Directors Notes

It s with complete unashamedness that I admit we discovered this week s guest Dan Schneidkraut from our well mined source of the Filmstock Film Festival when El Vez spotted Daddy s Time, Part two of Dan s Seeking Wellness: Suffering Through Four Movements quadrilogy of films. My interest in the films only grew when all four parts arrived and I discovered that it was going to take some work on my part to fully engage with their themes. Dan joins us to discuss challenging cinema, the strengths of video and a lifetime ban from the 48hr Film Challenge. Seeking Wellness: Suffering Through Four Movements Materials Production Stills Cup of Friendship, Shrine of Scars Treatment Daddy s Time Shooting Schedule Final Project Shooting Schedule Malignant Love Shooting Schedule Showlinks Seeking Wellness: Our Suffering In Four Movements Filmstock Stan Brakhage Yasujiro Ozu Chris Mars Earth Sunn O))) Pachelbel s Canon Lasse Marhaug Related Posts Seeking Wellness - Dan Schneidkraut Filmstock #8 DN EP 094: Das Dores - Gabriel Tupinamba DN EP 069: Somewhere, Anywhere - Chris Dundon DN EP 067: Four Eyed Monsters - Arin Crumley Susan Buice

Seeking Wellness: Suffering Through Four Movements (2007) A series of conceptual video projects exploring ideas relating to victimization, recovery and empathy. Part One: Cup of Friendship, Shrine of Scars Part Two: Daddy s Time Part Three: Malignant Love Part Four: Final Project Related Posts Now You See Me, Now You Don t - Attila Sza?sz Four Eyed Monsters - Arin Crumley Susan Buice Dead Bird - Brek Taylor Clare Tinsley And the Colors Are Like Summer Das Dores - Gabriel Tupinamba _grau - Robert Seidel

It s not often I experience the films we feature in their full cinematic glory, and even rarer that I also get face to face time with the directors, but of the many films we ve covered on the show Marcy Garriott s feature documentary Inside the Circle - which opens a window into B-Boy culture, friendship and the challenges of growing up and finding your place in the world - definitely warranted the big screen experience. Marcy took some time out from promotion duties to discuss her approach to filmmaking. Showlinks Inside the Circle Inside the Circle MySpace Still in Motion Interview Sony HVR-Z1U B-Boy City Sony DSR PD-150 Sony DSR-PD170 SXSW Children in Jail Related Posts Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin Convention Screening DN EP 083: Escape From Luanda - Phil Grabsky DN EP 071: Good Copy Bad Copy - Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen Henrik Moltke DN EP 070: Routes - Alex Reuben

Inside the Circle (2007) Capturing the raw power of a grassroots hip-hop movement, Inside the Circle tells the stories of strikingly talented b-boys Josh and Omar, former best friends who become rivals when they join competing dance crews. Immersed in the b-boy culture of defiant creativity, Omar rises to international renown, while Josh tangles with the law. Both of them struggle to keep dance at the center of their lives, and the “B-Boy City” competitive events thrown by visionary street dancer Romeo Navarro serve as emotional milestones in their journey to adulthood. Facing off in intense dance battles that mirror the larger events in their lives, Josh and Omar seek respect, meaning and identity “inside the circle.” Related Posts INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin Convention Screening Routes - Alex Reuben Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft Patrick Jackson Routes Hits a Cinema Near You Four Eyed Monsters - Arin Crumley Susan Buice

What happens when you re far from home and on-route to living your dream? Do you come back to start again with nothing to show for your years of effort when things get rough or do you hang on in the hope that success and the life you ve imagined is just round the corner? Co-directed by Daneeta Loretta Saft and Patrick Jackson, Tokyo Cowboys follows the stories of four Gaijin living those very questions in seductive Japan. Daneeta joins us this week to discuss their feature debut. Showlinks The Elektrik Zoo Tokyo Cowboys (The Blog) The London Film School Canon XL1S Apple Final Cut Pro Japan Film Festival Little Rock Film Festival Blood is Thicker Than Floodwater Article Related Posts Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft Patrick Jackson INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin Convention Screening DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee DN LFF07: The English Surgeon - Geoffrey Smith DN EP 088: All The Drunken Horsemen - Tomas Leach

Tokyo Cowboys (2008) Tokyo Cowboys follows the stories of four western men living long-term in Tokyo. The film s delicate and humorous portrait illuminates the price some pay for a taste of Tokyo s success. Related Posts Four Eyed Monsters - Arin Crumley Susan Buice All The Drunken Horsemen - Tomas Leach 1000 Journals - Andrea Kreuzhage Trusted Computing - Benjamin Stephan Lutz Vogel Tovarisch I Am Not Dead - Stuart Urban

Director Duncan Bone joins us this week to discuss his multi-discipline career and recent move into music promos with the stop frame piece Not in a Million Lovers for band The Beangrowers. The Beangrowers: Not in a Million Lovers Materials Production Sheet Showlinks duncanbone.com The Beangrowers Adobe After Effects Related Posts The Beangrowers: Not in a Million Lovers - Duncan Bone DN EP 079: Menomena: Evil Bee - Stefan Nadelman DN EP 042: Auto Pilot, Distortion, Ping Pong Biker Mike - Mike Chan DN Ep 022: LIVE LOVE WORK PLAY - Thomas Atanazio Moros Eros: On My Side - Jesse Ewles

The Beangrowers: Not in a Million Lovers - Duncan Bone (2008) Duncan Bone s relationship stillsfest for The Beangrowers Not in a Million Lovers. Related Posts Moros Eros: On My Side - Jesse Ewles Menomena: Evil Bee - Stefan Nadelman Honey Honey: Homeless Heart - Michael Johnson Auto Pilot, Distortion, Ping Pong Biker Mike - Mike Chan 8 - Benjamin Ducroz

Sometimes I go after a director for one film and they ll come back at me with another that completely trumps my already high appreciation of their work. This week is such a case with director Gabriel Tupinamba and his lyrical study on repetition Das Dores. Das Dores Materials Stills Script Storyboard, Shotlist Lighting Plan Showlinks Nonada Filmes Das Dores Festivus Film Festival Met Film School Cannes Film Festival Groundhog Day Magic Realism Sony HDW F900 Sofia Coppola Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Related Posts And the Colors Are Like Summer Das Dores - Gabriel Tupinamba DN EP 078: Garage - Lenny Abrahamson DN EP 069: Somewhere, Anywhere - Chris Dundon DN EP 067: Four Eyed Monsters - Arin Crumley Susan Buice Miss D 2007 Top Ten

And the Colors Are Like Summer (2006) And the Colors Are Like Summer is a short film that deals with the passage from hate to love and with the place that violence and aggression have in the sexual and love discourse, specially when taken to its limits. Das Dores (2008) Das Dores tells the story of two teenagers that end up trapped in an abandoned petrol station while trying to run away from home. Their car ran out of fuel and they are looking for a way out of there. While they get a chance to reconsiderate if running away together is such a good idea, strange noises and events enwrapped them and it becomes apparent that beyond their actions lies another - always repeating - pattern. Related Posts DN EP 094: Das Dores - Gabriel Tupinamba Four Eyed Monsters - Arin Crumley Susan Buice Dead Bird - Brek Taylor Clare Tinsley _grau - Robert Seidel Virtuosi - Marcelo Garcia

Given last week s UK parliamentary vote for a 42 day detention period, I m especially glad to have Marc Hawker of Dark Fibre Films join us this week to discuss the Amnesty commissioned ad spots Waiting for the Guards and The Stuff of Life, which are part of their Unsubscribe movement designed to united people concerned with human rights abuses committed in the war on terror . Waiting for the Guards The Stuff of Life Materials Stills Waiting for the Guards Treatment The Stuff of Life Treatment The Stuff of Life Mood/Storyboard Showlinks Dark Fibre Films Amnesty Unsubscribe Me Living Goddess Rize David LaChapelle Bartle Bogle Hegarty Christian Aguilera - Dirty Clowns in the Hood Slamdance Festival Drugstore Sony HVR-Z1U MOVIEtube Phantom HD Prime Focus UK Sony PMW-EX1 Pirate Productions Archive Adam Freeland CNN Report Zaha Hadid Related Posts Waiting for the Guards The Stuff of Life - Marc Hawker It s Beatiful - Nicolas d Haussy DN EP 086: Extraordinary Rendition - Jim Threapleton _grau - Robert Seidel What We ve Found Out About Stem Cells - Richard Fenwick

Waiting for the Guards (2008) Waiting For The Guards is the first of 3 films commissioned by Amnesty to highlight the enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA in the “War on Terror”. The Directors approached the making of the film in a way that has never been done before, choosing to show the reality of Stress Positions in as authentic a way as possible. They filmed a person who was put in Stress Positions for over a 6 hour period. There is no acting on the part of the “prisoner” – his pain and anguish are real. This powerful film shows without a doubt that what the US administrations say is interrogation is really torture, and must be stopped. The Stuff of Life (2008) You are tied to a board, your ankles, wrists, chest and head strapped firmly down. The board is tilted 45 degrees, so that your head is lower than your feet. Water pours onto your face, flows up your nose, into your mouth, down your throat and fills your lungs and stomach. You gag, choke and struggle for breath. You feel as if you are about to drown. Throughout the ordeal an interrogator fires questions at you. The water only stops when you start to give the ‘right’ answers. This is waterboarding. Both Waiting for the Guards and The Stuff of Life were created for Amnesty International’s unsubscribe campaign - Sign up and find out more. Related Posts DN EP 093: Waiting for the Guards The Stuff of Life - Marc Hawker It s Beatiful - Nicolas d Haussy DN EP 086: Extraordinary Rendition - Jim Threapleton _grau - Robert Seidel What We ve Found Out About Stem Cells - Richard Fenwick

Tim Plester joins us this week to discuss his DVD released trilogy of shorts and directorial debut English Language (With English Subtitles), which he also wrote and stars in. Showlinks timplester.com English Language (With English Subtitles) Blurring the Line Ant Muzak Blake s Junction 7 Trailer World of Wrestling Blake 7 Edinburgh International Film Festival Palm Springs Film Festival Raymond Carver Marion and Geoff Rob Brydon Uppsala International Short Film Festival Greek Chorus Annie Hall Punch-Drunk Love French New Wave Control Related Posts Filmstock #8 Stagnate - Miranda Bowen Miss D 2007 Top Ten MarBelle 2007 Top Ten English Language (With English Subtitles) - Tim Plester

English Language (With English Subtitles) (2007) A tenderly offbeat black-and-white romantic comedy with subtitles. Meet Mulligan (a typically English man), Esther (his Scandinavian girlfriend), and the on-screen captions that happen to find themselves along for the ride. Related Posts The Upper Hand - Lana Schwarcz The Raftman s Razor - Keith Bearden Filmstock #8 DN EP 092: English Language (With English Subtitles) - Tim Plester _grau - Robert Seidel

There s so much great work out there that even if I spent the full 24 hours a day on Directors Notes I d still only be scratching the surface, which is why I m so pleased that the mighty Wholphin DVD magazine exists to bring the best of it straight into our homes every quarter. I managed to hide the envy in my voice long enough to have a chat with creator and man at the helm Brent Hoff. Showlinks Wholphin David O. Russell Todd Solondz True/False Film Fest SXSW Sundance Film Festival Specialten The Power of Nightmares Pangea Day Please Vote For Me Related Posts DN EP 046: The Raftman s Razor - Keith Bearden DN Festival: Britdoc 2007 DN EP 079: Menomena: Evil Bee - Stefan Nadelman DN Ep 034: Carlin - Brent Green DN Ep 032: The Shovel - Nick Childs

Our guest Michael Johnson used his skills as an advertising writer to pursue his true passion for filmmaking by writing his own scripts to cut his teeth on whilst leaveraging his ad contacts into potential new projects. We sit down with him to discuss his take on Honey Honey s Homeless Heart in his latest music promo. Honey Honey: Homeless Heart Materials Stills Shotlist Showlinks MichaelJamesJohnson.com Honey Honey Kamp Grizzly Sub Urban Riot O Brother, Where Art Thou? Related Posts Honey Honey: Homeless Heart - Michael Johnson DN EP 079: Menomena: Evil Bee - Stefan Nadelman DN EP 042: Auto Pilot, Distortion, Ping Pong Biker Mike - Mike Chan DN Ep 022: LIVE LOVE WORK PLAY - Thomas Atanazio Time Piece - Kat Mansoor

Honey Honey: Homeless Heart (2008) Something s a going down in Michael Johnson s promo for Honey Honey. Related Posts DN EP 091: Honey Honey: Homeless Heart - Michael Johnson Moros Eros: On My Side - Jesse Ewles Menomena: Evil Bee - Stefan Nadelman Auto Pilot, Distortion, Ping Pong Biker Mike - Mike Chan _grau - Robert Seidel

Victor Solomon is a director in the rare and enviable position of being able to initiate his own projects through self-funding. He joins us this week to discuss his latest work Anthropology, a collection of five short films based stories from the Dan Rhodes book of the same name. Anthropology Materials Storyboards Scripts Showlinks Victor Solomon The Lovemakers Faux Fox Dan Rhodes A Fine Tooth The Cook, the Thief, His Wife Her Lover Panasonic AG-HVX200 Related Posts Anthropology - Victor Solomon DN EP 044: Film Eight - Dan Gitsham Time Piece - Kat Mansoor The West Side Episode 3 The West Side Back Again

Anthropology (2008) Victor Solomon s Anthropology series of films adapted from Anthropology, a book of short stories by Dan Rhodes. Related Posts DN EP 090: Anthropology - Victor Solomon Film Eight - Dan Gitsham _grau - Robert Seidel What We ve Found Out About Stem Cells - Richard Fenwick Virtuosi - Marcelo Garcia

Josse Malis joins us to discuss the first two episodes of his shadow play inspired ten part animation series Bendito Machine, which explore the ever problematic universal issues of power, corruption and religion. Showlinks Zumbakamera Bendito Machine Shadow Play Adobe FreeHand Adobe Flash AWN s Best of the Web Showcase 2007

Josse Malis joins us to discuss the first two episodes of his shadow play inspired ten part animation series Bendito Machine, which explore the ever problematic universal issues of power, corruption and religion. Showlinks Zumbakamera Bendito Machine Shadow Play Adobe FreeHand Adobe Flash AWN s Best of the Web Showcase 2007

Bendito Machine (2006) A primitive tale about power, corruption, religion and machines; as usual. Related Posts DN EP 089: Bendito Machine - Jossie Malis _grau - Robert Seidel What We ve Found Out About Stem Cells - Richard Fenwick Virtuosi - Marcelo Garcia Trusted Computing - Benjamin Stephan Lutz Vogel

Bendito Machine (2006) A primitive tale about power, corruption, religion and machines? as usual.

Bendito Machine (2006) A primitive tale about power, corruption, religion and machines… as usual.

Director Tomas Leach joins us to discuss his feature documentary All The Drunken Horsemen, which saw him travel to the isolated Mayan town of Todos Santos in the mountains of Guatemala to capture the preparations for its legendary annual drunken horse race. Showlinks Tomas Leach 3 Minute Wonders FourDocs Fabrica

Director Tomas Leach joins us to discuss his feature documentary All The Drunken Horsemen, which saw him travel to the isolated Mayan town of Todos Santos in the mountains of Guatemala to capture the preparations for its legendary annual drunken horse race. Showlinks Tomas Leach 3 Minute Wonders FourDocs Fabrica

All The Drunken Horsemen (2007) High in the mountains of Guatemala lies the small Mayan town of Todos Santos. Each year, on November 1st the town celebrates its legendary drunken horse race. This film follows Ramon as he prepares to race on the town s holy day for the first time. He follows 9 days of prayer, preparation and alcohol as he joins the men of his family as a rider. As Ramon enters an alcohol induced, trance-like state, for the day long race, the town erupts in celebration.

All The Drunken Horsemen (2007) High in the mountains of Guatemala lies the small Mayan town of Todos Santos. Each year, on November 1st the town celebrates it s legendary drunken horse race. This film follows Ramon as he prepares to race on the town s holy day for the first time. He follows 9 days of prayer, preparation and alcohol as he joins the men of his family as a rider. As Ramon enters an alcohol induced, trance-like state, for the day long race, the town erupts in celebration.

This week we re joined by Scott Keiner whose career has seen him direct TV pilots, music videos for bands such as OK Go and the recent short Sizzlean, which is a prequel to the complete feature script of the same name penned by Scott. Sizzlean will be screening in the Cannes short film corner 20th - 22nd May and Scott will be there in person to discuss the project if you want to check it out in full. Sizzlean Materials Stills Call Sheet Character Breakdown Directorial Strategy Location Reference Shooting Order Shotlist Showlinks Scott Keiner Sizzlean OK Go New York Television Festival The Kardiac Kids Film Independent George Washington The City of Lost Children Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Terry Gilliam Sigur R?s Alfred Hitchcock Beirut Cinequest Film Festival Short Film Corner

This week we re joined by Scott Keiner whose career has seen him direct TV pilots, music videos for bands such as OK Go and the recent short Sizzlean, which is a prequel to the complete feature script of the same name penned by Scott. Sizzlean will be screening in the Cannes short film corner 20th - 22nd May and Scott will be there in person to discuss the project if you want to check it out in full. Sizzlean Materials Stills Call Sheet Character Breakdown Directorial Strategy Location Reference Shooting Order Shotlist Showlinks Scott Keiner Sizzlean OK Go New York Television Festival The Kardiac Kids Film Independent George Washington The City of Lost Children Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Terry Gilliam Sigur Rós Alfred Hitchcock Beirut Cinequest Film Festival Short Film Corner