Frame of Mind, the 13-episode TV series which spotlights independent film from around Texas on KERA TV, public television for North Texas (Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth) is looking for submissions.
The Oxford Film Festival’s second red carpet featured Max Walker-Silverman’s festival hit A LOVE SONG, with the director and festival honoree (Rising Star Award honoree) joined by two members of the film’s cast – star Dale Dickey, who was also being honored by the film festival with the Breakthrough Award, and Marty Grace Dennis. There was also a reunion of the Sound Unseen film festival and the filmmakers from BEING BEBE, who had a huge screening there last Fall, and some filmmaker moms and family members on hand to see their filmmaker kids enjoy a socially distanced red carpet rock star moment.
The talk focused more on the art installation itself, but also was a reaffirmation of how Firstenberg’s work fused with Meltzer’s work as a filmmaker to create a piece that didn’t simply document what was literally on the ground, but fulfilled the ambition most documentarians have – of providing a keener insight into the impact of the art (in this case), and to capture moments, sights, sounds, and emotions that one could easily miss in the moment as they are overwhelmed by the scope and enormity of what was created there on the grounds of the National Mall.
Regarding the inspiration for this year’s edition of IFFLA, Co-Director of Programming Thouly Dosios, said, “This year’s festival is about reclaiming the powerful act of physically gathering together in a dark room, and processing a flickering dream as a communal experience. At the same time, it is about mindful evolution; our post-pandemic world forces us to reassess how we connect with each other and share our stories. The limitations we’ve had to deal with have empowered us to forge ahead with an expanded mind and a wilder imagination.”
The American Film Institute (AFI) is hosting its annual AFI DWW (Directing Workshop for Women) showcase in person today at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles. The event provides an opportunity for the 2022 program’s participants to present their completed films to an audience of agency and studio representatives, as well as working artists from throughout the creative community.
The Oxford Film Festival returned with a new Interim Executive Director and Director of Programming to bring the world of film, as only it can, to Mississippi. Celebrating the Opening Night screening of Hugo Sobelman’s SOUL KIDS, and Mye Hoang’s festival favorite CAT DADDIES, the socially distanced red carpet included filmmakers, jury members, and representatives from the Oxford Film Festival programming team.
Anna Baumgarten’s Disfluency was named Best Narrative Feature, which included a $15,000 camera rental package from Panavision, and Brandon Kramer’s The First Step won Best Documentary Feature. The Best Documentary Feature prize also included a $15,000 camera rental package from Panavision. Ashley E. Gibson’s The Fearless 11 won Best Mississippi Feature. Her prize came with a one-year membership and free equipment rentals from OxFilm Society. Later, it was announced that Alysia Nahmias’ Krimes was the Barton Segal Audience Award winner.
The Austin Asian American Film Festival and Austin Film Society announced Unleashed Desires: Lost Films of Taiwan. The film series will screen from April 4-25 at AFS Cinema (6259 Middle Fiskville Rd).
Founders of The Chimaera Project, Shana Betz, Cheryl Bookout, and America Young, said, “Getting finishing funds to complete a film project can sometimes seem like that final unsurmountable hill to climb to achieve a filmmaker’s dream. TO.GET.HER is a program we are extremely proud of as it offers real assistance to artists to finish their projects, move forward in their careers, and bottom line – make films.”
San Luis Obispo Film Festival Director Skye McLennan said, “Returning to the theater is something all of us at the film festival have looked forward to for some time now, so we can hardly believe that moment is almost here. Because we knew there would be such anticipation by San Luis Obispo film lovers, we took special care to not simply program the best films available to us, but to also make sure we brought back the signature events like Surf Nite that SLO Film Fest built its reputation on. Now, we cannot wait to welcome everyone back and start screening our movies!”
