Posts Tagged ‘Summer Pasture’

09/30/2010

»  Cinereach-Supported Films’ Upcoming Screenings

» Comments: 0

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Festivals have a contagious energy which enhances the pleasure of watching thoughtful work. Experience the following Cinereach-supported films amongst audiences at these upcoming events, or pass along these recommended titles to your friends in Maine, Tokyo and beyond. Check the links below for screening details:

The Boy Mir_final2_16x9The Boy Mir
Winter 2010 Grantee

Directed by Phil Grabsky, The Boy Mir tracks the irrepressible and lovable Mir over not just one year but ten. This decade of coverage reflects not only Mir’s journey into early adulthood in one of the toughest places on earth, but it also serves as a film that is unmatched in mirroring and unveiling the vitally important story of modern Afghanistan.

The Boy Mir will be shown at:

Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Santa Barbara, California
January 27th – February 6th
US Premiere

And it was shown at:

IDFA
Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 17th – 28th
World Premiere

A Nomad's Life3
Summer Pasture
Winter 2008 Grantee

Filmed in the high grasslands of eastern Tibet by Lynn True, Nelson Walker and Tsering Perlo, Summer Pasture is a rare and intimate glimpse into the life of a young couple and their infant daughter during a time of great transition. As traditional nomadic life confronts rapid modernization, the family is at a crossroads, and Summer Pasture ultimately reveals the profound sacrifice they will make to ensure their daughter’s future.

Summer Pasture will be shown at:

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Missoula, Montana

And it was shown at:

Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo, Japan
October 23rd – 31st

Dok Leipzig
Leipzig, Germany
October 18th – 24th

Hawaii International Film Festival
Honolulu, Hawaii
October 14th – 24th

Black Bear Film Festival
Milford, Pennsylvania
October 8th – 9th

Camden International Film Festival
Camden, Maine
September 30th – October 3rd

Togetherness Supreme

Togetherness Supreme
Winter 2008 Grantee

Directed by Nathan Collett, Togetherness Supreme is a feature length narrative made by, with and for the community of Kibera, east Africa’s largest slum. Its story follows three young people and the tensions that complicate the quest to change their community. After the 2007 Kenya presidential elections, Kibera is torn apart by conflicting tribal loyalties- so are these three characters.

Togetherness Supreme will be shown at:

Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Santa Barbara, California
January 27th – February 6th
US Premiere

And it was shown at:

Africa in the Picture
Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 2nd – 7th

Africa in Motion Film Festival
Edinburgh, Scotland
October 21st – November 5th

Vancouver International Film Festival
Vancouver, Canada
September 30th – October 5th
International Premiere

Burma Soldier

Burma Soldier
Winter 2010 Grantee

This documentary by Annie Sundberg, Ricki Stern and Nic Dunlop, provides a rare glimpse of a brutal dictatorship seen through the eyes of Myo Mint, a former soldier who swapped sides to join Aung San Suu Kyi’s struggle for a democratic Burma.

Burma Soldier was shown at:

IDFA
Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 17th – 28th

Sheffield Doc/Fest
Sheffield, UK
November 3rd – 7th
World Premiere

Donor Unknown

Donor Unknown
Winter 2010 Grantee

A twenty-first century tale of identity and genetic inheritance, and perhaps the family of the future. This documentary by Jerry Rothwell follows members of a generation of children born through artificial insemination who are now old enough to search for their biological father.

Donor Unknown was shown at:

IDFA
Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 17th – 28th

Sheffield Doc/Fest
Sheffield, UK
November 3rd – 7th
World Premiere

Pushing the Elephant big
Pushing the Elephant
Summer 2008 Grantee

Directed by Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel, this documentary chronicles the story of Rose Mapendo and how she escaped from the ethnic violence of the Democratic Republic of Congo to become a vital voice to help mend her divided country. She has assisted dozens of survivors to rebuild their lives, but there is still one person Rose must teach to forgive–her daughter Nangabire. Pushing The Elephant counters the horrors of genocidal violence with the moral fortitude and grace of one woman’s mission for peace.

Pushing the Elephant was shown at:

IDFA
Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 17th – 28th

Trenton Foreign Film Festival
Trenton, New Jersey
November 5th – 7th

TGOS_STILL_6_DOCTOR-Cropped

Two Gates of Sleep
Winter 2009 Grantee

In this narrative feature by Alistair Banks Griffin, the Conroy family live on the edge of society, deep in the rural south, surviving off the land around them. When Jack discovers his mother dead at the edge of a field, he and his brother set out on an arduous journey to carry out her last wishes.

Two Gates of Sleep was shown at:

AFI Film Festival
Los Angeles, California
November 4th – 11th
US Premiere

Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
Taipei, Taiwan
November 3rd – 20th

Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo, Japan
October 23rd – 31st

American Film Festival
Worclaw, Poland
October 20th – 24th

BFI London Film Festival
London, UK
October 13th -28th

Ok Enough Goodbye
OK, Enough, Goodbye (Tayeb, Khalas, Yalla)
Summer 2010 Grantee

Directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia, this narrative feature follows the chain of events that unfold when a forty year-old man living with his elderly mother in Tripoli, Lebanon is suddenly abandoned by her.

Recently awarded a Cinereach grant towards its remaining post-production costs, OK, Enough, Goodbye had its world premiere at:

Abu Dhabi Film Festival
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
October 14th – 23rd

At the festival, OK, Enough Goodbye was awarded Best Narrative Film by a New Director from the Arab World!

WarDonDon_IssaSesay_Detention

War Don Don
2010 Cinereach Award

A feature documentary by Rebecca Richman Cohen that goes to the capital of Sierra Leone, where the United Nations soldiers guard a heavily fortified building known as the “special court.” Inside, Issa Sesay awaits his trial. With unprecedented access to prosecutors, defense attorneys, victims, and, from behind bars, Sesay himself, War Don Don puts international justice on trial for the world to see — finding that in some cases the past is not just painful, it is also opaque.

War Don Don was included in these festivals:

Bahamas International Film Festival
Nassau, Bahamas
December 1st – 5th

Amnesty International Film Festival
Vancouver, Canada
November 18th – 21st

Camden International Film Festival
Camden, Maine
September 30th – October 3rd

Rio International Film Festival
Rio, Brazil
September 23rd – October 7th

Also, visit the websites for the documentaries A Small Act, a Cinereach grantee in Summer 2009, and Gasland, supported through The Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute, to check for additional screenings throughout the US and beyond.

07/28/2010

»  DocuWeeks Showcases Pushing the Elephant and Summer Pasture

» Comments: 0

Tags: , , , , ,

Cinereach is excited for grantee films Pushing the Elephant and Summer Pasture, who are both included in the International Documentary Association’s 14th annual DocuWeeks showcase. As part of this, they will each have a one-week theatrical run in both New York and Los Angeles. These screenings qualify the films for consideration for next year’s Academy Awards and provide audiences with the opportunity to experience these powerful stories on the big screen.

See below for more details.

Read More

07/26/2010

»  Cinereach Grantee Updates

» Comments: 0

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As Cinereach nears its 5th year of existence, more and more of the films we’ve supported are gathering momentum, crossing the finish-line and getting out into the world. Below are recent highlights from some of our grantees’ journeys.

A Small Act by Jennifer Arnold & Patti Lee

A Small Act by Jennifer Arnold & Patti Lee

A Small Act by Jennifer Arnold & Patti Lee, 2009 Grantee
Since its Sundance premiere, A Small Act has inspired over $300,000 (and climbing) in donations for featured Kenyan charity the Hilde Back Education Fund. A Small Act also received the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award and Audience Award for Best Feature at the Nantucket Film Festival. After festival screenings at HotDocs, OutFest and more, A Small Act recently premiered on HBO and is currently available on demand.

Aqui Y Alli (Here and There) by Antonio Mendez Esparza, 2010 Grantee
Aqui Y Alli (Here and There), currently in development, participated in the Sundance Institute’s 2010 June Screenwriters Lab.

Circumstance by Maryam Keshavarz, 2009 Grantee
Circumstance was awarded a Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grant by the San Francisco Film Society, to be used towards post-production.

Donor 150 by Jerry Rothwell, 2010 Grantee
Donor 150, in production, was awarded the support of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program.

Entre Nos by Paola Mendoza & Gloria La Morte

Entre Nos by Paola Mendoza & Gloria La Morte

Entre Nos by Paola Mendoza & Gloria LaMorte, 2008 Grantee
Entre Nos was released theatrically by IndiePix in May and is now available on both cable VOD and on DVD.

Girl Model by David Redmon & Ashley Sabin, 2009 Grantee
Girl Model, now in post-production, was selected to receive support from the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program in June.

Gasland by Josh Fox, 2009 Sundance Reach Fund Grantee
Following its premiere at Sundance and other festival screenings, Gasland premiered on HBO this summer, and can be seen on demand. Through community and online outreach, Gasland has galvanized viewers to protest the practice of hydraulic fracturing and its environmental impact. A screening tour in August and September, presented by Rooftop Films and the Fledgling Fund, will bring the film to more audiences.

Habibi Rasak Kharban by Susan Youssef, 2009 Grantee
Habibi Rasak Kharban, now in post-production, participated in IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs for Narratives. Additionally, Youssef was profiled in Filmmaker Magazine’s annual “25 New Faces” in filmmaking talent.

Look, Stranger by Arielle Javitch, 2009 Grantee
Javitch was profiled in Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces” in filmmaking talent as Look, Stranger undergoes post-production.

Pariah by Dee Rees

Pariah by Dee Rees

Pariah by Dee Rees, 2009 & 2010 Grantee
Pariah participated in IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs for Narratives and is currently in post-production.

Project Kashmir by Senain Kheshgi & Geeta Patel, 2006 Grantee
Project Kashmir made its broadcast premiere in May on PBS’ Independent Lens series.

Pushing the Elephant by Beth Davenport & Elizabeth Mandel, 2008 Grantee
Pushing the Elephant made its world premiere at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, followed by a special presentation at The Global Health 2010 Conference. The film is also included in the International Documentary Association’s 2010 DocuWeeks showcase and will be shown in New York and Los Angeles theaters in August. The film will be broadcast on Independent Lens in March 2011, during a series on women’s empowerment. Leading up to that date, there will be a series of screenings and events with select partners to reach audiences who are concerned about the issues presented in the film.

Summer Pasture

Summer Pasture by Lynn True, Nelson Walker III & Tsering Perlo

Summer Pasture by Lynn True, Nelson Walker III & Tsering Perlo, 2008 Grantee
Summer Pasture made its world premiere at the Full Frame Film Festival, where it received the Inspiration Award Honorable Mention. It has since been a selection of the Nantucket Film Festival and others, and it will have its international premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, as a part of the Critics Week showcase. The film is also included in the International Documentary Association’s 2010 DocuWeeks showcase, to be shown in New York and Los Angeles theaters in August.

The Mosuo Sisters by Marlo Poras & Yu Ying Wu Chou, 2009 Grantee
Recently The Mosuo Sisters, in production, was awarded the support of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program, as well as a production grant from the LEF Foundation.

Two Gates of Sleep by Alistair Banks Griffin, 2009 Grantee
Two Gates of Sleep had its world premiere at Cannes, as part of the Director’s Fortnight showcase.

What Tomorrow Brings by Beth Murphy, 2010 Grantee
What Tomorrow Brings was awarded a production grant by the LEF Foundation.

Untitled Gay Retiree Documentary by PJ Raval, 2009 Grantee
Untitled Gay Retiree Documentary was awarded a production grant by the LEF Foundation.

04/05/2010

»  “Summer Pasture” World Premiere!

» Comments: 0

Tags: , , , ,

Cinereach grant recipient Summer Pasture, a film by Lynn True, Nelson Walker & Tsering Perlo, will have its World Premiere at the upcoming Full Frame Documentary Film Festival on Sat. April 10th @ 1:30pm at Cinema Four @ the Durham Convention Center. The filmmakers will be in attendance.

Yama from the film "Summer Pasture"

Yama from the film "Summer Pasture"

Summer Pasture provides a deeply personal account of what it means to be a nomad for a young Tibetan family in a swiftly modernizing world. With rare access to an area seldom visited by outsiders in the highlands of Tibet, Summer Pasture offers an unprecedented window into the most traditional of ancient cultures, deftly capturing a young couple on the precipice; will they succumb to the lure of modern city life or will they continue to follow the yak’s tail?

Although nomadic society may seem distant from everything we know, in another way it is instantly understandable, because we know about parents and children, about working to put food on the table, and about travails with illness and infidelity. Here is a film that is about life itself, and about those few humans who still engage it at first hand.

“Our aim was to create a film that honestly and intimately shares the everyday challenges and experiences of nomadic life, and in doing so, offer a unique alternative to the abundance of purely religious or politicized films about Tibetans.” – Directors Lynn True & Nelson Walker

The project was supported by partners including: the Sundance Documentary Film Program, Cinereach, Center for Asian American Media with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NY State Council on the Arts, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, IDA Pare Lorentz Finishing Fund and the NY Community Trust.

Making of the film…
Summer Pasture was conceived as part of the Kham Film Project, an association of American and Tibetan filmmakers working together to improve the quality and diversity of knowledge about Tibet by engaging Tibetans in the filmmaking process. While filming in Tibet, the filmmakers partnered with Rabsal, a local NGO dedicated to using film and multimedia as a means of Tibetan self-representation. Tsering Perlo, the founder of Rabsal and an emerging documentary filmmaker himself, is a principal collaborator on the project and grew up in the nomadic community depicted in the film.

About the Filmmakers…
Another unique aspect of this story are the filmmakers themselves – aside from being accomplished documentary filmmakers (LUMO, P.O.V. 2007), True and Walker have worked extensively in Tibet facilitating participatory video projects and contributing to the Tibetan Himalayan Digital Library. They are also film programmers at New York’s Maysles Cinema in Harlem and are co-founders and directors of the Tibet in Harlem and Congo in Harlem film festivals.

    Events

    Archives

    • ▼2012
    • ▶2011
    • ▶2010
    • ▶2009
    • ▶2008
    • ▶2007