STF celebrates the 25th anniversary of THE GOOD FIGHT

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 30, 2009

Matti Mattson, the 93-year-old veteran who fought with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, took the stage on Tuesday to a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Stranger Than Fiction (pictured). The occasion was the 25th anniversary screening of THE GOOD FIGHT, co-presented by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Mattson praised the filmmakers for capturing the spirit of the times when over 3,000 American soldiers volunteered to fight against the fascist forces in Spain. The filmmaking trio of Noel Buckner, Mary Dore, and Sam Sills were joined by the film’s consulting historian David Paskin in a Q&A to discuss the making of the film. They noted that the film was among the last round of projects to be funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities under the administration of President Carter. It took over five years to complete and entailed over 100 interviews. Twenty-five years later that investment of energy is still paying dividends as a historical record. Among the STF audience were filmmakers who have previously presented their own work in the series including George Stoney, Ngawang Choephel, and David Leitner.

After the screening, Matti Mattson and the filmmakers braved the rain to join fans for drinks at the bar 99 Below, where a descendant of another Brigade fighter hushed everyone to raise a toast.  (Photos courtesy of Joshua Z Weinstein)

THE GOOD FIGHT directors (L to R): Noel Buckner, Sam Sills and Mary Dore.

L to R: Directors Noel Buckner, Mary Dore, Sam Sills and project historian David Paskin.  Seated in front is 93-year-old veteran Matti Mattson.

Matti enjoying some wine at 99 Below.

Director Ngawang Choephel (TIBET IN SONG) and film editor Jean Tsien (PLEASE VOTE FOR ME).

A toast to the directors.

Related Film/Screening:
THE GOOD FIGHT by Noel Buckner, Mary Dore & Sam Sills

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New film in STF fall line-up: HOOP DREAMS

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 26, 2009

This year marks the 15th anniversary since HOOP DREAMS premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the audience award for Best Documentary.  Roger Ebert described this film as “one of the great moviegoing experiences of my lifetime.”

To celebrate this special anniversary, STF will screen HOOP DREAMS on Monday November 9th.  Due to the length of the film - the screening will commence at 7pm.  Filmmaker Peter Gilbert will be in attendance.  Tickets now on sale here.

STF hosts STILL BILL

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 23, 2009

Written by guest-host Hugo Perez

Last Tuesday night, STF (with co-presenter SXSW) hosted the sold out New York premiere of Damani Baker and Alex Vlack’s STILL BILL, an intimate and engaging portrait of music icon Bill Withers.  Withers is one of those iconic figures whose name some people don’t recognize until you mention that he penned and performed songs like “Lean on Me”, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, and “Lovely Day”.  But STILL BILL is not just your standard biopic of a music industry legend, it’s an examination of an artist who stopped publishing and performing at the height of his career and a man who wonders whether he still has something to say in today’s world.  Withers’ common sense philosophy of life suffuses his ruminations on his career – ruminations shared both with the camera, and with friends like Cornell West and Tavis Smiley who drop by for an impromptu visit.  Withers’ classic songs are woven in throughout the portrait through archival performances that compliment Withers’ reflections on his life and whether he wants to get back in the saddle again.

SXSW Producer, Janet Pierson, was on hand to introduce the doc which world premiered at SXSW 2009.  Pierson recounted how of all the films that played at SXSW this year - STILL BILL was the one that people kept on mentioning to her as a highlight and a film that resonated with audiences.  Damani Baker and Alex Vlack took the stage after the screening to wittily recount their epic quest to make a Bill Withers documentary – a quest dreamed up when they were just big Bill Withers fans starting out in the film industry.  Fellow producer Jon Fine “Kanye West-ed” himself up onto the stage to share in the telling of how they tried for years to get Withers to even agree to meet them, and how years went by after that before they were able to shoot their first interview.  Baker, Vlack, and Fine entertained the crowd with quirky stories like the time they asked Withers to run down the beach for them to get a shot and he disappeared on a 4 mile run and reappeared a half-hour later.

The Q&A was further enlivened by a man who will forever be remembered in the STF mythos (a la X-Files/ Kennedy plot/etc…) as the “cell phone man” who very loudly answered a cell phone call in the front row and then engaged the filmmakers in an attempt to get them to speak with his friend before shambling out of the theater.  A ‘you had to be there’ moment that the filmmakers calmly stepped over to continue their tale-sharing.  The half hour Q&A went by in the blink of an eye, and before you knew it the filmmakers and audience were huddled together at 99 Below, as is traditional, downing the special STF Withers Cocktail on the evening’s menu.  (Photos courtesy of Joshua Z Weinstein)

SXSW producer Janet Pierson with long-time friend Joni Wehrli.

STF season passholders Andrew Berends and Andrew Yamato.

Filmmaker Yoni Brooks (Bronx Princess) with a friend

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Related Film/Screening:
STILL BILL by Damani Baker and Alex Vlack

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A little Berlusconi at STF

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 15, 2009

Another sold out house greeted Erik Gandini’s VIDEOCRACY.  Fresh off the heels of the Toronto International Film Festival and the Hamptons Film Festival, Erik made a brief stop in NY to present the film.  The Q&A included insights into Erik’s approach to both the subject matter and filmmaking process.  In plugging last Tuesday’s screening, Time Out NY wrote “you must must must see this documentary” - they were right! To read more about the film, you can visit Robyn Hillman-Harrigan’s piece in Flavorpill.

(photo courtesy of Joshua Z Weinstein)

Ashley Sabin and David Redmon of Carnivalesque Films.

Jim Browne of Argot Pictures with Casper Wong (SHIRTS AND SKINS) and Miao Wang (BEIJING TAXI)

Director Erik Gandini (VIDEOCRACY) with photographer Leslie Fratkin and Shoba (who was the subject of Gandini’s first film, set in Sarajevo).

STF passholders Christopher Campbell and Josh Davis with Thom Powers.

Related Film/Screening:
VIDEOCRACY by Erik Gandini

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STF: Kung fu style

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 08, 2009

Last Tuesday, STF screened Alexander Sebastien Lee’s THE REAL SHAOLIN to an audience that was equal-parts documentary lovers and martial-arts enthusiasts.  A crowd-pleaser at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, THE REAL SHAOLIN follows two Chinese and two Western students of martial-arts over months of difficult lessons and life-changing experiences, revealing just how much hard work goes into those dazzling moves. The film not only transports us to a different country, but to a different state of mind, where everything is sacrificed for athletic mastery. For the Westerners Orion and Eric, adjusting to the foreign mindset is an added challenge. For Yuan and Zhu, the stakes are even higher, as they have no other prospects. Alexander Sebastien Lee (visiting all the way from Beijing, China) explained the challenging multi-year process of filming and editing this project, and also shared some martial arts philosophies that he picked up along the way.  The Q&A was capped off with the audience singing “Happy Birthday” to STF host Thom Powers.  It was a somewhat excruciating experience for Thom,  leading him to dictate a new STF rule: STF audiences can only sing this song to 10 year olds (like Doug Pray’s daughter during the screening of BIG RIG) or 98 year olds (like film subject Ruth Gruber during last week’s screening of AHEAD OF TIME).

(photo courtesy of Joshua Z Weinstein)