DocuClub in March!
Our March DocuClub will take place on Wednesday, March 9, 7 p.m., at DCTV, located at 87 Lafayette (at Walker).
This month, we are thrilled to try something new, and will screen trailers for documentaries in the early stages of production. We are delighted to present the following projects and filmmakers:
1. Betting the Farm by Cecily Pingree:
The documentary follows three farm families as they launch a new milk company in a desperate attempt to save their farms. Will their gamble rescue them—and with them an entire way of life—or will it leave them worse off than when they started? For more info, go to:
www.pull-start.com/btf.
Cecily Pingree is a filmmaker based in Maine. Betting The Farm is her debut documentary feature. Cecily formed a production company, Pull-Start Pictures, with Jason Mann in 2008. Cecily also teaches video workshops within the Maine public school system for The Telling Room.
2. Florence, Arizona by Andrea Scott:
The town of Florence, Arizona may have its roots in the 1880s, but at present, it is a place built firmly upon the foundation of prisons. In just 8.2 square miles, Florence houses 32,000 residents, three schools, and nine correctional facilities. In 2011, Florence will break ground on its 10th prison, while over on the other side of town, unsustainable desert development continues to thrive in the form of Anthem, a very different kind of gated, suburban community. As the debate over illegal immigration roars on in Arizona, and new allegations over private prison corporations’ involvement in the writing of Arizona’s sweeping immigration law come to the fore, Florence, Arizona will explore the consequences of a prison economy and venture to answer the question: What happens to a place and its people when the force that drives its economy, and by extension, much of life, is the incarceration of other individuals?
Andy Scott is a Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaker and writer. Her current work explores the vast world of Americana, from Jewish bikers to home movies to Mah Jongg. For three years, she worked as an associate producer and assistant editor for Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Cynthia Wade. Currently, she works as associate producer and assistant editor for the forthcoming feature-length documentary, Hungry In America, directed by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush. Scott is also currently at work on a project about the universality of the coffee shop throughout the world. Her recent forays into Super8 film and experimental sound work have been screened at New York’s premiere Super8 festival, FlickerNYC.
3. Kathleen and Eddie by Desireena Almoradie:
Feature-length documentary about three left-wing women activists from radically different ideologies, who are torn apart – and ultimately brought together – by a single act of terrorism.
Desireena Almoradie is a media activist whose works have been exhibited around the globe. She co-directed, produced, and edited the short narrative film Green Stalk, which screened at the British Film Institute among other venues. She produces for public television, and, in 2009, won a GLAAD Media Award for the story "Funding the Marriage War" that aired on the PBS show In the Life.
4. Battle for Jerusalem by Liz Nord:
Battle for Jerusalem follows five young, Jewish artists and activists living in Jerusalem who fight to keep their city vibrant, open and religiously tolerant in the face of a rapidly growing ultra-Orthodox community and its desire to control all aspects of life in the ancient holy city. To find out more about this project, go to: www.battleforjerusalem.com, twitter: @lizfilm.
Liz Nord is a documentary filmmaker who has produced and exhibited work in Europe, the Middle East and throughout North America. In 2006, Nord toured the world with another film made in Israel, her critically acclaimed documentary about rebellious young musicians, Jericho’s Echo: Punk Rock In The Holy Land. In 2008, she ran MTV’s Street Team ’08 – an Emmy Award-winning project wherein 51 state-based citizen journalists covered the 2008 presidential elections from a youth perspective, across all media platforms. In 2009, she shot a documentary on-location in Haiti for musician Wyclef Jean’s charitable organization. She is also a media educator, lecturer, and columnist.
5. TBD. We will pick one 5th trailer to workshop tonight! If you are a current DocuClub member (you must join by February 28, 2011, to qualify) and have a 3-8 minute trailer you wish to workshop with us tonight, please bring 2 DVDs. The lucky participant could be you!
Our moderator will be Fernanda Rossi. Internationally-renowned speaker and story consultant Fernanda Rossi doctored over 300 films, including Academy Award nominees® The Garden, by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, and Recycled Life by Leslie Iwerks. She has also consulted on hundreds of trailers, many of which received funding from ITVS, NYSCA and NFB. She is the author of Trailer Mechanics: A Guide to Making your Documentary Fundraising Demo. For more info on Rossi, please go to: www.documentarydoctor.com.
This DocuClub event is open to the public. If you’re planning to attend, please RSVP to docuclub@artsengine.net.
Admission at DCTV is free for current DocuClub members and $6 for non-members.
Tickets will be sold at the door, cash only.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Please note that in order to allocate adequate feedback for all projects, we will start promptly at 7 p.m. No admittance after 7:15 p.m.
Membership is an annual $50 and it includes free admission to all DocuClub events. It takes five minutes to join online:
http://www.artsengine.net/store/items/docuclub_membership_individual_rate
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