Hello from Sheffield, where I'm knee-deep in the hoopla of a very bustling festival and market. Last night at the big party at the local roller skating rink (fast becoming a Sheffield tradition), the 2010 Cinema Eye Honors announced their nominees for the ceremony that will take place at the Times Center in NYC in January. Visit the site to read about all the nominees, and the latest and greatest on the best of nonfiction.
Umbilically connected to New York wherever I happen to go, I wanted to say "hey," and mention a few things coming up:
I've been part of the "getting butts in seats" brigade, aka Outreach Producer, for Four Seasons Lodge, a beautiful documentary film opening at the IFC Center this coming Wednesday, November 11. The director, New York Times' journalist, Andrew Jacobs, some of the subjects of the film, and other crew and special guests, will be there for Q&As throughout the week, and some of our best indie film orgs will be on hand to co-host and join in the festivities for after-screening drinks shindigs. Shooting People will host Friday night, Arts Engine / DocuClub will be with us on Sunday night, and UnionDocs will host on Monday evening. Visit the website to get all the info you need, watch the trailer, and meet the extraordinary subjects, the last living generation of Holocaust survivors (two of them, pictured above). Don't let the "H" word keep you away--it's an exceedingly heart-warming, uplifting and life-affirming film. You can also visit the First Run Features site to keep abreast of where else the film will be opening across the nation. Next up on December 11, Four Seasons Lodge will run in Los Angeles and Boston. If you live in those cities, contact me to learn how you can help us get the word out and plan some special events around the screenings there. The IFC Center puts up showtimes very close to the opening, so keep checking there and buy your tickets in advance. There are discounts for groups of 10 or more.
Also on the 11th, which is Veteran's Day, The Way We Get By will have its national broadcast début on P.O.V. The film is now also available for purchase on DVD--probably will become one of the top 10 stocking stuffers of all time, I would wager.
Rooftop Films sends news that their 2010 submissions have opened and they are welcoming entries for their summer series next year. You can find downloadable information here or submit through Without A Box. The superb series runs from May to September and will feature more than 200 films in various outdoor screenings throughout New York City. All genres, formats and lengths are welcome.
On Monday, November 9, The Flaherty has a hot animation program on tap at Anthology Film Archives in the East Village. "Experiments With Animation" will feature short works by such talents as Phil Solomon, Martha Colburn, Signe Baumane and Jeff Scher. Go here for more info.
Okay, gotta pull myself back into the fray here. I will be having lunch shortly with filmmaker Geoffrey Smith, director of the glorious The English Surgeon and co-director of Presumed Guilty which débuted at Toronto in September and is playing the fest here before moving on to CPH:DOX in Copenhagen next week. It's a tremendous film and it will be fascinating to see the furor it will cause in Mexico where the story is told. I'll have a full review soon, but watch for this one. It will be one of the most important films of 2010.
I will have much more from Sheffield in the next couple of weeks, but back to just taking it all in--seeing great nonfiction films and getting to visit and converse with new filmmakers bringing groundbreaking talent and expertise to the field. It's so awesome to be in the company of thousands of others who are as equally rabid about nonfiction cinema as I am. Right now, off to Digital Bootcamp with Ingrid Kopp--woo hoo!
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