Friday, February 3, 2006

VIDEOCAST #14 - In the Pit Captured At The 2006 Sundance Film Festival Videocast on Friday, February 3, 2006 Recorded on Friday, January 27, 2006 Produced by Cyndi Greening Videography by Alec Hart Posted from Park City, Utah In The Pit Q&A following Sundance 2006 Screening IN THE PIT - LARGE Direct download link IN THE PIT - SMALL Direct download link Podcast feed Cinema Minima Weblog Personal Weblog Email (From the Sundance Program Guide) The meaning of a freeway seems straightforward enough: it accommodates movement from place to place. But seldom do we notice the elusive energies that permeate such structures. In his breathtaking new documentary, Juan Carlos Rulfo bridges the chasm between the seen and the unseen, creating a moving social document and a monumental cinematic achievement in itself. In Mexico City, a second layer is being built atop the Periférico freeway, which inscribes a massive circle on the metropolis. Despite the project's enormity, the workers who are building the freeway are barely noticed by drivers who roll by endlessly. Rulfo's film places us among these workers and their milieu. Amid the cacophonous sounds of the street (resourcefully remixed into a protonaturalistic musical score), the film chronicles long days of arduous work, risk taking, joking, swearing, and philosophizing -- rendering its subjects palpable and dimensional by virtue of perceptiveness as much as craft. The freeway itself, visible only in hulking partial shapes for most of the film, becomes a formidable psychological fact, absorbing the labor and even the lives of its makers. As "Shorty," "El Grande," and others describe their lives, struggles, and beliefs, Rulfo's eye for detail and instinct for the uncanny effectively make his subjects messengers of the unconscious and spokespeople for all human striving. -- Summary by Shannon Kelley 7:35:33 PM  comment []

VIDEOCAST #13 - PFB at the Lounge Captured At The 2006 Sundance Film Festival Videocast on Friday, February 3, 2006 Recorded on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 Produced by Cyndi Greening Videography by Cyndi Greening Posted from Park City, Utah Creative Team behind PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS PFB Queer Lounge Panel - LARGE Direct download link PFB Queer Lounge Panel - SMALL Direct download link Podcast feed Cinema Minima Weblog Personal Weblog Email (From the QueerLounge.Org) Writer/Director Maria Maggenti brought her new digital feature, PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS, to Sundance 2006. The film takes chance meetings, modern-day dilemmas and sexual flexibility and creates a sophisticated comedy about one woman who finds herself in two complicated love affairs--with a man and a woman who were once lovers themselves. Explore how this kind of cinema rarity[~]a film directed by a woman, featuring strong female leads and inclusive of same-sex relationships between women[~]is getting financed these days. Produced under the InDigEnt banner, Puccini for Beginners utilized new film technologies and worked within a genre[~]romantic comedy[~]that proved broadly successful for its indie predecessor, KISSING JESSICA STEIN. Maria Maggenti and producer Eden Wurmfeld discussed these themes. Moderated by Jennie Livingston, the director of the ground-breaking documentary, PARIS IS BURNING, the shorts WHO'S THE TOP? and current Sundance entry, THROUGH THE ICE, as well as her upcoming personal film, EARTH CAMP ONE. 7:33:31 PM  comment []

VIDEOCAST #12 - Creative Independence Panel Discussion Captured At The 2006 Sundance Film Festival Videocast on Friday, February 3, 2006 Recorded on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 Produced by Lindsey Black Videography by Michael Montesa Posted from Park City, Utah Creative Independence Panel Discussion Creative Independence Panel - LARGE Direct download link Creative Independence Panel - SMALL Direct download link Podcast feed Cinema Minima Weblog Personal Weblog Email (From the Sundance Program Guide) As the industry has matured and more independent filmmakers and creative producers find themselves working with some affiliation to studios, the age-old question, "independent of what?" arises. Are we experiencing another age of independent artists who are working successfully within the studio system? If there are indeed more options to set up a project, where do producers and filmmakers take their creativity, and how do they hang onto it? What are the implications for optioning and developing material as well as gathering creative elements? How do writers and directors go about maintaining creative autonomy? The panel featured guests work within the studio system, those who stay outside it, and those who go back and forth. Effie Brown, Todd Haynes, Ted Hope, Michael London, Alexander Payne, Christine Vachon, and moderator Scott Macaulay for a discussion of creative independence. 7:27:22 PM  comment []

VIDEOCAST #11 - Case Study Puccini For Beginners Captured At The 2006 Sundance Film Festival Videocast on Friday, February 3, 2006 Recorded on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 Produced by Cyndi Greening Videography by Cyndi Greening Posted from Park City, Utah PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS - Case Study following Sundance 2006 Screening Digital Center Case Study - PFB - LARGE Direct download link Digital Center Case Study - PFB - SMALL Direct download link Podcast feed Cinema Minima Weblog Personal Weblog Email PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS, written and directed by Maria Maggenti (THE INCREDIBLY TRUE ADVENTURE OF TWO GIRLS IN LOVE), is the kind of independent voyage that has come to define digital filmmaking at its finest. Using unique technology and produced under the InDigEnt banner, PFB is the latest in a string of Sundance success stories in the tradition of TADPOLE, PIECES OF APRIL and YOU AND ME AND EVERYONE WE KNOW. The case study was a dissection of the film, featuring the filmmaker, producers, and key production personnel, as they place their work under the microscope and reflect upon the process from start to finish and beyond. Moderated by independent film producer Effie Brown (REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES). 7:22:04 PM  comment []

© Copyright 2006 Cyndi Greening.

Sites of Interest!

Andra, USAF
Back in the States!
Thank heavens!

---