60 YEARS OF DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING: AN EVENING WITH GEORGE STONEY

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 22, 2008

There was a packed crowd of documentary enthusiasts at last night’s STF tribute to George Stoney.  Among the audience were past collaborators of Stoney including Jim Brown and David Bagnall.  Also attending were filmmakers Bill Jersey, George Nierenberg, Jean Tsien, Paul Cronin, Judith Helfand, David Grubin, Tina DiFeliciantonio, Jennifer Fox, among others.

Attached are some photos from the reception:

1) George Stoney with William Greaves (who was the subject of a career retrospective at the 2008 Full Frame Film Festival)

2) L to R: David Bagnall, the collaborator with Stoney on the films GETTING OUT and FLESH IN ECSTASY with Will Corey, the grandson of Mary Corey, the midwife featured in Stoney’s 1952 classic ALL MY BABIES

3) L to R: Annie Howell from the film department at the New School and Judith Helfand (filmmaker BLUE VINYL, EVERYTHING’S COOL, among others)

Related Film/Screening:
GEORGE STONEY TRIBUTE by GEORGE STONEY

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GEAR UP FOR ELECTION DAY ‘08

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 21, 2008

Two great films to satisfy your political cravings!

1) For those of you that missed ELECTION DAY when it played at STF last year, now is your chance to attend a FREE screening in a beautiful venue. ELECTION DAY will be playing as part of the Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturdays program and will include a Q&A with director Katy Chevigny.

Date: Saturday, November 1, 2008
Time: 6 pm screening (arrive by 5 pm to ensure tickets)
Where: Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY)

More information about the film and screening at www.electiondaythemovie.com.

2) On election night itself, STF will be showing a special presentation of CHISHOLM 72, with director Shola Lynch in attendance.  The film looks at the career of Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and her campaign to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 1972.  After the film we will head to a nearby bar and watch the election results roll in.  Definitely a night to be with friends!

OF ALL THE THINGS: BIG IN THE PHILIPPINES AND NEW YORK CITY

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 15, 2008

STF had a sold out crowd on Tuesday for OF ALL THE THINGS, the sweet and funny story of songwriter Dennis Lambert making a comeback tour in the Philippines. The night was co-presented by the SXSW film festival which gave the film its world premiere in March. SXSW’s new programmer Janet Pierson flew up from Austin to introduce the film. In recent months, OF ALL THE THINGS has been collecting Audience Awards at other fests including Nantucket, Sarasota and Palm Beach. The sales agent Josh Braun is still working to close a distribution deal in a market of cautious buyers. Judging from the STF audience, the film should enjoy a long future of enthusiastic viewers.  For more information, visit the official website.

After the show, the STF gang headed over to La Lanterna for food and drinks. Here are some pictures from the night:

1) Director Jody Lambert with his father Dennis Lambert

2) (R to L) Janet Pierson, the new programmer for the SXSW film festival; Josh Braun, the sales agent for OF ALL THE THINGS and his brother Dan Braun of Submarine, standing on MacDougal Street outside La Lanterna.

3) Emily Hubley, director of THE TOE TACTIC - it’s not a documentary, but we let her join the club for her animation in EVERYTHING’S COOL, shown at STF in Spring 07. She showed up at La Lanterna for the post-show gathering.

4) Michel Negroponte, director of docs such as JUPITER’S WIFE and METHADONIA, in the basement room of La Lanterna.

Related Film/Screening:
OF ALL THE THINGS by Jody Lambert

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Shoot the Photographers

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 12, 2008

At last week’s STF screening of BLOOD TRAIL on Oct 7, viewers were treated to a special appearance by the film’s subject war photographer Robert King (visiting from Tennessee) joining director Richard Parry (visiting from London) for the Q&A. The film follows King over 15 years, from the start of his career in Bosnia to his breakthrough work in Chechnya to his recent embed in Iraq. The audience had a strong representation of Robert’s peers, including a few familiar faces from past STF events.

Here are some of our unprofessional snaps:

1) Robert King outside the Fat Black Pussycat bar on Third Street where STF loyalists gathered after the screening.

2) King’s wife Olga and son Robert, Jr who each have memorable lines in the film. Olga summarizes her husband’s career, saying that she can’t understand why someone would risk his life to take pictures that no one wants to see. Despite our appeals to the bouncer at the Fat Black Pussycat, we couldn’t get Robert, Jr allowed inside.

3) Richard Parry, the director of BLOOD TRAIL.

4) Yours truly on the right, celebrating his Oct 7 birthday, with Michael Tucker, the director of THE PRISONER OR: HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR (which played at STF in Spring 07).

5) Among the veteran journalists and photographers in the BLOOD TRAIL audience, revisiting their Bosnia days, were (L to R) Emma Daly (now at Human Rights Watch), Santiago Lyon (now at AP) and Ron Haviv (now a co-founder of the VII Agency). They kept their eyes on the McCain-Obama debate, live on television, at the Fat Black Pussycat after the screening.

6) Stacy Sullivan, who covered Bosnia for Newsweek and has recently been covering detainees at Guantamo Bay for Human Rights Watch. Her book about the war in Kosovo BE NOT AFRAID, FOR YOU HAVE SONS IN AMERICA was adapted into the documentary THE BROOKLYN CONNECTION, available from Docurama.

7) Getty photographer Chris Hondros, who showcased his photographs at STF’s IRAQ UNSEEN event in Spring 06, a few months before he won the Robert Capa award from the Overseas Press Club. Here he looks surprised to find himself on the other side of the camera.

Related Film/Screening:
BLOOD TRAIL by Richard Parry

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STF discount for Paley DocFest 08

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 03, 2008

The Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio) is hosting its annual Doc Fest in October and offering a discount on film tickets to STF fans. Just go to the Paley Center web site and enter the code “STF” when you order film tickets to get a reduction from $20 to $15. One highlight of the fest is The Art of the Documentary Pitch Workshop on Saturday, Oct 25. That same day the fest will show SWEET DREAMS with an appearance by the director Eric Latek and boxer Gary “Tiger” Balletto. STF showed this film last February and the response was so overwhelming it helped earn Latek a place in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. If you couldn’t make SWEET DREAMS at STF, don’t miss this second chance to discover this knockout talent.