Film festival – Media Services News

For the silent film treasure hunter…

Imogen Sara Smith highlights Mostly Lost on Criterion. Definitely worth a read. On eventbrite, the description of the Mostly Lost workshop is: The Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Packard Campus presents “Mostly Lost 6: A Film Identification Workshop” on June 15-17, 2017 in Culpeper, Virginia. “Mostly Lost” will feature the screenings of unidentified, … Continue reading “For the silent film treasure hunter…”

Imogen Sara Smith highlights Mostly Lost on Criterion. Definitely worth a read. On eventbrite, the description of the Mostly Lost workshop is:

The Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Packard Campus presents “Mostly Lost 6: A Film Identification Workshop” on June 15-17, 2017 in Culpeper, Virginia. “Mostly Lost” will feature the screenings of unidentified, under-identified or misidentified silent and early sound films.Early film experts and archivists are encouraged to attend, but the workshop is also open to anyone willing to actively help identify and research the films showcased at the workshop. In addition to films from the Library of Congress’s collections, “Mostly Lost” features material from other film archives around the world. Throughout the event there will also be presentations about The Destruction of Some American Silent Features, The Lost Origins of Silent Horror Icons, William Fox and the Fox Film Corporation, as well as others. Live musical accompaniment during the workshop and evening presentations of silent films will also be featured.

This festival sounds like an amazing opportunity for those with an eye for film treasure, and a riot even for the amateur.

Tickets are available on eventbrite.

The Toronto Film Festival had “its blackest edition ever”

As we saw at this weekend’s Emmy Awards, we’re finally seeing what happens when diversity in film goes from being a challenge to an asset. Diversity expands the possibilities of storytelling and filmmaking, and NPR saw that in effect at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Normally, the author Bilal Qureshi points out, film festival … Continue reading “The Toronto Film Festival had “its blackest edition ever””

Normally, the author Bilal Qureshi points out, film festival narratives tend to be dominated by one black film that has to stand in for the entire black experience, as Nate Parker’s Birth of a Nation seemed poised to this year. But this year, TIFF had what Qureshi calls “its blackest edition ever” that “[pushed] back against the idea that Hollywood can only absorb one black story at a time.” In fact, the filmmakers and organizers have shied away from labeling films “diverse” because, with the lineup they’ve assembled, there’s no reason to pigeonhole non-white filmmakers.

We hope this becomes the new normal for film festivals. Hopefully we can expand the conversation about diversity in film past just its absence to what it looks like in practice.

What does independent film look like today?

via Maryland Film Festival The slow roll into summer is the time of year when we start to look at our big-picture tasks, so it seems appropriate to share a big-picture article about the state of film. For The New Yorker, Richard Brody wrote a lengthy piece about the state of “independent film” and what … Continue reading “What does independent film look like today?”

via Maryland Film Festival

The slow roll into summer is the time of year when we start to look at our big-picture tasks, so it seems appropriate to share a big-picture article about the state of film.

For The New Yorker, Richard Brody wrote a lengthy piece about the state of “independent film” and what the term means in 2016. Independent film has always distinguished itself from Hollywood by its open experimentation, as well as by what Brody calls the “perpetual crisis” of needing to find a direction to transform film. In his summary of the Maryland Film Festival, Brody sees the current crisis as a resistance to the entire form of the feature film. Digital distribution and cheap production with phones have outmoded the long-standing system of pitching films at festivals for theatrical release. Can “indie filmmaking” grow past its old habits?

Brody’s article profiles a few interesting entries from the Maryland Film Festival, but more importantly, it shows what independent film now looks like from the ground. Filmmakers, producers, and others continue to meet behind closed doors to talk frankly about their industry. There’s community, but increasingly, it’s one that wants to shake out of its usual structure.

Hear Betty Boop and Max Fleischer favorites performed live

Discussion about the early history of animation tends to focus on Walt Disney and Looney Tunes, ignoring good old Max Fleischer. Fleischer was the man behind Betty Boop, Popeye, and other Depression-era classics. We could talk about those for a week, especially the censorship of Betty Boop, but one of the most critical parts of … Continue reading “Hear Betty Boop and Max Fleischer favorites performed live”

Discussion about the early history of animation tends to focus on Walt Disney and Looney Tunes, ignoring good old Max Fleischer. Fleischer was the man behind Betty Boop, Popeye, and other Depression-era classics. We could talk about those for a week, especially the censorship of Betty Boop, but one of the most critical parts of Fleischer’s cartoons was the music he used. Compared to Steamboat Willie‘s stereotypically peppy score, Betty Boop was jazzier, riskier, and a little more culturally savvy.

In celebration of Max Fleischer’s career, the currently ongoing Washington Jewish Film Festival will host a screening this weekend of some of Fleischer’s cartoons with the music performed live, as improbable as this sounds, by a Max Fleischer cover band. Hear Betty Boop sing! Marvel at how Fleischer’s animation reflects the Jazz Age rather than glossing it over!

The video embedded above should give you an idea of what to expect. This is really novel performance idea and a great way to celebrate Fleischer’s body of work.

The screening-concert will be at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 5th, at the AFI Silver in Silver Spring.

Games on Film invades National Harbor’s MAGFest this weekend

In DC, film festivals turn up in the oddest places. This city hosts so many non-profits and interest organizations that you can usually find special screenings for any topic or culture, as we’ve covered in the past. For 2016, you can add gaming to that list: as part of the annual Music and Games Festival … Continue reading “Games on Film invades National Harbor’s MAGFest this weekend”

In DC, film festivals turn up in the oddest places. This city hosts so many non-profits and interest organizations that you can usually find special screenings for any topic or culture, as we’ve covered in the past. For 2016, you can add gaming to that list: as part of the annual Music and Games Festival in National Harbor, Maryland, MAGFest is hosting Games on Film, a selection of 15 films and 40 shorts about games and gaming culture.

Over the four-day event, which starts tomorrow, Games on Film will screen a mix of feature films and documentaries about gaming. We’ll admit that the feature film selection seems less interesting (most are fan adaptations of popular games), but the documentaries caught our attention. Of particular interest are Thank You for Playing, about the production of a game based on a true story of childhood cancer, and The Power of Glove, a tongue-in-cheek look at the infamously poor Nintendo glove controller.

There’s also quite a few about the culture around gaming and game conventions, especially costuming Keep an eye out for Shades of Cosplay: A Black Cosplayer Documentary.

MAGFest isn’t an inexpensive event – $75 for the weekend or $45 per day – so we’re not sure we can recommend going entirely for the film lineup. But if you’re interested in gaming anyway (board games too!), you should stop in at this up-and-coming festival.

Arabian Sights Film Festival brings its twentieth year to Friendship Heights

From From A to B We’re close to the start of the unending stream of Halloween-related activities, but the rest of the world doesn’t stop in October. There are plenty of film happenings around DC this month, so let’s talk about one of the cooler ones, the twentieth anniversary of the Arabian Sights Film Festival. … Continue reading “Arabian Sights Film Festival brings its twentieth year to Friendship Heights”

From From A to B

We’re close to the start of the unending stream of Halloween-related activities, but the rest of the world doesn’t stop in October. There are plenty of film happenings around DC this month, so let’s talk about one of the cooler ones, the twentieth anniversary of the Arabian Sights Film Festival.

Sponsored by Filmfest DC and the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, Arabian Sights is one of DC’s best annual showcases of Arab cinema, and it takes place in our backyard at the AMC Mazza Gallerie in Friendship Heights. From October 16th to October 25th, you can catch ten new films, as well as a discussion panel titled The New Arab Cinema. On the 24th, you are also invited to a free happy hour event celebrating twenty years of the festival.

Each screening costs $13, which is a pretty good price. You can buy tickets in advance from the Filmfest DC website, or you can buy them at the door. Either way, this should all be very tempting for fans of world cinema. If you need to get a little culture in before everything turns to skeletons in a few weeks, Arabian Sights is only a quick walk from AU campus.

DC Shorts is happening… right now!

One of DC’s biggest film events has been happening under our noses! DC Shorts, an annual showcase of short films, has been going on since last Thursday, but there’s still a few more days worth of films to catch. Over the course of a week and a half, DC Shorts screens over 100 shorts from … Continue reading “DC Shorts is happening… right now!”

Over the course of a week and a half, DC Shorts screens over 100 shorts from local and international, including documentaries, music videos, and animation. The size and quality of the festival is a testament to the strength of the local film scene, and the concurrent screenplay competition shows that you don’t need to know lens focal length to be involved.

Counting today, there are still three days of new films to watch, followed by a Best of Show revue over the weekend. See DC Shorts’s schedule for a listing of what will screen where. All the new screenings are at E Street Cinema, so depending on when you show up, you could have your choice of local shorts, LGBT films, comedy, or a general competition showcase. You can still watch these shorts if you can’t make it out, too. For $30, you can watch nearly all the festival’s shorts online. That’s a great alternative if you want to see quality short films without having to schlep to E Street.

We hope you’ll attend! There’s a few big festivals every year in DC, and this is a favorite.

Buenos Aires film festival puts decades of Latin American films online for free

Our comfortable routine of watching major blockbusters and idly browsing Netflix often blinds us to titles we wouldn’t otherwise seek out, and too often, that includes world cinema. Our usual outlets sometimes either downplay or outright omit films from other countries and in other languages. If you want to watch something from elsewhere on the … Continue reading “Buenos Aires film festival puts decades of Latin American films online for free”

If you’re interested in Latin American films, look no further than Cinemargentino, a streaming website that recently got a big kick from the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema. BAFICI released hundreds of films from the festival’s 16-year library to Cinemargentino, which can now be streamed from free via your browser. The library includes shorts and feature-length videos totaling over 15 hours, guaranteeing you, at the very least, one extremely aggressive day of world cinema.

The deal between BAFICI and Cinemargentino seems to be temporary, so you’ll want to cram those 15 hours in while you can. The site does have plenty of other exciting Latin American film, so even if you miss this window, you still might’ve found your favorite new streaming site.

(Thanks to Professor Jeffrey Middents for tipping us off!)

Television’s reign of visual media continues, bleeds into film festivals

Even in a post-Breaking Bad and nearly-post-Mad Men landscape, television continues to assert its cultural dominance. More directors and actors turn to television for a chance to tell experimental or long-form stories, and the film world has unsurprisingly taken notice. In the latest sign of this explosive growth and relevance, the Toronto International Film Festival … Continue reading “Television’s reign of visual media continues, bleeds into film festivals”

Even in a post-Breaking Bad and nearly-post-Mad Men landscape, television continues to assert its cultural dominance. More directors and actors turn to television for a chance to tell experimental or long-form stories, and the film world has unsurprisingly taken notice. In the latest sign of this explosive growth and relevance, the Toronto International Film Festival is changing tune and including television shows in its regular lineup for the first time.

TIFF is billing this new selection as Primetime, a roster of six shows from around the world that highlight the increasing quality of international television programming. TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey is direct in his praise of television, noticing that “film and television have been converging for years, with many filmmakers gravitating to television to experiment with that medium.” It’s a bold statement – both the words and the gesture – that suggests the staying power of television’s seeming golden age.

Submissions for TIFF are still open, so we can’t tell you what they’ll be highlighting just yet.

Television has come a long way in public and critical esteem since HBO premiered The Sopranos (many critics consider this the medium’s turning point.) We wouldn’t be surprised to see other festivals add television episodes to their lineups in the coming years.

Cultural fragmentation begets bizarre niche film festivals

If you pay attention to film news, you may have noticed a brouhaha this weekend over the Telluride Film Festival, one of the first stops on the road to Oscar contention and a recurring favorite for independent filmmakers. But back in May, you might have missed out on Blobfest, a festival that only screens movies … Continue reading “Cultural fragmentation begets bizarre niche film festivals”

As told in a recent profile from The New York Times, Blobfest is one of the many niche film festivals springing up around the world. The Times has assembled an impressive list of these weird and unusual events, ranging from the Feline Film Festival (which has come a long way since its first year) to mockumentary haven Mockfest. This is probably a result of the Long Tail-ization of interests and the ability for small audiences to thrive in the digital age, but it still gives critics like Peter Bogdanovich “a headache just trying to think of possibilities.”

We saw some of this locally too; among all the various outdoor film festivals this summer, many had very specific themes, such as “flight” or “work.” Plus, the annual festival held by the cinema-focused University College group always rallies around a specific, unusual topic. Frankly, it’s fun to run with these somewhat silly and specific premises, especially when they can have positive effects (as the Times mentions for the Anxiety Arts Festival). Maybe we too will have a chapter of the Feline Film Festival one day.