Go Up On the Roof This September During Independent Film Week

I wanted to alert you to two new documentaries that will be screening at Rooftop Films in September during IFP's Independent Film Week in New York. First on Sept. 12 is David Teague's Intifada NYC, and second on Sept. 19 is Cambria Matlow's and Morgan Robinson's Burning in the Sun. I have been eagerly awaiting to see both of these films for some time now.

In February, I had the pleasure of moderating the Docuclub Q&A for David's film Our House, which he co-directed with Greg King. David told me about his film there, and he has since then screened it to a sold out crowd at DCTV.

And at Independent Film Week in 2008, I met Ronen Landa, the composer of Burning in the Sun. Since then, I've been working with Ronen on promoting his debut CD, Picturebooks, which is now available on iTunes, Amazon.com, and CDBaby.com.

About Intifada NYC:
The opening of the United States’ first Arabic language public school provoked a firestorm of allegations that the school would teach radical Islam or even produce terrorists. As critics and the mainstream media stoked the flames in the climate of post-9/11 America, the controversy forced the school’s Arab-American Muslim principal from her job. “Intifada NYC” follows the principal’s struggle to get her job back, the outcry against the school, and the debate provoked about tolerance and freedom of speech. The film combines exclusive interviews and vérité with graphic novel-style drawings, while the original score mixes classical, jazz, and Middle Eastern styles.

See Intifada NYC at ROOFTOP FILMS
When: Saturday, September 12, 8pm
Venue: On the roof of the Old American Can Factory
Address: 232 3rd St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/ Park Slope, Brooklyn)
Directions: F/G to Carroll St. or M/R to Union Ave.
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music
9:00PM: Films
11:00PM–12:30AM: Reception in courtyard including free sangria courtesy of Carlo Rossi sangria
Tickets: $9-$25 at the door or online

About Burning in the Sun:
26-year-old charmer Daniel Dembele is equal parts West African and European, and looking to make his mark on the world. A chance encounter while managing a café in Europe convinces him to return to his homeland in Mali and start a local business building solar panels—the first of its kind in the sun drenched nation. Daniel's goal is to electrify the households of rural communities, 99% of which live without power. Burning in the Sun tells the story of Daniel’s journey growing the shaky startup into a viable company, and of the business’ impact on Daniel’s first customers in the tiny village of Banko. Taking controversial stances on climate change, poverty, and African self-sufficiency, the film explores what it means to grow up as a man, and what it takes to prosper as a nation.

See Burning in the Sun at ROOFTOP FILMS
Venue: on the pier at Solar One
Address: 23rd Street @ the East River (Kips Bay, Manhattan)
Directions: R/6 to 23rd St., walk all the way east.
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held under tents at the same location. Bring an umbrella, too.
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music
9:00PM: Films
11:00PM–12:30AM: Reception including free Radeberger Pilsner
Admission: No charge

Moderating Next DocuClub Screening, "Our House"

A few weeks back, I attended a work-in-progress documentary screening of Augusta Palmer's The Hand of Fatima at DocuClub that Pamela Cohn moderated. I was very honored when DocuClub's Felix Endara asked me to moderate the upcoming DocuClub on Feb. 25 at The Tank (354 West 45th Street) in New York.

The film will be Our House by David Teague and Greg King, which "documents a new and unusual community housed in an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn that provides an alternative to the impersonal shelter system to the homeless and those struggling with addiction."

You can read more about the screening and the film here.

If you're in New York that night, I encourage you to come to see the film and stay after for the discussion, which is intended to give constructive feedback to the filmmakers as they work to finish their film.

DocuClub - "The Hand of Fatima" - Jan. 28, 2009

DocuClub
The Hand of Fatima
New York, NY
January 28, 2008

Wednesday night I attended my first ever DocuClub screening, thanks to Pamela Cohn’s post on her blog, Still in Motion. Pamela moderated a discussion after Wednesday's work-in-progress film, The Hand of Fatima by Augusta Palmer. DocuClub, a screening series of works-in-progress documentaries, is run by the non-profit organization Arts Engine, which supports, produces, and distributes independent media of consequence and promotes the use of independent media by advocates, educators and the general public.

This was a very different experience for me because it was not your typical post-screening Q&A, where the director responds to questions from the audience about his or her finished film. This was more of a workshop where the filmmaker can listen to constructive criticism and comments from the audience on aspects of the film that did work versus what may have been unclear and could be improved. The filmmaker can walk away with suggestions that he or she may or may not take into consideration when working on the final cut. I think this is an affective exercise and I applaud DocuClub for providing such an outlet for filmmakers to gain such valuable criticism.

I won’t give away too much of what was said at Wednesday’s discussion due to the fact that it is a work in progress, but will give you some general observations to at least provide you with an example of how this process works so that you may one day submit your documentaries in progress for consideration.

First, here’s a brief description about the film. The Hand of Fatima “follows filmmaker and new mother Augusta Palmer from Mississippi to Morocco on a search for her rock critic father's ideal mystical family, the Master Musicians of Jajouka. Animated sequences based on the late Robert Palmer's writing for Rolling Stone lead his estranged daughter to the people William Burroughs called ‘the world's only 4000 year-old rock band.’"

Pamela, who spoke with Augusta prior to the screening, found out that Augusta’s main issues to deal with during the workshop would be the weaving together of all of the strands with her father’s story, her story, the story of the musicians and how that all comes together in the film's ending.

One audience member commented that she liked how there was a juxtaposition between Augusta and her father giving the film a nice arc. Another woman said she liked the film and Augusta’s voice in it, but she wanted to like her father more in order to care about his journey to Morocco.

One woman said she loved the animation, but the first part of the film had a lot of animation, whereas the second half had far less and felt more like a travel guide, therefore she would have felt the film was more even if there was more animation throughout.

And one fellow said that he did feel there was some level of clarity in the beginning of the film and Augusta did a good job with the structure and the voiceovers, but towards the end it wasn’t quite clear to him what the audience was supposed to take away. He suggested she add a little bit more obviousness and step closer to being explicit about what she was thinking and experiencing.

After the discussion, Pamela introduced me to Augusta who told me that she expects to complete the film sometime this spring, so I look forward seeing what, if any, changes she makes.