Film Festival reViews

Country Music and Arrangements, with fellow Kinderhook band member Jerry Kopychuk, a conversation about the seminal days fusing genres with creative arrangements

Two years after they started playing together, Kinderhook Creek seized a foothold in the New York music concert scene in 1975 with the developing country rock sound, opening for Poco at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park before a crowd of 25,000 music lovers.

Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World" directed by Michael Fiore, is an intimate look at a father-and-son relationship in a family business that their Ukrainian patriarch started. Then in 2022 war broke out in Ukraine..

What brought us together – going to Sundance, hosting panels and programming, and speaking engagements, was a connection to a very special mentor, guru, and guiding star – Alice Guy Blache.

You can't beat the hospitality that comes along with top-notch programming, in California wine country. Steve Shor has the magic touch as program director for the Sonoma International Film Festival with 120 films from 35 countries, chefs preparing food, and sommeliers pouring the wine.

LIGHT FROM THE EAST is about an extraordinary Ukrainian American stage production taking place during a coup in August 1991, in Kyiv, Ukraine.

After 40 years with Asbury Shorts USA, and still going strong, Doug LeClaire shares his secrets to a successful four-decade run that compares this theatrical event with an off-off-Broadway production.

I start the New Year catching up with Meira Blaustein Co-Founder/Executive & Artistic Director of the Woodstock Film Festival. Fiercely independent is her motto.

One of the many life's surprises that comes from attending film festivals is connecting with people who contribute to the continuing advancement of the arts and in this case great storytelling. A visit from Jesus Pimentel-Melo, executive director of the Cine Qua Non Screenwriting Lab, situated in the heart of Mexico turned into an exceptional conversation about the two-week residential workshop as well as a gift of beautiful writing journal with a dedication to my hero, Alice Guy Blache. I was touched. Our conversation began with her work as the first woman film director, the way to be natural and how the screenwriting lab curates the group, matching writers to their benefit. In addition to script guidance provided by the facilitator through workshop sessions and one-on-one meetings, there is additional professional advice by guest speakers. Participants have ample time for writing imbued with inspiration from their surroundings. The lab offers the participants the opportunity to workshop their projects with other international filmmakers, be part of a community of other like-minded artists, and access the Cine Qua Non Lab film professional network, all in an absolutely beautiful, protected setting, free of stress and distractions. It's fascinating to make such a connection within Narrowsburg, a place my family has called "our second home" for almost fifty years. Likely the reason why it keeps calling me back to the Delaware River, is its natural beauty, its serenity, and the arts that surround it. Time to take in the golden hour and wait for the hummingbirds to arrive.

My Tribeca Film Festival Adventure Part One (probably 16th annual) started on Friday taking a two hour train from Port Jervis, New York to Hoboken. There, I was able to afford a place to stay hopping over to Manhattan via the PATH train. My goal, such as it is for any film festival outside of my daily driving ability, was to find the Registration room, pick up my badge and get the lay of the land, jumping right into the action as the first weekend is usually insanely fast paced. According to the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival (April 24th to May 5th), info on their Squarespace redesigned website (for the second year as a sponsor), the 18th annual festival planned a showcase of works from emerging and new works from returning filmmakers. It was programmed from more than 9,295 submissions. “Our goal each year is to strike a balance between discovering new talent and showcasing new projects by notable filmmakers and storytellers.” I really don’t know how that would be possible. During the months before the festival, I had been inundated with press releases, updates, invites to the “red carpet only” (which I always mark down as “not interested”) special events and, what I had hoped for, more networking with the film industry, hence my upgrade to an Industry pass, this year. The lineup included 81 World, three International, eight North American, one U.S., and ten New York premieres. Also 42 first-time filmmakers and 19 Tribeca alums returned to the Festival with their latest projects. Why does this matter? Most film festivals strive for being the first to show a film believing it draws people to purchase tickets, most likely online purchases. It becomes a game for their competition as other festivals plan and promote their line up and the timing of films finished and released is paramount for the next step. Timing is everything for when and where films screen often so they may be in a solid place for contention whether it is for an Oscar, a great international distribution deal, or streaming VOD deals. This year's features program included 103 films from 124 filmmakers. 50% of the films selected in the three competition sections were directed by women filmmakers. 40% of the feature films have one or more women directors, 29% of the feature films are directed by filmmakers of color, and 13% of the features are by individuals who identify as LGBTQIA. This too, matters, because the glass ceiling remains an elusive call for these filmmakers to come out and shatter it once and for all. While I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t a United Artists Centennial component to the schedule, it reminded me of the Universal debacle a couple years ago where the moderator of the Universal Centennial panel discussion was totally unprepared for any discussion of cinema history and Robert DeNiro looked so uncomfortable tolerating the awkward topics brought up by Judd Apetow. 

However, panels were extremely popular and quickly sold out. A bit pricey at $40 per ticket. Keeping an eye out for the women directors in features, I found that documentaries ruled in this weekend and evening schedule. They opened the festival and maintained its hold over the course of the first seven days with Opening Night film The Apollo; Friday night Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice; Saturday and Critics Week choice, American Factory; Sunday afternoon, Dog Doc; and in the evening, Halston; Monday, Inndda Back Yard+Performance and Tuesday, Say Anything, retrospective with Cameron Crowe, James L. Brooks, Ione Skye and John Cusack on a Skype screen. Wasn't sure if I would get to see the premiere of Framing John DeLorean taking it in during a morning Press & Industry screening. The formula works for getting people to come out and stand on line, despite the cold, raw rainy Friday night for the Ronstadt film. Many who tried to buy tickets online found it was Sold Out. As I note in many of my earlier blogs and podcasts, the Sold Out makes the screening more desirable.

Coming back to the Tribeca Film Festival every year is Home. My backyard from New Jersey and access to some of the most interesting, spine tingling and controversial work programmed for eleven days. As always, we take in as many films as we can; however, this year I had broken my wrist a few weeks before Tribeca and after the surgery had only a week to work the schedule. We opted out of the Virtual Arcade featuring Storyscapes and the Cinema360, but had great impromptu conversations with fellow filmmakers and musicians into the television scene at the Filmmaker Lounge. Solid panels and extra-afternoon activities that are entertaining to watch as we take in the New York view. We also had an opportunity to celebrate Earth Day with receptions for a new way of Green Architecture and engineering and a present day denuclearization. Very awesome. Once Tribeca Hub centered the festival philosophy, it is gratifying to know that the overdone family street fair and the emphasis on sports passed its puberty, and has matured into a classy and sassy film festival that puts their filmmakers upfront, yet turns onto a road where social responsibility must also be weighed when conferring awards onto films that recognize terrorism as legitimate conflicts. We must remain vigilant over media takeover for propaganda purposes. Keep the faith.

Twelve years ago New Year's Eve, I put out my first podcast program, Film Festival reViews, a tryst for indie film lovers around the film festival circuit worldwide. Since then, End-of-Year shows highlight the films, festivals, music comings and goings. This year, we focused on a few of the notable and personal preference for strong women roles in all platforms– The Novitiate (Sundance) with a current theatrical screening at the Village East Cinema in New York City through January 4th; Ice Mother (Tribeca Film Festival) an international film from the Czech Republic; Wonder Woman (Box Office sensation) and Gal Gadot's next project; The Keepers (Netflix Docuseries); The Trouble With Angels (Director, Ida Lupino). Recording and audio engineer and long time musician, Yuri's music choices reaches into the pocket and pulls out some gems that stays with us for a long time. Looking forward to the coming year's film festival season. Thanks for listening– become a subscriber! Happy New Year...

Wanting more about movie icon, Bette Davis, Christina Kotlar and Yuri Turchyn, co hosts for Film Festival reViews 100th show, went on a 1930s/40s cinema-watching Bette Davis movies binge after witnessing Jessica Sherr’s one-woman show, Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies. It’s a firecracker of a show where “you fasten your seatbelts– it’s going to be a bumpy night.” Music and melodrama, professional rivalries, fighting the studio system and life imitating art are among the topics and conversation on some of the films chosen by Yuri– Dangerous, Jezebel, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Dark Victory, elusive to Bette Davis' triple crown Oscar achievement. So, the Bette Davis Ain't For Sissies show begins... It’s early evening of the 1939 Academy Awards–young Miss Davis is nominated for Best Actress in Dark Victory, and the Los Angeles Times LEAKS the OSCAR winners EARLY!! “This year Vivian Leigh will take home the Oscar for Best Actress!”… With newspaper in hand the BOLD, DEFIANT and DISILLUSIONED Bette Davis decides to leave! Journey into the young starlet’s battle to win freedom from the grip and control of Hollywood’s studio moguls. Witness Bette’s most defining moments as a tenacious young actor fighting her way to the top!! See what happens when someone who always wins…loses. Catch Jessica Sherr’s Bette Davis Ain’t For Sissies on Tuesday, Dec 12, 2017 at the Episcopal Actor’s Guild NYC Buy Tickets  

While most films we've seen at Tribeca Film Festival depended upon programmer scheduling to fit with our own, there were several that fit perfectly with the women in film line up that I focus on. Yuri Turchyn found the most appropo music for this episode. Opening  starts with Music for Hedy (unknown); You Stepped Out of a Dream (Johnny Mathis); For Ice Mother, a Czech film (Tribeca Award Winner for Screenwriting) surrounding an older women's rebirth and renaissance following a chance meeting with ice swimmers, we hear opening from the Moldau (Smetana); Do not listen to other reviews or poorly written program descriptions otherwise almost didn't go see November, an Estonian film (Tribeca Award Winner for Cinematography) that encompasses Slavic folk music, legendary and pagan rites that drives women in their seasonal lives and loves. Closing theme finds full circle in Music for Hedy.

Friday Night Opening Weekend at Tribeca Film Festival 2017 was a one of a kind cinematic experience under Special Screenings The Public Image is Rotten combining performance and after the film screening conversation with John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, original front man for the punk rock band, the Sex Pistols. After their break up in late 70s, he emerged as the lead singer of Public Image Ltd (PiL), continuing in an unconventional sight and sound style and structure.  There are no copy bands of the Sex Pistols or PiL and there's a reason why– each performance is unique and unto itself. From the beginning, punk rock became the voice for artists breaking free from a mainstream format and the record companies’ stranglehold on their creative artistry and earnings.  As Lydon recalls the many ups and downs of a live music performer’s lifestyle– from fellow band members comings and goings to the vastly changed music business landscape– his pondering becomes a poetic musing on survival and continuing performances as one artist with a decidedly different Bohemian lifestyle. Tabbert Fiiller, former bassist for the band MaxSinger Z makes his directorial debut taking the audience on a remarkable free-from ride through the personal and professional POVs of Lydon and his band mates. I love the hair.

Women in Film History Month with Barbara Moss, founder of Women's Film Preservation Fund, along with the amazing, committed women on this WFPF committee and New York Women in Film & Television (NYWiFT) as well as their partners –staunch and steadfast –in the quest to preserve the legacy of women who were the early cinema pioneers. This month is my crazy as a March Hare month as I recall falling into the rabbit hole a decade ago with Fort Lee Film Commission introducing me to Alice Guy Blache, first woman filmmaker and the godmother to all women in film.

Strad Style, winner of 2017 Slamdance Documentary Feature and Audience Award literally knocked us off our feet. Yuri's choice of music introduction for our Strad Style experience is perfectly suited as it continues to inspire him, long after the crazy week in Park City was over. Very inspirational for me as well. This is my tenth year going to Sundance | Slamdance, while Yuri experienced it for the first time. I wanted him to really have the best film festival experience in all aspects from the film screenings, the filmmakers, the film festival  community and the burgeoning economic development of the film business itself– he did.

Woodstock Film Festival 2016 Movies & Music on a recent perfect fall weekend in the Catskills. Check out Christina Kotlar and Yuri Turchyn absorbed in the art of conversation sorting through a carefully chosen weekend schedule of award winning films picking out the sounds that underscored the visually beautifully made sights. The post A Look at Woodstock Film Fest's Fistful of Movies + Music appeared first on Film Festival reViews.

On a recent perfect autumn weekend spent in the Catskills, at the fiercely independent Woodstock Film Festival 2016, Christina Kotlar and Yuri Turchyn recap in an absorbed art of conversation sorting through a carefully chosen weekend schedule of award winning films– picking out the sounds that underscored the visually beautifully made sights. Highlights include Two Trains Runnin', a juxtaposition of the civil rights movement and the search for 1930s recording musicians, saving their music from extinction; the American Epic music project preserving an incredible treasure trove of American music history and music scores galore.

Film Festival reViews Archives Episode 01 Tribeca Film Festival 2006, with interviews and commentary from filmmakers; Laurence Asseraf, executive director of the Tribeca Underground Film Festival, a short film showcase and one of the first stereoscopic film festival still in existence (BeFILM); and Rob Moretti, executive producer of the Montclair International Film Festival that was […] The post Tribeca Film Festival First Podcast 2006 appeared first on Film Festival reViews.

"Waking Ned Devine Meets Mr. Ed" is how I describe Director Louise Osmond's superbly crafted documentary Dark Horse. Dream Alliance  is the "talking" horse that became the talk of the town in the village of Cefn Fforest in one of the poorest Welsh mining valleys, Gwent, north of Newport.  The local Workingmen's Club is the setting for the real life characters specifically Jan Vokes, a barmaid in the club, who has a burning desire to breed a champion racehorse. Aside from this quirky cast, Dream becomes his own pivotal character, a handsome devil, a rich chestnut color with white blaze and a deep gaze, intensely thoughtful and curious.  Dark Horse was a runaway hit at Sundance 2015 winning the Audience Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

“Waking Ned Devine meets Mr. Ed” is how I describe director Louise Osmond's superbly crafted documentary, Dark Horse. The post Dark Horse: A Winner At Sundance appeared first on Film Festival reViews.

Lead singer of punk rock band, Traitors, Malika (Chaimae Ben Acha) engages her feminine heroic as she tries to find a way to change her world and escape the traditional life mapped out for women in Tangiers emulating Joe Strummer of the Clash, I'm so bored with Morocco but what can I do? In the […] The post Tribeca Film Festival: Engaging the Feminine Heroic appeared first on Film Festival reViews.

Traitors represents the restless generation in Tangiers, Morocco, inspired by the Clash hit Rock the Casbah, is transposed by lead singer, punk rocker, Malika (Chaimae Ben Acha), with the refrain– " I'm so bored with Morocco, but what can I do?" Sean Gullette, co writer with Darren Aronofsky's Pi, creates a world with empathy and admiration for the exotic mystery and cultural beauty of his adopted city. Interview with Sean Gullette and Audrey Rosenberg.

Ellen Houlihan's breakout short film Joan's Day Out, stars Oscar-nominated actor Sally Kellerman (M*A*S*H), Tara Lynne Barr (God Bless America) and Betsy Franco.  Reminiscent of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the story centers on three generations of women with grandma (Sally Kellerman)  escaping from an assisted living home for a day to help her granddaughter out […] The post Ellen Houlihan's Breakout Short – Joan's Day Out appeared first on Film Festival reViews.

Joan's Day Out, a short film by Ellen Houlihan, is a very funny slice of life with a grandma's version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off  escaping from an assisted living home starring Sally Kellerman and Betsy Franco, making its New York premiere at the Gen Art Film Festival.

Quiet control in storytelling, Philippe Falardeau chose a situation in the first continuous scene when a beloved teacher is discovered having hanged herself in the classroom. Not wanting the students' backgrounds to become an issue in a story that had enough issues to contend with, his choice of images included a private school, the characters […] The post Lessons Learned in Monsieur Lazhar appeared first on Film Festival reViews.

Quebec director, Philippe Falardeau was stunned at the announcement that Monsieur Lazhar was nominated for an Academy Award  (Best Foreign Film) during the screening at Sundance Film Festival.  At an interview during the Tribeca Film Festival, he talks about quiet control in character study and storytelling while garnering Six Genie Awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director.

Seduced in n the Berkshires at Tanglewood, by a Steely Dan concert from their Shuffle Diplomacy Tour Twenty Eleven. The music sublime and musicians along with New Jersey's Donald Fagen (born in Passaic, NJ) and Walter Becker were in full groove. The sky's early deluge was long gone before the concert started. With new rain gear and warm clothes for the cool night sounds, Steely Dan's music rocked.

Speaking against human trafficking, renowned Academy Award winning actor, Emma Thompson narrates the documentary, Fatal Promises, directed by Kat Rohrer and produced by her mother, expose journalist, Anneliese Rohrer,  as told through stories of victims in Ukraine and other Eastern European nations.

Is the next step in technology Transhumanism? Geoethical use of nanotechnology for human life extension? Cryogenics, biotechnology and cyber consciousness? 2B: The Era of Flesh Is Over tests the waters along with a panel that included Ray Kurzweil's take on the future in the field of artificial intelligence.

In ten years, Woodstock Film Festival established as  a maverick, being fiercely independent, provides an outpouring of films from fiercely independent filmmakers.

Acclaimed jazz violinist Yuri Turchyn gets into the heart of the matter with the connections between artist and the aspects of music making.

It's all about the music with Yuri Turchyn+GRUPO YURI recent performance at the Red Bank Jazz and Blues Festival. Hear clips of an American original coming from roots in the Jersey music scene in the 1970s into experimental permutations integrating Latin Jazz into a World Beat sound.

More insights and POVs, BeFilm The Undergound Film Festival (BeTuff) showcases the best national and international films in animation, documentary, experimental, spec narrative and stereoscopic films.

Tim and Mike Rauch are the animators behind German In The Woods, a Best in Show Winner at ASIFA East. Their illustration style matches the animation with a rhythm and pace of an orchestrated composition, getting into the nuances of physical gestures with the grain. Rauch Bros.

BeFilm The Undergound Film Festival (BeTuff) founded by Laurence Asseraf in her art gallery, A Taste of Art in Tribeca, NY (2004). Focusing on short films, "Shorter is Better," the festival is the first film festival in the world exclusively dedicated to short films with a 3D stereoscopic category.

Producer Maureen Ryan provides an insider's POV on the "Artistic Crime of the Century," in Man On Wire, a story revolving around Philippe Petit and his daring aerial walk on a wire illegally rigged between the World Trade Center's twin towers in 1973.  The film premiered at Sundance in 2008 winning the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary and nominated for an Academy Award and the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.

What if "Happiness" was literally for sale? A Short film in an unusual setting: a condom factory where a disgruntled worker, played by renowned Polish-American actor Elzbieta Czyzewska, spends days testing the product for leaks. Happiness won the Best Live-Action Under 15-Minutes jury prize at Palm Springs.

Writer/director Courtney Hunt wrote the short, then the feature Frozen River, then Melissa Leo and Misty Upham brought the narrative home, winning the  Sundance  Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Competition.  A Sony Pictures Classics release.

There are films that leave you hanging or make you quietly introspective, but Playing For Change: Peace Through Music is a film that lingers in your musical soul. A NYC World Premiere, each song has over 35 musicians around the world – who have never met– playing in their own environment. Co directors Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls put it, "It's a way to start focusing on our connections instead of our difference."

Bill Plympton's World Premiere of an animation feature, Idiots & Angels, a dark comedy about a man battling for his soul.

Cynthia Wade, Director of Academy Award winning Short Documentary, Freeheld, talks about elements that make up a "Cynthia Wade" stamp on her work, specifically a story told through the eyes of a strong female character.

A conversation with Melissa Leo in her element at the foothills of the Catskills where mystical energies make things happen. A little over a week ago when  writer/director Courtney Hunt who wrote the short, then the feature Frozen River, then Melissa Leo and Misty Upham brought the narrative home, winning the  Sundance  Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Competition.  A Sony Pictures Classics release.

Thom Powers, Documentary Programmer for Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), co hosted with me NYWiFT's panel – A Case Study on the Making of a Feature Documentary discussing Manufactured Landscapes, Jennifer Baichwal's portrayal of renowned  photographer, Edward Burtynsky as he composed his large format photos that combine global social issues within an epic sweep.

Margaret Brown's Order of Myths unlocks ornately embellished doors drawing us into an exotic world of secret, mystic societies, both black and white, that staunchly cling to centuries-old traditions, maintaining a hard to fathom decorum still in existence to this day.

Steve Shor on film commissions doing more for the economic development in their states than acknowledged.

Woodstock Film Festival welcomes the fiercely independent Mavericks of independent filmmaking.

Acclaimed French Director, Patrice Leconte, talks about My Best Friend, screened at Toronto International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival, and as our conversation turned to relationships– in this case a friendship –which led to his statement and my question – is the best friend only a myth and having a best friend a thing of the past where legends reside?

Third Annual Polish Film Festival at the Anthology Film Archives where one of Poland's most prominent filmmakers, Agnieszka Holland appeared for a Q&A following the screening of Copying Beethoven.