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| EDITOR'S NOTE |
It’s the day after the day after and a bunch of people have e-mailed me that Onion piece about Obama supporter campaign withdrawal. It’s mildly funny, but I couldn’t empathize much with it. Unlike the piece’s fictional characters who are still out canvassing for Obama, I’m really happy the election is over. (I’m really happy with the result too.) It feels like we’ve all been part of a grand historical narrative, and now it’s time to go back to our own lives and, as filmmakers, our own stories, some of which will speak to the large subjects and passions of our country and others of which are smaller scale and will simply communicate to ourselves and our smaller communities. There’s a lot we can learn from the organization and success of the Obama campaign — its blend of grass-roots organizing and internet activism — and I’m looking forward to pondering independent film issues aided by thoughts inspired by the campaign and all that it represented.
See you next week.
Best,
Scott Macaulay
Editor
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| NEW IN THEATERS |
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REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA
With some graphic bloodshed befitting the director of Saw II, III and IV, Darren Lynn Bousman's eye-popping horror musical, Repo! The Genetic Opera, rolls out this weekend in limited release after a specialized promotional tour targeting colleges and film schools. With a cast including Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman and Paris Hilton, this bizarre gothic-industrial nightmare seems destined for cult film status and is a testament to the ingenuity of low-budget filmmaking. Stay tuned to the website for our interview with Bousman.
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JCVD
Everyone loves a comeback story, and it's even better when it comes from the unlikeliest of people. Once a '90s action star, Jean-Claude Van Damme's fall from grace has been a dramatic one and now as a direct-to-DVD fixture the "Muscles from Brussels" sends up his diminished stardom in an uncategorizable comedy/drama that might be dubbed a cross between Being John Malkovitch and Dog Day Afternoon. After seeing the film at Toronto, Scott Macaulay blogged, "[Director] Mabrouk El Mechri's very smart and entertaining genre-buster JCVD features the absolute best film monologue I've seen in years... delivered by Jean-Claude Van Damme." |
| RECENT BLOGS |
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This week on the blog, Jason Guerrasio learns Jeffrey Levy-Hinte's doc Soul Power, pictured left, has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, Scott Macaulay guides us through the magazine's coverage of Asia Argento and Guerrasio checks in on filmmaker Todd Sklar and fellow DIY filmmakers on their screening tour of the Midwest.
To read more posts from our blog, click here. |
| UPCOMING AT IFP |
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BEST FILM NOT PLAYING SERIES ON DECK
Kicking off the Gotham Independent Film Awards Series — public screenings and events tied to this year’s nominees and honorees (see events schedule) — is the third annual Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Screening Series, presented in partnership with The Museum of Modern Art. The five nominated films, all critically acclaimed from the festival circuit which have not yet been released theatrically by a distributor or self-distributed, will screen at MoMA from November 20 – 23. Each screening will be follow by a Q & A with the filmmakers: Antonio Campos (Afterschool), Taylor Greeson (Meadowlark), Tom Quinn (The New Year Parade), Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues) and Jake Mahaffy (Wellness). See MoMA screening schedule.
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| NEWEST WEB ARTICLE |
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DAMIAN HARRIS, GARDENS OF THE NIGHT
After spending his entire career as a studio director, for his latest film, Gardens of the Night, Damian Harris moves into indie territory; ironically, this "new" project was actually written over 20 years ago, before he had even made his first feature. The reason for its long road to the screen is the film's subject matter: it is a deeply unsettling portrait of lost childhood. read more
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| FESTIVAL DEADLINES |
NOVEMBER
Rochester High Falls International Film Festival
Submission Deadline: Nov. 12, Jan. 14 (Final)
Festival Dates: May 13-18
AFI Dallas International Film Festival
Submission Deadline: Nov. 21, Dec. 5 (Final)
Festival Dates: March 26-April 5
Tallahassee Film Festival
Submission Deadline: Nov. 30, Dec. 15 (Final)
Festival Dates: April 15-19
Find more festival deadlines, click here.
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