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REVIEW: BYZANTIUM

Isn’t it funny how a movie that starts with a line in voiceover narration like “my story can never be told” ends up being a two hour movie in which that story is told in great detail, right?

Eleanor (Saorise Ronan) and Clara (Gemma Arterton) are 200 year old vampire-like creatures (called “succreants”) in modern day England. Though they refer to each other as sisters, Clara is actually Eleanor’s mother. Eleanor keeps her blood thirst in check by only feeding on dying old people, while Clara supports them by prostituting. After meeting a doughy, bespectacled customer who owns a hotel named Byzantium, Clara sets up a brothel and believes that their problems have been solved. However, Eleanor meets a gangly, nervous teenager named Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) and she finds herself drawn to him. She aches to reveal her true nature to him but Clara has so far kept her unaware of the costs of that decision – they are being tracked by powerful dark forces. Intercut with this narrative is the story of how Clara and Eleanor became succreants and why they must hide their true nature from the world.

Comparisons to the Twilight series are inevitable, though BYZANTIUM is a bloodier, more vicious take on the material (still, though BYZANTIUM is rated R it is only briefly gruesome and gratuitous). At the very least, it’s a movie that is more tolerable for boyfriends (Gemma Arterton in various states of undress being more preferable than sparkly Robert Pattinson).

The film was adapted from the 2007 play A Vampire Story by Moira Buffini, who also adapted it for the screen, and was directed by Neil Jordan, who is best known for winning an Oscar for directing The Crying Game. I mention them both because I’m not sure who to blame for the two-hour runtime, which is far longer than necessary. This is because Byzantium has a tendency to repeat itself. For example, for roughly the first third of the movie Eleanor crosses paths with Frank (often by choice), but then runs away from when he gets too close (physically and emotionally). That’s a fine story bit, but not when it is repeated three times. It even becomes a joke when Frank (who, I might add, tends to dress like a hobbit) finally says to her “why do you keep running away from me?” Similarly, much of the film’s dialogue is spoken in harsh whispers meaning that there is this dreary tone running through the film for nearly its entire length.

However, BYZANTIUM is filled with gorgeous shots and both Arterton and Ronan rise above the sometimes silly dialogue with their performances. The movie will likely play extremely well with the Twilight crowd, especially those who liked the books and thought the film adaptations were too cheesy. Byzantium replaces that melodrama with blood and melancholia, which is a much better mixture.

Review Rating: 3 out of 5: See it ….. It’s Good

http://youtu.be/Ej2YBAuqvGk
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Actress Jan Broberg Talks About Starring in MANIAC with Elijah Woods, and Living Her Real-Life MANIAC Experience

Jan Broberg in MANIAC

A victim, twice over, Jan Broberg has emerged as a spokewoman for resiliency and the importance of letting life’s experience serve as a motivation and teaching tool rather than a deterrent. The unfortunate victim of abduction and subsequent brainwashing as a child on two different occasions, Broberg has experienced redemption and solace thereafter.On seperate occasions, which spans a period of four years in total, Jan Broberg was the victim of a kidnapping, where she was restrained in the back of a mobile home, held down and brainwashed by continuous recordings of a monstrouous voice. Hard to explain, even more harder to imagine or survive for that matter. Jan Broberg has emerged victorious in her quest to put that horror behind her, and encourage others that they too can persevere. Playing the role of Rita, also a victim of Frank Zito, played by lead actor Elijah Wood in the filmMANIAC, Broberg has once again been given a platform for the war against what some would consider demons, while she considers it a muse. In this candid interview with the actress, learn about her life, her times of tragedy, as well as redemption and vow to be an example for others who have overcome or are seeking the knowledge to do so.

VIMOOZ: Have you ever been drawn to a film in such a personal manner before?

Jan Broberg: You know drawn to it in a personal manner, I can say that I haven’t watched many horror films so the genre was not my first choice. I’ve always loved suspense, but I do love the psycho-thriller genre, and I always hoped to be in one. In this film, it is the first time I have been drawn to the correlation with my personal experiences. While in production, I was thinking about the fear that I went through and I revisited the fear and the loneliness that resulted. You know, feelings are REAL but to be able to access them and the advantage of knowing that I am safe, and I can come back was great. In the past I’ve had roles where I was emmotional; I played a mom whose child had died, and that was challenging but not to this degree in a movie where the fear was this intense.

VIMOOZ: You have been very candid in sharing your tragedy. I can’t help but to recognize a similarity between reality, and film in the case of the role that you play as Rita. With that being the case, were there any moments of unease while in production?

Jan: Everybody was so supportive because of the process. The objective is being technically sound, and as always in any producion safety is paramount. Everybody involved was very sensitive to the casts need of an environment where we felt safe, and were able to go to unsafe places in action without worry. I didnt even feel…(pause) like when Elijah is holding my head under the water, thats REAL. As an actor / actress you have to completely imagine yourself in that moment, and the object is to eliminate feelings, but the scenes where the special effects take over you kind of get to take off. In Maniac, the greatest feeling I had was was during the drowning scene and even in that Elijah, the director, the support team were there; There was a lot of rehearsal time, learning SAFETY signals and techniques. As you watch the film, you see me struggling, fighting back and that intensified everything. With my background, being in desperate circumstances I have always come back and I felt safe enough to completely go crazy (laughs)

VIMOOZ: Was it your idea to perform your own stunts; is that a norm for you?

Jan: It was an exciting and challenging proposition by the crew. In the script it detailed several scenes of violence and stages of killing that would take place, and they asked would I be comfortable performing. I Absolutely desired to perform all the scenes myself. Practice, preparation was my priority. There was no option! i think they would have allowed me to, if I rejected seeing as though I never had done it before. I was gamed. I practiced at my parents home, funny as it may sound, with my nephews who were visiting from Arizona. They assisted and I got to see how long I could endure. Its one thing to hold my breath but the difference was that I was being held/fighting. It was a process. In other scenes gadgets are made: there’s a process of building prosthetics and all of that. All of that stuff happens over weeks before filming and gives you a chance at preparation. I was a little taken aback at first because I didnt know all the stages but I knew I would be killed. I also knew there would be brief nudity from the back. The torture I found out about as I got in depth with the role, it was a litle jolting; being scalped (giggles) I wondered ‘What would that be like?’

VIMOOZ: How much of an inspiration has your story been for your career choice. It is undertandable that it motivates you in a general sense that you have emerged as a survivor and spokeperson, but what I am asking is how much a of role did it play in your decision to pursue an acting career?

Jan: Interestingly enough I was already into acting prior to being kidnapped. When I was about 6 years old I was in a musical at Idaho State University, back in my home state; my neighbor had children and they ended up being the lead in “Sound of Music”. It was my first play and afterwards I was taken by theater and I had done a number of plays before the first kidnapping . I Already had the bug you could say. Post-trauma all of those emmotions that developed, I gained the ability to go to deeper places in my role playing than maybe other people can. There is a reality and naturalness that comes to character when you have experiences.. I did alot of self-help, I have counselors., advisors, family, a great support system. My ordeal was 4 years long and I didn’t talk to people; no one knows what I was going through. I was fortunate to have a great community of supprters.and after taking a while, when I oepned up it was very therapeutic. Throughout, I used acting as a means of healing. The fear of what could happen actually saved my life. I was being terrorized by a man that abducted me and brainwashed me. On stage I could express this rage / terror, I was able to tell the feelings through the roles I was getting. The ability to go to places I was not allowed to by this man who held me hostage was overwhelmingly useful. Because of it, theater will forever hold a special place in my heart. Had it not been for that, I more than likely would have committed suicide. I was depresed, and the commitment to theater camp gave me something to take my mind off of things. Most importantly, I never went through with it because I couldnt leave my cast. LOL I have always been advocate of what theater does for us. “Art has a huge role to play in our lives as people.” Couldn’t leave my team !

VIMOOZ: You are published correct, “Stolen Innocence” tell us about that

Jan: My mother took a 90 page, FBI file, notes, diaries, journal entries, and all as well as interviews of each other putting together a story. It started as a family history, a way of filling me in on what I had missed while I was gone. My mother wrote what happened on my parents’ end and I told details of what happened on mine. It was a cathartic journey; as she wrote, people who heard what we had encouraged us to print. We ended up being contacted by Justice Charles Gill, who was in attendance at a conference where I was a key note speaker. That acually happened to be the first time that I told my story in that kind of a setting, now its become second nature. When he approached us we discussed how well versed he was in criminal justice as a result of 30 years on the bench and in practice, he was very familiar with pedophilia and special victim circumstances. He remarked that my story, our story, encompassed everything that he had seen and known to be true. He also encouraged us to share it and with that we began to get some editing done, and turned a 800 page manuscript into about a 300 page book. The amazing part is that all of it is true. So well received that the second edition is under works, and in it my mother shares with you many of the updates and the aftermath resulting from how documented the story is. Alot of things have happened. I’ll tell you one occurence where the man who kidnapped me showed up at a speaking engagement of mine with a van and a gun in efforts to terrorize me some more. At that point it grew even more, and I was interviewed by Diane Sawyer for Good Morning America. But yes the book will unveil many of the current events. Stay Tuned !

VIMOOZ: And i understand a documentary is in the works ?

Jan: A documentary is definitely in the works. I want and need for all of this to inspire people to live the life that they love. There is a way out and my books, documentary will show that.

VIMOOZ: Maniac opened in theaters June 21st, playing locally @ the IFC Center and available on VOD; how does it feel ?

Jan: I am really excited. Hopefully this film will be one of those soon to be classics, with a buzz abroad; one that people embrace and do the background on so they have empathy for Elijah Wood’s character. The cinematography is beautiful. I loved my role; Rita is very complex; she makes fun of the very people who have made her rich. For me, people who aren’t really confident in themselves result to putting others down. That was a point of reference for me, that RIta has a story. ‘There is a sadness behind the bitch that I play.’ The depth in her story is intriguing. I hope my work and relation to the role comes across to the audience. Her past, Her terror, the disappointment. She has everything except maybe LOVE. For that people should have empathy for her. I am excited the world gets to experience MANIAC and all its crevices. We all relate to being afraid, its part of human nature. This kind of scary in the film, can and should be scary to everyone. The movie is very relatable. It has the potential to be a cult classic

VIMOOZ: Well aside from MANIAC, you have recently wrapped up work in IRON MAN 3, and we spoke about the forthcoming documentary are there any other projects to announce or anything that you want to leave the readers with?

Jen: More than anything we want the people to know and understand my amazing story and let that help to inform others, and maybe educate people on the warning signs and ways to protect children. My parents have always been transparent in admission of some of the mistakes they made, and I have been forthcoming about the effects of the brainwashing and abduction; especially when considering that it can come from a person that is close to you; your family, a family member or friend; some one whom has already had the time to groom you as a victim. Our hope is to educate about prevention. Secondly, the goal is to inspire others who need to heal. WE want them to know that experiences or tragedies do not have to define the rest of your life. Let my story, and recovery serve as a piece to the puzzle and know that you are not alone. In my own way, I feel like this work, the book, the documentary; this message is a way of Paying IT FORWARD.
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Six Film Projects Awarded Tribeca Film Institute TFI New Media Fund Grants

WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?

Six film projects have be selected as recipients for the 2013 Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) New Media Fund. The TFI New Media Fund was established in 2011 through a long-term partnership with the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms Initiative to support non-fiction film projects that go beyond traditional screens, exploring storytelling that is interactive, cross-platform and participatory.

The recipients of grants are:

CHASING THE SUN
Key participants: Paul Shoebridge, Michael Simons (The Goggles)
Description: Suppose we found a lost continent — impossible, but just imagine an opportunity to do things differently, to do anything besides business as usual. Chasing the Sun is an immersive online story about the Arctic.
Location: Canada: Vancouver, BC

THE YES MEN ARE REVOLTING
Key participants: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Laura Nix, Mary Notari, The Public Society, Glocal
Description: The Yes Men Are Revolting ends with an urgent call to action—and with a tool, the Action Switchboard, that will help viewers answer that call. This human-moderated digital platform helps a global audience initiate and join direct actions that serve specific activist goals; it also provides training and other resources for carrying out media actions. Effectively, the Action Switchboard invites the film’s audience to join in the story the film and extend it in new and powerful ways.
Location: New York, Los Angeles

WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?
Key participants: Gael Garcia Bernal, Marc Silver, Lina Srivastava
Description: Deep in the scorching Sonoran desert beneath a cicada tree border patrol discovers a decomposing body. Lifting a t-shirt, they expose a tattoo that reads ‘Dayani Cristal.’ An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a search across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. “Who Is Dayani Cristal?” is a film and cross-platform exploration of stories underlying poverty, immigration, and the human rights of migrants who make journey across the US-Mexico border.|
Location: Mexico: Mexico City, UK: London, United States: New York

THIS IS MY BACKYARD (Logs of War)
Key participants: Anjali Nayar, Jude Mwenda, Andrew Hill, Daniel Burwen, Leonardo Bonanni
Description: Silas Siakor, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, risked everything to cut off warlord Charles Taylor from the illegal timber trade that was helping fund Liberia’s 14-year civil war. Now, Siakor tries to kick-start his country’s struggling economy through a sustainable logging industry. “This is My Backyard” is a multi-platform project that crowd sources and disseminates information about land and resources in West Africa.
Locations: Kenya: Nairobi; Liberia: Monrovia; United States: New York, Boston, San Francisco

AMERICAN PROMISE
Key participants: Michèle Stephenson & Joe Brewster
Description: American Promise follows two African American boys and their families for 12 years as they navigate the terrain of race, privilege and opportunity at a rigorous New York City private school. To further the work of the film, the team are creating a web series and a goal-setting mobile app called “Promise Tracker”.
Location: New York
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Demarest Films and Cinedigm Announce New Partnership; Sets August 23 Release Date for “SHORT TERM 12”

Demarest Films and Cinedigm today announced a new co-acquisition and distribution partnership; and their first collaboration will be Destin Daniel Cretton’s 2013 SXSW Film Festival dual Grand Jury and Audience Award winner SHORT TERM 12. SHORT TERM 12 will be released theatrically August 23rd.

SHORT TERM 12 is the touching and uplifting story of Grace (Brie Larson), a twenty-something social worker who has channeled the demons of her own troubled past into a passion for helping at-risk teens. Her newest ward, Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), forces Grace to relive her own difficult upbringing just as she and her boyfriend Mason (John Gallagher Jr.) are on the cusp of making a decision that will change their lives. This is writer/director Cretton’s second feature following the 2012 Sundance Film Festival selection I AM NOT A HIPSTER. The film also features Rami Malek and newcomer, Keith Stanfield.

“We have been looking for ways to work with Sam and William since they formed Demarest Films. We are thrilled they felt as passionate about SHORT TERM 12 as we did and are very happy to bring them in as partners on this powerful film,” said Chris McGurk, Chairman and CEO, Cinedigm. “This arrangement is truly unique as it’s not a traditional distribution or production relationship – it’s a fully-fledged partnership that allows us to share equally in the upsides of our indie films, from theatrical all the way thru the vast ancillary opportunities our distribution expertise and infrastructure provides. It’s great to be working with such an innovative team and this arrangement should expand acquisition opportunities for both parties in the future.”

“Cinedigm is on the cutting edge of the independent film renaissance and we are thrilled to be partnering with them and tapping into the vast potential that digital distribution provides,” said Sam Englebardt, Co-founder and CEO, Demarest Films. “SHORT TERM 12 is a great initial project as it’s not only a strong, award-winning film with beautiful performances, but we also believe the long tail ancillaries of this project will be significant. We expect this to be the first of many films that we co-release with Cinedigm and a model that we are excited to replicate with other distribution partners as well.

http://youtu.be/Cook_OOKWlw
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Academy Announces Submission Dates For 2013 Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced category submission deadlines for 86th Academy Awards consideration.

The dates are as follows:

Scientific and Technical Awards – Friday, July 12
Documentary Short Subject – Tuesday, September 3
Documentary Feature – Monday, September 23
Live Action Short Film – Tuesday, October 1
Animated Short Film – Tuesday, October 1
Foreign Language Film – Tuesday, October 1
Animated Feature Film – Friday, November 1
Original Score – Monday, December 2
Original Song – Monday, December 2
Official Screen Credits Form – Monday, December 2
All submissions are due by 5 p.m. PT

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center and televised live on the ABC Television Network.
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Director Paris Barclay Elected First African American President of the Directors Guild of America

Director Paris Barclay was elected President of the Directors Guild of America by acclamation at the Guild’s National Biennial Convention held over the weekend at DGA National Headquarters in Los Angeles.

“I am profoundly honored to be elected President of the DGA,” said Barclay to the assembled delegates after the vote. “The DGA has worked for more than three-quarters of a century to advance the creative and economic rights of directors and their teams and I look forward to continuing this strong tradition of service. As the son of a glass blower and a tile maker from Chicago, I am extremely humbled to have the honor to serve in the footsteps of the legendary leaders of the DGA like Frank Capra, Robert Wise and Gil Cates.”

Barclay has a deep history of service to the Guild, having most recently served four terms on the National Board as First Vice-President, beginning in 2005 and as Third Vice-President from 1999 to 2005. Barclay joined the Guild in 1992 and began his service as a member of the African American Steering Committee in 1993. He joined the Western Directors Council in 1997 as an alternate and was elected a full Council member in 1999 and has served on the Council for 16 years. In 2007, the Guild honored Barclay with the Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award for extraordinary service to the DGA and its membership.

Barclay has directed over 130 episodes of television during his directing career, including: Sons of Anarchy, Glee, Smash, House, Cold Case, NCIS: Los Angeles, In Treatment, The Good Wife, CSI, Lost, The Shield, The West Wing, ER and NYPD Blue. In addition to episodic directing, Barclay has been an active director-producer, currently serving in that role in Sons of Anarchy and previously for In Treatment, Cold Case, City of Angels and NYPD Blue.

Barclay has received 10 DGA Award nominations for Outstanding Direction in Comedy and Drama Television. He became the first Director in the history of the Guild to receive a comedy and a drama nomination in the same year, two years in a row (2008 In Treatment & Weeds and 2009 In Treatment & Glee). He won the 1998 DGA Dramatic Series Award for his NYPD Blue episode “Heart and Souls” featuring the death of Jimmy Smits’ character Bobby Simone. He has also won two Emmy Awards for his direction of NYPD Blue and received four additional Emmy nominations for producing and directing. Barclay has also received three NAACP Image Awards, four Peabody Awards, two Humanitas Prizes, and countless other recognitions. He also directed the HBO movie for television The Cherokee Kid and the Miramax feature Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. He began his career in advertising working as a creative executive and then segued into directing commercials and music videos for artists including: Janet Jackson, Bob Dylan, and LL Cool J.

Barclay, a graduate of Harvard College, is married to his husband, Christopher Barclay, and has two sons.
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REVIEW: Unfinished Song

Thank goodness UNFINISHED SONG (titled “Song for Marion” overseas) was made by an English filmmaker. I say that because Hollywood would have completely destroyed this wonderful story by overfilling it with cheesy, contrived moments. Hollywood doesn’t have the guts to make this kind of film without a “star.” Instead of the wonderful performances from Terrence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave we’d likely get Steve Martin in one of his less-than-great performances and Cher.

But thankfully writer/director Paul Andrew Williams made this movie on English soil. UNFINISHED SONG stars Stamp and Redgrave as Arthur and Marion, an elderly couple who is trying to cope with Marion’s cancer. Marion spends her final months as a member of a neighborhood senior citizen choral group that performs outside the box music (like the B-52s and, to my surprise, Motörhead). Grumpy Arthur doesn’t cope quite as well, and he doesn’t get Marion’s singing though it’s not much different from his old man pub domino games. Even worse, Arthur is concerned that all the energy Marion puts into performing is taking a toll on her health, and it’s also clear that Arthur is jealous of the joy Marion gets out of singing because he doesn’t believe he is capable of making her that happy anymore. Add that to Arthur’s uncomfortable relationship with his son James (Christopher Eccleston) and his resentment of Marion’s choir teacher, Elizabeth (Gemma Arterton), and Arthur has to do a lot of emotional growth for someone his age.

Again, the movie is wonderfully English, and I’m not just talking about Arterton’s familiar cute cockney accent. Despite the harrowing material, it is at its heart a comedy. Stamp brings such a presence to the film, and because of his career-long stern persona the tender moments hit harder than one would expect. This is equaled by Redgrave’s powerful performance as a cancer-stricken woman who won’t give up on life. The two have wonderful chemistry. And I never expected to enjoy senior citizens singing 1990s rap songs as much as I did. Along with that, Arterton really needs to be doing more movies like Unfinished Song and not Prince of Persia or Hansel & Gretel.

Is the material cliché? Is it overly sentimental? Sure. But most of us have hearts, don’t we? Unfinished song presents a sweet story that never seems manipulative, which is harder to find in movies like this than you think. While one might question some of the logic (I refuse to believe Arterton’s character is a woman who has trouble finding dates), you can’t deny the sincerity. Though Unfinished Song isn’t a movie for everyone – I can’t imagine many teenagers connecting with it – it is one that others will find hard not to love.

Review Rating: 4 out of 5 : See it …… It’s Very Good

http://youtu.be/t7sJs2sHPec

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11 Artists and Filmmakers Selected for 2013 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship Program

11 artists and filmmakers have been selected for the 2013 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship Program. The Fellowship program promotes cultural, socio-economic and gender diversity as well as artistic collaboration and innovation among emerging film and theatre storytellers, documentary filmmakers and film composers. Each Fellow was identified by one of the following core programs of the Institute: Documentary Film Program, Feature Film Program, Film Music Program, Native American & Indigenous Film Program and Theatre Program. Time Warner Foundation has supported the Institute since 2007, enabling direct support of 37 film and theatre artists, including Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), Aurora Guerrero (Mosquita y Mari) and Annie Baker (Circle Mirror Transformation).

The 2013 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellows are:

Johnny  Symons and S. Leo Chiang, Out Run (Documentary Film Program and Fund)— A transgender pioneer fights hostility and discrimination as she campaigns for Congress in the Philippines, illuminating the challenges facing openly LGBT politicians emerging in traditional parts of the world.

Johnny Symons (Co-Director) is an Emmy‐nominated documentary filmmaker based in San Francisco. Creating films since 1991, Johnny’s work primarily focuses on LGBT culture and politics. His film Daddy & Papa, about the personal, cultural and political impact of gay men raising kids, premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

S. Leo Chiang (Co-Director) is a Taiwan-born, San Francisco-based filmmaker. His current documentary Mr. Cao Goes to Washington, won the Inspiration Award at the 2012 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. His other films include: A Village Called Versailles, To You Sweetheart, Aloha, One + One and Safe Journey.

Chinaka Hodge, 700th & International (Feature Film Program) — A trash-talking hood track phenomenon named Tuka dies by an unexpected bullet; she awakes to find herself in a corrupt version of heaven where everyone has a job – namely, to decide the exact moment of death for someone still living on earth.

Chinaka Hodge is a poet, educator and playwright from Oakland, California. She received her BA from NYU’s Gallatin School and her MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. After nearly a decade of performing her own words around the globe and on two seasons of Def Poetry, she made the transition to the screen and received her first credit for Brave New Voices on HBO.

Yotam Silberstein (Film Music Program) — Since landing in New York, internationally-acclaimed guitarist Yotam has earned a well deserved spot among the Jazz elite by collaborating with legendary musicians such as James Moody, The Heath Brothers, Paquito D’Rivera, and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars. Yotam’s mastery of the guitar is featured on an array of hit albums, ranging from his recent releases Resonance and Brasil on the Jazz Legacy Productions label, to Monty Alexander’s Grammy-nominated Harlem-Kingston Express Live! The Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship included support for Yotam to procure recording equipment needed to build a small home studio and usable recording rig at his residence in Brooklyn.

Brooke Swaney, Circle (Native American & Indigenous Film Program) — Auralee, trapped in a dead-end job and a dead-end relationship, searches for her native roots while coping with a sudden onset of baby-mania. Frankie, a teenage Haida girl in Montana, acquaints herself with her new foster family while combating the after effects of abuse. Auralee wants a kid, Frankie wants love, and only one knows it is each other.

Brooke Swaney (Blackfeet & Salish) received her MFA in Film and Television from NYU’s Tisch School of Arts. Her first film, The Indigenoid, was nominated for Best Live Short at the 2005 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. In 2011, Ok Breathe Auralee premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Appropriate (Theatre Program) — The Lafayette family patriarch (and compulsive hoarder) is long dead, and it’s time to deal with the deserted and heavily mortgaged Arkansan homestead. When his adult children descend upon the former plantation to liquidate the estate, a gruesome discovery among his many belongings become just the first in a serious of treacherous surprises. A play about family secrets, memory loss and the art of repression.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based playwright. He is Usual Suspect and a former New York Theatre Workshop Playwriting fellow, an alum of the Soho Rep Writers/Directors Lab, Public Theater Emerging Writers Group and Ars Nova Playgroup. His honors include a Princess Grace Award, the Dorothy Strelsin Playwriting Fellowship, the Paula Vogel Award, and a fellowship in playwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts. He is the recipient of the first-ever Sundance Institute Tennessee Williams Award.

Tanya Saracho, Song for the Disappeared (Theatre Program) — This new drama tells the story of a fractured family that comes together when the youngest son mysteriously disappears—presumably at the hands of the narcos that dominate the U.S./Mexico border. When their carefree (and sometimes careless) younger brother Javi disappears, the family is forced into their first reunion since their mother’s funeral as they search of the brother that no one—not the headstrong daughter nor the larger-than-life father—knows how to find.

Tanya Saracho was born in Sinaloa, México. She’s a playwright, director and actor as well as a writer for the upcoming Lifetime series Devious Maids and for the untitled Michael Lannan project for HBO. Named “Best New Playwright of 2010” by Chicago Magazine, Saracho is a new ensemble member at Victory Gardens Theater, a resident playwright emerita at Chicago Dramatists and a Goodman Theatre Fellow. Song For The Disappearedis a Goodman commission.

The Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Native Producing Fellows are:

Ross Chaney, I am Thy Weapon — Written by Razelle Benally, I am Thy Weapon is the hard-edged fictional account about a dispirited 17-year-old young woman and her precocious eight-year-old sister as they search for light in the heavy shadows of life cast by poverty and apathy on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona.

Ross Chaney (Osage & Cherokee Nations) is a multi-media artist who works in video, installation, painting, drawing and digital imagery. He has served as Executive Vice President of the Otoe-Missouria Tribal Economic Development Holding Company and as the COO and CFO of the Indian Affairs Cabinet of the State of New Mexico.

Jonny Cournoyer, Across the Creek — A contemporary vision of the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations in South Dakota.

Jonny Cournoyer (Rosebud Sioux) is a multi-disciplinary artist with a primary focus on filmmaking. He is currently in post-production on his debut documentary, Across the Creek, funded by VisionMaker Media. He is based in Los Angeles, California.

Kasmira Kipp, Alaska is a Drag — Leo, a charismatic 17-year-old gay boy, lives in blue-collar Alaska while working at a fish cannery. His two options for getting out of Anchorage are to train to become a professional boxer or train to become a fabulous drag queen. His worlds collide when he is forced to scale fish, box in the ring, and perform on stage, all in one day. Written by Shaz Bennett.

Kasmira Kipp (Nez Perce & Umatilla Tribes) has produced award-winning short films and also produced multimedia content featured on Comedy Central’s atom.com, IFC and the Sundance Channel. Kaz is a board member to Longhouse Media, an indigenous media arts organization that nurtures the expression and development of Native artists.

Blackhorse Lowe, Walk in Beauty — This animated film set in the 1600s follows twin Navajo girls, Morning Star and Evening Star, who come across a dead Spaniard’s body and find the skin so beautiful they are inspired to find a way to turn white.

Blackhorse Lowe (Navajo) is known for narrative films set on the Navajo reservation that explore the pull between Navajo tradition and contemporary non-Navajo ways. In 2007 Lowe received a New Visions/New Mexico Contract Award to direct Shimásání. His first feature film, 5th World, premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
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Sundance Institute Selects 22 Fellows Representing 9 Documentary Films for 2013 Documentary Edit and Story Labs

22 Fellows representing nine documentary film projects have been selected to participate in the Sundance Institute 2013 Documentary Edit and Story Labs, June 21-29 and July 5-13 at Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah.

Built upon the immersive Lab model launched in 1981 by Sundance Institute President & Founder Robert Redford, each session of the Documentary Edit and Story Labs brings together director and editor teams with world-renowned documentary filmmakers and Sundance Institute staff to support creative risk-taking around issues of story, dramatic structure and character development.

JUNE 21-29 DOCUMENTARY EDIT AND STORY LAB

A BLIND EYE (U.S.)
Director: Kirsten Johnson
Editor: Amanda Laws
The voice of an American camerawoman explores the nature of cinematography and what she has failed to see while filming in Afghanistan through her encounters with two Afghan teenagers. Najeeb, a one-eyed boy, struggles to hide what really haunts him, while a bold teenage girl must decide how much she will risk to be visible. A U.S. Military surveillance blimp in the sky over Kabul tracks their every move.

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (U.S.)
Co-directors and Editor: Ed Pincus, Lucia Small
Producer: Mary Kerr
Two filmmakers of different generations turn the camera on each other to explore friendship, legacy, loss and living with terminal illness. Told from two points of view, Elephant in the Room offers a unique, raw, personal glimpse into a creative partnership and the difficulty of capturing the preciousness of life.

THE LAST HIJACK (U.S., Netherlands)
Co-directors: Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting
Editor: Edgar Burcksen
Mohamed, an experienced Somali pirate, assembles his team to conduct his final hijacking. Increasing pressure from his family and future wife to quit an increasingly dangerous profession provide the backdrop for this dramatic tale about survival in a failed state.

STREET FIGHTING MAN (U.S.)
Director: Andrew James
Editor: Jason Tippet
In a new America where the promise of education, safety and shelter are in jeopardy, three Detroit men fight to build something lasting for themselves and future generations.

TOTONEL (Romania)
Director: Alexander Nanau
Editor: Mirceau Olteanu
What happens when we discover that we can get more from life than our parents have to offer?

JULY 5-13 DOCUMENTARY EDIT AND STORY LAB

AN AFRICAN SPRING (U.S.)
Director: Elizabeth ‘Chai’ Vasarhelyi
Editor: Jay Freund
In the Spring of 2011, Senegal was pitched into crisis when President Abdoulaye Wade decided to change the constitution to allow for a third term. An artist-led youth movement erupted to protect one of Africa’s oldest and most stable democracies.

THE HOMESTRETCH (U.S.)
Co-Directors: Anne de Mare, Kirsten Kelly
Editor: Leslie Simmer
Four homeless teenagers brave Chicago winters, the pressures of high school, and life alone on the streets to build a brighter future. Against all odds, these kids defy stereotypes as they learn to reach out for help and create new, surprising definitions of home.

RICH HILL (U.S.)
Co-directors: Tracy Draz Tragos, Andrew Droz Palermo
Editor: Jim Hession
Rich Hill chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in a dying Midwestern town, witnessing their struggles up close as they fight to have self-worth, a sense of belonging and a family bond. Despite deep need, these boys still have hope. There is still the dream of transformation: that cycles of poverty can be broken, that love will sustain, that hard work will be rewarded, and that even they can live the American dream.

STRONG ISLAND (U.S.)
Director: Yance Ford
Editor: Shannon Kennedy
Haunted by the violent death for over 20 years, Strong Island is the director’s meditation on loss, the impact of grief over time and the illusive meaning of “justice.”
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WATCH Trailer for Award Winning Indie Film “FULL CIRCLE”

See the trailer for FULL CIRCLE, directed by Olli Koivula and Solvan Naim, and winner of the Award for Best New York Feature Film at the 2013 New York City International Film Festival (NYCIFF). FULL CIRCLE also features Solvan Niam (aka Slick the Misfit) the 23-year-old Algerian-American rapper and music video director from Bushwick in Brooklyn, New York, in the lead starring role as young pizza delivery boy, Anthoni, who faces a life-changing crisis when his curiosity pulls him away from his delivery order into an adjacent apartment’s open door.

He cannot resist the temptation when he stumbles across a large sum of money in the aftermath of what seems to be a drug deal gone bad. After taking the money his life is thrown into turmoil as everyone he knows and cares about is put in jeopardy. Anthoni’s focus turns to revenge when a close friend is killed for his actions. Anthoni goes on his comically charged journey for vengeance as outlandish characters banter through out in this musically infused, urban set comedy-action-drama. Anthoni is focused on avenging the death of his close friend even if it means going up against the neighborhood’s most notorious thug, Lomatic. [Full Circle official website]

http://youtu.be/dGb1JnEmaG0

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WATCH Trailer for Indie Comedy Film “SPENCER”

See the trailer for the independent comedy film SPENCER, written by, starring, and directed by Geoff Lerer. The film which recently won the Award for Best U.S.A. Feature Film at the 2013 New York City International Film Festival (NYCIFF) follows the travails of Spencer Berg, an aspiring filmmaker trying to make his first movie in Brooklyn.

On the brink of success, Spencer’s world is shattered when his supermodel/actress girlfriend ditches him. Spencer must overcome the loss of his leading lady, the funding that came along with her name above the line, an overeager mother and a terrible part-time job as a clown for children’s parties. Imagine what Woody Allen would be like if he was 26 in 2013, with a Canon 5D and all the attendant hopes and dreams of a young man who can’t fail, despite his best efforts. That’s Spencer.

http://youtu.be/PrkXNWulaAE
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First Time Feature Directors Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian Indie Film FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY

Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian’s feature film debut FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY premiered on Sunday at the 203 Los Angeles Film Festival. Starring Bruce Graham, Suzette Graham, Robert Eddington, Wyatt Eddington, Matt Valdez, Chelsea Word, Elizabeth Overton and Rebekah Mott, the film follows Bruce, a quietly spiritual man with three grown daughters, returns home from his morning jog to discover Suzette, his beloved wife of forty years, has passed away. The film then goes on to capture moments with each family member as they grieve. FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY screens again on Saturday at the festival.

VIMOOZ: First, congratulations on being an official selection in the 2013 LA Film Festival … and the World Premiere.

VIMOOZ: Tell us about the film – the story?

The story is about a husband, who has been married for 40 years and comes home to find that his wife has died. From that point we observe as he deals with the idea, as well as see how the process of death works technically as well.

VIMOOZ: Is this a “sad” film?

Is it a “sad” film. I guess so. The point wasn’t to be sad, because to us the film is about love, and sometimes the way we recognize the value of things is to remove the thing, in this case his wife. And the removal brings to light the appreciation, or in this case, we come to understand how much he loved her.

VIMOOZ:Who are the actors in the film?

The actors are co-director Robert Machoian’s parent’s and siblings, as well as the local mortician in town.

VIMOOZ: Did they have to audition?

No not really, we were interested in the idea of casting the people who would be the people involved, or will be involved in the event when my mother actual does die. And were interested in that would bring another type of performance to light.

VIMOOZ: This film has had quite a journey, first a short, now a feature. Was the transition hard?

It wasn’t as hard as we thought it’d be. When we make shorts we don’t think of ever making them into features. We want them to exist as they are, without further expectations then just being a great short film. But WAITING ROOM which is the short, a year after we shot it and had it on the festival circuit, it seemed to be asking for more, so we explored it, and I think what we came found was even deeper then the short.

VIMOOZ: Robert, you are credited as the writer for the film, what was the inspiration?

My aunt was the inspiration for the film. I was on a bus with her once, she had taken care of both her parents until they died. They died years a part from each other, so it was long time of her caring for her parents. I wanted to understand what that was like for her. Though the film is very different from what she shared, it made me really think about death in a very different way, and that way brought out this film.

VIMOOZ: What does the title of the film mean?

The title of the film is in direct relationship to my parents, they have been together for forty years, they are both very much in love with each other as there son it seems to me like it’s still fresh. They aren’t the older couples you see bicker, but then are so much in love. They are like the thing Hollywood romances are trying to capture, that twinkle. So I thought all this time has gone by as if it were yesterday. So pretty simple and straight forward FORTY YEARS FROM YESTERDAY

VIMOOZ: What’s up next for the film?

Well we have our international premiere coming very soon, we can’t announce it yet because they haven’t, but we are very excited for that, and then it will live on the festival circuit for the next year, and hopefully find a home with a distributor.

Directors Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian

VIMOOZ: What’s up next for you?

We start production on our next feature titled THE LATCHKEY KIDS in July. It’s a film about a sister and her four brothers. We are very excited to shoot it, and think it’s gonna be something pretty wonderful.

http://youtu.be/1SbzJi6RVzI
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