Congratulations to Tom Gustafson on the recent news that his WERE THE WORLD MINE just got a well-deserved and multi-faceted distribution deal. The film, a Shakespeare-inspired, gay musical comedy riff on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, had its World Premiere in late March at the 2008 Florida Film Festival, where it also won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. Since then it’s won a dozen more prizes at both gay and straight festivals alike, so this opportunity to get it out in the marketplace has got to be the icing on the cake for the filmmaker and co-writer Cory Krueckeberg.
Apparently Wolfe Releasing will be handling the homevideo DVD release, while Logo has the broadcast rights and Internet. The soundtrack (these boys can sing!) will be released by a label called PS Classics and distributed by Image Entertainment. Some theatrical dates are also on the horizon, but no details were revealed as to those plans. Sweet and funny, magical and tuneful, it now appears that everyone will soon have a chance to make “The World” theirs.
—Matthew
In a curious turn of events or simply wonderful coincidence, it appears that all three of the 2008 Florida Film Festival Grand Jury Award winners in the Shorts categories (Narrative, Documentary, and Animation) will be back on Enzian’s screen this Fall, as well as the Best Narrative Feature winner. First up will be Alex Holdridge’s lovely and hilarious Best Feature, IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS, tentatively scheduled to open September 19. This smart romantic comedy is the only one of the award winners we actuallly had control of bringing back, since the shorts were at the mercy of the curators of their respective programs.
Next on the horizon is Signe Baumane’s “explicitly educational” series, TEAT BEAT OF SEX,” winner of Best Animated Short, which will be one of only two American selections in the 11th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival. The festival will be utilizing Episodes #8 - 11, the losing-her-virginity story arc that had its North American Premiere at FFF in early April, and will play Enzian on Tuesday, September 23 at 6:30 PM. More on the just-announced complete lineup later…
And finally, Myna Joseph’s powerful and unsettling sister story, MAN, winner of the Best Narrative Short (automatically qualifying it for next year’s Oscars in the category of Best Live Action Short), and Daniel Robin’s haunting look at his parents’ marriage, MY OLYMPIC SUMMER, the Best Documentary Short, will both return in the same program on Wednesday, December 3. These are but two of the amazing films in the Sundance Art House Project Shorts program, a collection of some of the best short films from last year’s Sundance that happens to include not only the aforementioned FFF Grand Jury Award winners, but two other outstanding FFF vets as well—the Bill Murray-starring FCU: FACT CHECKERS UNIT and the Australian shocker, SPIDER. More on the complete program of this one later as well…
In the meantime, have a safe and restful Labor Day weekend.
—Matthew
Still playing catch-up with the office move and all last weekend, but I was thrilled to discover that two of the most popular shorts at this year’s 17th Annual Florida Film Festival were recently awarded Student Academy Awards at the 35th annual competition presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.The Animation category was won by Nicole Mitchell’s delightful ZOOLOGIC, a New Yorker-esque work in which a fussy zookeeper must contend with some uncooperative and rebellious tenants. This under 5-minute gem was the second highest rated animated short in the festival (both domestic and international), with only Aardman’s SHAUN THE SHEEP: STILL LIFE garnering a more enthusiastic response from our audiences.
Rajeev Dassani’s A DAY’S WORK, winner of a Florida Film Festival Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Acting, took home the Student Oscar honors in the Narrative category. This intense, beautifully acted drama about a middle-class family and three immigrant day-laborers trapped by mistrust and language barriers, was also the third most popular narrative short film out of the 26 in our American Independent competition. Congratulations to both of these very talented and deserving filmmakers.
—Matthew
Congratulations to former Penn State student and Pennsylvania National Guardsman Jeremy Zerechak, who just announced a TV broadcast and DVD distribution deal with Anywhere Road Entertainment in the U.S. and Canada for his documentary, LAND OF CONFUSION. The eye-opening film, which recently had its World Premiere at the 2008 Florida Film Festival where it won a “Special Jury Award for Bold Truth,” shows what happened when Jeremy’s unit was deployed to Iraq in 2004 as part of a secretive group charged with the duty of locating the infamous weapons of mass destruction. The fact that he brought his cameras with him every step of the absurd way (including training in the snows of Fort Dix, New Jersey!) and was able to shoot (and keep) tons of footage “not under the direction of the Army” is a miracle. LAND OF CONFUSION presents an uncensored and unflinching look at war, one in which the bravery of our fighting men is undone by the corruption, chaos, and futility of their mission.
There’s a lot of fine Iraq war docs out there at the moment, and Jeremy’s film deserves to mentioned and seen with the best of ‘em. I’m thrilled that people besides festival audiences will get a chance to see this important work—and having met him and spending a few days hanging out early last month, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
—Matthew
Congratulations and best wishes to New York filmmaker Myna Joseph as she heads overseas to the Croisette. Her short film, MAN—which won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the recent Florida Film Festival (thus qualifying it for Oscar consideration in next year’s Academy Awards)—was selected for the distinguished Directors Fortnight program at Cannes, where it will be the only American short in her film program.
Myna’s stark and disturbing tale of two sisters was also invited to be part of this summer’s Sundance Institute’s Art House Project shorts program tour, a formidable collection of award winners and favorites from last year’s festival (some of which appeared at Florida as well). So it looks like MAN will not only be showcased over in France this week, but will also be getting an encore performance at Enzian in the coming months—exciting news!
—Matthew
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