Issue 004 - Milan 2015

Film THE MAGAZINE

Welcome to The International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema Milan DEDICATED TO THE BUSINESS OF FILM

FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOV 2015

www.filmfestinternational.com

LO ND O N

NI C E

M A D RI D

B ER L I N

MIL A N

THE INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER FESTIVAL OF WORLD CINEMA MILAN

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Turn to page 7

Welcome to the International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema Milan 2015.

Dear Filmmaker, As ever, huge congratulations to all of the filmmakers and scriptwriters who entered our inaugural Film Festival in Milan – and in particular to those outstanding films and scripts that received nominations! From the whole team we have been amazed at the sheer number of entries that were received especially considering that this is our opening festival in Italy but as always, the quality of entries has been incredible and on that note, thank you for your continued support of all of our International Film Festivals, we hope you have a wonderful time with us and we’re looking forward to meeting up with you all in Milan.

Proudly Presents

THE INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER FESTIVAL OF WORLD CINEMA MILAN With its exclusive support services created specifically for film makers seeking advice on film development, structure, production set up, film finance, worldwide sales and distribution.

Carl Tooney Publisher publishing@filmthemagazine.com Steve Grossmith Editor steve@filmthemagazine.com

Stephen Mina Graphic Designer/Illustrator stephen@filmthemagazine.com Dan Hickford Sponsorship & Marketing Manager dan@filmfestinternational.com

All articles, including all editorial used in this publication (whether printed or digital) do not necessarily represent the views of any of the International Filmmaker Festivals representatives, staff or associates.

No part of this magazine, whether printed or electronic may be reproduced, stored or copied without the express prior written consent of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to: publishing@filmthemagazine.com Although we make every effort to ensure all of the information in this publication is up to date and accurate the publisher takes no responsibility for any omissions or errors.

went on to say “As we always try to highlight, we are all about the business of film and our excellent partnership with the Film Industry Network highlighted both here and also represented by the Network themselves in Milan is testament to our commitment to all filmmakers across the world”

We are also delighted to announce that this issue also marks the inclusion of our script special feature, which showcases the caliber of screenplay talent that’s coming through and who knows perhaps some of these fine writers will find themselves or their scripts on the famous Hollywood “Black List” for future production. “Together with the high quality of international film and documentaries that are entered across all of our festivals, we have also seen a large increase in the amount of scripts entered year on year” commented Festival President, Carl Tooney who then The FILM INDUSTRY NETWORK proudly supports The INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER FESTIVAL OF WORLD CINEMA MILAN bringing its vibe and energy to Italy to help new artists, producers and directors get the best out of the festival experience. Co-founder Ray Davies who is competently backed by specialist advisors from the film and television business said: ‘In its first year the TFIN group has met with hundreds of film makers and we’ve never seen such drive and passion. Milan marks the end of our launch year and it has been a blast! We’re looking forward to working with FFI team again, seeing both clients, personal friends and meeting new talent.’ Announcements for Milan include the new ‘Producers and Writers Lounge’ and our TFIN specialist Paul Eyres will be taking meetings with prospective clients with regards to commercially viable projects.

We will also be on hand to discuss distribution on currently finished product. The rollout strategy will provide ‘Platinum’ one to one consulting and co-collaboration during and after the film festival, through unique TFIN membership services.

Need support? Need help with your industry knowledge and confidence? The Film Industry Network and FFI festival team strive to provide a service to meet the film maker’s needs, be it one off advice to a seasoned film maker for route to market or support to festival clients attending. It’s both our remit and our pleasure to help film makers take the right pathway to help achieve commercial success.

With experience and knowledge spanning the Video, DVD and Digital landscape TFIN recognise the essential components that should be in place to make the film commercially successful, but after the consultation, knowledge boost, fantastic awards ceremony and nice to meet you email, it comes down to you the creative and your team.

‘FIGHTING THE COMMERCIAL FILM MAKERS CORNER AND PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES!’ Enter a FFI festival, join us at the FFI events, meet, network with new people and take out a TFIN membership to access our advisory services. We’ll help steer your project outside festivals and spotlight it to our select industry contacts.

‘IT’S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW - IT’S WHO YOU KNOW THAT MATTERS IN THIS BUSINESS’ TFIN exists because we have a strong and proven working knowledge of this intricate and complicated industry – ‘we know how it works, and we know how to work it’ says Ray Davies of TFIN. ‘We are extremely proud to have available to our members unique access to an extensive list of dedicated services and resources essential to satisfy the various and often complicated steps required for any project to reach fruition’. ‘These in-house services and Go-To relationships - built by our team over many decades - complete the necessary stages of process and development ordinarily outside the scope of knowledge and certainly beyond normal access of anyone without extensive experience and contacts’.

‘ABOUT THE FILM INDUSTRY NETWORK HOW IT CAN HELP YOU AND YOUR PROJECT’ The Film Industry Network has extensive in-house skills and experience and solid associate agreements in place with leading global resources specifically to ensure every base is covered with total confidence in order to help its members… whatever their requirement.

Members can contact TFIN at any stage of a project for advice and support at any level of development, or simply to educate themselves on ‘the next step’ and what to expect in order to move a project forward. Membership costs just $149 annually and provides privileged access to film industry mentors with the knowledge, experience and industry connections to guide you from the pit-falls and mistakes.

‘We do promise to look diligently at every project and to give our members genuine, honest feedback, advice and support’.

For further information please visit our website: www.thefilmindustrynetwork.com Attending the Milan Festival: ray@thefilmindustrynetwork.com

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CARLOS DUNN’S

KATHERINE MANKIND MUST NEVER KNOW OF THEIR EXISTENCE Writer: Carlos Dunn Director: Charles W. Bailey

One of the most important aspects of a great movie is that it tells a great story.

“Carlos Dunn’s Katherine” accomplishes that in that it is based on a short story Carlos wrote back in 2005, when he and his wife visited the ancient city of Machu Picchu in Peru. The story was originally published under the title of: “When Pedro met Vanessa,” and was published along with a collection of other award winning short stories in the Pulp-Fiction Magazine: “Androids2 Anthology” in the winter of 2005. It is one of seventy stories Carlos has written and sold over the past 50 years. It is an amazing story based on actual events.

When storyteller Carlos Dunn set out to make: ”Carlos Dunn’s Katherine” he knew that he had only one chance to make a first impression. He wanted not only to make a film that grabbed people’s attention and kept them on the edge of their seats until the end credits but more importantly stayed on their minds long after they left the theater. Carlos’s vision was for: “Carlos Dunn’s Katherine” to have a dark, brooding, 1960s, drive-in movie, Cult Horror film look and feel. He knew he had accomplished this when an International Film Festival Official took him aside a few months ago to praise the film saying: “It is like watching an old John Carpenter film.”

“A Sadistic Mercenary Serial Killer with ties to a secret cell of the Vatican takes a hit contract to kill a young woman but then runs into trouble completing his assignment when the young woman’s boyfriend gets in the way. The boyfriend quickly learns about her dark secret, still, he is not about to let anything happen to the woman he has fallen in love with. Yes there will be blood.”

During the medieval inquisition the Vatican became alarmed at the spread of heresy. So much so, that in 1234, Pope Gregory dispatched Dominican friars to France to conduct inquest. Shortly after the friars arrived, a new and more dangerous threat to the Vatican was discovered. Vampires. This alarming news was quickly relayed back to Rome and Pope Gregory quickly issued a secret decree stating that there could only be God and Mankind of this earth and that Vampires very existence was blaspheme against the church and that mankind must never be allowed to know of their existence.

In 1235, the Vatican started using mercenaries and paying bounties to hunt down and kill vampires. The hunter was required to present the fangs of his or her kill as proof of the kill. That, indeed, another Vampire was dead. And the threat of mankind finding out about their existence was one Vamp less likely to happen.

During the same time, hundreds of innocent women all over Europe were tortured and burned at the stake for witchcraft. And so it came to be that the Vatican’s Mercenary Vampire Hunters took up the same practice of torturing lovely Vampire girls before pulling out their fangs and pounding a stake through their hearts or chaining them to a rock just before dawn so they would burn to death as the sun came up. That secret cell still exists today, Only now there is a secret room in the basement of the Vatican equipped with the latest in satellite surveillance equipment. As soon as there is the slightest lead, a hunter I dispatched to eliminate the threat of mankind discovering the truth of their existence.

His name is Rooney, he is the Vatican’s most trusted hunter, but the collateral damage he leaves behind is becoming increasingly harder and harder to cover up. This time they are taking precautions, and so the legend of Katherine begins.

In Colima Mexico, with the volcano smoking in the background and spilling red hot lava down the mountainside, a beautiful Mexican senorita girl is brutally murdered by a hunter.

In Miami, a beautiful girl named Megan is dying of Leukemia but is turned into a Vampire in order to save her life, only to be killed by another sadistic hunter named Andrea when she breaks into the room and shoots her in the heart with a cross-bow.

In Nashville, a third girl is shot with a crossbow and captured only to be tortured to death by the sadistic hunter Andrea.

Because of Rooney’s history of collateral damage and the difficulties of covering it up, he is ordered to work with Andrea because her hits always look like an accident. But the two do not get along.

Shortly thereafter Rooney kills Andrea and takes off after Katherine leaving a path of destruction behind him.

Katherine meets John, a mortal. When John discovers Katherine’s dark secret, instead of running from her, he vows to keep her safe and alive.

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FEATURING STILLS FROM THE MOVIE

The secret phone call from the Vatican is placed to its London contact, Father Flannigan to inform him that the elusive Katherine has been located in Ohio using satellite surveillance and credit card usage detection.

John and Katherine escape death by Rooney several times only to be trapped by him in the basement of his house in a final confrontation of good versus evil. But Which side is which?

In the battle that ensues, John kills Rooney and he and Katherine escape.

At the end John and Katherine are in a bar enjoying their new found love and freedom.

ABOUT PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER AND STORYTELLER CARLOS DUNN FROM 1970 UNTIL 1975 film producer Carlos Dunn was a back stage musician at Nashville, Tennessee’s Grand ole Opera. He was a bluegrass musician and played acoustic bass and 5 string-banjo and toured with Legends like the late Bill Monroe, James Monroe, Ralph Stanley, The Osborn Brothers, Jim and Jesse, Mac Wiseman and quite a few other Nashville greats including He-Haw legend Archie Campbell.

While all of this was going on, he was often in the back of the bus writing pulp fiction stories, in fact over the last 50 years, he has written and sold more than 70 pulp fiction stories and published several novels. Now he has turned his vivid imagination and storytelling capabilities to making Independent films.

Carlos plans for “Katherine” to be the first of many films for his production company: Vampires2 FILMS LLC which has studios in Colima, Mexico and in Atlanta, Georgia.

Next up, says Carlos are: “The Positronic Girl.” (Early 2016) and “Alanbane (Late 2016) So that we do not spoil the storyline, I can only tell you that the movie Carlos Dunn’s Katherine explores the observation that it is mankind who are the true monsters of this planet.

LOCATIONS The movie was filmed on location in: Colima, Mexico Atlanta, Georgia Akron, Ohio.

ACTORS Mel Heflin We were really fortunate to have been able to cast well known Indie Actress Mel Heflin who has been in more than 35 Indie films to play Sandra, a blind mutilated psychic vampire with only one fang. And get this, Mel practiced for several weeks before the shoot washing dishes, making beds and taking out the trash blindfolded to get ready for her intense role. Several days of the shoot she wore Prosthetics over her eyes and was blind more than 10 hours a day. Mel’s an amazing actress and her performance is stunning. Mel is also known for her lead and supporting roles in: Too Many Moons, Melanie, Never Go Back, Tara Motuski, Hunters, One Night Alone, Predatory Moon, Radioactive Flesh Eating Foliage, Sasquatch vs.

Yeti, The Ritual , The Trip, This Film Hates You, Grindsploitation, , Scavenger, Plan 9, Someone Has to Review It! , Death Collector, Echo Lake, The Profane Exhibit , Dead Woman’s Hollow, The Pit, Moonie and the Spider Queen, The Hunter’s Circle , FearFighter, Candid, Let’s Make a Horror Movie, Spade, Our Devil’s Night, and They Walk.

Michael Heggedus (1969-2015) Michael was a well-known rock and roll singer in Ohio before his untimely death in April 2015.

Michael played the cruel Sadistic Mercenary Serial Killer Rooney. His role could be likened to Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight.

Tina Grimm Tina Grimm, a lovely, talented natural blond, was in the lead role playing Katherine. She is also known for her lead and support roles in: Fifty Shades of Black, Miss White, Dracula’s War, Grandfathered, Wild for the Night, Joe’s War, The Heart Beat, WT Melbourne, We Are Your Friends, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, True Detective, Ted 2, Social Media Misfits, The Invited, LOUDPVCK & Gladiator: Tony, The Goldbergs, Draft Day, Kandie Land, City Under Siege: Believe, Gunner’s Rift, The Four, The Avengers, Hill, Never Escape and Killerdate.com Andrew Schaefer Andrew was in the support role playing John, Katherine’s new boyfriend. Who battles the odds to keep her safely out of the reaches of the sadistic Serial Killer Rooney. Andrew is also known for his lead and support roles in: Into the Night, WT Melbourne, Maintenance Man, Moonshine Kingdom, Rocket from the Grave, Bloody, Bloody Mary, Who Am I? and Listening to Rain.

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Denny Castiglione Denny plays Mr. Rollins the bartender and Katherine’s only friend in the world.

Well, that is until John comes into her life.

Denny is known for his lead and supporting roles including: Bust, Redemption, Lux in Tenebris, You Will Go Darker, Timer Man, Invasive, The Deprogrammer, Pups United, Fathers, Rachel’s 9TH Inning, Cleanland, Draft Day, Between the Cracks, The Big Day and Moonshine Kingdom.

Tempast Wulf Lovely Tempast Wulf played a Mexican Senorita. She is known for her lead and support roles in: Garbage Men, Vator, I Thought You Were a Nice Man, Bad Guys, Reborn, The Takeover, Tinker Steampunk, The Telephone Rang, The Pirateers of Atlantis, AWAKE, on the Train to Hell, Bloated Minds, Zombie Socks, Ground Z.E.R.O, The Demon’s Rook, The Vampire Diaries, and Fathers’ Day. Christa Johnston Christa plays pixie girl Andrea, another sadistic Mercenary serial Killer. Christa is known for her lead and support roles in: Dracula’s War, The Strange & Mysterious Life of Jackson Bean, Introductions in the Void and Chronicles of a Serial Killer.

Ashleigh Morghan Ashley plays Megan. She is known for her roles in: My Blind Brother, The Brave Souls Who Fought Against the Slave Vampire Women, Paper Shadows, Southpaw, and Underdogs Kristoph Wulf Kristoph played the Mexican Bounty Hunter. He is known for his lead and support roles in: Garbage Men, I Thought You Were a Nice Man, Reborn, The Pirateers of Atlantis, AWAKE, on the Train to Hell, Zombie Socks, Ground Z.E.R.O and The Demon’s Rook.

Other cast members: Chris McCail, Aaron Green, Benny Benzino, Helen Heggedus and John Riddlebaugh. Shortly after filming was completed, the actor who played Rooney passed away.

/Katherine @Vampires2.com www.CarlosDunnsKatherine.com Run Time: 88 Mins.

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FEATURING STILLS FROM THE MOVIE.

Carlos Dunn’s Katherine is dedicated to and in loving memory of Michael Heggedus (1969-2015).

ALCHEMY

SILENT GLUE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS ALCHEMY ANGELA PIETROPINTO WITH MISCHA DANI GOODMAN AIDAN WONG ORIGINAL MUSIC, SOUND AND EDITED BY LUKE ALLEN DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY CJ BAKER PRODUCTION DESIGNER STEVE GRISÉ COSTUME DESIGNER LAUREN GASTON HAIR AND MAKEUP JACQUELINE M RISOTTO LINE PRODUCER JENNIFER WILMETH EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND WRITTEN BY IAN KEVIN SCOTT PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY BRANDON POLANCO alchemy.movie

STARRING IAN KEVIN SCOTT

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ALL IN TIME

TOP RIGHT: ACTRESS LYNN COHEN - LEFT: ACTORS SEAN MODICA & VANESSA RAY - MIDDLE: JEAN-LUC BILODEAU - BOTTOM: THE DAMNSELS PERFORM IN “ALL IN TIME”.

Music of the fictitious band was supplied by the real band “The Badlees”.

Writers/Directors: Chris Fetchko & Marina Donahue

All In Time has its European Premier at The International Film Festival of World Cinema, Milan and here first time filmmakers Chris Fetchko and Marina Donahue discuss their music-driven feature.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FILM, THE STORY AND WHERE THE IDEA CAME FROM.

Our movie is set in the 1990’s and tells the story of Charlie, a 30-year-old banker in New York City who decides to quit his job and move home to follow his dream of managing his favorite rock band, The Damnsels. The Damnsels had some success in Charlie’s youth but recently have been experiencing a downturn in their career. Charlie believes he can rekindle the band’s glory days so he moves home to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania where his long-time girlfriend, Rachel, also lives. Everything goes well until struggles with the band’s guitar player threaten the band’s existence and puts pressure on Charlie’s relationship with his girlfriend.

Eventually Charlie loses everything: the girl, the band, and his dream. Enter his elderly next door neighbor, Mrs. Joshman, beautifully played by Lynn Cohen, who intervenes and motivates Charlie to get back on his path. Charlie sets off to win back his girlfriend and to revive his career, but is it too late? And if he can only have one or the other, what will he choose, love or career? The movie is essentially about the price of following a dream, and finding out what is most important to us, and how sometimes we realize what is most important to us when it’s too late.

THE MUSIC IS SUCH AN INTEGRAL PART OF THIS FILM. WHAT DIFFERENTIATES YOUR FILM FROM OTHER MUSIC FILMS?

We always wanted to make a film that portrays the inside workings of a band in a real way. So many “Hollywood” films glamorize the music business. But there are a ton of working musicians out there in the world that live their lives far from any depiction in the movies. Our musicians are real people with real problems like spending time with family and finding inspiration, as opposed to drug or alcohol abuse. It was also really important to us to get the music right. Almost all of the music in the film are live performances, and we took great effort to capture the feel of those performances.

The music was recorded live in the actual locations that we filmed in, and most of the actors portraying the musicians were the actual musicians playing the music.

We wanted the audience to feel as if they were right there in the club during the performances. If we could have found a way for the audience feel the sticky floor from beer spills, we would have. The music in our film is original, raw, and, most importantly, honest. It’s also very accessible to audiences. In the screenings we’ve had so far, most of the people are downloading the music onto their phones as they are walking out of the theater.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR COLLABORATION PROCESS AS CO-WRITERS AND CO-DIRECTORS.

As you know, collaborating can produce incredible results if you can get it right!

Lucky for us, we got it right during most of our 6-year collaboration on All in Time. We had some stand-offs, and the back and forth debating definitely added time to our project, but collaborating makes you explore ideas you otherwise wouldn’t have on your own and in our

case definitely elevated the project. Our masculine vs feminine life experiences and perspectives pushed each other to see each storyline from a different point of view, and that process helped develop richer and more complex arcs for our characters. It also resulted in strong female characters surrounding our male lead.

We went through 15 drafts of the script over a two-year period before we started shooting. Unfortunately, after we shot and edited, we had to go back and re-write because the film wasn’t working. At this point we grew very far apart creatively, basically fighting over the best way to “fix” the film. We each had our own preferred re-write and different approaches to fundraising. The film floundered for two years and our collaboration totally broke down. As depression set in, the realization that our film would never be finished began to take its toll. But instead of giving up, we rallied. Our DP and our EP brokered a peace deal between us and got us back in the same room. We picked the best stuff from each of our re-writes, got the band back together so to speak, and shot additional scenes three years after our original shoot. We hired a new editor who started from scratch, changed problematic existing scenes by adding in new ADR dialogue, and the result was a different film that is now winning awards at festivals and getting great reviews in trades like the Hollywood Reporter. It’s now blessed us with a European Premiere in Milan! We couldn’t be prouder of our film and our collaboration. And… we can’t wait to work together again.

www.allintimefilm.com Run Time: 97 Mins.

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FALCONER: SPORT OF KINGS Ed Brochin, Director of The Falconer: The Sport of Kings tells us the background to his latest movie: “I was inspired to make this film because of a recent declaration from UNESCO in the year of 2010 that declared the sport of falconry as “World Cultural Heritage for all nations”. This was a huge victory for the sport of falconry world wide as it not only gave the sport it’s much needed recognition but it has also raised the awareness of our conservation and preservation efforts of birds or prey in general. (The role we have played in the restoration of the nearly extinct peregrine falcon for example) I also wanted to be the first to share our lifestyle and sport

in a way that could be respected and appreciated by the non-falconer mainstream viewer but with great regard to the overall perception to be received from the falconry community worldwide.

This was no easy task and so far so good as our first test market for the blended audience was a huge success as we recently packed the theatre at a private screening here in Indianapolis. It was well received by all the members of the falconry community who attended that night. To all who watch this film, I hope we do not disappoint.” As the descendent of French fur traders, it seems somehow fitting that Ed Brochin grew up to be an avid outdoorsman, equally skilled with bow, rifle, and fishing pole.

Eddie Brochin produced his first television series for a local station (UPN-23) in Indianapolis back in 2001. The purpose of the series was to promote services he could provide through his hunting and fishing guide service; then known as Geist Lake Charters.

In 2004, he re-branded his company under the name Ultimate Outdoors TV LLC and quickly expanded into a national platform.

He went on to produce nearly 60 half-hour episodes of outdoor adventure programming for networks such as Fox Sports Midwest, Versus, Sportsman Channel, Pursuit Channel, World Harvest Television, Untamed Sports TV, AMG-TV, and Wild TV in Canada.

In 2009, Eddie cancelled his television series in order to take on a 5-year feature-length

documentary project titled The Falconer: Sport of Kings. Since its release in the fall of 2013, The Falconer has won numerous awards at prestigious film festivals around the globe.

During the final stages of production on The Falconer, Eddie started another feature-length documentary titled Spirit of the Bull. That project is nearly completed, and will be released in the fall of 2015.

In January of 2015, Eddie launched a repeat series of Ultimate Outdoors TV and is currently in production on a new outdoor adventure TV series titled The Ultimate Outdoorsman. Eddie has also been involved in the production of TV commercials since 2001, and recently has expanded his production services to include aerial photography and videography with the use of his fleet of HD camera drones. eddiebrochinproductions.com Run Time: 70 Mins.

TOP: ELIK HAMSHIBAI WITH A GOLDEN EAGLE - BOTTOM LEFT: THREE MASTER FALCONERS. EMAIL: EB@FALCONERSPORTOFKINGS.COM

Directors: Edwin Brochin & Fernado del Rio Writers: Edwin Brochin & James A. Swan

THE SECRET LIFE OF BALLOONS Writer: Nina Graham Directors: Nina Graham & Lauren Graham

Nina wrote the original monologue as a dramatic piece of creative writing for a school assessment on the topic of love and loss. The sisters then adapted the piece into a short film project that was undertaken during the School holidays as they waited for external exam results. Together they managed to raise and utilise a small budget, recruit a great team of friends to help shoot, compose the music, edit and perform the work.

The end result has been an exciting journey and taken them in a very different direction from the original work. The finished work has both surprised and delighted them and from an initial idea of loss and despair they Filmed in Northern Ireland Helens Bay County Down Summer 2014. have managed to capture an uplifting Run Time: 10 Mins. film of loss and love.

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TOP: HOLLY HANAWAY - BOTTOM: CHRIS GRANT

The Secret Life of Balloons explores the parallel journeys of a boy and his girlfriend at very different stages of existence. Left lost and believing they’ll never connect again, this uplifting short film asks questions about the boundaries of love, life and letting go. This is the first short film undertaken by sisters Lauren (18) and Nina (16) Graham. Inspired by the Australian Theatre for Young People’s Fresh Ink playwriting development programme, which collects the best new monologues together to be performed as The Voices Project.

IN ANOTHER LIFE

CENTRE PHOTOGRAPH: YUSUKE HAYAMIZU - RIGHT IMAGES ARE STILLS FROM THE FILM.

Writer/Director: Yusuke Hayamizu

The story is told in three vignettes. The first has the main character die, in the subsequent episodes the main characters die metaphorically. Like some would say “it’s as though part of me died” when expressing their feelings about the loss of someone important. The film is a study of how we treat others including with guilt and regret. The subject matter is dealt with pathos and understanding; beautifully shot and acted. Mr Hayamizu is a worthy winner at The World Film awards in Indonesia and is nominated for both International Film Festival events in Marbella and Milan this year.

Mr Hayamizu, left high school in Tokyo and moved to Australia where he worked for Foxtel and SBS television helping in TV productions and music videos. After 7 years he returned to Tokyo and became a freelance TV director; this is where the story really begins as he felt his career stifled by the media status quo, so he decided to create his own company, ACTR’s. This now set him free to use his own creative methods; he produced and directed films, documentaries, music videos even commercials.

The problems he had faced were common to almost all up and coming artists within the Japanese film industry, they had no voice and therefore could not be heard by a network or industry establishment, the only way to get anywhere was to find work and go with the current established trend. It was obvious to Mr Hayamizu that these artisans

ALCHEMY Writer: Ian Kevin Scott Director: Brandon Polanco

An epic transformation manifests from a seemingly routine interview.

WRITER: IAN KEVIN SCOTT.

As a failed everyman works through pages and pages of questions, time elongates and he finds himself isolated and tormented. He battles the unknown, ultimately transcending into a heightened reality, discovering a life between multiple worlds both familiar and otherworldly.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THE AUDIENCE TO TAKE AWAY AFTER WATCHING ALCHEMY? The title Alchemy symbolizes a cinematic concept designed to give a person who watches this film his or her own experiential transformation.

We want our audience to ask themselves how they see the world and their own reality. There is a magical aspect to our film that reflects the viewer’s own personal experiences as they engage with our narrative journey. Through sound and emphasizing colour in the production design, we’ve created a visceral and symbolic film to help broaden the audience’s interpretation about the reality of life around us.

needed a vehicle, something that could deliver their hopes and potential talent to the established film industry; so he helped create the Tokyo Cinema Union which set out to do exactly that and to act as a conduit to the rest of the world. In the world of any art, “top down thinking”, doesn’t work.

Communication on a horizontal basis does.

Just look at Michaelangelo and Pope Julius II, they argued constantly but working together The Sistine Chapel became a piece of world history. So with the artist and establishment talking it became a win, win situation. Mr Hayamizu will I’m sure help realise many dreams and we hope many of them are his own.

Run Time: 30 Mins.

WHAT DOES THE POSTSCRIPT, “THE ALCHEMY OF METAXU” MEAN? One of the story’s primary themes is the philosophical exploration of the Greek term “metaxu.” In its ancient form, it was used to describe the middle ground or how something can be perceived by different people in different ways. The philosopher Voegelin used metaxu to define the place where man is in between two poles of existence; the infinite and finite, between God and man, the material world and the awareness of self.

Others have described it as that thing which separates as well as connects. At it’s core, the story expresses the alchemy of taking something which may initially appear mundane and familiar and transforming it into something magical, in this case, a life between multiple realities, worlds and understanding.

Alchemy.movie Run Time: 15 Mins.

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HOPSCOTCH

For the first time I shot the whole film through the camera lenses and controlled the actors each and every movement. It was stunning, that this kind of exercise can happen, that the actor can take such instructions while acting.

Writer/Director: Shomshuklla Das

The fascinating filmmaker Shomshuklla Das, explains how her latest film “Hopscotch” was created

It is my third feature, and as a filmmaker, I feel each new project needs to be different, otherwise the creative journey can get boring. It is written by me and directed. I was on a flight between Delhi and Mumbai and was restless to write something. I wrote the script in a 2 hour flight! That itself was a challenge. Thus the film started with challenges which are of course lovingly created.

One solo actor, experimental with sounds and effects. But I loved the journey as a creative person because it was so tough. Not only that we shot the film in two days from 8am to 8pm. It was an intoxicating experience. Everyone in the team was energized. Sohini mukherjee, the actor is from the stage, thus she could perform without a break, though I kept on feeding honey and dry apricot to keep her sugar levels up, so that she doesn’t collapse. We remember at the end of the shoot the whole team was so exhausted we all collapsed on the floor.

As it is a psychological horror, thus I used props like soft toys and added elements like ankle bells, without the sound of the bells and top. To create a sense of eeriness, I introduced the hat to be used in a very unique way as well as the mirror. I am highly influenced by European films and I just wanted to create something that I have learnt all of these years. www.cuttocut.com Run Time: 86 Mins.

LOVE A SHORT, SILENT FILM Writer/Director: Ratziel Bander

Producer Martin Brown (known for Baz Luhrmann’s ROMEO+JULIET and MOULIN ROUGE – which was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture) offered Ratziel Bander a shoestring budget to write and direct a short movie about inner transformation. I spoke with Martin Brown in Sydney, Australia about his foray into ultra-short movies, and Ratziel Bander in Los Angeles where he is in development for his next feature project.

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MB: “I wanted Ratziel’s work to be seen… there was a tiny amount of funding going, so I grabbed it and said ‘what can you do with this?’ I‘ve always admired his work but thought he needed some clout behind him to get people to pay attention. The result is an award-winning short that has been recognised at film festivals worldwide. In my estimation, Ratziel has the rare combination of a thorough practical knowledge of filmmaking, a deep understanding of story, an easy rapport with actors and a flair for ‘show business’. All of these qualities are apparent here. It was great fun to work on and I am really keen to see how his next project turns out.“

RB: “It’s so short, the challenge was depth.

So I tried to overlay meanings one upon the other – through image alone. So a single gesture evokes layered messages…. Movement and colour create a … symbolic reality that speaks in a complex non-linear way, while telling a simple linear story. Consequently, I think the film can be interpreted subjectively as being either political, physical, spiritual, fantasy, psychology, or (hopefully) a combination of these, while the essential transformation story remains the same…

Inevitably, we find ourselves back where we started, but with a new perspective, the new matrix in which we live. It’s sort of an autobiography really.”

By Lena Renconvich ratzielbander.us Run Time: 13 Mins.

Milan IFF ‘BEST SHORT FILM’ Nominee Plus TALENTED NEW DIRECTOR - BEST ORIGINAL SCORE BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SHORT FILM Nominations

Cusp Joseph Tremain

Skye Lourie

Derek Hutchinson

Screw this town.

DIRECTION Oliver Warren

CINEMATOGRAPHY Simonluca Fraioli

LEAD ACTOR Joseph Tremain

SUPPORTING ACTOR ORIGINAL SCORE Derek Hutchinson Esmeralda Conde Ruiz

Milan IFF Screening: Wednesday November 4th - Room 3, 12.20pm facebook.com/cuspshortfilm

SMOKE FILLED LUNGS Writers/Directors: Jason Cabell

Edward (Jason Cabell) returns from multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan only to find himself experiencing a difficult time re-adjusting to society coupled with the constant struggle he faced with an addiction to several prescription drugs. He refused to be just another statistic that most veterans in his situation would find themselves in, so he used his access to prescriptions as a path to sell prescribed drugs illegally out of his home to known dealers in the community and motorcycle gangs in order to supplement his income. Edward had very little contact with the outside world, so his newfound occupation of dealing drugs becomes his sole connection to society and a way of escape and acceptance of his own addiction.

Michael (Orlando Brown), Edward’s nephew, lost his father to the war and as a result has become more of an introvert and loner — cut off from the world around him. The target of many jokes at school and constantly being bullied by several of his classmates until one day, he decides to take matters into his own hands — he brings a flare gun to the campus. The flare gun accidentally fires off in his locker and nearly burns down the whole school, causing panic among faculty, staff and students. As a result, Michael gets suspended from school and now has to face the reality of his present actions.

His neighbour, Heidi, (whom he has feelings for) appears to be the only person by whom he can speak to about his life and present situation. The only problem is… every time she comes around; he feels uneasy and can only speak to her with a sense of nervousness.

So, Edward and Michael embark on a journey to discover and re-discover life in this coming of age drama that takes them on a road trip that has its challenges but also its rewards. Edward teaches Michael the difference between “the peacock and the lion” and other life lessons that would remain with him throughout his years into adulthood — describing to him the details of what happened to him (and others like him) during the war and how it can literally change a man and his outlook on life.

Yet, Michael uses that opportunity to remind Edward about what is really important in life — family and support of one another.

Charisse (Stacey Arnell), Edward’s sister and Michael’s Mother, is a widow struggling to raise a teenage son after the death of her husband. After a year of waiting, she still has not received any death benefits from the government due to her husband’s unfortunate demise.

So, with no resolution in sight, she is forced to go back to work in order to survive and hopefully make ends meet.

When Michael gets suspended from school because of the flare gun incident, Charisse is determined to not witness her son continue to spiral downwards into depression and exclusiveness, so she visits Edward for the first time in a very long time. After much convincing, she gets Edward to agree to take Michael on a road trip to see their Grandfather (Frankie Faison), a World War II veteran and retired Negro League Baseball player who also had his battles with PTSD after he came home from the war.

Jason@jasoncabell.com Run Time: 90 Mins.

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TOP MIDDLE: MICHAEL GETS BULLIED AT SCHOOL - RIGHT: STANLEY TEACHES MICHAEL HOW TO PLAY BASEBALL - BOTTOM IMAGE IS A SCREEN SHOT FROM THE FILM: SMOKE FILLED LUNGS.

A retired war veteran struggling with a prescription drug addiction and his troubled teenage nephew rediscover life together on a journey to see their grandfather.

PICNIC Writer/Director: Shomshuklla

While the world is filled with stories of romance, of loves lost and won, I felt the story of Chhutii Aar Picnic had to be different. I decided to look inwards and into my own roots in Shantiniketan, which is the birthplace of Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

My father was a disciple of Tagore at the first creative school in India started by Tagore, Shantiniketan. Going back to the place Tagore was born which imbibed every memory that I had of the place with my father, reminded me that perhaps I did not have to look too very far to find a story worth telling. While visiting my mother in Kolkata, I chanced upon her copy of Shesher Kobita (The Last Poem). I remember having read it as a child, as it was part of our curriculum in school. Re-reading the same novella after so many years, I found that even now the tragedy and pure love of Lavanya and Amit still brought tears to my eyes. I knew what I had to do.

Adapting an iconic novella like Shesher Kobita was never going to be easy. The original story is set in Shillong and is the set-up is very colonial and old worldly. However tantalizing a prospect it was to simply recreate the traditional set-up, I felt that there was more to this film.

And that’s where the thought of modernizing the story came to mind. Having worked with Rabindra Sangeet in the past, I knew fairly well that it would not be an easy task but one that would make the story of Shesher Kobita more apt for the younger audience.

I did chose to take certain liberties in terms of making the setting more dynamic and relevant today and at the same time maintaining the essence of the film, which is in the beautiful blossoming romance of two strangers who find love and a life after.

And thus began the journey of Chhutii Aar Picnic.

Run Time: 72 Mins.

THE MUSE IS THE MOUNTAIN Writer/Director: Dr. Teresa Mular

A contemporary portrait of artisan women who are members of a cooperative known as CASEM, in Monteverde, Costa Rica, captured through interviews, most of them conducted in their own surroundings, far removed from urban places.

Interweaving, embroidering and threading personal stories of struggle and perseverance with landscapes of nature, this film lets us see the pressure exerted on repressed women with little or no education (mostly of rural background) by a twentieth century male dominated society.

And despite everything or perhaps because of that, it shows the relative independence that many of these women have achieved through their tenacity and artisanal work. We can see the survival of Nature and that of a group of women with an iron will and an invincible spirit. Theirs is courage beyond natural capabilities, a testament to refuse oppression.

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This film gives us a real window into the creative path of humble ladies, whose inner and most intimate being has been inspired by their beautiful surroundings: the Mountain and Nature.

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thmular@optonline.net Run Time: 49 Mins.

al ci Lance Filmmaker Acclaimed Steen Anthony Nielsen tells us his approach to writing a screenplay Coming from my humble beginnings as a playwright in London’s off West End I was taught very early on of the value of ‘Dialogue’ and ‘Character’ when I started out as a Theatre Director. I wrote much of my own work and although theatre can often rely on a number of visual and production design tricks to convey mood, tone and emotion more humble theatrical productions are often entirely dependent on the actors and more importantly the script. This is an extremely useful training ground for a young aspiring screenwriter. You know you must convey as much as possible with words alone and then depend on your cast to channel the emotional impact of those words in the story. Theatre is where I learnt my craft and it is one of the best places you can cut your teeth as a writer.

When moving to over to screenwriting I realised many of the core lessons of writing a good script are always essentially the same.

Always follow the golden rule – tell the story! All dialogue in a scene is a servant to one of two masters – Story and Character. Every line in your screenplay should always serve the purpose of either taking the story further. To elaborate, I mean that it should in some way contribute towards the telling of the story by taking the viewer or reader further along in the plot or provide information relevant to the unfolding of the story.

The second master for dialogue is character. If dialogue isn’t telling us something about the story it should be telling something about the person in the scene. Dialogue is telling and when that applies to characters you can establish character personas and motivations in a scene with great dialogue. This isn’t always strictly true for every type of script but it works well in most narrative driven dramas which is the main vein of my body of work.

Different stories can of course require a different approach and it’s also very hard discipline not to become too attached to your own material, especially if you’re making it yourself. My last feature film, ‘The Journey’ was based on a series of events and characters that I could personally connect with because they were about things I experienced and

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among the fictional setting there was an inherent feel of truth to the material. Making your characters believable in the world in which they exist on screen is key to the success of your story. Half way through filming we were thrown an incredible curve ball. My lead actor was cast in a great role in ‘24’ he couldn’t refuse and we only had this one remaining window to complete the film, so now we had a half finished screenplay – I was so upset after coming so far I shouted out loud ‘Now I have to start this all over again with someone else!’ As those words hung in the air I realised that was actually what I needed to do – work out a way to re-write the story around the footage we had shot already and make the story work and after a whole night of writing I re wrote the script and did just that. It is hard for a writer to let go like

that because my first script was a very solid piece of work but I had to be adaptable and that is something working on the other side of production that I have had to learn.

My next film – Pegasus Bridge is a historical epic based on true events – This time every single line in the script is being said by someone who really existed. This presents a completely new set of challenges for me as a writer. Everything has to be researched meticulously but when you can’t meet the real protagonists because they long since left this mortal earth one must try and create the flavour of who they were on screen. Not an easy task. Still – when the son of one of your lead protagonists reads your script and says ‘Wow Lance, it’s like you knew them all!’ You know you must be doing something right!

writer/director/producer - lance@nielsen28.fsnet.co.uk

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Lance Steen Anthony Nielsen

WRITTEN BY RONALD MCQUEEN WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Well, the logline would go something like this: In the spring of 1945 thousands of Cossacks and refugees descended on a tiny town in the Austrian Tirol, intent on forming an alliance with the Allies in the next campaign against the brutal tyranny of communism.

But Stalin wanted them back.

And in the summer, the first British troops arrived.

SO, WHAT’S IT REALLY ABOUT? It’s about a girl, Katja, survivor of a Red Army massacre, and her flight across the battlefield of Europe in search of her brother; it’s about Mikhail, an officer in a Cossack regiment, fighting a rearguard action against communist forces into the safety of the Austrian mountains. It’s about Andrei, the old Cossack underground fighter who has seen it all before. And it is about Ivan, the Red Army officer who is pursuing them all.

LORENZO’S PASSION WRITTEN BY KATHI TWOMEY WAHED LORENZO’S PASSION is the David and Goliath story of a teenage poet who battles a power-hungry Pope in 15th Century Italy to save the city he loves – Florence.

Lorenzo de Medici spends his days rescuing Greek antiquities from extinction with his friend ANGELO until his father, the leader of the city, Convinced is assassinated.

Florence’s welfare hangs in the balance, Lorenzo reluctantly accepts leadership.

Naïve to the political landscape, he spends his days fashioning a city of art and culture – including a magnificent library. Meanwhile, his enemies –jealous Florentine monks fanatical families, and the POPE and his nephew, RIARO – plan his downfall.

WHERE DID THE STORY COME FROM? My mother was a teenager in the mountain village when the Cossacks arrived and she befriended a young girl there, learning much of the story of how she had fled, first to Poland and then Croatia where the regiments were fighting Tito’s Partisans. With the war drawing to a close the Cossacks retreated into Italy and finally across treacherous mountain passes into Austria. They had hoped to find a safe haven there but between meetings secret and Roosevelt Churchill, Stalin sealed their fate.

My dad was with the Scottish regiment which subsequently ‘liberated’ the town and took responsibility for the welfare of the displaced peoples. The forced repatriation which followed has been described in Cossack literature as ‘The Massacre of the Cossacks’ and reflects an episode in history which the UK government kept secret for many years after.

The script then is based on what my Mum and Dad told me over the years although I’m still sure there is much they kept from me.

Lorenzo meets and falls in love with CATERINA, the beautiful daughter of his ally, the Duke of Milan, but loses her because of political backstabbing. When PAZZI, a Florentine jealous of Lorenzo’s power and popularity, suggests to the Pope that Florence is ripe for liberation from the Medicis, a conspiracy takes shape.

Will this young idealist survive the political ambitions of the most powerful man in Italy and find the political will to save the city he loves?

Rediscover one of the most dramatic periods of history – LORENZO’S PASSION, inspired by the true story.

Like most people, I’d heard of Lorenzo de Medici. But it wasn’t until I started researching the Pazzi conspiracy that I discovered what a powerful, heroic person he was.

My husband was preparing a cruise lecture on Michaelangelo when he came across the extraordinary story of a the Pazzi conspiracy: plot against the young de Medici brothers hatched by another Florentine family and Pope Sixtus, which culminated in an assassination

Queen Ronald Mc SO, WHO IS THE COSSACK? Not the girl in the photograph - that was Hannah, my Perhaps it is Katja, mum. the Cossack orphan; perhaps it is Mikhail, the proud Russian officer, driven by hatred for Bolshevism. Or the officers in the German High Command who see the real threat to the world order as residing in the Kremiln. Or perhaps it is just a metaphor for all the refugees and displaced peoples who found themselves lost and forgotten at the end of a brutal war. You choose.

at the Duomo of Florence and had devastating consequences for all of Italy.

Mesmerizing and inherently dramatic, the story spoke to me of a contemporary theme, still being battled today: religious fervor vs. freedom of thought and expression, all cloaked within the shifting loyalties of political power.

This is perhaps a story familiar to Italians. But most Americans or other Westerners will be surprised by its raw passion and brutality.

It is a story inspired by true events, with some creative liberties taken.

Kathi Twomey Wahed kwahedis@gmail.com

TOP LEFT - GIORGIO VASARI - PORTRAIT OF LORENZO -THE MAGNIFICENT. BOTTOM LEFT - MEDICI

THE COSSACK

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al What’s in a script?

The story that your film tells is its most important asset. Get that wrong and it’s all wrong. I’m on my fifth feature now.

I wrote three and chose two. With 18 nominations and two wins between them I could be doing something right - but bear in mind there is no right way in film, just your way. Some principles seem to work though. These are mine:

Your story has to connect. Know who your audience is, and it’s not everyone or it will be for no one. Focus your film – make it do something they want. Hook the audience in early so that will be compelling viewing, raise a question that will keep them watching for the answer.

LIONHEART WRITTEN BY BOBBY SERROS A retired, working class couple must share their home with their two under-achieving, adult sons. With entirely different goals, they embark on a cross-country journey together, and a series of events unfolds. Personal regrets and simmering frustrations are revealed, leading ultimately to healing in this heart-warming story of an ordinary family struggling to make sense of their lives and each other.

We’ve all met nasty, manipulative, bullying people: Feature one (change their name though)! Your audience will stay glued waiting for justice, so deliver it before the film is over so they will want to watch again to share their delight with a friend.

If you have an idea go for it, no one remembers a bland film. There is no second chance. Make your story understandable, but avoid talking down to people. Take them on highs and lows – play with their emotions.

Remember your story needs middle, beginning and an end. Know how much time you have. Each paragraph must drive the story on.

Keep focused. Sub-plots are great but make them relevant, don’t meander.

Most importantly you must love the story of your film. You are its greatest advocate. If you don’t believe in it why should anyone else?

Why I chose this story

I drew inspiration from this to create a story populated with complex characters struggling with a tragic past and looking for redemption.

Put your actors into role; make them live the character and become them. If you want a breast grabbed

Intrigued by the dysfunctionality of every family I have ever encountered, including my own I might add, I find a wealth of material exploring the bonds between family members. The unspoken trust between brothers, the testosteronic relationship between father and eldest son, a mother’s need to broker peace, are familiar issues to us all. It is ultimately the steadfast ability of love that binds a family together and enables us to endure life’s predictable ups and downs. These surely are elements that everyone can relate to, and I find fascinating to explore.

The idea of Lionheart came to me after watching a short documentary about the career of a B-list strongman circus performer. The focus of the documentary was the chaos of this environment and what struck me as infinitely more interesting was the relationship between this man and his long-enduring wife.

I was mesmerized by her devotion, blind to the reality of her husband’s fast declining ability, she unknowingly bestowed him with dignity and courage.

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make it happen 110%. Push your actors. They must believe in your story and their role. If you have a gut feeling that they are not right replace them.

Re-shoot to do this if you have to. Your cast is your second most vital ingredient. Get the story and the casting right and you are on your way.

Bio I am enjoying a second career as a screenplay writer and independent movie-maker.

I live in Orlando, Florida where I have lived the vast majority of my life. I have four young adult children, and I continue to operate two successful businesses in the healthcare industry, with my lovely wife, Nina.

I was inspired to follow my dreams and venture into the movie business after emphasizing to my daughter the importance of following her heart when choosing her career path. I converted part of a warehouse, into a sound stage and studio, to the amazement of my family and staff, and so far I have completed three short films and several screenplays.

To my absolute delight, my first screenplay, Lionheart, has been officially selected at two film festivals including Milan, and I am thoroughly enjoying the entire experience.

bobby serros - BobbyRicoSerros@gmail.com

Here writer, director & producer Rob Burrows shares some ideas about how he approaches the script writing process.

Establish who your leads are: Put them at the beginning, at the end and on screen for 75% of the time. Make your characters people your audience will relate to, for example a friend, lover or uncle. Make your audience fall in love with them - then put them in peril (emotionally and/or physically).

Rob Burrows rob.burrows1@googlemail.com

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Rob Burrows

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al CHASING TIME WRITTEN BY SUSAN LEE HAHN Dream big. Then dream bigger.

Susan Lee Hahn is on a quest to illuminate the power of the soul. Her inspiration for this script comes from her love and passion for art, the Italian Renaissance, and the elusive nature of time. Susan’s vast writing credits and professional experience includes award-winning screenplays, advertising copy, marketing content and strategy, fiction, and nonfiction. She has been telling stories on the page and through her lens for decades as a writer, producer, brand storyteller, and screenwriting professor.

Her latest nominated script at the Milan International Film Festival, “Chasing Time” explores the nature of artistic passion in our souls and begs the question, If some of the great artists could have lived indefinitely, would they still have had that same urgency to create their great masterpieces? The story takes place in the present day in Florence, Italy and surrounding Tuscany and harkens back to the Italian Renaissance as ISABELLA PIACENZA (35, American artist) arrives at the Medici Artists Colony and discovers that the patron, BRUNO MEDICI (70+) has been alive since the fifteen hundreds due to an immortality elixir that was rumored to have been discovered during that time.

and witnesses his transformation. He confesses that he has been alive since the Renaissance and believes she’s the incarnation of his only daughter with his great love, Sofia.

Meanwhile, mysterious things keep happening in Florence as CARLO PIAGENTINI, (40, a stealthy street artist) meets Michael and reveals his quest to discover the immortality elixir that was allegedly discovered by the monk, Basil Valentine during the Renaissance. Carlo’s parents were scholars who thought they discovered the potion and died.

Carlo follows La Signora to a remote alchemists’ lair and is convinced that she’s part of the truth that he’s seeking.

Michael and Carlo team up to break into the Medici villa.

Michael wants to see Isabella.

Carlo wants some answers to his parents’ untimely death.

The truth peals back in startling layers. Isabella inadvertently witnesses Bruno’s physical transformation as a silvery liquid pulses into his veins from an apparatus, and his appearance goes from a decrepit old man to a vibrant, younger man.

She also discovers her genealogy to some of Italy’s great artists and her ancestral ties to Bruno. She was his daughter during a previous incarnation with his great love, Sofia. His ultimate plan for her

is to become a great artist, take over the villa one day, destroy the immortality potion, and set his soul free by killing him. He knows for certain that Michelangelo, Botticelli, and every other great artist would never pick up a chisel or a brush if he thought he’d live forever. It’s the race against time and the end of one’s own life that ignites the artistic passion in one’s soul. Since she is his only real spiritual connection who can release him, she’s tasked with setting his soul free from his very tired body. He’s too addicted to the potion to kill himself.

At her farewell party, Michael, Carlo, and La Signora join them and she learns that La Signora is really his beloved, Sofia who has also been alive over 500 years. They are her spiritual parents and both believe that she’s the incarnation of their only daughter.

They’ve been waiting hundreds of years to set their souls free and have always wanted to leave their bodies at the same time. She comes to say goodbye to them as they dance in a room surrounded by candles all aflame. They implore her to open a window, which would cause the curtains to dance and billow toward the flames. Just before she obliges them, she learns that La Signora/Sofia is really Basil Valentine.

susanleehahn@mac.com * 847-224-5356 * susanleehahn.com

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Finalist, Best Unproduced Scripts, Milan International Film Festival 2015 Semi-Finalist, ISA FastTrack, 2015

Bruno has other plans for Isabella and immediately orchestrates her departure from Florence and arrival at the sequestered Medici Artists Colony, tucked away in the Tuscan hills, cut off from the world in a villa that is reminiscent of its Renaissance double. Isabella flourishes at the Medici Artists colony. Bruno and Isabella become close. She discovers her ancestral ties to him and to other great artists and scientists of the Renaissance. She walks in on him taking the immortality potion

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Susan Lee Hahn

Isabella travels first to a small town in Umbria to spread her mother’s ashes, then to Florence where she meets LA SIGNORA (70+), an elegant and mystical woman who is extremely emotional when she sees her. Their uncanny connection and the ongoing “deja vu” images that follow Isabella as they explore the streets and the timeless art of Florence reveal her past life in this magical city. Isabella meets MICHAEL DONATI (40, a New York art dealer), and is undeniably drawn to him. They fall in love and ultimately discover their great romance from their previous incarnations together during the Renaissance.

susanleehahn@mac.com 847-224-5356 susanleehahn.com

Written by Susan Lee Hahn

DECODING BAQTUN Director/Producer: Elisabeth L. Thieriot

Elisabeth Thieriot, the Filmmaker behind “Decoding Baqtun” gives Film The Magazine an exclusive insight into the passion that drives her and why this film is the first in a trilogy of movies.

ET: Others have said to me “follow your passion”, and my book, my film and my products are my passion. I think after you raise your children you start to think “what can I leave behind?” And for me after my children, I would like to leave some intellectual property behind. Then you go into it and I felt that it was information that had never been put together and that is essential, throughout my life I always had logical questions that needed answers “why”and “how” and that’s what I try to provide in my body of work, but without preaching, with actually going and showing, I think that is something that many documentaries don’t do. Many times they just seem to put fear into people or facts without actually breaking them down and my goal is to empower people through very practcal or logical information that speaks to them, where they can then sit down, start reflecting and then say “now I know why it affects one another”, so we try to show them the domino effect of the “why”. The film shows the micro level under which we are affected, and over a period which spans thousands of years you may think “well why does that affect me” and the truth is that it does and this is what I wanted to bring to my film, to make it science based.

So the practical explanations of how we are born into cycles of famine or wars or intellectual advancement or dark ages and so on... these are cycles of big epochs that we are both born and die into because we don’t live that long.

WHAT IS IT THAT DREW YOU TO THE MAYAN CIVILISATION? ET: A very simple answer, it is because they are the only true accurate timekeepers, and they are the only ones in the world that created a calendar that was more accurate than any attempt of NASA, and over thousands of years it never needed even one adjustment which tells you that they know something that we don’t and we should learn from them!

Their society was focused solely on the quality of daily living and they looked to the stars to find ways of improving their daily living. So this is where I ended up going, to the Mayan, to basically support the contents of my book which was created as I needed material for my skincare line that I started to formulate based on what we need to go through cycles of day, night and seasonal, our primary existential cycles. So you have to eat, you have to sleep, you have to repair, you have to learn, you have to assimilate information and when you do eat, you have to eat the right food in order to sustain your life.

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SO IS YOUR BOOK, THIS FILM, YOUR SKINCARE RANGE AND INDEED THE PLANNED TRILOGY ALL CONNECTED? ET: Yes it’s all connected, so what I had first was the skincare, so then I understood how complex it was, then I wanted people to comprehend what I was creating so I went into writing it saying why and where and how and trying to educate people, showing how it reconnected with nature. Then I started to be my worst advocate and challenge myself, so then, when I went to work with Mayans, the process I discovered, not only was I right, but their way of life and what I was doing was so closely aligned that what I wanted to do was to go into this deeper and so we created this beautiful alliance because they said that you are going to become our voice.

WAS THERE A “EUREKA” MOMENT WHEN YOU STARTED TO MAKE THIS FILM? ET: No, that started with me creating the skincare line, I understood that we really needed something honest, something that supports and harmonizes with our body and we have all gone through bad decisions as you go through life, then you start to think “why can’t they have knowledge to prevent these things?”, most treatments are very extreme almost like if we don’t know what to do, why don’t we cut it off, that way we won’t have to deal with it. So I realised that we lost a connection and how you get to know yourself.

The way it started was to become a better manager of your life, to get to know yourself, to make better decisions, to understand why people are a certain way and so it became a realisation that our world is created by each individual decision. That’s why my second film, the second film of the trilogy, is designed to be “Mayan Revelations – Power of Intentions”. So now that we know the cycle, now that we know all of the other things and that we are empowered to know all of the other choices - we can change direction! We hold a lot of power, it’s a beautiful planet, a green planet and we haven’t looked at the Earth as a living creature, the truth is that our water and oil system is equal to our circulatory system. The Earth is fertile, it is female, I

mean it even has crops that hold oestrogen in them. The good news is that we are at the peak of our intelligence, which means we are capable of absorbing and finding solutions and so it gives us the capability to expand as we need.

We now have the ability through our inventiveness and that’s what I’m trying to do, to connect sciences back together – that’s where the solutions are - and this is why the connecting of the sciences is so important. We became disconnected not only with the world but with our own bodies, we don’t read the signs and that’s how it was when I created the skincare products, people were using these other products without actually realising that their faces were the message board for other parts of the body.

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I mean what is science? Science is the ability to record the same event with accuracy, again and again. So that’s what the Mayans did, they recorded not experimented, so they actually recorded real-life events with much greater accuracy because how much of laboratory created events actually happen in real life? That’s why so many drugs have so many side effects, we’re not a petri dish, so that’s why drug companies are maybe good for two or three years but after that have so many deaths, lawsuits, so they leave it and move on to something else.

So the trilogy and book is about what creates our lives, with the film speaking to the macro cycles and the book to the micro cycles.

PLEASE CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR FOLLOW UP FILMS? So the next film in the series is “The Power of Intention”. As the most intelligent beings on the Planet we have choices, choices that sometimes determine the outcome and we are not “sheep for slaughter”. So it’s like setting the GPS, which road are you going to go on to get to your destination and guess what, you’re not in charge at all! So I’m going to try and teach people that think they will go in one direction, so for instance a child might say “I don’t care what the cost is I want to go to medical school or be a lawyer” and then they find out that the only way that they can do

this is with the death of a parent through inheritance. If the child is told the cost before he makes that decision do you think he would still want to be a lawyer or doctor – probably not? So when we set intentions of desire, when it comes from consideration, love, there is a different way of wishing. So I have all of the footage of the second film and if I’m lucky it will be finished by February, but I would have to work like hell and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to but that’s my goal!

So right now I’m in the process of polishing the script and a lot of the third part of the trilogy is done as well, what that shows is what happened when I went on the journey to film it and it shows just how much control we have.

So the idea was, when I started to work with the Mayans, I felt that part of my job was to protect the Maya, I mean so little was known about them and I stepped in and thought “Oh my God” these are amazing timekeepers, I wanted to find information about them straight away because there was nothing about them and that’s where the intention started to come from. I went there with good intentions and I had Mayan federations from three countries behind me, I started the project in the fall of 2011, started filming in April 2012, then I finished filming at the end of 2013 and it took me into 2014/15 to finish all of the voice-overs, edits, languages and so on. It was actually very hard to have so much science presented in a cohesive way of laymen terms, so for instance a person that was never exposed to astrology, bio-chemistry, technology, time-keeping, health, I mean literally we are talking Quantum physics so we had all of the disciplines truly combined to show how they cross over and how they are connected. repleteskincare.com decodingbaqtun.com Run Time: 90 Mins.

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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

BOTTOM LEFT: THE BOOK “BE FABULOUS AT ANY AGE” BY ELISABETH L. THIERIOT.

WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO GET “DECODING BAQTUN” OFF THE GROUND?

FILM LIST FILM TITLE

DIRECTOR

196

LENGTH

Anna Arlanova 00:49:43

1500 Words

Andrew Chaplin 00:08:45

46, XX

Guido De Craene

A Candle Lights The Heart

02:01:19

Shinji Kondo 01:25:00

A Private Matter

Kate Halpin

A Spring Has Passed By

00:19:59

Eva Daoud 00:07:00

A Tale with Christ and Jesus

Oldren Romero 00:30:00

A Way Out

Jason Tostevin

A White Light

00:13:45

Alberto Nacci 00:18:00

Alchemy

Ian Kevin Scott 00:15:00

All In Her Stride All in Time

Fiona Cochrane 00:55:00 Marina Donahue & Chris Fetchko

As the tree under the hurricane (Ati & Mindhiva) Aspirin for the Masses

Claudia Fischer

Barefoot Best Man in the Dark Bheetu (Coward)

From Scratch From Seoul To Jakarta Frozen Time Gadjo

Donna Valverdi

01:34:44

Heaven’s Will

Li Pengfei

01:24:00

Hidden Wrath

Moua Lee

01:20:30

Hogtown

If The Trees Could Talk

In Between Mountains and Oceans

Yusuke Kamata

01:19:00

Alfred Padilla

01:35:08

Isola del Giglio

Tom Schroeder

00:10:25

Mark Boucher

01:12:40

Emanuele Michetti 00:15:00

Busted City

Paul Carr 01:22:00

Komatose

Francesca

28

FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

Violeta Barca-Fontana 00:04:00

Let’s Dance To The Rhythm

Eddie Liu

00:13:59 01:19:00

00:21:22

Joe Zohar 00:03:17

Love

Ratziel Bander 00:03:55

Maria Moments of Clarity Mr Conservative Goldwater on Goldwater

Clay Luther

01:41:02

My Christmas Wish

Oliver Warren

00:14:33

My Mermaid, My Lorelei

Nick Basile 01:33:00 Catherine Black 00:16:00 Sandra Capra 00:08:08 Elisabeth Thierlot

01:31:00

Antoine March 00:04:55 Bryan Fox

00:18:55

Will Sim Garcia 00:20:52 Julia Hart 00:04:08 Suki Singh

01:36:37

Darya Poltoratskaya

Flowerman

Leica Robert Capa Eyes

Maria Soccor

Escape from Moskvabad

Filigrane

Colin Burden 00:08:10

Lords of BSV

Aleksandras Brokas 00:52:00

Felix Austria!

Alessandra Usai 00:56:45

Learning Circle

01:26:30

Endless Corridor

Fåån (Valsaland)

Ladies of Science

01:36:00

Carlos Dunn 01:28:00

Mike & Chantal Schauch & Matt Miles 00:42:03

Esitazione

Mauro John Capece

02:35:46

Kelly Amis

Emulsion

Yasuhiro Tamura 00:07:00

Bardroy Barretto

Paul Adelizzi 00:17:20

Emma, Change the Locks

Yusuke Hayamizu 00:29:58

Long Dream

Navin Ramaswaran

Embers

Teresa Carante 00:07:48

00:13:33

Broken Jam

Dissonance

00:25:51

Galih Sakti

Mercedes Arias & Delfina Vidal

Descent

Oskar Rosetti

In Another Life

01:12:00

Decoding Baqtun

01:26:02

00:16:36

Joanna Strange 00:20:36

Dear Daddy

01:35:00

Fiona Mackenzie

Box 25

De Puta Madre A Love Story

Daniel Nearing Shomshuklla Das

Michael Weinstein 00:24:00

I’m Coming Home

La Scultura

Dark

01:24:00

00:20:13

Healing Magdalene

Zuzka Kurtz 00:39:38

Cusp

Eric Miyeni

Padraic Lillis

Hand Over Hand

I Scream your Name

Blonde

Cry

01:58:00

00:15:00

Blade #1

Crookers - I Just Can’t

Damien Dematra

Ilan Srulovicz

Grit

Kurokawa Wonderland

Code Oakland

00:40:17

01:33:13

Tânia Prates 00:08:45

Chelsea International

Thomas Keumurian

00:53:11

Black Coal

Chasing Valentine

LENGTH

Flora Desprats

01:10:00

Utsav Mukherjee 02:05:45

Carlos Dunn’s Katherine (2015)

DIRECTOR

Cesar Terranova

Gazelle - The Love Issue

Hopscotch

Bruce Sze Han Chen 00:18:38

Bada Bing Bada Boom

FILM TITLE

01:37:40

Adam Nixon 01:02:00

Awaken

Colours Of Edziza

FILM LIST

International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema Milan

01:31:00

00:17:20

CC Goldwater

01:30:00

Nana Djordjadze 01:20:00

Yoram Sachs 00:28:46

Nali

Kit Bong Cheung 00:04:40

No Woman’s Face Remember

Once My Mother

Ebrahim Ghaeini

Alexander & Nicole Gratovsky 00:27:28

Naked

Oh! My Princess

00:09:17

James Tumminia 00:26:00

My Pilot , Whale

Nobody Looks Up

David Fejzuli

Chuck Griffith

00:15:30

Max Cooper

01:32:03

Heewook SA

00:16:23

Sofia Turkiewicz

01:15:00

Our Healing Journey

Anthony Perzel

00:51:30

Pearl

Amy Sedgwick

00:13:48

Shomshuklla Das

01:11:30

Candice Carella

00:31:10

Picnic Pony

Catarina Balbini 00:10:00

Remember My Story

Goblin Mikkanen 00:04:55

Republic of Dreams

Michael Lasoff

01:45:06

Returning Home

Thomas Wood

00:12:31

John Putch

01:34:00

Dmitry Zhitov

01:16:15

Christine Beebe

01:17:00

Gail Segal 00:20:19 Rob Burrows 01:33:00 Gaena Da Sylva 00:03:41

Route 30 Three!

Running - ROUGH CUT S2

Nathanael Matanick, Tony Cruz & Gregory Pickard 00:20:00

Bruno Bini 00:20:00

FILM LIST FILM TITLE

4th July

DIRECTOR

Salome

LENGTH

Kevin Bisbangian 00:30:00

Schnitzel

Asaf Epstein 00:22:00

Seven Lucky Gods

Jamil Dehlavi 01:52:00

Shackle

Dedipya Joshii

Showcase

01:38:15

Tufan Tastan 00:10:35

Sick World

Hyun-Mi Park

Smoke Filled Lungs

01:06:15

Jason Cabell & Asif Akbar 01:30:06

Soil, Struggle and Justice

Andreas Hernandez

South Beach On Heels

01:12:54

Dmitry Zhitov 01:20:00

Still Time

Alessandro Orefice 00:08:20

Stones From The Desert

Max Olivier Jubin & Bruno Jubin 01:28:50

Stuck in the Middle

Quirine Dongelmand 00:06:57

Subterranean Love

Robert Haufrecht 00:21:00

Sweet and Sour Salsa

Gustavo Cuervo-Rubio 01:18:00

Switch Man

Hsun-Chun Chuang 00:03:38

Temporal

Rob Burrows

The Art House

01:18:33

Laura Valtorta 00:09:20

The Chosen One

Cristian Comeaga 02:03:00

SCRIPT TITLE

Stefano Bozzo

A flute unheard

Paul Gross

A Star for Ravello

Mark Miller

Abandon All Hope

Palmer White

Bermuda

Laura Valtorta

Bowling for Concubines

Lance Nielsen 01:52:00

The Morning After

The Parting Shot The Secret Life of Balloons

HuMachinity

Sasha Siljanovic

In My Brother’s Image

Eugene Pogany

In Nomine Pasta Kaffarah Limani Lionheart

William Stephens

Of Gold & Ashes

Mark Axelrod

One Bad Astronaut

L.A. Longworth

Peony Pavilion

Yao Lu

Anirban Roy 00:14:39

Seriah’s Legacy

Julie Kaufmann

Stolen Seed

Kim Standring Jacobs

The Almighty

Dempsey Tillman

Jennifer Rapaport

The Cossack Trapped in Tuscany

Ronald McQueen

Trieste, 1912

Ben Hanah

Wolfgang H Scholz 00:51:00

Tu Y Yo

Dmitry Zhitov 00:04:03

Two Blue Lines

Tom Hayes 01:38:00

Umudugudu! Rwanda 20 years on

Giordano Cossu 00:36:00

Unbreakable

Ross Whitaker 01:25:00

Valiant

Robin Phillips 00:29:29 Mitterhammer-Bucking 01:22:00

Vegas Vikings

Christian Schoyen 01:06:47

Ward of State

Sarah-Jane Woulahan 00:29:23

Water Women

Laura Valtorta 00:30:00

What is Perfect?

Dmitry Zhitov 00:11:30

Where is Elle-Kari and what happened to Noriko-san?

Dvorit Shargal 00:49:20

Wiseman

Bobby Serros Kathi Twomey Wahed

Christian Thomas

Pasquale Greco 00:18:02

Time of Crows

Cristian Comeaga

Sardis the Merciful

Kristen Palana 00:03:55

Through the Uncanny Valley

Tom Rossi

Teresa Mular 00:49:00

Linda-Maria Birbeck 01:29:00

This Too Shall Pass

Iraklis Panagiotopoulos

Michael Sadler & Vanessa Marlowe

Victor Cruz & Guru Enlightment 01:24:00

There Should be rules

Yuchen Qu

Prophet in E-Minor

Lauren & Nina Graham 00:10:00

The Stockroom

Lynda Lemberg & Jeffrey Allen Russel

Honey, see you next year!

01:18:01

Shanra Kehl

The Muse is the Mountain

Phil Stokes

Grace

No Tears

Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu 00:20:00

Majdi Abu Shehadeh

Gonies (Phillip & Dickie)

Edwin Brochin 01:10:00

The Lobster Kid

Achille D’Onofrio

Evil Tips

The Falconer Sport of Kings

The Journey

Susan Lee Hahn

Coming From The Void

Lorenzo’s Passion

Federico Olivetti 00:19:26

Vanessa Marlowe

Chasing Time

Silvia Carvalho 00:22:19

The Guest

WRITER

A Bodyguard of Lies

The Debt

Vanessa

SCRIPT SUBMISSIONS

International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema Milan

Alessandro Spallino 00:08:41

Screening Times will be updated daily and available to scan here: www.FilmFestInternational.com FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

29

Shot over a period of 25 years, Two Blue Lines examines the human and political situation of Palestinian people from the years prior to the creation of Israel to the present day. Ranging through the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon and Gaza to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the film carries viewers on a journey across time and cultures to peel back the underlying roots of the conflict in the Holy Land. By primarily featuring the narratives of Israelis whose positions run counter to their country’s official policy, U.S. based filmmaker Tom Hayes provides a portrait of the ongoing conflict not often depicted in mainstream media.

twobluelinesdocumentary.com Run Time: 98 Mins.

AS THE TREE UNDER THE HURRICANE Writer/Director: Claudia Fischer

Here, Claudia Fischer, the documentary maker behind “As the tree under the Hurricane” describes how she came to make this thought provoking film.

Two years ago, Ati and Mindhiva were guided my way by a friend in common.

Ati and Mindhiva are sisters, and part of the Arhuaca tribe, a culturally rich tribe indigenous to Colombia. The sisters asked me to help them achieve their dreams of higher education. You see, the sisters wanted to achieve a college degree that would allow them to give back to the culture and the people they love so much. But a series of obstacles had

rendered it impossible for the girls to attend the National University.

While I wasn’t able to find a way to help them into the University, I was really impressed by their drive, compassion, and determination. These girls were literally fighting to learn, to be educated, so that they could give back to the people around them while still maintaining the tribes bountiful culture. I tried to make the media and press aware of these two women and their fight for knowledge, but not a word was broadcast nor a sentence printed regarding their struggle... I never got an answer from the press or media.

This only fueled my passion for the sister’s battle and I became inspired to tell the story of these two sisters on my own.

I wanted to share their journey in order to create support for the Arhuaca women of the Sierra, women who want to achieve a higher level of education to contribute to their people and help them preserve their culture.

I obtained the permission from Ati, Mindhiva and their relatives to record them with a small HD camera. I recorded them for a year, accompanying them through the good and bad. After that I taught myself how to edit and edited the footage for almost a year.

“A beautiful look inside an indigenous culture in Colombia. No car chases here. Just plenty of humanity, beauty, and desire for education and service. Well done.“ Libba Jackson, Journalist.

Run Time: 70 Mins.

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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

TOP: TOM HAYES AND ISRAELI SOLDIER IN RAMALLAH 1989 DURING THE FIRST PALESTINIAN UPRISING - PHOTO BY DOROTHY THIGPEN. BOTTOM LEFT: WALL QALQUILYA WITH KIDS - PHOTO BY JIMMY HALL. BOTTOM RIGHT: HAR HOMA DEATH SIGN - PHOTO BY JIMMY HALL. COPYRIGHT TOM HAYES.

Director/Producer: Tom Hayes

LEFT: PARAGUAS BLANCO - TOP RIGHT: TEJEDORAS - BOTTOM RIGHT: MINDHIVA IN BOGOTA

TWO BLUE LINES

Two Blue Lines meticulously probes the burgeoning conflict between adherents to the Jewish ethical tradition and followers of messianic/political Zionism.

Dueling Israeli narratives unfold a reality in which ‘The Middle East Conflict’ is illuminated as more than a war between Jews and Palestinians. This documentary feature about the second front, the Israeli/Israeli conflict, deconstructs the myth of a monolithic Israel, creating an opening for meaningful discussion of the future of Israel and the role of the international Jewish community in resolving the conflict.

“A beautiful look inside an indigenous culture in Colombia. No car chases here.

Just plenty of humanity, beauty, and desire for education and service. Well done.“ Libba Jackson, Journalist.

ƪȳȲΎƜȷɀɂ

ơȼɂȳɀȼȯɂȷȽȼȯȺΎƞȷȺȻΎƞȳɁɂȷɄȯȺ Winner Red Dirt ISH

Red Dirt

International Film Festival Official Selection 2013

ƪȳȲΎƜȷɀɂ

ơȼɂȳɀȼȯɂȷȽȼȯȺΎƞȷȺȻΎƞȳɁɂȷɄȯȺ Winner Best Screenplay

ajp

studios

A WHITE LIGHT suoni&visioni

a movie by

Alberto Nacci

(UNA LUCE BIANCA)

From a deep human drama comes a reflection on the border between life and death.

And life wins.

written, directed and produced by Alberto Nacci with Marcello Salvi, Ines Salvi, Carolina Salvi, Luigi Salvi, Giovanni Colombo, Stefano Zambelli, Paolo Gervasoni music by Osterberg, Narholz, Newmann, Epping, Franko (Sonoton Music) shot at ajpstudios, Swimming Pool of the Municipal Sports Center of Brembate Sopra (BG), Hospital Trust Papa Giovanni XXIII (already Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo) USC Specialised Rehabilitation edited by Alberto Nacci at ajpstudios running time 18’ distributed by

ajpstudios

32

POINT (Technological Center) Via Pasubio 5 - 24044 Dalmine (BG) Italy email: info@ajp.it - tel: +39 035 622 40 11 FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

www.ajp.it

ajp

studios

suoni&visioni

A WHITE LIGHT a movie by Alberto Nacci

(UNA LUCE BIANCA)

A true story between life and death featuring the real people who experienced it and who decided, after a few years, to relive it in front of the camera of Alberto Nacci.

Marcello is a young sportsman.

One day his life is subject to a sudden swerve: a strong headache is a signal of something going in the wrong direction. Hours later he is in the operating room to receive brain surgery. Unfortunately, after the awakening from anesthesia doctors realize they have to go back to operate on a further complication.

From that moment on Marcello enters a coma and for 52 days mom Ines, dad Luigi, sister Carolina and his most trusted friends become partners of the medical staff at the neurosurgery ward of the Ospedale Maggiore di Bergamo: the silence, the prayers, the long awaits in the hospital corridors become “pure energy” that tries to pull Marcello away from darkness, in order to give him back the joy for life that has always been with him, in the many foreign trips, in the sports activity....

written, directed and produced by Alberto Nacci with Marcello Salvi, Ines Salvi, Carolina Salvi, Luigi Salvi, Giovanni Colombo, Stefano Zambelli, Paolo Gervasoni music by Osterberg, Narholz, Newmann, Epping, Franko shot at ajpstudios, Swimming Pool of the Municipal Sports Center of Brembate Sopra (BG), Hospital Trust Papa Giovanni XXIII (already Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo) - USC Specialised Rehabilitation edited by A.Nacci at ajpstudios running time 18’ distributed by ajpstudios

ajpstudios FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015 POINT (Technological Center) Via Pasubio 5 24044 Dalmine (BG) Italy email: info@ajp.it - tel: +39 035 622 40 11 - www.ajp.it

33

CHASING VALENTINE Director: Navin Ramaswaran

Chasing Valentine premieres at the Orlando Film Festival on Oct 23, 2015 and has it’s European Premiere at the International Filmmakers Festival – Milan on Nov 5, 2015 where it’s nominated for seven awards (Best Picture, Screenplay, Cinematography, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor & Supporting Actress).

Ramaswaran and DOP Bruce William Harper set out to make a movie that would visually and audibly transcend the restrictions a meager budget typically imposes.

CUSP Writer/Director: Oliver Warren

Cusp is a dark coming-of-age tale about growing beyond your hometown.

A film made with great empathy and a solemnity that feels at once both grand and intimate, it hits all the right notes and leaves you feeling like things are going to be just fine.

chasingvalentine.com Run Time: 87 Mins.

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR FILM? There are so many parts of my life, experiences, people, that influence everything I write, but the original source of inspiration for Cusp was a photographic series

by Australian photographer Bill Henson, of teenagers at night looking down on the twinkling lights of the town below.

From the moment I saw these images, narratives started spiralling in my mind, leading to this story.

With nominations for Best Short Film and Talented New Director at the Milan IFF Awards this year, we caught up with the writer/director, Oliver Warren, an experienced documentary and commercial filmmaker, on this, his first fiction project.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST FICTION FILM EXPERIENCE LIKE? Honestly, it was everything I’d ever wanted directing a film that I’d written to be.

I loved the process of crafting characters with these talented actors, sharing intimate stories - funny, sad and sexy - to find those moments that influenced my writing and their performance that then created our film.

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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

I already thought of myself as a filmmaker, but in the moment that we shot the first take of the first scene, on a hillside in the pitch black, the desire to write and direct forever sunk its teeth into me.

CUSP HAS ALSO BEEN NOMINATED FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCORE; HOW KEY WAS THE MUSIC TO YOUR FILM? Firstly, I couldn’t be prouder that we’ve been nominated in the same category as full-length features; it truly does justice to the incredible work that my amazing composer Esmeralda Conde Ruiz put into creating the perfect score. The scoring process began even before shooting, where Esmeralda built soundscapes and mood pieces to reflect the emotion in the script and the mood of my references.

This then influenced the entire production process, in true harmony between story, visual and music. /cuspshortfilm Run Time: 15 Mins.

FEATURING STILLS FROM THE FILM: CHASING VALENTINE.

Putting together the budget of Chasing Valentine was no easy task; crowdfunding, private funding and the director’s own savings, credit cards and pay-cheques were all thrown into a small pot. “I withdrew all the favours I had banked over the past few years and put together a solid team who championed the movie and saw it through”, says Navin. “It was a grueling shoot – we had a 13 day production schedule and all locations were practical. Looking back at it now, it’s quite the accomplishment, and I couldn’t be prouder. One thing’s for sure; I couldn’t have done it without the key cast and crew who supported me throughout the entire process. And as challenging as some days were, we had tons of fun doing it”, he adds.

Ramaswaran also edited the movie, and if additional shots were needed, he would call his actors, jump into his car and shoot it. “Owning my own camera and being a shooter definitely saved me!”, he adds.

“And I think we succeeded!”, says Harper.

Valentine has a very distinct style and we couldn’t be happier with the way it looks on the big screen”.

Bringing authenticity to the character driven drama/thriller are the stellar performances by Adam Langton (Suits, The Strain), Gwenlyn Cumyn (Play The Movie) and the entire supporting cast, including veteran actress Bobbie Phillips (X-Files, Chameleon, Showgirls).

BOTTOM LEFT: “BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SHORT FILM” NOMINEE, DEREK HUTCHINSON AS MICHAEL. MIDDLE: AWARDING - WINNING LEAD ACTOR, JOSEPH TREMAIN AS MICHAEL. TOP RIGHT: SKYE LOURIE AND TOM CAMPION AS AMBER AND PATRICK.

“ENDURANCE FOLLOWS PASSION” Chasing Valentine started off as a passion project in 2012 when writer/director Navin Ramaswaran set out to make a movie that explores an unconventional relationship while merging cinematic genres. Enter writer Neal Avram Schneider, who collaborated with Ramaswaran on the screenplay and brought the unique characters to life.

FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

35

Writer/Directors: Clay Luther

Filmed in Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., CRY tells the story of a bullied teenager struggling to survive his high school torments, and a lonely elderly man wrestling with the loss of his wife and his own mortality. When a tragic accident entangles their lives, their budding friendship presents both with a glimmer of hope. They discover how to escape their imposed fortresses of solitude and embrace life once again.

This raw and intimate film stars lead actors Bill Flynn (In Plain Sight, Barney Series, and Comanche Moon), Skyy Moore (Two Step, Love Land, and Arachnoquake), and Del Shores (Southern Baptist Sissies and Sordid Lives). Bill Flynn, a former US Air Force instructor pilot, has been charming audiences around the world in film, TV, and on stage for years. CRY is Skyy Moore’s feature film debut. Skyy Moore has since starred in 4 other feature films. The award winning writer, director and gay activist, Del Shores came out of his acting hiatus to play the role of “Uncle Jeremy.”

Previously, CRY screened in the United States of America at the Dallas International Film Festival, Red Dirt International Film Festival, Bare Bones International Film & Music Festival, and the NewFilmmakers New York at the Anthology of Film Archive. CRY will have its European premiere at the 2015 International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema Milan, Clay Luther and Nicole Parisi will be in attendance.

Additional principal actors in the film include the talented: Libby Villari (Boyhood, Friday Night Lights, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?); Grover Coulson (The Lone Ranger and LUV); Cherami Leigh (Shameless, Temple Grandin, and Beyond the Farthest Star); Denise Lee (Mad Money and Friday Night Lights); Andrea Cohen (Shooter and Bail Out); and Erick Lopez (Shameless, Faking It, and The Bold and the Beautiful). CRY was written and directed

by Clay Luther and produced by Erin Nicole Parisi. The award winning duo have established Kinetigraf Entertainment to continue bringing narratives and documentaries to life and into theaters around the world. /15WMWek cry-movie.com Run Time: 101 Mins.

FEATURING STILLS FROM THE FILM: CRY. CRY PRESS CONTACT: ERIN NICOLE PARISI - ERIN@KINETIGRAF.COM

CRY

What do you want?

Who do you love?

How will you die?

SCHNITZEL

THE STORY OF A BOY, A GIRL, A SPACEALIEN AND...FRIED CHICKEN SYNOPSIS Obese teenage boy Kobi is persuaded by the beautiful Maya to buy some beer for her birthday party. His nerves shaken, Kobi ventures into the store and soon makes an enemy of the bullying and bored security guard. However... these problems will turn out to be minor.

For inside the supermarket... our hero is destined to make a new friend - an alien life form like no other. The two will bond and fight together to escape safely without losing life, limb or liquor. *Note for the concerned: the film in NO WAY encourages or endorses the consumption of alcohol by minors.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

Schnitzel had three main influences: · My wish to tell a story that paid homage to Spielberg’s E.T. – a film that was an important part of my childhood – but with my own twist on the friendship between a boy and a space-alien. · A class trip I took as a young boy in which a friend and I imagined a very unique alien appearing before us during our lunch break. · The universal theme of the awkwardness of youth, along with the pressure of wanting to be accepted and respected in spite of one’s physical imperfections.

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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

In spite of the title and subject matter, this film was made by a vegetarian.

/Schnitzel.Movie Run Time: 22 Mins.

TOP: KOBI - TOP RIGHT: SIMON - BOTTOM RIGHT: SHRAGA THE GUARD - BOTTOM LEFT: MAYA

Writer/Producer/Director: Asaf Epstein

FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

37

A TALE WITH CHRIST AND JESUS Writer/Director: Oldren Romeo

“A Tale with Christ and Jesus” is a beautifully filmed commentary on the best and worst of humankind. In contemporary Cuba, two men fall passionately in love and commit to being together forever.

Yet, the guts of this densely-packed homage to the arts are an unflinching attack on societal intolerance’s, and the absence of humanity wherever they lead to vilification or rejection of people who are different for any reason at all.

The story is by turns tragic and comedic, desolate and jubilant, despairing and hopeful. It illuminates the elevating powers of unquestioning acceptance and love, and the destructive powers of intolerance and hatred. As if that were not enough, the film soundly condemns the lowest of human behaviors, including the sexual abuse of children, while honoring the internal strength of those who suffer lifelong pains inflicted upon them by others.

Oldren Romero (“Bad Luck”), a talented director, writer, actor and producer, tells his tale of Christ and Jesus through the hard realities of life in Cuba and through idyllic fantasies.

His elegant film integrates religious symbols, romantic poetry, renaissance paintings, music, and the art of photography to reveal a unique cinematic experience.

“Anyone who carries the burdens of chronic suffering,” according to Oldren Romero, “is a Christ.”

Featuring: Hector Medina (Boleto al Paraíso / Ticket to Paradise), Dayron Moreno (Los Desastres de la Guerra / The Disasters of War), and a special performance by Laura de la Uz (Vestido de Novia / The Bride’s Dress).

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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

/OldrenAngel /OManProductions oldrencillo@yahoo.com Run Time: 30 Mins.

SUBTERRANEAN LOVE Writer/Director: Robert Haufrecht

ROBERT HAUFRECHT, THE WRITER & DIRECTOR BEHIND THIS FASCINATING SHORT FILM GIVES SOME INSIGHT INTO ITS BACKGROUND I wrote the script a number of years ago and never did anything with it until recently when I was encouraged to pull it out. There was a reading, at the Indies Lab, a workshop of actors, writers and filmmakers, which was well received and I was encouraged to shoot it. Since I was teaching acting at the School of Visual Arts, in the Film & Animation Department, I had generous access to equipment and crew members, thanks to Reeves Lehmann, the Chairman of the Department.

Dan Simon, my DP and editor, was part of the Indies Lab and I had directed him in a play, so we already had a working relationship, which made the shoot and the editing process very smooth. Because we were going to shoot in the NYC subway, we chose the Canon D5 Mark II camera, which was a great choice in terms of its filmic quality and mobility.

The whole process was definitely a learning curve for me, a first time film director.

I had to create an LLC and become a SAG (union) signatory as a producer (Subterranean Films LLC) because most of the actors were SAG members, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of my producer, Rick Sullivan, a recent SVA graduate. Dan Simon was key; an experienced filmmaker, helped plot out the shooting schedule, shopped with me for certain lights, etc., and shot a beautiful film.

Casting: Having a long theater history and as a member of the Playwrights/Directors Workshop at the Actors Studio, I had an easy time casting. Mark Borkowski and Karen Giordano I had known a long time and Mark’s experience included a recurring role on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and was also just cast in a recurring role for Netlix’s House of Cards. Also both Karen and Mark were members of the Indies Lab and Mark was also a member of the Actors Studio, as are my sister, Marcia (Accordion Lady), Suzanne DiDonna (bar scene) and Mihaela Mihut (café scene).

In terms of locations, the Gods were with me. I was able to find a bar and a café in the exact location of the written script (Greenwich Avenue, NYC), and for very reasonable fees. New York City locations are so recognizable, so it was a true godsend. The first night of shooting I was a bit nervous and felt pushed for time. However, we not only shot the bar scene at Lyon Restaurant (the two women), but used a booth in the restaurant for a moment in the Paris fantasy scene.

We shot subway scenes in one long night.

We were able to use my apartment for five different locations by segregating areas of the apartment (I have a long railroad flat) in Hells Kitchen. The fantasy bar scene: very fortunate that SVA had a bar set with lights, tracking rails, etc.

Again, through Dan’s network, we were able to get a free green screen for the Paris fantasy scenes. Dan mentioned that it would be great if we could get some actual footage in Paris, so I remembered I had a friend there, got in touch with him and he just happened to have a Canon D7, shot the footage and delivered it to Dan via the internet.

As I said, the Gods were with me on this one.

Run Time: 16 Mins.

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FEATURING STILLS TAKEN FROM THE FILM: SUBTERRANEAN LOVE.

The subway platform and the subway car were major “characters.” Dan and I went back to do some pick up shots that turned out to be pivotal in giving both the story and the film a certain tone. When Dan shot the passing lights in the subway tunnel we didn’t know how great they would look for our transitions, when we did post.

FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

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VALIANT Writer/Director: Robin Phillips

A conversation with Robin Phillips - the writer and director behind this stunning short film.

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to know everybody, they got to know me and as a result when I finally did apply for a degree at USC I was already on a watch list, they knew I wouldn’t be one of those people that would burn down the place”!

Essentially USC would be looking for people committed to the USC film making department because as Robin said “only about a quarter of students attending film school actually go into the business”, he also mentioned that they look for candidates that would be “reliable and do well within the business and make a lot of money”. He then went on to point out that George Lucas attended USC and “it worked out well, he gave them a lot of money”. As for the USC Film program itself he said “it’s the most tied into Hollywood than any other schools” and also touched on how it opens more opportunities within the networks primarily because they know people who have been through USC have been through the same program they had 20 years ago.

Robin also mentioned “I’ve got friends who never went to film school, but basically did what I did and make a great living; they took any film training they could get then dove straight into any random job”.

We move onto to the subject of his latest venture “Valiant”, which he describes as “this ridiculous little film I made”, we couldn’t disagree more. He spoke of “commitment and tenacity” and “doing this, one way or another”. As he spoke of the film one could feel the enthusiasm rising, he says that in a business orientated industry he was amazed at how attractive this project was to both novices and experts in their field, he speaks of people being drawn to directors “blazing their own trail”. As Robin put it, “building momentum” that was the key, he needed “know how” and started by involving everyone he knew from old high school friends, Chapmans, USC and industry experts. Visual effects are what we consider are the genius of this film it’s an amalgam of CGI, miniature and old school lenses. As put forward by Robin, “this was a proof of concept movie”.

IMAGES FEATURED ON THESE PAGES WERE TAKEN DURING THE PRODUCTION OF THE SHORT FILM: VALIANT.

Mr Phillips is an easy man to talk too, as are most people who are filled with enthusiasm and love of their craft.

Obviously the question of his origins in the field of film making was a good place to start. Essentially it began at home when he was given a digital camera, add to that several props including Lego and a vivid imagination. He continued through high school where he would make money by being an “event logger” and selling the DVD’s. His introduction to the camera was an echo of Stevens Spielberg’s youth, as Robin quoted Spielberg as saying, “I was given an 8mm camera and just kept going”.

From high school Robin attended community college. He was eager to point out that community college is not a trade school but a cheap alternative to getting through the first 2 years as an under-graduate where you “work your ass off ” to get to University.

The next move was to Chapman University that had a small film department but took up political science. He spent a lot of time at the film school, helping out where he could, Robin recalls, “it was there I made a lot of friends, people I primarily still work with today, I did what I could while they were doing their advanced projects but also studying to achieve my degree”. In addition to community college, Chapmans and time spent in the universities film department he also spent two summers at USC doing various courses. Robin said the reason for the courses was “I got to know the staff, I got

CGI or miniature, this skips forward in the conversation a little because what precedes this is a basic description of how he acquired knowledge, expertise and real physical help. For example the miniature specialist that did the effects in “Pitch Black” offered Robin the use of his workshop, specialist miniature designers from “Interstellar” and “Batman” offered their help as did miniature specialists in “Starship Troopers” and “Star Wars”. He put together a “Pitch Book” and prospected. He needed expertise; he did not lack drive, enthusiasm or vision. The miniature element of the film came about because Robin preferred what he considered to be a better reality from the models. The special effects in “Elysium” where almost entirely computer generated except for one scene and that was when a spaceship crashed into Elysium itself, the model was huge (over 50 feet) and highly detailed. So they took two meticulously crafted miniatures and slammed one into the other. It was risky because it could only be done in one take, though this is anecdotal, coming from the man that built Valiant’s airship. Clearly there is some element within the use of miniatures that lends a special realism to a scene, Robin likes that and the literal “hands on” feel to the process, he commented, “If a model has a shiny sparkly bit on it, just sprinkle on some baby powder”.

The scene in Valiant where the blimp blows up is a typical example of how Robin works, a collaboration between all elements at hand, much like an artist’s palate except instead of blobs of differing colour paints, he has different tools; he dips his brush in a little CGI, dips into a touch of 4K, adds a model and applies to a blank canvass that comes to life, throw in some pyrotechnics and the result is far greater than the sum of its parts, all done on a miniscule budget; Genius.

These “Tools” don’t come easy and as mentioned before, armed with his “Pitch book” he sold his vision through tenacity, enthusiasm and love of his craft.

A prime example; he approached a special effects team that had been working on a project turning the Northern Los Angeles desert in to Utah using snow effects. Robin asked about their pyrotechnical experience and they responded “yeh we do Pyrotechnics, what do you need?” , Robin said “XY and Z” they said “ Dude we can do that….”.

The CGI elements in Valiant, are again not straight forward. The blimp in the hangar scene; the hangar is CGI yet they spent time in a real hangar taking stills on the Red camera to enhance the texture of the image. The blimps texture again CG but having a miniature allowed them to see how the light would affect the surface in reality.

Another tool was the camera itself, due to financial constraints the majority of the special effects had to be CGI and the movie itself shot digitally. Robin and his cinematographer/DP Chris Pritzlaff had already decided to give the movie a “Star Wars, Empire Strikes back” feel to the image. So they set about finding the oldest lenses they could and attached them to the Red camera, “Chris had a hard time with these lenses as they kept falling apart” recalls Robin; add to that a little graining and a lot of skill and the result is, well a group of his peers viewed the end result and were convinced it was shot on 35mm film, a huge compliment. It really does look both vibrant and luscious.

The tenacity part is not taking your eye of the prize and to keep pushing, as Robin said “sometimes you have to wait for months for that call back”. As in all things there is an element of luck perhaps, but I am of the belief that you make your own luck, testimony of Robin doing just that is his participation in summer courses at USC before enrolling there, simply so staff would remember him come the time for selection; he’d already laid his foundations. Casting Valiant again, an example of luck or did he just put himself out there.

He needs a cast, he phoned a casting agent who turned out to be a friend (Jackie) he had met during his undergraduate days.

Describing his project to her she responded with “awesome!” and set about sending Robin suitable candidates for testing, names from her rolodex. As I said luck, maybe, or as some would say; “You cut your cloth”.

Mr Phillips is both writer and Director, I suspect writing is ultimately a solitary skill, directing is not, a director needs to know everything that’s happening for sure but it’s the ability to harvest, nurture and utilise his crew’s skills. Communication, passion, delegation, vision and tenacity make a director. I’ll end this using Robins own words when asked whether he preferred to be a writer or director; “a director, hands down, directing is the ultimate slot, the ultimate team sport, you know when you’re doing your job as a director right, you’re helping everybody elevate their work to something, that sometimes they didn’t even know they could do and in return they do the same for you”. Enough said. valiantfilm.com Run Time 30 Mins FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

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Here Alessandro Orefice , the filmmaker behind “Still Time” gives us a brief outline behind his thought provoking short film.

Still Time is a short film directed by the young Italian (Bologna) director Alessandro Orefice. The short is inspired by a web story and stars Alessandro Ferrari as “Walter” and Davide Genasi as “Chris”, respectively in their roles as father and son.

Walter does not have enough time to dedicate to his son because he is too busy working, Chris consequently tries through a request to his father to recover lost time. This short film was made to make people reflect on the little time we have and that we must not waste it by forgetting about our loved ones.

The film was made on absolutely no budget and days spent shooting were concentrated into a weekend and has so far won at 3 international festivals and was selected 18 times.

/alessandroreficeregista

alessandrorefice.com

MARIA Writer/Director: David Fejzuli

Where Northern Germany meets the Mediterranean...

Originally hailing from the city of Hamburg, but at home on the Spanish island of Majorca, Carmen Molinar is an actress, voice actress and a vocal coach for artists and journalists.

“Maria” is her second collaboration with director David Fejzuli.

“From the very first day of working together it became clear to us that we make a good team”, says the actress.

David praises her down to earth nature and authenticity in front of the camera whereas Carmen is awed by the sensibility with which he touches on some difficult subjects, “He knows exactly what he wants, yet leaves you enough space to create and develop your own role”. No wonder then that when the idea of “Maria” came to her, Carmen instantly thought of asking David to direct the film.

“There are so many lonely people in our world today. We live in huge cities surrounded by crowds of people and yet we have stopped caring about each other or

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Run Time: 8 Mins.

our neighbours. Since I divide my time between a big German metropolis on the one hand and a small Spanish village on the other, I can clearly sense the difference. In Cala Ratjada, the village I live in, people look out for each other, and if they see that the blinds on the windows are still drawn in the afternoon, they check on the people to see if they’re Ok. It’s normal to run errands for the elderly and to fully integrate them in all aspects of social life. The warm climate certainly is a contributing factor, as people tend to spend a lot of time outside their homes. “Maria’s“ aim is to raise awareness and make people understand that if we all take greater care of our nearest and dearest, be it family or neighbours, the world could yet become a more beautiful place than it already is.

maria-film.de Run Time: 9 Mins.

TOP RIGHT: CHRIS’S FATHER REFLECTS ON MISTAKES MADE - MIDDLE CENTRE: CHRIS SMILES AT HIS FATHER.

Director: Alessandro Orefice

TOP: CARMEN AND GINA AT THE MADRID INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - BOTTOM: CARMEN AND GINA.

STILL TIME

LADIES OF SCIENCE Director: Alessandra Usai

Ladies of Science is a 56 minute historical biographical documentary that is an Irish production. Directed by the Italian documentarist Alessandra Usai, the story follows the lives of Mary Rosse and Mary Ward, two scientific pioneers from the Victorian era.

Mary Rosse was famed locally for her work as an architect, blacksmith and photographer. She was also heavily involved in the construction of the ‘Monster Telescope’, that was the largest telescope in the world for over seventy years.

Mary Ward, cousin and a close friend of Mary Rosse, was a pioneer of the microscope and telescope, she was famous also for her talent as writer and illustrator.

LADIES OF SCIENCE, THE RIGHT RECOGNITION FOR TWO GREAT WOMEN “The lives of both Mary Ward and Mary Rosse were truly exceptional”…

With these words Brendon Parsons, the 7th earl of Rosse, opened his speech during Ladies of Science premiere in Dublin at the IFI cinema: …“It’s the time to give greater recognition to the achievements of those two pioneering women”...

What they achieved was unusual for Victorian women, their roles as a woman of a certain social standing would really have been to be as a wife and a mother to support their husbands and have children but these two ladies went far beyond that:…“both of them achieved far more than was easy for even them to achieve”…said Lord Rosse.

Lady Mary Rosse and her young cousin Mary Ward saw things differently long before the tide of equal rights would ever be established.

In corsets and corsages of the day, they examined and dabbled in science, in architecture, in photography, in astronomy and in biology. They wrote books and had them published while ensuring the growth of their children who watched them succeed and be equal to or more than, anything that they were ever expected to be and being women they weren’t expected to succeed at all.

Women hold seats in governments across the globe; women have travelled into space; and forty-four women have become Nobel Laureates across all six disciplines.

MARY WARD, THE FIRST VICTIM IN THE WORLD

BY CAR ACCIDENT It was a dark night in February 1845, when Mary Ward was among the first to ascend to the lofty position of the Newtonian focus to personally make observations in the deep sky; Mary was only eighteen years old when she used for the first time her cousin’s telescope in Birr, Ireland.

She was quite an exceptional woman with many interests in astronomy in the natural world and was a pioneer in the use of the microscope. She was a Victorian expositor; two of her books were exhibited in the book section of the International Exhibition in Crystal Palace, London in 1862. Her studies were multi-faceted and original and for this reason she was one of only three women who were admitted as members of the Royal Astronomical Society; the other being Quinn Victoria and Lady Mary Somerville of Oxford.

Unfortunately, she is often remembered more for the strange circumstances of her death rather than her life’s work. On 31 August 1869 Mary and her husband Henry Ward, the 5th Viscount Bangor, were travelling on a steam car built by her cousin and Mary was thrown from the car on a bend in a road close to Birr castle. She fell under the wheel and died almost instantly. A doctor, who lived near the scene of the accident, arrived within moments and he found her cut, bruised and bleeding from the ears. The broken neck was unfortunately, a fatal injury.

Revolutions are not always the result of strong or violent movements, but can often be developed by an example of reason and logic.

It is quite possible these women acted unconsciously and, unwittingly began the process of change where women gained first education, and then suffrage.

Today, the Woman Question, which began with the ‘Angel in the House’, is still unanswered: women fight for equal rights, inequality is still witnessed in the workplace and men hold many positions of power, though notably, vast improvements have been made in creating an egalitarian society.

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Run Time 56 Mins

TOP PHOTO: MARY ROSSE - MIDDLE PHOTO: MARY WARD - BOTTOM LEFT: PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN FROM THE DRAMA.

Although they gave a great contribution to science in the 19th century unfortunately, it was almost impossible for women to receive any form of education and to be part of the scientific community.

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HAND OVER HAND Executive Producer: Gene Pope “How Hand Over Hand Almost Didn’t Get Made – Three Times”

With that in mind, it seemed like “Hand Over Hand” first came to be like a warm comfy bath. It was one of those “lucky break” moments that landed me the role of Don in the stage production of a truly wonderful script by Padraic Lillis. And Nicol Moeller, Alexandra Renzo and I ended up bonding so closely over this very personal script, it was a total joy… definitely a “bucket list” experience.

So as the story goes, the weekend after we opened, the three of us got together in my apartment for a little refresher run through. But instead of working at “stage volume” we essentially read at “film volume” with much more intimacy and subtlety. When we were done, we kind of stopped and looked at each other and started smiling because we realized we had found something here.

After some silence I finally said, “Guys, we have to film this. We could film this “as is” right this moment if we wanted to. This could be a really good film.”

They agreed. So at the proper time, I pitched Padraic. He agreed and proceeded to cut 15 minutes out of the script for the screenplay. I offered to let him direct it as well because Padraic is absolutely one of the great actors’ directors. And performance was key to “Hand Over Hand”. And I had his back in any case. Padraic did an outstanding job with a very steep learning curve.

Now normally one might expect at this time I would say something like, “And the rest, is history…” while somebody rightfully threw a brick at my head.

But remember the barbed wire? Boy did we have it coming.

My biggest concern was the location.

It was written as taking place on an ocean beach next to a “modest” beach house, right around sunset. For a stage production, this is not such a huge deal to control the lighting but for film… there’s so damn many “Danger Will Robinson” moments in that one sentence it boggles the mind.

Even if we could afford overtime (which we couldn’t), once the sky is dark… “that’s a wrap fellas”. Oh, and forget about shooting in the morning hours and trying to edit that with the shadow directions in the afternoon…. uh huh… exactly. And finally…

3) The freakin’ wind and waves. Ever try to filter out crashing waves on a beach from a soundtrack? Ever hear the wind at the edge of the ocean sound the same three days in a row? Imagine having to edit “in sync” with the wave and wind sounds from three different shoot days, definitely a budget buster.

There’s three reasons why most small independent films don’t have many exterior shots unless it’s a slasher film under deep woods or in the city with tall buildings and lots of shadows: 1) The freakin’ weather. The budget allowed for three days of shooting… absolutely no more. Forget about weather insurance, that will cost you 30% of your entire budget… that’s how much faith an insurance company has in the weather. And here I am calculating the odds of having 3 days of sunshine in a row, and no we can’t go inside, or under an umbrella or a large tent with elephants because of…

2) The freakin’ sunset. Hello, the script specifically revolves around the “magic hour” of sunset... which means never mind any rain… overcast is going to make life very difficult to impossible.

So imagine the scene… I have our first production meeting with my amazing producers Jenn Gomez and Anna Frei.

By the end of the meeting, we can’t figure out how we’re ever going to pull this off… “Gene, do you really want to throw that much money on a losing bet?”, and that was the first time that the shoot was almost cancelled.

After ingesting copious antacids, I decided that we could solve the issues and so I gave the green light to begin searching for a location (code for “spending real money”)… We had the cast and the director. Not a bad start.

I started my career as a recording engineer. I knew that it was suicide to attempt to center an exterior shoot around an actual ocean beach. We needed something calmer… like a lake.

God bless Padraic. I started to gently suggest the idea of a lake front property instead of the beach and Padraic ended up giving me that flexibility.

We hired not one but two location scouts with large rolodex’s. But there were problems. First, most location files cover the inside of houses, not the outside. Second, we had to face the sunset over the water (so facing east, north or south wouldn’t work).

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FEATURING IMAGES FROM THE MAKING OF “HAND OVER HAND”. ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRISTAN POPE C 2014.

Let’s face it, filmmaking can feel more like one continuous slow-motion 50-car-pile-up, in a barrel going over the falls, “this is the end of my career” unending moment. After all these years, I’m convinced that it can’t be any other way… that in fact, the more skin in the game you give up and the higher the barbed wire fence you have to climb and bloody your hands on, the more potential for something truly special you’ll have.

Third, a lot of home owners lie about what direction their beach faces. Fourth, if your house is built right on a lake, it probably is not a “modest vacation home” anymore. Maybe 40 years ago, but not now.

We came within one week of the shoot, and still no location. We had another producer’s meeting. And for the second time, we almost decided to cancel the shoot because now we were in for serious cancellation fees. I admit I got angry. I refused to give it up. So I simply explained that I was getting in my car at dawn the next morning and I was going to start driving up north, and that I better have some locations to scout while I’m on my way up. Jenn and Anna got to work and started searching vacation homes for rent on Craig’s List.

They found some in upstate New York and in Vermont around Lake Champlain.

When I arrived at a house in Addison, Vermont the next evening I knew instantly that we had found our location and it’s what you see in our film. We were saved… until…

Padraic and I laid out what we thought would be an adequate shot list. We compared notes. We had a problem. We both came up with 60 shots. Remember the issue of the “window of time” as close to sunset as possible? I calculated with a sun positioning app on my phone that we could safely shoot from 3:00pm until 7:00pm if we broke the script up into “pre-sunset”, “sunset” and “dusk”. That meant we had just 12 hours to shoot 60 setups (!!) And the weather forecast kept predicting rain for the entire second day right up until the day before the shoot.

After some more antacids I came up with the solution. We immediately hired a second cameraman with his own gear.

The plan was: Nicol, Alexandra and I were by now so familiar with the script that we could literally perform any number of pages as “one take”. So I decided to emulate the golden days of TV when musicals like “Cinderella” were shot live with two cameras and no editing. So instead of 60 shots with one camera, we created 15 long shots with two cameras shooting at all times. We’d use the hours from noon until 2:00pm to rehearse our blocking with the two cameras. Then we’d go into make-up. The cameramen would mark out their shots and focus points, and we’d shoot for 4 hours max.

All seemed doable. The D.P. had already designed a rig with a large scrim and about 30 kilowatts of lighting with gels to “extend” the illusion of pre-sunset through sunset. It looked like it we were going to pull it off…

And then, during the final scout with the D.P. and the producers the night before the travel day to the location, I get a call from Jenn. “The D.P. thinks that this shoot is impossible and he won’t do it because he thinks it will fail and he’ll be blamed.

The focus issues are too great.

The lighting won’t match… yada… yada…”. Was this going to be “strike three… you’re out”?

Inside I was seething. But while the team was driving home, Jenn put me on speakerphone and I gave a very simple and concise speech. I said that I was willing to take the chance… that it was my money… that I believed that the plan was workable… that I took 100% responsibility… and that we should increase the ISO speed on both cameras and stop down the lenses so that the depth of field was deeper so that critical focus would be easier… “see you all tomorrow”… and hung up.

And as you can see, we did finish our little miracle film. It did rain the second day, but only midday and we were able to shoot around the cloud cover with our huge lighting rig. Immediately after the last shot, the sky went dark and tears welled up in my eyes. We’d made it.

Run Time: 20 Mins.

FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

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Executive Producer: Gene Pope

“The Pitch for Bada Bing, Bada Boom” or “How It Pays To Always Have Something Else In Your Pocket”

“Bada Bing, Bada Boom” wasn’t even on my radar in early summer 2014. As Executive Producer of Pope 3 Enterprises, and as an actor working hard to create material for my all-important “actor’s demo reel”, I already had a very full summer schedule with two short film projects to begin shooting in May. Then suddenly, as with all things unpredictable in this business, I was out-ofnowhere cast in a third film project produced by another company, with a lead role, that was rushing into production in April. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse, but as far as I was concerned, my platter now carried a three course meal plus dessert plus several after-dinner drinks. My prior experience as a commercial director in the 1980’s taught me the importance of allotting enough time between projects to avoid creative burnout. So as far as I was concerned, my summer was fully accounted for… or so I thought.

One of these projects was in fact our second film selected for the 2015 Milan FFI, “Hand Over Hand”. The making of that film is a story unto itself (see the accompanying article). It was scheduled to shoot in late summer because it was 100% all exterior shots and we wanted to avoid the heat, and my spring was already spoken for. So I had to begin thinking in earnest about a director.

One of my fellow lead actresses in the stage production of “Hand Over Hand”, Nicol Moeller, suggested I approach her good friend of many years, Fiona Mackenzie, as a director with lots of experience both in Los Angeles and New York City.

Of course it fell to me to be the one to break the news to Fiona, and it was not something I was looking forward to. I really liked her previous projects and I did not wish for her to take this “rejection” personally.

So there I was at the next dinner, using every bit of carefully worded diplomacy to treat Fiona with the respect she deserved, including a solid offer to consider her directing another project in the future. Without missing a beat she expressed her disappointment and then swung immediately into a pitch of a project that she had “ready to shoot and direct”… a comedy about an Italian family with a great twist entitled “Bada Bing, Bada Boom”. The more I listened, the more intrigued I became. Not only was she delivering a script with a great concept, she was offering co-stars such as Al Sapienza (“The Sopranos”, “House of Cards”, “Ascension” among countless others) whom she had known for years and who already had committed to the script. And she kept going, adding a superb Director of Photography, Jon Delgado, and other top-flight crew members all of whom regularly worked on episodic television such as “Boardwalk Empire”, but who also loved to do occasional independent films for the “love of the art”. The importance of this cannot be emphasized enough.

It was not just about the raw talent of these professionals. I strongly believe that my chances to bring this or any project in on time and on budget depends a great deal on how experienced the crew is. Of course we’d all like to have the “best in the business” but in our world of independent film, budget realities usually make crew choices (and every other budget line item) a carefully crafted compromise.

I was becoming intrigued by the potential of what Fiona could deliver. It seemed like an Executive Producer’s dream come true. And yes, she absolutely pitched me on the spot for the part of Manny. “Wow,” I thought. “This talented lady has her act together in spades!”

But, there it was… that huge “BUT” dangling in the air… I still had to read the script, and I cannot express enough how many hopes I’ve had dashed over jagged sharp rocks once I finally had script-inhand for a first read through. How many times have we as movie lovers watched a finished film and wondered “How in hell did that script ever get produced? It’s a total disaster!”. The hard truth is that evaluating a script is like a high wire act without a balance pole or a safety net.

A script can feel fantastic as it unfolds inside one’s mind on first reading.

But we have perhaps all learned the hard way that evaluating a script is more an art than a science. It’s not the same as a line producer’s job of creating a shooting budget. It’s not simply about a good concept or a compelling story arc.

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FEATURING IMAGES FROM THE MAKING OF “BADA BING, BADA BOOM”. ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRISTAN POPE C 2014.

BADA BING, BADA BOOM

So Fiona and I had our first dinner meeting to discuss her directing “Hand Over Hand” and it went very well. But to get a second opinion, I asked the playwright and screenwriter, Padraic Lillis, to also interview her. Now for obvious reasons, the pairing of a director with a script is a decision fraught with many variables (not unlike the process of casting lead roles), and is one of the most critical decisions towards the success of any film. The chemistry has to be perfect in many ways. For reasons having absolutely nothing to do with Fiona’s incredible talents as a writer and director (witness her nomination as “Best Director” in this festival), Padraic and I decided that she might not in fact be the perfect match for this particular film.

The DVD $5 sale dustbins (or the Amazon Instant Video films that have no trailers) are filled to the brim with projects full of promise in the script stage that somehow didn’t translate to the screen. But in the end, we have to trust our instincts and make a decision. And sometimes (probably many times) great concepts get passed over until someone sees the potential. Even then, there are so many reasons for failure: less than excellent directing or acting or lighting or sound that appears to have been recorded in a tiled bathroom, or the script was based on a stage production and simply won’t translate well into film.

So in my mind, as I’m reading any script it’s not just a process of evaluating the written word. It’s “How is this going to shoot?”. Beyond dialogue, how much potential can the pacing, the locations and the textures of costumes and lighting and props add up to create some special magic and move the audience from every creative direction?

What is there for the actors and director to draw upon to create engaging characters? (And yes, it’s an advantage to be or to have been an actor before being an Exec Producer).

How are the scenes going to edit and mix and become everything we want them to become? Can we even do this on our budget effectively? This process, in my humble opinion, can be a crap shoot, with many traps for any filmmaker. As they say, if it was so easy everyone would be doing it.

Now what? It turned out there was a tight window of availability when we could get our talented crew and Al Sapienza into the city. How the hell was I going to get this done without blowing the budget! I immediately called up Joanna Cabello, one of my line producers for that summer. “Hey, take a look at this and let’s set up a meeting ASAP with Fiona. I want to somehow get this done!”. She said something like, “Ohoh.”

Fiona’s script was already in my inbox by the time I got back to my apartment.

I printed it out, got comfortable in my favorite “reading” chair, and had at it.

And I liked it. It was all there on the pages… all the potential clear as a bell to see and imagine. Tight dialogue. A lack of pretense. It was exactly as she had pitched it, and I could easily see the potential.

The final meeting over drinks with Fiona was the next day. It all boiled down to shooting over one weekend at the end of May. We chatted for a short while. Got excited. We had just five weeks to do everything.

Holy crap! I took a deep breath, turned to Joanna and asked simply, “Can we do it?” She looked straight at me, smiled, paused a bit and said, “Yeah, we can do it.”

And thanks to Fiona’s precise scripting and directing skills on top of the incredible producers’ and crew, we actually came in on time and on budget. And best of all, it worked so well that we now have interest from several parties to turn “Bada Bing, Bada Boom” into a series. And all because Fiona had that script ready in her back pocket and ready to pitch in the middle of a rejection. That’s a lot of valuable lessons in my book.

Run Time: 16 Mins.

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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /NOVEMBER 2015

TOP IMAGES ARE STILLS TAKEN FROM THE FILM FEATURING “MURILO” OSMAR SILVEIRA, “DEBORA” RENATA SARMENTO, “RENATO” BERNARDO DUGIN. AND ERIBERTO LEAO.

S2

LOVE, SEX, INTERNET AND NINJAS

Writer/Director: Bruno Bini Director of Photography: Mario Zugair

While struggling to find the formula to the perfect screenplay, writer Murilo (Osmar Silveira) accidentally learns through Skype that his girlfriend had cheated on him. Devastated, he and his friends try to deal with love, sex and friendship in the age of the internet – and to finish his script at the same time!

The film develops dynamically, using computers and smartphones as a narrative platform, delivering little by little the important details of the story. In order to achieve the “internet look”, director Bruno Bini and cinematographer Mario Zugair used three types of camera, from a RED Epic to an Iphone. “Webcams and smartphones screens have their own texture.

We wanted to give the audience a look that was as realistic as possible.” Bruno commented.

This sexy comedy’s talented cast also include Jaqueline Roversi, Bernardo Dugin, Renata Sarmento and the Brazilian TV star Eriberto Leão in a special and amusing cameo. “’S2’ is essentially a film about relationships in an era where privacy is virtually non-existent and the possibilities - and problems - are huge.

“But it can also be said to be a film about filmmaking”, says Bruno.

Produced by Bini’s production house Plano B Filmes, “S2” will be having its european debut at The International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema in Milan and is nominated for Best Comedy and Talented New Director.

THE CHOSEN ONE Director: Cristian Comeaga

By the time of his high-school graduation, back in the 80s, Mr. X was set to become a model citizen. He then met ESCU, the future designer, planner and destroyer of his life.

The man introduced himself as the representative of a “comrades’ fellowship” having decided to fulfill the teenager’s dream by getting him out of the communist country. So he got sent out of Romania rather than escaping it.

IMAGE STILLS FROM THE FILM

He got through the refugee camp, jumped across Europe from one job to another and finally settled in France. In a short while, he got all that he ever dreamed of: a successful career, a growing company, a staggering house, a loving wife and a beautiful daughter.

THE DIRECTOR Bruno Bini has built an award winning career in advertising, where he first worked as a copywriter and later started to direct.

With S2, Bini returns to comedy, a genre that he had already experimented with in “Hardball”, starring Jonathan Haggensen (“City of God”).

“After the Fall”, his following film, was screened in festivals in the United States, France, Germany, Canada, Argentina and has received to date, over twenty awards.

Now, Bruno is working on “Loop”, which is his debut feature and is scheduled to shoot in the first half of 2016.

/s2filme Run Time: 20 Mins.

Then, by the end of ’89, ESCU popped out of nowhere to tell him his wonderful world had been made up for him by the ”fellowship”, so the comrades were now asking for payback: a murder, for a start.

He had no choice but to do it, but the comrades didn’t like his hesitation.

Officially, Mr. “X” died in France, in a car crash. He actually continued living in Belgium, under a new identity, away from his family and anyone he had ever known.

During the following twenty years, his life shrunk so as to fit into one day a week, the Sunday that he always spent traveling to France to watch from a distance his daughter growing up. It was enough to keep him afloat.

It just didn’t last.

Recently, ESCU resurfaced only to let him know he will not see his daughter anymore.

The “comrades’ fellowship” had become even more powerful and influential than in communist times, while his daughter grew up to be one of theirs; she had been trained and was ready to move into an important position by the EU. That day, he made his choice: having left his country in search of freedom, he was to go back to find it.

That’s what Mr. “X” thinks whilst driving across a country that is no longer his, on the first mission he has ever given to himself. www.dominofilm.ro Run Time: 123 Mins.

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Writer/Director: Chuck Griffith

Producer: Lou Peterson

THE FILM No Woman’s Face Remember is an inverse take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in which a 22 year old young woman seeks to get out of her deserted Central California town during an economic apocalypse caused by drought. Inspired by classic Italian Cinema, the eerie universe of our three characters is isolated on a metaphoric desert island a mirage from any future for them.

Run Time: 16 Mins.

FEATURING STILLS FROM THE SHORT FILM: NO WOMAN’S FACE REMEMBER

NO WOMAN’S FACE REMEMBER

THE DIRECTOR After taking a 15-year break from filmmaking I felt that I had a more mature story to tell; my first feature was Thank You, Good Night (2001), starring Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and Christian Campbell (Reefer Madness).

In order to put this vision together, I took what I had for retirement and threw it into investing in this story. This short film is a proof-of-concept for a feature film version that I’m still working on.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE “Stuck in the Middle” is a universal story that everyone can relate to. Alvin is a social guy who meets a beautiful girl, Chelsea, and he falls in love immediately.

Unfortunately Alvin thinks Chelsea is out of his league, so his best friend, Peter, starts a relationship with Chelsea. Peter is a good friend to Alvin but when it comes to women, he is a player. Whenever Chelsea has problems, she always goes to Alvin to relieve her heart. After several breakups and fights, Chelsea finds out that Peter is cheating on her, something Alvin already knew but wasn’t at liberty to say to Chelsea. When Chelsea comes to Alvin and finds out that Alvin knew about Peter’s cheating, Alvin doesn’t know what to do. Should he choose the side of his friend Peter or take Chelsea’s side by telling her that he loves her? And if he tells her that he has feelings for her, is she going to accept his feelings or will Chelsea place Alvin in the same category as Peter? Is this true love and will this love survive? “Stuck in the Middle” is a short movie filled with laughter and tears.

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krisswinnen.com Run Time: 7 Mins.

ACTORS: KRIS SWINNEN & T’LANE BALUE IN THE SHORT FILM ‘STUCK IN THE MIDDLE’.

Writer: Kris Swinnen Director: Quirine Dongelmans Actors: Kris Swinnen & T’Lane Balue

THE RED SEAL WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A SOUL? Writer: Jose Atiles Director: Tuan Hong

Pope Sylvester II was renowned for his extraordinary intelligence, General Moulton accumulated a vast amount of wealth and the violin virtuoso “Nicolo Paganini” was heralded as one of the greatest violinists ever to play. What these men have in common is that they were accused of selling their souls to the devil for their success and prosperity.

Stories of people who sold their souls, have intrigued us for centuries. This was our starting premise for “The Red Seal”, a short supernatural thriller heavily influenced by neo noir films like “Seven” and “Angel Heart”.

The film is about a down and out detective, Sam Kunishige (Jun Matsuo) who takes on a job from a priest, Father Urbain (Alain Roy) to investigate the meaning behind the contents of a mysterious folder. Realising the esoteric nature of the case, Sam calls upon occult specialist Simon (Benjamin Beardsley) for help. Sam makes a decision that leads to a sudden descent into the supernatural as he discovers the horrifying truth of his investigation.

We shot the film entirely in Japan, although you wouldn’t know it from the locations we chose. We wanted the look of the film to not be specific to one region. We used black and white intimate shots to evoke a dream like quality,

enhanced further by this detachment from a recognisable setting. The film was shot in four days and we had to pull in a lot of favours to keep within the tight budget.

Run Time: 14 Mins.

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FEATURING STILLS TAKEN FROM THE FILM: THE RED SEAL

The biggest challenge in the film was to get the finale to work. The film centres on Urbain Grandier, who was a real priest convicted of witchcraft and punished severely for his supposed crime. He has been the subject and inspiration of many writers and artists from Aldous Huxley to Ken Russell. There is a scene near the end of the film that has divided the audience.

We stood our ground to keep it as we felt it was true to the original source.

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