Film Festivals | Industry News | Maine | Massachusetts | Theatres | Vermont
Industry News
Written by Michele Meek | Posted by: Anonymous
Email news to news@newenglandfilm.com.
Festivals & Awards
The Vermont International Film Festival, North America’s premier venue for socially conscientious film and video will take place October 26-29, 2000. For more information visit http://www.vtiff.org, call their office in Burlington, Vt. at 802-661-2600 or email viff@together.net.
The Boston Cyberarts Festival has named Boston digital artist Jennifer Hall the first recipient of the DeCordova Museum’s Rappaport Prize. Ms. Hall was an organizer of and featured artist in the first Boston Cyberarts Festival, which took place in May 1999, and she is slated to participate in the 2001 Festival as well. She is also a professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and founder of Do While Studio, an art and technology center in Boston. The $20,000 award is the largest public annual prize to an individual artist in New England, and is intended to go to artists who tackle tough issues with hard work, vision, intellectual rigor, and integrity. For more information about the Boston Cyberarts Festival, visit www.bostoncyberarts.org.
Karyn Kusama’s "Girlfight" won the Grand Prix as well as an acting prize for Michelle Rodriguez at the Deauville 2000 Festival in Normandy, France. The film was produced by Gloucester resident, Sarah Green. For more information about "Girlfight" and producer Sarah Green please see the NewEnglandFilm.com August 2000 article Riding the Wave with "Girlfight" or read a review of the film.
In the News
General Cinema Companies, Inc., the domestic and international motion picture exhibitor, announced this past month that it is restructuring its domestic theatre operations by centralizing its existing regional offices into the company’s headquarters in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The company expects this action will result in a reduction of the Company’s workforce in these regions and at the corporate office with an annual cost savings of approximately $10 million in theatre-related general and administration expenses projected to be achieved by fiscal 2001. GC Companies will implement the restructuring plan throughout fiscal year 2000, including closing the regional offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. For more information, visit their web site at http://www.generalcinema.com.
Local Filmmaker Kathy Fitzgerald, founder of Poverti Productions has completed her feature "Messiah," which was shot in Boston. Kathy explains that it was made with "wishful thinking, planning, sweat, hard work, and a credit card." The digital feature is now in music composition, and the finished product is over three hours. For more information on her experience shooting a "no-budget" film, please contact Kathyfilm@cs.com.
Maine Filmmakers Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle of "Pennyweight" have pushed back filming of their latest project "Foreign Body" from October 2000 to January 2001 to enable Rob Draper, ACS to come on board as director of photography. Draper was director of photography on "The Spitfire Grill," the 1996 indie smash that commanded a $12 million buying price after it showed at the Sundance Film Festival. Rankin and Potelle’s latest will tell the story of Haley, a professional killer who, after botching an assignment, is forced by her boss to hide out on a quaint Maine island — an oil-and-water-style comic platform. The FBI wants her, her boss double-crosses her, she becomes embroiled in a love triangle, and finally she and the islanders "find themselves in a deadly showdown that will change their lives forever." For information about this project, contact 207-761-0110.
Screenings
"Ennis’ Gift: A Film About Learning Differences" by filmmaker Joshua Seftel will be screened on Thursday, October 12 at 8pm at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The film was made in memory of Ennis Cosby who struggled with learning differences in school, and decided to dedicate himself to helping others with similar learning differences. For more information please visit http://mfa.org or call 617-369-3770.
"Happy Accidents," directed by Brad Anderson, will be shown on October 18, at 7:30pm, as part of the Director’s Cut Series at the Coolidge Corner Theater. This is a pre-release screening of the new dramatic film, shown at Sundance, by the ex-Allstonian who made "Next Stop Wonderland." For further details please visit their web site at http://www.coolidge.org or call 617-734-2501.
"The Sorrow and the Pity" by Marcel Ophuls will be screened in two parts at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This documentary depicts the Nazi occupation of France. The film has been unavailable in any format for over 15 years — the new version is in French and German with English subtitles. Screenings will take place for Part 1 & 2 between October 1-8, 2000. Please call 617-369-3300 or visit http://www.mfa.org for more information.
