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September
23, 2008
THE
POOL
An interview with CHRIS SMITH the
director of 2007 Sundance Special Jury Prize THE
POOL — the story of Venkatesh, a "room boy" working
at a hotel in Panjim, Goa, who sees from his perch in a mango tree a luxuriant
garden
and shimmering pool hidden behind a wall. In making whatever efforts he
can
to better himself, Venkatesh offers his services to the wealthy owner of
the home.
Not content to simply dream about a different life, Venkatesh is inquisitive
about the home's inhabitants-indeed about the world around him-and his
curiosity changes the shape of his future. Working in Hindi with young
actors and in
a country obviously not his own, Smith has created an incisive portrait
that will
take a place on a global stage. Smith is an accomplished filmmaker whose
previous films include American Job (1996, Sundance Film Festival), American
Movie (1999,
Grand Jury Prize-Sundance Film Festival, Sony Pictures Classics), Home
Movie (2001, Sundance Film Festival) and The Yes Men (2004, United Artists).
September
16, 2008
TAKE
OUT
An interview with SEAN BAKER and SHIH-CHING
TSOU co-directors of TAKE OUT — a
day-in-the-life of an illegal Chinese immigrant working as a deliveryman for
a Chinese take-out shop in New York City. Ming is behind with payments on his
huge debt to the smugglers who brought him to the United States. The collectors
have given him until the end of the day to deliver the money that is due. In
a social-realist style, the camera follows Ming on his deliveries throughout
the upper Manhattan neighborhood where social and economic extremes exist side
by side. Baker is best known for co-creating the cult television show "Greg
the Bunny." He co-wrote and co-directed for the IFC series. His first feature, "Four
Letter Words," a study of adolescent males in Suburbia USA, premiered at
South by Southwest 2001. It is currently being released on DVD by Vanguard Cinema. "Take
Out," Sean completed his third feature film, "The Prince of Broadway" in
May 2008. "Prince of Broadway" premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
The film is about a West African immigrant that sells counterfeit goods in NYC's
wholesale district. It won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative. Shih-Ching’s
credits include production design on three nationally aired commercials and post-production
work on three short films.
September
9, 2008
FLOW:
FOR LOVE OF WATER
An interview with IRENA SALINA the
director of FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER – an
award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important
political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.
Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling
fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights,
and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists
and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global
and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate
culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY
OWN WATER?" Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look
at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis
and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for
a successful global and economic turnaround. Salina’s first film, Ghost
Bird: The Life and Art of Judith Deim (2000) delves into the remarkable life
of St. Louis-born artist Judith Deim. Ghost Bird won Best Documentary at the
15th Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, the Presidents' Award at Mexico's prestigious
Ajijic Film Festival, and is an evergreen audience favorite on the Sundance Channel.
September
2, 2008
BOTTLE
SHOCK
An interview with RANDALL MILLER the
director of BOTTLE SHOCK -
the story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now infamous,
blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as "Judgment
of Paris". Shot on location in the Northern California wine country, Bottle
Shock focuses on the contentious relationship between headstrong perfectionist
Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman), a former attorney, and his free-spirited son Bo (Chris
Pine). For all their differences, the two share a dream of producing a great
Chardonnay at the Chateau Montelena vineyard Jim founded in Calistoga in the
early 1970s. Miller began his career at the American Film Institute with the
short film Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School. The film won
numerous awards and began Miller's professional career as a director. Off the
heat of the short, Randall directed numerous episodic series such as "thirtysomething," "Northern
Exposure," "Popular" and "Jack & Jill." His feature
career took off with the films Houseguest and The Sixth Man. Looking to get back
to his roots in independent filmmaking, Miller and his wife, Jody Savin, set
out to start anew. Ironically, their new start took them back to the short with
which it all began. Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School is
now realized as a full-length feature. The team subsequently completed another
labor
August
26, 2008
FIRE
UNDER THE SNOW
An interview with MAKOTO
SASA, the producer and director of FIRE
UNDER THE SNOW - a look at the life of Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso, who spent
33 years in prison as his nation was seized by China. Palden Gyatso, a Buddhist
monk since childhood, was arrested by the Chinese Communist Army in 1959. He
was tortured, starved and sentenced to hard labor. He watched his nation and
culture destroyed, his teachers, friends and family displaced, jailed or killed
under Chinese occupation. Fire Under the Snow reaches back to Palden's birth
in 1933 and follows him through the Orwellian nightmare that began with the Chinese
invasion. The film investigates the basis of Palden's resilience. He claims that
faith in Buddhism helped him survive the 33 years of his imprisonment. While
imprisoned, the mere existence of the Dalai Lama was a beacon of hope to Palden
and fellow prisoners-of-conscience. They dreamed of being released from their
torment and delivered into his open arms. Today, the Dalai Lama and his supporters
advance the idea of a "mutually beneficial" autonomy within China,
an idea generated from Buddhist philosophy. Makoto Sasa has made several short
documentaries, worked as assistant editor for the 35mm features Going Under (2004)
starring Roger Rees, and LOVE (2005). Recently, she has been directing and editing
several documentaries for SONY Japan's broadband streaming video website World
Event Village.
August
19, 2008
TROUBLE
THE WATER
An interview with TIA
LESSIN and CARL
DEAL producers and directors of TROUBLE
THE WATER. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival,
Trouble the Water tells the story of an aspiring rap artist and her streetwise
husband, trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, who survive the storm
and then seize a chance for a new beginning. It’s a redemptive tale of
self-described street hustlers who become heroes that takes you inside Hurricane
Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. Sessin was a producer of Michael
Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, winner of the Palme d’Or, and Academy Award-winning
Bowling for Columbine. Her other film credits include line producer on Martin
Scorsese’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan and coordinating producer on The
Big One. Lessin’s work as producer of the series The Awful Truth, which
the
Los Angeles Times called “the smartest and funniest show on television,” earned
her two Emmy nominations and one arrest. Deal was the Archival Producer for Fahrenheit
9/11 and Bowling for Columbine, and has contributed to many other documentaries,
including Sundance Festival favorites Murderball and God Grew Tired of Us, and
John Pilger's recent The War on Democracy. He previously worked as an international
news producer and has reported from natural disasters and conflict zones throughout
the U.S., Latin America, and in Iraq.
August
12, 2008
STEALING
AMERICA
An
interview with DOROTHY
FADIMAN Producer / Director of STEALING
AMERICA: VOTE
BY VOTE. The last two presidential elections both came down to a relatively
small number of votes, and in both elections the integrity of the voting process
has been called into question. With the upcoming election looking to be similarly
close, the time has come to ask the questions: what happened in 2000 and 2004;
what has changed since; and what can be done to ensure a fair and honest tabulation
of votes in 2008? STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote brings together behind-the-scenes
perspectives from the U.S. presidential election of
2004 – plus startling stories from key races in 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2006.
Fadiman has been producing media with a focus on social justice and human rights
since 1976. Her film subjects have ranged from progressive education in WHY DO
THESE KIDS LOVE SCHOOL? (produced with KTEH-TV) and progressive change for women
in some of the least developed villages of India in WOMAN by WOMAN: New Hope
for the Villages of India (produced with KQED-TV); to a three-film series on
reproductive issues and a five-film series on AIDS in Ethiopia including From
RISK to ACTION: Women and HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. Fadiman has won more than 50
major awards, including an Emmy for her 1995 production FROM DANGER to DIGNITY:
The Fight for Safe Abortion, and an Oscar nomination for Best Short Subject,
as well as the Gold Medal from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for her
1992 production WHEN ABORTION WAS ILLEGAL: Untold Stories. Her films have been
broadcast on PBS, and have been screened in many international venues.
August
5, 2008
DocuWeek
An interview with EDDIE SCHMIDT Executive Director
of
the INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION about DocuWeek— a
public theatrical exhibition of outstanding new documentary films at the Arclight
Theatres in Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, August 22nd thru August 28th. This years
program includes the documentaries Glass: a portrait of Philip in twelve
parts (trailer is on the right), Baghdad Twist, Kick Like A Girl, The
Wrecking Crew, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, One Bad Cat: The Reverend Albert
Wagner Story and Fire Under the Snow. Schmidt has worked as a producer,
director, writer and cinematographer. His projects include This Film is Not
Yet
Rated and Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist.
July
29, 2008
TELL
NO ONE
An interview with GUILLAUME CANET director
of TELL NO ONE — a crime
thriller and winner of the best director, best actor, best editing and best music
at France's César Awards. France. The film focuses on Alexandre Beck a
pediatrician who misses his beloved wife who was brutally murdered eight years
ago when he was the prime suspect. When two bodies are found near where the corpse
of Margot was dumped, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes suspect again.
The mystery increases when Alex receives an e-mail showing Margot older and alive.
After his critically-acclaimed directorial debut, Mon Idole (Whatever You Say),
French actor Canet rounded up a stellar cast, which includes
Marie-Josée Croze, Kristen Scott-Thomas, Nathalie Baye, André Dussollier,
Jean Rochefort, Marina Hands and Canet himself in this film .based on American
writer Harlan Coben’s bestselling novel.
July
22, 2008
MAN
ON WIRE
An interview with JAMES MARSH director
of MAN ON WIRE — a look at tightrope
walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between
New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the
artistic crime of the century. Petit committed one of the most astonishing performance
stunts of the late 20th century: he strung a thin cable in-between the two towers
of the World Trade Center and not only walked across, from one building to another,
but did a nerve-wracking series of knee-bends and acrobatic movements on the
cable, some 1,350 feet above the ground, before turning himself in. This occurred
to the consternation and chagrin of Port Authority policemen, who immediately
arrested Petit for the act. When Marsh decided he wanted to become a filmmaker,
he "took the path of least resistance" and landed a job at the BBC,
making documentaries for Arena. Specialising in American pop culture, notable
docs included Trouble Man: The Last Years Of Marvin Gaye (1994) and The Burger
And The King (1996), examining the dietary quirks of Elvis Presley. It was Marsh's
work on acclaimed 1999 documentary Wisconsin Death Trip that provided his big
screen breakout. He followed that with his first feature, The King. Man on Wire
won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
July
15, 2008
ROMAN
PULANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED
An interview with MARINA ZENOVICH director
of ROMAN
PULANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED — a documentary that examines the public
scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's
sudden flight from the United States. On March 11, 1977, Roman Polanski was arrested
in Los Angeles and charged with the following counts: furnishing a controlled
substance to a minor, committing a lewd or lascivious act on a child, unlawful
sexual intercourse, rape by use of drugs, perversion and sodomy. Less than a
year later, on February 1, 1978, Polanski drove to LAX, bought a one-way ticket
to Europe, and never came back. Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired explores the
implausible events that took place between these dates, along with details, before
and after, that forever altered the life and career of Polanski, one of the world's
most acclaimed directors. Polanski, whose life already read like the script of
one of his most tragic, brutal films, lost both his Polish parents during WWII,
but rose to become a star filmmaker in Poland, England and, later, the U.S. His
storybook love affair with Sharon Tate ended with her 1969 murder at the hands
of followers of Charles Manson; she was eight months pregnant. Surviving the
tragedy and press firestorm accompanying it, Polanski rebuilt his career in the
1970s - until he made a fateful mistake during a 1977 photo shoot with a 13-year-old
girl. Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize
at the Sundance Film Festival.
July
8, 2008
THE
ART OF FAILURE: CHUCK CONNELLY NOT FOR SALE
An interview with JEFF
STIMMEL director of THE ART OF
FAILURE: CHUCK CONNELLY NOT FOR SALE — the unusual story of the rise
and fall of a major talent, along with Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat,
from the 1980s art world. Though he was extremely talented with a profitable
collection of work, Connelly ended up alienating every collector and gallery
owner he worked with. This documentary follows the life of this brilliant yet
enigmatic painter, who had great success as a young artist but who now sees his
career fading. Driven by desperation, and left by his wife during the course
of this documentary, Connelly hires an actor to pose as a young, upcoming artist
to sell Chuck's work to galleries and art dealers. The film provides an intimate
and often troubling character study of Connelly, a working-class guy from Pittsburgh
who holds "traditional" beliefs that art is, above all, about personal
expression and craftsmanship. These notions have proven to be less-than-fashionable
in today's elite art world, the inner workings of which are also glimpsed in
the film. Shot over six years, this documentary explores a painter's passion
for his work, despite being his own worst enemy. Stimmel is a Los Angeles based
filmmaker who has directed several short films. In 2001, he received the PEER
award for the production of Ed Sherman's The State of the Artist. The
Art of Failure will screen on HBO beginning July 7 and will be available
thereafter on HBO On Demand.
July
1, 2008
GONZO:
THE LIFE AND WORK OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON
An interview with ALEX GIBNEY the
director of GONZO: THE LIFE AND
WORK OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON — the definitive film biography of a mythic
American figure, a man that Tom Wolfe called our “greatest comic writer,” whose
suicide, by gunshot, led Rolling Stone Magazine, where Thompson began his career,
to devote an entire issue (its best-selling ever) to the man that launched a
thousand sips of bourbon, endless snorts of cocaine and a brash, irreverent,
fearless style of journalism - named “gonzo” after an anarchic blues
riff by James Booker. Gibney is the Academy Award nominated director of Enron:
the Smartest Guys in the Room and the director of the Academy Award winning documentary,
Taxi to the Dark Side. While Gibney shaped the screen story, every narrated word
in the film springs from the typewriters of Thompson himself. Those words are
given life by Johnny Depp, the actor who once shadowed Thompson’s every
move for the screen version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and who bankrolled
Thompson’s spectacular funeral (photographed for this film) in which the
good doctor’s ashes were fired from a rocket launcher mounted with a towering
two-thumbed fist whose palm held a giant peyote button.
June
24, 2008
PRINCE
OF BROADWAY
An interview with SEAN BAKER the
director /writer of PRINCE OF BROADWAY — the
story of Lucky and Levon, two men whose lives converge in the underbelly of New
York's wholesale fashion district. Lucky, an illegal immigrant from Ghana, makes
ends meet by soliciting shoppers on the street with knock-off brand merchandise.
Levon, an Armenian-Lebanese immigrant, operates an illegal storefront with a
concealed back room where counterfeit goods are showcased to interested shoppers.
Lucky's world is suddenly turned upside down when a child is thrust into his
life by a woman who insists the toddler is his son. Shot in a fast-paced guerilla
style that is akin to the hustler lifestyle, the film reveals the lives of immigrants
in America seeking ideals of family and love, while creating their own knock-off
of the American Dream. Baker is best known for co-creating the cult television
show "Greg the Bunny." His first feature, "Four Letter Words," a
study of adolescent males in Suburbia USA, premiered at South by Southwest 2001.
It is currently being released on DVD by Vanguard Cinema. "Take Out," Sean's
second feature is slated for release by Cavu Cinema. Having premiered at Slamdance
2004, it won Best Feature at the Nashville Film Festival. Prince of Broadway
will begin screening at the Los Angeles
Film Festival Sunday, June 22, 7:00pm at The Regent in Westwood.
VISIT
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