Kirsten Studio

This week I managed to make it to 2 panels on social issues and the media.  The first was put together by IFP and The Fledgling Fund.  The title was Industry Connect: New Outreach Strategies for Social Issue Documentaries. The speakers were those involved in the documentary Lioness.  Directors, Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers the [...]

If you need a reminder of what it’s like to live in the mind and body of a kid, with all it’s limitless imagination and boundless energy, I recommend you go see Where the Wild Things Are.  And if you remember Maurice Sendak’s book this film is inspired by, you’ll appreciate it’s spirit even more.

On a slightly less political note, the 7th MoMA International Festival for Film Preservation started on October 24th and continues through November 16th, 2009.  The line up of screenings looks terrific. Take a peek. To Save and Project: The Seventh MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation A great New York Times article on MoMA’s festival, [...]

“Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.” [...]

This week I was able to get to The Paley Center for Media’s annual DocFest. This year’s theme is “Where Politics Meets Culture”.  Monday night I caught The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall and last night saw Reporter.  Although The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall by filmmaker Oliver Halmburger was an interesting [...]

This morning I had the pleasure of attending a screening at Parsons New School.  It was a collaboration between the professor Nora Krug and the founder of Artfully Unforgotten, Heather Metcalfe.  The presentation consisted of the 15 minute short Heather and I have been working on as well as a post panel discussion with Heather, [...]

I view the pacing of a film as a fine art that’s part technical and part feeling and when I’m the one creating the pace, it’s sometimes tough to know when it’s on spot.  One day I might be sure I’ve got it, the next  I could have a slightly (or completely) different interpretation.  Finding [...]

With the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the current President of the United States to mixed reviews, for me a question of worth came to mind.  Does America value hope enough? Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, according to the Nobel Foundation’s website, “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation [...]

The Paley Center’s 2009 PaleyDocFest gets underway tomorrow and the lineup is impressive.  ”Where Politics Meets Culture” is this year’s theme with screenings of award winning films such as The Way We Get By (2009 Special Jury Award SXSW Festival, 2009 Audience Award winner, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival) and other critically acclaimed documentaries like the [...]

Not to overdo it with all the crisis and change talk, but I think this event is noteworthy.  Last week a gathering took place at New York’s MOMA.  A co-sponsored event with indieWire and Zipline Entertainment.  The subject?  The independent film crisis.  Take a look at Eugene Hernandez’ article on indiewire.com or Scott Macaulay‘s blog [...]