STF Fall Season closing night goes head-to-head with Obama

image The STF Fall Season came to a close with a sneak preview of the profound film about American veterans of the Iraq war HOW TO FOLD A FLAG. The filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, who showed their previous film THE PRISONER OR: HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR at STF in 2007, were joined for the Q&A by Jon Powers, one of the soldiers featured in FLAG, who ran for Congress in upstate New York last year. Today, Powers works for the Truman Project, a policy center on national security in Washington, DC. He noted the symbolism of the night’s STF show taking place at the same time President Obama was declaring his intention to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Powers said he hoped the film would make audiences better understand the consequences of what soldiers endure.

The audience was populated with many STF alumni including Margaret Brown (ORDER OF MYTHS), David Schisgall (VERY YOUNG GIRLS), Nina Davenport (OPERATION FILMMAKER), Lucia Small (THE AXE IN THE ATTIC), Andrew Rossi (A TABLE IN HEAVEN), Hamid Rahmanian and Melissa Hibbard (filmmakers behind THE GLASS HOUSE) as well as Oscar nominee Carl Deal (TROUBLE THE WATER), who all had high praise for Tucker and Epperlein in discussions after the film.




Stuntwomen at STF

image Director Amanda Micheli gave STF goers a special treat during the Q&A on Tuesday by phoning up the stunt woman-turned actress Zoe Bell. In Micheli’s film DOUBLE DARE, she follows the New Zealand native Bell in her early days as the stunt double for Lucy Lawless in XENA, then transitioning to a career in Hollywood under the mentorship of Jeannie Epper (best known for her stunts in WONDER WOMAN). Micheli reached Bell on the west coast and put her on speaker phone to participate in the Q&A. Recently, Bell has been transitioning to more acting roles, appearing in Quentin Tarantino’s GRINDHOUSE, Drew Barrymore’s WHIP IT!, and a new film with Wesley Snipes that just finished production. As part of this new phase of her career, Bell has been put in the unexpected position of having to use a stunt double, as she explained, to satisfy the “insurance” concerns of producers.

(Photos courtesy of Joshua Z Weinstein )




BIG RIVER MAN & More December Specials @ STF

image The day after STF concludes its Fall Season, we’ll return on Wednesday, Dec 2 with the Sundance sensation BIG RIVER MAN, an Amazonian epic that plays like a cross between Borat and Fitzcarraldo. It will be the first of three December specials serving as appetizers to the STF Winter Season. The other events include a screening of the cinema verite classic A MARRIED COUPLE, as a tribute to filmmaker Allan King who died earlier this year; and a sneak preview of I’M DANGEROUS WITH LOVE, the latest work by Michel Negroponte, fresh from its debut at Sheffield Docfest. Act now to buy a STF Winter Season pass to attend all three December specials, plus the regular 10 STF shows every Tuesday from January 12 to March 16. That’s a total of 13 films - plus 2 free Docurama DVDs - for the early bird discount price of $95. That price will rise to $110 in January. You can get the early bird price by clicking through to the tickets page for any December special. Don’t let the winter blues get you down. Join us at STF for inspiring films and great conversations.


Distribution Case Study: OBJECTIFIED

image Gary Hustwit, the director of HELVETICA, kindly visited my NYU class on Thursday to dispense his wisdom about self-distribution. This topic has a rising interest in the film world. But few people have as much real world experience as Hustwit. Next week, PBS’ Independent Lens will show his latest work OBJECTIFIED in an hour-long version (shorter than the theatrical release).

Here are some highlights from his class talk:

* Nine months before the theatrical release of HELVETICA, Hustwit began blogging about the film as a way to gain interest. A small mention on the graphic designer website typophile.com drove the first visitors to helveticafilm.com and eventually Hustwit had collected thousands of email addresses from visitors. He began selling Helvetica posters and t-shirts, grossing $75,000 on merchandise before the film was even released. “The audience wants to see the film as much as you do,” said Hustwit. By selling merchandise, “you make it easy for them to help you.”




STF’s night of Iranian radicals: BASSIDJI

image Last Tuesday night, STF hosted a sneak-preview of Mehran Tamadon’s BASSIDJI, fresh from its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.  Although Tamadon was unable to join us from France, Hamid Rahmanian (director of THE GLASS HOUSE and coincidentally a doppelganger for Tamadon) had spent the previous few days skyping with the French director and was able to answer all the STF audience’s questions.  A very timely film, BASSIDJI explores the ideology behind the Iranian militias who cracked down on reformists this past summer.




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Upcoming Screenings

Sep 20: THE HOUSE OF STEINBRENNER

image from THE HOUSE OF STEINBRENNER by Barbara Kopple
STF pre-season MONDAY SPECIAL (Season passes now on sale at early bird rate through Thurs. Sept. 16; Individual tickets go on sale Fri. Sept. 17, subject to availability) Love them or hate them, ...
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Sep 28: MARWENCOL

image from MARWENCOL by Jeff Malmberg
STF Fall Season Opening Night (Season passes now on sale at early bird rate through Thurs. Sept. 16; Individual tickets go on sale later in Sept.) STF kicks off its fall season with MARWENCOL, ...
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Oct 5: AMERICAN SPLENDOR

image from AMERICAN SPLENDOR by Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
(Season passes now on sale at early bird rate through Thurs. Sept. 16; Individual tickets go on sale later in Sept.) STF pays tribute to Harvey Pekar, who recently died, with this special screening ...
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Oct 12: ON COAL RIVER

image from ON COAL RIVER by Francine Cavanaugh & Adams Wood
ON COAL RIVER takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into the Coal River Valley of West Virginia, where longtime local residents begin to uncover the toxic effects of America’s increased ...
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Oct 19: THE CANAL STREET MADAM

image from THE CANAL STREET MADAM by Cameron Yates
Until an FBI bust upended her life, Jeanette Maier was a successful New Orleans madam. Her discreet clientele included a number of powerful, high-ranking politicians. The ensuing very public trial - ...
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Oct 26: TAKING ON THE KENNEDYS

image from TAKING ON THE KENNEDYS by Joshua Seftel
“A film that would be mistaken for a Robert Altman political satire if it weren’t absolutely and horribly true.” —USA TODAY When Kevin Vigilante took on Patrick Kennedy for a seat in the U.S. House ...
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Nov 2: WO AI NI MOMMY (I LOVE YOU MOMMY)

image from WO AI NI MOMMY (I LOVE YOU MOMMY) by Stephanie Wang-Breal
In presenting WO AI NI MOMMY with the Sterling Award for Best US Feature this past June, the jury at Silverdocs noted: “The film dives so deeply into its story that the filmmaker’s hands disappear. ...
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Nov 9: WAR DON DON

image from WAR DON DON by Rebecca Richman Cohen
Profiled in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces in Independent Film as an “up-and-comer poised to shape the next generation of independent film”, Rebecca Richman Cohen won Special Jury at SXSW and the ...
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Nov 16: 12TH & DELAWARE

image from 12TH & DELAWARE by Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, the filmmaking team behind the 2006 Oscar-nominated doc JESUS CAMP, take us on another controversial journey with 12TH & DELAWARE.  Description from Sundance 2010 ...
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Nov 23: MARLENE

image from MARLENE by Maximilian Schell
Director Maximilian Schell got the reclusive Marlene Dietrich to agree to appear in this documentary only on the stipulation that she not be photographed as she looked today. Instead, we only hear ...
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Nov 30: SURVIVING HITLER: A LOVE STORY

image from SURVIVING HITLER: A LOVE STORY by John-Keith Wasson
Winner of the Inspiration Award at the 2010 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival As a teenager in Nazi Germany, Jutta is shocked to discover she is Jewish. She joins the German resistance and meets ...
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