Still in Motion

Let the Spirit Move You: Two Beauties to Go See in Theaters

Starting this month, there are two films playing in theaters in NYC that I'd like to recommend:  Bari Pearlman's Daughters of Wisdom is screening every Wednesday from July 23 to the last Wednesday in August at the beautiful Rubin Museum of Art.  The filmmakers entered the Buddhist Monastery called Kala Rongo in Nangchen on the northeastern plateau in Tibet.  An order of nuns lives in this remote, exclusively female, retreat.  It's an extraordinary look into a hidden culture and the amazing women who live there.  The film won the Audience Award at the Brooklyn International Film Festival last year, and also played at Mill Valley and Full Frame.  Click here for more info. 

Because I was up at Hot Docs back in April, I missed a lot of the Tribeca fest this year, but one thing I was sure to catch was a special screening of Lou Reed's Berlin by Julian Schnabel.  The movie is exquisite, and the other treat that night was getting to listen to Reed and Schnabel talk about the genesis and evolution of this cinematic dream.  (The moderator, Vanity Fair's music critic, Lisa Robinson, was apparently on the rag and was rather bitchy to audience members, but Schnabel made up for it in his warm and friendly way.)  The back story is that in 1973 when Reed released his haunting and poetic album, Berlin, it was critically panned and disregarded--a commercial flop, in other words.  Consequently, it had never been performed for live audiences in the thirty-three years since its release.  Then, in December of 2006, at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, the entire album was staged for five consecutive nights in front of sold-out (and pretty damned lucky) audiences.  

Musicians Fernando Saunders and Steve Hunter are some of the musicians who played on the original album and they, among others, join Reed on stage at St. Ann's with such unmitigated joy, it's really beautiful.  And it looks gorgeous, as well, thanks to Ellen Kuras' lush and intimate cinematography.  The Brooklyn Youth Chorus adds angelic backup singing and you can see that most of these kids (born decades after the original release of the album) have the same passion for this music and these songs as Reed and Schnabel do, even though the subject matter is dark, sexual, depressing, some might say, perverse; despite their youth, or maybe because of it, they convey all the pain and the transcendence inherent in these stories.  Add to this, a cinematic backdrop of fragile, slow-shutter black and white films directed by Schabel's daughter, Lola, with the stunning and highly emotive, Emmanuelle Seigner (one of the actors in Schnabel's recent work of genius, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) portraying Berlin's protagonist, Caroline.  Thanks to Schnabel's long-time producer, Jon Kilik, and producers Tom Sarag, Stanley Buchthal and Maya Hoffman, Schnabel and Reed resurrect Caroline and her lovers, and they live on in a joyous and celebratory film.  You cannot walk away from this without falling in love with Lou Reed.  And if you've always loved him, you'll love him even more.  Reed has plans to tour Europe this summer with the stage show as the film, released by Fortissimo, opens worldwide.

Strangers in Strange Lands at Maysles Cinema

As reported in an earlier post, the Maysles Institute's new Maysles Cinema, devoted to nonfiction fare, is open for business and they have a wonderful summer series playing right now.  They are presenting "Strangers in Strange Lands: The Explorations of Great French Directors," from July 13 through August 6, featuring eleven rarely-seen films in five different programs by directors such as Louis Malle, Jean Vigo, Chantal Akerman, Jean Epstein, Agnes Varda and Jean Painlevé.  Screenings are open to the public with a suggested admission of just seven bucks (be supportive--pay more).

The series features seminal works of avant-garde documentary, traveling through many terrains, physical, emotional and conceptual.  The series was guest-curated by the Museum of the Moving Image's Livia Bloom.  Bloom states, "The films are entirely site-specific, distinct products of their own place, their own time, and their creators' strong authorial voices.  Yet as each toys with traditional expectations of documentary, travelogue and narrative, they capture the universal experience of being an explorer, a foreigner, and a stranger in a strange land."  All films will be shown in their original versions with English subtitles.  Here's the program:

Sunday, July 13 at 1:00 p.m.  Louis Malle's Phantom India

Tuesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m.  Jean Vigo's A Propos de Nice and Chantal Akerman's News From Home

Tuesday, July 22 and Wednesday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m.  Agnes Varda's L'opéra Mouffe and The Gleaners and I

Tuesday, July 29 and Wednesday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m.  Jean Painlevé's  The Love Life of the Octopus, The Sea-horse, The Vampire and Freshwater Assassins.  The program is also accompanied by the US premiere of a documentary about Painlevé callled Jean Painlevé: A Dream for Marine Biology.

Lastly, on Tuesday, August 5 and Wednesday, August 6 at 7:30 p.m.  Jean Epstein's Finis Terrae, a US premiere of a new restoration of his 1929 black and white silent film with a brand-new score.

Enough to make even the most cynical cinéphile drool with pleasure, right?  Take a summer's night out in Harlem.

Shooting People Interview with Filmmaker Eric Metzgar

Last month, shortly after the Full Frame Festival, the good folks over at Shooting People asked if I'd be interested in doing an interview for them with Eric Metzgar, director of two extraordinary documentaries, The Chances of the World Changing and Life. Support. Music.  Being a fan, of course I said I'd love to, and now you can read our conversation by clicking here.

Metzgar, also a singer/songwriter/musician, has a very moving and quite intense music video called "Song for Morris Mead," currently available to view on his myspace page and next Thursday, the 26th, he'll be playing at Banjo Jim's.  Jason Crigler, the subject of Life. Support. Music., will be a featured player, as will Noe Venable.

Life. Support. Music. is currently in competition at Silverdocs for the Best Music Documentary Award.

Tribeca '08 Fellow, Hugo Perez

As I've mentioned here before, I'm doing a series of interviews for the newly launched Re:Frame Collection of several of the 2008 Tribeca Film Institute Fellows.  Hugo Perez received an Emerging Artist nod, and my interview with him is now posted here.  Perez (pictured with actress, Patricia Clarkson, narrator of his gorgeous Neither Memory Nor Magic) has produced an impressive body of work over the course of the past five years, both fiction and nonfiction, and the project he submitted to Tribeca is a feature script he wrote called Immaculate Conception--I've read it; it's wonderful.  This project will be his narrative feature directorial debut.

There'll be a bit of a lull in interviews over there for most of the summer since I'm about to skedaddle out of town to the Flaherty.  Hot on the heels of that, I have a month's worth of adventures out of the country--first in Dubai, UAE, and then I'll be hanging in London for a bit, ending my sojourn at Britdoc.  I know.  Don't cry for me, Argentina.

And I want to give a big shout-out to my blogger friend and mentor, Agnes Varnum, aka Aggie V (Mr. Schnack's moniker for this little spitfire that's taking Austin by storm).  She's celebrating the two year anniversary of her excellent blog, Doc It Out.  Right on, sister; a big happy anniversary to you!

Les Blank Screens at the Maysles Cinema

I was up in Harlem today visiting the Maysles Institute and got to check out their new cinema space.  There is a simple, intimate screening room with 60 seats on the ground-floor and the space also has a wide-open downstairs area where receptions can be held or an overflow audience can watch what's playing upstairs with the simulcast feed they have set up down there.  For several weeks this summer, Philip Maysles will, once again, lead a youth workshop for neighborhood teens to encourage young filmmakers to expand their cinematic talents.  With the new space downstairs for workshops and editing, and the upstairs cinema to project and screen their works, these kids will have many benefits, not least of which is getting to sit with the master himself, Al Maysles, who, when I stopped by this afternoon, was sitting at his desk working away, as usual.

There aren't that many uptown independent cinemas, so this will provide a great local spot for people to come see rarely-seen documentaries and other fare.  On the 24th and 25th of this month, the legendary and still prolific filmmaker, Les Blank (pictured), will be in attendance to screen A Well Spent Life (1971) and Dry Wood (1973) at 7:30.  On the following evening, he will be screening his Dizzie Gillespie from 1964 with another rarely seen work of his about another famous musician, also at 7:30. 

Don't miss this opportunity to see Blank in person as he presents his intimate cinematic bios.  The Institute is located at 343 Lenox at 127th Street.  The box office opens one hour before show time and suggested admission for screenings is $7 (but you can pay more if you want).  A full calendar of events and screenings and other information about the Maysles Institute can be found here.

Two Quickies

Just wanted to mention a couple of things before I dash off for the day:

I want to personally congratulate Mark Elijah Rosenberg, artistic director of Rooftop Films, program director, Dan Nuxoll and managing director, Genevieve Delaurier and their entire staff and crew on a stellar opening weekend for their 12th summer season.  I know of other local festivals and annual film events that have been around just as long, or longer, that don't begin to measure up to the professionalism, exciting programming and artistic potency that this organization has in its arsenal.  It's a bitch launching and keeping something going in New York City--finding your audience, keeping your audience and growing your audience is a full-time job.  With partners like Scion, IFC, indieWIRE, Indiepix Films, and others, they are obviously intent on kicking ass well into the next decade, and beyond. 

Last night's event in the East Village, on the rooftop of New Design High aka the "Open Road Rooftop," was fantastic and packed with hundreds of people, including downtown princess, Chloe Sevigny and the astoundingly prolific filmmaker and Academy-Award winner, Alex Gibney, in attendance, as well as the star of the evening, Mr. Clayton Patterson, photo and video documentarian, historian and keeper of the flame for the Lower East Side of our fair city, a place that is quite rapidly becoming monetized, corporatized and Disneyfied at an alarming rate.  A.R.E. Weapons opened with a blistering set, followed by the world premiere of Captured.  Big kudos to filmmakers Ben Solomon, Dan Levin and Jenner Furst for crafting a superb and riveting documentary.

Tonight, the special season opening weekend continues.  Click here for more info on the entire summer program.

Item Two:  On Wednesday, June 25, there will be a special downtown reception and screening during the 2008 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at 7:30 at Room Studio.  Cinereach, a supporter of the festival, will present the 2008 Cinereach Award, a $5,000 prize, to (the awesome) Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath for their amazing film, The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), the story of one family's epic journey from war-torn Laos to New York City, 23 years in the making.  Cinereach is an up-and-coming non-profit funded by a group of young filmmakers and philanthropists dedicated to promoting socially-conscious film.  We  will be hearing a lot more from this organization in the very near future.  There will be a conversation with Kuras and Phrasavath after the screening.

Up on the Roof

One of the best film events in New York City has shuttered its doors until the fall.  Thom Powers' Stranger Than Fiction series at the IFC Center had its last screening of the season last night, ending with a wonderful program with the legendary Albert Maysles in attendance bringing his rarely seen 13-minute Psychiatry in Russia (1955), and Showman (1963).  Our friend, Karina Longworth, has a wonderful re-cap of the evening which you can read here.  Bon voyage to Thom as he scoots up north to Toronto with his lovely bride-to-be, his home away from home for the summer leading up to the Toronto International Film Festival, September 4 - 13 (can't wait).

But not to despair too much because the close of STF means the opening of Rooftop Films' new season and they've got a lot on tap, including a collaboration with Shooting People and Indiepix Films called Rooftop Panorama that takes place next week, June 12 - 14, a specially programmed weekend that's part of the '08 Summer Film Series.  The Rooftop Filmmakers' Fund has co-produced dozens of new films and during this special weekend, they will be screening the award-winning short Glory at Sea by Benh Zeitlin on June 12, as well as an excerpt from the upcoming feature-length documentary Persona Non Grata on the 14th.  There will be two panels co-presented with SP and Indiepix on "The Art of the Short Film" and "Cinema and Social Justice."  All three evenings will also include live musical performances and parties with free brew and vino courtesy of Radeberger Beer and Brooklyn Oeneology Wine at local spots such as Matchless Bar in Williamsburg, Fontana's on the Lower East Side and the Old American Can Factory, Gowanus. 

For more info on the Panorama program and a full schedule of screenings and programs throughout the summer, visit the Rooftop site.

Special Flaherty Events in NYC

The 54th Annual Robert Flaherty Film Seminar is only a couple of weeks away and, I'm happy to report that they're booked to the gills.  Fortunately, many of the works being shown at this year's seminar will be available to view for NYC audiences immediately following the seminar at the end of this month.  There will also be a Flaherty at BAM program at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, September 12 - 14, right before IFP's Independent Film Week commences.

The Flaherty is bringing a special program to the MoMA featuring the films of Bahman Ghobadi (pictured).  His distinctive film works (a really fascinating, quite poetic, amalgam of narrative and documentary) explore the culture of the Kurdish people living in the border areas of Iran and Iraq.  His films will screen from June 23 through July 7 and include Turtles Can Fly, A Time for Drunken Horses, Half Moon, Life in Fog (which we're also exhibiting at Documentary Voices in Dubai in July), Daf (Tambourine), War is Over and Marooned in Iraq.  Click here for program details.

CEC ArtsLink, in conjunction with the Flaherty, will present new nonfiction works from Russia.  This is a free program of shorts screening at the Anthology Film Archives on July 1 at 7:30 p.m.  The program includes Children of the Great Lake by Anastasia Tarasova, Phantom of Europe by Igor Morozov and Beslan. The Right to Live. by Olga Stefanova.  All filmmakers will be present for a discussion following the screening.  An RSVP is needed to eryabova@cecartslink.org.  Click here for more info on the complete program.

Docs (and Other Fare) in the BK Starting Tonight

Just a reminder that the 11th Brooklyn International Film Festival begins tonight with the opening night screening of Able Danger, shot in Brooklyn, and partly based on the work of Sander Hicks and his revolutionary Brooklyn cafe-bookstore, Vox Pop.  The festivities take place at the Lyceum starting at 7:30.

There's also a great documentary program slated: this weekend at the Lyceum, I'll be hosting screenings of Enrica Caruso's ABC Colombia at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow.  Then at 4:00 p.m., we're showing Jerry Rothwell's Heavy Load and at 10:00 p.m., Andreas Geiger's Pang Nat Det.  On Sunday at 10:00 p.m., Carny by Alison Murray will have its US premiere--its world premiere was at Hot Docs in Toronto (a still from the film pictured). 

Click here for more info on all the feature, documentary, shorts, experimental and animation programs in store this week.  I'm pretty sure that Brooklyn is home to more filmmakers per capita than Hollywood at this point, so come out and support your hometown festival, folks.

Summertime Hook-Up at DCTV

A few months back, I attended the inaugural launch of DCTV and Shooting People's Hook Me Up program of speed dating-style networking events held at the good ol' Fire Station.  Tonight, there's an open house at 87 Lafayette to kick off the summer.

These events bring together a gaggle of professional independent filmmakers in one room in 3-minute meet-and-greets, quick conversations to find out whether you might be a match for project-based work, and other creative endeavors.  The application deadline to attend is Sunday, June 1st.  The next Hook Me Up is for both documentary and narrative filmmakers.  The first one they put on was just for nonfiction makers and the second one was for the fiction crowd.  I think it's a great idea to mix it all up since most people I know are working on both kinds of projects.  The event will take place on Tuesday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m. at DCTV.  It's a really fun and incredibly well-organized evening--well, after the initial chaos of getting people sorted and ready to scoot around the room.  Click here for more info and the app.  Time to get your pitch on!

On the Road and Parallel Worlds

A couple of cool things for New Yorkers:  Next Wednesday and Thursday, the Paley Center will host two nonfiction premieres.  On the 28th at 6:00 p.m., a Sundance Channel Exclusive series will screen, On the Road in America, a 12-part series, "conceived with the intent to expose Middle Eastern audiences to the diversity and uniqueness of the United States."  June 4 is the Sundance Channel premiere.  The series follows three students from the Arabic world, accompanied by a Palestinian PA and an Israeli cameraman, as they traverse the country meeting people along the way.  Paley is screening highlights of episodes and the merry band will be there to discuss what they learned about our country.  Let's go listen to what they have to say, shall we?

Lots happening in the indie film world in the next little bit as we head into summer (Rooftop weather--yay!).  On Wednesday evening, as well, the IFC Center will host the Media That Matters Film Festival.  Ah, the life of a New Yorker, choices, choices, choices.  Pretty poster this year, too.

The next evening, Paley will screen the American premiere of Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives with Mark Everett.  Everett is the creative force behind the indie band Eels and he'll be there to introduce the US premiere of this BBC doc.  The film follows Everett's journey to understand the discovery his father, Hugh Everett, contributed to physics, the theory of parallel worlds.  Post-screening, some prominent physicists will join Everett to talk about his father's work and legacy fifty years on.  I will be the first geek in line for this one.  You also don't want to miss the opportunity to hear and see (he's very lovely) the wonderful Brian Cox.  I would wager this one will be a sell-out.

RSVP required to kfarina@paleycenter.org, free for IDA members.

POV--Season 21

American television's longest-running independent documentary series is getting ready to premiere its 21st season of superb nonfiction films.  Airing Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m., June through October, the show continues its long-lived tradition of bringing stellar international true stories into our living rooms every week (pictured, Rogier Kappers' Lomax the Songhunter, airing September 2). 

The '08 season will debut on June 24 with Katrina Browne's Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, an official selection of the '08 Sundance Film Festival.  To see the rest of the fab line-up and to read more about the films, visit the POV website.  Another great season lies ahead.

Shock and Awe, Iraqi Style

There is a gallery opening here in NYC, Soho to be exact, that I want to mention.  Oded Halahmy's Pomegranate Gallery will be featuring the first complete exhibition of Iraqi art in the US, exclusively from wartime contemporaries of Baghdad--an Iraqi perspective of Shock and Awe.  Featured artists are Sat'aar Darweesh, Sadik Jaffar, Ahmed Nousaife and Koudair Shakarji.  (Halahmy's bronze cast from 2006, "Iraq Is My Home," pictured.)  The gallery will also unveil the world premiere of "Night of Fire" by Mohammed Hussein.

The opening reception for the exhibit takes place this Thursday, May 24th from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at 133 Greene Street (off Prince).  The catalog is available on this site and the pieces will be on view through Saturday, June 21.  Go see it.

11th Brooklyn International Film Festival

The 11th edition of the BiFF will take place from May 30 to June 8 and the entire film program is now online.  Chock-full of wonderful original programming and some faves from other fests, the program will feature a total of 102 films--17 features, 18 documentaries, 31 shorts, 16 experimental pieces and 20 animated films.  Through support from various sponsors, the festival, helmed by executive director, Marco Ursino and director of development, Susan Mackell, will award some of the '08 filmmakers with a total of $80,000 worth of prizes and film services, including an Audience Award and certificates of excellence in direction, cinematography, screenwriting, editing, original score and acting.  There is also the Diane Seligman award for nonfiction filmmakers, a $5,000 cash prize sponsored by the festival and Lowel-Light which will be gifted to the best documentary feature.

The films will exhibit in several venues, the bulk of them at the Brooklyn Lyceum and the Brooklyn Heights Cinema.  The Brooklyn Central Library, Lumenhouse and East Coast Aliens will also serve as exhibition spaces.  Click here for more info and to purchase tickets.  I will be pulling intro'ing and filmmaker Q&A duties for the documentary strand.  Come out and support the BK's best fest!

Looking for an Affordable Place in Williamsburg?

My friends over at UnionDocs (host of the excellent weekly Documentary Bodega Series) have a space open for a new resident starting next month.  It's a great opportunity to live and work with other artists and be a part of one of the most up-and-coming spots in Brooklyn as part of an arts collaborative that continually offers stellar programming and specially curated exhibits. 

The UnionDocs Residency combines a live/work situation at 322 Union (pictured--dig the cool trompe l'oeil work).  One is able to immerse oneself in independent cultural production and curatorial and creative practices that engage the community in social and political issues through film and other art forms.  Six people live together, working individually and collectively to produce a fantastic doc series in the screening room on the ground floor.  Working directly with indie directors and producers, the residents curate films, lectures and workshops and publish original content online.  I can also vouch for the lovely view from the rooftop (although it's a bit treacherous getting up there).

Here's the link to the site where you can find the application.  You should also feel free to call over there and speak with Christopher (one of the original founders) about any issues or questions you might have regarding the residency.