Tell your story. Change the world. Cast your vote.
September 4th, 2010 by
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The March of Time offered “pictorial journalism”
September 2nd, 2010 by
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MoMA along with HBO will be screening a total of 9 programs from September 1st through the 10th. Topics range from politically risky 1938′s Inside Nazi Germany, to lighter fare, such as 1950′s The Male Look. The series is organized by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film and presented courtesy of HBO, Inc.
Last night I caught MoMA’s Program 1, special event with a post panel guest line up, including an introduction and moderation by actor, film historian and host on Turner Classic Movies’ Robert Osborne (how does one manage to grow thicker hair with age…). [Read more →]
Tags: Al Jolson · Alan Brinkley · Carole Lombard · Charles Silver curator · Clark Gable · David Sarnoff · docudrama · HBO Archives · Henry Luce · Hollywood and World War II · Hollywood Canteen · Inside Nazi Germany newsreel · Louis de Rochemont · Major Norman Hatch · Marlene Dietrich · MoMA film · pictorial journalism · Richard Koszarski · Robert Osborne · Roy Larsen The March of Time · The March of Time · Time Inc. · Westbrook Van VoohisNo Comments.
LinkTV puts value on stories of progress
August 30th, 2010 by
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Link TV, an online media broadcaster that focuses its programing on material that engages, educates and activates viewers to become involved in the world, has extended their ViewChange Online Film Contest to September 3rd.
ViewChange.org, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a digital media based organization that highlights progress in reducing hunger, poverty, and disease in developing nations. So, if you are interested in social issue documentaries, and/or you are a filmmaker, you may be excited about the possibilities of this, like I am. After all stories can initiate and cultivate activism. It’s been known to happen.
In their short film competition, ViewChange is asking for 5 minute video stories that tell of progress in developing countries, such as what people are doing out there to reduce and eliminate disease, hunger, conflict, inequality and illiteracy. They want to hear about progress toward achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Grand Prize is $20,000. If you’re a social issue documentary filmmaker, you may be excited about those possibilities as well. Piecemeal funding seems to be the way to get independent films made anymore, so every dollar counts.
Link TV is offering a fairly prestigious line-up of judges. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Gael García Bernal, Wim Wenders, Danny Glover are among the panel. Just upload your video with the ViewChange end tag, keep it under 100MB and you’re good to go. And of course make sure it’s visual and emotionally dynamic, more so than anyone else’s, that it highlights one or more MDGs and consider the check in the mail.
What is seriously great about this competition though is the positive aspect of what all these stories will bring its viewers (videos will be open to public voting for a period before being turned over to the judges). Because we could all use a little news about progress right now, and an alternate media resource to view it through.
Tags: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation · Chimamanda Nogozi Adichie · Danny Glover · Gael Garcia Bernal · Link Tv · MDGs · United Nations Millennium Development Goals · View Change · ViewChange Online Film Contest · ViewChange.org · Wim WendersNo Comments.
Hitchcock classics on the UWS
August 30th, 2010 by
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With summer still hanging on and most industry happenings not really picking up until mid-to-late September, I’m still attending more films purely for the joy what movies are, for the most part, intended to provide – entertainment.
The Upper West Side’s Symphony Space is currently showing a handful of Alfred Hitchcock’s most well know Technicolor suspense thrillers. On this hot evening, I sat in a nice cool theater and saw Rear Window 1954, for the first time on the big screen. Like the voyeuristic characters in the film, once again I became immersed in the window before me and the world of that 1950′s New York inner court yard.
It doesn’t matter how many times I see my favorite of his Technicolor films, I always notice something new. Seeing the restored version (The film’s restoration was, I believe, originally released back in 200 and done by Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz, who also did the restoration on Vertigo) in large projection allowed for even more discovery. Grace Kelly never looked more beautiful. Edith Head could dress her like no other costume designer and Hitchcock could shoot her like not other director. Jimmy Stewart’s eyes were bluer than I’d ever seen them.
Rear Window is a completely terrific and still effective, enjoyable film from top to bottom with a incredible supporting cast and stellar behind the scenes talent, such as a script by John Michael Hayes, music by Franz Waxman, cinematography by Robert Burks and of course I can’t leave out the editor, George Tomasini. Some might argue that it’s dated, but for the most part, it isn’t. Jimmy Stewart’s character is too often less sympathetic and more rude during a few of his scenes with his leading lady, but the dialogue around what was considered the constraints of marriage is a sign of those times, I suppose. So, I’m willing to forgive John Michael Hayes for the heavy handed female stereotyping. Other than a few of those moments and a few mental “wows” over certain amazingly clever shots, I got lost in the story and thought less about picking apart the construction of the piece. Because, regardless of how many times I’ve seen this movie, I still tense up as though I have no idea what the outcome will be.
The Symphony Space will be screening several Hitchcock films through September 5th.
Tags: Alfred Hitchcock · Franz Waxman · George Tomasini · Grace Kelly · James C. Katz · James Stewart · John Michael Hayes · Rear Window · Robert A. Harris · Robert Burks · Symphony Space · VertigoNo Comments.
IFP caters to documentary filmmaking
August 23rd, 2010 by
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After a summer of pretty light film oriented happenings (other than the awesome UN and IFP partnership Envision in July), I’m ready for some real industry events and September looks promising.
Although IFP always devotes time to the documentary filmmaker, this year promises two days on the subject and is bringing in Sheila Nevins, President of HBO Documentary Films as one of their headliners. I’ve attended various panels in the last couple of years. The first time I only attended one day which was devoted to activism and documentary filmmaking. Last year I attended about 4 panels, all of which I found a little depressing, but that had more to do with the overall independent film market and it’s scramble to survive than it really did the event itself. But this year is a brand new one and even though the industry is still scrabbling, it somehow seems less bleak and I’m anxious to get a little information and inspiration with two days on documentary filmmaking. The IFP Filmmaker Conference is September 19th through September 23rd. September 21st is The Truth About Non-Fiction and 22nd is The Reel World: Doc and Fiction Collide. Check out the schedule here.
Tags: Envision · HBO · IFP · IFP Filmmaker conference · IFP Independent Filmmaker Conference · NYC documentary Filmmaking events · Sheila Nevins · Social Issue DocumentaryNo Comments.
The Reel Double Deal: In 3-D
August 22nd, 2010 by
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Right now, the Film Forum bring it’s audience terrific 1950′s classics in 3-D by way of the amazing vintage double-system projection. As the Film Forum website boasts, “As they were during Hollywood’s first 3-D Golden Age (1953-54), all the films in this series will be screened using Polaroid filters and lenses and double-system projection: two big reels running simultaneously, one for the left eye and one for the right – not the vastly inferior single-system “red/green glasses” variety…”
The double-system projection doesn’t disappoint either. I caught the late showing of Dial M For Murder, 1954, which screened to a packed house, and the 3-D had incredible depth. That depth mixed with the Technicolor saturation of Grace Kelly’s opening scene red backless gown was something to remember. Gorgeous. (Half of her costumes are backless. Hitchcock knew about subtile eroticism. I’m sure it didn’t hurt to have Edith Head on the team either.)
You may have seen some of these classics on television or DVD, but you probably haven’t seen them in 3-D and you maybe haven’t seen these amazing movies on a big screen with a full audience. I can attest that seeing films like this with in a packed house is a very different experience than home viewing. There is of course, pre-screening eavesdropping. When attending a movie alone or breaks between your own conversation while waiting for the previews to begin, there is more often than not some entertaining chats going on around you. Last night’s consisted mainly of Facebook discussions. Literally three different groups of people were talking about “poking”, “friending” or rejecting a “friend request”. This I believe kind of supports my last blog, but I’ll refrain from digression here. Often times, however, a little eavesdropping provides a better idea of what kind of audience a film draws and if some of that audience is talking about film, it’s interesting to hear other perspectives from people you don’t know. [Read more →]
Tags: 1950's 3-D movies · Dial M For Murder · double-system 3-D projection · Edith Head · Film Forum · Grace Kelly · Hitchock · House of Wax · New York Stereoscopic SocietyNo Comments.
Remembering to focus
August 16th, 2010 by
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I just returned from a great vacation. A few days before leaving I got my Cinema Editor publication (“The Television Issue”) in the mail, so I stuffed it in my carry-on. I wanted something interesting to read on the flight. Instead I spent the entire air time absorbed in bad movies because the in-flight video players had a selection of schlock to choose from. I happily settled in and watched films I would never normally pay my hard earned 12 or 15 bucks to see at the theater while I loaded up on rubbery plane food and a couple cheap single serving wine bottles.
On my way home from vacation, however, I took the high road. Well, I did watch a couple silly movies, but in between I took time to read. When I get my Cinema Editor magazine, I usually start from page one and read it through from cover to cover over the course of multiple subway rides. Since I had hours to burn in this particular situation, I ended up reading most of it in one sitting. In this edition, the article that gave me the most food for thought was Vincent LoBrutto’s (writer and EditFest NY moderator!) Boxed In or How the DVD-TV Boxed Set Liberated Viewers from Designated Time Slots and Electronic Taping Systems, But Trapped Them into a Marathon Weekend Screening an Entire Season of a Network or Cable Series. The article is about just that, but also addressed much more. (a good read outside of my sidetracked blog here which doesn’t cover the main subject his article)
Mr. LoBrutto writes, “In the seminal years of television part of the intensity of the viewing experience was the awareness that the viewing public had one opportunity to watch a given show. It was possible to see a show again (or for the first time) in summer reruns if the networks re-aired the program.” Considering how much of my time is spent attending screenings, watching DVDs, downloading episodes and just generally sitting in front of a screen like I am now, Mr. LuBrotto’s statement gave me something to think about.
Tags: Cinema Editor · Sharon Jayson · Vincent LoBruttoNo Comments.
On the ground & behind the edit
August 2nd, 2010 by
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Sergio, the documentary, is based on the life, humanitarian work and events that lead to the death of Brazilian, United Nations diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello. He and other members of his staff were killed in the 2003 bombing of the Canal Hotel in Iraq. Mr. Vieira de Mello was working as Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Iraq.
From field work under the UNHCR in Bangladesh and Cypris during their conflicts of the 1970′s to his involvement in clearing land mines in Cambodia during the 1990′s, to serving as the UN Transitional Administrator for East Timor in the late 90′s and early 2000′s, Mr. Vieira de Mello’s life reflected his strong belief in the importance of being on the ground and working with people. Remarkable and awe inspiring are words that come to mind when you start to comprehend everything one person packed into one lifetime, and one that was cut short. It’s easy to imagine what more could have been accomplished. After all the film continually refers to him as a 007. Brilliant and charming, Sergio got the seemingly impossible jobs done. People liked him.
The documentary, directed by Greg Barker, was based on the book by Samantha Powers (who also appears in the film). Sergio was aired on HBO for a number of weeks earlier in the year and was available on On-Demand. The film will be available on Netflix soon and Ms. Powers mentioned the filmmakers are working on a study guide for educational organizations.
I attended a United Nations Association of New York (UNA NY) screening of Sergio at The Tribeca Grand Hotel Friday night. I went because I was interested in the subject, Dr. Jamal Benomar, Chef de Cabinet of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was scheduled to speak afterwards (Ms. Powers was a surprise guest), but really the main reason was Karen Schmeer. Ms. Schmeer was the editor on Sergio. She lost her life earlier this year in an accident. At still a very young age, she had already created a large body of impressive works. Sergio was no less so. [Read more →]
Tags: 2003 United Nations bombing in Iraq · Greg Baker · karen schmeer · Samantha Powers · Sergio · Sérgio Vieira de Mello · The Tribeca Grand Hotel · UNA NY · United Nations Association of New YorkNo Comments.
Hammer Films returns from the dead!
July 25th, 2010 by
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Legendary Hammer Films started in 1934. With some fits and starts it began to take real shape following World War II, when productions started again in 1949.
It wasn’t until the last 50′s however where two great entities came together – that of Hammer’s Gothic/Horror/Sci-Fi melodrama subject matter and those amazingly intense blood reds of Technicolor.
Hammer Films has had a long life, but not without death and resurrection. By the time the 1970′s came around, Hammer was in full swing with a history of successful U.S. studio partnerships. During that period however, the color television also became a staple in most households and like the video business of today, it was keeping people home more and more. The film business was beginning to suffer. The 1980′s arrived and Hammer Film’s adapted by making the move from film to television, but it was short lived and the 90′s proved worse.
Enter the millennium. Hammer gets acquired by Cyrte Investments who also purchases the Los Angeles based production company Spitfire Pictures. The acquisition of both Spitfire and Hammer effectively operate as one business with two separate brands. In 2007 Hammer horror turned 50 and to celebrate the occasion the BFI (British Film Institute) restores Hammer’s original Dracula. [Read more →]
Tags: BFI · BFI's Most Wanted · British Film Institute · Christopher Lee · Cyrte Investments · Danielle Radcliffe · Dracula · film preservation · film restoration · Hammer Films · Hammer Productions · Hilary Swank · Spitfire Pictures · Technicolor · The Public Life of Henry the NinthNo Comments.
Maya Deren
July 24th, 2010 by
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As Zeitgeist Films puts it “Maya Deren is arguably the most important and innovative avant-garde filmmaker in the history of American cinema.” MoMA is honoring the artist’s incredible contribution to experimental film with Maya Deren’s Legacy: Women and Experimental Film, curated by MoMA’s Sally Berger (see her blog posts on MoMA’s Inside/Out.
The exhibit which opened May 15 and will run through October 4th, 2010 includes video installation and film programs. Screenings consist of Ms. Deren’s work as well as her influences, such as Carolee Schneemann, Barbara Hammer, and Su Friedrich. The program also offers a loving tribute to Ms. Deren’s life and work in Martina Kudlácek’s documentary, In the Mirror of Maya Deren (2002). The sweet and humbled filmmaker was on hand for Q&A after last night’s viewing.
Jerry Tallmer wrote a beautifully rich article on this MoMA series in The Villager and even the writer’s experiences with the artist herself. Please take a moment to read it. Mr. Tallmer’s description of Ms. Deren’s sensual and mysterious 14 minute masterpiece Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) is more than palatable.
Tags: Barbara Hammer · Carolee Schneemann · experimental film · female directors · female film pioneers · In the Mirror of Maya Deren · Jerry Tallmer · Martina Kudlácek · maya deren · Maya Deren's Legacy: Women and Experimental Film · Meshes of the Afternoon · Sally Berger · Su FriedrichNo Comments.