Congratulations to Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno! The poster/brochure with POV's 20th anniversary lineup finally made its way to my mailbox, and one week from tonight (July 10) PBS will air her film, REVOLUTION '67. This substantial and illuminating documentary, which had its World Premiere at the 2006 Florida Film Festival, explores the untold story of the six days of riots that erupted in Newark, New Jersey, in the summer of 1967. The film takes on the causes and personalities behind the riots (including Amiri Baraka, Tom Hayden, and Brendan Byrne), and through them we gain a new perspective on the civil uprisings of the 1960's. This was a chaotic and violent time in American history, and the airing of Marylou's meticulous reconstruction of the events will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the revolt.

Well worth checking out next Tuesday at 10 PM.

--Matthew

Congratulations to director Dori Berinstein and her wonderful doc on the Broadway 2003-04 season, SHOWBUSINESS: A SEASON TO REMEMBER. The film, an unflinching and intimate look at the creation and launch of four high-profile musicals--Wicked; Avenue Q; Taboo; and Caroline, or Change --had its Southeast Premiere at the 2006 Florida Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature and was strongly considered for a Special Jury Award for Editing as well.

The International Documentary Association just announced its nominees for the 22nd IDA Distinguished Documentary Awards, and SHOWBUSINESS is one of five excellent films nominated in the features category. Winners will be announced at a Benefit Gala at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles on December 8, and we wish Dori the best of luck even as we eagerly await getting a look at her forthcoming THE TOY MOVIE project.

--Matthew

Congratulations are in order for Bay-area filmmaker Karina Epperlein and her beautiful and inspiring documentary short, PHOENIX DANCE. The 16-minute profile of professional dancer Homer Avila, undeterred by the loss of a leg (!), had its Southeast Premiere last March in the 2006 Florida Film Festival where it preceded Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan's equally moving SO MUCH SO FAST. Late last week it was announced that the doc short had officially made the "short list" of eight films under consideration for the 3-to-5 nominations to be chosen for the Academy Award in that category. The selections will be announced on January 23, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that this extraordinary work gets even further recognition from the Motion Picture Academy--I haven't seen the other films on the list but it's hard to imagine that there are five better.

--Matthew

Congratulations to Ham Tran--writer/director of the powerful and exquisitely filmed Vietnamese epic, JOURNEY FROM THE FALL (VUOT SONG)--for being named to Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film 2006" list. The film, which made its East Coast Premiere at the Florida Film Festival in March and was runner-up for the Audience Award for Best International Feature, focuses on Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and was inspired by actual events. It follows one family's fight for freedom post-April 30, 1975, and sheds new light on the communist political prison camps and the mass exodus of boat people. A Schindler's List for the Vietnamese community, Orlando audiences were incredibly moved by this dramatic tale of faith triumphing over tyranny that finally gives voice to an important untold story.

--Matthew

Congratulations are once again in order for Mike Akel's wonderfully authentic and hilarious mockumentary, CHALK. Winner of a Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting at the 2006 Florida Film Festival back in April, this comedy so skillfully weaves universal truths about the high school teaching profession into its narrative that it keeps racking up awards. Cinequest and the Independent Film Festival of Boston have also honored it, and this past weekend the Los Angeles Film Festival gave its Outstanding Performance in the Narrative Competition award to the whole cast.

So congrats to principal cast members Troy Schremmer, Shannon Haragan, co-writer/actor Chris Mass, Janelle Schremmer, filmmaker Mike Akel and Producer Angie Alvarez. Keep it up and the distributors will have to pay attention soon!

--Matthew

Excellent news about two Florida Film Festival 2006 award winners hit the wire recently, and like proud parents, we couldn't be happier or more excited about filmmakers Sian Heder and Mike Akel's success. Sian's wonderful short film, MOTHER--which is just begging to be made into a feature--followed up its Oscar-qualifying Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short by getting into competition at the Cannes Film Festival (the first film from her AFI program to do so). She apparently wowed the jury there as well, since MOTHER shared Third Prize in the Cinefondation Awards with Agnes Kocsis' A VIRUS.

Last week's announcement of the very impressive Los Angeles Film Festival lineup featured a familiar (and friendly) face amongst all those predominantly World Premieres in the Narrative Feature Competition: CHALK, Mike Akel's hilarious mockumentary about a year in the life of a small group of Texas high school teachers. Winner of a Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting at FFF in April, this comedy is so well-crafted and evokes such a great resonse from audiences, that it wouldn't surprise me if it gets grabbed up soon by some lucky distributor. Truly honest and funny films about the teaching experience are few and far between, and there is an untapped market with vast potential for a gem like this one.

--Matthew

Hearty congratulations go out to three more short filmmakers whose work not only made a profound impact at the recent Florida Film Festival, but continues to make waves on the fest circuit worldwide. At the just completed 49th (!) San Francisco International Film Festival, Karina Epperlein's PHOENIX DANCE, a beautiful doc about one-legged ballet dancer Homer Avila, won the Golden Gate Award for Bay Area Documentary Short. Also reaping rewards at San Francisco was Christine Spindler from Florida State University for SIRAH, her sensitive portrayal of a young Muslim girl in the US dealing with peer pressure. One of the real gems at the "Best of Brouhaha" program in the FFF, the film won the Golden Gate Award for Work for Kids and Families.

And word from Sian Heder, director of MOTHER--this year's Grand Jury Award winner for Best Narrative Short--is that the film has been accepted into the "Cinefoundation" competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This terrific short (scheduled to be developed into a feature, hopefully sooner than later) is, according to the filmmaker, the first AFI film to get into this section of Cannes. So congrats again and best wishes to all of you as your films make their mark outside of the Sunshine State.

--Matthew

Finally coming up for air after being submerged in Florida Film Festival mania and wrap-up for the last three weeks, certain highlights and special moments keep popping into my head. The hordes of educators in the audience for the Special Jury Award-winning faux documentary about high school teachers by Mike Akel, CHALK, cracking up from the very first scene. A local priest in attendance at the screening of Joe Cultrera's HAND OF GOD, a scathing indictment of the Catholic church in Salem, Massachusetts, where the filmmaker's brother was sexually abused decades ago. While he could not stay for the Q & A, the priest did send Joe an incredibly thoughful letter via e-mail, and Joe in turn agreed to go to Sunday mass before heading back home. In its first screening since Sundance, the wonderfully entertaining crossword puzzle doc, WORDPLAY, had a glorious East Coast Premiere at Enzian, complete with Director Patrick Creadon, Producer Christine O'Malley, and two of its subjects, puzzle constructor Merl Reagle and tournamant finalist Trip Payne (Floridians both), all participating in a spirited and amusing post-film Q & A. And you know how some filmmakers will take a snapshot of the audience during their intro remarks for posterity? Well Steven Kaplan, producer of the Midnight Movie and recent THINKFilm acquisition, FUCK, added a little twist to his request, which the late night audience was more than happy to comply with--a packed house sent their best wishes to director Steve Anderson (who was unable to attend) by shooting him the bird! A Kodak moment if there ever was one.

"Sterling Salutes the Silver Screen" Opening Night Film and Party was a HUGE success! Between the special premiere screening of Kinky Boots, wonderful wines from Sterling Vintner's Collection, Chef Josh Oakley's delicious food, the Peterbrooke chocolate fountain (yes, I said CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN), and wild dancing on the patio, the evening was absolutely unforgettable.

Click below to see pictures from this event!!

Well...the moment of truth has finally arrived. After over seven months of prep work and previewing nearly 1400 films, the 15th annual Florida Film Festival officially kicks off tomorrow night (Friday the 24th). Somehow it seems fitting that in a year in which Baltimore iconoclast John Waters will be receiving an "American Visionary" award, the Opening Night film is titled KINKY BOOTS--I'm certain he will be as entertaining and crowd-pleasing as this feature film directorial debut from Emmy-nominated Julian Jarrold. The always amazing Portland-based filmmaker, Chel White, has the honor of truly lighting the fuse for the fireworks to follow with his Opening Night short, A PAINFUL GLIMPSE INTO MY CREATIVE PROCESS (IN LESS THAN 60 SECONDS). Though actually a minute and a half, this brilliant piece of animation sets the tone for the ten days of thought-provoking, jaw-dropping, eye-opening, and mind-stretching cinema and film-related fun that are to come.

--Matthew

The final days of preparation for a Film Festival are like taking final exams...you cram all day and all night, nonstop; freak out for no apparent reason; drink coffee until you can feel the shakes under your skin; drink booze just to sleep at night; lose 10 pounds from stress and lack of food (bonus!); wake up from stress dreams at 3, 4 and 5 am (at which point you give up and just lay there making lists in your head remembering the 50 things you forgot to do the day before and won't have time to do today); and feel like those 10 days of the thing will help or hurt the rest of your life. Is my hair falling out? But the Festival has something finals don't...you aren't glad when it's over, you're glad when it starts. Those 10 days that you nearly kill yourself creating are the most exhilerating, rewarding, fun days of the year. Better than Christmas, better than you birthday, every sold out screening, every first time filmmaker, every volunteer, patron and student that tells you what an amazing time they had, make it all worth it. Now how will I get through the next week until Opening Night...

And if you think I'm talking about that little college hoops tournament that begins this week, you are mistaken my friends. Instead I am referring to the explosion of independent cinema that rocks the Sunshine State in such a short period of time it will make your head spin. While Ft. Lauderdale still unspools in the Fall from mid-October to mid-November, Florida's three other major film festivals all open in the month of March for the first time ever. It's inevitable that there will be at least a small amount of overlap in the programming between Miami, Sarasota, and the upcoming 15th annual Florida Film Festival at Enzian Theater and Regal Winter Park Village beginning next Friday, 3/24, but each of us is unique and has its own special attributes.

If you don't have the luxury of taking a few weeks off in a row, travelling around the state, and watching great movies until your eyes bleed, I urge you to at least check out the event that's closest geographically and take part in what will inevitably be a very special experience. And if you have the benefit of living in Central Florida or are looking for a great reason to come visit the Orlando suburbs, you will not want to miss what we have in store for this year's Florida Film Festival--141 films from 18 countries, 108 of them making at least a Florida Premiere; 18 World, U.S., or North American Premieres, 45 East Coast Premieres, and 22 films having their 2nd U.S. showings; free panels, hot parties, tons of surprises, and the one and only John Waters. From family films to midnight movies and everything in between, it's guaranteed we have something you're gonna need to see...and I hope you come talk to me about it afterwards!

--Matthew

The Florida Film Festival staff wishes to extend a hearty congratulations to the creative team behind CONVENTIONEERS, one of the ten narrative features in competition for 2006. This past Saturday night at the Independent Spirit Awards, Director/Co-writer Mora Stephens and Producer/Co-writer Joel Viertel were honored with the "John Cassavetes Award" (best feature made for under $500,000) for their terrifically acted blend of sexual politics and moral quandaries set against the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC. Festival attendees won't want to miss the Southeast Premiere of this surprising, real, and totally involving love affair that so skillfully blurs the line between fact and fiction.

--Matthew

A recent e-mail concerning a documentary that did not get in to this year's Florida Film Festival had no problem grabbing my attention. As any festival programmer will tell you, there are always way too many good films for the available programming slots in any given year--a luxury we enjoy, but one that makes our jobs difficult and sometimes heartbreaking. And once those rejection letters start hitting, there's the inevitable barrage of e-mails, phone calls, and letters demanding an explanation for such an injustice or asking the selections committee to reconsider.

Having learned somehow that a new film on Haiti and Aristide was not chosen for this year's FFF, this particular writer was so incensed that he complained of" having to sit through one anti-Aristide film after another" at past festivals; accused us of showing no Haitian films this year because their content was not anti-Aristide; mentioned how horrible it's been "to sit through hours of the anti-Castro lobby films" that we've put on over the years; and accused us (again!) of "not showing a single Haitian film because there were many that criticized the U.S. coup against Aristide." The only problem--he's got the wrong festival! Other than the fact that we're not playing this one doc feature (as well as nearly 250 others, many quite good, that unfortunately also didn't make the cut), everything else he complains about is completely off-base and untrue. These comments need to be directed South, my friend.

--Matthew

PHONE SEX GRANDMA? MILTON IS A SHITBAG? FULL METAL SLACKS? NEVEL IS THE DEVIL? NEW BOOBS? FUCK? THE TOZER SHOW: THE URINE BOMBER? AMERICAN STAG? What's going on here, you may be asking yourself? Has the Florida Film Festival lost its mind and gone completely "underground"? Nonsense! These titles are but a small sample of the cinematic extravaganza (141 films and counting) that awaits Central Florida film lovers in late March. Stay tuned for lots more info in the coming days...

--Matthew

Anybody try to program an International film without American distribution lately? Talk about a rude awakening! Apparently the prestige of being showcased in a nationally and internationally recognized and respected festival, the possibility of winning an Audience Award for Best International Feature, and the exposure to national press and assorted specialty distributors just doesn't mean much anymore. It's simply all about the cash. Some of these foreign production companies and distributors are asking outrageous sums of money for rental fees, and part of the problem is that some very well-heeled domestic festivals are paying them and ruining it for the little guys. A fellow programmer recently complained to me that she had to pay 1500 Euros for a screening of a new Italian film, and the justification from the print source was that another festival had just paid it, so why shouldn't they charge that much? Well maybe if their rental fee was a third of that, their film would get featured in many more fine festivals, generating enough buzz and earning numerous honors to attract the attention of the national media and distributors. Not to mention perpetuating the desire in this country to see quality films that happen to be subtitled. And they wonder why foreign language films are a tough sell to even art house audiences outside of a couple of major markets?

--Matthew

Ok, so I am pathetic...it's 7 pm on Valentine's day and my date is my latptop as I am still at work trying desperately to keep my head above water in the six weeks left before the 2006 Florida Film Festival. Matthew is on the verge of being done with programming and bobbing on the surface, enjoying a mai tai...not really, but it seems that way. I am scrambling to deal with collateral materials, sponsors, operational details, conflicting personalities and staffing issues...oh, hi John, Director of Ops...what's that? No, no one is coming to save us...we have to swim for it. But once we get to that sandy beach that is Opening Night, it's all downhill. Actually, we are on the verge of announcing all of the programming team's hard work so stay tuned for those press releases later this week. Oh, yeah, and buy a ticket package online now!
Shannon

The clock is ticking...tomorrow (Friday, December 2) is the final postmark entry deadline for all narrative, documentary, animated, and international films over 40 minutes in length to be submitted to this year's 2006 Florida Film Festival (March 24 - April 2). Those of you still mulling it over should dawdle no more--go to www.floridafilmfestival.com or through Without a Box and send in your cinematic creation to arrive in our offices no later than the middle of next week. Have no fear if your EPK or stills aren't ready yet or if you're only at rough cut stage. You'll be in the same boat as plenty of others, so just send it in...NOW!

Kudos to thembob! The FFF and Enzian staff would like to send out a hometown hello and congratulations to Bob DeRosa, screenwriter, playwright, actor, director, improv comic and former Florida Film Festival Programming Coordinator now relocated to L.A. Yesterday's Orlando Sentinel arts section featured movie critic Roger Moore's piece on Bob's latest activities in Hollywood, including co-writing a film called THE AIR THAT I BREATHE that's about to start shooting in Mexico City. The $6 million+ crime drama stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Diego Luna, and Ken Watanabe, with a rumored Kevin Bacon also joining the cast. The film's director and co-writer is Jieho Lee (A NURSERY TALE), whom Bob met at the 2000 Florida Film Festival. Way to go Bob!

- Matthew

Like The King once crooned, "It's Now or Never." Anyone out there interested in submitting their 40-minute-and-under film to the 2006 Florida Film Festival needs to get it in gear by this weekend. Today (November 18) is officially the final entry deadline for all shorts, be they narrative, documentary, animation, experimental, International, or some hybrid of the aforementioned categories. Since it is actually a "postmark" deadline, we will continue to take shorts submissions until the end of next week--after that pleading must be done on a case by case basis and you're probably out of luck. As always, info and an entry form are available at www.floridafilmfestival.com. So come on already--stop procrastinating and send us your masterpiece! And if it happens to be titled "Broken" you may want to consider a late change--we are now up to five films with that distinction, easily a record for entries with the same name. Do I hear six?

On another note, the Enzian and Florida Flm Festival staff offer a sincere note of congratulations to the following flms which earlier this week made the "Short List" for a Best Documentary Feature nomination in this year's Academy Awards: Jessica Sanders' AFTER INNOCENCE; Alex Gibney's ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM; Luc Jacquet's MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, and Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's MURDERBALL. All of these films had spectacular theatrical runs at Enzian and/or triumphant screenings at the 2005 Florida Film Festival, and we wish all of the filmmakers the best of luck. And though I have yet to see all of the other eleven films that made the Doc Feature "Short List," I have to agree with Anthony Kaufman's incredulous comments earlier this week: why isn't Werner Herzog's GRIZZLY MAN on this list? At least the IFP got it right and nominated it for a Gotham award.

--Matthew