There's nothing better than being able to attend screenings of films so diverse in their outlooks that it almost borders on the surreal. Now that Cinequest has concluded, and with this in mind, I would like to reflect upon couple more favorites of mine, Russell P. Marleau's The Curiosity of Chance, and Chris Power and Nathan Hynes' Long Pigs.The Curiosity of Chance is a hugely entertaining high school musical romp that is everything the John Hughes collection should have been. Russ M...

Sunday, March 11—Cinequest Co-founder Kathleen Powell presented the awards on the closing night of the festival.(Descriptions excerpted from the Cinequest program guide.)Director's AwardsGLOBAL VISION AWARD: to the filmmaker who defies convention and exhibits work of universal vision, making bold use of storytelling to create evocative cinema of the future.FRESH AIR/FRISS LEVEGÕ (Hungary)From its wry opening in a Hungarian Lonely Hearts ballroom dance to its daring ending, Ágnes Kocsis�...

Monday, March 12—The Cinequest Film Festival may not generate buzz about industry distribution deals or celebrity sightings, but a record-breaking 70,102 indie film lovers ed several hundred filmmakers and technology innovators in downtown San Jose for the 12-day salute to all things maverick. Writer-director-cinematographer Stephane Gauger, Executive Producer Timothy Linh Bui (director of GREEN DRAGON, co-producer of THREE SEASONS) and actor Cat Ly (JOURNEY FROM THE FALL) closed the festi...

No one seems better suited to transform Jhumpa Lahiri’s touching prose into film than Mira Nair. Both the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of INTERPRETER OF MALADIES and the director of SALAAM BOMBAY and MONSOON WEDDING know firsthand about the Indian-American immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, and the search for identity that informs their art. Adapted from Lahiri’s eponymous first novel, published in 2003, the deeply felt family drama doesn’t disappoint.The narrative unfolds diffe...

It is Monday, March 12th, and Cinequest has come to an end. This is a bitter-sweet moment; on the one hand I am already missing the frenetic buzz of running from film to forum and back to film, stopping to chat with filmmakers and attendees along the way and getting another caffeine dose in order to do it all over again. On the other hand, this now frees me up to actually get to the blog entries I have been meaning to assail you with, covering everything from my favorite festival films, to my fi...

In the moments before the press conference kicked off on Saturday, Jens Hussey spoke a little about the term 'maverick'. He explained that the word originated from a Texas cattleman named Sam Maverick, who refused to brand his cattle, preferring instead to let them roam free, not 'following the herd'. This is the main principle of the Cinequest Film Festival, to embrace the maverick filmmaker, to promote new innovations and artistry in film and to present the visions of filmmaker...

My day began with the Day of Sight and Sound and Panasonic's P2 presentation, followed by a quick press conference, and then Carl Miller's presentation of his film, Retribution. I always feel that this day has the potential to be a powerful learning tool for local and visiting filmmakers, and for future sessions I would love to see cinematographers and sound designers invited in to share their knowledge with us. A guy can dream...I rounded off the day with two excellent films from opposi...

On Friday night I was treated to one of the strongest selections of twisted short films I have ever seen, Cinequest's Mindbenders. Not only were these films disturbing and extremely well produced, but the three directors I met personify everything that is great about independent filmmakers.This game is all about self-promotion, innovation and risk-taking, and Arthur, Ehran and Richard have these qualities in spades.Let's start with Arthur. Here's a fantastic example of self promotion...

I thought I'd give you a quick run down of a typical day at the Cinequest Film Festival (at least for me).At 9:30 AM I was enjoying complimentary coffee in the foyer of the Rep Theater in San Jose, free coffee is always a great way to start the day. Then the Day of Distribution forums began with an insightful discussion on how to make an independent film that can be sold. This was followed by a great discussing the role of the media in promoting your film, and how to make the most from...

Despite every good intention, it is not always possible to attend all the screenings during the ten days of Cinequest (due to real life getting in the way), so it was late in the evening when I finally swooped into Camera 12 to view the first of the short film programs, an eclectic group called 'Mirror, Mirror'.As I sat in the darkness, my face contorting into expressions of extreme joy or complete bewilderment, I marveled at the beauty of the short film format.There's a lot to be sa...

National Geographic’s All Roads Film Project is launching with a full head of steam into the 2007 film festival circuit The prestigious Berlin International Festival gets underway this week and All Roads will be there with the screening of “Make A Wish” a film by 2005 Seed Grantee Cherien Dabis. According to All Roads Director ne Blythe, the project will continue to build on its previous years successes. “Last year All Roads grew in audience, attendance, and media outreach 100%...

Sunday, January 21-- I applaud the Slamdance documentary programmers for selecting the fascinating film RED WITHOUT BLUE, directed by Brooke Sebold, Benita Sills, and Todd Sills. After several screenings at the Sundance Film Festival Sunday, I walked up Main Street to the screening rooms of Slamdance and into the World Premiere of RED WITHOUT BLUE. At this point I vaguely ed why I wrote this movie down on my screening grid. I actually wasn't even quite sure what it was about. However,...