The drama America’s Family had a strong showing at the 25th annual Dances with Films festival in Los Angeles, claiming the Grand Jury Award for Features as well as the Audience Award for Competition Features when the fest wrapped on Sunday.
The film from writer-director Anike L. Tourse watches as the Diaz family home is raided by Ice on Thanksgiving, with mother Marisol (Tourse) being put in detention, son Koke (Ricardo Cisneros) being deported and father Jorge (Mauricio Mendoza) fleeing for protective sanctuary. Marisol and Jorge’s two American-born children—young attorney Emiliano (Emmanuel López Alonso) and his disabled teen sister Valentina (Jailene Arias)—then scramble to reunite the family as their parents and brother fight to get home.
Dwf is a festival celebrating the best of the best in independent film, which is based at the Tcl Chinese Theatre. It ran this year from June 9-19. Closing out...
The film from writer-director Anike L. Tourse watches as the Diaz family home is raided by Ice on Thanksgiving, with mother Marisol (Tourse) being put in detention, son Koke (Ricardo Cisneros) being deported and father Jorge (Mauricio Mendoza) fleeing for protective sanctuary. Marisol and Jorge’s two American-born children—young attorney Emiliano (Emmanuel López Alonso) and his disabled teen sister Valentina (Jailene Arias)—then scramble to reunite the family as their parents and brother fight to get home.
Dwf is a festival celebrating the best of the best in independent film, which is based at the Tcl Chinese Theatre. It ran this year from June 9-19. Closing out...
- 6/20/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Mubi’s U.S. lineup for next month has been unveiled, including some essential recent releases, notably James Vaughan’s Friends and Strangers, Radu Muntean’s Întregalde, Alice Diop’s We (Nous), the Isabel Sandoval-led short The Actress, Ougie Pak’s Clytaemnestra, and the new restoration of Hong Sangsoo’s Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors.
As part of Pride month and fitting as his latest film arrives, Andrew Ahn’s Spa Night is among the selections, alongside And Then We Danced, Being 17, and Lilting. Lee Chang-dong’s Burning, a pair of films by Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Kim Bora’s House of Hummingbird are also in the lineup.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
June 1 – Wet Sand, directed by Elene Naveriani | Viewfinder | Pride
June 2 – And Then We Danced, directed by Levan Akin | Pride Unprejudiced: LGBTQ+ Cinema
June 3 – Friends and Strangers, directed by James Vaughan | Mubi Spotlight
June 4 – Final Set,...
As part of Pride month and fitting as his latest film arrives, Andrew Ahn’s Spa Night is among the selections, alongside And Then We Danced, Being 17, and Lilting. Lee Chang-dong’s Burning, a pair of films by Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Kim Bora’s House of Hummingbird are also in the lineup.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
June 1 – Wet Sand, directed by Elene Naveriani | Viewfinder | Pride
June 2 – And Then We Danced, directed by Levan Akin | Pride Unprejudiced: LGBTQ+ Cinema
June 3 – Friends and Strangers, directed by James Vaughan | Mubi Spotlight
June 4 – Final Set,...
- 5/24/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Rodents the size of large raccoons, sporting webbed feet and large orange teeth. Sounds like the stuff of nightmares, but the animal in question, nutria, prove surprisingly endearing in Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer and Quinn Costello's documentary that recently received its world premiere at Doc NY. Depicting the resilience of both the nutria and the Louisianans who've endured their presence for many years, Rodents of Unusual Size proves enjoyably quirky and informative.
The nutria were imported to Louisiana during the Depression because it was thought that their fur would prove desirable and provide income. Unfortunately, the animals escaped the fur...
The nutria were imported to Louisiana during the Depression because it was thought that their fur would prove desirable and provide income. Unfortunately, the animals escaped the fur...
- 11/22/2017
- by Frank Scheck
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Plagues & Pleasures On The Salton Sea
This documentary reveals the troubled history of Salton Sea, which was once the site of a wonderful resort in the California desert, but soon turned into a fetid, largely abandoned area. Narrated by John Waters.
Director: Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer
Starring: John Waters, Leonard Knight, Petre Melvin
Streaming: Amazon | iTunes
Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea photo gallery:...
This documentary reveals the troubled history of Salton Sea, which was once the site of a wonderful resort in the California desert, but soon turned into a fetid, largely abandoned area. Narrated by John Waters.
Director: Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer
Starring: John Waters, Leonard Knight, Petre Melvin
Streaming: Amazon | iTunes
Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea photo gallery:...
- 8/17/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
TV One announces coverage of the 2013 Presidential Inauguration with live 3-hour Special Edition of Washington Watch with Roland Martin; broadcast will include coverage of the swearing in and Inaugural Address, as well as reactions from citizens on the National Mall. Full details via press release from TV One: TV One Announces Coverage Of The 2013 Presidential Inauguration With Live Three-hour Special Edition Of "Washington Watch With Roland Martin" Host Roland Martin Anchors Coverage with Commentary from Angela Rye, Dr. Chris Metzler and Alfredas Silver Spring, MD, January 15, 2013 - TV One, which entertains, informs and inspires Black adult viewers, has...
- 1/15/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Trinidad & Tobago is a very small country filled with every race, as varied as the innumerable species of rice. "One quality we all share as humans is we are all different from each other," to quote Dylan Kerrigan. T&T seems like a microcosm of the world today at its best. I know I am not seeing the daily or the political problems the people must cope with in their lives, but I do have the privilege not to be a tourist but a participant in trinidad + tobago film festival, a seven year old event. Film, one of the seven new industries this oil-rich republic has designated for development, is vibrant and alive here. This country is not only a tropical paradise with its beaches and its forests, its music and its people of indescribable beauty, but its intelligence -- made of Amerindian, African, East Indian, Asian, Arabic, Spanish, French, British and American traditions as translated by the new generation -- is unique. The new and well-educated generation, as we all know, has a special edge over the old and the mainstream. What do I mean with these flaunting words?
I am astounded by what I have discovered here. The Caribbean multiplicity of island cultures, T&T's proximity to Latin America and how the film festival's founder and director Bruce Paddington sees the film industry developing from this pivotal point inspires me and everyone who attends this festival.
To wax a little bit more poetic: the solution to the "immigration problem" can be solved simply by relabeling the state of the world today as one of Diaspora. When I grew up I thought the word Diaspora pertained exclusively to the Jews. We went through numerous diasporas, from the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem to the expulsion from Spain, then from all Europe. I think that if the greatest thinkers of the western world had not perished in the Shoah, we would have found words and formulations to deal with the issues of immigration and integration we are facing today. The words immigration and integration are antipodes. Looking at Trinidad & Tobago, immediately apparent and a constant topic of discussion in the society itself, in music, art and film, is Diaspora. The entire human race is represented here as a product of Diaspora, not immigrants, but citizens of a society of people in Diaspora. And the Diaspora of Trinidadians in the world today mainly to Canada, New York, U.K. and Miami sees more Trinidadians outside than in the country itself. Diaspora is the new synthesis of the world today.
Speaking of Diaspora, the country's genius-created instrument, Pan, or the steel drum, the only new musical instrument created in the 20th century, is now a subject of study in most university music schools and has more adherents and orchestras abroad than in the country itself. Pan is compulsory in Finnish primary schools. In France it builds self-esteem and discipline in schools in rough neighborhoods. There are more steelbands in Switzerland (although they are smaller) than in T&T (where a small orchestra has 120 members). In African it is different. Johannesburg ensembles combine pans and marimbas. In Tokyo they are extensions of large corporations. Soon all will come to pan’s Mecca for a grand family reunion. During Carnival, 1,000 steel drum musicians converge here from all over the world where a giant parade and competition called Panorama transform T&T into a musical paradise. You cannot imagine the transformative power of a steel band orchestra (called "pan") unless you experience it first hand.
A grand transmedia project called Pan is now being planned for 2013 by the film and music producer, Jean Michel Giber (his recently completed Calypso Rose is a doc about a 70 year old Calypso singer) and written by Dr. Kim Johnson a noted authority on the pan in collaboration with story consultant Fernanda Rossi who has doctored films that went on to be nominated for Academy Awards®.
And yet another aspect of Diaspora: Canada whose citizens are also spread throughout the world in diaspora and who has the most coproduction treaties in the world is also here lending strong sponsorship support through its Rbc Royal Bank which has banks throughout the Caribbean and Flow which offers internet, telephone and tv throughout the region. This year's focus is on Canada which is celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations and cultural and creative links between the two countries. Aside from the number of Canadian films screening and the number of Canadian filmmakers attending, Christian Sida-Valenzuela, Director of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival is on the jury.
The film world here is developing on four levels simultaneously and by design. Inclusive of British, French, Dutch and Spanish colonial and slave-trading traditions, Amerindian, African, Indian, Arab and Asian diaspora communities here are working in film education, festival, production and distribution not only at home but throughout the region of the Caribbean nations, already represented in The United Nations in a 15 member Caribbean Community political consortium called Caricom.
The industry has come to ttff to tell of subsidies and coproduction opportunities, possibilities for marketing and distribution in the global marketplace, and to give immersion workshops on filmmaking and film criticism.
Ttff has formed alliances with Tribeca Film Institute, Cba Worldview -- Commonwealth Broadcasting Association aims to improve U.K. public understanding and awareness of the developing world via the mainstream broadcast and digital media. WorldView supports producers bringing the richness and diversity of the wider-world to U.K. audiences. Cba Worldview provides seed funding to producers to enable them to spend time in the developing world researching stories, identifying characters and locations and shooting taster tapes. Cba Worldview itself has alliances with Tribeca, Sundance and Idfa. Other ttff alliances are with Cuba's Icaic and the Havana Film Festival, Curacao Film Festival which is itself an extension of the Rotterdam Film Festival, U.S.'s National Black Programming Consortium, a part of the Public Broadcasting System and Acp which is the European Union's cultural subsidy arm (separate from Eurimages).
Acp has a fund of €12 million to grant in all areas of culture to reinforce and support access to markets, improve the regulatory environment and reduce unemployment, and it grants €10 million of this to cinema and the audiovisual sector. Acp's Director, Mohamed Ben Shabbaz gave their award to the feature which best epitomizes cultural diversity to the feature Stone Street. On presenting the prize, he reiterated Acp's motto, "No future without culture" and presented the prize on behalf of its membership of 79 countries and their 800 million people while encouraging filmmakers to submit projects which are eligible if produced by any member of the Caribbean, African and Latin American nations included in the Acp for grants.
Because Guadaloupe is French, it can access the French Cnc production subsidies and coproductions with them can share this. The BBC seriesDeath in Paradise has been such a hit that the BBC is renewing the series to the benefit of Guadaloupe's coffers.
Another incentive to make movies in this untapped and untrammeled region of the world is the 35% rebate on monies spent on production in Trinidad.
All this bounty would stir me as a filmmaker anywhere in the world to hasten to find coproducers in these countries to make a movie out of the myriad of stories that exist here. Guadaloupe novelist Simone Schwartz-Bart's great novel written in collaboration with her husband, Andre Schwartz-Bart (Last of the Just), A Woman Called Solitude, one of the most emotionally moving novels I 've ever read, has yet to be made into a movie. Dominican writer Jean Rhys' Wide Saragossa Sea, the prequel to Bronte's Jane Eyre, has been made in 1993 and in 2006 and yet remains mostly forgotten. Perhaps it's time for a remake. Or how about the novels of Antiguan Jamaica Kincaid, Cuban Alejo Carpentier or Martiniquese Edward Glissant?
The winner of the Jury Prize for Best Caribbean Film by a non-Caribbean went to Canadian filmmaker Christy Garland for her documentary The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, a documentary that had the strongest buzz here. The trailer alone moved the audience at the awards ceremony to a collective and spontaneous sigh of sympathy. What a fiction adaptation could be made from the stories these people have to tell.
Some filmmakers are already embedding themselves here. Trinidadian native Ian Harnarin comes from Canada and lives in New York. We met at Tiff this year in a mentoring program where he was one of four most promising new filmmakers. His short was executive produced by Spike Lee. He is now working on the feature length film of the short. "I'm extremely happy to be taking my film Doubles With Slight Pepper to the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival. The film was shot on location throughout Trinidad with a local cast and a lot of local crew. The film has garnered some amazing awards and screened at other festivals around the world, so Ttff will mark a homecoming for it. It's coming to be very special for the local audience to finally see it with the cast and filmmakers." This film is available on iTunes.
Alrick Brown, the director of Kinyarwanda, a hit of last year 's Sundance Ff, led the immersion workshops in documentaries with Fernanda Rossi, a New York based doc scriptwriter. Alrick also teaches at Rutgers and Nyu. Andrew Donsunmu, the director of Restless City which Ronna Wallace has been actively repping since Sundance (she just made a good digital deal for the film) and which will be released stateside by Affrm (as will Kinyarwanda) was part of a very interesting informal discussion which took place on the bus returning from our day at the beach about movement and the almost genetic styles of dance and choices of sports of the African diaspora...like why so many islanders can't swim, why they don't eat fish in Cuba, how Samba, Calypso, and a certain Jamaican dance use the same steps though to different beats. Such animated discussions of intercultural topics are frequent here and always fascinate and animate the participants and residents.
The filmmakers also participated in panels for the industry, sharing their motivation and modi operandi. Christy Garland, director of Bastards Sing the Sweetest Song, filmed in French Guyana spoke of how she enters an unknown culture with a vague idea for a subject and proceeds to draw people out until the story unveils itself to her. Patricia Benoit, director of Stones in the Sun which participated in Wroclaw's American Film Festival for films in post-production competition spoke of her dislike of people always talking of Haiti's "resilence" in the face of all its troubles and wanted to show the hidden wounds of Haitians with their own history while living in New York. The films title comes from the proverb, “Stones in the water don't know the suffering of stones in the sun.” You can read Indiewire's interview with her from Tribeca Film Festival here. Matias Meyer spoke of The Last Christeros, which showed in Toronto and is being sold by FiGa Films, wanting to show not the battles but the spaces between battles when a segment of the 90% Catholic population of Mexico waged war against the state in the 1920s when the government banned religion. American filmmaker Chris Metzler spoke of his film Everyday Sunshine: the Story of Fishbone as a wonderful tribute to failure. Another Trinidadian in Canada, Richard Fung talked of how when he grew up he loved dhalpuri roti and so set out to discover where this spicy flatbread was born in the film Dal Puri Diaspora. Next month Richard will present his film at Nyu. One entire panel discussion was given to The Jamaican Collective's New Caribbean Cinema collection of shorts all made Guerilla style in one day, Ring di Alarm. Shadow and Act covered this last month.
In addition to this productive work of sharing business ideas and sharing the visions of over 120 feature-length and short films, there is the added bonus of being in one of the most amazing spots on earth. Island people, isolated from mainland civilizations and united among themselves by the water which also separates them, have opened their arms and invited us to join them these past few days in celebrating life. They have shared the natural beauty and the music and other arts of their island paradise And imagine the food-- a mix, (like the people themselves) of Caribbean, Indian, Asian, Arabian and African cuisine, all so fresh and with a homemade touch which rivals your own home cooking. Bake and Shark, a deep fried pita stuffed with delicious fresh and tender shark, or Roti, a variation of a curry dish found in India, Doubles, another street food well loved by the people. The economy, supported by its oil industry which contributes 60% to the Gnp, though 40% is Bp, a cause for some political dissension, does not need to rely on tourism for its sustenance. And though this is the wealthiest of all the Caricom countries because of its oil and natural gas, it still has the ubiquitous poverty seen worldwide including in our own United States of America. It is by no means perfect, but...
In Moscow this past June, the event Doors held similar discussions among 25 American distributors and Russian filmmakers about exporting their films and creating viable co- productions. After those three days in Moscow, we were rewarded with the most spectacular trip any of us had ever experienced, driving to St. Petersburg and Petershof, attending the Mariansky Ballet to see Sleeping Beauty and the star ballet dancer of Russia from the best seats in the house, taking a long cruise through St. Petersburg's canals during the White Nights, when the sun never sets. That trip which we were privileged to participate in (thanks to L.A.'s Russian Film Commissioner Eleonora Granata and her boss Catherine Mtsitouridze who hired us to organize) did not surpass the bonus tour ttff gave us industry-ites to Las Maracas beach where we rode the waves in warm water until a tropical rain storm and hurricane type wind, lightning and thunder drove us out of the water to huddle under a shelter until if passed, and the evening Leslie Fields-Cruz of the National Programming Consortium of PBS and I spent with Trinidadian film and music producer, Jean Michel Gibert of Caribbean Music Group, music scholar extraordinaire Tim Johnson and Nestor Sullivan, music legend, steel drum virtuoso and manager of the prize-winning 120 piece steel band orchestra Pamberi at a steel drum orchestra rehearsal for Carnaval. I can say with authority, this experience was on an equal par with the best Russia has to offer.
Validation of the genius of this country can be found in the story of one man, Anthony Williams, who invented the tuned steelpan, and in a discussion I had with another Trinidad filmmaker, Janine Fung, who won the People's Choice for Best Documentary La Gaita. Janine, as you can guess from her name, is of Chinese descent, though thoroughly international and Trinidadian to boot. Her grandmother's extended family lived in Trinidad. Recently the Chinese embassy called her to see if she might research and make a documentary about a Trinidad woman who brought western ballet to China. When they named her she realized it as her grandmother's first cousin who had left Trinidad to study ballet in London and when she toured to China, she captivated the audience and remained to establish western ballet in China. No one in Trinidad is aware of this and Janine now must make the documentary. I love stories like this. Nestor Sullivan whose father played in the same steel drum orchestra which is 70 years old, told me that his grandmother told him he was the spitting image of her father who came to Trinidad somewhere between 1840 to 60 after slavery had been abolished (1833). His father was a Yoruban prince who was never enslaved except when kidnapped and carried to the New World. Looking at Nestor, you know this to be true. His grandmother was born in 1888. When we did the math, I calculated this was around the same time that my own grandmother was born after her mother had come to USA as a bride in 1881.
Filmmaker, Faisal Lutchmedial (Mr. Crab, a delightful short film of a shy 10 year old boy who idolizes and fears his imposing father and hides and escapes into a dream world, where the frightening Mr Crab with his deadly sharp claws awaits him until he hears the real fear in his father's voice when he cannot find him) resides in Montreal, and tells of his family's home in a section of Trinidad which has, to this day, remained almost exactly as it was when his father was a boy in 1945. In fact, he took a photograph of himself standing in the same spot where his father stood as a child and the surroundings are identical. He was looking forward to going there to "lime" for a few days after the festival.
When the two part France TV feature Toussaint Ouveture won two prizes, one for Audience Award for Best Narrative and the other to Jimmy Jean-Louis for Best Actor in a Caribbean film, Jimmy,whose stunning presence is as sweet as his beautiful face, and who is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Creole, spoke sponteously of Haiti's continued plight and of the fact that this historical epic deserves to be seen as widely as possible to remind the world that Haiti was the first nation to liberate itself and its slaves from its colonial masters 200 years before most other Caribbean nations declared or were granted their independence.
One other discovery I made was of Dana Verde of 3Ck Media (meaning 3rd culture kids, a term coined in the 50s by cultural anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem). Dana Verde is a Cuban-Jamaican filmmaker who enjoys telling stories from the Latin American and Caribbean Diaspora. After receiving her Ma in Filmmaking from the London Film School in 2008, the Brooklyn filmmaker returned to New York to work as an independent filmmaker – writing and directing spec commercials, music videos and short films. Currently she divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and is venturing into directing feature films that encapsulate a crosscultural perspective. Check out her short Lock and Key on Facebook.
In summation of this whirlwind 4 day trip, it was well worth the 8 hour flight. So immersed was I that I find I must return, and much as I hate to reveal this new untrammeled festival and country, I must tell about it. I was the only press there, but I'm sure it will catch the eye of then rest of the world soon as it is a growth area for film invention and innovation on all fronts, from education (Bruce Paddington who teaches film at the University of The West Indies along with Christopher Meir, a native of Buffalo, New York).to production to marketing and distribution under the aegis of T&T Film Company. Although in the 50s Robert Mitchum filmed The Fire Down Below and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in T&T and you can be sure he had a blast there, still I feel like I have discovered it anew!
The awards themselves reflect the complexity of a society which, when its own special voice is raised in unison by its citizens, has the grandly unique and harmonic sound of the music of its own steel band. The gala awards ceremony of the ttff/12 took place at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain. Here is a full list of the winners which can also be found here.
Jury Awards: Best Films
Best Narrative Feature: Distancia, directed by Sergio Ramirez from Guatemala
Best Documentary Feature: The Story of Lover’s Rock, directed by Menelik Shabazz
Best Short: Peace: Memories of Anton de Kom, directed by Ida Does
Best Caribbean Film by an International Filmmaker: The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, directed by Christy Garland
Special mentions in the best film category:
Best Narrative Feature: Choco, directed by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza
Best Documentary Feature: Broken Stones, directed by Guetty Felin
Best Short: Awa Brak, directed by Juan Francisco Pardo
Jury Awards: Best Local Films
Best Local Feature: Inward Hunger, directed by Mariel Brown
Best Local Short: Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Jury Awards: Acting
Best Actor in a Caribbean Film: Jimmy Jean-Louis, Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
Best Actor in a Local Film: Christopher Chin Choy, Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Best Actress in a Local Film: Terri Lyons, No Soca, No Life, directed by Kevin Adams
People’s Choice Awards
People’s Choice Award: Narrative Feature: Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
People’s Choice Award: Documentary Feature: La Gaita, directed by Janine Fung
People’s Choice Award: Best Short: Buck: The Man Spirit, directed by Steven Taylor
Other Awards
Film in Development Award: Cutlass, Deresha Beresford & Teneille Newallo
WorldView/Tribeca Film Film Institute Pitch Awards: Ryan Khan, Joaquin Ruano, Natalie Wei
Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion Pitch Award: Michelle Serieux
Film that Best Epitomises Cultural Diversity: Stone Street, directed by Elspeth Kydd
Film Criticism Award: Barbara Jenkins, “Three’s a Crowd”, review of Una Noche, directed by Lucy Mulloy
Film Criticism Special Mentions: Dainia Wright, Renelle White
Best Student, University of the West Indies Film Programme: Dinesh Maharaj
AfroPop/National Black Programming Consortium Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award: Mandisa Pantin
50-Second Film Competition: M Jay Gonzalez...
I am astounded by what I have discovered here. The Caribbean multiplicity of island cultures, T&T's proximity to Latin America and how the film festival's founder and director Bruce Paddington sees the film industry developing from this pivotal point inspires me and everyone who attends this festival.
To wax a little bit more poetic: the solution to the "immigration problem" can be solved simply by relabeling the state of the world today as one of Diaspora. When I grew up I thought the word Diaspora pertained exclusively to the Jews. We went through numerous diasporas, from the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem to the expulsion from Spain, then from all Europe. I think that if the greatest thinkers of the western world had not perished in the Shoah, we would have found words and formulations to deal with the issues of immigration and integration we are facing today. The words immigration and integration are antipodes. Looking at Trinidad & Tobago, immediately apparent and a constant topic of discussion in the society itself, in music, art and film, is Diaspora. The entire human race is represented here as a product of Diaspora, not immigrants, but citizens of a society of people in Diaspora. And the Diaspora of Trinidadians in the world today mainly to Canada, New York, U.K. and Miami sees more Trinidadians outside than in the country itself. Diaspora is the new synthesis of the world today.
Speaking of Diaspora, the country's genius-created instrument, Pan, or the steel drum, the only new musical instrument created in the 20th century, is now a subject of study in most university music schools and has more adherents and orchestras abroad than in the country itself. Pan is compulsory in Finnish primary schools. In France it builds self-esteem and discipline in schools in rough neighborhoods. There are more steelbands in Switzerland (although they are smaller) than in T&T (where a small orchestra has 120 members). In African it is different. Johannesburg ensembles combine pans and marimbas. In Tokyo they are extensions of large corporations. Soon all will come to pan’s Mecca for a grand family reunion. During Carnival, 1,000 steel drum musicians converge here from all over the world where a giant parade and competition called Panorama transform T&T into a musical paradise. You cannot imagine the transformative power of a steel band orchestra (called "pan") unless you experience it first hand.
A grand transmedia project called Pan is now being planned for 2013 by the film and music producer, Jean Michel Giber (his recently completed Calypso Rose is a doc about a 70 year old Calypso singer) and written by Dr. Kim Johnson a noted authority on the pan in collaboration with story consultant Fernanda Rossi who has doctored films that went on to be nominated for Academy Awards®.
And yet another aspect of Diaspora: Canada whose citizens are also spread throughout the world in diaspora and who has the most coproduction treaties in the world is also here lending strong sponsorship support through its Rbc Royal Bank which has banks throughout the Caribbean and Flow which offers internet, telephone and tv throughout the region. This year's focus is on Canada which is celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations and cultural and creative links between the two countries. Aside from the number of Canadian films screening and the number of Canadian filmmakers attending, Christian Sida-Valenzuela, Director of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival is on the jury.
The film world here is developing on four levels simultaneously and by design. Inclusive of British, French, Dutch and Spanish colonial and slave-trading traditions, Amerindian, African, Indian, Arab and Asian diaspora communities here are working in film education, festival, production and distribution not only at home but throughout the region of the Caribbean nations, already represented in The United Nations in a 15 member Caribbean Community political consortium called Caricom.
The industry has come to ttff to tell of subsidies and coproduction opportunities, possibilities for marketing and distribution in the global marketplace, and to give immersion workshops on filmmaking and film criticism.
Ttff has formed alliances with Tribeca Film Institute, Cba Worldview -- Commonwealth Broadcasting Association aims to improve U.K. public understanding and awareness of the developing world via the mainstream broadcast and digital media. WorldView supports producers bringing the richness and diversity of the wider-world to U.K. audiences. Cba Worldview provides seed funding to producers to enable them to spend time in the developing world researching stories, identifying characters and locations and shooting taster tapes. Cba Worldview itself has alliances with Tribeca, Sundance and Idfa. Other ttff alliances are with Cuba's Icaic and the Havana Film Festival, Curacao Film Festival which is itself an extension of the Rotterdam Film Festival, U.S.'s National Black Programming Consortium, a part of the Public Broadcasting System and Acp which is the European Union's cultural subsidy arm (separate from Eurimages).
Acp has a fund of €12 million to grant in all areas of culture to reinforce and support access to markets, improve the regulatory environment and reduce unemployment, and it grants €10 million of this to cinema and the audiovisual sector. Acp's Director, Mohamed Ben Shabbaz gave their award to the feature which best epitomizes cultural diversity to the feature Stone Street. On presenting the prize, he reiterated Acp's motto, "No future without culture" and presented the prize on behalf of its membership of 79 countries and their 800 million people while encouraging filmmakers to submit projects which are eligible if produced by any member of the Caribbean, African and Latin American nations included in the Acp for grants.
Because Guadaloupe is French, it can access the French Cnc production subsidies and coproductions with them can share this. The BBC seriesDeath in Paradise has been such a hit that the BBC is renewing the series to the benefit of Guadaloupe's coffers.
Another incentive to make movies in this untapped and untrammeled region of the world is the 35% rebate on monies spent on production in Trinidad.
All this bounty would stir me as a filmmaker anywhere in the world to hasten to find coproducers in these countries to make a movie out of the myriad of stories that exist here. Guadaloupe novelist Simone Schwartz-Bart's great novel written in collaboration with her husband, Andre Schwartz-Bart (Last of the Just), A Woman Called Solitude, one of the most emotionally moving novels I 've ever read, has yet to be made into a movie. Dominican writer Jean Rhys' Wide Saragossa Sea, the prequel to Bronte's Jane Eyre, has been made in 1993 and in 2006 and yet remains mostly forgotten. Perhaps it's time for a remake. Or how about the novels of Antiguan Jamaica Kincaid, Cuban Alejo Carpentier or Martiniquese Edward Glissant?
The winner of the Jury Prize for Best Caribbean Film by a non-Caribbean went to Canadian filmmaker Christy Garland for her documentary The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, a documentary that had the strongest buzz here. The trailer alone moved the audience at the awards ceremony to a collective and spontaneous sigh of sympathy. What a fiction adaptation could be made from the stories these people have to tell.
Some filmmakers are already embedding themselves here. Trinidadian native Ian Harnarin comes from Canada and lives in New York. We met at Tiff this year in a mentoring program where he was one of four most promising new filmmakers. His short was executive produced by Spike Lee. He is now working on the feature length film of the short. "I'm extremely happy to be taking my film Doubles With Slight Pepper to the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival. The film was shot on location throughout Trinidad with a local cast and a lot of local crew. The film has garnered some amazing awards and screened at other festivals around the world, so Ttff will mark a homecoming for it. It's coming to be very special for the local audience to finally see it with the cast and filmmakers." This film is available on iTunes.
Alrick Brown, the director of Kinyarwanda, a hit of last year 's Sundance Ff, led the immersion workshops in documentaries with Fernanda Rossi, a New York based doc scriptwriter. Alrick also teaches at Rutgers and Nyu. Andrew Donsunmu, the director of Restless City which Ronna Wallace has been actively repping since Sundance (she just made a good digital deal for the film) and which will be released stateside by Affrm (as will Kinyarwanda) was part of a very interesting informal discussion which took place on the bus returning from our day at the beach about movement and the almost genetic styles of dance and choices of sports of the African diaspora...like why so many islanders can't swim, why they don't eat fish in Cuba, how Samba, Calypso, and a certain Jamaican dance use the same steps though to different beats. Such animated discussions of intercultural topics are frequent here and always fascinate and animate the participants and residents.
The filmmakers also participated in panels for the industry, sharing their motivation and modi operandi. Christy Garland, director of Bastards Sing the Sweetest Song, filmed in French Guyana spoke of how she enters an unknown culture with a vague idea for a subject and proceeds to draw people out until the story unveils itself to her. Patricia Benoit, director of Stones in the Sun which participated in Wroclaw's American Film Festival for films in post-production competition spoke of her dislike of people always talking of Haiti's "resilence" in the face of all its troubles and wanted to show the hidden wounds of Haitians with their own history while living in New York. The films title comes from the proverb, “Stones in the water don't know the suffering of stones in the sun.” You can read Indiewire's interview with her from Tribeca Film Festival here. Matias Meyer spoke of The Last Christeros, which showed in Toronto and is being sold by FiGa Films, wanting to show not the battles but the spaces between battles when a segment of the 90% Catholic population of Mexico waged war against the state in the 1920s when the government banned religion. American filmmaker Chris Metzler spoke of his film Everyday Sunshine: the Story of Fishbone as a wonderful tribute to failure. Another Trinidadian in Canada, Richard Fung talked of how when he grew up he loved dhalpuri roti and so set out to discover where this spicy flatbread was born in the film Dal Puri Diaspora. Next month Richard will present his film at Nyu. One entire panel discussion was given to The Jamaican Collective's New Caribbean Cinema collection of shorts all made Guerilla style in one day, Ring di Alarm. Shadow and Act covered this last month.
In addition to this productive work of sharing business ideas and sharing the visions of over 120 feature-length and short films, there is the added bonus of being in one of the most amazing spots on earth. Island people, isolated from mainland civilizations and united among themselves by the water which also separates them, have opened their arms and invited us to join them these past few days in celebrating life. They have shared the natural beauty and the music and other arts of their island paradise And imagine the food-- a mix, (like the people themselves) of Caribbean, Indian, Asian, Arabian and African cuisine, all so fresh and with a homemade touch which rivals your own home cooking. Bake and Shark, a deep fried pita stuffed with delicious fresh and tender shark, or Roti, a variation of a curry dish found in India, Doubles, another street food well loved by the people. The economy, supported by its oil industry which contributes 60% to the Gnp, though 40% is Bp, a cause for some political dissension, does not need to rely on tourism for its sustenance. And though this is the wealthiest of all the Caricom countries because of its oil and natural gas, it still has the ubiquitous poverty seen worldwide including in our own United States of America. It is by no means perfect, but...
In Moscow this past June, the event Doors held similar discussions among 25 American distributors and Russian filmmakers about exporting their films and creating viable co- productions. After those three days in Moscow, we were rewarded with the most spectacular trip any of us had ever experienced, driving to St. Petersburg and Petershof, attending the Mariansky Ballet to see Sleeping Beauty and the star ballet dancer of Russia from the best seats in the house, taking a long cruise through St. Petersburg's canals during the White Nights, when the sun never sets. That trip which we were privileged to participate in (thanks to L.A.'s Russian Film Commissioner Eleonora Granata and her boss Catherine Mtsitouridze who hired us to organize) did not surpass the bonus tour ttff gave us industry-ites to Las Maracas beach where we rode the waves in warm water until a tropical rain storm and hurricane type wind, lightning and thunder drove us out of the water to huddle under a shelter until if passed, and the evening Leslie Fields-Cruz of the National Programming Consortium of PBS and I spent with Trinidadian film and music producer, Jean Michel Gibert of Caribbean Music Group, music scholar extraordinaire Tim Johnson and Nestor Sullivan, music legend, steel drum virtuoso and manager of the prize-winning 120 piece steel band orchestra Pamberi at a steel drum orchestra rehearsal for Carnaval. I can say with authority, this experience was on an equal par with the best Russia has to offer.
Validation of the genius of this country can be found in the story of one man, Anthony Williams, who invented the tuned steelpan, and in a discussion I had with another Trinidad filmmaker, Janine Fung, who won the People's Choice for Best Documentary La Gaita. Janine, as you can guess from her name, is of Chinese descent, though thoroughly international and Trinidadian to boot. Her grandmother's extended family lived in Trinidad. Recently the Chinese embassy called her to see if she might research and make a documentary about a Trinidad woman who brought western ballet to China. When they named her she realized it as her grandmother's first cousin who had left Trinidad to study ballet in London and when she toured to China, she captivated the audience and remained to establish western ballet in China. No one in Trinidad is aware of this and Janine now must make the documentary. I love stories like this. Nestor Sullivan whose father played in the same steel drum orchestra which is 70 years old, told me that his grandmother told him he was the spitting image of her father who came to Trinidad somewhere between 1840 to 60 after slavery had been abolished (1833). His father was a Yoruban prince who was never enslaved except when kidnapped and carried to the New World. Looking at Nestor, you know this to be true. His grandmother was born in 1888. When we did the math, I calculated this was around the same time that my own grandmother was born after her mother had come to USA as a bride in 1881.
Filmmaker, Faisal Lutchmedial (Mr. Crab, a delightful short film of a shy 10 year old boy who idolizes and fears his imposing father and hides and escapes into a dream world, where the frightening Mr Crab with his deadly sharp claws awaits him until he hears the real fear in his father's voice when he cannot find him) resides in Montreal, and tells of his family's home in a section of Trinidad which has, to this day, remained almost exactly as it was when his father was a boy in 1945. In fact, he took a photograph of himself standing in the same spot where his father stood as a child and the surroundings are identical. He was looking forward to going there to "lime" for a few days after the festival.
When the two part France TV feature Toussaint Ouveture won two prizes, one for Audience Award for Best Narrative and the other to Jimmy Jean-Louis for Best Actor in a Caribbean film, Jimmy,whose stunning presence is as sweet as his beautiful face, and who is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Creole, spoke sponteously of Haiti's continued plight and of the fact that this historical epic deserves to be seen as widely as possible to remind the world that Haiti was the first nation to liberate itself and its slaves from its colonial masters 200 years before most other Caribbean nations declared or were granted their independence.
One other discovery I made was of Dana Verde of 3Ck Media (meaning 3rd culture kids, a term coined in the 50s by cultural anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem). Dana Verde is a Cuban-Jamaican filmmaker who enjoys telling stories from the Latin American and Caribbean Diaspora. After receiving her Ma in Filmmaking from the London Film School in 2008, the Brooklyn filmmaker returned to New York to work as an independent filmmaker – writing and directing spec commercials, music videos and short films. Currently she divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and is venturing into directing feature films that encapsulate a crosscultural perspective. Check out her short Lock and Key on Facebook.
In summation of this whirlwind 4 day trip, it was well worth the 8 hour flight. So immersed was I that I find I must return, and much as I hate to reveal this new untrammeled festival and country, I must tell about it. I was the only press there, but I'm sure it will catch the eye of then rest of the world soon as it is a growth area for film invention and innovation on all fronts, from education (Bruce Paddington who teaches film at the University of The West Indies along with Christopher Meir, a native of Buffalo, New York).to production to marketing and distribution under the aegis of T&T Film Company. Although in the 50s Robert Mitchum filmed The Fire Down Below and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in T&T and you can be sure he had a blast there, still I feel like I have discovered it anew!
The awards themselves reflect the complexity of a society which, when its own special voice is raised in unison by its citizens, has the grandly unique and harmonic sound of the music of its own steel band. The gala awards ceremony of the ttff/12 took place at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain. Here is a full list of the winners which can also be found here.
Jury Awards: Best Films
Best Narrative Feature: Distancia, directed by Sergio Ramirez from Guatemala
Best Documentary Feature: The Story of Lover’s Rock, directed by Menelik Shabazz
Best Short: Peace: Memories of Anton de Kom, directed by Ida Does
Best Caribbean Film by an International Filmmaker: The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, directed by Christy Garland
Special mentions in the best film category:
Best Narrative Feature: Choco, directed by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza
Best Documentary Feature: Broken Stones, directed by Guetty Felin
Best Short: Awa Brak, directed by Juan Francisco Pardo
Jury Awards: Best Local Films
Best Local Feature: Inward Hunger, directed by Mariel Brown
Best Local Short: Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Jury Awards: Acting
Best Actor in a Caribbean Film: Jimmy Jean-Louis, Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
Best Actor in a Local Film: Christopher Chin Choy, Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Best Actress in a Local Film: Terri Lyons, No Soca, No Life, directed by Kevin Adams
People’s Choice Awards
People’s Choice Award: Narrative Feature: Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
People’s Choice Award: Documentary Feature: La Gaita, directed by Janine Fung
People’s Choice Award: Best Short: Buck: The Man Spirit, directed by Steven Taylor
Other Awards
Film in Development Award: Cutlass, Deresha Beresford & Teneille Newallo
WorldView/Tribeca Film Film Institute Pitch Awards: Ryan Khan, Joaquin Ruano, Natalie Wei
Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion Pitch Award: Michelle Serieux
Film that Best Epitomises Cultural Diversity: Stone Street, directed by Elspeth Kydd
Film Criticism Award: Barbara Jenkins, “Three’s a Crowd”, review of Una Noche, directed by Lucy Mulloy
Film Criticism Special Mentions: Dainia Wright, Renelle White
Best Student, University of the West Indies Film Programme: Dinesh Maharaj
AfroPop/National Black Programming Consortium Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award: Mandisa Pantin
50-Second Film Competition: M Jay Gonzalez...
- 10/3/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
This week’s Must Read: Making Light of It has posted another one of its wonderful filmmaker profiles, this time for Marie Menken.Here’s a new site to take notice of: The Avant-Garde Film Index, which does exactly what its name implies, indexing experimental, avant-garde and underground films. The site appears to be in its very early stages, but we wish them the best of luck and we’ll keep our eye on it as it grows into the essential resource we’re sure it’ll become.At the Chicago Reader, Ben Sachs interviewed filmmaker Lori Felker about a program of films by Robert Nelson that screened over the weekend at the Gene Siskel Film Center.The Tucson Weekly profiles the Arizona Underground Film Festival, which is going on right now and is having its biggest year ever, especially focusing on the film The Exhibitionists.For the next couple of months,...
- 9/23/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
San Antonio Film Festival
The deadline for the 18th annual San Antonio Film Festival is fast approaching, but there’s still a few more days to get your films in. The actual fest will run on Jun. 18-24.
The fest is always a great, eclectic mix of international indie film that also heavily screens and promotes local talent. There does usually seem to be an emphasis on films with a political or social justice bent, but that doesn’t mean Saff will shy away from tossing in a straight-up thriller or comedy to mix things up.
For example, last year’s films ranged from the music doc Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone by Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson to the police thriller Disrupt/Dismantle by Jack Lucarelli to the Indian surrogate mother business Made in India by Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha to the comedy Lord Byron by Zack Godshall.
The deadline for the 18th annual San Antonio Film Festival is fast approaching, but there’s still a few more days to get your films in. The actual fest will run on Jun. 18-24.
The fest is always a great, eclectic mix of international indie film that also heavily screens and promotes local talent. There does usually seem to be an emphasis on films with a political or social justice bent, but that doesn’t mean Saff will shy away from tossing in a straight-up thriller or comedy to mix things up.
For example, last year’s films ranged from the music doc Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone by Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson to the police thriller Disrupt/Dismantle by Jack Lucarelli to the Indian surrogate mother business Made in India by Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha to the comedy Lord Byron by Zack Godshall.
- 3/3/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone originally screened at SXSW in 2011, and the filmmakers and the band were back in town last October to support Austin Film Society with a special screening and Q&A, as well as a sold-out show at Emo's Austin. I thoroughly enjoyed this compelling and dynamic tale of punk rock pioneers Fishbone and their rise, fall and subsequent revival -- read my review. The documentary was released on DVD this week, and is available for purchase on the Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone website. Bonus features include deleted scenes, band commentary, interview outtakes, and rare concert footage sure to please any Fishbone fan.
During their October movie-and-music tour, I spoke with band members and frontmen Norwood Fisher and Angelo Moore -- listen to the podcast interview -- as well as filmmakers Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson. Find out how Metzler and Anderson used a...
During their October movie-and-music tour, I spoke with band members and frontmen Norwood Fisher and Angelo Moore -- listen to the podcast interview -- as well as filmmakers Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson. Find out how Metzler and Anderson used a...
- 2/22/2012
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
Filmmakers Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson were in town recently to bring the culture that shaped the personal stories of the black genre-breaking band Fishbone in the compelling film, Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone -- read my review here. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne, viewers are taken through a musical and intimate journey of Fishbone as they face the challenges of a band democracy, fiercely independent artists, and the music industry machine.
Personal interviews include musical artists and actors Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Gwen Stefani (No Doubt), Ice-t, and many others, including the dynamic and determined frontmen Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher. I joined the pair on their tour bus for an interview while they were in town last month for a special Austin Film Society screening and show at Emo's Austin.
Hear what Angelo Moore had to say about the impact of digital technology and his ode to Wall Street,...
Personal interviews include musical artists and actors Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Gwen Stefani (No Doubt), Ice-t, and many others, including the dynamic and determined frontmen Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher. I joined the pair on their tour bus for an interview while they were in town last month for a special Austin Film Society screening and show at Emo's Austin.
Hear what Angelo Moore had to say about the impact of digital technology and his ode to Wall Street,...
- 11/14/2011
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
Titling this particular documentary Everyday Sunshine serves multiple purposes. First, of course, is that “Everyday Sunshine” is the name of one of Fishbone’s most well-known songs. However, the title is also at once both an ironic counterpoint on the punk fusion band’s tragic career, as well as a commentary on the band’s core members’ undying struggle to see the silver lining that’s continually just out of their sight.
Yes, filmmakers Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson are forced to follow the same trajectory as other music documentaries: An upstart young band quickly become superstars only to be derailed from a promising career thanks to an uncaring music industry and turmoil from within its own ranks. The band then hits its lowest point, only to begin its long, difficult struggle to get back on top.
That storyline is impossible to avoid because that’s exactly what happened to Fishbone.
Yes, filmmakers Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson are forced to follow the same trajectory as other music documentaries: An upstart young band quickly become superstars only to be derailed from a promising career thanks to an uncaring music industry and turmoil from within its own ranks. The band then hits its lowest point, only to begin its long, difficult struggle to get back on top.
That storyline is impossible to avoid because that’s exactly what happened to Fishbone.
- 11/14/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
[Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone will screen in Austin tonight (Oct. 25) -- details are at the end of this review.]
Between deejaying college radio stations and also living in the heart of Montrose in Houston during the 1980s and 1990s, my nights were dedicated to the diverse music scene. New wave genre was my first love, but it was the upbeat tempo of ska and nitty-gritty sounds of punk that got me moving to the dance floor and from time to time, to the mosh pit. The creative cacophony of Austin bands including Bad Mutha Goose, Retarted Elf, The Big Boys, and Bad Brains created a mesmerizing wall of sound, moving the audience in a mass of sweaty, flailing bodies with an incredible outlet of energy.
Many of these bands were influenced by Fishbone, a black punk band from the streets of South Central Los Angeles. Band members sported dreadlocks and Mohawks as well as the ska/mod fashion, although sometimes they wore only their musical instruments. Fishbone "brought the Funk to the Punk.
Between deejaying college radio stations and also living in the heart of Montrose in Houston during the 1980s and 1990s, my nights were dedicated to the diverse music scene. New wave genre was my first love, but it was the upbeat tempo of ska and nitty-gritty sounds of punk that got me moving to the dance floor and from time to time, to the mosh pit. The creative cacophony of Austin bands including Bad Mutha Goose, Retarted Elf, The Big Boys, and Bad Brains created a mesmerizing wall of sound, moving the audience in a mass of sweaty, flailing bodies with an incredible outlet of energy.
Many of these bands were influenced by Fishbone, a black punk band from the streets of South Central Los Angeles. Band members sported dreadlocks and Mohawks as well as the ska/mod fashion, although sometimes they wore only their musical instruments. Fishbone "brought the Funk to the Punk.
- 10/26/2011
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
Co-directors Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler screened a world premiere of their film Everyday Sunshine – The Story of Fishbone at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival. Now in October 2011, the film is enjoying theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles, and other select cities. While we weren’t able to sit down with Lev and Chris, we sent them some questions about their film and how it all came together. Here’s what the directors had to say.
Have you always been a fan of Fishbone? What made you want to make a documentary about the band?
Yep, we were fans of the band and we thought Fishbone would be a fun story to tell. Looking at how the group met while being bussed from South Central to Woodland Hills in the late 1970s as part of desegregation efforts and through their career, we knew we could tell a parallel story...
Have you always been a fan of Fishbone? What made you want to make a documentary about the band?
Yep, we were fans of the band and we thought Fishbone would be a fun story to tell. Looking at how the group met while being bussed from South Central to Woodland Hills in the late 1970s as part of desegregation efforts and through their career, we knew we could tell a parallel story...
- 10/24/2011
- by Film Independent
- Film Independent
Mike Everleth, editor of Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film, has recently returned to the American Film Institute to do more research work for AFI’s Catalog of Feature Films, an extensive database of every American film that has been released theatrically in the U.S.
Mike was originally hired by AFI back in 2010 to work on a 10-month long project to add basic records for films released in the U.S. between 1975 and the present. After the successful completion of that project, now Mike has been asked back to the AFI Catalog to assist in expanding those records to contain more detailed historical data. More information on how the Catalog is being currently developed can be found on the AFI website.
Regular readers of Bad Lit will be pleased to know that many underground films are contained in the catalog, from George Kuchar’s The Devil’s Cleavage...
Mike was originally hired by AFI back in 2010 to work on a 10-month long project to add basic records for films released in the U.S. between 1975 and the present. After the successful completion of that project, now Mike has been asked back to the AFI Catalog to assist in expanding those records to contain more detailed historical data. More information on how the Catalog is being currently developed can be found on the AFI website.
Regular readers of Bad Lit will be pleased to know that many underground films are contained in the catalog, from George Kuchar’s The Devil’s Cleavage...
- 10/21/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 10th annual Lausanne Underground Film Festival is a truly epic film event with an immense lineup of the strangest, sexiest, most grotesque, oddball and downright freakish movies from all over the world — from modern underground treats to classic cult movies of yesteryear.
The fest officially begins on Oct. 15 with a special live performance by the legendary Diamanda Galas. But the film festivities run from Oct. 17-23, starting with the grand opening of an exhibition and retrospective of the films by Ericka Beckman.
The full film lineup, which is presented below, is a massive mix of underground greatness, but here are some of the highlights:
Gross-Out Flicks:
Chop, dir. Trent Haaga.
The Taint, dir. Drew Bolduc and Dan Nelson.
Calibre 9, dir. Jean-Christian Tassy.
The Bunny Game, dir. Adam Rehmeier
Trippy Movies:
Profane, dir. Usama Alshaibi
The Oregonian, dir. Calvin Lee Reeder
Hellacious Acres: The Case of John Glass, dir.
The fest officially begins on Oct. 15 with a special live performance by the legendary Diamanda Galas. But the film festivities run from Oct. 17-23, starting with the grand opening of an exhibition and retrospective of the films by Ericka Beckman.
The full film lineup, which is presented below, is a massive mix of underground greatness, but here are some of the highlights:
Gross-Out Flicks:
Chop, dir. Trent Haaga.
The Taint, dir. Drew Bolduc and Dan Nelson.
Calibre 9, dir. Jean-Christian Tassy.
The Bunny Game, dir. Adam Rehmeier
Trippy Movies:
Profane, dir. Usama Alshaibi
The Oregonian, dir. Calvin Lee Reeder
Hellacious Acres: The Case of John Glass, dir.
- 10/13/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer’s 2004 documentary Plagues & Pleasures On The Salton Sea covers the strange history of the manmade body of water in southern California, and how it sustained a vibrant tourist industry in the 1950s until excessive salinity made the region hostile to wildlife. Alma Har’el’s documentary Bombay Beach doesn’t bother establishing much context for its study of one run-down town on the shores of the Salton Sea; it’s more impressionistic, splicing together images of extreme poverty and decay while peeking in at the lives of three Bombay Beach residents. Har’el spent ...
- 10/13/2011
- avclub.com
The 14th annual Antimatter Film Festival in Vancouver, BC, Canada is an epic 9-day event of expanded cinema performances, feature-length documentaries an a ton of experimental short films and festivals.
There are seven feature documentaries screening including Marie Losier‘s hit The Ballad of Genesis & Lady Jaye, a profile of the pandrogenous entity, Breyer P-Orridge; and Chris Metzler & Lev Kalman’s popular Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, about the legendary ska punk band. Plus, there’s Adele Horne’s And Again and more.
On the expanded cinema front, Antimatter welcomes retrospectives of Kerry Laitala, who will be presenting a selection of her 3D light and motion experiments; and Roger Beebe will screen a series of multi-projector performances.
As for the short films, the real highlight of the fest is a screening of Jaimz Asmundson‘s trippy and powerful The Magus, a fictional/documentary hybrid of his father’s Satanic painting process.
There are seven feature documentaries screening including Marie Losier‘s hit The Ballad of Genesis & Lady Jaye, a profile of the pandrogenous entity, Breyer P-Orridge; and Chris Metzler & Lev Kalman’s popular Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, about the legendary ska punk band. Plus, there’s Adele Horne’s And Again and more.
On the expanded cinema front, Antimatter welcomes retrospectives of Kerry Laitala, who will be presenting a selection of her 3D light and motion experiments; and Roger Beebe will screen a series of multi-projector performances.
As for the short films, the real highlight of the fest is a screening of Jaimz Asmundson‘s trippy and powerful The Magus, a fictional/documentary hybrid of his father’s Satanic painting process.
- 10/12/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
If a filmmaker is committed to being honest, no band's story worth telling is easy. If it's a look backward, you only (!) have to contend with multiple, often volatile, personalities. But when the music is still a going concern, you also must deal with the band as an entity unto itself. Such was the case with "Everyday Sunshine," Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler's documentary about Fishbone, the punk/ska/funk band ...
- 10/5/2011
- indieWIRE - People
If a filmmaker is committed to being honest, no band's story worth telling is easy. If it's a look backward, you only (!) have to contend with multiple, often volatile, personalities. But when the music is still a going concern, you also must deal with the band as an entity unto itself. Such was the case with "Everyday Sunshine," Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler's documentary about Fishbone, the punk/ska/funk band ...
- 10/5/2011
- Indiewire
If a filmmaker is committed to being honest, no band's story worth telling is easy. If it's a look backward, you only (!) have to contend with multiple, often volatile, personalities. But when the music is still a going concern, you also must deal with the band as an entity unto itself. Such was the case with "Everyday Sunshine," Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler's documentary about Fishbone, the punk/ska/funk band ...
- 10/5/2011
- indieWIRE - People
“Everyday Sunshine: The Story Of Fishbone”
A documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler
Opens in NY at ReRun Theater in Brooklyn on October 7
Opens in La at Laemmle Sunset 5 on October 21
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Fishbone; their new CD is being released on October 11
Pale Griot Films are proud to present the Us Theatrical release of Everyday Sunshine: The Story Of Fishbone, a documentary directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler. The film had its World Premiere at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, and went on to screen at Mill Valley and SXSW film festivals, among many others. Everyday Sunshine will open on October 7, 2011 at the ReRun Theater in Brooklyn, NY, and on October 21, 2011 at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in Los Angeles, CA. Many other cities (including Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, DC) will follow. Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, the band will also release their much-anticipated...
A documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler
Opens in NY at ReRun Theater in Brooklyn on October 7
Opens in La at Laemmle Sunset 5 on October 21
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Fishbone; their new CD is being released on October 11
Pale Griot Films are proud to present the Us Theatrical release of Everyday Sunshine: The Story Of Fishbone, a documentary directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler. The film had its World Premiere at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, and went on to screen at Mill Valley and SXSW film festivals, among many others. Everyday Sunshine will open on October 7, 2011 at the ReRun Theater in Brooklyn, NY, and on October 21, 2011 at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in Los Angeles, CA. Many other cities (including Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, DC) will follow. Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, the band will also release their much-anticipated...
- 9/21/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The 11th annual Nevada City Film Festival, running Aug. 18-21, is four nights crammed full with short films, several feature-length documentaries, one dramatic feature, stand-up comedy performances and more surprises, all nestled within the rolling hills of Northern California.
The fest opens with the feature documentary Someplace With a Mountain, directed by Steve Goodall and narrated by Chevy Chase. The film tells the story of the embattled people of the Puluwat atoll who are besieged by the Pacific Ocean itself. Rising waters due to global warming are making their land slowly disappear beneath the waves.
Other feature docs include music-based films We Are Wizards, directed by Josh Koury, about the oddball phenomenon of rock bands that only craft songs about the world of Harry Potter; and Everyday Sunshine, directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, which profiles the legendary ska punk band Fishbone that continues to bring their enthusiastic music to the masses.
The fest opens with the feature documentary Someplace With a Mountain, directed by Steve Goodall and narrated by Chevy Chase. The film tells the story of the embattled people of the Puluwat atoll who are besieged by the Pacific Ocean itself. Rising waters due to global warming are making their land slowly disappear beneath the waves.
Other feature docs include music-based films We Are Wizards, directed by Josh Koury, about the oddball phenomenon of rock bands that only craft songs about the world of Harry Potter; and Everyday Sunshine, directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, which profiles the legendary ska punk band Fishbone that continues to bring their enthusiastic music to the masses.
- 8/17/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 17th annual San Antonio Film Festival is back with their 17th annual edition, which will run on June 16-26 at several locations around the city. Once again, the fest is a truly international affair with a special emphasis on films produced south of the border.
The feature films and shorts this year come from as far away as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Madrid and London, but there are also numerous films from Central and South America, including two features from Mexico: Gerardo Tort’s Viaje Redondo; and Roberto Hernández & Geoffrey Smith’s Presunto Culpable.
There are also lots of regionally-made films, including two special programs featuring short films by local high school students, co-presented with Klrn public television.
Plus, once again, the fest is chock full of documentaries, from sports docs like Robert Herrera’s The Gray Seasons, to activist docs like Jon Cooksey’s How to Boil a Frog,...
The feature films and shorts this year come from as far away as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Madrid and London, but there are also numerous films from Central and South America, including two features from Mexico: Gerardo Tort’s Viaje Redondo; and Roberto Hernández & Geoffrey Smith’s Presunto Culpable.
There are also lots of regionally-made films, including two special programs featuring short films by local high school students, co-presented with Klrn public television.
Plus, once again, the fest is chock full of documentaries, from sports docs like Robert Herrera’s The Gray Seasons, to activist docs like Jon Cooksey’s How to Boil a Frog,...
- 6/6/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from the 2011 Newport Beach Film Festival
Directed/Written by: Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler
Featuring: Kendall Jones, Norwood Fisher, Chris Dowd, Phillip Fisher, “Dirty” Walt Kibby II, Angelo Moore, Ice-t, Flea, Tim Robbins, Branford Marsalis, Perry Farrell and Gwen Stefani; narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
The ska/punk/funk-fuelled documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler begins at a frantic pace, exuding the energy of a band that mixed dozens of types of music within a single song, and employs interviews with one industry giant after another to cast an everlasting impression of the band’s influence. Of course, time always passes, and the band Fishbone itself, with some members still singing, some slinging and some seemingly miles away, is in various states of a funk, playing to small Eastern European audiences and left wondering whether they’d do it the same if they had the opportunity.
(from the 2011 Newport Beach Film Festival
Directed/Written by: Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler
Featuring: Kendall Jones, Norwood Fisher, Chris Dowd, Phillip Fisher, “Dirty” Walt Kibby II, Angelo Moore, Ice-t, Flea, Tim Robbins, Branford Marsalis, Perry Farrell and Gwen Stefani; narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
The ska/punk/funk-fuelled documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler begins at a frantic pace, exuding the energy of a band that mixed dozens of types of music within a single song, and employs interviews with one industry giant after another to cast an everlasting impression of the band’s influence. Of course, time always passes, and the band Fishbone itself, with some members still singing, some slinging and some seemingly miles away, is in various states of a funk, playing to small Eastern European audiences and left wondering whether they’d do it the same if they had the opportunity.
- 5/4/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from the 2011 Newport Beach Film Festival
Directed/Written by: Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler
Featuring: Kendall Jones, Norwood Fisher, Chris Dowd, Phillip Fisher, “Dirty” Walt Kibby II, Angelo Moore, Ice-t, Flea, Tim Robbins, Branford Marsalis, Perry Farrell and Gwen Stefani; narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
The ska/punk/funk-fuelled documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler begins at a frantic pace, exuding the energy of a band that mixed dozens of types of music within a single song, and employs interviews with one industry giant after another to cast an everlasting impression of the band’s influence. Of course, time always passes, and the band Fishbone itself, with some members still singing, some slinging and some seemingly miles away, is in various states of a funk, playing to small Eastern European audiences and left wondering whether they’d do it the same if they had the opportunity.
(from the 2011 Newport Beach Film Festival
Directed/Written by: Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler
Featuring: Kendall Jones, Norwood Fisher, Chris Dowd, Phillip Fisher, “Dirty” Walt Kibby II, Angelo Moore, Ice-t, Flea, Tim Robbins, Branford Marsalis, Perry Farrell and Gwen Stefani; narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
The ska/punk/funk-fuelled documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler begins at a frantic pace, exuding the energy of a band that mixed dozens of types of music within a single song, and employs interviews with one industry giant after another to cast an everlasting impression of the band’s influence. Of course, time always passes, and the band Fishbone itself, with some members still singing, some slinging and some seemingly miles away, is in various states of a funk, playing to small Eastern European audiences and left wondering whether they’d do it the same if they had the opportunity.
- 5/4/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Chicago – “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone” aspires to be more than an episode of “Behind the Music” and succeeds largely due to the amazing talent of the band it chronicles, the stunning, one-and-only Fishbone. It’s common for a critic to call a great, underrated band influential but Fishbone doesn’t really qualify because what they did was so unique that it’s impossible to copy.
The documentary about them, playing Saturday night, April 16th, 2011, at the Chicago International Music & Movies Festival, expresses the band’s incredible individuality while also not quite getting a finger on what worked about them, why they weren’t bigger, or what happened later. It’s an interesting piece of filmmaking mostly due to the fact that Fishbone rules, but it’s a little light on subject matter for the length of a theatrical documentary.
Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Everyday Sunshine” in our reviews section.
Chicago – “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone” aspires to be more than an episode of “Behind the Music” and succeeds largely due to the amazing talent of the band it chronicles, the stunning, one-and-only Fishbone. It’s common for a critic to call a great, underrated band influential but Fishbone doesn’t really qualify because what they did was so unique that it’s impossible to copy.
The documentary about them, playing Saturday night, April 16th, 2011, at the Chicago International Music & Movies Festival, expresses the band’s incredible individuality while also not quite getting a finger on what worked about them, why they weren’t bigger, or what happened later. It’s an interesting piece of filmmaking mostly due to the fact that Fishbone rules, but it’s a little light on subject matter for the length of a theatrical documentary.
Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Everyday Sunshine” in our reviews section.
- 4/14/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Still on the festival circuit, Everyday Sushine: The Story of Fishbone makes a pit stop at the Atlanta Film Festival this month.
The documentary, directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, covers the rise and fall of the popular musical group Fishbone, an 80′s underground group known for their ska-punk-funk sound.
The film delves into many issues including why they never received mainstream success as their white counterparts did and their never-ending dilemma of being “too white” for black audiences and “too black” for white audiences.
Synopsis:
Everyday Sunshine is a documentary about Fishbone, musical pioneers rocking on the margins of pop culture for the past 25 years. From the streets of South Central-Los Angeles and the competitive Hollywood music scene of the 1980′s, the band rose to prominence, only to fall apart when on the verge of “making it.”
Suave but serious, Laurence Fishburne narrates Everyday Sunshine, an entertaining cinematic...
The documentary, directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, covers the rise and fall of the popular musical group Fishbone, an 80′s underground group known for their ska-punk-funk sound.
The film delves into many issues including why they never received mainstream success as their white counterparts did and their never-ending dilemma of being “too white” for black audiences and “too black” for white audiences.
Synopsis:
Everyday Sunshine is a documentary about Fishbone, musical pioneers rocking on the margins of pop culture for the past 25 years. From the streets of South Central-Los Angeles and the competitive Hollywood music scene of the 1980′s, the band rose to prominence, only to fall apart when on the verge of “making it.”
Suave but serious, Laurence Fishburne narrates Everyday Sunshine, an entertaining cinematic...
- 4/13/2011
- by Cynthia
- ShadowAndAct
The 8th annual Calgary Underground Film Festival is set to run on April 11-17 at The Plaza Theater with 18 feature films and documentaries, several live performances, a classic cartoon extravaganza and Cuff’s legendary 48-hour Movie Making Challenge.
Sentient car tires. Wrongly accused hillbillies. Post-apocalyptic vampire hunters. Rage-filled neighbors. Real-life superheroes. Angry Star Wars fans. Those are just a few of the oddball characters you’ll find in the Cuff lineup below that includes festival hits such as Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, The Woman, Superheroes, A Horrible Way to Die, Shut Up Little Man!, Rubber and more.
Some of the special events include: Not only a screening of Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson’s documentary Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, but a live concert by the band after the screening. Plus, there will be a wild live burlesque show being held as a fundraiser for the upcoming film...
Sentient car tires. Wrongly accused hillbillies. Post-apocalyptic vampire hunters. Rage-filled neighbors. Real-life superheroes. Angry Star Wars fans. Those are just a few of the oddball characters you’ll find in the Cuff lineup below that includes festival hits such as Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, The Woman, Superheroes, A Horrible Way to Die, Shut Up Little Man!, Rubber and more.
Some of the special events include: Not only a screening of Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson’s documentary Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, but a live concert by the band after the screening. Plus, there will be a wild live burlesque show being held as a fundraiser for the upcoming film...
- 4/6/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Directors: Lev Anderson, Chris Metzler Writers: Lev Anderson, Chris Metzler Starring: Laurence Fishburne (narrator), Norwood Fisher, Angelo Moore, Chris Dowd, Dirty Walt Kibby II, David Kahne, Ice T, Larren Jones, Kendall Jones, Flea, Gwen Stefani, George Clinton, Mike Watt, Vernon Reid, Questlove, Dazireen Moore Let’s start at the very beginning...and the Black history of Los Angeles leads effortlessly right into the meeting of the original core members of Fishbone at a predominantly Caucasian high school. From there John Norwood Fisher (bass, vocals), Phillip "Fish" Fisher (drums), Angelo Moore (vocals, saxophone), Kendall Jones (guitar), "Dirty" Walter A. Kibby II (vocals, trumpet) and Christopher Dowd (keyboards, trombone, vocals) plunged right into the white La punk scene of the early 1980s. As a band, they were a pure democracy; everyone with their own personality and input, creating a sound that is still to this very day an unclassifiable hodgepodge of musical styles.
- 2/7/2011
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
The 8th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is all set to run for ten days this Feb. 11-20 in Missoula, Montana. This year, the fest will have a whopping 140 film programs, a growth that necessitates an expansion from its regular home at the Historic Wilma Theatre — where it will occupy two screens — to also feature screenings at the former Pipestone Mountaineering store.
Special events at the fest include a free opening night screening of How to Die in Oregon sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. The film, directed by Peter D. Richardson, examines the impact the legalization of physician-assisted suicide has had on the state. (In 1994, Oregon was the first state to legalize the practice.)
Also, indie rock band Yo La Tengo will perform their acclaimed live score of the films of pioneering French underwater documentary film director Jean Painlevé, something they have done for other film festivals all over the world.
Special events at the fest include a free opening night screening of How to Die in Oregon sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. The film, directed by Peter D. Richardson, examines the impact the legalization of physician-assisted suicide has had on the state. (In 1994, Oregon was the first state to legalize the practice.)
Also, indie rock band Yo La Tengo will perform their acclaimed live score of the films of pioneering French underwater documentary film director Jean Painlevé, something they have done for other film festivals all over the world.
- 1/15/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
“Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone,” a documentary on the creation and life of the funk-punk-rock band Fishbone is more than a simple tale about a successful band as it's truly a commentary on the social and economic movements of the past 30 years. Directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, “Everyday Sunshine” is a compelling documentary for both music and film enthusiasts. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne, its in-depth interviews with band members, friends and fellow musicians from the punk/ska scene of the late 1980’s make it so you don’t have to be a fan of Fishbone to be enthralled…...
- 10/28/2010
- The Playlist
The Cmj Music Marathon and Film Festival is in full swing and The San Francisco Documentary Festival is wrapping up, but you can still catch the entertaining and enlightening new documentary Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone from Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler at both of these great events. At The San Francisco Documentary Festival the film will be screening tonight Thursday October 21st at 9:30Pm at The Roxie Theater. At Cmj in NYC, it will be screening tomorrow, October 22nd at 4:00Pm at the Norwood Private Club with a concert by Fishbone at 9:00Pm at (Le)...
- 10/21/2010
- by Eric Shlapack, Film Festivals Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
Another great blending of music and film gets into full swing today October 20th in NYC at The Cmj Music Marathon and Film Festival. One of the highlights on the slate is the new documentary feature from Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler called Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. The film will also be screening at another great festival currently underway, The San Francisco Documentary Festival, which will be showing the film again on Thursday October 21st at 9:30Pm at The Roxie Theater. I was able to see it earlier this year at The Los Angeles Film Festival...
- 10/20/2010
- by Eric Shlapack, Film Festivals Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
Coming to the legendary Cmj Music Marathon and Film Festival, which opens today October 19th, is an event you really don't want to miss out on. One of the greatest performance bands of all time, the Los Angeles born legends Fishbone, led by the cool brothers Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher, will be at (Le) Poisson Rouge this Friday night, October 22nd for a special performance following the screening of the new documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. The screening will be at The Norwood Private Club at 4:00Pm with the...
- 10/19/2010
- by Eric Shlapack, Film Festivals Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
Coming to The 6th Annual Tucson Film and Music Festival tonight is an event unlike any you will see on a normal Tucson night. One of the greatest performance bands of all time, the Los Angeles born legends Fishbone, led by the cool brothers Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher, will be at The Rialto Theatre tonight for a special performance following the screening of the new documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. Starting with the screening at 9:00Pm and followed by the Fishbone show, this is going to be an energetic,...
- 10/9/2010
- by Eric Shlapack, Tucson Film Industry Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
One of my favorite films from the festival trail this year is here Tucson, and it will be a film and music event unlike any you have seen. The new documentary by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler called Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone will play at 9:00Pm at The Rialto Theatre, immediately followed by a live performance from Fishbone. If you don't know about Fishbone, you have a chance to get the story and a live performance by one of the most original and energetic live acts ever. I had the opportunity to recently talk with the film's co-directors and...
- 10/9/2010
- by Eric Shlapack, Tucson Film Industry Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
One of the great celebrations of art and its collaborative nature, The 6th Annual Tucson Film and Music Festival has recently released their lineup of films, music videos, and events for the October 7th through the 11th fest. Some really good films that I have had the chance to see already this year, especially Los Angeles Film Festival hit and Tfmf Centerpiece Film Everyday Sunshine, The Story of Fishbone, directed by Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler. Not having seen Fishbone perform live in my life (this film filled that void thankfully), I feel as if I have missed out, but this...
- 9/20/2010
- by ericshla
- Examiner Movies Channel
The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival is set to run June 17-27 in a brand new location. Oh, it’s still in L.A, but it’s moving across town, from Westwood — where it’s been held the past few years — all the way over to Downtown.
The main “hub” for the fest will be the new L.A. Live complex, but there will also be screenings at other locations, such as the Downtown Independent and Redcat theaters. The city is really trying to build downtown up into a major arts and culture hub, so the festival moving there fits in with that agenda. Film Independent, the organization that runs Laff, also runs the annual Independent Spirit Awards, an event that also moved downtown — from Santa Monica — this year.
On Bad Lit, I tend to like to put up festival lineups that include days and times of screenings. However, since I...
The main “hub” for the fest will be the new L.A. Live complex, but there will also be screenings at other locations, such as the Downtown Independent and Redcat theaters. The city is really trying to build downtown up into a major arts and culture hub, so the festival moving there fits in with that agenda. Film Independent, the organization that runs Laff, also runs the annual Independent Spirit Awards, an event that also moved downtown — from Santa Monica — this year.
On Bad Lit, I tend to like to put up festival lineups that include days and times of screenings. However, since I...
- 5/17/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Like the headline says, the complete lineup for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival has been announced and it's a fascinating, eclectic mix. How happy am I to see music doc Separado! in there? Pretty damn happy, as it's one of my absolute favorites of the year and has been resoundingly overlooked. Read the complete announcement below!
Normal 0 false false false En-ca X-none X-none MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Los Angeles (May 4, 2010) - Today Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, announced the official selections for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Festival will run from Thursday, June 17 to Sunday, June 27 in downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. Live. Now in its sixteenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American...
Normal 0 false false false En-ca X-none X-none MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Los Angeles (May 4, 2010) - Today Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, announced the official selections for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Festival will run from Thursday, June 17 to Sunday, June 27 in downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. Live. Now in its sixteenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American...
- 5/4/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Today Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, announced the official selections for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Festival will run from Thursday, June 17 to Sunday, June 27 in downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. Live. Now in its sixteenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema and providing the movie-loving public with access to critically acclaimed filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent from around the world.
The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen over 200 feature films, shorts, and music videos, representing more than 40 countries. This year, the Festival received more than 4,700 submissions from filmmakers around the world. The final selections represent 28 World, North American, and U.S. premieres, which more...
The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen over 200 feature films, shorts, and music videos, representing more than 40 countries. This year, the Festival received more than 4,700 submissions from filmmakers around the world. The final selections represent 28 World, North American, and U.S. premieres, which more...
- 5/4/2010
- by Staff
- Hollywoodnews.com
Normal.dotm 0 0 1 3258 18575 Film Independent 154 37 22811 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false
- Focus Features' The Kids Are All Right to Kick Off Festival -
- World Premiere of Universal Pictures' 3-D CGI Feature Despicable Me Selected for Closing Night -
- Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to have World Premiere -
- Galas include Animal Kingdom, Cyrus, Mahler on the Couch, Revolución,& Waiting for Superman -
Los Angeles (May 4, 2010) - Today Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, announced the official selections for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Festival will run from Thursday, June 17 to Sunday, June 27 in downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. Live. Now in its sixteenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing...
- Focus Features' The Kids Are All Right to Kick Off Festival -
- World Premiere of Universal Pictures' 3-D CGI Feature Despicable Me Selected for Closing Night -
- Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to have World Premiere -
- Galas include Animal Kingdom, Cyrus, Mahler on the Couch, Revolución,& Waiting for Superman -
Los Angeles (May 4, 2010) - Today Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and year-round artist development programs and exhibition events, announced the official selections for the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Festival will run from Thursday, June 17 to Sunday, June 27 in downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. Live. Now in its sixteenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing...
- 5/4/2010
- by maint
- Film Independent
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.