briefly noted

The CMJ Film Festival starts today! Oh yeah, there’s music too, actually there’s a lot of great music, but I’ll be concentrating on the films this week.

Tonight I’m attending the premier of The Perfect Age of Rock N’ Roll staring Peter Fonda, Jason Ritter and Kelly Lynch. I don’t know too much about this one other than it involves two friends who love music, share a memorable roadtrip together and reflect on the past. Sounds good to me, but I’ll let you know after the screening.

Click here for the full CMJ film festival lineup.

Pedro Almodovar, one of my favorite directors, and the absolutely gorgeous Penelope Cruz introducing Broken Embraces, the closing night film of the 47th New York Film Festival!

Funny, this morning I started my day actually a bit bummed knowing I’d miss this film, but around 4ish I received a text and voila - I end up front row and center at the premiere. I have so much to say about the film and Almodovar as a director, but I’ll save all that for tomorrow.

Amazing, incredibly cool night.

Photo from Sunday’s “The Art of Digital Filmmaking: From Production to Distribution” panel at the Bushwick Film Festival.

From left to right, our talented panelists - Lewis Fowler of Untucked Films and CollegeHumor’s Josh Ruben and Vincent Peone.

These guys were incredibly engaging, providing valuable insight on present day film production, storytelling, reaching audiences and the industry exposure that comes with having a strong Web presence. Well done, fellas!

Sundance <=> NEXT

The Sundance Institute has announced the creation of a new section in the Sundance Film Festival beginning next year called NEXT, which will feature six to eight films selected for their innovative and original work in low-and no-budget filmmaking.

“With NEXT, Festival programmers hope to provide a platform for these filmmakers to connect to audiences, industry and press while at the same time inviting the artists to be a part of an ever-evolving community of filmmakers working outside the system. Festival staffers refer to the new section with the symbol < = > which literally translates to ‘less than equals greater than’.”

(via Filmmaker Magazine)

The New York Film Festival announced its lineup today! The film I’m most excited about is Pedro Almodovar’s Broken Embraces starring Penelope Cruz, which will close the festival.

The film is described as “a candy-colored emotional roller that barrels from comedy to romance to melodrama to the darker haunts of film noir in a multilayered story of a man who loses his sight and the love of his life.”

I definitely plan on getting tickets to this premier. You can too on Sept. 13th when tickets become available to the public.

Yesterday I braved the torrential downpour that nearly swallowed up the city to attend a screening of Stages, one of the many films featured in the New York International Latino Film Festival presented by HBO.

Stages is a feature-length documentary film following a group of older Puerto Rican women who are brought together with a group of inner city youths to create an original play from the stories of their lives.

Showing that life’s lessons do not stop after sixty, the film is a coming-of-age story and one about growing older intimately following each character as they learn, discover and grow through an open, guided creative theater workshop. The older latin women and urban teenagers profiled share personal stories of hardship and happiness from their past, present and hopes for the future, and in turn relate universal feelings we all -regardless of age - experience in life. It was incredible to see people transformed by exploring their own stories, and the film ultimately left me with an even greater appreciation for community arts programs, truly important experiences for people of all ages, ethnicity, income, etc.

Stages was produced by a collective of talented artists at Meerkat Media and is screening once more during the festival at 5 p.m. Friday at the School of Visual Arts Theater on 23rd St. btw. 8th and 9th Ave. Please go check it out!

Additionally, the New York International Latino Film Festival continues through August 2, 2009. See the full line-up of films here.

Endurance swimmers, Afghan pop stars, modern Mad Men, adolescent suicide, dolphin activism, Burmese injustice, third world oil, dirt, overfishing, controversial presidents, women on the fringe, black hairstyles, notorious dictators, world financial decay, Nigeria’s Nollywood, an unconventional best friend, animal therapy, integrated prom night, royalty, honor killings, international journalism, sexual abuse, fashion creator and curator, a U.N. ambassador, free speech, a filipino boxing hero, Tibetan cultural musings, Big Brother, The Doors, a left-wing radical and a Russian journalist’s brutal murder.

All are subjects of documentaries both U.S. and International featured at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. They all sound fascinating, but I’ve bolded the ones I’m most interested in and (hopefully) will screen soon in New York.