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

No more Chinatown buses (if can at all be avoided w/ out paying a lot for an alternative) I think; the ride from NYC to DC took about 6 hours!!!! Some of the reasons for the delays: the bus circled around NYC for like 30 mins to 1 hour, I got on the bus @ 10 AM, the bus left NYC close to 11 AM, no explanations or apologies from the driver/management, etc., then in Philadelphia we had to get off the bus (very difficult to get a clear answer from anyone who is running the operation as to exactly what's happening - many of the employees do not seem to speak or understand English well), wait for another bus about 30 - 45 mins, and finally we were back on the road (several passengers had by this point gotten into arguments with the "management" or other employees who were running the bus service re: the non-existent customer service, lack of clear (or almost any) communication re: unexpected changes, etc.) - so all seemed a bit better for a while, heading towards DC - EXCEPT -

From Tambay's blog The Obenson Report : "After the day was all over, I sat in my apartment staring at nothing for an extended period of time, realizing how invigorating it all was, spending time with these 3 fellows. These are the kinds of people I need to be around more often, for reasons I already mentioned. As an artist, especially a scribe, one can lead a rather insular life, understandably; but the experience of being around other artists from time to time is just as necessary, and that's something I tend to forget sometimes... until I have a day like I did yesterday. Thus I plan on making a habit of this." Read more here . Related: Brian "The Film Panel Notetaker" Geldin on observing a shoot for the doc . - Sujewa

Thanks to the Chinatown bus, a very helpful MTA/NYC subway train station employee, and specially Brian " The Film Panel Notetaker " Geldin, Tambay " The Obenson Report " Obenson, & Brandon " Cinema Echo Chamber " Harris, & of course a sweaty but still beautiful New York City, I shot the first 2.5 hours of interview footage for my doc The Indie Film Bloggers today. Had a great time filming the interviews, learned a lot. Will have some photos from the weekend when I get back to DC/MD this week. And possibly a "in-production"/promo trailer for the doc in the coming weeks/July. Lots more interviews with lots more indie film bloggers in the coming weeks (any indie film blogger who is interested in being in the doc can e-mail me ( wilddiner@aol.com ) & we'll see if we can work together on this project). Speaking of IFB subjects, check out this Amazon page for info. on Tambay's real indie & self-distributed feature Beautiful

Check out filmmaker & blogger Brandon Harris's blaxploitation meets Godard short film Happiness Is No Fun at filmmaker & blogger Tambay Obenson's blog The Obenson Report . While I was in Brooklyn earlier today I got a chance to check out a rough cut/one possible version of a new short film by Harris ; featuring Ry Russo-Young in a lead role - very interesting, very well done, looking forward to seeing the final version. When I hear about any screenings of Harris's new short I'll mention it here. - Sujewa

... with photos from the Hot Summer Night Shorts (event went well, the handful of people who attended had a good time, Hansen's Clean Freak was a favorite) screening event, & perhaps notes & pics from shooting interviews for The Indie Film Bloggers in NYC on Sat. - Sujewa

Here it is: The Indie Film Bloggers: A Portrait of a Community . More about it here . - Sujewa

* * Image from GDMF by James M. Johnston Hot Summer Night Shorts USA 2008 Seven new short films by directors from various parts of the U.S. of A. Being shown on a large/10 foot long screen, away from the summer heat in one of the coolest bookstores in Maryland, with some of the filmmakers in attendance. Lemonade will be served. Event programmed & presented by filmmaker & blogger Sujewa Ekanayake. Interesting times will be had; come join us. Films: GDMF, 1 on 1, Clean Freak, Magnus & The Air Quotes Woman, knock.knock, Plain US, (and a short by Dave Nuttycombe, details soon). Total running time of the program: 2 hours. Go here/Capital City Microcinema site/blog for the rest of the info. - Sujewa

Masterson on that subject and more at The Film Panel Notetaker blog . - Sujewa

More on that at The Indie Film Bloggers site/blog. - Sujewa

Apparently Jim Jarmusch acted in a Simpsons episode recently, more info. here . - Sujewa

The following three things, I believe, are true: 1 - Hollywood movies are popular, both in the US & world wide 2 - Because of digital production & the web, more non-Hollywood filmmakers can make movies now, and thus more movies are made now than 10 years ago 3 - There are more film festivals in existence now, compared to the number 10 years ago; and most festivals are generally well attended So what does this mean for the US film industry, in all areas (Hollywood, indiewood, real indie/DIY, etc.), for the future? Reportedly around 600 movies were released theatrically in the US last year. Several thousand, around 5000 according to one count , movies are made in the US - in Hollywood & outside of Hollywood, and most likely that number will increase. Is there a US creative industry where tens of thousands of unique products/titles are released to consumers each year? Yes, the book industry. According to this & other sources, in recent years over 100,000 books were publi

It is quite possible that the only indie film blogger in Fayetteville, NC is Chuck Tryon , but in any case, will be in F-ville on Fri 7/11 to interview Chuck for my doc The Indie Film Bloggers . Then the next day, Sat 7/12, I'll be in Atlanta, to interview Noralil Ryan Fores & friends for the doc. Summertime indie filmmaking road trips to new (at least new to me) parts of the world, very exciting. - Sujewa

If I were to develop an indie film theatrical distribution business (which, come to think of it, I would like to do), I would follow the Zeitgeist Films model (from the Village Voice article re: the company's 20 year anniversary): "Gerstman and Russo, veterans of indie distribs First Run Pictures and Interama, respectively, joined forces in 1988, working in an elevator-sized apartment in the West Village for $175 per month. "We started the company with $1,000 each and $900 on a credit card," recalls Gerstman. Their first release was Bruce Weber's nonfiction boxing portrait, Broken Noses, followed by a collection of shorts from Todd Haynes and Christine Vachon's Apparatus Productions. Soon after, they released Haynes's feature debut, Poison, along with a bevy of work from budding auteurs, such as Guy Maddin's Archangel, Atom Egoyan's Speaking Parts, and The Films of the Brothers Quay." More here . And, the company is cool when approaching the

I just spoke with a couple of non-indiewood/real indie filmmakers who have completely bought into the wisdom expressed in Mark Gill's L.A. Film Festival "sky is falling" speech as being relevant to them & the entire indie spectrum. I tried to convince them that Gill is talking about indiewood stuff; movies made for over $5 million or so, using Hollywood filmmaking skills & experience & featuring Hollywood actors & promoted by Hollywood distribution skills & muscle, & with Hollywood expectations of box office success and not real indie movies ("no" budget, no star, more or less self-distributed in most cases, first or second or third time features, very small crews, etc.), not sure how successful I was at getting my point across. However, not everyone in the indie world believes that Gill's perspective applies to the entire indie film realm. 2 examples: My post from earlier today. Anthony Kaufman's post re: the 20 year anniversary

Click on the image to go find out about this intriguing comic book . - Sujewa