DER FILMMAKER NINA HASIN INVITES YOU:

Yes, the woodcarvers from Oaxaca, Mexico will be
carving and painting and the video “The Dancing
Chickens of Ventura Fabian” will be screening at
Harvard’s Peabody Museum annual Day of the Dead
festivities on Fri. Nov. 2, but only from 4-6pm at the
Family Event, and not at the evening fiesta, as was
previously announced.
www.peabody.harvard.edu/galleries/dia-07.html

So instead, why not come to an OPEN HOUSE this weekend
to meet and greet the carvers, practice your Spanish,
watch them work, have some snacks, browse and perhaps
purchase some wonderful carvings. They make excellent
Christmas gifts.

Please join us from 1-5pm on Sat. Nov. 3 and Sun. Nov.
4 at:
36 Beecher St.
Jamaica Plain, MA
617) 522-4008

For those of you not familiar with our project, I’ll
be hosting Ventura Fabian and his son Beto,
woodcarvers from Oaxaca, Mexico for our third year of
the Visiting Mexican Artists Program.  We travel
around to schools and show/sell their colorful,
fanciful carvings…. the most famous are his “dancing
chickens” (see attached photos).

Directions, or you can do a mapquest, too:

BY CAR FROM THE JAMAICAWAY -  If you’re coming from
the north, you’ll make a left on Perkins St. If you
come from the south, you’ll make a right. Go to 2nd
intersection (the one after South Huntington St.) and
swing RIGHT onto Centre St.
* Make 1st LEFT onto Paul Gore St. (El Oriental de
Cuba is on the corner.) Make 2nd RIGHT onto Beecher
St. 36 Beecher is big pink house at the end of the
block on the left on corner of Boylston and Beecher.

BY CAR FROM MASS AVE. - Take Mass Ave. to Symphony
Hall and turn onto Huntington St. going towards the
Museum of Fine Arts. (From the north it’s a right,
from the south it’s a left.) Take that all the way
down until you make a LEFT onto South Huntington
(follow trolley tacks.) Turn LEFT onto Perkins St.
(M.S.P.C.A. is on the left.) Go 1 block,
swing RIGHT onto Centre St. See * above.

BY MBTA - Take Orange Line to Stonybrook T stop. Turn
RIGHT out of station. Walk up Boylston St. 3 blocks to
big pink house on the left at the corner of Boylston
and Beecher. Turn corner.

Hope to see you,
Nina

Daughter From Danang color, 81 minutes
A thought-provoking film about identity, family and culture: What shapes our sense of self? What defines our concept of family? And how do cultural expectations influence our choices? Since the film takes place against the backdrop of the Vietnam War it reveals how the trauma inflicted by that conflict continues to haunt and harm those who survived it.

Everyday Life of Roma Children from Block 71 color, 21 minutes
An intimate window into Serbian Roma culture, this documentary sheds light on the intricacies of Roma customs and their amalgamation of cultural influences - from Roma and Serbian culture to Hispanic pop-culture. Remarkably resilient, funny and optimistic, the children speak openly about their hopes and dreams, including educational opportunities from which they are often excluded.

Screening Room with Ed Emshwiller color, 77 minutes
Experimental filmmaker Ed Emshwiller appeared on Screening Room in July 1975 to screen and discuss the films Chrysalis, George Dumpson’s Place, Carol Emshwiller, Thanatopsis, Film With Three Dancers, Scape Mates, and Crossings and Meetings.

Screening Room with Emile de Antonio color, 79 minutes
Along with visual anthropologist Edmund Carpenter, political filmmaker Emile de Antonio appeared on Screening Room in June 1973 to screen and discuss excerpts from his films Point of Order, Rush to Judgement, In the Year of the Pig and Millhouse: A White Comedy.

Screening Room with Suzan Pitt color, 71 minutes
Independent animator and painter Suzan Pitt appeared on Screening Room in July, 1975. She screened and discussed Bowl, Garden, Theatre, Marble Game, Crocus, Cels, Whitney Promo, and Jefferson Circus Songs.

We are pleased to send you the guidelines and application form for the Fall 2007 Technical Assistance Grants from Renew Media (formerly known as National Video Resources).

The previous rounds of the Technical Assistance Grants have been competitive and with each cycle, we wish that we had more grant funds to give.  If you were not funded in a previous round, please know that you are welcome to reapply with the same proposal (although you may wish to revise it) or you may apply with an entirely new proposal.  In any case, feel free to call us for feedback.

Renew Media’s Technical Assistance Grants have been created to further aid Media Arts Fellows by providing financial support for costs associated with:

·  post-production, promotion/distribution, archiving/preservation/migration of the Fellowships funded project

·  website support focused on promoting the artist and/or the Fellowships funded project.

·  initial stages of a new project including pre-production, research and screenplay/project development.

The Technical Assistance Grants, a component of Renew Media’s Media Arts Fellowships, are supported by funds from the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The deadline for the Fall 2007 submissions is Monday, November 12th.

Please download and review the:

a) Guidelines (at the end of the guidelines you will find sample application possibilities.  Note that applications are not limited to examples provided.)

b) Application Form – to be completed and emailed back with proposal narrative

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

We look forward to receiving your applications!

Sincerely,
Leah Giblin

————–

Leah Giblin
Fellowships Program Associate
Renew Media
73 Spring Street #403 New York, NY 10012
212.274.8080 | lgiblin@renewmedia.org | www.renewmedia.org

“The Visiting Mexican Artists Program: The Dancing
Chickens of Ventura Fabian” return for its’ 3rd Boston
area school tour.

(www.der.org/donate/dancing-chickens)

Thanks to a travel grant from the Mexican Consulate in
Boston, master Oaxacan woodcarver Ventura Fabian & his
son Norberto, will also be the featured artists at the
Consulate’s annual Day of the Dead event at Harvard’s
Peabody Museum on Friday, Nov. 2.

Please join us at the Museum from 4-6pm for the Family
Event, or from 7:30-10pm for the Fiesta. For details,
please see:
www.peabody.harvard.edu/galleries/dia-07.html

Hope to see you there,
Nina

Workshops on Documentary Story Structure and Fundraising Demos
In LOS ANGELES

A unique chance to learn from story consultant Fernanda Rossi, The Documentary Doctor, author of the book “Trailer Mechanics”, the bi-monthly column “Ask the Doc Doctor” and story consultant of over 150 documentaries, fiction scripts and fundraising trailers including this year’s Academy Award Nominee Recycled Life by Leslie Iwerks.

Check info below for bio and workshop details.
—————————————————————–
“I am honored to have Fernanda’s ongoing input on my various projects.”
2007 Academy Award Nominee
Recycled Life, by Leslie Iwerks
——————————————————————
“Very useful, practical and fun.”
Felipe Lacerda
editor “Central Station”
director “Bus 174″
—————————————————————–
“It’s like getting a map into the woods”
Laura Poitras, producer/director “Flag Wars”
broadcast on POV/PBS
2007 Academy Award Nominee for “My Country, My Country”
—————————————————————–
“I never learned so much in one day.”
Carole Dean
President of the Roy W. Dean Grant
—————————————————————–

DOCTORING YOUR DOC: How to Structure  your Documentary
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007
&
TRAILER MECHANICS: How to Make your Fundraising Demo
Saturday, November 10th, 2007
(you can attend either or both workshops (pass discount)

Led by story consultant Fernanda Rossi, The Documentary Doctor.

- Early Registration by Nov. 1st (either workshop): $120 members* and students/$135 General
- At the door (either workshop: $135 members* and students/$150 General
- Pass for BOTH workshops: $200 members* and students/$230 General

*Members: Black Doc Filmmakers, CineWomen, Doculink, FIND, IDA and NALIP.

REGISTRATION AT: www.documentarydoctor.com and click on Latest News

Workshops Description:

A) DOCTORING YOUR DOC: How to Structure Your Documentary

Lots of ideas and even footage but no clue where to get started? Or maybe you are stuck in the cutting room? A solid understanding of story structure is as necessary to your documentary as a strong script is to a fiction film. With hands-on exercises, this full-day workshop for producers, directors, writers and editors, can give you the guidelines you need to find solutions that are true to your documentary’s style. You will:

* learn story development techniques
* learn story structure templates in an innovative and easy way
* identify common pitfalls that waste your time and money during production
and post, and how to avoid them.
* analyze a film as practice for your own project
* analyze works-in-progress from the audience.

Bring your work-in-progress (Not required to attend). There will also be a
raffle!

B) TRAILER MECHANICS: How to Make Your Fundraising Demo

“Can I see your trailer?” Let’s face it, a fundraising trailer can make or break your film. It can get you funded or it can put you on the “passed” list. Stop the guess work of what works and what doesn’t with this full day workshop for producers, directors, writers and editors. If you already read or are about to read the book by the same name, this workshop is a chance to see all that theory in action with real life examples. You will:

• learn the foundational story structures for fundraising trailers
• learn the most common mistakes filmmakers make when making their trailers
and how to avoid them (not the filmmakers, the mistakes).
• view trailers before and after Fernanda’s doctoring.
• view successful fundraising trailers.
• view fundraising trailers from the audience followed by discussion.

Bring your trailer or footage (raw or cut) for discussion. (Not required to
attend) There will also be a raffle!

PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS: Fernanda Rossi is available for private consultations. For more information visit www.documentarydoctor.com or write to info@documentarydoctor.com

Thank you to Los Angeles based producer/director Jonathan Skurnik for facilitating this event. http://www.jskurnik.com

—————————————————————————-
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP LEADER:

Fernanda Rossi is a writer, filmmaker and story consultant who helps
filmmakers craft the story structure of their films in all stages of the
filmmaking process. She has doctored over 150  documentaries, fiction
scripts and fundraising trailers including this year Academy Award Nominee Recycled Life by Leslie Iwerks.

Along with her private consultations, she gives lectures and seminars
nationwide, such as Doctoring your Doc and Trailer Mechanics. Ms. Rossi has
also served as a Juror for the Chicago International Film Festival and a
grant panelist for New York State Council for the Arts, Latino
Public Broadcast and ITVS, which gave her a chance to view and evaluate over
300 fundraising  trailers and works-in-progress.

She pens the bi-monthly column Ask the Doc Doctor for Film Arts magazine (former Release Print) and is the author of Trailer Mechanics: A Guide to Making your Documentary Fundraising Trailer.

Her work as a story consultant, workshop leader and filmmaker has been
featured in Filmmaker Magazine, New York Times and other publications. She
has a degree in Film Production from the University of Buenos Aires.
—————————————————————————-

The Boston Latino International Film Festival and Women in Film & Video New England present a panel and screening at the Harvard Film Archive.  Please join us on Saturday, October 13, 2007 at 1:30 pm.

Saturday, October 13, 2007
1:30-2:45  PANEL (FREE)
3:00 FILM SCREENING

1:30-2:45 PM PANEL:

“Challenges for Latinas and Cross-Cultural Filmmaking”

PANEL PARTICIPANTS: Diane Lake, professor, screenwriter FRIDA; Angelica Allende Brisk: editor/producer CARTONEROS; Lisa Mattei-McDonald: executive director Plymouth Film Festival; and Monika Navarro: ITVS grant recipient ANIMAS PERDIDAS.  Panel moderated by Mary Ann Dougherty, professor of film at Boston University.

Producing movies and documentaries in Latin America and the US is a hard business. This panel composed by academics, Latina and non Latina filmmakers will explore the challenges they face in the US and Latin America when it comes to stereotypes, gender discrimination, and cross cultural filmmaking.

Panel discussion will be followed by the documentary Companeras, about Mexican-American women in a Mariachi band, traditionally a male dominated field.

3:00 PM FILM SCREENING:

“Companeras”

Directed by Elizabeth Massie
Mexico/US 2006, 60 min.

Companeras is an intimate profile of America’s first all-female mariachi band, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles. Taking on a male-dominated musical tradition, this 12-member group shatters stereotypes about Latina women while expanding the popularity of mariachi music.

Harvard Film Archive Carpenter Center
24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Click here for HFA website

PANELISTS
Angelika Brisk

Angelica Allende Brisk edited and co-produced Ernesto Livon-Grosman’s documentary Cartoneros.  A smash hit at last year’s Boston Latino International Film Festival, Cartoneros presents Buenos Aires through the eyes of a subculture fueling a fast growing industry in the wake of economic crisis.  Ms. Brisk began her career at places like WGBH and Blackside, Inc. working on projects that increased the visibility of Latinos and other underrepresented minorities in the United States.  As a staff producer/director at La Plaza, PBS’ longest running Latino series - she produced several half-hour documentaries for local and national broadcast including Freshman Year on Beacon Hill, 20 days to 10th grade, Sweet 15, Far From Cuba, Becoming a Diva, and Behind the Blue Diner. She went on to produce several episodes of children’s programming for series including Post Cards from Buster, Peep and the Big Wide World, and Curious George.   Currently Brisk joins director James Rutenbeck on his new film Scenes from a Parish  when she isn’t buried in her basement focused on her own film Bloom.

Diane Lake

Diane Lake, is a Professor at Emerson College, and has previously taught screenwriting for UCLA’s acclaimed Writer’s Program. She has been a working screenwriter since 1993 when she sold her first story idea. Since then, she has been commissioned to write screenplays for Columbia, Disney, Miramax and Paramount, as well as various independent producers. Projects currently in active development include Distance, the story of the French Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot, under option by Blue Collar Films; Chandler, a film noir set in 1930s Los Angeles, being packaged by Roth/Arnold Productions; and A Thousand Cranes, an epic love story set against the backdrop of the bombing of Hiroshima in WWII, being packaged by Digital Domain Studios. Diane’s film, Frida, opened the Venice Film Festival in 2002, and was named one of the 10 best films of the year by numerous top 10 lists, including The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. Frida was also nominated for 6 Academy Awards in 2003.

Lisa Mattei-McDonald

Lisa Mattei-McDonald combines strategic, technical and creative experience for entertainment, retail distribution, marketing and business applications. She started her career in film production where she consulted and produced multiple small format film projects for clients such as Viacom and Paramount.  Lisa launched Kao’s DVD Studio and produced the first US DVD-Video releases Africa: The Serengeti and Antarctica; the first ROM-Hybrid DVD Ski World; and, assisted industry leaders, Microsoft and Apple, in developing their inaugural DVD-ROM releases. Her passion and quest for high quality and innovation led to four national and three international award nominations for King Crimson’s deja VROOOM and critical acclaim for Sara McLaughlan’s Mirrorball and Talking Head’s Stop Making Sense.

In 2000, she joined Cramer Production’s Interactive Department where she incorporated her DVD production skills to direct interactive projects from concept through delivery for deployment on CD-ROM, Websites, Webcasts, Video On Demand, Webmercials, Kiosks, Tradeshows and Marketing Initiatives.  Lisa and Cramer’s former interactive director founded Crank DV in 2002 to specialize in visual communications for business and entertainment. In 2005, CrankDV was acquired by The Digital Influence Group. While building the business for CrankDV in 2004, Lisa and a group of friends formed the Plymouth Independent Film Festival, which finished its third year successfully this past July. Lisa is employed by BigBad as Project Manager of complex websites.

Monika Navarro

Animas Perdidas (Lost Souls) is Monika Navarro’s debut documentary feature. The film recently received an ITVS/LINCS grant, in co-production with WGBH.  Last year Monika produced Animas Perdidas as a Filmmaker-in-Residence at WGBH, mentored by La Plaza producers Joseph Tovares and Patricia Alvarado-Núñez.  She was selected to screen Animas Perdidas in the Spotlight on Documentaries Works-in-Progress at the 2006 IFP Market, where she was nominated for an Emerging Latino Filmmaker Award.  In February of 2006 Monika was a visiting artist at the Barefoot Workshops in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where she screened her completed trailer at the Delta Blues Museum.  A member of Women in Film and Video/New England, Monika is an alumnus of their Media Mentor program.  Animas Perdidas has been funded by ITVS, an Emerging Artist’s Grant from the City of Ventura Cultural Council for the Humanities.

Monika received her BFA in Studio Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University. She is a first-generation Mexican-American and was raised in Southern California.  She has lived in Guadalajara and traveled extensively in Mexico.  In 2001 she was awarded a scholarship from the Mexico Solidarity Network to participate in a delegation with the Chiapas Media Project.  Recently she worked as the festival coordinator for the award-winning Cambridge, MA-based “Do It Your Damn Self!!” National Youth Video and Film Festival, a youth-curated film festival.  In 2004 she ran the Boston Marathon as part of the Tufts President’s Challenge.

Moderator: Mary Ann Dougherty

Mary Jane Doherty is an Associate Professor of Film Production at Boston University; there she developed the NarDoc (Narrative Documentary) production course and technique; essentially, a revised version of cinema verite filmmaking of yore. As part of Nadita Productions, Mary Jane is currently co-directing, shooting and editing two films:  Volar is a three year project following 4 young ballerinas growing up within Cuba’s elite ballet system and L to the Third is a short, experimental documentary about modern day love.

Call for imagineNATIVE Festival Videographer

imagineNATIVE is currently seeking one individual for a great opportunity to work as a FESTIVAL VIDEOGRAPHER (OCTOBER 17 – 21, 2007, flexible availability between 12pm and 1am, in various locations, downtown Toronto,). One-time honorarium will be provided for your time, as well as an all-access festival pass.

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival – the largest festival of its kind in the world – is seeking a dynamic individual for a key festival position.  Now celebrating its eighth year, imagineNATIVE is an international festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples on the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio, and new media. This is an amazing opportunity to be a part of a successful, growing organization that has become a leader in Toronto’s vibrant independent film festival scene.

Responsibilities include:
·      Filming key events, workshops, and programming during imagineNATIVE (Oct 17th – 21st)
·      Planning all shoots and the general concept of the finished product
·      Interviewing artists, delegates, and guests
·      Editing the video to DVD
·      Creating 1 (5 – 8 min) promotional video

Requirements:
·      At least two-years experience in video production (shooting, interviewing and editing) (sample of work will be considered an asset).
·      Have access to all necessary recording and post-production equipment.

Deadline: Wednesday October 10, 2007

Apply in writing to: Sage Paul, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, 401 Richmond Street West, suite 417, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8 OR Fax: 416 585 2313.  You may also send your resume (as an .rtf or .pdf file) to spaul@imagineNATIVE.org.  Please write Festival Videographer in the subject line.

We encourage candidates of Aboriginal ancestry to apply. We thank all applicants for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

For more information about the festival visit www.imagineNATIVE.org.

The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities Media Grants - Supports radio programs, films, and videos that explore humanities themes. Grants of up to $10,000 to nonprofit organizations for pre-production projects resulting in a script treatment, an edited trailer, and a strategy for securing production funds. Applicants must be based in Massachusetts, although occasionally project director for film projects may be based outside of Massachusetts. Production grants ($5,000, for recipients of pre-production grants) and Distribution grants ($5,000) also available. NOTE: Applicants must consult with Hayley Wood before submitting a draft; and draft of project description, budget request form, and budget explanation must be sent to Northampton office at least 2 weeks before November deadline. Hayley Wood, Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, 66 Bridge Street, Northampton, MA 01060, T: (413) 584-8440, hwood@mfh.org,  www.mfh.org. Deadline: October 15, 2007

Assistant Professor Position Opening
The Department of Media Studies at Queens College of the City University of New York (CUNY) announces a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level in Video Production to begin in the Fall 2008. The closing date for this position is November 26, 2007. As far as the job duties they include: teaching undergraduate classes in video production covering both documentary and narrative; co-teaching the production component of a large lecture class; performing department and college service; and engaging in ongoing creative independent production. Details about the department, the position, and qualifications are available at www.qc.cuny.edu/mediastudies.

The Flaherty is currently in search of Flaherty Fall Interns. The work will involve assisting with Flaherty events/awards, updating the website, outreach, publications, and preparing for the 54th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar. Applicants should have an interest in documentary/experimental film, strong organizational skills, and knowledge of Dreamweaver and Constant Contact a plus. The time commitment is flexible; but interns will be expected to work between 10-20 hours per week.

What do the Flaherty internships have to offer? An excellent opportunity to learn about arts administration, to gain exposure to curatorial practices, and a chance to attend the Seminar in June 2008. These are non-paid positions; however, college credit may be available. The Fall internships are from October through December. If interested please send a cover letter and resume as soon as possible to ifs@flahertyseminar.org. For more specific information about internships please visit www.flahertyseminar.org. Photo of Flaherty Interns, Staff, Programmers, Fellows, and friends. Taken with, former Flaherty Fellow, Agnes Varnum’s camera. ww.flahertyseminar.org.