THE EDINBURGH PITCH 2009 - - annual documentary pitching forum hosted by the Scottish Documentary Institute at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The workshop is open to all filmmakers UK and abroad and is aimed at independent filmmakers and companies who are developing and raising finance for creative documentaries (52'-90') and who are thinking about international co-productions. (Please note that only UK filmmakers are eligible for the cash prizes.)
The deadline for application to the full programme is 11 May 2009.
In addition, industry delegates registered with the festival in 2009 are welcome to attend the forum as observers on 19 June - please note the registration deadline of 1 June 2009 for this.
To apply with a project or register as an observer, please contact Rebecca Day on r.day@eca.ac.uk
info@edfilmfest.org.uk
http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk
Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, TIBET IN SONG goes beyond familiar sloganeering about Tibet to explore the country's cultural repression from the inside. Director Ngawang Choephel will be on hand for a Q&A that's not to be missed.
From the Variety review:
"In 1995, Ngawang Choephel returned to his native Tibet to document the country's fast-disappearing folk-singing tradition. Instead, he was accused of being a spy and sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Chinese, inspiring international demand for his release. Despite the personal hardship he suffered, Choephel puts the local musicians and their endangered traditions first. But the helmer's own experience strongly amplifies "Tibet in Song's" political subtext, revealing a form of cultural Darwinism in which Chinese control threatens to extinguish centuries of cultural heritage....the docu's very existence is something of a miracle
WHO: 24th ISRAEL FILM FESTIVAL in Los Angeles
WHEN: June 3 -18, 2009
WHAT: Celebrates Israel and Israeli cinema with the largest showcase of Israeli films in the U.S. More than 30 new Israeli feature films, thought-provoking documentaries, award-winning television dramas, and innovative student shorts will screen.
WHERE: The Festival will kick off with an Opening Night Gala at the renowned Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on June 3, 2009. It will then continue its run through June 18 at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills and Laemmle Fallbrook 7 in the San Fernando Valley.
HOW: For further information regarding the 24th Israel Film Festival, including ticket and/or sponsorship information, please call 1-877-966-5566 or visit www.israelfilmfestival.com.
Welcome to Beyond Broadcast 2009!
Since 2006, the annual Beyond Broadcast conference has explored the evolution of participatory digital public media. This year's conference, titled "Public Service Media from Local to Global," brings this ongoing conversation to the world stage, examining these issues from a global perspective.
BB09 will be structured around three themes: local, global and connecting the two. We will explore the way new media are used on a local community basis, then look at these practices on a global scale and finally consider ways to build lasting bridges between participants across the spectrum.
Conference format
This year's conference features an extended schedule of plenary sessions and breakout discussions, spanning 2½ days on the campus of the University of Southern California. Participants will take advantage of the vast resources of Los Angeles and the USC Annenberg School for Communication, with workshops on digital production tools and techniques, as well as small breakout meetings with local media leaders and USC Annenberg educators.
Arts Engine's Media that Matters Festival
The Center is delighted to co-sponsor Arts Engine's Ninth Annual Media that Matters Film Festival on Wednesday, June 3 at the SVA Visual Arts Theater in NYC. Arts Engine is a real engine of independent creativity, and its annual festival (soon to go online!) showcases amazing work by emerging creators. Be among the first to see this year's 12 inspiring selections! More information is available here. mediathatmattersfest.org
International Documentary Association (IDA)
invites you & a guest to another great Mixer
Meet professional filmmakers and network.
IDA staff & board members will help you get connected to the
documentary community, share your projects, meet new
friends and build
your professional network.
When:
Wednesady, June 3, 2009
7:00pm - 9:30pm
Where:
e3rd Steakhouse & Lounge
734 E. 3rd. Street
Los Angeles, CA
Music brought to you by:
DJ Mike Angelo of Highland Sounds L.A.
Sponsors and Affiliates:
Join Hollywood’s Professionals in 2009!
Registration Open NOW at www.cinegearexpo.com
FREE Online Registration until May 28th 10 am PDT.
Cine Gear Expo 2009
Location: Paramount Pictures Studio Lot, Hollywood, CA
Exhibition and Premiere Seminars: June 5-6, 2009
The Film Series Competition: June 4-5, 2009
Master Class Seminars: June 7, 2009
Exhibits, Seminars, Demonstrations, Industry Networking, VIP Event and more!
This
unique and highly focused event for the Pre-Production, Production and
Post Production Community will be held on the Paramount Pictures Studio
Lot in Hollywood. Parking, Registration, Backlot, Stages and Theaters
are all within walking distance.
Complimentary admission to Premiere Seminars presented by
leading Industry Organizations and Manufacturers including ASC, BSC,
VES, ACE, SOC, Local 600, Local 728, Fujifilm, Kodak, Band Pro Film
& Digital/Sony and more. Seating limited.
Complimentary Wine and Beer at Cine Gear Expo on June 5-6, 2009.
Tickets for the Film Series Competition and Master Class Seminars can be purchased online.
For more updates, visit us at www.cinegearexpo.com
Burning Fuse Film Festival Plays the Roxie in San Francisco Friday June 5, Sunday June 7, and Monday June 8, 2009 at 3117 16th St., San Francisco, CA.
415-863-1087.
Burning Fuse Film Festival
In an era when documentary exhibition swerves towards the safe, and "fun", Burning Fuse Film Festival shows up with six smartly made films that avoid neither controversy nor entertaining their audience. The six films represent six decidedly unexpected views of the world.
Six explosive documentary features:
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
Pussycat Preacher
Sliding Liberia
A Snow Mobile for George
Murder, Spies and Voting Lies
Soldiers of Conscience
For more sparks, check out
http//www.burningfusefilmfestival.org
For more information, call Bill at (415) 431-3611,
and bill@roxie.com
or
Todd at 310-828-5662 and at burningfusefilmfestival@yahoo.com
Special Appearances Include Human Rights Advocate Kiran Bedi, Academy Award-Winning Documentarian Megan Mylan, and Legendary Actor Naseeruddin Shah
The New India
June 5 - 18, 2009
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters
The richness and diversity of contemporary Indian cinema is explored in The New India, a two-week, 16-film exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, from June 5 through 18, 2009. The exhibition presents feature and short films, including eight New York premieres, that capture the range of fiction and documentary genres and styles in Indian cinema today. Among the celebrated guests who will present their films in person at MoMA are actors Naseeruddin Shah and Abhay Deol, actor-director Nandita Das, and the Academy Award-winning documentarian Megan Mylan. The exhibition is organized by Joshua Siegel, Associate Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, and Uma da Cunha, guest curator.
A NALIP National Signature Program, in association with Time Warner and CPB, the Hanson Film Institute, and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and TV Professional Certificate Program
NALIP believes that a Producer is the creative originator of films, a self-starter who recognizes ideas that have artistic or commercial merit. Producers must have passion, sensitivity for story and audience, plus the organizational ability and practical smarts to put together a project, then guide it to and through the marketplace. NALIP's Latino Producers AcademyTM provides our Fellows the practical skills and knowledge to accomplish their personal goals and realize their artistic dreams as filmmakers.
The 2009 LPA Invites Applications from Documentary Producers in two categories:
- Documentary producer/directors with projects in development or production who have proposals and sample tapes, are invited with their producer/director partners
- Documentary producers with projects in post-production who have rough cuts are invited with their editors
PLEASE NOTE: The 2009 LPA for Documentary Producers will take place from August 4 to August 13
The 2009 LPA Invites Applications from Narrative Feature Producers in two categories:
- Feature producers (including producer/directors or producer/writers) with projects in early stages of development that have viable scripts ready for packaging and advancement towards production; prior NALIP program participants must have advanced drafts
- Feature producers and their directors who have scripts in advanced stages of development with a package or ready to package (e.g. budget, executive summary, attachments, etc.); prior NALIP program participants must have advanced drafts
For more information, please contact:
Octavio Marin, NALIP Signature Programs Director
310.395.8880 / octavio@nalip.org
http://www.sffs.org/classes-and-workshops/schedule.aspx
Even if you can't participate in the live event, you will be able to access the webinar as a download after the event.
Details:
WHEN: June 8th, 7-8 p.m. (note that it's not 7-9 p.m., as listed on site.)
WHAT: Structural know-how is key to convincing funders that you are a competent director. In this 60-minute webinar, editor Karen Everett reveals innovative storytelling strategies that will animate your pitch, lend credibility to your treatment and convince funders that YOU are the right person to tell this story. If you're already in post-production, you'll want to add these structural strategies and story arc devices to your editing toolbox. Learn what kinds of story structures funders will green light.
Karen Everett
New Doc Editing
On June 11th, 2009 Rooftop Films and The Fledgling Fund will host a special community-engagement screening of "No Impact Man," a documentary directed by Laura Gabbert & Justin Schein. A local family drama with global implications, the film follows the inspirational (and controversial) No Impact Man and family as they challenge themselves to make no environmental impact for one whole year. Rooftop Films and The Fledgling Fund invite you to join the challenge with an exciting carnival-like screening event.
The lawn of Automotive High School will host a celebration of environmentally-friendly activities, as Rooftop Films and The Fledgling Fund utilize the screening of "No Impact Man" to engage audience members in making environmentally-friendly lifestyle commitments. There will be information about local foods, opportunities to volunteer in local environmental projects, composting demonstrations, ideas about reusing old products, and a demonstration of biodiesel cars from the students of our hosts at Automotive High School. Audience members who make personal video pledges to change aspects of their lifestyles will be entered into a raffle to win various prizes. The Hungry March Band, New York's legendary political street brass march band will help create a festive atmosphere as they perform in the anarchic style that has become their trademark.
Rooftop's events are more than just film screenings. All Rooftop shows include live music, a unique outdoor venue, and a Q&A with the filmmaker or a panel discussion of the film. On top of that, Rooftop works closely with local groups to co-present events-past partners include The Center for Urban Pedagogy and Solar One-ensuring that there is interactivity, and relevant information available to the community. The goal of Rooftop Films screenings is to create an integrated event with connections between the film, the music, and the venue. By creating multi-faceted events, we forge a community between filmmakers, musicians, activists, the audience, and the neighborhoods where we screen.
"No Impact Man"
(Laura Gabbert & Justin Schein | New York, NY | www.noimpactman.com | 90 min.)
Colin Beavan, a writer living in Manhattan with his wife and daughter, decided to find out what it means to live a "no impact" life.
For one year, Beavan becomes "No Impact Man," attempting to live his normal life in New York City, without leaving an impact on the environment. No new products. No chemicals. No non-local food. No electricity. He sacrificed his personal comfort, risked his self-esteem, and even jeopardized his relationship with his family, all for this strange test.
The challenge is, of course, rather quixotic. Couldn't Beavan simply reduce, reuse, recycle, like so many of us (try to) do? But his obsessiveness generates immediate, widespread attention for the project, generating acclaim and disdain, including detractors that range from dismissive major media outlets to mean-spirited personal attacks. Beavan is forced to re-examine No Impact Man, to question this idea that's the driving force in his life. But will he renounce it?
The public scrutiny provides the intellectual spark for the film, but the tension between Colin and his wife Michelle Conlin is the emotional core of the film. Conlin lives like so many of us: proudly eating takeout, compulsively buying the latest products, taking for granted the excessive habits of consumerism. Sneaking an espresso here and there seems a minor offense, but the guilt from Colin is burdensome. I'm sure many of us think we could handle a year without chemical laundry detergent or new handbags, but what about a fly-infested compost bin in the kitchen, or a pot-within-a-pot refrigeration experiment? And what of her job at Business Week, examining (and in many ways promoting) the essence of the culture No Impact Man is critiquing?
No Impact Man will hit theaters in New York and beyond in September. Check www.rooftopfilms.com for updates.
Date: Thursday, June 11, 2009
Venue: On the lawn of Automotive High School
Address: 50 Bedford Ave. @ North 13th St. (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Directions: L to Bedford Ave. or G to Nassau Ave.
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location
7:00PM: Doors open
8:00PM: Sound Fix Records presents live music by The Hungry March Band
9:00PM: Film
11:30PM-1:00AM: After-party: Open Bar at Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave. @ Driggs) Courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner
Tickets: $9 at the door or online at www.rooftopfilms.com
Presented in partnership with: The Fledgling Fund, Cinereach, New York magazine, IndiePix, Shooting People, Council Member David Yassky & Automotive High School
The International Documentary Association Presents
Part of the 2009 Doc U Seminar series.
Join moderator, Marjan Safinia, and other friends of IDA for a special
evening with filmmaker, Ross Kauffman. Learn about the fascinating
journey of "Born into Brothels" from concept to screen to Oscar;
discuss challenges, tips, and advice for shooting in foreign countries,
co-directing, the value of mentors, making the move from documentary
into narrative and the evolution of a career that starts with an Oscar
for your first film.
Ross Kauffman is the director, producer, cinematographer and co-editor of BORN INTO BROTHELS, winner of over 40 awards including the 2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary. Kauffman also served Executive Producer and Consulting Producer on the documentary feature IN A DREAM, which was short-listed for the 2009 Academy Awards; and cinematographer of the acclaimed documentary feature PROJECT KASHMIR.
Marjan Safinia is a member of the IDA Board of Directors, a co-host of The D-Word Community online and the director and producer of the award-winning documentary feature, SEEDS.
*** Space is VERY limited, so be sure to reserve a seat soon!
IDA members: $35 advance
purchase; $45 at the door
Non-members: $45 advance
purchase; $55 at the door
Join IDA now! For discounted ticket prices and more!
What:
Doc U: An Evening with Ross Kauffman
When:
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Doors open 6:00 p.m.
Seminar 7:00-9:30 p.m.
(with brief intermission)
Where:
Kodak
Screening Room
The
Eastman Kodak Company
6700
Santa Monica Blvd.
Hollywood,
CA 90038
Parking
and light refreshments courtesy of The
Eastman Kodak Company
(Entrance
is 2 blocks east of Highland Ave. on Las Palmas)
Doc U is IDA's annual branded seminar series produced to enlighten and enliven our documentary community. Mark your calendar for the second Thursday of every month (June 11, July 9, August 13, September 10, October 8, November 12) Details about upcoming seminars with master filmmakers and documentary professionals to be announced.
We are grateful for the generous support of these sponsors:
DOKU.ARTS
International festival for films on art
11-14 June 2009, fourth edition
Filmmuseum Amsterdam
Focus 2009: architecture
Opening night: Les plages d'Agnès by Agnès Varda
From 11 to 14 June, the Filmmuseum Amsterdam and the Mediafonds (Dutch Cultural Media Fund) present the DOKU.ARTS international festival. Around thirty creative documentaries about art and artists can be seen at this fourth edition of the festival. The programme includes brand new work, as well as highlights from the Filmmuseum's collection. This year the focus is on architecture.
Tickets
Tickets for all films in the DOKU.ARTS programme are now for sale at the Filmmuseum front desk (Vondelpark 3, Amsterdam). Regular: €7,80. With reduction: €6,50. When buying four tickets at once, you pay only €22,50 (€5,60 per ticket). These tickets can be used by one or more persons.
Tickets can be reserved by phone: +31(0)20-5891400. Reserved tickets need to be picked up 30 mins. before the start of the screening.
Please join us Thursday June 11 for a special benefit screening and reception with master filmmaker Costa Gavras, as he screens his latest film Eden is West.
For more info check the Human Rights Watch website
http://www.hrw.org/en/iff/new-york
Or the Lincoln Center website
http://www.filmlinc.com/
The festival opens on June 12 with The Reckoning, an insightful documentary that follows two riveting dramas-the prosecution of unspeakable crimes and the International Criminal Court's fight for justice.
View Festival Calendar here or download the program as a PDF file (4 Mb).
Check out HRWIFF's new PODCASTS featuring interviews with filmmakers Joe Berlinger (CRUDE), Paco de Onis (THE RECKONING) and a 2009 film festival preview.
Afghan Star (New York premiere)
After 30 years of war and the Taliban's repression, Afghan Pop Idol is taking the nation by storm. But this is more than just a TV show. In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing.
DIRECTOR:
Havana Marking
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2008
RUNNING TIME:
87m
Back Home Tomorrow (US premiere)
A cinematically stunning examination of two lives affected by conflict that illustrates how hope prevails in even the most desperate of settings.
DIRECTOR:
Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2008
RUNNING TIME:
90m
Born Into Brothels
The story of a group of unforgettable children who embark on a transformational journey with photographer Zana Briski as they learn to photograph their own lives.
DIRECTOR:
Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2003
RUNNING TIME:
85m
Crude (New York premiere)
The inside story of the "Amazon Chernobyl" case in the rainforest of Ecuador, the largest oil-related environmental lawsuit in the world.
DIRECTOR:
Joe Berlinger
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
101m
Eden is West - Benefit Gala
Master filmmaker Costa-Gavras crafts an epic story of our times - the journey of an emigrant in search of a better life - full of heart, humor, and wondrous complexities.
DIRECTOR:
Costa-Gavras, Director; Michele Ray-Gavras, Producer
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
111m
Ford Transit
A portrait of the day-to-day reality of a Ramallah taxi driver caught between checkpoints and politics.
DIRECTOR:
Hany Abu-Assad
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2002
RUNNING TIME:
80m
Good Fortune (New York premiere)
Are massive international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa undermining the very communities they aim to benefit?
DIRECTOR:
Landon Van Soest and Jeremy Levine
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
85m
In the Holy Fire of Revolution (US premiere)
A unique take on Putin's Russia as seen through the experiences of chess champion turned activist Garry Kasparov.
DIRECTOR:
Masha Novikova
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2008
RUNNING TIME:
113m
Iraq in Fragments
A film that illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts, building a vivid picture of a country pulled in different directions by religion and ethnicity.
DIRECTOR:
James Longley
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2006
RUNNING TIME:
96m
Jung: In the Land of the Mujaheddin
A tour de force look at a surgeon and a war correspondent who join forces to set up a hospital to deal with the humanitarian consequences of war in Afghanistan.
DIRECTOR:
Alberto Vendemmiati and Fabrizio Lazzaretti
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2000
RUNNING TIME:
114m
Kabuli Kid (US premiere)
Barmak Akram's incisive look at daily life in Kabul follows the adventures of a taxi driver and his new-found ward.
DIRECTOR:
Barmak Akram
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2008
RUNNING TIME:
94m
Look Into My Eyes (US premiere)
Is anti-Semitism a buzz-word for all kinds of real or imagined slights? Is it an arcane expression that should be retired, or is there legitimacy to outcries worldwide that anti-Semitism is again on the rise?
DIRECTOR:
Naftaly Gliksberg
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2008
RUNNING TIME:
80m
Mrs. Goundo's Daughter (New York premiere)
The moving story of a West African mother's fight for asylum in the US to protect her two-year-old daughter from female genital cutting.
DIRECTOR:
Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
60m
My Neighbor, My Killer (New York premiere)
When peace comes, how do you make it right again? An epic emotional journey in search of coexistence in Rwanda.
DIRECTOR:
Anne Aghion
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
80m
Photo Exhibition - Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold
DIRECTOR:
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
RUNNING TIME:
Regret to Inform
One filmmaker's personal odyssey to Vietnam, where her husband died and where she discovers an unexpected sisterhood of widows from the ‘other side'.
DIRECTOR:
Barbara Sonneborn
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
1998
RUNNING TIME:
72m
Remnants of a War (New York premiere)
When the war ends, the work to save the land begins.
DIRECTOR:
Jawad Metni
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
76 mins
Snow (New York premiere)
A stunning debut feature depicting the drama of life in a post-war Bosnian village.
DIRECTOR:
Aida Begić
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2008
RUNNING TIME:
99m
Tapologo (US premiere)
A moving story of women in South Africa who have turned their tragedy into a tool.
DIRECTOR:
Gabriela Gutierrez Dewar and Sally Gutierrez Dewar
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2008
RUNNING TIME:
88m
The Age of Stupid (New York premiere)
Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?
DIRECTOR:
Fanny Armstrong
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
89m
The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court (New York premiere) - Opening Night
An insightful documentary that follows two riveting dramas-the prosecution of unspeakable crimes and the International Criminal Court's fight for justice.
DIRECTOR:
Pamela Yates, Paco de Onis, and Peter Kinoy
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
95m
The Yes Men Fix the World (New York premiere) - Closing Night
The screwball true story of a couple of activists who infiltrate the world of big business and pull off outrageous pranks to expose corporate greed and its impact on society.
DIRECTOR:
Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum, and Kurt Engfehr
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
87m
Youth Producing Change (World premiere)
Young people are on the frontlines of many of the world's human rights crises, but it's all too rare that we get to hear their point of view.
DIRECTOR:
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
2009
RUNNING TIME:
62m

Project Found Sound: Students for the Environment is accepting short environmental student films & PSA's for a monthly series @ Santa Monica College. Next event June 22. Call for info 310 273-1319 http://www.projectfoundsound.com
June 11-June 14, 2009, nineteen recent films from across the Americas and the Caribbean will be screened at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, 101 Auburn Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30303.
The documentaries and dramas to be screened at the Latin American and Caribbean Film Festival feature the themes of culture and the arts, labor and immigration, grassroots media, and the spirit of resistance around the hemisphere. Highlights include Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad (Corrugated Films), about the power of community radio in popular struggles in Oaxaca, Mexico; Morristown: In the Air and Sun (Anne Lewis) about industrial decline and immigrant workers in Morristown, Tennessee; Rap de Saia (Janai Na Oliveira), about young women rappers in Brazil; The Price of Sugar (Bill Haney) about the plight of Haitian workers in the Dominican Republic; Soy Andina (Mitch Teplitsky), about a New York dancer's search for her Peruvian cultural roots; and Play Jankanù, Play (Oliver Green), about the culture of the Garifuna people in Belize, to name a few. All films produced in Spanish, Portuguese, Kreyol, and indigenous languages are subtitled for English-speaking audience members. For more information and the screening schedule, see www.lacfilmfest.org.
Each day of the festival a panel discussion will illuminate issues raised by the films. Invited panelists include film director Oliver Green, International Black Docufest Director Lydia Odenat, and film producer Simone Pierre, to name just a few. For further details, see www.lacfilmfest.org.
EditFest NY premieres in Manhattan on June 12-14, 2009. Learn about the craft of editing from the best of the best - Bill Pankow (Carlito's Way), Tim Squyres (Syriana), Thelma Schoonmaker (The Departed), Kate Sanford (The Wire), Craig McKay (Silence of the Lambs) and many more. Oscar winners, Emmy winners, box office mega-hit editors - They'll all be at EditFest NY interacting with an audience of working professionals, motivated students and rising stars. Presented by American Cinema Editors (ACE) and Manhattan Edit Workshop (Mewshop). Sign up now, as space is limited. Panels and parties Friday and Saturday. FCP Certification and Tech Bootcamp Sunday. Go to www.editfestny.com for details and discounts.
In "Food, Inc.," filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of e coli--the harmful bacteria that cause illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farms' Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms' Joe Salatin, "Food, Inc." reveals surprising--and often shocking truths--about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.
check website for screening location and times
www.foodincmovie.com
The Dancing Room and Mary Anthony: A Life In Modern Dance
Passport Screenings
Saturday, June 13, 2:30 p.m.
ADMISSION:
Free; no reservations
Double-feature! The Dancing Room is a film document of a powerful, enigmatic dance work, choreographed by Kate Flatt, about the rituals of life and death in Transylvania. Filmed in an eerie underground location and specially staged for the camera, the piece draws on diverse styles from around the world. Directed by Simon Broughton and featuring striking music by Hungarian band Muzsikás. (United Kingdom, 1995, 45 min. No MPAA rating.) Co-presented by Dance Camera West.
Mary Anthony: A Life in Modern Dance profiles modern dance pioneer Mary Anthony, who for fifty years has inspired an international community of artists through her remarkable teaching, noted choreography, and spirited life. Directed by Tonia Shimin, this documentary sheds light not only on Mary Anthony's artistry but on American modern dance itself. (2004, 65 min. No MPAA rating.) A Q&A with director Tonia Shimin follows the screening.
The Documentary Filmmakers Course is coming back to Filmmakers Alliance in Los Angeles, CA June 13-14, 2009, 2009. Get great tips and advice on how to get your documentary film project from idea to the screen from documentary producer, consultant and author of The Documentary Film Makers Handbook, Andrew Zinnes.
Topics include: story, research, legal aspects, finance, production, post and sales and distribution. All IDA members receive 25% off all sections by registering before May 29th, 2009 with the coupon code DOCDISCOUNTLA. Please pass this listing on to whomever you think may find it useful.
Go to www.script-tonic.com or call 310-941-2168 for more information or to register fro the seminar. For website signups please select from entries marked "LA."
Email contact: azinnes@sbcglobal.net
Our Disappeared (Nuestros Desaparecidos)
Latin Jewish Life in Film
Sunday, June 14, 2:00 pm
ADMISSION:
$6 General, $5 Members and Full-Time Students
Through a casual Google search, Argentine director Juan Mandelbaum finds out that Patricia, a long-lost girlfriend, was among the thousands kidnapped and tortured by the military in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Featuring rare archival footage and interviews with family and friends of the victims, Our Disappeared chronicles Mandelbaum's grievous journey to find out what happened to Patricia and other friends who were "disappeared." (Argentina, 2008, 99 min. No MPAA rating. In English and Spanish with English subtitles.)
Inés Kuperschmit, one of the film's subjects, will talk about her life experiences and discuss the film after the screening.
$6 General; $5 Skirball Members and Full-Time Students

Last Call...Film Competition Closes on Monday
It's not too late! With only five days left, film submissions are still pouring into the Festival Office. Don't miss out on your chance to be part of the most prestigious competition celebrating natural history and wildlife films from around the world.
With media playing such an important role in education and outreach through museums, zoos, aquariums, and internet distribution, this year's Festival is putting a special focus on the public and nonbroadcast sector, with competition categories designed specifically for these applications.
Entries are accepted through June 15th. All Film Competition entry materials must be received by June 15.
Season Finale:
ASK NOT
Tuesday, June 16 at 10:00 PM
(check local listings)
As wars rage in the Middle East, the U.S. military is eager for more recruits--unless they happen to be openly gay. ASK NOT explores the tangled political battles that led to the infamous "don't ask, don't tell" policy and reveals the personal stories of gay Americans who serve in combat under a veil of secrecy.
Directed by Johnny Symons
Join us for the 2009 Philadelphia Film Market, bringing together the international film community for seven days of buying, selling and networking like Philadelphia (and the East Coast) has never seen before. Don't miss this opportunity to have your project, whether it's a partial idea or a fully packaged film, produced for the right audience to see!
All Interested Exhibitors
Get A 50% Discount When Using The Following Promo Code During Registration: PFM500
(Must Be In All Caps)
Puerto Rican-American rapper Hamza Pérez pulled himself out of drug dealing and street life 12 years ago and became a Muslim. Now he's moved to Pittsburgh's tough North Side to start a new religious community, rebuild his shattered family and take his message of faith to other young people through hard-hitting hip-hop music. But when the FBI raids his mosque, Hamza must confront the realities of the post-9/11 world, and himself. New Muslim Cool takes viewers on Hamza's ride through streets, slums and jail cells - following his spiritual journey to some surprising places in an America that never stops changing. Produced in association with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) and the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).
by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
Call this RSVP line to order
free tickets to any film or films in the Agnes Varda series at the Aero!
Only 100 free tickets available for each film. Be one of the lucky first callers.
323 461-2020 ext 485
JUNE 24 - 7:30PM
for more info: http://www.americancinematheque.com/archive1999/2009/Aero/Agnes_Varda_Aero_2009.htm
JACQUOT DE NANTES (1991)
Director Agnès Varda's tender farewell to her late husband, Jacques Demy, re-creates the early years of Demy's life in the port city of Nantes, interwoven with clips from LOLA, THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG and his other films. Interspersed throughout the film are intimate close-ups of Demy, filmed by Varda. Plus: "Uncle Yanco," (1967, Ciné-Tamaris, 22 min.) Invited to the San Francisco Film Festival, Varda took time to visit her Greek uncle Yanco - a free-spirited, 75-year old hippie living on a houseboat in Sausalito.
Discussion following with director Agnes Varda, moderated by film critic Kevin Thomas.
JUNE 25 - 7:30PM | DOUBLE FEATURE
THE GLEANERS & I (2001)
A "wandering road documentary" that focuses on the centuries-old tradition of "gleaning" in France -- picking up the cast-offs of others. Varda follows rural scavengers who gather leftover vegetables and urban scavengers who collect discarded food and appliances from Paris streets. Interwoven are Varda's own thoughts on aging, humorous interviews and musings on French art and culture.
Discussion in between with director Agnès Varda.
THE GLEANERS & I: TWO YEARS LATER (2002)
Varda's exuberantly inventive follow-up to her critically lauded essay film, in which she revisits characters from the original and further explores what it means to be a 'gleaner.'
JUNE 26 - 7:30PM | DOUBLE FEATURE
LIONS LOVE (AND LIES) (1969)
A blissed-out experiment in anarchy and illusion, featuring Warhol superstar Viva (LONESOME COWBOYS) and "Hair" authors James Rado and Jerome Ragni playing "themselves" -- three innocents adrift in Hollywood. Freely mixing improvisation with scripted dialogue, and news reports on the shootings of Robert Kennedy and Warhol, a gloriously screwy time capsule of L.A. in its free-love acid-tripping heyday.
Discussion in between with director Agnès Varda.
MURS MURS (1980)
Essential viewing for all Angelenos, MURS MURS is Varda's lively tribute to this city's outdoor murals, from the riotous Pig Paradise in Vernon to The Fall of Icarus in Venice.
JUNE 27 - 7:30PM | DOUBLE FEATURE
CLÉO FROM 5 TO 7 (1961)
Director Agnès Varda's international breakthrough film depicts two hours in the life of a hopelessly pretty pop singer (Corrine Marchand), who may or may not be dying of cancer. Vain, childish and selfish at the start, Cléo's journey through Paris becomes a journey of self-discovery.
Discussion in between with director Agnès Varda.
VAGABOND (1985)
Agnes Varda's most lauded work since CLÉO and one of the 1980s greatest French films tells the story of the last months in the life of a young female drifter. The film opens abruptly on the body of Mona (Sandrine Bonnaire), frozen to death in a ditch on the side of the road. Interspersed with flashbacks of Mona's life are reminiscences by the people she met along the way.
JULY 1 - 7:30PM | SNEAK PREVIEW!
THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS (2008)
Varda illustrates the stages of her life, from marriage to Jacques Demy and his death to childhood memories of Sète, the fishing village that would become the subject of her first film. Woven through are lonely, dreamlike sequences shot on the beaches that have inspired her. Plus U.S. Premiere! "Gwen From Brittany," a short portrait of the encounters over the last decade of Varda and Gwen Deglise, programmer at the American Cinematheque, shot at the Aero and Egyptian Theatres.
Discussion following films with director Agnès Varda.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
June 25 @ 7:30
DCTV 87 Lafayette Street
This extraordinary award-winning documentary about a small band of Liberian women who - armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions - came together in the midst of a bloody civil war, took on the warlords, and brought peace to their shattered country. Screening followed by a Q&A with the film's Producer, Abigail E. Disney.
For details and tickets:
http://www.dctvny.org/dctvpresents/praythedevil.html
GREEK FILM FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
For more details about the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival and exact screning times for documentary films:
www.lagreekfilmfestival.org or call 818.728.0720
BATHERS (Louomenoi)
Greece, 2008, 47 min, Digibeta, US Premiere
Director: Eva Stefani
In the Greek spa towns of Edipsos and Kaiafas, elderly "regulars" enjoy beneficial hot springs, mud baths, and the mild sea-waters. Even more therapeutic, however, prove to be the daily heated political debates, eruptions into song and dance, and outbursts of a latent but undimmed sensuality.
*FIPRESCI Award, 2009 Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
CHAMELEON BEACH (Kamaeleonernes Strand)
Denmark, 2008, 52 min, Beta SP, US Premiere
Director: Adam Schmedes
On a beautiful Greek beach, a small population of African chameleons is fighting to survive, in fierce competition with a growing tourist industry that threatens to destroy the fragile environment and drive the species to extinction.
NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: LASZLO & VILMOS
USA, 2008, 97 min, 35mm
Director: James Chressanthis
An intimate portrait following the friendship of renowned Hungarian cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, across a 50 year-old journey of image-making that helped define a new American film aesthetic.
*Official Selection, 2008 Cannes Film Festival
ON THE EDGE (Kami Hito E-On the Edge)
Japan, 2009, 22 min, US Premiere
Director: Basile Doganis
A young rapper moves to Tokyo with dreams of making it big. Disheartened by the harshness of the megalopolis, he is about to give up, when he meets Ky-chi who takes him under his wing.
T FOR TROUBLE AND THE SELF ADMIRATION SOCIETY
Greece, 2009, 108 min, Digibeta, US Premiere
Director: Dimitris Athiridis
An in-depth portrait of Terry Papadinas, a Greek-American musician who rose to stardom in the 60's Greek rock scene. Today, living on the fringe of society, he dares to look back at his own misgivings and failures.
THEMIS
Greece, 2009, 85 min, Digibeta, US Premiere
Director: Marco Gastine
For the very first time, a camera is allowed inside the Athens Court, within
which small dramas of everyday life unfold, revealing a microcosmos of modern Greek society.
*Official Selection, ACID, 2009 Cannes Film Festival
THE NIGHT FERNANDO PESSOA MET CONSTANTINE CAVAFY
Greece, 2007, 90 min, Digibeta, US Premiere
Director: Stelios Charalambopoulos
On 21 October 1929, the ocean liner "Saturnia" sails from Trieste on its voyage to America, picking up immigrants from the ports of the Mediterranean, along with their dreams of the New World. There, an equally dreamlike encounter will take place, between two of the greatest poets of the 20th century, Fernando Pessoa and Constantine Cavafy.
*Best Documentary, Greek State Quality Awards 2008
2009 LOS ANGELES GREEK FILM FESTIVAL LOCATION AND PARKING INFORMATION
EGYPTIAN THEATRE
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
Note: All LAGFF Events Located at the Egyptian EXCEPT Panel Discussion (on 6/27).
PARKING
Free street parking on Selma (South of Hollywood Blvd.)
Metered street parking
Parking lot behind theater ($8 & up)
Validated parking at Hollywood & Highland Parking Complex ($2 for 4 hours)
You must take stamped validation & ticket stub to the Customer Service Center.
If you stay longer than 4 hours you pay $1.00 every 20 min. or a $10 flat rate.
THE LINWOOD DUNN THEATRE AT THE PICKFORD CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
1313 North Vine Street (at Fountain)
Hollywood, CA 90028
(Parking Lot Located Behind Theater)
Director, Rebecca Camissa, risked her life on the trains in Mexico making this powerful film about young kids trying to make it over the border into the U.S. to reunite with their parents who have left them behind.
Please come and support the film this Friday!! Great venue to bring friends, drink some wine, and watch a movie!
Thank you,
Bristol
Los Angeles Film Festival
June 26, 2009
8pm
California Plaza Downtown L.A.
350 S. Grand Ave.
(Btw 3rd and 4th Street)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
25th Anniversary, new 35mm Print! Long before Gus Van Sant's MILK, which won Oscars for Sean Penn's masterful portrayal of the slain San Francisco city supervisor and Dustin Lance Black's savvy screenplay, there was Rob Epstein's Oscar-winning documentary about Harvey Milk's improbable rise in politics, the unthinkable tragedy that claimed his and Mayor George Moscone's lives, and Milk's enduring political legacy. DIR Rob Epstein; SCR Rob Epstein, Judith Coburn (narration), Carter Wilson (narration); Harvey Fierstein, narrator; PROD Rob Epstein, Richard Schmiechen; USA, 1984. Color, 90 min.
Oscar for Best Documentary, 1985 Academy Awards; Special Jury Prize, 1985 Sundance Film Festival
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
8633 Colesville Rd
Silver Spring MD 20910
www.AFI.com/silver
Hip Hop music has the ability to give a voice to the disenfranchised in any country, and as music with a message it is a form available to all societies worldwide. Directed by New York based filmmakers, Loira Limbal and Virgilio Bravo, ESTILO HIP HOP chronicles the lives of three hip hop enthusiasts from Brazil, Chile and Cuba who firmly believe that hip hop can change the world. These three inspirational leaders mobilize young people to become politically active. However as the stakes assume greater risks, the leaders are faced with challenges and have to make life-altering decisions that ultimately impact the course of their lives and of the hip hop movement.
POV's 2010 Call for Entries
Deadline: June 30
P.O.V., public television's premier showcase for independent, nonfiction film seeks programs from all perspectives to showcase in its annual national PBS series. All subjects, styles and lengths are welcome.
See website for full details http://cfe.pov.org/
In September 2002, three skinheads were roaming a park in Rheims, France, looking to "do an Arab," when they settled for a gay man instead. Twenty-nine-year-old François Chenu fought back fiercely, but he was beaten unconscious and thrown into a river, where he drowned. The acclaimed French verité film Beyond Hatred is the story of the crime's aftermath; above all, of the Chenu family's brave and heartrending struggle to seek justice while trying to make sense of such pointless violence and unbearable loss. With remarkable dignity, they fight to transcend hatred and the inevitable desire for revenge.
by Olivier Meyrou
Chicken & Egg Pictures June 30th Open Call is now open for submissions. Chicken & Egg Pictures is a hybrid film fund and non-profit production company dedicated to supporting women filmmakers who are as passionate about the craft of storytelling as they are about the social justice, environmental and human rights issues they're embracing, translating and exploring on film.We match strategically timed financial support with rigorous, respectful and dynamic mentorship, creative collaboration and community-building to nurture women filmmakers whose diverse voices represent a range of lived experience and realities that have the power to change the world as we know it.
Filmmakers are supported at pivotal "chicken & egg" moments, and can apply for support - development to completion. Since founding in 2005, Chicken & Egg Pictures has provided approximately $1 million dollars in funding to over 50 women-made films.
This open call is for non-fiction projects (unless otherwise solicited) - that are dedicated to progressive social change -- both short and feature length, "webisodes", animation, experimental and multiplatform new-media hybrids.
Deadline: June 30th 2009
Your film can be either:
* An idea with strong proposals/outlines, and connections to the subjects
* A work-in-progress
* Shot and almost in post
* Anywhere in-between
FOR AN APPLICATION: Please download and submit your application wih your film no later than June 30th, 2009: www.fromtheheartproductions.com/application3.shtml