Sydney Levine

LatinoBuzz: More Generation Mex Filmmakers on the Rise

Vanessa Erazo — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:29:16 GMT

Last week we featured some of Mexico ’s young filmmakers who have emerged as part of a recent revival in Mexican cinema. These new directors have pushed out the old guard and persevere in difficult situations, using public funding and micro-budgets to create films which take aim at Mexico’s social ills, broach difficult subjects, and take stylistic risks. These original and innovative artists are carving out a space for Mexican films in the international art house market. Here we continue to highlight even more directors from Generation Mex.

Gerardo Naranjo

Probably the most buzzed about Mexican director of late, Naranjo’s fourth feature Miss Bala (ISA:TCF) premiered at Cannes, went on to play festivals in Toronto and Los Angeles and was selected as Mexico’s official submission for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Loosely inspired by real events it tells the story of Laura, a young woman who aspires to compete in the Miss Baja beauty pageant. Instead she finds herself amidst narcos as an unwilling participant in Mexico’s drug war. Using long takes and very few cuts Naranjo accomplishes the difficult, a melancholy thriller and pensive allegory punctuated by intense moments of violent but often quiet action. 20th Century Fox released the film in limited theaters late last year. In his previous films Voy a explotar (I’m Gonna Explode) (ISA:Elle Driver), Drama/Mex, and Malachance he experimented stylistically but they all reflect his signature, emotionally resonant and sensitive depictions of characters on the edge.

Yulene Olaizola

Having only recently graduated from the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC), one of the two major film schools in Mexico, she has already directed three feature-length films. Her thesis project, the award-winning documentary Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo (Intimacies of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo) (ISA:Interior13 Cine) traces her grandmother Rosa's friendship with Jorge Riosse, her young, troubled tenant. Paraísos Artificiales (Artificial Paradises) (ISA: Interior13 Cine), named after an anthology by the 19th century French poet Baudelaire, was her impressive fiction debut. It’s dreamy, serene, and breathtaking landscapes of the lush seaside hills of Veracruz, Mexico provide the backdrop, as a young woman addicted to heroin tries to free herself from the compulsive need for a fix while staying at a beach resort. Her newest film Fogo is days away from its world premiere at The Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. In a departure from her previous projects, she chose to make a film in English focusing on the deterioration of a small community in Fogo Island, located off the coast Canada.

Pedro González-Rubio

In an effort to create an intimate environment for his second film Alamar (ISA: MK2 Diffusion), he wrote, directed, shot and edited the picture himself. Set in a small house on stilts that sits above the crystal-clear blue waters of the Yucatan Peninsula, it explores the bond between a father and son as they share a fishing trip together. When asked whether Alamar is a documentary or fiction at a festival screening he defiantly answered, “It’s a film.” Having invented parts of the story but documenting real events, he seamlessly blends reality and fiction in a picturesque and introspective cinematic meditation that at times almost becomes a photographic essay. Film Movement acquired the theatrical and DVD rights in North America. His directorial debut, Toro Negro, an unflinching look at an alcoholic bullfighter, won prizes at Havana, San Sebastian and Morelia Film Festivals.

Fernando Eimbcke

He had film festivals, critics and distributors clamoring for his attention after his black-and-white directorial debut, Temporada de Patos (Duck Season) (ISA: Traction Media) premiered at Cannes in 2004. It won prizes at AFI Fest and Guadalajara Film Festival and later several Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars.) The comedy-drama about two teenage boys who must entertain themselves after a power outage went on to play more than 70 festivals and was sold in more than 30 countries. He followed up this smashing success with Lake Tahoe, a minimalist quiet film in which teenaged Juan crashes his family's car into a pole and then scours the streets searching for someone to help him fix it. Eimbcke studied film in Mexico City at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (CUEC).

Cannes Mourns the Loss of Roch Jauberty, the Son of Edith Grante

Sydney Levine, Peter Belsito — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:59:30 GMT

Cannes mourns the loss of the Roch, the son of Edith Grante and Christian Jauberty. The Marche, its participants, The American Pavilion and all who know this marvelous Parisian family who lived in L.A. for over 10 years, will hold a memorial service at the American Pavilion, Cannes tonight at 10 pm.

Edith is holding the family together in Paris and sends her thanks for the love being extended to her by the international film community. Boston University, the alma mater of Roch, also is deeply grieving for his and his two companions' lives lost too soon. Please read the article published by the school paper here.

We extend our condolences and our love to the Jauberty-Grante family.

Cannes Has Begun

Sydney Levine — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:43:53 GMT

Moonrise Kingdom will show tonight thus kicking off the festival! The floor of the market looks quite empty though the registration lines yesterday were winding around the corner like I had never seen before. People are looking forward to Carlos Reyadas' new film Post Tenebras Lux. He, btw, has started his own international sales company as well.

Cannes By Numbers

Sydney Levine — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:19:35 GMT

Aside from the Rights Roundup and the U.S. Distributors A - Z (Both are on your right in my Blog Roll), here are some more Numbers. Why are numbers so reassuring to us?

Marché registration up 9% this year

With 9,500 registered less than 10 days before the start of the Marché du Film, we are pleased to announce a 9% increase of the number of participants, with visible growth from Asia and Latin America. Buyers are on the rise as well with 1,900 so far.

As for the films, a wide variety of genres comprise the 4,300 titles presented this year, 2,500 of which are already completed. In particular, documentary films have seen a notable increase reaching 14% of the total, including some 200 titles that will be presented at the Doc Corner.

Some more numbers:

12 gay movies in the festival including 3 transsexual dramas and a Japanese gay musical.

8 movies by ARTE

International Sales Agent: New for Cannes, Blue Galaxy Launched by Vets Marcy Rubin, Andrew Stevens and Fiorenza Cella

Sydney Levine — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:30:01 GMT

There are several new international sales agents debuting in Cannes. I will endeavor to profile them throughouat Cannes. Tristan Whalley's GoalPost, Richard Guardian's Guardian Entertainment, Mario Kassar's Magnetik, Joe Drake's TBC, Mike Runagall's Altitude and others...

Born of the power and passion of two prominent members of the international film community, Blue Galaxy International takes sales, distribution, and media production to the next level. Marcy Rubin, longtime sales exec with Cinetel and Andrew Stevens, actor, producer and director long seen in the independent film world represent a global company with offices in Sherman Oaks and Paris, Blue Galaxy launched in 2011 with a commitment to delivering high-concept content with mainstream appeal for the international entertainment and television markets. Though new on the scene, the company draws upon its founders' extensive market savvy and long-standing relationships with major broadcasters in virtually every country around the world. And it continues to build on its strengths. With a presence at the European Film Market in Berlin, Hong Kong Filmart, MIP-TV, Cannes Film Festival, Discop, MIPCOM, and the American Film Market, and a library in the making, Blue Galaxy International delivers the pulse of entertainment to a growing client base.

The Vortex

Synopsis:
When a convoy of American troops goes missing in the Afghan desert, a Special Ops Seal Team is deployed to locate them. They discover that their former colleague, Sydney Gerber, has managed to create a wormhole which is growing more and more unstable with each passing moment! Accompanied by an elite team of soldiers, they battle through huge, mutated snakes, scorpions and spiders which have been created by the strange crystals that are a by-product of the Vortex. Gerber and one of the rangers, now both Mega Pythons, square off in a battle for the ages to save the world and mankind!!

Starring: Jack Plotnick, Sarah Lieving and Ted Jonas
Directed by: Peter Paul Basier
Produced by: Danny Roth, Greg Carter, Mark Holder and Christine Holder
Written by: Peter Paul Basier and Cary Anderson

The Dogfather

Synopsis:

When a Mafia don's right-hand man, a bulldog named Sonny, swallows his ring, comedy ensues as two of the don's best soldiers try and retrieve the ring from Sonny, who has been adopted by a new family.

Partner Bios

Marcy Rubin
A veteran of international media sales and distribution, Marcy Rubin brings an extensive understanding of the ever-changing international marketplace to the table. Over the past 25 years, she has arranged financing via foreign pre-sales for over 100 independent films. After graduating from American University in Washington, D.C., she headed to Los Angeles and has worked at Merv Griffin Productions, Cinema Entertainment, and Kodiak Films. For the past 20 years, Rubin held the position of international sales executive at the prominent international production and distribution company, CineTel Films. During her tenure at CineTel, she developed a vast network of contacts with international distributors, television broadcasters, and financial institutions, and serving on the board of directors of IFTA, the trade organization of the independent film community (1996 and 1997). Now a sought-after member of that community, she speaks on various panels about the international marketplace. The next logical step for Rubin was to launch her own business, which she did in 2011: Blue Galaxy International, a full-service international distribution company with global representation. Fiorenza Cella Fiorenza Cella, founder of the video distribution company Free Dolphin Entertainment, began her career as a journalist with the Italian TV network Italia Uno (Mediaset). Her experience in London, where she worked with the BBC to develop youth programming, helped to spark her vision of a world connected via entertainment media. Cella catapulted her international savvy into the creation, in 1995, of Free Dolphin, headquartered in Paris. Within five years, she brought the company into the major leagues with the sale of television rights to both French and Italian networks, and Free Dolphin rose from a fledgling enterprise to a force in the industry. During 16 years at the company helm, Cella forged solid relationships with the heads of major channels in France, Italy and Spain. Today she is again building on her talent. As a partner in Blue Galaxy International, Cella has turned her attention toward global distribution and production, a natural path for the media pro.

Marcy Rubin

Fiorenza Cella

Whistler Film Festival Announces Call for Submissions

Peter Belsito — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:02:00 GMT

The Whistler Film Festival is seeking submissions for its 12th edition, which runs from November 28 to December 2, 2012, and will feature up to 90 films comprised of about 40 features and 50 shorts, selected from over 1,000 submissions. Canadian and International filmmakers are invited to submit films of all lengths and genres by the following deadlines: May 31 for early film submissions (discount on application); June 29 for short films; and July 6 for feature films.

Cinematic excellence is at the heart of the Whistler Film Festival. To recognize the vitality of this art form and to mark its 12th anniversary, the 2012 Festival will feature six juried competitive sections and one audience award. Award categories include the Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature, International Feature Film Award, World Documentary Film Award, Mountain Culture Award, the International Shortwork Award and the BC Student Shortwork Award. All feature length films are eligible for the Audience Award, selected by the Festival-going public who cast their votes for the most popular film.

“We are anticipating an exciting year at Whistler in 2012.” says Shauna Hardy Mishaw Executive Director of the Whistler Film Festival Society. “Whistler is a festival that honors Canadian and international talent, and is committed to discovering new films and filmmakers from around the world. In just 12 years, it has become a festival that matters. A place where filmmakers, industry and audiences gather, and return to, and where the power of cinema is celebrated and reminds us why cinema has been and continues to be so important in our lives.”

The Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature presented by the Directors Guild of Canada, British Columbia celebrates independent vision, original directorial style and the diversity of talent found in Canadian independent film. Up to eight feature films of new, narrative work by Canadian filmmakers will be eligible. For consecutive eight years, Borsos competition entries have exuded the creative fire and artistry embodied by filmmaker Philip Borsos, known forhis inspiring work on the award-winning films The Grey Fox (1982), and Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990). All films must be Western Canadian Premieres. An international jury of three will award a $15,000 CDN prize. Esteemed jury presidents have included Bruce Greenwood, Ivan Reitman, Atom Egoyan, Donald Sutherland, Robert Lantos and Norman Jewison.

Whistler’s New Voices International Feature Film Competition will showcase up to eight innovative and unique narrative films from around the globe by directors with their first or second feature at the Festival. In our quest to discover and celebrate new talent, the Award recognizes the imaginative perspective and cinematic integrity found in these fresh new voices. All films must be Western Canadian Premieres. An international jury of three will select the winner.

Up to four films will be eligible for the Whistler’s Mountain Culture Film competition. As a reflection of the festival’s unique setting, this award honours films from around the world that capture mountain places and experiences with a cinematic flourish. All films must be Western Canadian Premieres. A jury of three will select the winner.

Whistler’s shortwork Competition will showcase up to 50 short films (under 50 minutes in length) within three short film programs or coupled with our feature films. Presented with verve and limited only by their duration, these short films display the extraordinary talent, dynamism and creative exploration found in the work of some of the world’s most interesting filmmakers. A jury of three will select the International winner and a Canadian winner, which is eligible for a $1,000 cash prize.

The BC Student shortwork Award will be presented to a short film produced by post-secondary students in British Columbia. A three-person jury will award a $500 CDN prize.

Film submission guidelines are now available at www.whistlerfilmfestival.com.

Taking place November 28 to December 2, 2012, the 12th annual Whistler Film Festival combines an esteemed international film competition with a concentrated industry summit organized to address the ever-changing landscape of filmmaking in the digital age. Renowned for its intimate nature, the Festival hosts filmmaking luminaries for an intimate five day program of screenings, tributes, industry initiatives and special events. Find out more at www.whistlerfilmfestival.com.

The 2012 Whistler Film Festival is supported by Telefilm Canada, the Province of British Columbia and the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and is sponsored CTV, the Directors Guild of Canada - British Columbia, American Airlines, Tourism Whistler and Whistler Blackcomb.

About the Whistler Film Festival Society

The Whistler Film Festival Society (WFFS) is a charitable cultural organization dedicated to furthering the art of film by providing programs that focus on the discovery, development and promotion of new talent culminating with a must attend festival for artists, the industry and audiences in Whistler. WFFS produces one of Canada's leading film festivals and plays a leadership role in offering project development programs for Canadian filmmakers.

About Whistler

Located in the spectacular Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and just two hours north of Vancouver, Whistler is Canada’s premier, year-round destination.Consistently ranked the number one mountain resort in North America, Whistler features two majestic mountains, epic skiing and snowboarding conditions, four championship golf courses, more than 200 shops, 90 restaurants and bars, accommodations galore, hiking trails, spas and arguably the best mountain bike park in the world. In short, Whistler has everything you will ever need to have the time of your life, and so much more.

Cannes Shorts: 2wayTV Distributes Shorts

Sydney Levine — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:29:00 GMT

2wayTV is an international digital distributor of independent short films. Using Play Festival Films, viewers can watch the best in shorts.

Says Founder Mohit Mahajan, "we license the films and distribute them digitally via an 'App' to the mobile devices such iPad and iPhone. Our goal is to build the target audience for the filmmakers and to provide them feedback from their audience. We build the community of film enthusiasts, that helps each filmmaker to reach their specific target audience.

Says Acquisitions and Marketing exec Edyth Monica Gonzalez, "Play Festival Films is a free iPad App (owned by 2wayTV LLC) with the best short films from top film festivals such as Cannes, TIFF, Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Palm Springs and others; and the best student films from University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles and animation films from CalArts, Los Angeles. Audiences can watch our free shorts collection, or purchase films from any genre from our premium library for the displayed price; and ‘stream’ plus ‘download’ films with no expiration date."

Says Marketing exec Annie Chen, "further, check the nominations and awards that each film earned at various worldwide film festivals and read the biography and filmography of each film's director. You may additionally share and recommend the film to your friends by email.

Each short film can be purchased individually @$1.99 (BUY) and features starting @$3.99 (BUY) OR you can purchase the bundled package of Top 15 Selling short films. We share 50% revenues with the filmmaker. After you have purchased the film, there is no expiration date for viewing the films. For all your purchased films, you have an option to 'STREAM' (watch immediately) and/or 'DOWNLOAD' (watch later) the film. Once you have downloaded the film to your device, you will then be able to PLAY (watch anywhere, anytime) that film, from your device only. You do NOT need any network (Wi-Fi or 3G) connection to watch the downloaded films.

Free iPad APP on Appstore - http://bit.ly/PlayFestivalFilms-iTunes

Free iPhone App will be launched in July 2012

Cannes! Coming Up!

Sydney Levine — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:30:00 GMT

Well everyone, we're all scrambling now to get ready for Cannes! We leave Sunday to get one good night's sleep there before beginning 10 days of high adrenaline networking. That especially unique feeling of painful feet will soon be ours again. It's also painful to think there are no women in Competition and only 6 in all the sidebars and special screenings, but it is SO exciting to think of all the movies we can see...and SO sad we won't have time to see them because we will be in meetings everyday. I am working again with the Producers Workhop, now in its second year and giving tours of the market the first 3 days. We have clients who have films and are setting up film projects that we will be working with. Check out this one - Mira/ Miranda! I have my pet project, Latino Film Financing, which I will be working on as well.

I will keep two links live for you throughout the market. One is U.S. Distributors: A - Z where you can see what U.S. Distributors are buying. The other is the Cannes Rights Roundup. Look on the blog roll on your right side - they won't always be there so see them now and throughout Cannes.

There are many new U.S. distribs, many new digital distributors and hybrid film distributors flying under the radar. I just got an email from one example, among the myriad of emails that now endundate my email shores, asking for meetings: YEKRA, the digital service with a difference! Yekra.com is a tool set and complete system that allows content owners flexibility for self marketing directly to the digital universe. Another example which I find very exciting is the hybrid distributor Gathr whose distribution model is TOD, Theatrical on Demand, bringing the limited distribution movies that YOU want to see to YOUR local theatre whenever YOU want—even if the movie isn’t showing in your town! This bottom up model rather than the traditional model of top down, where corporate entitites decide which films will hit the theaters appeals to today's new cinephiles.

We know all the new distributors (see the list below or the report itself for links) can't all last, but in this current environment where last year 469 independent films were released theatrically, a huge increase from 2002's 270 titles, in an environment where the most prominent arthouse distributors such as Fox Searchlight or Sony Pictures Classics typically release only a dozen or so movies each year, well, bravo for trying!!!

Other new Cannes attendees among U.S. distribution companies include Apple (!), Acort, Alebrije Entertainment, Ariztical (Gay!), Artsploitation, Asian Media Rights (Let's hear it for Asia, though "old-timer" China Lion's fame and fortune seems to be coming from the Chinese inhabited areas, not from "mainstream" audiences, Berney Films (as in Bob and Jeanie - Yea!), Big Screen, Blue River, Campus MovieFest, Check Entertainment, Cinecliq, Curio Media, Double Dutch, and North by Northwest (Zanne Devine's new distribution company!) out of Canada, Cinema Paradiso out of Florida, Cinedigm which just purchased the suberbly long-lived successful and innovative New Video, French Feeling, Hilton, Independent Cinema, Industrial Entertainment, Koan, Latin American Theatrical Group, LD, Locomotive, Montage, Mousetrap, Naedomi, Ninety-Seven, OpenINDIE, Princ, R Squared, Red Sea. The Report in the blogroll has links to them all.

See you on the Croisette!

Cannes Competition, Certain Regard, Critic's Week and Director's Fortnight By Numbers

Sydney Levine — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:30:00 GMT

Looking at the Cannes Film Festival Competition titles, the top international sales agents are Wild Bunch with with 3 films: The Angel’s Share by Ken Loach, Beyond the Hills by Cristian Mungiu and Holy Motors by Leos Carax. Wild Bunch actually has 12 films in all the festival sections including Critic's Week and not yet counting Director's Fortnight. MK2 follows with 3 in Competition: After the Battle by Yousry Nasrallah, Like Someone in Love by Abbas Kiarostami, On the Road by Walter Salles and 4 in all sections. FilmNation follows with 2 in Compeitition: Lawless by John Hillcoat and Mud by Jeff Nichols.

U.S. has 5 indies in Competition. Wes Anderson’s opening film Moonrise Kingdom (ISA: Focus), Jeff Nichols’ Mud (ISA: FilmNation), Lee Daniels' The Paperboy (ISA: Nu Image/ Millenium), whose last feature Precious screened in Un Certain Regard in 2009, New Zealand director Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly, Australia-born John Hillcoat’s Lawless (formerly titled The Wettest County). If you add Philip Kaufman's Hemingway and Gellhorn (HBO TV) which is out of competition, U.S. has 6.

Thierry Fremaux says, “What I also think is interesting is that none of these films are shot in New York or Los Angeles but rather in the South… they show another America.”

Latin America is represented by Mexico's favorite arthouse director (in Europe at least) Carlos Reygadas and his Post Tenebras Lux. Brazil's Walter Salles has made a French Brazilian English language film of American icon Jack Kerouac (On the Road) which might count on the Latin America scorecard. So. Korea has two films: The Taste of Money by Sang-Soo IM and In Another Country by Sang Soo HONG. No women are represented.

LATE ADDITION (April 30): 1 FEMALE DIRECTOR ADDED Out of Competition: Candida Brady whose documentary Trashed (U.K.) has no international representation. THAT MAKES 2 films without international sales representation. Midnight Screenings include The Sapphires by Wayne Blair (Australia), Maniac by Franck Khalfoun (U.S.) (ISA: Wild Bunch) MAKING 7 U.S. films.

Looking at Un Certain Regard sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival, 17 films hold a berth. 2 female directors are included: French Catherine Corsini of Trois Mondes and French Sylvie Verheyde of Confessions of a Child of the Century. Latin American films include La Playa the debut of Juan Andrés Arango (Brazil, Colombia, France), Después de Lucia by Michel Franco (France, Mexico), Elefante Blanco of Pablo Trapero (Argentina, France and Spain), A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim by Nelson Pereira Dos Santos (Brazil), Villegas by Gonzalo Tobal (Argentina, France, Netherlands).and if you can count the French production 7 Dias en la Habana by directors Benicio del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabio, Gaspar Noé, Laurent Cantet, that will make a total of 6. 2 American indies are Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin and The Central Park Five by directors Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David Mcmahon. LATE ADDITIONS (April 30): Djeca – Children of Sarajevo by Aida Bejic ♀ (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, France, Turkey) MAKES 3 female directors, and Gimme the Loot by Adam Leon (U.S.) MAKES 3 U.S. indies. Closing night film will be Renoir by Gilles Bourdo (France) (ISA: Wild Bunch)

Looking at the Critic's Week, there are no women in Competition. All 7 Competition films are debuts by males. Two French female directors have films in Special Screenings by themselves in their own exclusive ghetto. Sandrine Bonnaire's second feature (but first fiction feature) J'enrage a son absence (I am Enraged by His Absence) (ISA: Films Distribution), and Alice Winocour's debut Augustine. 2 films are from Latin America: Argentinian Los Salvages (The Wild Ones) and Mexican-Spanish-U.S. coproduction Aqui y Alla. That is the only U.S. film. The sales agent with the most (2) films is Films Boutique. 4 Films have no international sales agents.

Looking at Directors Fortnight, Latin American films take the center stage in honor of the recently deceased Chilean director Raoul Ruiz. His most recent film The Night in Front (La Noche en Frente) will be premiered in a special tribute session.

"We have seen many good films from Latin America," said Fortnight artistic director Edouard Waintrop when introducing the 2012 selection to press in Paris. One of four scheduled debates will focus on Latin American cinema, with Waintrop saying this year's selection was "more sensitive to Latin American cinema than Asian [films]."

Of the 7 Latino films to make the list, two are Chilean -- Ruiz's The Night in Front and Pablo Larrain's No, a Chilean-American film starring Gael Garcia Bernal. The other five come from Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia with 3 films La Playa, La Sirga (both by Burning Blue Productions! ♀) and a short film Jonathan Ceballos' short The Children of the Clouds (Los Ahijiados de las Nubes).

Films from South Korea, China, India, Algeria and Iran, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg are also included in the selection. The United States was involved in the production of three of this year's movies, including Michael Gondry's The We and I, which opens the event.

Noemi Livovsky (Camille Rewinds from France) is one of two women directors! The second which makes hr the 4th in all Cannes Festivals is also the only non-French one. Yulene Olaizola (Fogo) is from Mexico.

For the Rights Roundup, you can begin watching sales of titles in Cannes here , organized by international sales agent. There will be daily updates throughout Cannes. It's interesting to see that sales on several Competition titles have already been made as presales.

Winners of the International Sales Agent with the Most Films in The Different Cannes Selections:

1st Place: Wild Bunch with 12

2nd Place: Pyramide with 5

3rd Place: MK2 with 3 which it also co-produced.

Honorable Mention: FilmNation with 2.

LatinoBuzz: Mexico's Young Filmmakers Are Breaking Records and Pushing Boundaries

Vanessa Erazo — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:55:20 GMT

Mexico’s film industry broke records last year. Box office attendance reached an all-time high and due in part to increased public funding, local productions rose to more than 70 feature films. Yet, as is true in all of Latin America, Hollywood blockbusters edged out national films. Less than 10% of ticket sales were from Mexican movies. Still, there is much to be optimistic about. The amount of female filmmakers is on the rise along with increased budget allocations for state film financing. The vast majority of Mexican cinema is government funded (about 80%) and with more money comes greater opportunities for emerging artists to breakthrough. As part of this recent revival in Mexican cinematic production a new generation of directors have emerged, pushing boundaries, challenging stereotypes, and raising the international profile of Mexican films.

Carlos Reygadas

He didn’t start making films until he was in his thirties and remarkably his three feature films Japón, Batalla en el Cielo, and Luz Silenciosa (Silent Light) (ISA:Bac Films) all premiered at Cannes. His films deal with serious topics like love, spirituality, and death. And in the face of criticism, continues to defend his choice of depicting explicit sex scenes in Batalla en el Cielo and animal cruelty in Japón. His most recent feature is the much blogged about Post Tenebras Lux, an official selection at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Natalia Almada

She makes haunting, poetic, hypnotic and pensive documentaries. Her films have reached top-tier festivals like Sundance, Cannes, New Directors/New Films and have played at MoMA, The Guggenheim Museum and The Whitney Biennial. All Water Has a Perfect Memory, Al Otro Lado, El General, and her most recent film El Velador (The Night Watchman) are infused with her unique perspective. Coming from a bicultural family--she was born in Mexico to a Mexican father and American mother--she is able to highlight contradictions in both worlds using striking imagery and meditative silences.

Nicolás Pereda

Since 2007, he has proven to be a prolific artist, having directed five feature-length films: ¿Dónde están sus historias? (Where Are Their Stories?) (ISA:FIGa Films), Juntos (Together) (ISA:FIGa Films), Perpetuum Mobile (ISA:Ondamax Films), Todo en fin el silencio lo ocupaba (All Things Were Now Overtaken by Silence) (FIGa Films), and Verano de Goliat (Summer of Goliath) (ISA: FIGa FIlms). Pereda uses many of the same actors and characters in his films, including Gabino Rodriguez and Teresa Sanchez, who are not professional actors. He mixes fiction with documentary in fractured narratives that depict the absurdity that occurs in everyday life. Though only in his twenties he has had at least ten retrospectives of his films at cinemas and archives around the world. In 2010 his film Verano de Goliat (Summer of Goliath) was awarded the Orizzonti award for best film at the Venice Film Festival.

Jonás Cuarón

Son of the Academy Award nominated director Alfonso Cuarón, (Children of Men, Y tu mamá también) Jonás Cuarón stepped out of his father’s shadow and burst onto the scene with Año Uña (Year of the Nail).The film takes a year’s worth of photos Cuarón took of spontaneous everyday events, that he later assembled to create a fictional narrative. Using only still photos and the original subjects’ narration of events, the dialogue switches between English and Spanish, and the film between reality and fiction. The film’s opening explains that though the story is fictional, the people and the moments frozen in time by the photographs are very real.

Roskino Celebrates U.S. Office Opening of The Russian Film Commission at a Beverly Hills Luncheon

Sydney Levine, Peter Belsito — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:22:30 GMT

Major Hollywood and international film players turned out to welcome Serge Rakhlin, Russian member of HFPA and Director of the Russian Film Commission, and Commissioner Eleonora Granata Jenkinson as they announced today the office opening in the USA of The RUSSIAN FILM COMMISSION created by ROSKINO/SEF, Russia’s only state enterprise responsible for the image of the Russian film industry and represents Russia’s film interests internationally.

The exclusive private lunch was held at the favorite Hollywood dine and meet restaurant - ENOTECA DRAGO in the heart of downtown Beverly Hills.

During the luncheon Commissioner Eleonora Granata Jenkinson announced a series of important initiative to connect the USA film biz with the Russian filmmakers, to promote and support Russian film distribution in the U.S., to enable and facilitate co-productions as well as attract U.S. productions to shoot in Russia."The Russian Film Commission USA is now an official member of AFCI."

Many of the executives attending were excitedly anticipating trips to Cannes in a few days where Roskino's CEO Katya Mtsitouridze will again manage the successful Russian Pavilion on the Croisette. Many of these executives in June will go to Moscow to attend the DOORS Screenings in Moscow June 22-24 which will take place during Moscow International Film Festival. The Moscow event, sponsored by Roskino, will feature new Russian films, meetings with filmmakers and film trade conferences and panels.

Russian cinema is highly regarded in LA and these initiatives by the Russian Film Commission and Roskino have been met by interest and excitement as to their future activities and new Russian film screenings in Moscow and in L.A.

Rome Film Festival Relying on Marco Mueller

Vittoria Scarpa — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:00:01 GMT

Italian cinema industry sides with Marco Müller

by Vittoria Scarpa from Cineuropa.org

Bertolucci, Olmi, Bellocchio, Salvatores, Crialese, as well as Toni Servillo, Stefania Sandrelli, the producers Riccardo Tozzi andPietro Valsecchi, and singer-songwriter Franco Battiato feature amongst the 150 signatories of an appeal in favour of the new director of the Rome Film Festival, Marco Müller.

In an open letter, released today and addressed to politicians and administrators, artists of the film and entertainment industry ask that Müller be placed in the "conditions to guarantee that an all too near 2012 edition takes place", and that his contract as director of the Rome Film Festival therefore be closed.

Marco Müller's nomination as artistic director, on March 16 (see the news), has in fact still not been turned into a signed contract. According to rumours, the former director of the Venice Film Festival is becoming increasingly worried with regards to timing and has not made a mystery of the fact that he considers Cannes as a deadline (The French festival starts on May 16). The next board of director's meeting of the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, which could lead to a conclusion of the matter, will take place on Friday, assured the President Paolo Ferrari, dismissing the rumours going around about the alleged problems with the staff of selectors suggested by Müller.

"Any further loss of time would be a defeat for Rome and a huge setback for Italian cinema", says the appeal, "And would probably lead to the event's death and the cancellation of any future prospects".

(Translated from Italian)

International Sales Agent: Memento, We Are What We Are

Sydney Levine — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:27:01 GMT

One of my favorite international sales agent is Memento. I wrote of them last year (See blog). Now they are representing the film of one of my favorite people in the biz, the hyphenate director-producer-writer who also was put into the role of casting director by Steve Soderbergh while casting Che.

Rodrigo (Rigo to his friends) Bellot began his career's path from his native Bolivia to U.S. with Sexual Dependency, produced by Ara Katz (Howard Zinn doc The People Speak and George Romero's Survival of the Dead).

Screen Daily recently announced Memento and Rigo's upcoming picture, We Are What We Are, a picture that actors Riley Keogh and Julia Garner will be sinking their teeth into as two sisters forced into cannibalism by their father. Read the article which is full of interesting tidbits, such as the factthat Riley Keough is the granddaughter of Elvis Presley and she has plenty of fat and juicy roles lined up already.

Memento Films International (MFI) describes We Are What We Are as a "re-imagination" of Mexican director Jorge Michel Grau’s Somo Lo Que Hay (U.S. IFC) about a family of cannibals in Mexico City.

The director, Jim Mickle, best known for his cult vampire picture Stake Land which won Toronto’s Midnight Madness sidebar in 2010, has transposed the story to a poor part of the Catskills region in New York State.

Principal photography will begin in the Catskills on May 29. The picture will wrap the first week of July with delivery slated for January of 2013, just in time for Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin.

MFI has already presold the project at Berlin’s EFM to E1/ Artificial Eye for the U.K. , Canada, France, Scandinavia and South Africa. Cinema Mondo prebought the film for Finland; Koch Media and Alamode have German rights, Cinefil has Hungary, Canana has Mexico, Calinos has Turkey.

A real winner as is Memento itself and Rigo too!

Memento is a select arthouse company for high-profile, director-driven independent films. They choose only 8 projects a year and offer tailor–made synergies and business expertise through four companies; from production (Memento Films Production & La Cinefacture), International Sales (Memento Films International) to French distribution (Memento Films Distribution), according to the specific needs of each project. They have recently worked with renowned and award-winning filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Laurent Cantet, Emanuele Crialese, Hiner Saleem, Jia Zhang-ke, Ramin Bahrani, Gilles Marchand, Julie Bertuccelli, Aditya Assarat, Pawel Pawlikowski and Olivier Assayas.

Memento's young and dynamic team is devoted to promoting the projects with a maximum of commitment, rather than merely selling. Whether it is high-end arthouse fare with a medium-sized budget or cutting-edge low-budget projects from emerging talents, they value originality, whether narrative or the cinematographic vision of the director.

You can see Memento's Cannes lineup on Cinando. Look for them in Cannes at 25 la Croisette - Bagatelle. Or call them at 33 4 93 38 68 19.

The Latino in L.A. Film Festival

Christine Davila — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:00:00 GMT

More from the Latino scene from our woman in L.A., free lance festival programmer extraordinaire, Christine Davila, from her blog Chicana from Chicago:

Looking at yesterday’s announcement of Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival reveals a healthy Latino presence among the 62 features and 48 short films in the program. Here’s how I break down the Latino/ Ibero/ U.S. Latino component of the program.

Chile continues to give Argentina a run for its cache of exciting and growing cinematic output from South America with the inclusion of Thursday Til Sunday (ISA & Distributor: FiGa) written and directed by Dominga Sotomayor ♀, in Narrative Competition.

Although the traveling Mexican film festival Ambulante is no longer a program spotlight, Mexican films continue to be a mainstay of the festival. There are four feature-length films and three short films from/about Mexico. In Narrative Competition, The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man (ISA: Kafilms, Argentina) written and directed by Arturo Pons [about a young Mexican aiming for Chicago], and in Documentary Competition, Drought by Everado González (recently awarded Best Documentary at FICG27) . Out of competition is the gorgeously shot documentary, Canícula, and although the funding is mainly stateside, Bernardo Ruiz paints a fascinating portrait of the risky journalistic practice and history of the seminal Tijuana weekly, Zeta in Reportero.

Also of note in the program is that four short films list Cuba as a co-production/origin of country.

But what of the U.S. Latino filmmakers and stories? Last year Los Angeles Film Festival was a great launchpad for Mamitas (Distributor: ScreenMedia, Producer rep: Traction Media), an authentic Chicano portrayal of young love set in Echo Parque written and directed by Nicolas Ozeki (a non-Latino), co-starring fast rising hot talents Veronica Diaz-Carranzo (Blaze You Out) and E.J. Bonilla. The film is currently in theaters now. (Big recommend,theater listings here-go support it!)

The closest we have to representing U.S. Latino in the features section is Four, the feature debut of Joshua Sanchez who hails from Houston, Texas. Based on a Christopher Shinn play, the July 4^th-eve-set story is a snapshot of two disparate relationships tensely intertwined and their at-odd dynamics of desire. Coincidentally, E.J. Bonilla also stars (this guy is blowing up!). I would also include as U.S. Latino, Searching for Sugar Man, the documentary by Malik Bendjelloul about singer songwriter Sixto Rodriguez’s fascinating rise and fall into obscurity as a Uj.S. Latino story. As a matter of fact, the film seems to suggest that perhaps Sixto’s Mexican-American identity might have been a reason he was not embraced by the 60s and 70s mainstream. [Per Sydney: The film was snatched up at Sundance by Sony Pictures Classics and by ISA Protagonist who is screening it twice in Cannes.]

As for U.S. Latino shorts, Fireworks written and directed by Victor Hugo Duran, which is also incidentally centered around 4^th of July, is an L.A. set story about boys trying to rap on girls.

My favorite Miami based hooligans, Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva, keep representing with their fresh and experimental short film, Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke. They are part of a collective of go-there filmmakers, Borscht Corp who had four crazy shorts screen at SXSW (and they were a riot to bootie shake dance with at SXSW Film’s Closing Night Party). You must carve out an hour and look at their work on the site (NSFW!)

And lastly, in front of camera there’s some America Ferrera in Todd Berger’s It’s a Disaster (ISA: Maya), and rising boriqua actress April Hernandez Castillo, of hit webseries East Willy B, Dexter and other TV, is in The History of Future Folk [Per Sydney: one of 7 horror films in the festival, another being It's A Disaster per Dread Central, so take note Latino distributors like Lionsgate because horror films are a favorite of a certain Latino demographic!] by J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, described as a “sweet sci-fi musical comedy”. Below is the rest of the Latino and Ibero-American (includes Spain and Portugal). Descriptions provided by L.A. Film Festival, and bold cap commentary by me.

NARRATIVE COMPETITION:

o All Is Well – Portugal (DIRECTOR Pocas Pascoal ♀, PRODUCER Luis Correia CAST Cheila Lima, Ciomara Morais) – Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. North American Premiere

o The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man – Mexico (DIRECTOR/WRITER Arturo Pons PRODUCER Ozcar Ramírez González CAST Gael Sanchez Valle, Pedro Gamez, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Eligio Melendez, Luis Bayardo, Marco Perez) – A young man and a dead man journey north through a subtly surreal desert landscape, picking up a wagonful of odd characters as they go in this darkly humorous satire of contemporary Mexico. North American Premiere

o Four – (DIRECTOR/WRITER Joshua Sanchez PRODUCER Christine Giorgio CAST Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, Aja Naomi King, E.J. Bonilla) – Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. World Premiere

o Thursday till Sunday – Chile (DIRECTOR/WRITER Dominga Sotomayor ♀ PRODUCERS Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech CAST Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini) – With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. North American Premiere

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION:

o Drought – Mexico (DIRECTOR Everado González PRODUCER Martha Orozco) – Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinema vertité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of extinction. US Premiere

o Sun Kissed – (DIRECTORS Maya Stark ♀, Adi Lavy ♀ PRODUCERS Jocelyn Glatzer, Maya Stark, Adi Lavy) – With remarkable strength of spirit, a husband and wife examine their lives and why their children and others have been struck with a rare genetic disorder in this powerful portrait of a small Navajo community. World Premiere ~ OKAY NOT LATINO BUT IT'S NATIVE AMERICAN SO I’M GIVING IT A SHOUT SINCE THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH NATIVE AMERICAN STORIES.

INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE:

o Canícula – Mexico (DIRECTOR José Álvarez WRITERS Sebastián Hoffman, José Álvarez PRODUCER Mauricio Fabre CAST Hermelinda Santes, Esteban González, Mario García) – This is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of the rituals and crafts of contemporary Indians in remote Veracruz, who teach their boys to fly. ~ SEE MY INTERVIEW WITH JOSE HERE.

o The Last Elvis – Argentina (DIRECTOR Armando Bo WRITERS Armando Bo, Nicolás Giacobone PRODUCERS Steve Golin, Hugo Sigman, Patricio Alvarez Casado, Victor Bo, Armando Bo CAST John McInerny, Griselda Siciliani, Margarita Lopez) – John McInerny gives a staggering performance in this poignant tale of a Buenos Aires Elvis impersonator who only comes alive when he dons the King’s clothes to perform. How can he reconcile his dreams of glory with his dead end factory job and an estranged wife and daughter who can’t live inside his fantasies?

o Neighboring Sounds – Brazil (DIRECTOR/WRITER Kleber Mendonça Filho PRODUCER Emilie Lesclaux CAST Irandhir Santos, Gustavo Jahn, Maeve Jinkings, W.J. Solha) – Kleber Mendonca Filho’s astonishing, suspenseful debut film focuses on one upscale street in the seaside town of Recife, where a private security team is enlisted to protect the residents from crime. By its startling conclusion, you feel you’ve seen all of Brazilian society exposed.

o The Strawberry Tree – Canada/Cuba/Italy (DIRECTOR/PRODUCER Simone Rapisarda Casanova) – Filmed in a small Cuban fishing village mere weeks before a hurricane decimated the entire region, this stunning documentary unknowingly captures the town’s final days even as it reframes the usual filmmaker-film subject relationship.

SUMMER SHOWCASE:

o La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus – USA/Guatemala (DIRECTOR Mark Kendall PRODUCERS Mark Kendall, Rafael González, Bernardo Ruiz) – The journey and transformation of a yellow American school bus into a vibrant Central American camionetasensitively reveals both the beauty and violence of everyday life in Guatemala.

o Reportero – (DIRECTOR Bernardo Ruiz PRODUCERS Bernardo Ruiz, Patricia Benabe, Anne Hubbell FEATURING Sergio Haro Cordero, Adela Navarro Bello) – A look at the incredible danger facing journalists in Mexico through the eyes of investigative reporter Sergio Haro and other staff at Zeta, the defiant Tijuana-based newsweekly.~ SEE MY INTERVIEW WITH BERNARDO HERE

o Searching for Sugar Man – (DIRECTOR/WRITER Malik Bendjelloul PRODUCERS Simon Chinn, Nicole Stott, George Chignell) – Years after fading into obscurity at home, the music of ’70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend.

BEYOND:

o Juan of the Dead – Cuba (DIRECTOR/WRITER Alejandro Brugués PRODUCERS Gervasio Iglesias, Inti Herrera CAST Alexis Días de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro, Andros Perugorría, Jazz Vila, Eliecer Ramírez) – The streets of Havana are alive with the undead in Cuba’s first zombie comedy, a wild and bloody romp that sinks its sharp satirical teeth into the Cuban body politic. Castro may not be amused, but you will be.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION:

Against the Sea (Contra el mar) – Mexico, USA (DIRECTOR) Richard Parkin

Black Doll (Prita Noire) – Mexico (DIRECTOR) Sofia Carrillo

Kendo Monogatari – Cuba, Guatemala (DIRECTOR) Fabián Suárez

Scanning (Ecografía) – Cuba (DIRECTOR) Aleksandra Maciuszek Mukoid

Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke – (DIRECTORS) Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva ~CRAZY TALENTED! MIAMI REPRESENT!

Fireworks – (DIRECTOR) Victor Hugo Duran -

Kendo Monogatari – Cuba, Guatemala (DIRECTOR) Fabián Suárez

Paraíso – (DIRECTOR) Nadav Kurtz ~DOC SUBJECT IS ABOUT 3 MEXICANS

Scanning (Ecografía) – Cuba (DIRECTOR) Aleksandra Maciuszek Mukoid

Voice Over – Spain (DIRECTOR) Martín Rosete

For full lineup and more info go to L.A. Film Festival

LatinoBuzz: Latin American Films Take Center Stage at the Box Office, Sometimes

Vanessa Erazo — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:07:13 GMT

It’s rare for a film in Spanish or Portuguese to make it to a U.S. theater. Even within Latin America or Spain, it’s difficult for local films to compete against Hollywood blockbusters. Once in a while, against all odds, Latino films triumph at their local box office. Juan Carlos Rulfo’s De Panzazo (Barely Passing), a Mexican documentary that denounces the education system, clobbered Oscar-nominated films The Artist (ISA:Wild Bunch) in Mexico and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close taking in $870,000 on its opening weekend this past February. Last year’s Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven) (ISA:Latido Films) peaked as the second highest grossing film in its final weekend in Chilean theaters, beating out Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (ISA: Imagina) and the Green Lantern. It ended up being the highest grossing Chilean film of 2011. Directed by the renowned filmmaker Andrés Wood, it was selected as Chile’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and had its U.S. premiere at Sundance earlier this year. These successes are hard to come by, but a lucky few make it. Here are the most recent box office numbers on the Latino films that broke into the top ten.

Mexico

[REC]³ Génesis

The Spanish horror film [REC]³ Génesis (ISA:Filmax) reached number nine in Mexico making $350,251. The film is the 3rd sequel in the [REC] franchise. Quarantine was an American remake of the original [REC]. In the U.S. it will be released on Video on Demand on August 3, and a limited run in theaters starts September 7, 2012.

Argentina

Extraños en la noche

[REC]³ Génesis made less money in Argentina ($150,391), but reached a higher spot, as the sixth highest grossing film of the weekend.
Ninth place went to Extraños en la noche (Strangers in the Night), a locally produced romantic comedy about a young couple who work as musicians, unhappily performing for tourists.

Brazil

Xingu

Having premiered at Tribeca last week, Xingu (ISA:Rezo Films), a story about environmental activism and inspired by true events in a village of Brazilian Xingu Indians took the ninth spot making $246,772.

Spain

Grupo 7 (Unit 7)

Grupo 7 (Unit 7), a Spanish crime thriller about a police unit on an extremely dangerous special mission, came in at number nine with $282,116. It was just awarded a Special Jury Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival for Best Cinematography.

The most recent box office statistics available on Box Office Mojo for Latin America and Spain are from the weekend of April 20, 2012.

Extraños en la noche

LatinoBuzz: Interview with Nicholas Ozeki - Mamitas Opens Friday April 27th in Theaters!

Juan Caceres — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:28:00 GMT

I came across Mamitas (Producer Rep: Traction Media) as a short film version back in '07 and was struck by its charm. At the time there were few and far between coming-of-age stories set in L.A. about a budding romance in teenagers that didn't involve pregnancies or gang culture, yet Mamitas rang true in every sense. So, when Nick told me he was making the feature length version, I was anxious to read it, to see what journey he would take these two characters, Jordin and Felipa, on. I was pleasantly surprised by the elements he added to surround the core love story. These were teens with real life teen problems. Nick, clearly respected and cared for these characters. I was even more stoked to come home to a DVD copy of the completed film a year later. It was everything it was supposed to be. Jordin and Felipa, this time brought to life by EJ Bonilla and Veronica Diaz, were fully realized. Bonilla and Diaz were the perfect beat for the heart of this film. They each brought a radiant honesty and shone in their roles. I wasn't surprised this film and Veronica have recieved awards on its way to a theatrical release by Screen Media Films in Los Angeles, opening on Friday, April 27th.

LatinoBuzz:The film that made you say, "This is what I want to do"?

Nicholas Ozeki: This is a simple but tough question because I had so many films that inspired me throughout my youth. I would have to say the first film that really knocked me out was Alien by Ridley Scott. I think what really did it for me was his attention to detail. This firstly manifests itself through the immaculate production design of the spaceship Nostromo. I loved the weathered and dilapidated nature of the ships working areas contrast with the brightly lit and washed out living spaces of the crew. What really speaks to me though is Ridley Scott’s control of our emotions through out the movie. He builds the tension so gradually and precisely that by the time we are in the heart of the second act he has gotten the audience so scared that we are all on the edge of our seats. This is a great film because no matter how many times I watch it, I still find myself fully invested in the characters despite the fact I know what is coming. I think it was this type of mastery of storytelling and the ability of bringing the audience so completely into another world that made me want to become a director.

LatinoBuzz: Spike Lee's and Martin Scorcese's New York is rapidly disappearing/disappeared to gentrification were recapturing a time in New York is becoming increasingly difficult. Is that the case with LA for you?

Nicholas Ozeki: I didn’t grow up in L.A. so I can’t really speak of this city as my own, but even living here for the better part of a decade I can see the changes spreading through the eastern part of the city. What I have noticed is that Eastern Los Angeles is similar to New York in that it is the oldest part of the city. It has some of the best architecture, oldest neighborhoods, and most importantly the oldest generations of true Angelinos, dating back to the early 1930s. I was surprised to learn that the silent era of the film industry started in the Los Feliz, Echo Park area where many of these movies were shot. That being said, I think Hollywood is more of a state of mind then a place. There are certainly iconic locations in L.A. but as far as the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood and the studio system, that’s all but faded away.

LatinoBuzz: Some have said the first feature you make is the story you've waiting to tell your whole life. Why did this story stay with you from a short film to a feature?

Nicholas Ozeki:I think the first feature of any director is going to hold a special place in their heart. It's kind of like a first kiss in that its highly anticipated and will be forever ingrained in your memory, but at the end of the day you’re just trying not to slobber all over the other person. For me this film was a wonderful experience but I would not say that it is my ultimate opus as a director. For some, they are lucky enough to be able to tell the story they have always wanted to tell as their first feature. However, I definitely felt extremely passionate about making Mamitas after I had completed the short film version in Graduate school because it was a story that really touched the audience. The film is not based directly from my life but I certainly tried to impart what limited wisdom I have gained in my 31 years into the characters of the film. I hope the audience finds truthfulness in the performances of the actors.

LatinoBuzz:So, what is the power of the short film in 2012?

Nicholas Ozeki: I think the power of the short film is incredibly underrated. I can tell you it is way easier to get someone to watch a 15-minute film then a full-length feature. In those 15 minutes you have the opportunity to express your voice as an artist and hopefully connect with your audience. If you are trying to be a first time feature director then a short film that demonstrates you have a grasp on the themes and concepts of the movie you want to direct is a no-brainer. Whether they are collaborators or potential investors, filmmaking is a visual art form so you obviously need visuals to show them!

LatinoBuzz:What's the dream?

Nicholas Ozeki:For me the dream is the freedom to make all the crazy ideas I have in my head into movies. I truly love directing and I think it is a privilege to have this as an occupation. Filmmaking is like playing in your imagination and getting paid to do it. How cool is that?! I guess I’ll ride this horse until it bucks me.

LatinoBuzz:You cast Mexican legend Pedro Armendariz Jr. who, God bless him, passed away this past December but had such an illustrious career in film including making appearances in personal faves of mine; Airwolf and The Love Boat. Tell us a story about him.

Nicholas Ozeki:Here is a great story of how beloved Pedro is. We were behind schedule one of the days of our shoot. It was a night scene and we were shooting in the backyard of a house. The biggest issue was that there was a huge party next door to us with a live metal band blasting music. Of course, this was creating havoc with our sound department. Then two local cops show up asking if we had permits to put lights out on the street. Of course, we didn’t so they were preparing to shut us down. Then one of the cops noticed Mr. Armendariz sitting patiently on the set. “Pedro!” He exclaimed. Luckily both cops were Mexican American and they instantly recognized one of Mexico’s most celebrated actors. Pedro very graciously went up to the cops and spoke with them for a few minutes. The next thing we new the officers were smiling and told us not to worry about the permit and then they went over to the house next door and shut the party down for us. I think that was the first time I saw how beloved Pedro was to the Hispanic community. He will be deeply missed. R.I.P.

LatinoBuzz:What traits should envelope the heart of a filmmaker as an artist?

Nicholas Ozeki: Vision –A filmmaker has to have great vision in order to tell a compelling story that is both distinctive and stylistic. I remember playing the movie in my head hundreds of times before it was ever made. You have to see it in your imagination. It has to be real to you.

Commitment –Making a film is like raising a child. You have to be there every step of the way, guide it, provide for it, and finally let it go into the real world and hope you have done a good job. If you don’t absolutely love your film then you will loss interest in it and the movie will suffer. At the end of the day, filmmaking is a sheer act of creative will. You have to be prepared to stick with your art no matter what comes your way.

The Eye of the Tiger –You have to believe in yourself and always strive for the best. Whether that is getting the best actor, the most talented cinematographer, or the best location for your story, you have to have the hunger to want it and be willing to do what it takes to get it. A filmmaker should never be satisfied with their work. There should always be something that they want to improve on.

LatinoBuzz:If you could pluck a character from any book and write a film around them, who is the character and where would you take them?

Nicholas Ozeki: One of my favorite books is The Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz), so I would have to take the main character Oscar De Leon and make a film that deals with his early adolescence. My only fear is living up to Junot Diaz’s incendiary prose. He is really such a brilliant an entertaining author.

LatinoBuzz: You were nominated for an Independent Spirit Awards ‘Someone To Watch Award’. Any pressure to exceed expectations and not become the next Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) and fade to black. 'The End'.

Nicholas Ozeki: It’s interesting because I think awards and accolades are wonderful and validating but really my concentration has been on how the film will be received by the general public. I think this will be the biggest catalyst of expectations. I’m sure that if the film does well I will feel pressure to succeed and improve upon my work. But these are good problems to have.

LatinoBuzz:Mamitas touches on the topic of fatherhood - how has your upbringing affected your choices to pursue film?

Nicholas Ozeki:I came from a strong middle class home and I have parents that have always supported me finding a profession that I love. I can say that their insistence on a good education is what made me the person I am today. That is why I focus a lot on the theme of education in Mamitas. As for the theme of fatherhood, it is certainly not a personal story but I do think it is something that everyone can sympathize and relate with.

LatinoBuzz:Mamitas is a coming of age romance story with a sweetness to it. Do you have an onscreen romance that you are fond of and tell me about your charming actors, Ej Bonilla and Veronica Diaz. They had amazing chemistry.

Nicholas Ozeki:I have to say one of the sweetest onscreen couples is Audrey Heburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday. It also happens to be my favorite romantic comedy. EJ Bonillia and Veronica Diaz were wonderful together on screen. I think it was out of a mutual respect for one another’s talent as well as a trust that they formed together very quickly. I also think they really got their characters and did the work they needed to in order to nail their scenes. Both amazing actors with bright futures ahead of them.

For more on Mamitas & screening times, dig Mamitasthemovie.com

LatinoBuzz: Havana Film Festival New York Closes with Cuban Zombie Comedy Juan of the Dead

Vanessa Erazo — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:13:52 GMT

Why a Cuban Festival?

I’ve attended the Havana Film Festival New York for a couple years and have heard lots of reactions. People who are at the Quad Cinema (the festival’s main venue) to watch other non-festival films sometimes wander up to the information table, look over a catalogue, and ask things like, “Movies from Cuba, is that legal?” I once heard an old guy mutter “Havana! Why would you support communism?” and storm out of the theater. I guess this is the consequence of a trade embargo that not only stops the flow of money between the U.S. and Cuba but can also inhibit cultural exchange. American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, the organization which produces the festival, is committed to “building cultural bridges between the United States and Cuba.”

The Festival--a Family Affair

The Havana Film Festival New York does exactly that. The 13th annual festival screened 40 films from across Latin America and hosted almost as many filmmakers. Directors, actors, and producers were flown in from Cuba, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Guatemala. The festival’s small scale creates a close-knit community of filmmakers who end up watching and discussing each other’s films at dinners that last into the wee hours of the night. At the Closing Night Awards Ceremony last Friday, Sergio Ramirez, director of Distancia (Distance) (ISA:Producccions Concepcio) said it best, “The beautiful thing about this festival is that you feel like you are with family.”

Closing Night Awards Ceremony--a Guatemalan Sweep

Ramirez, a Guatemalan filmmaker, was the big winner of the night being awarded the Havana Star Prize for both Best Picture and Best Director. Best Screenplay went to Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra for Trabalhar Cansa (Hard Labor)(ISA:Cinema Do Brazil). The Brazilian thriller was the pair’s first feature and had its world premiere at Cannes. Con mi corazón en Yambo (With My Heart in Yambo), by Maria Fernanda Restrepo won the Havana Star Prize for Best Documentary.

Closing Night Screening--Severed Limbs, Blood Hungry Zombies, and Social Commentary

The absolute highlight of the night was the New York Premiere of the hilarious and campy Cuban zombie film Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead)(ISA:LatinoFusion). As Havana becomes flooded with zombies, the Cuban government declares that the living dead are just dissidents paid by the U.S. to stir things up. Juan, a part-time thief and full-time slacker steps in and starts a zombie-killing service.

Billed as Cuba’s first zombie movie, it’s a Spanish-Cuban co-production with a $3 million budget. It’s probably not appropriate to quote exactly what the director, Alejandro Brugués, said when asked how he managed to put together millions for the film but let’s just say he alluded to sexual favors. Brugués clearly doesn’t take himself or the film too seriously. When a young woman asked his thoughts on the impact his film and other Cuban art has on its society he shrugged his shoulders, “It’s a zombie movie.”

But it’s not just a zombie movie, it’s so much more. Yes, there are severed bodies and gallons upon gallons of splattered blood but the film is able to take the genre much further. He not only injects humor into the film but also makes sharp social commentary about Cuban society.

Media Buzz and Distribution--a Planned Accident

The director’s secret weapon, a media savvy producer, built up a huge buzz landing a New York Times review and eventually theatrical, DVD and digital distribution deals. “There was no specific media strategy,” says Brugués, “but everyone knew about it. There were heads and arms strewn all around. The shoot wasn’t even over and people were asking where they could see the movie.” It’s rare for a Latin American film to land in U.S. theaters but audiences’ love for the zom-com surely helped. Cinetic Media handled North American sales. U.S. theatrical rights were nabbed by Outsider Pictures, with a limited release planned for about 20 cities. Focus World, operated by Focus Features, will release the movie on August 14 via VOD and DVD. Major international sales deals ramped up after its Toronto premiere including Germany, Russia, Spain, UK and Japan.

If You Were a Zombie...

When the film premiered in Cuba at the Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latino in Havana, the lines snaked around the block. Everywhere it’s played extra screenings have been added. And even with worldwide sales Alejandro Brugués stays humble. I asked him what would happen if he was a zombie. “Oh that’s easy. I’m the most useless person in the world. I’m a director and all I know how to do is make films. I would be the first one that would get eaten.”

Vanessa Erazo Bio:
After having spent several years working for various film festivals--such as the International Latino Film Festival - San Francisco Bay Area, the International Contemporary Film Festival of Mexico City (FICCO), the Hola Mexico Film Festival, and the Havana Film Festival New York--in a variety of roles, Vanessa Erazo now acts as the Documentary Programmer at the New York International Latino Film Festival. She has curated films on a wide range of topics such as human rights, autism, sports, adoption and homelessness. She is also a regular film contributor for Remezcla--an online Latino culture guide. Until recently, she served as the Programming Co-chair for the New York chapter of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. Currently, she works coordinating post-donation care for bone marrow donors at DKMS Americas, the world’s largest donor center. And in her spare time, she obsessively posts on twitter sharing everything she can find on Latin American film with her 2,000+ followers. Vanessa holds a Master’s Degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from New York University and a B.A. in Political Science from San Francisco State University.

Vanessa's Links:
New York Latino FF website: www.nylatinofilm.com
Remezcla website:
NALIP: www.nalip.org
DKMS Americas website: www.GetSwabbed.org
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/infocinelandia
I collect links for articles I have written on Tumblr: http://vanessaerazo.tumblr.com/

NALIP 2012 - Empowering our Multi-Cultural Creative Identity

Christine Davila — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:30:01 GMT

Adding to our Wednesday feature LatinoBuzz, Christine Davila, Sundance programmer is contributing Chicana from Chicago, her take on the Latino scene. Here is our first outing:

Diverse Voices, Universal Content

Runaway Renegade

Described as the largest gathering of Latinos working in media in the U.S., the 13^thannual National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) Conference presented by Time Warner, most actively by way of HBO Latino and NBC Universal, and The National Latino Media Council, took place this weekend at the model tourist convention hub, Universal City Sheraton. NALIP finds itself in a bit of a transition following Kathryn Galan’s departure as Executive Director who spent almost eleven years at the organization shaping it into what it is today. The search is still on for a replacement but guiding the transition as Interim Director is the affable Beni Matias who started with NALIP from its inception. A couple of the board members are new, including Rosa Alonso, founder of My Latino Voicewho will lend her digital marketing expertise to the organization. These high level leadership changes can potentially bring about a revitalized and evolving mission to NALIP’s growing legacy. Covering the conference for Latin Heat Online Magazine, I greatly enjoyed the ability to observe and take part with an inquisitive gonzo-like spirit. Indeed I’d be remiss if I did not approach the significant Latino organization with an on-the-ground, critical eye, especially now while it is in a very ‘review mode’ on how to continue to stay relevant. Its crucial to recognize its monumental formation and landmark achievements. Equally as crucial is to identify how to pragmatically further the conversation it began thirteen years ago about US Latino representation in front and behind the camera. Most important is to distill the relevant but sometimes incongruent messaging – for instance, the Robert Rodriguez keynote illustrated a polar opposite way of thinking to that of Ron Meyer’s keynote (Do we want to Break Out or Break In to the mainstream?), which makes for an intriguing forum of deeper discussion.

New Works/New Voices: A Storyteller's Journey panel with Tamir Muhammad, Tribeca Film Institute, Shari Frilot, Sundance Film Festival, Gun Hill Road filmmaker Rashaad Ernesto Green moderated by Luis Castro, HBO

Lovely RRRRRRita - recipient of NALIP's Lifetime Achievement Award and exclusive EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) club member

What to expect from Chicana from Chicago’s multi-part NALIP coverage? A couple of case-studies/interviews with Rashaad Ernesto Green who epitomizes the DIY mentality which made his feature debut, Gun Hill Road a unique success story, the filmmaker Michael D. Olmos and his star, Gina Rodriguez ofFilly Brown who embody the US Latino pop culture flavor.

I’d like to recognize the influential Gatekeepers at non-profit, artistic development institutions responsible for introducing the most fresh, diverse and underrepresented voices to audiences, like Shari Frilot, Senior Programmer at Sundance Film Festival, Tamir Muhammad, Director of Feature Programming at Tribeca Film Institute and Richard Ray Perez who is the newest and welcome U.S. Latino staff addition at Sundance Institute’s Documentary Feature Program. I’m also most excited to give you a heads up on fresh new film and multi-media projects in the works, and I’ll make sure to dish on the fancy Awards Gala.

I found the theme of NALIP 2012’s, “Diverse Voices, Universal Content” sounding futuristic and empowering, yet initially too broadly defined and perfunctory. I strongly feel that the more focus we can bring to next year’s themes, the better we’ll be able to advance conversation. That said, I’ve identified a few key points that were strong merits of this year’s NALIP, and an excellent way to frame and contextualize what was really being said:

Training our content producers and artists, to not only compete but to raise the bar and expectations in every industry.
Advocate and encourage our friends of color and diversity in all professions, in particular policy-making fields, towards becoming ‘Decision Makers”
The need to vocally and financially support ‘our own content’, as peers but especially obligate those in a position of power who represent us and utilize our fan-dom (Robert Rodriguez with his new El Rey network)
Networking and sharing with peers, and takeaway the hard lessons learned by our elders, those who first paved in-roads into mainstreams, like Rita Moreno and Jerry Velasco, recipients of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Developing our individual and personal voices with which we distinguish our mestizo identity while simultaneously relating the universal the power of storytelling

Overall, I found NALIP an absolutely positive and celebratory environment. . I’m happy to share my thoughts but I would love and need to hear from YOU. I invite you to engage and kindly ask you to share your comments and observations from this year’s NALIP, and in general the landscape of US Latino representation in media as you’ve experienced it.

6 Latin American Films Participate in Films in Progress 21

SydneyLevine — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:30:00 GMT

Six films from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay participated in the 21st edition of Films in Progress at the Rencontres Cinémas d’Amérique Latine in Toulouse, jointly organized with the San Sebastian Festival. The second part of this twice yearly rendezvous will take the shape of Films in Progress 22 at San Sebastian this coming September. A total of 118 films were received for Films in Progress 21.

THE SELECTED FILMS

CORES (ISA:KINOOSFERA FILMS)
Brazil
Director: Francisco García
Cast: Pedro di Pietro, Simone Iliescu, Acaüa Sol.

A tale of friendship and let down between three young friends in Sao Paulo as Brazil undergoes its strong economic upsurge. Despite the odd feeling that things could actually change, the meaning of life disappears on those days when «all that is solid melts into the air».

EL LUGAR DEL HIJO
Uruguay - Argentina
Director: Manuel Nieto.
Cast: Felipe Dieste, Alejandro Urdampilleta, Roxana Cabrera, Leonor Courtoisie, Germán de Silva.

Learning that his father has died in an inland town, a student sets out to the funeral. There he discovers that his father has left him an indebted estate and a house inhabited by his mistress, who has no intention of moving out and obliges the young boy to share. A tale of losing one’s roots and personal reconstruction; a metaphor on the inherited country and the youngsters who will eventually have to take charge of that inheritance.

HALLEY
Mexico
Director: Sebastián Hofmann
Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba

Alberto is dead and can no longer pretend otherwise. A degenerative disease makes his decomposition increasingly more noticeable. No make-up or perfume can disguise his condition. He leaves his job to fade into the boundaries of his death, but not before striking up an unusual friendship with Luly, manager of the gym at which he works as a night watchman.

LA SIRGA (ISA:TIBURON)
Colombia - France – Mexico
Director: William Vega
Cast: Joghis Arias, Julio Cesar Roble, David Guacas, Heraldo Romero, Floralba Achicanoy

Alicia feels lost. The memory of war clings to her mind in a terrifying rumble. Thrown off her land by armed conflict, she tries to build a new life at “La Sirga”, a rundown boarding house on the shore of a large lagoon high up in the Andes mountain range. The place is owned by Oscar, her only surviving relative, an unsociable, solitary old man. There, in a miry, unstable beach, Alicia tries to plant new roots, until her fears and the threat of war reappear once again.

TANTA AGUA (ISA:CONTROL Z FILMS)
Uruguay – Mexico - Holland
Directors: Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge
Cast: Néstor Guzzini, Malú Chouza, Joaquín Castiglioni

Family holidays where nothing goes as planned. A tale set in a half-empty thermal spa lashed by constant rain where the only thing they can do is stay together.

VILLEGAS (ISA:CINE-SUD PROMOTION)
Argentina – Holland – France
Director: Gonzalo Tobal
Cast: Esteban Lamothe, Esteban Bigliardi.

Reunited after several years, cousins Esteban and Pipa travel by car to their grandfather’s funeral in Villegas, the small inland town where they grew up together. Their return becomes an intense emotional journey marked by reunions, the weight of the past and the end of an era.

Films in Progress 21 in Toulouse carried the following awards :

Films in Progress Award Toulouse, in which several entities collaborate:
- CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée) will contribute with a grant towards the completion of a project, carrying €10,000 for post-production work in France.
- MACTARI will provide sound mixing services worth €15,000.
- TITRA TVS: will provide the subtitling for a first copy of the winning film.
- CAISSE CENTRALE D’ACTIVITÉS SOCIALES DU PERSONNEL DES INDUSTRIES ELECTRIQUES ET GAZIERES (CCAS) will provide 5 weeks’ accommodation to the winning director in order that he or she may secure post-production or promotion of the film in France.
- EAUX VIVES will coordinate post-production of the winning film, during four weeks and for an equivalent worth of €8,600.
- FIREFLY will provide the use of a suite of Firefly software tools for colour correction of the winning film.
- COMMUNE IMAGE will provide a film theatre equipped with a Christie DLP Cinema projector with real-time viewing on an 8-metre screen and a Firefly Cinema calibration console for digital post-production in HD, 2K or 4K, for an equivalent worth of €17,000, or a similar service for 10 days in an image editing room for an equivalent worth of €10,000.
Special CINÉ + in Progress Award, granted by the CINÉ + TV channel, worth €15,000, which guarantees purchase of the winning film by the channel and broadcast on television following release of the film in France.
European Distributors and Exhibitors Award:
- EUROPA DISTRIBUTION undertakes to promote the winning film among its network of 110 members and particularly among the 35 European distributor members of the Europa Distribution International (EDI) project.
- CICAE (Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art et Essai) will provide aid to diffusion of the winning film by distributing related information to the 2,000 CICAE member cinemas, thereby creating awareness of the film among distribution companies and boosting its circulation.

Jerusalem, I Love You

SydneyLevine — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:30:00 GMT

One of our favorite clients, Emmanual Benbihy, who allowed us to help with Paris, Je T’aime (ISA:Celsius) and even New York, I Love You (ISA:QED International), has since moved to Shanghai to make Shanghai, I Love You (ISA:WestEnd) and during the Berlinale, Berlin, I Love You was announced. He sold the rights to Rio, I Love You (ISA:WestEnd) and now, The Hollywood Reporter announces directors are set for Jerusalem, I Love You (ISA:WestEnd). Congratuations Emmanuel on the Cities of Love franchise!

Jerusalem, I Love You, this "Cities of Love" episode takes us to one of the most venerated cities in the world. Jerusalem's shifting moods, varying colors and profound religious and historical significance makes people of all faiths long for this great city.

“Jerusalem” will feature ten short films and, true to form, each story will take place in a different neighborhood of the city. Three will be directed by Israelis, three by Americans and four by other international filmmakers. With a city as storied and contested as Jerusalem is, this sort of film seems destined for some sort of controversy. Producer Scott Berrie, is confident the film will unite, not divide. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he says, “The conflict will always be in the background, but won’t be the main focus of the film…we have to be representative of the people living in Jerusalem. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Ethiopians, Copts — everyone. Film is a beautiful way to understand what is happening over there today.”

“Jerusalem” is expected to premiere in early 2012. The cities featured were not chosen randomly. “Cities” founder Emmanuel Benbihy explains, “We picked Paris because it’s nicknamed the city of love. New York is the city of romantic comedies. Rio represents sensual love. Shanghai is the city of exotic love...Jerusalem represents spiritual love. Each of these cities has its own love myth.”

The “Cities” series is one of the only mainstream outlets for short filmmaking; it is wonderful Benbihy and Berrie are continuing the franchise. As an added treat, there is a strong possibility Natalie Portman, who starred in “Paris” and “New York” will be back for another round, in Israel, maybe even as a director this time.

LiveSciFi is a Runaway Hit!

Peter Belsito — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:30:03 GMT

This is a very compelling case study on using current (and free!) internet tools readily available for audience building, demographic collection, contacting the people who may be your 'base group' and who may eventually (or now?) compensate you for your content. I think that connecting with your intended (and / or desirable) audience is almost Job Number One to any of us who create (film, art or here as an internet and or TV show) and who instinctively 'know' who we are speaking to. This compelling piece by our friend Zack Coffman really has some very interesting ideas which we should all absorb (and ??? follow?...)

Billed as "Big Brother meets Ghostbusters" online reality show LiveSciFi scored a hit this weekend as the relaunch of their cult streaming ghost hunting show got over 5 million views, going into their final nights on location at the haunted "Sallie House" of Atchison, KS. Originally to last 72 hours, the response to the show has been so great the team decided to extend it to 96 hours to give the viewers just a bit more paranormal investigation to ponder until the next live show scheduled for late May. Evidenciary clips will be posted over the next few days to the LiveSciFi.tv paranormal blog.

Known for taking tamer cable TV ghost hunting fare to the extreme, the LiveSciFi team (Tim Wood, Scott Di Lalla, and Patrick Langdon) take turns doing various experiments in the most haunted locations such as Ouija board, Ganzfeld sensory deprivation, BeezleBox(tm) and Ghost Radar®. Calling itself "As real as it gets," the show allows viewers to watch unedited continuous feeds from various rooms in the house while the ghost hunters deal with whatever supernatural energies may exist in the house and attempt to bring them to the visual and aural realm for all to see.

Created by Wood in late 2007, LiveSciFi was the first live streaming paranormal show ever attempted on the internet and it achieved a cultlike status among loyal followers even though the technology wasn't up to today's standards. "I just got sick of various fake paranormal shows that were edited down without showing the audience what was really happening and letting them decide for themselves," says Wood, "I never imagined it would go this crazy." The show came to the attention of award-winning One World Studios Ltd. toppers Scott Di Lalla and Zack Coffman who acquired it just three weeks prior to this weekend's streaming, keeping Wood on as host and creative director. The One World duo had just finished up their own paranormal Ouija movie, a feature film called I Am ZoZo shot entirely on Super 8mm and based on true accounts of the demon ZoZo attacking people through Ouija boards, when Di Lalla's friend and fellow paranormal hobbyist Langdon mentioned that the intense online reality show he had appeared on needed another camera operator. Di Lalla accompanied LiveSciFi for a weekend and when he returned he told Coffman, "We gotta get in on this." Two weeks later One World had acquired the show and began seeking sponsors and a platform to stream it to the widest possible audience. "We approached all the usual suspects, but honestly, this is sort of unexplored territory so it wasn't easy with such a short window before the next show. Justin.tv told us that they could offer a front page placement and we had the deal done in a matter of hours. Muses Coffman, "The guys at Justin told us to expect 750k to 1 million viewers over the weekend and those were amazing numbers to us. We never expected the response to be five times that!

Last Second Scrambling -- With the show scheduled to go live two days hence, on Friday the 13th, Coffman took the viewer estimates and tried to arrange some sponsorships. He contacted Dickies with whom One World had a long-standing relationship through One World's series of cult motorcycle movies (Choppertown). Recounts Coffman, "I wasn't sure what they'd say about an edgy ghost hunting show, but I think there was a level of trust we had built up over our previous projects and I basically just promised them it would be worth their while." Dickies PR Director Misty Otto made the call while on a business flight en route to Chicago, "Zack (Coffman) said he had an amazing last second opportunity and sent me a quick synopsis that we found compelling and fresh. That and our previous good experiences with One World made it easy to jump on board even on short notice. We always enjoy working with Scotty, Zack and the One World crew because they bring a very real, raw and interesting perspective to the projects they tackle." With a main sponsor on board and only hours before the show was scheduled to go live, Coffman approached one more sponsor, Spud Pickles, makers of the #1 ghost hunting app Ghost Radar®. "We love the app and it's far and away the most popular of all the ghost hunting apps out there with several million downloads so they (Spud Pickles) were definitely my first choice," says Coffman. Like Dickies, Spud Pickles topper, Jack Jones saw the opportunity immediately and bought a sponsorship right there on the phone. Then in a sign of good things to come, Spud Pickles released a global update to all their users featuring a graphical splash page and a link to LiveSciFi's homepage. Said Coffman, "We were so happy that Spud Pickles got on board, but they went far and above the sponsor relationship by helping to promote the show the way they did. We got thousands of hits that first day from the Ghost Radar® update alone."

As the team were setting up in Atchison, One World continued the last-second PR blitz. "We started calling all the local TV stations in Kansas City, telling them about the Friday the 13th ghost hunt. None of them showed up, but local ABC affiliate KMBC published our release on their blog and it just took off. That posting caused several thousand hits, and then MSNBC.com reposted it just as the show was going live on Friday evening followed by About.com. "We must have gotten a good 10,000 hits from those posts alone." says Coffman.

With the show going live and the last touches and updates going on the site, the team focused on creating the best interactive viewer experience possible. Wood, Di Lalla and Langdon began investigating various parts of the house while receiving tweets from viewers that had already been watching the quad-cam splitscreen for hours. Wood and the team then tried to base their focus on the information coming in from the viewers live chats and tweets, continuing until 4am when the team set up their sleeping bags right in the center of the living room floor; the cams running on them as they slumbered fitfully with their viewers watching over them.

About One World Studios Ltd.:

One World’s first feature documentary Choppertown: the Sinners focused on a renowned group of California bikers known as the Sinners. Produced in 2004 with a stack of credit cards, this award-winning documentary heralded a return to the values of a simpler time and spawned a worldwide cult following culminating in a seventeen-country European theatrical tour sponsored by Dickies. After selling 20,000 Choppertown DVDs out of an apartment in West LA, Coffman and DiLalla were able to quit their part-time jobs and make films full time since 2005. I Am ZoZo is their sixth feature and first narrative. LiveSciFi is their first LIVE reality show.

LatinoBuzz: UPDATE!!! Life Imitates Art. Interview with Lucy Mulloy - Una Noche

Juan Caceres — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:59:01 GMT

Since its publication, new developments are worth reporting. This film which deals with youth's alienation from the Revolution in Cuba shows life imitating art as its two young actors, planning to be present at Tribeca's premiere, have been reported missing since their landing in Miami. Read more here.

It's safe to say that Lucy Mulloy was born to make films. Her awards cabinet will tell you the exact same thing. As an NYU student, the native Brit was nominated for a Student Academy Award and has gone on to win numerous accolades including the Emerging Narrative Talent Award in 2010 at The Tribeca Film Festival where she is making her U.S. feature film debut with Una Noche this week. Una Noche is a labor of love that has been years in the making. It stemmed from a short film idea Mulloy had upon visiting Cuba and listening to the people's stories. And it lovingly shows on screen. Cast with non-actors Una Noche is a non judgemental look at Cuba through the eyes of people whose nostalgia for the Revolution fades every year along with their dreams. In Una Noche, Lucy captures the pulse of Cuba and with her portrayal of youth and its beautiful juxtaposition to the decaying architecture of Havana. Here are 10 questions with Writer/ Director Lucy Mulloy... (Actually, it's only 9 - Lucy dodged my question about the controversial decision to cast non-Latinos in the film The Perez Family by Director Mira Nair. She pleaded the fifth citing not having seen the film).

LatinoBuzz: Who put the camera in your hand?

Lucy Mulloy: NYU did. Sandi Sissel, our cinematography professor, told us to sleep with the camera. She is fantastic and was really encouraging. In your first days at NYU grad film they throw you a 16mm camera, a roll of black and white film and say come back with a short movie in a couple of days. It was very liberating and took away the stigma attached with shooting being too complicated. We were given the chance to mess up and to get comfortable with the camera. It was a great time to experiment. It's exhilarating to hear the flutter of film and see the flicker of celluloid passing though the lens as you shoot.

LatinoBuzz: You are having daiquiris with Hemingway, his drink of choice, at the famed Floridita bar that he used to frequent in Havana, he's drunk and being good old Ernest in fine form, what would you ask him?

Lucy Mulloy: I’d ask him to take me fishing.

LatinoBuzz: You studied politics at Oxford - how much politics went into the writing of the film and what evolved during your time in Cuba?

Lucy Mulloy: I went to Cuba in the first place because I was curious about the system. That was before I ever thought about making a movie there. I was not out to make a political movie. I wanted to tell a story that felt real about people and emotions, things that are familiar to me. The film is about three people who come together and change one another. Their circumstances and their perspectives within the context of their society are all very different. I am not interested in telling people what to think about Cuba, but more in exploring the characters’ journeys.

LatinoBuzz: If you could sing a love song to Cuba -- which is it?

Lucy Mulloy: There are a few songs that come into my head, but the one that takes me to a warm Havana evening is Francisco Cespedes, Remolino. We used to play it over and over. Maite and Yanelis would sing along when we were going crazy in pre-production late nights. Hearing it takes me back to Cuba and the lyrics are about being taken away, about a love that is overwhelming... it's about sacrifice and distance. When I am in Cuba I miss my family and friends outside and when I am not there I miss Havana. As soon as you land in Cuba, there’s a feeling that comes over you in the heat; it's in the air, it’s something I have not felt in any other place. I miss that.

LatinoBuzz: With wonderful indies such as 'Pariah', 'Mosquita Y Mari', 'Entre Nos', 'Yelling to The Sky', 'Circumstance', 'Una Noche' etc. we are seeing emerging female talent behind the camera - are you hopeful? And what does being a female in the film industry mean to you?

Lucy Mulloy: There are a lot of women making great films. They are making independent movies, forging their own ways, selecting their own teams. None of the films cited are industry films. There is no question about whether women can make great movies. Clearly they can, but the question is whether they are being invited into the studio system to make them. Progress needs to come from within the industry – they need to catch up and embrace more female directors.

LatinoBuzz: Any part of the journey of making this film you deplored?

Lucy Mulloy: No, some parts were hard, but I learnt so much making this film. I am much more equipped now for the next movie. I have been very much involved with the production side of Una Noche and this has taught me a lot. It’s a huge privilege that I was able to bring the script into fruition.

LatinoBuzz: I wondered when I saw your film if the cinema of Humberto Solás and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea influenced it at all?

Lucy Mulloy: I loved the movie Soy Cuba (Mikail Kalatozov). I saw it after I came back from Cuba the first time and it blew me away. It is so masterfully made, pushing boundaries cinematographically. It inspired me for sure.

LatinoBuzz: You can pick any actor from history to direct. A leading lady for him from history? Set it anywhere in the world. Who are they and what's the plot? Go.

Lucy Mulloy: I would choose young Marlon Brando and a young Cathy Tyson. It would be set in Tunis in 2040 where she would be his drug counselor. As he comes off his addiction he would become more obsessed with her.

LatinoBuzz: You picked 3 wonderful non-traditional actors -- what is your hope for them after Una Noche has reached its destiny?

Lucy Mulloy: I would love to make another movie with them. I know that they all want to pursue careers in acting. I think people usually like what they are good at. They all have a natural talent. I really hope that they get to act more and do what makes them happy. I was very lucky to find them.

For screening times and tickets to see 'Una Noche' at The Tribeca Film Festival http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/una_noche-film41550.html#.T44479WK7Kf. And 'Love' and 'Like' them at https://www.facebook.com/UnaNocheFilm

BAFTA Los Angeles Inaugurates An Enhanced 3-Year Scholarship Program

SydneyLevine — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:30:01 GMT

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles® (BAFTA Los Angeles) has announced a new three-year scholarship program for graduate students studying in the U.S. The annual program will grant a scholarship of $15,000, with a runner-up receiving $5,000, and two honorable mention scholarships of $1,500 each.

BAFTA Los Angeles is providing this scholarship program for a guaranteed three years, starting with the 2012/ 2013 academic year. The program is open to British graduate students studying any of the disciplines associated with the moving image at an accredited graduate school in the U.S. Applications can be obtained on the BAFTA Los Angeles website (www.baftala.org), and will be accepted through April 30^th.

Applications are currently being accepted. The deadline to apply is April 30, 2012. To download our information package and the application forms please click here:
Scholarship Application Form. (382 KB)

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles is the only Anglo-American professional organization founded to promote and advance original work in film, television and interactive media. BAFTA Los Angeles serves as the bridge between the Hollywood and British production and entertainment business communities, and provides exclusive access to screenings, Q&As with creative talent, produces seminars with leading UK film and television executives and the Heritage Archive, featuring broadcast-quality interviews with distinguished British members of the film and television industries, giving life to the preservation of the UK film industry for future generations.

Maintaining a long tradition of recognizing the finest filmmaking and television talent, BAFTA Los Angeles hosts a series of events, including the prestigious Britannia Awards, the Awards Season Film and Television Tea Parties in January and September and the annual Garden Party.

A commitment to professional and community education is at the heart of the Academy’s charitable remit. BAFTA Los Angeles hosts the Student Film Awards and has an active Scholarship Program offering financial support and mentorship to UK students studying in the U.S. The Academy created The Inner City Cinema, a screening program providing free screenings of theatrical films to inner city areas not served by theatres. The success of Inner City Cinema has led to further free screening programs extended to multiple inner city parks through the Academy’s work with both the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation (Parks After Dark) and The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks (Teen Summer Camps).

For more information on the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles, visit www.baftala.org

The 13th Annual New York International Latino Film Festival - Final Submissions Due!

Juan Caceres — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:58:34 GMT

Dubbed on here on the pages of Indiewire, 'The Latino Sundance', The 13^th Annual New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) has its final submission deadline on Monday, April 16. Submissions will be accepted in the U.S. and International Features, Documentaries and Shorts Categories. Submit your film online at: nylatinofilm.com.

The premier Latino film festival in the country runs from Monday, August 13 through Sunday, August 19, 2012. NYILFF is presented by HBO™.

“For thirteen years now NYILFF has been a leading festival showcasing some of the best films in the Latino and Urban markets,” says Elizabeth Gardner, Co-Executive Director. “In 2012, we will create a more concentrated festival in one single venue and fewer films emphasizing quality over quantity.”

“NYILFF continues to be a home for acclaimed films and fresh, bold filmmakers,” says Calixto Chinchilla, Founder and Co-Executive Director. “We look forward to continuing our tradition of showcasing the best Latino films and give our audiences a great experience this summer"

Juan Caceres
Programming Manager
HBO/New York International Latino Film Festival

WWW.NYLATINOFILM.COM
NUEVA YORK CITY... Can you dig it?

Transmedia Hollywood 3: Rethinking Creative Relations

Meredith Levine — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:03:52 GMT

Transmedia Hollywood is a conference, in its third year, which I used to work on. It is a joint venture between UCLA’s producer’s Program Chair Prof. Denise Mann and legendary scholar and now USC professor Henry Jenkins. It was intended as an offshoot of MIT’s Futures of Entertainment Conference with the added bonus of being in a city with access to some of the leading industry professionals. With the purpose of creating a dialogue between cutting edge storytellers and the scholars that study them, this conference puts professionals on panels with scholars to talk about the most pressing issues of labor, funding, style, platforms, and all things media/narrative in a convergent culture. In my first two years working on the conference I was a conference coordinator and curated a panel on the ARG as a storytelling mechanism and its role in branding/advertising and the following year (2011) a panel on theme park design and world-building, emphasizing the role of setting in narrative. Although I am no longer formally working on this conference, because I graduated with my M.A. from UCLA and am therefore no longer Prof. Mann’s research assistant, I still attend and write about it.

Transmedia Hollywood 3 just passed on Friday and like the two years previous, aimed to work out some of the prospects of the futures of entertainment. While many were looking for a singular vision of the future the general consensus from all four panels was that a unified business model to deal with the future of entertainment in a transmedia world is not probable. We are still in a stage where the successes in a contemporary entertainment world are happy accidents heavily contextualized in their own circumstances, only to be unsuccessfully copied by other stories.

One of the members of the transmedia think tank The Alchemists ,and panelist, Mauricio Mota articulated the necessary elements for a successful transmedia project in his description of the four pillars: story, fans, platforms and brands. In order to be successful first and foremost there must be a great story. We are still dealing with narrative even in an age of technology. The second pillar is the fans. A story must find its audience, engage with them and encourage them to participate and interact with each other, with the text, and with the content creators. The third being platform. Stories, even if they are being told over multiple platforms still have a main platform and a mothership text. This story needs to not only be good, but also be told utilizing the capabilities of the platform. If the main story is a feature film, then that film must not only stand alone but also be enhanced significantly by the other ancillary stories being told on other platforms. Those stories on other platforms mustn’t be afterthoughts, or there because they need to be, but rather take full advantage of what the platform is capable of, if not push the boundaries of what that platform is capable of. Lastly, there are brands. This has to do with who is financing the project. No matter where the money comes from, if it is not your own and you happen to be independently wealthy, there will be expectations for meeting what the brand needs, and often concessions for what the brand wants. If the money is coming from the government, then the project usually must fit some higher mandate for arts, culture, entertainment, or public service. If the money is coming from a corporate or private source, frequently they too are looking to gain from the partnership.

Yet another agreed upon idea was that of the “shiny object.” This referring to a piece of media, with high production value, used to distract viewers from the product being sold. This stems from the convergence of the worlds of advertising, storytelling, and technology. Where fans are combative towards advertisements that are pushing products without tact, they seem to be much more receptive when “the ask” is masked in one of these objects, like the YouTube brand in the feature film Life in a Day, or Canon 5D’s campaign introducing the still camera’s capabilities for HD video, or Google’s “Parisian Love” campaign. Some of the best of the transmedia world right now are these shiny objects because well funded storytelling companies, like movie studio and television production are hesitant to venture into this world with the financial weight they would a more traditional story. This leaves advertisers, with a lower threshold of entry, to foray into creating transformative works on behalf of brands, with the notion that this more avant-garde means of reaching an audience, is less measurable, but more attractive while being less expensive than a traditional 30 second spot.

Without a traditional business model, projects are getting funding any way they can, from the damn “The Man” crowd-source web site Kickstarter, to government funding (in countries except for the United Stats and Japan), to pairing up with companies and organizations in order to proliferate a message for a brand, or some combination there of. While Canada has a vibrant culture for public-private funding of the arts, and values transmedia as “experimental” by far one of the most out-there strategy for making a property work hails from Brazil. With its sequel film Elite Squad 2 being up for an Academy Award this past year, its predecessor Elite Squad after careful consideration and tons of research, it turned out that the best chances for this property were to produce independently and what ended up as being distributed through the rampant network of pirated DVDs that exist throughout Brazil. Through this piracy the film found its audience, and forced an earlier and wider theatrical release than what was originally planned. It is through this turn of events that it is estimated 13 million viewers saw the first feature film, largely illegally, and took in the storyline with open arms, despite the controversial nature of story, to go on and overwhelmingly, legally, watch the sequel.

The meetup group Transmedia LA was represented on a panel by Tara Tiger Brown, who plugged a new alternate reality game (ARG) that is being built around the neighborhood of Miracle Mile. The Miracle Mile Paradox is a labor of love by local transmedia professionals in an attempt to build something significant that isn’t tied to some other intellectual property. Choosing Kickstarter as their means of fundraising, this project will be one to watch as far as experimental narrative, and location based storytelling is concerned.

Closing out the day was a panel on comic books and how comic books are NOT storyboards for cinema. Comics have found themselves in an industrial paradox, where they are being used heavily by the movie industry, and traditional media as jumping off points for film and television with built in, time tested audiences as well as being used as an ancillary branch for products relating to another franchise, while shrinking as a stand-alone industry. Although comic fans are avid participants in their communities, the communities are too small to sustain the industry on their own. Buffy Season 8 was a comic book series, now on Season 9, that picked up where the television program Buffy The Vampire Slayer left off when it went off the air. As another visual medium, with a low cost of production and ability for more creative control, this series is one of several ways comic books are being used as a part of a transmedia story. There are spin-off comics, and licensed properties, graphic novels, and original works, all of which play into a larger ecosystem.

I will leave you all with a concept that media scholars and fans alike wish we could scream from the rooftops and have the powers that be in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Madison Avenue really hear. Fans cannot be bought. In traditional advertising, data points to the ability to buy viewers. Facebook has butchered the word “fan” to mean almost the exact opposite. A fan on facebook just clicks on a “like” button and does not feel compelled to act, interact or participate in a larger community and dialogue. A true fan sticks up for what they identify with, knows when they are being sold something, and cannot be bought. As a fan and a scholar of fans, I have found, that much like being in love, fans are grown over time when prompted by a text they identify with, and given the opportunity to interact with it and with others who share strong feelings about it. They take stories and make them their own. They don’t respect IP laws and hate being talked down to. They turn great stories into pieces of culture, and this, much like class, cannot be bought.

It is about the relationships and the communities. The future of entertainment depends on it, so remember… Story. Fans. Platform. Brands.