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

Indie Features video site Lance Weiler, one of my co-bloggers at the indie film group blog Indie Features (formerly known as Indie Features 06) has started a video site for clips of films by IF bloggers. Check out the video site here . There is at least 1 more IF video site coming this year; a project I started working on about a month ago at YouTube but have not completed yet. It'll get done before '07. Thanks Lance for setting up the first Indie Features video site! Hopefully next week I can add some Date Number One clips to it. My Fylmz Interview The indie film site Fylmz interviewed me today about Date Number One & self-distribution. Will let ya know when they have the interview up on the web. Thanks Fylmz! Happy Thanksgiving Got much plans to hang with family & friends on T-giving day. Hope you've got some warm fuzzy stuff going on that day too. Have a happy Thanksgiving. - Sujewa

Saw Fast Food Nation last night. Yummy may be the wrong word to describe it, but the movie certainly was well done & let's say nutritious. The scenes of cows getting killed were very effective, I could not bring myself to eat meat today. FFN was exceptional for a couple of other reasons: in the story the bad guys are basically pawns of a system - a system that stays alive because of the consumer preference for meat, and the good guys are not very effective. Which makes me as the audience member ask myself: "well, what's the solution?". If the burger industry executives are too weak or basically unable to do the right thing (that being stopping or cutting back on making burgers, or at least making sure the entire burger making process is as painless as possible for everyone involved) I guess as a customer, it is up to me to help influence change by not consuming meat. That's right; cows get slaughtered & all manner of laws get violated in order to make a

I am going to have to watch Short Cuts & The Player again, two of my favorite Altman movies, to celebrate his long career. Check out GreenCine Daily's post re: Altman's life & work. - Sujewa

This is a segment from a long interview I did with indie film publicity consultant & former publicist Reid Rosefelt: " Sujewa: Back in '83/'84 did you think Jim Jarmusch & Stranger Than Paradise would become the icons that they are now; when you first saw Stranger & met Jarmusch? Any related stories about the early days of Jarmusch would be much appreciated. I see his career (the high profile/level of success) as being very odd & unpredictable - as in, typically things that get big in America, American art & entertainment - seems to have a lot of flash, noise & drama to it - specially in movies - Stranger certainly does not, at least not in any kind of a typical way. Like I can watch an early Scorcese or Spike Lee or Speilberg movie & believe that those directors would catch on in America (let's pretend that I did not know those directors were famous already), Stranger doesn't send out the same vibes. Anyway, let me stop here so you ca

Well, this really sucks, Seinfeld's Micheal Richards freaked out at a stand up performance this past weekend & started insulting a couple of African-American audience members/hecklers. Thanks Matt Dentler's blog for the word on this story. I guess I can try to remind myself that the Kramer character is a fictional creation and not Micheal Richards, but its gonna be hard to enjoy the re-runs of one of my favorite comedies of all time from now on. Not sure how Richards is going to try to recover from this one, he wasn't drunk as far as I know - so that's one excuse he won't be able to use. Richards issued an apology for the melt down on the Letterman show on Monday night, I saw a little bit of it just now on the TV news, doesn't look like Richards really knows what went wrong this weekend at the comedy club. What's with all the ugly rage Richards? You were probably set for life & beyond because of the popularity of Kramer. Sad & stupid. And it mus

John Stabb Schroeder as the ninja Mark H. Temonium in Date Number One. Photo Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films First, starting in May 2006, some people started seeing a ninja in a feature comedy, in Date Number One . Looks like the DNO ninja is about to get some company, perhaps next year, check out this post about a ninja comedy in the works (thanks GreenCine Daily for the link), from Hollywood, starring Rainn Wilson from The Office. Should be fun. Perhaps the existence of this new Hollywood ninja comedy feature will result in some additional press for my ultra-indie ninja comedy feature. There really can't be too many ninjas in comedies, as I always say. - Sujewa

Film publicity consultant and former publicist Reid Rosefelt has, according to one of his on-line resumes, "worked on films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, Andrei Tarkovsky, Paul Verhoeven, and Jim Jarmusch (on “Stranger Than Paradise”). For seven years I was a unit publicist on studio films, working with directors like Ridley Scott (“1492”), Peter Weir (“The Mosquito Coast”), Susan Seidelman (“Desperately Seeking Susan”), Mike Nichols (“Heartburn”), Adrian Lyne (“Jacob’s Ladder”), and Francis Coppola (“The Godfather: Part III”)". That is perhaps one of the most impressive lists of work experience in all of art/indie/foreign film that I have ever seen. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask Rosefelt a few questions this weekend regarding specialty film, his career & passion for film, and film publicity. Sujewa: You have been a part of the indie & specialty film business since

I like movies about making movies. So I went to see For Your Consideration tonight. Kind of funny, pretty good movie. But not as funny as Best In Show, another movie by the same filmmaking team. The best movie so far, the best comedy at least, about making movies that I've seen is Living in Oblivion. I have not seen Truffaut's Day for Night, which sounds like more of a drama about filmmaking than a comedy, looking forward to checking it out. Here is a page that reviews both Living in Oblivion & Day for Night DVDs. - Sujewa

Ananda (Subodh Samudre) & Missy (Jewel Greenberg) from Date Number One photo copyright 2006 sujewa ekanayake/wild diner films * Here is the current synopsis (a new, more poetic & detailed one is on its way) & a few reviewer & audience response quotes for Date Number One : * DATE NUMBER ONE http://www.wilddiner.com/ a comedy about several first dates a movie by sujewa ekanayake Film's Description: "Date Number One" is a comedy about several first dates. This 115 minute movie is made up of 5 different stories: Story 1: 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 2: A Romantic Dinner For 3, about a woman attempting to add a third partner to a romantic relationship, Story 3: Washington "City Of Love" DC/Start Over, about a writer who tries to get back together with his ex-girlfriend, Story 4: Air Quotes Woman, about a woman who always uses

Rupa (Dele Williams) & Sunshine (Jennifer Blakemore) talk at a park in Date Number One . photo copyright 2006 sujewa ekanayake/wild diner films

Made it just in time for tonight's NIH sponsored screening of Jumping Off Bridges at AFI Silver. There were a lot of people in attendance, 100 - 150 or more perhaps. The film tells the story of a family dealing with grief & suicide. After the screening there was a Q & A session with mental health professionals & producers of the film. And after that I hung out with producer Stacy Schoolfield (one of my Indie Features 06 co-bloggers) & friends at an Austin Grill of all places (Stacy is from Austin). Good movie, good people, that's the main story from tonight. It was nice to see Team JOB in action, traveling with the movie/getting it out to screens DIY style, & being well received by the DC area audience. - Sujewa

The Date Number One DVD is on its way, should be ready for sale this month. And I am planning out several production & distribution projects for '07. Got a new plan re: blogging, thus the name of the blog is changed to reflect my production company name: Wild Diner Films. The new plan is to BLOG LESS & DO MORE FILM PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION. So, the focus of this blog will now narrow to mostly Date Number One related news & stuff on my upcoming, '07 films. Of course I will not be able to not write about very relevant DIY/indie film news when they happen, but for the most part this blog will be different starting now. Also, I will not be doing an '07 version of my Indie Features 06 blog, in order to blog less & spend less time on blogging related matters & devote more time to film work. IF06 is a very cool & very successful group blogging experiment. Something that other filmmakers can imitate if they wish. Blogging can be a lot of work, but it is v

Here's the basic & essential info. re: the show tonight : Jumping Off Bridges — D.C. Area Premiere 7 p.m., Wednesday, November 15, 2006 American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre and Cultural Center Silver Spring, Maryland FREE (but get there early to make sure you get in) Go here for more details . And here's the link for the Jumping Off Bridges site where much acclaim for the film & more information on the film can be found. - Sujewa

Dance Party, USA is a $3K digital video feature with some excellent cinematography; specially the night time driving scenes of the city, the colors reminded me a little of a DV version of Mystery Train. The story DPUSA tells is a sly coming of age story. Cole Pensinger (who looks a little like one of the SNL actors) plays Gus, the male lead of the story & Anna Kavan plays the somewhat mysterious female lead Jessica. The two meet at a party, Gus tells Jessica a dark secret, and then we are not sure exactly where the story is going to go. It is a pleasant unpredictability. DPUSA is quietly pleasurable & absorbing. First time feature writer & director Aaron Katz has crafted a very impressive debut. The party goes down every night for the next week and a few nights more at the Pioneer Theater in NYC , starting tonight. If you are open for some low key escapism through reflections of simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary events from the border years of official adulthood, t

Dance Party, USA Received a VHS tape of Dance Party, USA today. Sneaked a 10 minute look at it at work, looks pretty good: funny, real-esque, absorbing, Slacker like so far-in a good way of course, will write more about it after I watch the whole thing. In the meantime, check out this Reverse Shot post re: the flick's opening tomorrow in NYC @ Pioneer Theater (the theater's info on the flick + buy tix links). Adrienne Shelly Anthony Kaufman blogs about a new foundation created in memory of actress Adrienne Shelly, check it out here . And here is a recent (11/08) New York Times article with an update on Shelly's murder investigation. - Sujewa

Some projects, such as my flick Date Number One - 12 screenings in 5 cities (including Seattle, NYC & DC) this year, got a pretty good start on theatrical self-distribution in '06 & is preparing to do more in '07. And other projects, such as Lance Weiler's Head Trauma, went through relatively wide - for no budget DIY (do-it-yourself) distribution - theatrical releases in '06 & moved into the DVD release realm. And then there were the hybrid release projects where the filmmaker & an established indie distribution company tried out new distribution tactics, as was the case with I Am A Sex Addict & as is the case now with 51 Birch Street. There is a lot to take a look back at, a lot to analyze & think about, a lot to figure out as to the meaning of all the New Distribution activity this year in the low budget indie realm. Taking a look at several '06 self-distribution & new distribution projects may help me & other indie filmmakers make

the programmer of a cool sounding indie film fest contacted me a couple of weeks ago & said he read about my movie & that i should submit Date Number One to his fest. sounded like a routine invite/an attempt to increase submissions to the fest so i wrote back & said thanks but i don't really believe in the whole pay money to see if a fest wants to show my movie with no $s coming to me from the screening route. then the programmer said he understands and started a conversation about some indie film biz stuff that i was interested in. i continued the conversation, we exchanged some e-mails & the dude sounded cool & his fest sounded cool, so i said i'll send him DNO to take a look at (w/ out paying a fee) & if he likes it he can program it to the fest & if i can come down & sell some DVDs of the movie at the fest it would all work out for me i said. he said that sounded good. so later this week (hopefully, if all the work gets done) i will mail a DN

Links to some of the major press mentions & coverage of Date Number One can be found here . I still need to add over a dozen blog mentions to that page. But the key stuff, such as the links to the 4 reviews so far (from GreenCine Daily , The Chutry Experiment , Amir Motlagh , Hollywood Is Talking ), is there now. - Sujewa

I have not seen any of Charles Burnett's movies yet (did see some clips from I think To Sleep With Anger in a doc about indie film). His movies sounds interesting. On the To Watch list. Here is a little bit of an interview from Sense of Cinema, published in '03, with Burnett, conducted by Nelson Kim: " CB: Hollywood has this psychology—there's this whole plantation mentality where it's all about power and someone trying to impose their values on you. It's nuts, they'll tell you how to tell stories about people they never really came into contact with. Executives, story readers, development executives don't interact with people other than their kind so how would they know what's acceptable to people of color? It is not about and never has been about supplying a diverse look at life. It is all from and for a white audience. And because of that fact this group of people who determines what the world sees have no idea, not a clue as to reality. It is a

Here's Lance Weiler's introduction to a new project, from Indie Features 06 : " A FREE DIY RESOURCE I've been working on a DIY book and I've decided to make it a free online resource. The concept is part of a "social opensource info experiment" called the workbook project. It's a simple concept, the workbook is meant to be spread and edited. Meaning that content creators can add their own info, war stories, advice etc. Since the workbook is a wiki that can be saved to the desktop and edited, we're hoping that it can become a resource that is always growing. I've included extensive info about: Putting together a 17 city theatrical release Building a fan base and creating buzz Clearance and Delivery issues A look at actual contracts Getting your work into retail and rental outlets Making a TV deal How to deal with world sales and much much more The workbook will launch later this year but if you're interested and want to get an advance copy

Here is a paragraph from a long post Lance Weiler made today at Indie Features 06 re: self-distribution: "DIY THEATRICAL - part 1 of 12 The thing I find most interesting after having gone through the first couple windows of release is how broken the system is. Now I know you're probably saying no shit but I think we're at a very interesting crossroads. When something is damaged it provides new opportunities but the difficult part is identifying them. Often it seems that going in a totally different direction is an answer OR you can work the current system to your advantage. For example a theatrical release with no cash, no distributor, no booker and no publicist seems insane - and it is in the sense that it's an insane amount of work BUT it is possible. " Read the rest of the post here . Very useful for filmmakers who are thinking about self-distribution. - Sujewa

The Date Number One DVD will be available through Wild Diner Films' web store & other places this month, starting around 11/15. There will be 100s of US screenings of the film in '07. The first batch of them will be listed here by the time end of December '06 rolls around. And that's the latest on DNO. Will post up the DVD cover art soon. - Sujewa

Congrats Democrats. I guess it is time for all those people who moved to Canada after the '04 elections to move back :) The counts are close in Virginia & Montana - Democrats leading right now, but NBC just called Missouri for the Democratic Senate candidate. It is going to be a very interesting & hopefully better 2 years than the previous 2, starting later today. I think Democrats will take the Senate, of course they already have the House. Off to sleep now, will know for sure later today (unless VA goes into recount). Congrats again Democrats. - Sujewa

It's very rare for me to go "wow, i wish i had made that movie" - because most movies are bad or just adequate, but the 90's flick Flirting With Disaster by David O. Russell is one of those very rare, truly excellent movies. I just watched it again, on DVD this time. In Flirting a young farther - played by Ben Stiller, goes all over America searching for his real parents, and his wife, his new yet-unnamed 4 month old son, & an accident prone adoption counselor come along for the ride. I saw Flirting in the theater when it came out many years ago. The movie is still a treat, with a younger Ben Stiller & a rarely-seen-in-features & super hot Tea Leoni who plays her adoption counselor role incredibly well (i think its Leoni's character & the performance that is the key to the flick's success, u r always expecting something to go wrong when she is around & u can't wait to see what it will be, also, she is a welcome point of escape from the

Looks like Adrienne Shelly may have been murdered. Here's the story . Although, the following from the news story sounds weird: " Pillco allegedly punched the 5-foot-2 actress after she complained about the noise he was making in the West Village apartment building where her office is located, killing her. He then allegedly admitted to dragging the body up to her office, and positioning her in the shower to make her death look like a suicide." How can a person kill another person with a punch or several punches? I am sure it is possible, but it probably is difficult and would leave signs of struggle on the body. Didn't the initial news reports say that there was no unusual damage to the body? Also, how did the alleged killer know where Shellys office was? Why did this person go into the office with a dead body - how did he know that there wasn't anyone else there? Also, the dude would have to be very odd in order to respond to a noise complaint by attacking a pers

At one time, I hear, indie & foreign films used to play in some theaters for months, even years. I know that a Jon Moritsugu film played at a theater in Paris for over a year. Jon told me so, I believe him. If I recall anything close to correctly, back in the early days of the humans, there were two kinds of tribes/civilizations: the nomads & the farmers. Having your film play in one movie theater/screening venue for a loooong time sounds similar to farming to me. Taking your film from theater to theater, from city to city, sounds like a nomadic hunter type thing. But a wide Hollywood type release that stays on screens for months is a combination of the two, perhaps. It is fairly easy for me to get an audience in DC, even with minimal publicity. So, I am going to try the agricultural approach next, try to get Date Number One to play at a DC venue for a long time. Maybe a month to start with. Definitely more than a week. In March perhaps. The Warehouse Screening Room screening o

I do not know what Borat would say about the new movie Dance Party, USA ( myspace ). But here is what some other people who are not fake journalists making movie films about America are saying about Dance Party, USA: "Challenging, gritty, and true."-The Austin Chronicle "Dance Party, USA is so emotionally resonant, so heartbreaking yet hopeful, so tender yet intense, so realistic yet ethereal that its mesmerizes the viewer and holds their attention rapt... [It] might very well be the best independent film that I will see all year."-filethirteen.com "Impressive. The actors are tremendous. I watched it and couldn't quite figure out how it came together. That elusive quality is something special."-Andrew Bujalski (Director, Funny Ha Ha & Mutual Appreciation) "Dance Party, USA snuck up on me, which is a testament to writer/director Katz... He captures the empty conversation of young people... It's funny, but then it's kind of sad."-A

Well, not really, but if their blog was one of their movies, I am sure that's what the Criterion blog would look like. Once, a few years ago, I was getting ready to break up with a girlfriend so that I can do some research for Date Number One , but the girl gave me Criterion's Down By Law for Christmas. It is difficult to break up with someone who gives you a Criterion movie as a gift. The above story is not entirely true. But Criterion's new blog is. Check it out . - Sujewa

According to Filmmaker Magazine's blog Adrienne Shelly, a star of Hal Hartley's The Unbelievable Truth (one of my favorite films of all time) has died. Very, very sad. Shelly had recently directed Waitress, a yet unreleased feature. To remember Shelly & celebrate her life & work, here is a link to a great 2002 indieWIRE interview, conducted by Anthony Kaufman, regarding the Shelly directed film "I'll Take You There": http://www.indiewire.com/people/int_Shelly_Adrienne_000413.html Here is an excerpt from the interview where Shelly recalls getting the "green light" from producer Jim Stark to make the movie: "...I had this experience where I was having this very tough period where I was trying to work as an actor a lot, and I nearly got my own series on television. And then I was hired and fired off of an episode of "Spin City," which was a particularly humiliating role, that I didn't really want to do anyway where I played this m

get more info. here screening # 12 !The Final Screening of 2006! SAT NOVEMBER 4 :: 8 PM :: $6 a benefit screening for We Are Family, a DC non-profit that assists the elderly WAREHOUSE Screening Room 1017-21 7th St., NW Washington, DC 20001 202-783 3933 directions *** UPDATE : 11/2, 4:50 AM: Thanks The Home Improvement Ninja blog in DC for mentioning the screening!

Whenever people are down about how difficult or impossible it is to build a filmmaking career through self-distribution, I point to Lance Weiler. Lance recently finished a healthy D.I.Y. theatrical run of his new feature Head Trauma , his self-distributed feature #2, & started selling the film's DVD. This article from a couple of days ago briefly mentions Lance's upcoming projects. - Sujewa

From one of Chris " The Proper Care & Feeding of an American Messiah " Hansen's recent blog entries from the Virginia Film Festival: " About 15 minutes before the show, I started counting people. 22. Okay, I was thinking, maybe three dozen will show, a decent audience (if you have low expectations from previous festival experiences. But people kept coming. And coming. And coming." Read the rest here: http://christopherhansen.blogspot.com/2006/10/blogging-virginia-film-festival.html And there's more after that, check it out, Day 2: http://christopherhansen.blogspot.com/2006/10/virginia-film-festival-day-2.html And some more, Day 3, where Chris encounters an unfamiliar kind of Christianity: http://christopherhansen.blogspot.com/2006/10/virginia-film-festival-day-3.html - Sujewa

The Texas indie film Jumping Off Bridges is coming to my 'hood, here's the intro to the event: "November 15th, NIH’s Office of Science Education (OSE) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), in partnership with the Mental Health Association of Montgomery County and the AFI Silver Theatre, will host a special film screening and tribute to Dr. Wayne Fenton , recognizing his love of film and dedication to public awareness and education about mental illness. This Science in the Cinema Special Event will include the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area premiere of the film jumping off bridges. For more information ." I am gonna try to be there. Go here for more info. on the event. - Sujewa

check it out here. comes with a neat/kinda hot still of Parker Posey. - sujewa

In NYC this weekend (11/3 & 4). Read all about it at Indie Features 06 . - Sujewa

That's right, not one but TWO films, telling the story of two episodes of the rebel leader's life. Read all about it at Variety. - Sujewa

ninja at bookstore "Date Number One is quite funny...twentysomethings and occasional thirtysomethings looking for romance recall Richard Linklater's philosopher slackers and Jim Jarmusch's minimalist attention to conversation...also a subtle, thoughtful film...might be understood as the anti-Crash depiction of life in the city...depicts a comfortably multi-ethnic community...I'd happily recommend it." - Chuck Tryon, media professor & blogger, The Chutry Experiment blog http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/005873.html rupa from "a romantic dinner for 3" "I found the characters and the premise sexy, sexy, sexy." - Jerry Brewington, Hollywood Is Talking blog, on Story 2 of Date Number One http://hollywoodistalking.com/Blog/508/ ninja & missy on their blind date "...witty...often inventive...and, even better, airy: characters are given time and space to spell out

Inland Empire at Laemmle Theaters http://www.laemmle.com/viewmovie.php?mid=2648 IFC Center, NYC, 12/6/06, from indieWIRE: http://www.indiewire.com/buzz/061029.html#005695 - Sujewa

$1000 Spielberg blog mentioned this blog recently, check it out here . $1000 Spielberg's got tips on ultra low budget DV film production. Thanks a lot for the mention $1000 Spielberg blog!

Here is the essential info. re: the next Date Number One screening: screening # 12 !The Final Screening of 2006! SAT NOVEMBER 4 :: 8 PM :: $6 a benefit screening for We Are Family, a DC non-profit that assists the elderly WAREHOUSE Screening Room 1017-21 7th St., NW Washington, DC 20001 202-783-3933 directions Will post the longer version of the announcement later today. Thanks! see ya there dc ppl - Sujewa

My South Asian War Movie/Ghost Story Script: Just finished writing a set of detailed notes re: plot & characters for a war movie that takes place in South Asia. Of course I am thinking about shooting the film in Sri Lanka (see below for some good financial reasons) specially since I've got tons of notes about the wars down there - more my reactions & thoughts & speculations than direct news report like notes - & since I've got many possibly useful connects there (at least a bunch of family to crash with:). A war is - for a story teller - an interesting situation - though it is horrible in real life - but a war is a very interesting device for telling a story - there is immediate drama & intensity, hard to look away for those people who are into those kinds of things. My South Asian war movie is also kind of a ghost story - perhaps Holloween is having an effect on me. I expect to finish the script before 1/1/07. From a talky DIY comedy/romantic comedy to a wa

- conceived of an epic directing project for '07 - saw Catch A Fire, good movie, liked it, enraging at times, mostly a positive thing, sad too. definitely worth watching. here's GreenCine Daily's post , w/ a lot of links, re: the movie. Here is a good quote from the director of Catch A Fire, Phillip Noyce, from an excellent GreenCine interview : " PN: There are a lot of issues that a film like this inevitably brings up, but only inasmuch as any examination history is illuminating - because the mistakes of the past are repeated in the present and the future. We know that. If you're asking if there are any parallels to be drawn between wars that are fought today and the events of yesterday, the answer is absolutely not, because if anyone tries to compare the struggle for emancipation in South Africa with some of the acts of terror that are being committed today, they're crazy. There's no comparison whatsoever. On the other hand, there are some cautionary tale

Saw American Hardcore earlier today. Good doc, but it felt like Act I of a bigger movie. Like they could have talked about the many social service and activist projects that grew out of the hardcore scene, like in DC over $200,000 has been raised & given away to various social service & humanitarian activist projects by Positive Force , with the help of punk/post-punk/indie musicians. Positive Force is an organization that grew out of the hardcore scene. The hardcore punks didn't just play music, they worked against what they did not like through other means also. I am sure hundreds of people around the country were introduced to social injustice/thinking about working against such through the hardcore punk scene & then they went on to do work that tried to make messed up situations better. In the Mark Andersen co-authored book Dance of Days , we get to see what happened to the hardcore kids (at least the DC hardcore kids) as they grew up: some went on to form awesome b

From the introduction to the interview with film critic, book author, and ex-film publicist Phil Hall at The House Next Door blog: "...having experienced both sides of the spectrum (and hanging up his publicist’s hat in 2004 to focus on criticism full-time) Hall has had the opportunity to see the strange balance of art and commerce that comprises the motion picture business. His previous book, The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies: Films From the Fringes of Cinema was a way of categorizing the films Hall felt needed a little more exposure, as well as a celebration of the art form. His latest, Independent Film Distribution: How to Make a Successful End Run Around the Big Guys , is all about the business--its rare success stories and its many pitfalls." Check out the interview here . - Sujewa

Pretty much everyone is blogging today about the indie film non-profit IFP/The Independent Feature Project ignoring their pro-indie mission & nominating 3 big budget Hollywood films for their Gotham Awards program, so I will begin by pointing to The Reeler's excellent entry re: the subject. So, why bother with the pretense of independence IFP? Just change your name to the Feature Project, drop the Independent from the title (which will only be a symbolic gesture now since you've already shown your preference for Hollywood/the-budget-&-stars-makes-it-impossible-to-ever-call-it-indie films with this year's Gotham Awards nominations), & have yourself fully funded by the big studios in exchange for getting them some press & publicity for their movies. Looks like the era of big indie film non-profits is coming to an end, with 2006 being a significant year for that slow death. Some organizations die due to lack of member interest (AIVF), while others sell their a

Photo Copyright 2004 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films And that is Dele Williams, who plays the character Rupa in Date Number One 's Story #2. A favorite DNO story of many, including Amir "Whale" Motlagh & Jerry "Hollywood Is Talking" Brewington . - Sujewa

What is the biggest link between Tadpole, Personal Velocity & Pieces of April? They are all good movies, true, and they are all movies shot on digital video, true again, but the biggest link is that they are InDigEnt movies. InDigEnt is America's answer to Dogme 95. Find out all about them here . I need to go see Wim Wender's Land of Plenty, another InDigEnt movie. I saw Lonesome Jim recently, yet another InDigEnt movie, pretty good. Been seeing Sorry, Haters DVD box checking me out at the video store, may have to rent it, another InDigEnt movie. - Sujewa

Scott Kirsner of the CinemaTech blog has compiled a list of sites that allow filmmakers to sell their work on-line, mostly through streaming & downloads, & a few cases of DVD "on demand" burning services, plus links & descriptions of several relevant up & coming services. Here is the introduction to the document : " New revenue opportunities are emerging with the recent boom in video viewing on the Web. On this chart, I've tried to list all of the Web sites that enable video producers to make money from their work. I've ranked the sites subjectively, based on how much traffic and buzz they've been attracting, and also how likely it seems that a video producer would actually manage to earn a significant return by posting a video to them. The majority of these sites are geared shorter-form content, but a few, like Brightcove, EZTakes, and GreenCine, make it possible for producers of hour-long or feature-length projects to generate revenue."

I remember reading something about this film a long, long time ago, and I just ran into a write up on it, check out this page on the 1991 British film Young Soul Rebels , sounds interesting: the film is apparently about 2 DJs in 1977 UK. It's going on my WATCH list. Has anyone seen it? What did you think? - Sujewa

Hey DC Area Indie Film Fans, There is a very interesting & funny movie called Mutual Appreciation playing in Dupont Circle this weekend http://www.fandango.com/TheaterPage.aspx?wssac=58&tid=AABXW&wssaffid=11480 and the film's director & distributor, Andrew Bujalski, will be there for tonight's (Fri), & Sat night's & Sun night's shows. Here is the movie's website for more info (the film is about a young musician who moves from Boston to NYC): http://www.mutualappreciation.com/funfacts.html The movie has won all kinds of awards, and it is entertaining & is a good example of low-budget filmmaking excellence. Unlike many of us contemporary DV lovin' indie filmmakers, Andrew uses motion picture film for his movies, and Mutual was shot on 35 MM B&W. Very interesting. Check it out & chat w/ Andrew if you feel like it. I am sure the event will be entertaining & educational & inspiring to many DC indie filmmakers. Thanks!