people, or just me & Brian Geldin. But, I was pleasantly surprised to see close to 20 bloggers & filmmakers in the room (back room at Botanica bar) at one point during the night & also to see NYC indie film press heavy weights such as Eugene Hernandez of indieWIRE fame & ST Van AirsDale of The Reeler fame at the event. And of course let's not forget Matt Zoller Seitz from New York Times & The House Next Door. I spent the 2 hours or so at the Meet Up going around & saying hello to pretty much everyone - trying to be a good host, and got into some relatively long conversations with some of the bloggers present. Hmmm, I think I'll conti

Full Movie - SNEAK PREVIEW - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene And The Mystery Of Immortal Time Travelers

NEW - COSMIC DISCO DETECTIVE RENE (2023) - TRAILER!

The Secret Society For Slow Romance (2022) - available to rent as a new release starting January 1

Werewolf Ninja Philosopher at Vimeo VOD

Reading Material

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip