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Industry News

1 Mar , 2000  

Written by Susan Borden | Posted by:

The dish on local films & industry-related news.
Festivals & Awards

Festival season gets under way in Boston at the end of March with the Second Annual Boston Irish Festival, from March 24-26, and the New England Film and Video Festival, from March 27-April 1.For more information on both festivals, check out this month’s "News" and "Events" sections.

The Boston Jewish Film Festival http://www.bjff.org/ was named one of the best series of 1999. In addition, "Solomon & Gaenor," which was featured by BJFF last year, is one of five films nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film (from the United Kingdom). The film is in Welsh and Yiddish with English subtitles.

On Sunday March 19, to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the New England Film and Video Festival, filmmakers from all over Greater Boston will open their studios to the public for the first time in a special Filmmakers’ Open Studios. The day will be structured like an artist’s open studio, and there is no fee. Twenty-one studios, including the FilmShack, Scout, the Long Bow Group, will participate, along with renowned animator Karen Aqua. The festival’s organizers describe the first-ever event as an opportunity for local filmmakers "to break out of the box in this highly segmented film community and meet other filmmakers or explore studios in other neighborhoods." Contact Michal Goldman at the Filmmakers Collaborative for more information at 781-647-1102, or call 617-536-1540 ext. 18.  See full schedule online at NewEnglandFilm.com.

Now Playing

WGBH’s monthly program "Greater Boston Arts," which spotlights goings-on in all segments of the New England arts communities, features interviews with renowned nonfiction filmmakers Ed Pincus, Robb Moss and Ross McElwee, as well as newcomers Justin Price and Randy Bell, whose documentary "Look Back, Don’t Look Back" won the Best of Festival Award in this year’s New England Film and Video Festival. The segment, "Personal Documentary," will air March 2-4 on WGBH; check local listings for "Greater Boston Arts" airtimes. For a more in-depth look at the filmmakers, visit http://www.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/bostonarts/highlights.html  for an expanded version of the television interview.

The MFA screens Tufts graduate David Riker’s "La Ciudad" ("The City") from March 23-April 8, a five-year effort that recalls the still photography and documentary films of the ’30s and ’40s. The city of the title is New York, and the film consists of four separate stories of immigrant life. For more information, contact Film Series Coordinator Kathleen Mullen at 617-369-3454.

Boston filmmaker Alice Bouvrie’s feature-length documentary "Iditarod…A Far Distant Place" will screen at the Museum of Fine Arts on March 25 at 11:00 a.m.; April 22 at 12:15 p.m.; and April 29 at 2:15 p.m. The film follows three mushers who struggle against difficult terrain, exhaustion and their own challenges to "place in the money" in Alaska’s long-distance sled-dog race. For more information, contact Kathleen Mullen at the MFA at 617-369-3454..

Double Midnight Productions’ "Nowheresville" premieres at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH, on Friday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. This locally produced film follows the exploits of Sam, Nick, Randy and Jerry, four friends who grew up together in Manchester, NH. Tickets are $7. For more information about the film, contact Brett Parker dblmid@aol.com or visit the Web site at http://doublemidnight.homestead.com/Home.html

Also in the News

M.A.D. Productions of Pittsfield, Vt., recently did editing, design and shooting for the latest spots by the Vermont Department of Tourism. The series of 30-second ads is currently airing along the East Coast in major markets including New York, Philadelphia and Boston. For more information, contact Marion Dane at 802-746-8876 or visit mad@vermontel.com.