STF Fall Update: Two new films announced!

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 08, 2009

Hot off the press: the STF fall closing night film will be a special NY sneak preview of HOW TO FOLD A FLAG (pictured) which premiered at TIFF a few short weeks ago. Directors Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein will both be attending the screening.  They last visited STF in spring 2007 with their film THE PRISONER OR: HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR.

And yet another perk for STF fall season passholders: there will be a Monday night screening of LOOT on Nov. 2.  Winner of the Best Documentary at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival, LOOT is a feature-length Documentary that follows two WWII veterans and their guide across the globe in search of their buried wartime treasures.

ART OF THE STEAL after-party

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 01, 2009

ART OF THE STEAL, the muckraking doc that explore the struggle for control over the Barnes art collection, screened this week at the NYFF, following its world premiere at TIFF where it was one of the rare film sales. Its buyer was the new Sundance Selects, part of the Rainbow Media empire that also includes IFC Films. ART OF THE STEAL has received strong reviews from Variety, Back Row Manifesto and other critics. On Tuesday, it was feted with a late-night party at the west side P.J. Clarke’s (a welcome addition to the Lincoln Center neighborhood). Here are some snaps from the night…

Richard Pena from the NYFF with Ryan Werner from IFC Films

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Godfrey Cheshire (director of MOVING MIDWAY) with Marian Masone of NYFF

Matt Dentler from Cinetic Digital Media & Andew Rossi, director of A TABLE IN HEAVEN

Eugene Hernandez and Brian Brooks of Indiewire flank Lizzie Nastro of IFC Films

Unseparated since birth Dan & Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment, the sales agency that closed the deal on ART OF THE STEAL

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Ruth Gruber celebrates 98th birthday for STF opening night

• by Raphaela Neihausen, September 30, 2009

On the eve of her 98th birthday, the pioneering journalist Ruth Gruber got a standing ovation for the documentary about her life AHEAD OF TIME, presented to a sold out crowd for STF’s opening night. The film marks the directorial debut of Bob Richman, the acclaimed cinematographer of THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE. This was the first sneak preview for AHEAD OF TIME following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The audience included several members of Gruber’s family and many directors who have previously worked with Richman, such as Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER), and Gaylen Ross (KILLING KASZTNER). In the Q&A afterwards, Gruber regaled the audience with stories of meeting Eleanor Roosevelt, Virginia Woolf and other historical figures. A favorite moment of mine was when the 200+ person audience sang Ruth a round of “Happy Birthday”.

After the screening, Gruber signed copies of her latest book WITNESS.

In keeping with STF tradition, audience members headed to the bar 99 Below for further discussion of the film. Visiting from the west coast was Senain Kheshgi (R) whose film PROJECT KASHMIR will screen tomorrow at the Rubin Museum; posing here with the esteemed editor Jean Tsien.

Andrew Berends (DELTA BOYS) gives the illusion of sitting by himself when he was really at a table of these beautiful women (see next photo).

STF loyalists Melissa Hibbard (THE GLASS HOUSE), Kelly Hefner (WE Channel) and Amelia Hanibelsz (Pangolin Pictures)

Producer Zeva Oelbaum (AHEAD OF TIME) & filmmaker Eddie Rosenstein (SCHOOL PLAY)

STF Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen with season pass holders Tom Davis, Courtney Erwin, Ruth Somalo, Ryan Sarker.

Filmmakers AJ Schnack & Nathan Truesdell (CONVENTION) visiting from out of town on their way to the Camden and Woodstock film festivals.

Related Film/Screening:
AHEAD OF TIME by Bob Richman

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Top 10 TIFF Memories

• by Raphaela Neihausen, September 29, 2009

Ten days ago, the Toronto International Film Festival came to an end, but my memories will linger for a long time to come. Sifting through photos, here are 10 moments that stand out:

In TIFF’s Mavericks conversation section, Frederick Wiseman presented the North American premiere of his new film LA DANSE (see an excerpt of the discussion on YouTube). He had flown in that day on a red-eye from the Venice Film Festival (and the next day was flying back to Paris – what a trouper!). But that night he joined us for a directors’ dinner along with an up-and-coming filmmaker from Michigan. I eavesdropped to hear Michael Moore say how much he admired Wiseman’s early film HIGH SCHOOL. Someone asked them which was the favorite of their own works. They both said it’s impossible to choose, but they each had a special fondness for their first films, ROGER & ME and TITICUT FOLLIES, respectively.

In the Mavericks conversation series, programmer Thom Powers interviewed Chris Rock for 75 minutes at the Isabel Bader Theater. The discussion started with Rock’s forthcoming doc GOOD HAIR, then ranged widely. You can read reports on AJ Schnack’s blog and Indiewire.

One of the most talked about docs at TIFF was COLLAPSE, the latest from Chris Smith (pictured), known for AMERICAN MOVIE and THE YES MEN. The world premiere gained an extra suspense as to whether Smith would arrive on time. The film was scheduled for 6 pm. That morning Smith went to the airport in New York only to realize that his passport was in Chicago, so the airline wouldn’t let him on the plane to Toronto. Instead he flew to Buffalo and crossed the border by car, showing immigration officials his ID and printouts from the TIFF web site about his film. Somehow it worked and he arrive at the theater just as the film began. For reviews of the film, see Variety, Entertainment Weekly, The Hot Blog, Indiewire, and All These Wonderful Things.

TIFF’s Doc Conference has been previously discussed on STF’s blog under “The Future of Doc Distribution.” Among the day’s panels was a fascinating discussion about the new doc ethics report from the Centers for Social Media. The talk was covered by the New York Times and has spun off further discussion on D-Word.com. Pictured here are panelists Michael Tucker (HOW TO FOLD A FLAG) on the left; and Geoffrey Smith (PRESUMED GUILTY) on the right; flanking audience member Rick Goldsmith (MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA).

COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS played in TIFF’s free open air space at Yonge Dundas Square, followed by a live performance featuring the original funky drummer Clyde Stubblefield (from James Brown’s band), the Eclectic Method video performance artists; and Chuck D of Public Enemy. Watch for this film when it comes to STF on Nov 10.

I took my mom, aunt, grandma and cousin to see the lovely documentary AHEAD OF TIME (directed by famed cinematographer Bob Richman).  The protagonist of the film is the articulate and elegant 97 year old Ruth Gruber, who came to TIFF and participated in the Q&A. Variety aptly described it as “an affecting portrait of an inspiring woman”.  I am delighted that AHEAD OF TIME will kick off STF’s fall season on Sept. 29 with both Bob and Ruth in attendance (on the eve of her 98th birthday!).

 

In honor of the Russian musical film HIPSTERS that was showing as part of TIFF, my mom Aelita performed with the Galaxy All-Star Orchestra at Yonge-Dundas Square (Toronto’s version of Times Square).  It was a night of swing music and glamor - with songs sung in Russian, French and English. For those of you New Yorkers who always ask when my mom is coming to town - you’re in for a treat! She’s performing with the John diMartino Jazz Quartet at the the Laurie Beechman Theater (located within The West Bank Café - 407 West 42nd St. NYC, NY 10036) on Sat. Oct. 24 at 1pm.  The show is called “Cabaret a la Russe.”

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA tells the story of Daniel Ellsberg who leaked the Pentagon Papers and set the wheels in motion that led to President Nixon’s disgrace and resignation. Ellsberg and his wife Patricia proved to be among the most compelling festival guests. As James Bradshaw wrote in the Globe and Mail, “During this year’s TIFF, I interviewed major stars, such as Penelope Cruz, Ed Norton and Jeff Bridges, but the chance to talk to a man who risked years in prison to change the culture of government whistle-blowing topped them all.” In this photo, taken on the opening night of the fest, Ellsberg and his wife greet Serge Bromberg, the director of INFERNO (playing on Oct 4 at the NYFF).

“America unraveling in different ways.” That was Thom’s summation of TIFF docs as quoted by Manohla Dargis in the lede of her New York Times article. It was gratifying to see not only doc veterans gain attention, but also newcomers like the directors of COLONY, coming to STF on Nov 3. John Anderson wrote this glowing (if ungrammatical) review in Variety: “Sleuthing after the mystery of the vanishing honeybee, COLONY may be one of the most aesthetically beautiful documentary [sic] of the season, as well as one of the more urgent and intelligent. Like that other call to action, FOOD, INC., this debut effort from helmers Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell is about endangered agriculture, the fate of the earth and whether man can recognize his mistakes, much less fix them. As such, its target audience is species-wide. Buzz should be long, loud and insistent.”

Okay, now onto a non-documentary note - it’s me and Michael Caine! He was participating in the Mavericks conversation series and promoting his new film HARRY BROWN.  Hearing Caine tell stories about his life was one of the most entertaining and riveting 75 minutes of the festival.

 

For more fun TIFF 09 photos, check out this album.

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The Future of Doc Distribution

• by Thom Powers, September 27, 2009

September has been an invigorating month for hashing out independent distribution issues. In case you haven’t been closely following the reports, here are the highlights:

1) Liesl Copland’s keynote speech at TIFF’s Doc Conference addressed how to get the most out of theatrical, VOD, downloads and other formats. Part of her talk included a video on the “Social Media Revolution” that every filmmaker should take four minutes to watch on YouTube to get a sense of powerful new tools becoming available. On the topic of the theatrical experience for docs, Copland pointed to the model of Stranger Than Fiction, saying, “We can’t expect the smaller movies to go head to head with the big marketing giants. Maybe for us, for docs, we need to make sure the experience is differentiated, communal - let’s do more for the audience in that space than show the film. More ‘extra content’ at the theater, Q and A heaven. Curation.”

2) Peter Broderick’s “Declaration of Independence” at TIFF’s Doc Conference (pictured) laid out a set of principles for filmmakers who want to explore a form of hybrid distribution. In an article based on his speech, Broderick writes, “Today many filmmakers are as determined to retain ‘distribution control’ as they are to maintain ‘creative control.’ Distribution control is the power to determine the overall structure and sequence of distribution, select distribution partners, and divide up distribution rights. While single source production financing usually means the loss of some measure of creative control, single source distribution through an all-rights deal always means the loss of distribution control.”