Cubanos, Life and Death of a Revolution color, 52 & 86 minutes
This film takes a unique look at the final moments of the Castro saga and the uncertain future of Cuba through the eyes a Cuban musician/expatriot. Cubanos is a road movie fleshed out with personal and cultural dimensions, punctuated by interviews with Cuban citizens and exiles in Miami. Behind polarized political discourses, there is life as lived by the millions of Cubans who, day after day, shape the Cuban identity of the 21st century.

Through the Negev color, 18 minutes
Told through interwoven first-person accounts by the few Sudanese women and children who have made the journey by walking from Egypt to Israel, Through the Negev is a short documentary that encapsulates the refugees’ struggle for home and safety.

May 29. - June 1st, 2008, NAFA (The Nordic Anthropological Film Association), The Museum of Jón Sigurðsson, The University Centre of West fjords, Edinborgarhúsið (a cultural centre in Ísafjörður) and Roots (a non- governmental organisation for multicultural society), will hold an international documentary film festival and a conference at Ísafjördur in the West fjords of Iceland, in association with University of Iceland and The Icelandic Anthropology Association.

CONGRATS to DER Filmmakers Melissa Peabody (SAN FRANCISCO: STILL WILD AT HEART) and Catherine Mullins (BEING INNU) for their films acceptance for screening at the 10th Anniversary edition of the Wisconsin Film Festival.

This prestigious festival has screened more than 1100 films from around the world in it’s first nine years.

We hope to see an enthusiastic audience in Madison Wisconcin on April 3rd-6th  for these two fine films.

Check here for details: www.wifilmfest.org/

OPEN CALL FOR PRODUCTION FUNDS
Annual Deadline: April 3, 2008 by 5pm Pacific *

Offered once a year, this round of funding is for applicants with projects at the production and/or post-production stage. Project should be intended for public television broadcast. Awards average from $20,000 to $50,000, though exceptions may be made. NOTE: Projects in research and development or script development phases are not eligible to apply.

CAAM convenes an independent panel of media professionals including producers, directors, and programmers who evaluate proposals and sample tapes, and then make recommendations to the CAAM staff and Board of Directors. The Board makes final approval. The review process for Open Call takes approximately 4 months.

Through this call, CAAM also offers the James T. Yee Fellowship [link] named in honor of CAAM’s founding Executive Director. This award offers funding coupled with a mentorship for first-time or emerging filmmakers. This is not a separate funding initiative. Candidates are nominated from the Open Call applicant pool.

OPEN DOOR COMPLETION FUND
Winter Deadline: February 7, 2008 by 5pm Pacific *
Summer Deadline: August 7, 2008 by 5pm Pacific *

Offered twice a year, this round of funding is for applicants with projects in the final post-production phase. To be eligible a full-length rough cut must be submitted with the proposal. Awards average $20,000 and CAAM funds should be the last monies needed to finish the project and deliver the broadcast master.

CAAM programming staff will review proposals and rough cuts and then make recommendations to the CAAM Board of Directors. The Board makes final approval. The review process takes approximately 3 months.

* PLEASE NOTE: These are NOT postmark deadlines. Complete applications must be received in our office no later than 5pm on the date indicated. We do not accept late applications for any reason nor do we offer extensions on the deadline.

On February 8th, we’re launching UP THE YANGTZE, our 4 year-in-the-
making epic documentary on China’s devastating Three Gorges Dam. We’ve
gambled it all and gone to 35mm film print (beautifully done by
Technicolor), launching an open run at the Cumberland in Toronto,
followed by Vancouver (feb 15), Montreal (feb 22), Ottawa (feb 29),
etc. then the U.S. in April with Zeitgeist. In order to help support
the existence of feature docs in cinemas, we need your help forwarding
this message, and showing up to the theater on OPENING WEEKEND! Also,
we’re up against a big rival: Paris Hilton’s new film also opens Feb
8th. Please, if only for this reason, please help UP THE YANGTZE beat
THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE on opening weekend!
Thanks  - Mila Aung-Thwin, producer
trailer:
“Outstanding … gorgeously shot and as gripping as an epic novel”
-Liam Lacey, THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“A gloriously cinematic doc”
-John Anderson, VARIETY

SYNOPSIS: In China, the mighty Yangtze is known simply as “The River.”
It is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in
history, the Three Gorges Project.  At the river’s edge, a girl named
Yu Shui says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise towards
their small homestead. She is leaving to work on a cruise line that
takes tourists on a “Farewell to the Three Gorges Tour”, where
visitors get to wave goodbye to 5000 years of civilization. It’s “The
Love Boat” meets “Apocalypse Now”. The Three Gorges Dam — contested
symbol of the Chinese economic miracle — provides the epic backdrop
for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside
modern China. 95 minutes, 35mm. Named one of Canada’s Top Ten Films,
winner of best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver Film Festival, UP
THE YANGTZE opens its theatrical run in Canada on February 8th, 2008.
Presented in glorious 35mm in Dolby 5.1 Surround , UP THE YANGTZE is a
cinematic immersion in China’s rapidly changing landscape. Please show
your support by coming out OPENING WEEKEND. Documentaries don’t last
long in theaters without your SUPPORT!
Opens:
Toronto, February 8th, 2008: CUMBERLAND Cinemas - 159 Cumberland St.
(at Avenue Rd.)  tel. (416) 964-9359
Vancouver, February 15th:  THE RIDGE - 3131 Arbutus.  tel. (604)
738-6311
Montreal, February 22nd: AMC FORUM - 2313 Ste-Catherine Ouest tel.
(514) 904-1250
Ottawa, February 29th: BYTOWNE -  325 Rideau  tel. (613) 789-3456

U.S. release is slated for April 2008 by Zeitgeist

“Restores your faith in the documentary film medium”
– MATTHEW HAYS, MONTREAL MIRROR (full review)

FURTHER SCREENINGS:

February 1 – Canada’s Top Ten, TIFFG, Cinematheque Ontario, Toronto
February 3 - Empire Theatres Empress Walk, 5095 Yonge Street, Toronto
February 6 – Doc Soup, Hot Docs, Bloor Cinema, Toronto
February 8 – Cineplex Odeon, Toronto (open run)
February 15 – Ridge Cinema, Vancouver (open run)
February 9 - Powell River Film Festival, Evergreen Theatre, Powell
River, BC
February 14-16 - The Capitol Theatre, Nelson, BC
February 22-March 1, Salmon Arm Film Festival, Salmon Arm, BC
February 22 – AMC Forum, Montreal (open run, date tbc)
February 22 – Quartier Latin, Montreal (French version) - (open run,
date tbc)
February 22 - Port Moody Film Society Canadian Film Festival (www.pmfilm.ca
)
February 27- Village Cinemas, Whistler, BC
February 28-March 2 - Kingston Canadian Film Festival
February 29-March 4 - Bytowne Cinema, Ottawa
March 6-9 - London Canadian Film Festival (www.londoncanfilmfest.ca)
March 7-13 - Princess Cinemas, Waterloo, ON
March 24 - Cine-Club Laval, Quebec (French version)
March 27 - MUN Cinema Series, Memorial University, St.John’s, NFLD
March 28 - April 2 - Cinematheque Winnipeg, Dave Barber
April 3 - Sackville Film Society, Vogue Cinema, Sackville, NB
April 10 - Cape Breton Island Film Series, Empire Sydney Theatres,
Sydney, NS
April 26 - CNC Theatre Film Group, College of New Caladonia, Prince
George, BC
May 7 - Galaxy Theatre, Brockville, ON

International Festival schedule

Sundance Film Festival
From January 17, 2008 to January 27, 2008
Park City, USA
International Film Festival
From January 24, 2008 to February 03, 2008
Santa Barbara, USA
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
From February 14, 2008 to February 20, 2008
Missoula, USA
One World International Human Rights Film Festival
From March 05, 2008 to March 13, 2008
Prague, Czech Republic
International Film Festival
From March 06, 2008 to March 16, 2008
Cleveland, USA
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
From March 07, 2008 to March 16, 2008
Athens, Greece
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
From March 13, 2008 to March 21, 2008
London, England
International Film Festival
From March 17, 2008 to April 06, 2008
Hong Kong, China
DocAviv - International Documentary Film Festival
From April 03, 2008 to April 13, 2008
Tel Aviv, Israël
Golden Gate Awards Competition & International Film Festival
From April 24, 2008 to May 08, 2008
San Francisco, USA
New Zealand Film Festival
From July 11, 2008 to August 03, 2008
Wellington, New.Zealand