Along with the festival, the SXSW Film Conference runs March 9th-13th and features a range of opportunities to survey the culture, technology and business of contemporary filmmaking. Conference attendees embarking on the grant-seeking process can join Cinereach’s Leah Giblin for the panel Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Grants (Sunday, March 11 at 11:00am). She’ll be sharing pragmatic insights in discussion with Judith Helfand of Chicken & Egg Pictures, Dianne Debicella of Fractured Atlas, Tamara Horowitz of San Francisco Film Society, and filmmaker Ellen Spiro.

Cinereach Grantees at SXSW:

Code of the West nonfiction Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen Reflecting the controversies enveloping the marijuana industry throughout the United States, Montana braces itself to become the first state to repeal a medical marijuana law. SXSW Screening Times

Girl Model nonfiction Directors: A. Sabin & David Redmon Follows a complex supply chain between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S. within the modeling industry. SXSW Screening Times Tchoupitoulas nonfiction Directors: Bill & Turner Ross Three young brothers explore the New Orleans night. SXSW Screening Times

Compliance fiction Director: Craig Zobel When a caller posing as a police officer convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no one is left unscathed. Based on true events. SXSW Screening Times Supported by the Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute

MacLean’s feature debut follows two Inuit teenagers on the snow-covered Arctic tundra, at the top of the world in Barrow, Alaska, as they try to get away with murder.

Featuring breakout performances by Josiah Patkotak and Frank Qutuq Irelan, On the Ice, premiered at the 2011 Sundance film festival and has won numerous awards including Best First Feature and the Crystal Bear for Generations 14plus at the 2011 Berlinale. The Village Voice says the film is “a marvel of concentrated, classical storytelling” calling it “ethnodocumentary noir, since MacLean includes elements of Iñupiaq language and culture.”

Producer Cara Marcous takes a moment to reflect on the hybrid release of the film, working with PMK-BNC Films, Sundance Artist Services Initiative and others to help create the best distribution strategy.

With the help of many, On the Ice begins Distribution
a guest post by Producer Cara Marcous

On the Ice opens this Friday, so things are a bit of a blur. But I wanted to write briefly, and share some of what we’re trying to do. We are releasing this film without an outside distributor.  We are collaborating with Marian Koltai-Levine and her team at PMK-BNC Films, Sundance Artist Services Initiative, WME, and Brigade PR. It’s been a long process so we are all very excited to finally get our film out into the world.

Our release falls somewhere in the gray area between a self-release and a release with a traditional distributor. We are not four-walling theaters, we are not re-inventing the wheel; we are working with experienced distribution professionals to function as a traditional distributor would function. The difference is that we are making the final decisions, we are strategizing day to day. Together with our team, we are digging into each market and devising our best approach. We are by no means coming to those decisions on our own, but the collaboration goes both ways because we understand our film and its unique audience better than anyone else could.

We raised our distribution funds through Kickstarter. Many of the backers were basically pre-buying the DVD to support us, some wanted the cool gifty stuff and then some just wanted to support the film or our team. We raised about $85,000 through Kickstarter and another $5,000 directly through a foundation, to end up with about $82,000 for our entire release (after covering Kickstarter’s fee). It is not a lot of money to release a film—very little in fact—but we have had a determinedly lean and mean approach and we’ve managed to do a surprising amount with our $82,000. We’ve confirmed 16 theaters so far nationwide, a much wider release than many indie titles see. It’s been an intense crash course in film distribution, but it’s also been a thrill because things are tangibly changing in the indie film distribution universe, and I hope we’re on the cusp of it.

I hope you will all come to see On the Ice this weekend because it is a suspenseful entertaining film, from a fascinating place. I also hope you will be excited to support a team of people who are actively taking a risk to find a viable alternative distribution method. Small indies with unique voices and first-time actors can make money. Help us prove it. See you at the theater!

Cara Marcous (Producer)
Cara produced the award-winning feature film On the Ice which premiered in competition at Sundance 2011. On the Ice won Best First Feature and the Crystal Bear for Generations 14plus at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival; The FIPRESCI Prize for Best New American Film at the Seattle International Film Festival; and Best Feature and Best Cinematography at the 2011 Woodstock Film Festival. She also produced the short narrative film Sikumi, which has won numerous awards including the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and the BAFTA/LA Award for Excellence, and has screened at over 50 festivals around the world. In 2005, she produced the documentary feature When the Season is Good: Artists of Arctic Alaska after working for years with acclaimed independent producer Ben Barenholtz. She has also produced several plays including the premiere of her own full-length piece Lapse at Walkerspace in New York City. Ms. Marcous is the recipient of the Sheila Johnson Fellowship for the 2009 Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Creative Producing Initiative. 

Cinereach grantee Return, written and directed by Liza Johnson and produced by Noah Harlan & Ben Howe, opens in theaters in NY & LA Friday, February 10th.

Return, which premiered last year at the Cannes Director’s Fortnight, draws you into the life of Kelli, a soldier returning from an overseas tour of duty. The film features powerful performances from Linda Cardellini and Michael Shannon and, according to Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out NY, represents “what indie filmmaking ought to be” and gets at “the heart of the American experience for many.”

Be sure to check out indieWire’s interviews with Linda Cardellini and Michael Shannon for more context.

Cinereach is proud to have been one of many organizations along the way to have supported the film.

After it’s NYC and California opening in select theaters, Return further expands to Columbus, Ohio and Williamstown, MA in March. Focus World will release the film via digital platforms beginning February 28th. Watch the trailer here.

Cinereach Grantee:

Call Me Kuchu nonfiction Directors: Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright As state-sanctioned homophobia reaches new heights in Uganda, David Kato, the country’s first openly gay man, will stop at nothing to liberate the LGBT community. Berlin Screening Times

Films Supported by the Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute:

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry nonfiction Director: Alison Klayman The inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. Berlin Screening Times

Keep the Lights On fiction Director: Ira Sachs The story of a tumultuous, decade-long relationship between two men in New York City, chronicling the bonds that keep them together and the addictions that tear them apart. Berlin Screening Times Postcards from the Zoo fiction Director: Edwin The zoo – a place of yearning. The zoo animals are yearning for freedom and many of the visitors long for adventure and the call of the wild. It is in these surroundings, where imagining yourself into other world is easy, that Lana grows up. Berlin Screening Times

Words of Witness nonfiction Director: Mai Iskandar A few months before Mubarak’s resignation, a young journalist named Heba Afify began working for the English-language edition of an independent Egyptian daily newspaper called Al-Masry Al-Youm. Words of Witness follows the protests on Tahrir Square and Heba’s impassioned efforts to reflect the diversity of people’s opinions and their new-found voice. Berlin Screening Times

Taking place January 19th-29th, the fest marks some key milestones for us. We’re thrilled that Beasts of the Southern Wild, the first Cinereach Production to hit Park City, will premiere in competition. We’ll also be celebrating the achievements of the Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute, a fruitful three-year partnership that has provided $1.5 million to complement Sundance Institutes’ invaluable support of fiction and nonfiction works-in-progress.

We look forward to watching these films on the big screen with you, at Sundance and beyond!

From Cinereach Productions:

Beasts of the Southern Wild U.S. Dramatic Director: Benh Zeitlin Written by: Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn EP: Philipp Engelhorn, Paul Mezey, Michael Raisler Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under, in this tale of a six year old named Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world. Sundance Screening Times

Films Supported by the Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute:

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry U.S. Documentary Director: Alison Klayman Producers: Alison Klayman, Adam Schlesinger The inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. Sundance Screening Times

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty New Frontier Director: Terence Nance Producers: Andrew Corkin, James Bartlett, Terence Nance A quixotic young man humorously courses live action and various animated landscapes as he reaches for self-awareness after a mystery girl stands him up. Sundance Screening Times Compliance NEXT<=> Director: Craig Zobel Producers: Sophia Lin, Lisa Muskat, Tyler Davidson, Theo Sena, Craig Zobel When a caller posing as a police officer convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no one is left unscathed. Based on true events. Sundance Screening Times

I Am Not A Hipster NEXT<=> Director: Destin Daniel Cretton Producers: Ron Najor, Destin Daniel Cretton, Trevor Fernando A young singer-songwriter with a growing local following wanders through his apathetic life in San Diego. When his dad and three sisters show up to spread his mother’s ashes, he’s reminded of the part of himself he left back in Ohio and is forced to deal with the person he’s become. Sundance Screening Times

Keep the Lights On U.S. Dramatic Director: Ira Sachs Producers: Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs The story of a tumultuous, decade-long relationship between two men in New York City, chronicling the bonds that keep them together and the addictions that tear them apart. Sundance Screening Times

The Queen of Versailles U.S. Documentary Director: Lauren Greenfield Producers: Lauren Greenfield, Danielle Renfrew Behrens A character-driven documentary about a billionaire family and their financial challenges in the wake of the economic crisis. Sundance Screening Times

Written and directed by Dee Rees and produced by Nekisa Cooper, Cinereach grantee Pariah opens in theaters on December 28th.

Pariah draws you into the life of a Brooklyn teen who juggles conflicting identities while searching for an authentic expression of self and sexuality that doesn’t place her at odds with family, friends or lovers. Its story is painted through the acclaimed cinematography of Bradford Young, and embodied by a stellar ensemble that includes Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell and Pernell Walker.  A dynamic soundtrack featuring Brooklyn musician Tamar-kali intensifies the film’s pulse.  Dee Rees’ ability to helm all of these talents landed her  Breakthrough Director at this year’s Gotham Awards, and the film has been recognized with two nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards.

Pariah arrives in theaters almost a year after its premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, but its story truly began several years ago when Rees set out to make a short that could be expanded into a feature version.  The challenges and triumphs of the film’s journey are well described in Film Independent’s interview with Rees and producer Nekisa Cooper.  Cinereach is proud to have been one of many organizations along the way to have supported the film.

VIBE’s interviews with Rees and star Adepero Oduye offer you a chance to spend more time with these breakthrough talents, before seeing their outstanding work.  And Nelson George’s recent New York Times article contextualizes Pariah in a range of independent film made by African-Americans from the late 70s to now (including fellow Cinereach grantee Kinyarwanda).  Even better than reading about the film is watching it.

Pariah opens on Wednesday, December 28th in select theaters in NYC and California, and expands further nationwide on January 6th. Visit the Focus Features website for information on where to see Pariah.