WE JAM ECONO - THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN
NALIP-SA in collaboration with San Anto Cultural Arts is proud to announce
the documentary screening of WE JAM ECONO - THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN at 7PM on Sunday March 26, 2006 at Café Revolution, 527 El Paso St . This screening is
part of the NALIP-SA’s 2006 San Antonio Film Series. Director Tim Irwin and
Producer Keith Schieron will sit for a question and answer session with the
audience after the screening.
The "San Antonio Film Series" is a yearlong program of screenings and
workshops that will foster independent film in San Antonio . Through
celebrating and including filmmakers and audiences of all backgrounds, NALIP
will promote the authentic, pan-ethnic diversity that is the real jewel of
independent filmmaking. This programming is made possible by The San
Antonio Film Commission, The City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs
and NALAC.
Suggested donation:$5
NALIP Members: Free
For more information:
www.nalip.org/texas/sananto
Affected by HIV? Show us your story…
The HIV epidemic began 25 years ago. Your generation grew up in its shadow.
MTV invites you to submit your short videos about HIV and its impact on your life for a special show this summer.
Whether you are positive or are the son or daughter, parent, teacher, student, partner, lover or friend of someone who is – we want to see what you see, hear what you have to say and know what it means to be young and be affected by HIV. Show us your story. Use your voice.
Deadline: APRIL 30 th
(The sooner your submit, the more likely your work will make it into the final show.)
Format: (In order of preference) DV (Digital Video); DVD; Beta; Digi Beta; VHS
Length: 3-5 minutes
How to submit: For guidelines and all the need to know info, visit: www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/features/sexual_health/HIV_25
Email us at positive@mtvstaff.com to find out more!
If you need help to produce your project for MTV
contact: Erick Garcia at < erickgarcia @ nalip.org>
NATPE Educational Foundation Student Career Workshop
The half-day career events begin with a continental breakfast for the students and are followed by presentations from each of the speakers. The panelists each speak for ten minutes about their career path and strategy. Topics addressed during the presentations include preparing resumes, interviewing successfully, networking and developing a career strategy. The panel discussions are followed by a general Q&A session and then by a light lunch where students have the opportunity to interact with the speakers face to face. Past workshops have attracted between 100 and 200 college students.
The next Student Career Workshop will take place Saturday, April 1, 2006 at WCVB-TV in Boston , MA . Go to www.natpe.org for more information.
The 4th Annual Independent Film Festival of Boston will take place April 19-24 at Boston 's most historic theatres. Twenty-eight documentary features will be screened over the six days including several World Premieres. NOT A PHOTOGRAPH: THE MISSION OF BURMA STORY will have its World Premiere on Saturday, April 22 at the Somerville Theatre. The film chronicles the the history of the band's formation and break-up as well as their celebrated reunion 17 years later. The film features rocking performances from the 80's and from the last several years as well as interviews with many famous artists that the band influenced.
See below for more information on these three films and to see the complete 2006 documentary lineup at the Independent Film Festival of Boston.
For more information on the festival go to http://www.iffboston.org.
Online ticket and pass sales begin on April 1st on the festival website.
Tribeca Film Festival: the 5th Anniversary
Movie fans, it's time to celebrate as the Tribeca Film Festival returns for its 5th Anniversary! As part of our exclusive mailing list, you'll be the first to know what's planned for 2006. Expect periodic updates from now until April 25, when the Festival kicks into high gear and so do we.
Our website, www.tribecafilmfestival.org, is the companion to your festival experience. It's your source for purchasing tickets , the 2006 Program Guide, and so much more.
It's our 5th Anniversary. We're celebrating, and we hope you'll join us!
Fast food, oil, politics, press, retail giants, sexual abuse, war and filmmaking will be among the topics of discussion at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Documentaries of Dissent, Part II” on Friday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Hosted by Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan, the evening will feature film excerpts and discussions with Academy Award®-nominated director Kirby Dick (“Twist of Faith”), Academy Award-nominated director/producer Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me”), producer Kathleen Glynn (“Bowling for Columbine,” the 2002 Oscar® winner for Best Documentary Feature), producer/director Robert Greenwald (“Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War” and “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price”), and director Jehane Noujaim (“Control Room”).
Tickets to “Documentaries of Dissent, Part II” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid I.D. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills . Free parking is provided in the garages located at 8920 and 9025 Wilshire Boulevard . For more information, call 310-247-3000 ext 111.
Women Make Movies presents: Fundraising Intensive Workshops for Filmmakers at The Reel Women Film Festival [www.rwiff.com]
Date: Saturday, March 25, 9:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Venue: Raleigh Studios, 5500 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA
A two-part Fundraising Intensive essential for filmmakers seeking funds for their projects:
I. Your Fundraising Blueprint: Designing a Strategy That's Right For Your Project
II. Alternative Fundraising: Stories from the Trenches
Don't miss this nuts-and-bolts discussion on how to design your project's fundraising approach from beginning to end--from traditional grantseeking from private and government foundations to appealing to individual donors through events and direct mail campaigns. Topics include: identifying a fundraising proposal's elements, writing an effective synopsis and pitching to donors, assessing and approaching the best funders, writing appeal letters, and more. This workshop provides essential steps toward understanding the myriad of possible approaches to raising money for a project, and informs how to best determine what's right for you. Attendees receive a packet with essential resources and sample proposal components.
This workshop will be taught by Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies, a non-profit feminist media organization. During her tenure (since 1983), the organization has grown into the largest distributor of films by and about women in the world. Zimmerman has lectured on women's media and media distribution and fundraising throughout the world, has been a grants panelist for government and private foundations and served as a jury member for numerous festivals. This past year she participated in panel discussions of independent media distribution at MIPDOC, the Sundance Film Festival and gave master classes on Distribution and Marketing and Film Financing at the Australian International Documentary Conference and Reel Screen. She currently sits on New York State Council for the Arts Electronic Media and Film Funding Panel and is a member of the Advisory Boards of DocuClub, NY; Frameline, San Francisco ; Asian Cine-Vision , NY ; and the Center for Social Media at American University . She is also on the Advisory Committee for the Gender Montage project, a Soros Foundation program which is training filmmakers in the former Soviet Republics .
Alternative Fundraising: Stories from the Trenches
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Moderator: Sandra Ruch, Executive Director International Documentary Association
Don't miss this chance to explore new and varied approaches to raising money for independent films. With traditional opportunities from private and government foundations getting fewer and far between, many projects are finding funding success through individual donors and special events. A panel of organization leaders and narrative and documentary filmmakers will relay their experiences and advice on appealing to individuals‹from cultivating relationships to designing a grassroots fundraising campaign to discover untapped sources. Topics will include tips for a successful fundraising event, effective ways to use the internet to generate word of mouth, and approaches to donor appeal letters.
Panelists include filmmaker Almudena Carracedo, director of doc-in-progress, Made in L.A. which recently received funding from ITVS; Jane Clark, director of Carrie's Choice, a narrative short; Sherri James, producer of forthcoming narrative feature genre pics Gone and Somebody Help Me; and Page Ostrow, producer of over 125 documentaries and features, most recently Heaven's Fall, Stolen Childhoods, and Inside Iraq, The Untold Stories. The panel will be moderated by Sandra Ruch, Executive Director, International Documentary Association (IDA)
The Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts will be hosting the National Arts Marketing Project Conference
Don't miss the 2006 National Arts Marketing Project Conference Blockbuster Results on an Indie Budget: Arts Marketing and Earned Income Strategies that Work!.
Join us at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in sunny Los Angeles April 29- May 2, 2006 for intensive workshops, plenary sessions, roundtable peer discussions, and sponsorship clinics led by top marketing and sponsorship experts. To learn more or to register now, please visit www.AmericansForTheArts.org/NAMPC
The International Latino Film Festival, San Francisco Bay Area promotes Latino culture by showcasing the best and most recent works produced by or about Latinos in the United States and internationally. The Festival promotes cinematography of significant artistic and educational merit that expresses the cultural diversity of the many countries and roots of the Latino population and rich cultural heritage. The 10 th International Latino Film Festival – San Francisco Bay Area will take place November 3-19, 2006 in San Francisco, San Jose, Marin, Berkeley, Belmont, Oakland and Sonoma.
How To Enter:
Enter online at: www.latinofilmfestival.org
CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR CINE LATINO
The 20th annual Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival celebrates world culture where cinema, community and conscience come together for enlightened dialogue and meaningful exchange. The festival moves from town to town in Napa Valley and Sonoma County , 45 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge . The Latino population is the fastest growing population in this region.
CINE LATINO includes 15 - 20 Spanish language films. The mission is to
achieve awareness about Latino film and culture.
FESTIVAL DATES: July 27 - August 20, 2006
www.winecountryfilmfest.com
wcfilmfest@aol.com
Phone: 707-935-3456
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World Cinema coverage presented by San Francisco Film Society
by Anthony Kaufman (March 21, 2006)
IndieWIRE, posted on Mar 21, 2006 at 06:06PM
"Vamonos!" cries one of the ads for "Duck Season," Fernando Eimbcke's slacker comedy about two 14-year-olds, a pizza delivery guy, pot brownies and the loneliness of growing up. But are people actually going?
Produced by "Y Tu Mama Tambien"'s Alfonso Cuaron and the winner of 11 Ariel Awards (Mexico's Oscars), the film has been a favorite on the international festival circuit. But as the first Spanish language release for mini-major Warner Independent Pictures ("March of the Penguins," "Paradise Now"), "Duck Season" isn't yet cause for felicitaciones. After opening two weeks ago in art-house theatres in New York and Los Angeles, the movie has gotten off to an unremarkable start with a total box office so far of roughly $61,000.
Spanish-language films have often been a hard nut for U.S. distributors to crack. After the brief, roaring successes of the Gael Garcia Bernal hat trick "Y Tu Mama Tambien," "The Crime of Father Amaro" and "The Motorcycle Diaries," several companies have tried and failed to repeat the model, catering to a mix of art-house devotees and Latino audiences.
Last year, only a couple Spanish language films were successful, and those companies created to specifically target theatrical releases to the Latino demographic (Arenas Entertainment, Venevision Int'l, Televisa Cine) have all flamed out. Still, 2006 will see a steady rise of Spanish language movies (specifically from Mexico and Spain) - and the chance for another possible U.S. breakthrough.
For "Duck Season," Warner Independent has been aggressively courting the "upscale" Latino market, using email list-serves and Latino film groups, like Vive Tu Cine in Los Angeles and Cinema Tropical in New York, to get the word out. "It's a hardcore art film," admits Warner Independent's Laura Kim. "If you're looking for a Latino audience, you're looking for Latino art-filmgoers."
But as the release goes into its fourth week, the company will try to broaden the film's base. "We'll be targeting the specialized audience, as well as carefully planned expansions to upscale, crossover theatres in existing markets in an effort to attract an upscale non-arthouse Hispanic audience," says Warner Indie distribution executive Steven Friedlander. "We'll be in over 100 theatres and over 40 markets by the seventh week of release."
This two-pronged approach marks the wide divide that few Spanish language films are able to bridge. Cinema Tropical's Carlos Gutierrez acknowledges there is a large gap between "the Latino arthouse crowd and those who go to see 'El Vacilon,'" he says, referring to the recent film based on El Vacilon de la Manana, a popular New York morning radio show. Highlighting the difference between the two different cinemas, radio host and "Vacilon" star Luis Jimenez says in the film's press notes, "Almost every Spanish film wants to deliver a message or be nominated for an award. We don't care about awards or about teaching a lesson, we just want to make people laugh!" "El Vacilon," one of Televisa Cine's last releases, did just that, making more than $1.2 million in New York area theaters.
With its screenings of award-winners like Natalia Almada's engrossing corrido documentary "Al Otro Lado" and Pedro Gonzalez and Carlos Armella's intimate Mexican bullfighting portrait "Toro Negro," Cinema Tropical caters to the other end of the spectrum.
"There is definitely an interest in art-house films from an upscale Latino audience," says Gutierrez. At a recent promotional screening of "Duck Season" sponsored by Cinema Tropical, he says about 90% of the audience were Spanish speakers. "We've been able to offer a particular niche," he says. "That's why we've been successful. Most of the people are assimilated; they can watch Univision and read the New York Times."
But such art films have a tough time in the U.S. marketplace. Earlier this year, Tartan Films released Carlos Reygadas's controversial tour-de-force "Battle in Heaven." A mesmerizing cinematic breakthrough that was never meant to cross over, the movie continues its slow rollout across the country, with grosses still falling under $100,000.
"La mujer de mi hermano" ("My Brother's Wife") -- another recent high-profile Mexican film, headed for U.S. theaters next month - falls into the broader-based "Vacilon" category. A hit melodrama back home that earned $3.2 million, "La mujer" will be released by distributor Lionsgate as part of a multi-film collaboration with Florida-based production company Panamax Films. In a nod to its target Latino audience, Lionsgate will keep the title of the film in Spanish. If the company can tap the U.S. Mexican population, the country's largest and fastest-growing Hispanic group (which numbered 20.6 million people, according to the 2000 Census), Lionsgate can claim victory in what has been a notoriously challenging niche.
As New Yorker Films' Rebeca Conget warns, "To see films in their own language, [the Latino audience] watches cable or rents on DVD, where there's a lot more choice and it's cheaper."
Conget is currently working on Iciar Bollian's "Take My Eyes," Spain's 2004 seven-time Goya winner and a highlight of the 2004 Spanish Cinema Now series in New York. Among a number of recent Spanish films focusing on domestic abuse, "Take My Eyes," which opened last Friday, boldly mines the psychology of the violent, yet fragile male ego as well as his traumatized female victim. ("[Bollian] fuses a fine script and piercing central performances into a provocative piece," wrote Variety after the film's San Sebastian premiere.)
Despite the film's largely favorable reviews and Spanish language, many Latinos will likely skip the movie in theaters, says Conget. "The fact is that this 'Latino' population is made up of people from more than a dozen countries, each with a very particular culture... Mexicans might go out of their way to see a Mexican film, but Colombians, Peruvians, Dominicans and Cubans couldn't care less," she says. "I am actually from Spain and completely bilingual, but had to read the subtitles for at least the first 20 minutes of 'Amores Perros,' for example, because I couldn't understand a word of the Mexican slang."
For Spain's "Take My Eyes," Conget says, "We're dealing with a completely foreign culture that most Latinos here would definitely not identify with." So as with most foreign-language films, the company is targeting "the general, albeit limited, audience that goes to see art films and foreign films, and, of course, that includes people from all over, including Latinos," she says.
"Take My Eyes" may not be crossover material (the movie only grossed $6,440 on two screens). But Conget blames this, in part, on the press. "It is almost insulting that a film that was one of the highest grossing domestic features in Spain's history and won seven Goya awards would be relegated here to capsule reviews and the dreaded 'Film in Review' section of The New York Times," she says. "Still, we're not planning on giving up."
And neither are other distributors. There are a pair of high-profile Spanish films being released this fall that will get a lot more attention: With recognizable cast and auteur directors, Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" and Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" offer the best chance yet for a Spanish revival in the U.S. market.
There also continues to be a thriving film scene south of the border. According to a recent article in Variety, 53 films were shot in Mexico in 2005, up from the previous year's count of 36. The sexy Mexican co-production "Solos Dios Sabe," starring Diego Luna and Alice Braga, which premiered at Sundance, will likely see a U.S. release later this year, according to an industry insider close to the film. And Mexican writer Guillermo Arriaga ("Amores Perros," "Babel") is kickstarting the production of "The Night Buffalo," according to Variety, also starring Diego Luna and to be directed by Venezuelan director Jorge Hernandez.
And as long as Gael Garcia Bernal keeps working in Spanish, there's always another potential breakout on the horizon.
A scene from "Duck Season." Photo provided by Warner Independent Pictures
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