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

Yes, it's a promo piece for a company that indiewood company Focus Features does business with, but nevertheless, the article is about an interesting development in Mexico; from the article : " "We realized that the success of [Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro Gonazalez Innaritu and Guillemo del Toro] was a special moment, but then there was nothing happening on the ground in Mexico. There was no grass-roots [activity]. So, Canana can use the power [Gael and Diego] have as stars and public figures and be useful to the industry." " Read the rest of the article at FilmInFocus . - Sujewa

Global Film Initiative sounds like a very interesting distributor. From Guillen's post : " Whisky is one of many films supported and distributed by The Global Film Initiative, a U.S.-based distributor with one of the most dynamic distribution models in today's international film market. Co-founded in 2003 by Susan Weeks Coulter and Noah Cowan [of the Toronto International Film Festival], the Initiative touts itself as a "full service" distributor of films from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, offering production grants to filmmakers and a multi-platform release that includes a full year of high profile screenings through one of the most lauded touring festivals in the U.S. and Canada, Global Lens ." Read the rest of the long post here . Thanks GreenCine Daily for the link. - Sujewa

On the program for this Saturday's Rooftop Films event is At the Death House Door . From the RF site: " "At the Death House Door," directed by Steve James and Peter Glibert (the director and producers of “Hoop Dreams”), is a gripping, fascinating, powerful film about Pickett, about a wrongly-executed man named Carlos De Luna and his family, and about the tragic moral mistake that is the death penalty. Pickett's character unfolds with a stately grace. Being an old-fashioned Texan, he's reluctant to reveal his emotions, a trait which only makes them burn with more ferocity as you see them shine through, as you watch an amazing evolution of a man's feelings and ideology. It’s a rare and stunning transformation to see in a documentary, or in life in general." More here . Even though I am for the death penalty ('cause some evil people need to die) in some cases (as long as the right person gets killed), I am still looking forward to checking out

The Angry Filmmaker Kelley Baker advices indie filmmakers not to get too hung up on having the latest camera or editing program for their movies. From the post : "Film cameras have been around forever and they all still shoot at 24 fps. I can take an Arri, an Aaton, a CP, or an old Éclair and run a roll of film through it and it’ll look great. I can also shoot with a Canon XL1 or a Sony PD150 and it will look great as well. As long as I light it correctly." And: "It is the same thing with software and editing equipment. Find an editing program that you like and learn it backward and forward. Up grade only when you have too. Remember, many classic films were edited with a razor blade and tape." Read the rest of the post here . - Sujewa

They being studios/Hollywood. Interesting read over at GreenCine Daily , check it out here . Marlow talks about something I've brought up a few times at this blog. From the article : "The festival circuit has instead become an ersatz distribution system unto itself that, for the most part, keeps money away from the makers. The ten or 20 dollars you spend on a ticket (or the $50 to $500 you spend on a pass) rarely finds its way into the hands of the folks behind the camera." Read the rest of the long GreenCine Daily article here . - Sujewa

4 years after I wrote the first words of the Date Number One script, the final version of the movie has been screened once to the public and is now on its way to festivals, and homes, offices, and home offices of various interested people. Even though I've blogged a lot about the movie at this blog and elsewhere during the past 4 years, I felt that it was necessary to write a new & somewhat lengthy introduction/promotion piece for the movie, maybe something like a director's statement; with the simple, short description of the movie inside. So that long introduction has been written, check it out here . It will probably accompany film fest applications, press packets sent to screening venues, and the retail DVD (maybe it could be the insert). - Sujewa

Baltimore based filmmaker Armando Valle came to Silver Spring on Thu. night to check out Date Number One at Lo-Def screening #1. From Armando's blog : "Last night, I drove down to Silver Spring, MD, for a screening of DC filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake's 'Date Number One'. The event took place at Jackie's (8081 Georgia Ave), just a few blocks from the AFI Silver Spring theater. Sujewa is working with Jackie's management to program a series of local shorts and features all thru this summer (the next screening looks to be on June 26th).'Date Number One' is a charming, DIY feature romantic-comedy presenting a refreshing, positive outlook on the trials of contemporary dating.A multi-ethnic cast, among them a seductive Indian man, a french-speaking hottie, a curvy blonde seeking a blissful three-way bi-sexual relationship, a Buddhist African-American woman, and a lonely career Ninja seek love in the modern city. The episodic film, completed through a long pe

photos copyright 2008 sujewa ekanayake * here's 5 of about 17 photos from the 5/22 screening of Date Number One , more soon perhaps. photos 1-3: people checking out Date Number One. about 25 people were there; they dug the movie, eat, drank, hung out, & had a good time. photo 4: the brains behind Lo-Def; Sujewa & Jackie (owner of Jackie's) photo 5: Jackie & friends photo 6: after the show, in front of Back Room; John Stabb, Amanda Haynes, Sujewa, J. Kim (whose short film 1 on 1 we'll show on 6/26 @ Lo-Def), & J. Kim's wife whose name sadly I do not recall at the moment photo 7: wide shot, outside the Back Room Lo-Def #2 happens on June 26! Get ready, see ya there. - Sujewa

5/25 update: no 1 week run of DNO @ Back Room this summer, venue is too busy, however, the other Lo-Def screenings (June, July, August) planned thus far are still on (will update if those changes). I am glad (& am a little bit surprised) that Lo-Def #1 came off as well as it did (tons of impossible deadlines had to be met, but in the end it all came together). Photos & notes tomorrow (sleep now). Some of the fruit of Lo-Def #1: - DNO will get a week (maybe more) long run in Silver Spring, @ Back Room @ Jackie's, this summer, dates coming soon - had to finish the new version of DNO (nothing like a screening deadline/one for your own event - as motivation), instead of keeping on editing it forever; the film is vastly improved (a little more sound work needed in A Romantic Dinner For 3, this weekend, and then that's it, no more editing, screeners going out to people & places & indie film events on Monday, & very soon (June) limited DVD sales/from my site for th

Check out Chuck Tryon's review of Aaron Coffman's new feature Texas Snow here . (full disclosure; i will be screening Texas Snow at Lo-Def on August 21, so i am glad chuck liked TS) From the review : "...Texas Snow is a well-crafted film. The cinematography is quite good, and Coffman is content, in places, to simply allow the camera to observe, to capture subtle details of a space, such as an apartment or an art gallery. The twentysomething characters certainly brought back memories of my own late nights during graduate school, and I think Coffman is attentive to the nuances of character and dialogue,..." Read the rest of the review here . Texas Snow site . - Sujewa

The LO-DEF Screening Event & Wild Diner Films presents: A writer, A ninja, A woman who is working on saving the world, and a guy who works at a bookstore searching for love in DATE NUMBER ONE http://datenumberone08.blogspot.com/ A movie by new director Sujewa Ekanayake Thu May 22 8 PM FREE The Back Room @ Jackie's http://moviesatjackies.blogspot.com/ 8081 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910 Event contact: Sujewa Ekanayake, wilddiner@aol.com , 240-354-3394 Date Number One, a comedy about several first dates, is made up of 4 different stories: Story 1 - Start Over, about a writer who tries to get back together with his ex-girlfriend, Story 2 - Just Another Ninja Searching For Love, about a ninja who goes on a blind date (ninja is played by John Stabb Schroeder from the DC punk band G.I.), Story 3 - A Romantic Dinner For 3, about a woman attempting to add a third partner to a romantic relationship, and Story 4 - The Superdelicious French Lesson, about a first date where a charact