Anthony Morrison's Bye

Anthony Morrison’s documentary short, Bye, aired in July on PBS’ P.O.V. series and can now be viewed here in full. Gabriel Long’s The Drawing made its NYC premiere as part of a  Newfest shorts program, and all four 2010 fellows will have more updates for us soon as we prepare to usher in the next crew of four (recipients will be announced in early fall 2010).

Brendon McQueen's Skip Rocks

Looking back at the 2009 Fellows, Brendon McQueen’s Skip Rocks premiered at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival and was touted by New York Magazine; “There have been many films made about Alzheimer’s…but few of them address it with the sensitivity, and (yes) humor of Brendon McQueen’s beautifully shot and touching short film…” He’s currently developing a feature film project through his production company, Prydehouse. Dena Greenbaum’s Blues has been a selection of the 15th Annual International Family Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival, the Memphis International Film and Music Festival, and the National Film Festival for Talented Youth in Seattle, and won the Morris Fierberg Student Film Award (plus a $1,000 grant from the Rehoboth Beach Film Society).

Annie Waldman's So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away

Nicholas Bruckman’s (RFF ‘08) The Grey Movie screened as a work-in-progress at Rooftop Films. Following that his debut feature documentary, La Americana, won seven awards at over 30 film festivals, and was broadcast in the US, Europe and Asia. He is currently working on the La Americana audience engagement campaign and developing new documentary projects. Annie Waldman’s (RFF ‘08) So the Wind Won’t Blow It All Away screened at Sundance 2009 and the San Francisco Documentary, St. Louis International, San Diego Woman’s, and CMJ film festivals. The film was broadcast nationally on PBS’s P.O.V. documentary series. She is currently in production on her first documentary feature, Phantom Cowboys, for which she received a grant from Cinereach. Suel Kim’s (RFF ‘08) Snap-Shot screened at the Global Peace, Non-Violence International and the San Diego Asian film festivals and as part of last year’s Emerging Filmmakers series in Rochester, NY.

A still from BRONX PRINCESS, a film by Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed

Tonight, Tuesday 9/22, Yoni Brook & Musa Syeed’s “Bronx Princess“, a Cinereach grant recipient and RFF Alum, Annie P. Waldman’s “So the Wind Won’t Blow it All Away” will be airing on POV. Click here for a broadcast schedule.

A still from SO THE WIND WON'T BLOW IT ALL AWAY a film by Annie P. Waldman

]]> http://www.cinereach.org/tonight-on-pov-bronx-princess-so-the-wind/feed 0 http://www.cinereach.org/cinereach-arts-engine-at-the-grassroots-media-conference http://www.cinereach.org/cinereach-arts-engine-at-the-grassroots-media-conference#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 21:59:53 +0000 Margaret Shafer http://www.cinereach.org/2009/05/28/cinereach-arts-engine-at-the-grassroots-media-conference/

6th Annual Grassroots Media Conference

Cinereach and Arts Engine will be hosting a screening and discussion at the 2009 Grassroots Media Conference, which will take place this Saturday, May 30th at Hunter College in Manhattan. Former Reach Film Fellow Annie P. Waldman will be screening her short film, AND SO THE WIND WON’T BLOW IT ALL AWAY and discussing Cinereach’s RFF program. Ben Hershon will screen his short film, AFRICAN UNDERGROUND: HIP HOP IN SENEGAL, which was featured in last year’s Media That Matters Film Festival.  Both organizations will have staff present to answer questions about their involvement with the films, and how to build an audience for a short film. For more info on this event please click here and for info on our screening please click here.

After the screening, however, Annie and her film were showered with encouragement and interest. When she sat on stage for a Q&A next to 3 other filmmakers, the bulk of the questions were directed at her.

Photo by Oz Skinner

Phil asked Annie for some thoughts and advice he could share with the current Reach Fellows – who are now nearing the finish line with their projects. This is their conversation:

PE -  Annie, I’m guessing your experience at Sundance 09 was quite the memorable one. Any words come to mind when thinking back?

AW – Motivating, legitimizing, a sense of community, family, in some ways a club.

PE – What do you mean by “legitimizing?”

AW – I think especially for short filmmakers I feel that Sundance is the ultimate experience to make you believe in yourself as a filmmaker. It solidifies you.

PE – How about your experiences with other attendees?

AW – I think I’ve learned more from the other filmmakers, both feature and especially short, and even jurors, in one week than in four years at film school. Not that film school wasn’t amazing – it gives you the tools to make films, but it doesn’t make you believe in yourself. It’s very much sink or swim. But Sundance… you’ve reached the island. You can stop feeling start looking forward and stop doubting the present.

PE – What were some of the worries you had pre-Sundance?

AW – I felt like I was a fraud.

PE – Excuse me?

AW – I didn’t see myself as a filmmaker – just as someone who by some fluke got in. Like, ‘did I really get in or was it something else?’ Also I was worried that people would look down on me cause I’m young, or that I wouldn’t fit in to the industry because I spend more time thinking and working on my projects than schmoozing and knowing the right language. But I soon realized I wouldn’t have been accepted if I didn’t have some kind of talent or something to say as a young female filmmaker. And Sundance does an amazing job at guiding, especially young filmmakers, through the jungle.

PE – How so?

AW – They set you up with a publicist, arrange for radio show interviews, tv show interviews, magazine interviews – and they help you learn and know more about your film, and how to really talk about your film to people who may never see your film.

PE – Any advice?

AW – I wish I had contacted people before the festival to set up meetings or tell them about my film. I’m really glad, though, that I came equipped with plenty of business cards, postcards, and especially copies of my film to hand out so people I met would remember who I am.

PE – What about advice in terms of what you learned from making your film?

AW – I’m really glad I listened to my editor. As a director you have so much floating around about what you want, but it’s the simple story that’s always best. Go for the simplicity. And I’m so glad I didn’t go experimental or have too many loose ends. Just one thought, instead of eight.

PE – Any comments or critique you received at the festival that stood out?

AW – I’ll give you a good and a bad one. The good one was from a fellow short filmmaker, maybe 50 or so, who told me my film was her favorite because it was really about reality, not a place or some famous person. Just people in America who I let tell their stories on screen. The fact that she appreciated that as a much older filmmaker really meant a lot. The bad one was from some producer who saw my film and said that the film, and I as a filmmaker, had a lot of potential. But I guess you can feed off of that.

PE – Any last comments?

AW – Never think your film is too small.

After the screening, however, Annie and her film were showered with encouragement and interest. When she sat on stage for a Q&A next to 3 other filmmakers, the bulk of the questions were directed at her.

Photo by Oz Skinner

Phil asked Annie for some thoughts and advice he could share with the current Reach Fellows – who are now nearing the finish line with their projects. This is their conversation:

PE -  Annie, I’m guessing your experience at Sundance 09 was quite the memorable one. Any words come to mind when thinking back?

AW – Motivating, legitimizing, a sense of community, family, in some ways a club.

PE – What do you mean by “legitimizing?”

AW – I think especially for short filmmakers I feel that Sundance is the ultimate experience to make you believe in yourself as a filmmaker. It solidifies you.

PE – How about your experiences with other attendees?

AW – I think I’ve learned more from the other filmmakers, both feature and especially short, and even jurors, in one week than in four years at film school. Not that film school wasn’t amazing – it gives you the tools to make films, but it doesn’t make you believe in yourself. It’s very much sink or swim. But Sundance… you’ve reached the island. You can stop feeling start looking forward and stop doubting the present.

PE – What were some of the worries you had pre-Sundance?

AW – I felt like I was a fraud.

PE – Excuse me?

AW – I didn’t see myself as a filmmaker – just as someone who by some fluke got in. Like, ‘did I really get in or was it something else?’ Also I was worried that people would look down on me cause I’m young, or that I wouldn’t fit in to the industry because I spend more time thinking and working on my projects than schmoozing and knowing the right language. But I soon realized I wouldn’t have been accepted if I didn’t have some kind of talent or something to say as a young female filmmaker. And Sundance does an amazing job at guiding, especially young filmmakers, through the jungle.

PE – How so?

AW – They set you up with a publicist, arrange for radio show interviews, tv show interviews, magazine interviews – and they help you learn and know more about your film, and how to really talk about your film to people who may never see your film.

PE – Any advice?

AW – I wish I had contacted people before the festival to set up meetings or tell them about my film. I’m really glad, though, that I came equipped with plenty of business cards, postcards, and especially copies of my film to hand out so people I met would remember who I am.

PE – What about advice in terms of what you learned from making your film?

AW – I’m really glad I listened to my editor. As a director you have so much floating around about what you want, but it’s the simple story that’s always best. Go for the simplicity. And I’m so glad I didn’t go experimental or have too many loose ends. Just one thought, instead of eight.

PE – Any comments or critique you received at the festival that stood out?

AW – I’ll give you a good and a bad one. The good one was from a fellow short filmmaker, maybe 50 or so, who told me my film was her favorite because it was really about reality, not a place or some famous person. Just people in America who I let tell their stories on screen. The fact that she appreciated that as a much older filmmaker really meant a lot. The bad one was from some producer who saw my film and said that the film, and I as a filmmaker, had a lot of potential. But I guess you can feed off of that.

PE – Any last comments?

AW – Never think your film is too small.

Annie Waldman speaks about her RFF experience to the 2008/9 Fellows during an October workshop

Congratulations to Annie Waldman, one of last year’s Reach Film Fellows. Her film, “So the Wind Won’t Blow it All Away,” has been selected as part of the 2009 Sundance Festival’s Short Film Program. Annie’s doc, follows a group of students who return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to finish high school with their friends despite their parents’ relocation and absence.

New York Magazine said of the film, “Utilizing a lyrical, expressive mise-en-scène, with otherworldly music from Louisville band Rachel’s, Waldman effectively conveys the experience of these kids’ dislocation, even as their lives still seem full of possibility.”

An image from "So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away"

To read more on Sundance’s 2009 Short Film Program, click here.