In all my years living in the city during the 1980's, and all my visits back to NYC and IFFM/IFP Market business trips, I saw something on Thursday morning that was an absolute first. Heading down to the Angelika Theaters and Puck Building about 10 AM for the last day of Market screenings and video library time, I was walking on Bond street between Bowery and Lafayette. On the side of the street, right next to the sidewalk, a man was roasting a whole, very large, pig. Not on a spit mind you, but the pig was laid out stomach side down on some type of metal rack, and this guy was stoking the flames of the logs or coals underneath. Amazing...only in New York! Whether or not it came with fries and slaw is another matter...

As far as the Market goes, it was another good year for docs with a lot of potential and more of my fellow festival programmers seemed to be in attendance this time around. The Angelika itself was in better shape than usual, with no leaky ceilings and an "Up" escalator that worked the whole time--what a nice concept. The projection and sound (can't do anything about the subway rumblings so that always becomes part of the soundtrack) were improved from last year, and only Tuesday seemed to have some screenings coming off (as much as 30 minutes) late due to the ripple effect of one problem earlier in the day. Disappointingly, the venue did not provide complimentary popcorn and soft drinks as in the past, but maybe this was a sponsorship issue of some kind.

After narrative feature screenings got the boot a couple of years ago, it was the narrative shorts' turn to vanish this year. Again, a little disappointing but not a major shocker. What was a bit disheartening was that there were only 6 doc shorts to screen in the whole Market, after at least a dozen last year (many of them quite good as evidenced by 3 playing in the 2007 Florida Film Festival: MAN UP, FRIDAYS AT THE FARM, and MURIEL). Apparently this was due to a lack of submissions in the category, something that probably needs to be addressed. Perhaps it was the residual effect from dropping narrative shorts or perhaps the screening fees are too high--whatever the reason, if you're only going to screen docs for the companies participating in the Market, then an ample selection of doc shorts should be part of that programming.

The IFP could've used another long table in the Puck building area where some of the panels and Meet the Programmers meetings were held; you know, the room with the filmmaker mailboxes. The one display table for film and call-for-entry postcards, magazines, sponsor materials, etc. was inadequate and an absolute mess most of the time.

Film-wise there were plenty of things to look forward to besides those titles I previously discussed in my last blog, though it may be months, or in some cases years, before they come to fruition. Popular themes for the docs included post-Katrina life for hurricane survivors, artistic creation, films about the director's father, health care both here and abroad, the political process, racial issues, and Africa stories. Some films I'm especially looking forward to seeing a completed cut of are: Caroline Suh's FRONTRUNNERS; about a student government election at the country's most competitive high school (fellow indieWIRE blogger Michael Tully is credited as the Music Consultant so you know the score is hip at least!); Clayton Brown and Monica Ross' THE ATOM SMASHERS, in which a bunch of American physicists race against time and the rest of the world to find the so-called God particle, or the legendary subatomic "Higgs boson," Virginia Williams' FRONTRUNNER, about a woman running for President in (of all places) Afghanistan; GRAMERCY STORIES from Joyce Chopra (remember SMOOTH TALK, the film that put Laura Dern on the map?), about a foster care resiednce for gay and transgender boys; JOURNEY THROUGH AN INVISIBLE WALL from filmmakers Rick Minnich and Matt Sweetwood (HOMEMADE HILLBILLY JAM), in which Minnich investigates his father's curious case of long-term amnesia after a fairly innocuous, yet ultimately life-changing auto accident; Rick Goldsmith and Judith Ehrlich's THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS, a highly relevant and infuriating look at the most famous whistleblower of all time from the director of the Oscar-nominated TELL THE TRUTH AND RUN: GEORGE SELDES AND THE AMERICAN PRESS; and P STAR'S REDEMPTION from Gabriel Noble (AUTUMN'S EYES), which follows 4+ years in the life of a 9-year-old Puerto Rican rapper with the weight of her family's well-being on her little shoulders. Throw in a couple of provocative subjects like the only residence in the country that houses over 50 convicted sex offenders and rapists in PREDATOR HOUSE, and the expose and community silence about rabbis accused of molesting young boys in THE EVIL TONGUE (the Jewish HAND OF GOD?), and you can see there's plenty of non-fiction features coming down the pike that should be worth waiting for.

Now it's back to my own bed (those weary travellers who did both Toronto and NY know exactly what I'm talking about) and a return to reportedly rainy Orlando...

--Matthew

It's always such an odd transition to go almost immediately from the Toronto Film Festival to the IFP Market in NYC. After watching two dozen films in less than a week's time--many of them with distribution, most of them quite accomplished (at least technically), and all of them finished--it's somewhat jarring yet also reaffirming in an indie mission kind of way to see so many docs in rough cut and work-in-progress form and be able to talk to the filmmakers.

One thing you won't see however, is anything narrative, as they not only removed features from the lineup a couple of years ago but have also done away with narrative shorts as of this year. God knows we see plenty during the Florida Film Festival selection process, but it was still kind of nice when the IFP was choosing some cream-of-the-crop titles for us programmers to check out.

So the emphasis is clearly on the No Borders industry meetings, the panels, and docs, docs, and more docs. And quite a few have caught my eye early on based on either subject matter or talent involved with the project having played Florida in the past or at least submitted something of extremely high quality even if we were unable to program it. Roger Weisberg (the Oscar-nominated SOUND AND FURY) is back with CRITICAL CONDITION, an intimate look at the health care problem and the lives of some uninsured Americans. Richard Gere's brother David, his partner Peter, and their two adopted children, are the subjects of Tom Keegan's OUT IN INDIA: A FAMILY'S JOURNEY, as they leave LA for almost a year to fight AIDS (and gay prejudice) in India with art therapy. Jeffrey Schwartz's SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY is a most entertaining slice of cinema history as it traces the life and career of the king of the gimmicks and the man responsible for many of the great "B" horror films of the 1960's. Awesome clips and interviews with the likes of John Waters (who idolized him), Roger Corman, Joe Dante, and Diane Baker help make this one a lock to be hitting the festival circuit next year. Bet those prints of STRAIGHT JACKET, HOUSE ON THE HAUNTED HILL, HOMICIDAL, and THE TINGLER will start getting a workout as well.

The producer of 39 POUNDS OF LOVE (Hilla Medalia), the 2005 Best Documentary winner in the Israeli "Oscars," has AFTER THE STORM, a post-Katrina film (there's a bunch as you might expect) about a group of NY artists helping some New Orleans kids stage a production of the Broadway musical, "Once on This Island." Producer Gill Holland brings a couple of new and enticing projects to the Market: James Rasin's BEAUTIFUL DARLING, about Warhol superstar Candy Darling, star of both WOMEN IN REVOLT and FLESH, two staples of the New College Film Series back in my mid-seventies college programming days. Buzz is also good on Drew Denicola's NATURAL SOUL BROTHER, a film about the African Americans that broke the color barrier in the 1950's and invented the late-night radio DJ.

Three FFF veterans also have brand new projects here, though in various stages of completion. Mitch McCabe, director of the short film SEPTEMBER 5:10 PM from a few years back, brings MY MOTHER'S BEAUTY CREAM, a look at the absurdity of aging hysteria, even as the filmmaker herself (daughter of a plastic surgeon) turns 40. MIchael Chandler, winner of last year's Grand Jury Award for Best Doc Feature, KNEE DEEP (first seen at the 2006 IFP Market by the way), has a new film with the rather unwieldy (and tongue-in-cheek) title, GREEDY TRIAL LAWYERS: WILL WE MISS THEM WHEN THEY'RE GONE? And Dori Berinstein, director of SHOWBUSINESS: THE ROAD TO BROADWAY, winner of the 2006 FFF Grand Jury Award for Best Doc Feature, showed an amusing clip from GOTTA DANCE. The film follows a group of old folks (who still have a lot of spunk) as they try out for the New Jersey Nets new Senior Dance Squad. Adam Zucker (the acclaimed GREENSBORO: CLOSER TO THE TRUTH) is the editor on the project--nicely done and a definite crowd pleaser.

--Matthew

Though the technical snafus seemed to be at an all-time high (not to mention the opening night film fiasco when hundreds of people, including those that RSVP'd like yours truly, were turned away from the screening of A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS), the quality of both projects and panels at this year's IFP Market seemed better than ever.

I did feel sorry for the filmmakers though. The Angelika has always had issues, including the constant rumble and sound from the subway system and a broken escalator or two. Subway noise was as annoying as ever and we were spared any escalator malfunctions, but the projection and ability to stay on schedule was another matter entirely. Most screenings were starting at least 10 minutes late, which threw off the ability to properly time moving from theater to theater (a common strategy at the Market). Theater # 1 had framing issues, with subtitles on the right side of the screen getting cut off. Theater # 4 had terrible video sound for virtually everything, and apparently management wasn't allowing anyone to make the adjustments to correct the problem. Early on they were turning down the house lights and starting the films before the filmmakers even had a chance to make any intro remarks, and during one director's post-film Q & A they actually started the tech rehearsal for the next scheduled film. After the first day they no longer provided free soda and popcorn for Market-goers, which was such a nice amenity last year. And I'm still annoyed that the video library shuts down at 2:00 PM for "breakdown" on the final day when you're trying to play catch up on "buzz" titles and they're still having screenings all day at the Angelika.

OK, enough bitching. Despite it all, filmmakers were upbeat, the parties were fun, there were lots of good networking opportunities, and a host of worthy film projects that bear watching on their road to completion. I wouldn't particularly say any trends stood out from the pack, though the usual themes of unlikely "sports" competitions, political and racial oppression, biographies of artists, and the post-Katrina experience all had a prescence. Of the (mostly completed) doc features in the Market, stand-outs included EMILE NORMAN - BY HIS OWN DESIGN, a lovely portrait of a great and innovative artist based in Big Sur that was directed by Will Parrinello and produced by Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry (of "L.A. Law" fame), both very nice and approachable and big participants throughout all five days of the Market; James Marsh's THE TEAM, a fascinating doc from the director of THE KING and WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP about a soccer team from New York that travels to Austria for the first "Homeless World Cup Championship" --no shit!; and Steve Karras and Rose Lizarraga's ABOUT FACE: THE STORY OF THE JEWISH REFUGEE SOLDIERS OF WW II, a thorough and moving film narrated by Peter Coyote and scored by John Cale, about the European Jews who after escaping the Nazis in their home countries, enlisted in the Allied Forces of the US and Great Britain. I also heard nice things about Luke Wolbach's ROW HARD NO EXCUSES, about a two-man, 3000 mile rowing race, and Abigail Child's ON THE DOWNLOW, about bisexual African American men living in Cleveland.

In the Doc Shorts category, Arturo Cabanas' MAN UP is an intense, deceptively simple look at a military dad using tough love to prepare his teenage son for adulthood. The skillful mix of black and white and color photography adds to its impact. Richard Power Hoffman's FRIDAYS AT THE FARM features striking time lapse photography of farm life in Pennsylvania in its hopeful exploration of a community supported organic farm and a family that decides to change its lifestyle.

The standout Narrative Short (besides Derek Cianfrance's Chrysler Award winner) was Nicholas Child's THE SHOVEL. Focusing on a hole in the ground, a suspicious neighbor, and a police investigation, this featured fine performances from David Strathairn and Tim Guinee and had a nasty twist ending.

But the meat of the Market now is definitely the Docs Works-In-Progress section, and quite a few projects here have my attention: Susan Motamed and Melanie Judd's poignant ADOPT ME, MICHAEL JORDAN, about Ethiopian orphans getting adopted by American families; Paul Devlin's scientific thriller, BLAST, about a team of scientists trying to launch a unique telescope that will provide insights into the origins of the universe and the beginnings of galaxies, and all of the provocative ideas that such an endeavor entails; Cynthia Wade's FREEHELD, the moving and infuriating story of a New Jersey town that does not want to give pension benefits to the lesbian partner of a dying, honored police Lieutenant; Helen Hood-Scheer's JUMP, a breathtaking and exciting doc about the Competitive Jump Rope world that goes way beyond the Double Dutch stuff we're all familiar with; Michael Chandler's KNEE DEEP, the bizarre story of a Maine dairy farmer who schemed to kill his Mom when she threatened to sell the business his father had promised him; Jeffrey Morgan's LILLIE & LEANDER: A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE, a jaw-dropping investigation into a Pensacola family's past and the mass murder of black men who happened to cross their property in the early 1900's; Yoruba Richen's PROMISED LAND, winner of the Fledgling Fund Award for Socially Conscious Docs, about black communities in South Africa trying to get their ancestral land back from the government; Franco Sacchi, Kate Davis, and David Heilbroner's WAITING FOR ARMAGEDDON, a film about the growing section of the population that believes the Apocalypse is imminent and how these lunatics can have profound implications for the rest of us; Julie Checkoway's Doc Work-in-Progress Completion Award winner, WAITING FOR HOCKNEY, an entertaining and humorous cliffhanger about an artist who believes he's produced a revolutionary portarit of Marilyn and what happens after he shows it to David Hockney; and Christopher Wong's WHATEVER IT TAKES, which follows the first year of an experimental high school in the South Bronx and the extraordinarily devoted principal who leads the way. These are but a few of the outstanding projects that will hopefully come to fruition in the coming months (or more likely years).

--Matthew

Since I'm currently in NYC, you may think the Derek I'm referring to is the stud starting shortstop/MVP candidate for the Yankees. Actually the Derek I want to mention is one Derek Cianfrance, winner of the Chrysler Film Project competition announced at this year's IFP Market. Some of you may remember his exceptional first feature, BROTHER TIED, winner of a 1998 Florida Film Festival Special Jury Award for Bold, Original Expression. He also won a cinematography award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival for his work on QUATTRO NOZA, and contributed some photography to Jacob Septimus and Anthony Howard's B.I.K.E., the highly acclaimed doc feature that had its East Coast Premiere and second US showing after Slamdance at last year's FFF.

Back in '98 Derek was already talking about the next feature he was interested in doing, a project called BLUE VALENTINE. Well guess what? I think he can finally get started! On the strength of his terrific short film that he produced specifically for the contest--LATELY THERE HAVE BEEN MANY MISUNDERSTANDINGS--the man has won himself a one million dollar production deal from Chrysler and Silverwood Films. The five finalists had to use a Chrysler car in their films (like the BMW shorts a couple of years ago), and though they were all pretty entertaining, Derek's was clearly the cream of the crop. So major congratulations to a talented filmmaker and nice guy. Hopefully while we wait for the feature, more people will get a chance to see the short than just the contest judges and the few dozen in the audience at the Market screening of the finalists on Tuesday afternoon.

--Matthew

After a quick 2-day turnaround back in Orlando, I headed out to NYC for this year's 28th annual IFP Market. This is now 11 in row for me. Easing the cultural whiplash I generally get from the transition of watching 25 - 30 mostly accomplished and finished features up in Toronto to some narrative and doc shorts and dozens of doc feature works-in-progress, the IFP thankfully scheduled a Sunday morning screening of THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND in preparation for the panel at the Puck building later in the day. Though the screening was free to both DGA and IFP members, I guess people didn't notice the invite in the IFP e-mail blast since there was only about 15 of us in the theater. What a shame--this is a superb historical drama inspired by real events, and Forest Whitaker's performance as Idi Amin, the terrifying yet charming leader of Uganda in the 1970's, will certainly be talked about come awards time. The panel with Whitaker, director Kevin Macdonald (TOUCHING THE VOID) and co-lead James McAvoy, was titled "Passport Required" and went into great depth about the film's production and the logistics of shooting in a foreign country. Too bad more people didn't see the film prior to attending.

Once again the Market seems to have less projects than the year before and a greater concentration on meetings for the filmmakers and panels, yet there are still a number of familiar names with new projects that bear checking out. Things I'm interested in viewing either in the Angelika or in the video library if necessary include: EMILE NORMAN - BY HIS OWN DESIGN, a film about an artist produced by Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry (of "LA Law" fame); SECRECY, a film about classified secrets by Robb Moss (THE SAME RIVER TWICE); THE TEAM, which deals with a soccer team that recruits the homeless, and is directed by James Marsh (THE KING, WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP); ADOPT ME, MICHAEL JORDAN, from Susan Motamed, producer of ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM; THE AXE IN THE ATTIC by Lucia Small (MY FATHER THE GENIUS); BLAST, the new work from FFF Grand Jury Prize winner Paul Devlin (POWER TRIP); FREEHELD, a new film from FFF veteran Cynthia Wade (SHELTER DOGS); JUMP!, a film by Helen Hood Scheer, producer of Arlene Donnely's FFF faves NAKED STATES and POSITIVELY NAKED; THE TOY MOVIE, from 2006 FFF award winner Dori Berinstein (SHOWBUSINESS: A SEASON TO REMEMBER); WAITING FOR ARMAGEDDON, a film listed as being directed by Franco Sacchi but will actually be made with FFF award winners Kate Davis and David Heilbroner (PUCKER UP, SOUTHERN COMFORT) as well; and even a couple of narrative shorts including KUBUKU RIDES (THIS IS IT), directed by Steppenwolf Theater Company's Terry Kinney ("Oz" and Tim McCann's RUNAWAY), and THE SHOVEL, starring Oscar nominee David Strathairn and Tim Guinee from SWEETLAND.

And these are just the titles where I've got some familiarity with the talent involved. I'm sure they'll be a few surprises and discoveries along the way.

--Matthew

While celebrity sightings were slim at the Angelika during the IFP Market this year, at least I can say I lunched with Elvis at Katz’s Deli. This post-Comeback Special period impersonator had it down—the gold leather jacket with fringes, the sideburns, the sunglasses, the sneer. Impressive. And of course it’s New York so no one even bats an eyelash.

The Market definitely had more activity at the Puck Building for panels and meetings than at the Angelika for screenings. Though attendance seemed to pick up on Wednesday afternoon, perhaps due to new projects from familiar directors, gone are the days of being shut out of screenings and being assaulted by filmmakers with promotional gimmicks as soon as they recognized the color of your badge. It’s always an adjustment to go from seeing accomplished, full-length features at the Toronto Film Festival to trailers and clips of dozens of docs in various stages of readiness just a couple of days later. Despite this aesthetic whiplash and the usual shortcomings of the Angelika--including lack of a functional “Up” escalator, technical difficulties galore, late starts of films, and a leaking ceiling over the escalator (but hey! the popcorn and soda were free)—there were many promising projects to see and talented filmmakers to meet and encourage.

Certain themes emerged over the week: abuses of the government; the struggles of living in poverty; female empowerment and women who have made a difference in their communities and their countries; mental illness; terminal diseases and living with disabilities; political activism; the performance arts, and baseball. Perhaps it’s a coincidence with the great Wild Card races and the perpetual Yankees/Red Sox horserace going on in Major League Baseball right now, but there were four (!) baseball projects in the works--SPACEMAN: A BASEBALL ODYSSEY, about counter-culture pitcher Bill Lee; KOKO-YAKYU: HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL, about the National Championship tournament in Japan; BAD BOYS OF SUMMER, about the San Quentin prison baseball team (that gets to all their games at home); and WHO’S ON FIRST, about Greece having to field a baseball team for the 2004 Olympics in Athens despite no experience whatsoever when the country was awarded the Summer Games. Another sports film that had considerable buzz and is ready to go out into the festival world now is Josh Aronson’s BULLRIDER. NASCAR fans should rejoice over this new film from the director of SOUND AND FURY as it focuses on all the good ol’ boys that participate in the incredibly dangerous bull riding World Championship tour.

The other doc feature that opened some eyes (and moistened a few as well) is SO MUCH SO FAST, the new film from Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan, the creators of the Sundance award-winning TROUBLESOME CREEK: A MIDWESTERN. This rich and moving work focuses on a family dealing with a 29-year-old brother who’s been diagnosed with the nerve disorder ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and the race against time to do something about it. Every year at the Market there’s one or two films that are a sure thing, such as NEVERLAND in 2003 or THREE OF HEARTS in 2004—SO MUCH SO FAST is this year’s standout for me.

There were of course, many other titles by both “name” and first-time directors whose films’ progress we’ll be following in the coming months: AUTUMN’S EYES by Paola Mendoza, co-creator and star of ON THE OUTS; THE CANDIDATE, the charming look at feisty 94-year-old Granny D’s run for the Senate in New Hampshire by Marlo Poras (MAI’S AMERICA); A LION IN THE HOUSE, the PBS-bound series focusing on families with children stricken with cancer by Steven Bognar (PICTURE DAY) and Julia Reichert (SEEING RED, UNION MAIDS); OFF THE GRID: LIFE ON THE MESA by Jeremy and Randy Stulberg (THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX), about a small group of drifters, veterans, and freedom-seekers living in a remote part of New Mexico; IMAGINING PEACE by Lisa Gossels (THE CHILDREN OF CHABANNES), a fascinating look at the Middle East crisis through the eyes of teenage girls from both Israel and Palestine that attend a 3-week summer camp in New Jersey; GONE TO TEXAS: THE LIVES OF FORREST CARTER by Marco Ricci, the wild story of the best-selling author of “The Outlaw Josey Wales” and “The Education of Little Tree” who was a Cherokee hero of New Age Wisdom. But twelve years after his death it’s discovered that he was also “Asa” Carter, head of the KKK in Alabama and speech writer for George Wallace; and new films by both co-directors of TWO TOWNS OF JASPER, Whitney Dow’s exploration of Haiti and its most famous band, SEPTENTRIONAL, and Marco Williams’ FREEDOM DREAMS, a portrait of Patrick Critton, a black militant, revolutionary, and terrorist.

Laughs were far and few between, but there were a couple of films which had the audience cracking up and potentially could be winners: GARY AND THE ROMANS by Ted Gesing is in the AMERICAN MOVIE vein and introduces us to a deluded Tampa billboard magnate and his Brazilian body-building leading actress as they attempt to make a promo reel for the toga epic of his dreams; and GIRLS ROCK! by Arne Johnson and Shane King packed ‘em in for this very entertaining peek at a rock ‘n’ roll camp for girls ages 8 – 18 in Portland, Oregon.

The final day of screenings also brought reduced hours in the Video Library. While it was previously publicized that the library would be open until 8:30 nightly, Thursday morning’s mailbox memo announced a 4:00 PM closing time. It’s bad enough they eliminated Friday availability for the first time in years, but this abrupt change in policy was met with a lot of frustration. The IFP needs to do better and at least give its supporters enough lead time to maximize their schedule. Is that to much to ask?

I did make a discovery though. For some reason, there were three films in the library that were not listed in the program, all quite interesting doc feature works-in-progress: HOW SWEET THE SOUND, a film about the musical legends The Blind Boys of Alabama produced by Heidi Ewing (SHELTER DOGS); HEATWAVE – AN UNNATURAL DISASTER, a film by Judith Helfand (BLUE VINYL) about poverty in Chicago and the one week in July where over 700 people died heat-related deaths; and THE LORD OF LIGHT by Diane Bernard, the bizarre story of Barry Geller, who in 1979 began production on a science fiction film and came up with the idea for a sci-fi theme park with designs by Marvel comics great Jack Kirby. After his financial ruin brought on by a sleazy business partner, somehow his writings end up being used by the CIA to rescue hostages in Iran. I kid you not!

Following in the tradition of Enzian’s Marketing Director, Shannon Lacek, and her fascination with odd names of businesses in Toronto, here’s a couple of favorites to close with from the Big Apple: “A Salt & Battery” (a fish ‘n’ chips joint) and “Burp Castle” (it had to be a bar).

- Matthew

No, but they definitely eat fowl! I’m up in NYC for the 27th annual IFP Market (formerly known as the IFFM or Independent Feature Film Market but since there’s only docs and shorts here the name change makes more sense). The first elevator ride I take up to the apartment I’m crashing at has two other riders. Instead of “How you doing?” the first words I hear are “Do squirrels eat meat?” This is immediately followed by “…cause we didn’t think so but we just passed one chowin’ down on a dead parakeet!” Um, how do you respond to that? I think I said something to the effect that New York’s the only place I’ve ever seen black squirrels, so nothing would surprise me. These young guys were a little freaked out.

Day one of the Market for those of us attending for the screenings and panels- only officially starts Monday, but registration begins Sunday. A nice change this year is the video library opening from 1 – 8:30 PM on Sunday (thanks Bob Hawk!), giving us all a little jump on the week. I took advantage of this opportunity by previewing a good chunk of the Doc shorts including YESTERDAY IN RWANDA, a moving portrait of a young woman/genocide survivor living in Toronto who carries on but can never forget what has happened to her family and her people. The film was directed by Davina Pardo, creator of BIRDLINGS TWO, the quirky and personal doc that preceded PUCKER UP: THE FINE ART OF WHISTLING at the 2005 Florida Film Festival (FFF).

On the negative side, apparently Apple didn’t come through with the same type of sponsorship as in the past, so there are no computers in the hospitality area for filmmakers and industry to check e-mail. This is quite the inconvenience that hopefully can be rectified next year.

I ran into a well-groomed though raspy-voiced Gill Holland at the Filmmaker Welcome Reception at Lotus, and he broke the news of his upcoming wedding next week—congratulations and the best of luck! Gill produced Tim Kirkman’s LOGGERHEADS (Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, FFF 2005) and the Midnight Shorts sensation, THE TOZER SHOW: BOMBS AND BLUEBALLS, and is readying four new titles for this year’s festival circuit along with signing a new female artist to his record label. He also introduced me to Paola Mendoza, co-creator and one of the three lead actresses in Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik’s ON THE OUTS (Special Jury Prize, FFF 2005). Paola is here with AUTUMN’S EYES, a similarly themed doc feature work-in-progress about a three-year-old girl whose teenage mom is in jail in Jersey City.

Later that night I hit the Brian Jonestown Massacre set at the Bowery Ballroom and unfortunately DIG! turns out to be completely accurate in its portrayal of bandleader Anton as a flaming a-hole. When they actually played the band sounded great—but there was way too much audience baiting, guitar tuning, band member abuse, whining about his equipment getting stolen, etc, to ruin what should have been a memorable show. The bonus though was that I got to meet Jim Jarmusch, who happens to be a big BJM fan. He was happy to hear that BROKEN FLOWERS was off to a monster start in its exclusive Orlando opening at Enzian, and that the theater has played almost all of his films. And even STRANGER THAN PARADISE just screened recently as part of the Sundance Channel Film Series. Having been present at the film’s groundbreaking premiere at the 1984 Telluride Film Festival, it was nice to finally greet one of our coolest and most talented filmmakers.

-Matthew