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January
1, 2008
FOR
THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO
An interview with Daniel
Karslake the director of For
the Bible Tells Me So. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary
at the Seattle International Film Festival, Karslake's documentary brilliantly
reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals
that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant
(and
often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible. Through the experiences of
five very normal, very Christian, very American families — including those of
former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson — we
discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay
child. For six years, Daniel Karslake has been an award-winning producer for
the highly acclaimed newsmagazine, In the
Life, which airs nationally on PBS in over 120 markets. Recognition for his
outstanding work for the show, which has centered primarily on issues regarding
religion and homosexuality, includes an Emmy nomination from the Academy of Television
Arts and Sciences, as well as praise from GLAAD and the National Lesbian and
Gay Journalists Association. For
the Bible Tells Me So is on the Academy's short list of nominees for Best
Documentary.
December
18, 2007
ROMANCE
AND CIGARETTES
An interview with John
Turturro the director of Romance
and Cigarettes —
a down-and-dirty musical love story set in the world
of the working
class. Nick (James Gandolfini) is an ironworker who builds and repairs
bridges. He's married to Kitty (Susan Sarandon), a dressmaker, a strong
and gentle woman with whom he has three daughters. He is carrying on a
torrid affair with a redheaded woman named Tula (Kate Winslet). Like Oedipus
at Colonus, Nick is sent into exile and searches to find his way back
through the damage he has done. This is Turturro's third film as a director.
As an actor he has become a regular in the films of Spike Lee and the
Coen Brothers. His performances include the highly agitated "Pino" in
Do the Right Thing (1989), an intellectual playwright in Barton
Fink (1991),
a pedophile tenpin bowler in The
Big Lebowski (1998), a confused boyfriend
in Jungle Fever (1991) and as the voice of Harvey the dog in Summer
of Sam (1999).
December
11, 2007
PROTAGONIST
An interview with Academy Award Winning director Jessica
Yu (Breathing Lessons: The
Life and Work of Mark O'Brien). Yu, who also directed In
the Realms of the Unreal, returns with one of the boldest documentaries of
the year. Protagonist weaves
together the stories of 4 men: A German terrorist, a bank robber, a gay evangelist
and a martial arts student. At first glance the characters appear disconnected.
But as their stories unfold in riveting detail, one starts to see the parallels
between the uncommon, common experience of these four men. To illustrate the
timelessness of her subjects' dilemmas, Yu uses puppets and the work of Greek
dramatist Euripides. Whether famous, infamous, or simply anonymous, each lives
out the eternal drama of how we control — or don't control — our
own destinies.
December
4,
2007
SAND
AND SORROW
An interview with Paul
Freedman the director of Sand
and Sorrow. Offered exclusive and unparalleled access to the situation on
the ground inside Darfur, Peabody award-winning filmmaker, Paul Freedman, joins
a contingent of African Union peacekeeping forces in Darfur while a tragic and
disturbing chapter in human history unfolds. While analyzing the historical events
that have given rise to an Arab-dominated government's willingness to kill and
displace its own indigenous African people, “Sand and Sorrow” also
examines the international community's “legacy of failure” to respond
to such profound crimes against humanity in the past. But while immersed in the
despairing crisis of our time, Freedman manages to give voice to the ever-growing
and inspiring movement of those who wish to make “Never Again” finally
mean something. Sand and Sorrow premieres
Thursday, December 6 at 8pm ET/PT on HBO.
November
27, 2007
A
PROMISE TO THE DEAD: THE EXILE JOURNEY OF ARIEL DORFMAN
An
interview with Peter
Raymont director of A Promise
to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman — an exploration
of exile, memory, longing and democracy through the words and memories
of playwright/author/activist Ariel Dorfman ('Death and the Maiden', 'How
to Read Donald Duck', 'Other Septembers'). Born in Argentina, growing
up in New York and Chile, Dorfman became cultural advisor to socialist
president Salvador Allende in Chile. When the Allende government was toppled
in the military coup of September 11, 1973, Dorfman was among a handful
of Allende's inner circle to survive. A Promise to the Dead was filmed
in the USA, Argentina and Chile in late 2006, coinciding with the death
of former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet.
November
20, 2007 HOLLY
An
interview with Guy Moshe the
director of Holly.
Shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels
in the notorious red light district
of Phnom Penh, Holly is
a captivating, touching and emotional experience. Patrick (Ron Livingston),
an American card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts,
has been 'comfortably numb' in Cambodia for years, when he encounters Holly
(Thuy Nguyen), a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, in the K11 red light village.
The girl has been sold by her impoverished family and smuggled across the
border to work as a prostitute. Holly's virginity makes her a lucrative
prize, and when she is sold to a child trafficker, Patrick embarks on a
frantic search through both the beautiful and sordid faces of the country,
in an attempt to bring her to safety. Harsh, yet poetic, this feature forms
part of the K-11 Project, dedicated to raising awareness of the epidemic
of child trafficking and the sex slavery trade through several film projects.
The film's producers endured substantial hardships in order to be able
to shoot in Cambodia and have also founded the RedLight
Children Campaign,
which is a worldwide grassroots initiative generating conscious concern
and inspiring immediate action against child sexploitation.
November
13, 2007
WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?
An interview with Rob
VanAlkemade the director of What Would
Jesus Buy? and Savitri
D the Director of the Church
of Stop Shopping (as well as the artist-wife of Reverend Billy. What
Would Jesus
Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel
Choir as they go on a cross-country missionto save Christmas from the Shopocalypse:
the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of
eternal debt. Bill Talen (aka Reverend Billy) was a lost idealist who hitchhiked
to New York City only to find that Times Square was becoming a mall.
Spurred on by the loss of his neighborhood and inspired by the sidewalk
preachers around him, Bill bought a collar to match his white caterer's
jacket, bleached his hair and became the Reverend Billy of the Church of
Stop Shopping. Since 1999, Reverend Billy has gone from being a lone
preacher with a portable pulpit preaching on subways, to the leader of
a congregation and a movement whose numbers are well into the thousands.
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November 6, 2007
STRANGE CULTURE
An interview with Lynn
Hershman Leeson about her documentary, Strange
Culture — the surreal nightmare of internationally-acclaimed
artist and professor Steve Kurtz which began when his wife Hope died
in her sleep
of heart failure. Police arrived, became suspicious of Kurtz's art, and
called the
FBI. Within hours the artist was detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" as
dozens of agents in hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded
his computers, manuscripts, books, his cat, and even his wife's body.
Today Kurtz and his long-time
collaborator Dr. Robert Ferrell, former Chair of the Genetics Department
at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, await
a trial
date.
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October
30,
2007
AFI
FEST
An interview with John Wildman,
Director of Press and Public Relations for the AFI
FEST and Lane
Kneedler Senior Programmer for the festival. November 1 –11,
the American Film Institute presents AFI FEST, the longest-running film festival
in Los Angeles and one of the most influential
film festivals in North America. Featuring international competitions of new
films from emerging filmmakers, as well as global showcases of the latest work
from great film masters and nightly red-carpet gala premieres AFI FEST offers
a crucial avenue of exposure to the entertainment community while providing appreciative
audiences with a festive atmosphere and the very best of world film, right in
the film capital of the world. Luminaries from around the globe have attended
AFI FEST. Recent guests include: Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro Amenabar, Javier
Bardem, Gael Garcia Bernal, Orlando Bloom, Kate Bosworth, Don Cheadle, George
Clooney, Kevin Costner, Marcia Cross, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp,
Fergie (Black Eyed Peas), Joseph Fiennes, Flea, Jodie Foster, Andy Garcia, Cuba
Gooding Jr., Teri Hatcher, Anthony Hopkins, Felicity Huffman, Wyclef Jean, Jean-Pierre
Jeunet, Scarlett Johansson, Tommy Lee Jones, Jude Law, David Lynch, Sienna Miller,
Jack Nicholson, Pele, Robin Wright Penn, Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix, Sarah Silverman,
Kevin Spacey, Audrey Tautou, Reese Witherspoon, Ziyi
Zhang and many more.
October
23,
2007
MUSIC
WITHIN
An interview with Steven Sawalich the
director of Music Within, the
true story of Richard Pimentel, a brilliant public speaker with a troubled past,
who returns from Vietnam severely hearing-impaired and finds a new purpose in
his landmark efforts on the behalf of Americans With Disabilities. Guided through
the journey by Pimentel's (Ron Livingston) acerbic sense of humor, we see a world
that through other eyes would appear devastatingly tragic. Instead, Richard uses
it to fuel his plight for the underdog. Music Within won the Audience Award for
Narrative Feature Film (Steven Sawalich) at the AFI Dallas International Film
Festival.
October 16, 2007
WORDPLAY
An interview with Patrick Creadon the
director of the documentary Wordplay.
The film begins with the story of the New York Times crossword puzzle,
and the current and historical creative forces behind it. But as it develops,
Wordplay reveals the world behind the practice, creation, and history of crosswords — from
the annual crossword convention in Stamford, CT to the breadth of individuals
who enjoy wordplay daily. Wordplay also focuses on the man most associated with
crossword puzzles, New York Times puzzle editor and NPR Puzzle Master
Will Shortz. Along the way celebrity crossword puzzlers such as Bill Clinton,
Bob Dole, Jon Stewart, Ken Burns, Mike Mussina, and the Indigo Girls, reveal
their process, insight and the allure of the game.
October 9, 2007
KURT
COBAIN ABOUT A SON
An interview with AJ
Schnack director of Kurt
Cobain About a Son — an intimate and moving meditation on the
late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, based on more than 25 hours of previously
unheard audiotaped interviews conducted with Cobain by noted music journalist
Michael Azerrad for his book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana.
In the film, Cobain recounts his own life — from his childhood and
adolescence to his days of musical discovery and later dealings with explosive
fame — and offers often piercing insights into his life, music, and
times. The conversations heard in the film have never before been made
public and they reveal a highly personal portrait of an artist much discussed
but not particularly well understood.
VISIT
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