Writing Culture: Food, Film & Beyond

All it took was an industrial, truck sized shredder chewing up paper on park avenue and 26th street for me to realize how the Safdie brothers films had come to change my perspective; I saw this otherwise ignorable event convert itself into something full of New York attitude, hidden underneath layers of stimuli.

I first experienced their strange take on cinema verite in “Daddy Longlegs” at a screening at IFC. I immediately gravitated to their style of shooting that led me to their “buttons.” These little pieces of plastic that adorn clothing, are sprawled out on two pages of RedBucketFilms.com, highlighting moments in the fabric of new york that sometimes go unnoticed and overlooked: the music of a subway performer, the bewildered look of a drug addict waking up, or the losing lotto tickets that litter the sidewalks. “Seek out meaning always! There’s a lot in NYC. Narrow perspectives are important, they’re all we really have as humans. Get to the real neighborhoods, be a part of your real neighborhoods. If you’re inspired by a person on the subway or street, talk to them. Put them in a movie. The wold is about magnetism. Share that,” was Josh Safide’s advice to any aspiring New York filmmaker in an interview that had to take place by email because of their busy schedule.

I’ve run in to them twice on the streets of Manhattan however. Once I passed them while working, investigating if Bellevue Hospital hired outside crews to cleanup the snow that gathered in the front of the main entrance. I wouldn’t have recognized them if I hadn’t run in to them by chance months before after their premiere of “Daddy Longlegs.” They were standing in the lobby in front of glamorous lights that made them out as rock stars, I was starstruck, but the second time around they seemed human.

Josh and Bennie are difficult to explain. Josh has an incredibly reserved look that coupled with an incredibly charismatic personality extracts from you an honest voice. He has developed in to, if he hasn’t always been, a director.  Bennie hides behind thick glasses and stylishly composed outfits. He is the cinematographer, and his attraction to image is written plainly on him. They often appear in the films they make, like playmates experimenting with each other on the medium of film. “So many people only have themselves to talk with. Benny and me have different outlooks on the world, but very similar sensibilities and passions, which creates a very impassioned yet balanced perspective,” replied Josh to my question about sharing the experience of making films with his brother.

Their films are rogue, and they are out to capture every little moment that defines a piece of New York. Moments like my classmate Ashley Rudder’s encounter with the filmmaker who sells his movies on the train. She was able to share this with us because of someones camera, most likely embedded on a cell phone. Cell phone cameras are estimated at more than 1 billion, with an anticipated 800 million camera phones to have been sold in 2010, according to an article in the Economist. In Iraq, when the former dictator Saddam Hussein was executed, it was recorded on a cellphone camera. This moment was as historically monumental as it is shocking to see.

The Safdie brother are breaking ground with their use of cellphone cameras, something Jean Luc-Godard, a master of the french New Wave, does in his latest film, “Film Socialisme.” Resnais also shares a love of dialogue as poetry with the Josh, evidenced by the subtitles to the french audio written out in what he calls “American Navajo English,” something hailed as an art piece of its own. “Maybe that’s why I’m so attracted to poetry, specifically poetic prose, because the word use is potent. I guess we’re interested in potent dialogue. That’s how we approach scenes in a directing sense. We toss the “script” out the window and hold onto a few vital words or lines and makes sure the characters says very few specific things,” said Josh.

The Safdie brothers are critically appreciated but not commercially successful, something Josh accepts as a truth because of their “uncompromising” nature. They refuse to stop making something significant for something commercial, like in the failed converse commercial. It’s hard to appreciate them at first glance as you warm up to the reality they create, something almost too lifelike to be fiction. It’s a freeing feeling watching their films, that something this fresh is still possible with such a tired art.

Almost going completely unnoticed to many, within CUNY lies a festival that births the type of talent from which greats are emerged and the art of film-making is tackled through the minds of the young. March 27^th dates the third annual CUNY Film Festival (CUFF), a project founded by Daniel Cowen his freshman year at Hunter College. The festival hosts a variety of talent within our school system, ones that might have been overlooked had it not been for the festival giving opportunities to young independent filmmakers.

One student, Chi Nguyen, sophomore at Baruch College, is an organizer of the festival. She is a firm supporter of CUFF. “I truly love CUFF for its free spirit and its openness to new student and faculty films,” she says. “I do believe that CUFF does showcase a great group of talented students. It is very difficult for us to pick out the best movies and it’s even more difficult to eliminate some since they all have either great concepts or great productions.” One student in particular, Kalim Armstrong of Vacationland Productions, is an example of the type of raw talent events like the CUFF discover.

Tent City in Lakewood, NJ

Armstrong, a 32-year-old graduate student in the Integrated Media Arts at Hunter College, is an independent filmmaker that seems to have one goal in mind: social change. His current project, “In the Woods: Life in Tent City,” is his first feature documentary film as a director. It looks into the world of homelessness and affordable housing through “tent cities,” communities set up illegally by the homeless. He researched tent cities nationwide before settling on one in Lakewood, NJ, where he has been documenting for the past year and researching in general for the past two years. Using the documentary for his graduate school thesis, the project is not just a school assignment for him. “I believe through storytelling and through understanding someone else’s life and their experiences, it affects the viewer and makes the world a more understanding place,” he says. He believes in looking at people who are normally overlooked, a quality and concern not many (but more should) possess. “You know with homelessness, all it takes is a couple things to go wrong in your life,” Armstrong says. “Anyone of us can wind up not having a place to call home or knowing what to do next.” His concern for others is nothing less than inspiring.

Although he will not be entering “In the Woods” in the CUFF, he is still involved with the festival. Last year, he entered the short documentary “World’s Fair” about a man confined to living on his boat in search for a freer New York City. This year, he’ll be entering “A Field Guide Into New England Life,” about a man living by himself in a cabin in Vermont. His goals of social awareness are obvious in the context of his films. His need to spread the awareness on the people who are in need the most is reminiscent of famed independent filmmaker Michael Moore.

Although his talent in film is strong, Armstrong was not always a filmmaker. He graduated from San Francisco Art Institute with a B.A. in documentary photography. However, once he realized the could gain a greater audience in film, and video was becoming less and less expensive, he became interested in moving pictures as a way to move an audience. Since his movement into film, he has created six films on his own and has worked on at least 50 projects with other sources, including television and even corporate videos.

Kalim Armstrong

As far as the chances of ever going “Hollywood,” Armstrong doubts that will happen. He believes the difference between Independent and Hollywood is very fine. “It all comes down to money,” he says. With that in mind, an independent filmmaker’s passion will take precedent over the amount of money he makes, which is a goal many Hollywood filmmakers seem to seek. And Armstrong’s passion is undeniable.

“If you believe in something, you just have to do it,” Armstrong says firmly. He is the true essence of a young, motivated filmmaker. With CUFF showcasing talent like his, it won’t be long before CUNY makes a name for itself in the independent film genre.

Thank God it’s Friday. On Friday, March 4^th, this statement floated in my mind and most likely was acknowledged by every other commuter on the 4 Train that morning. Riding the subway car at 7:55 am is a common activity for residents of New York; including a few other comings and goings such as high-pitched music blasted, rude and immature children carrying large backpacks and loud-mouths to match, overcrowded subway cars and homeless natives begging for rider’s attention and money. Except, on that morning’s trip, many commuters got a taste of something original and uncommon; a loud, personal yet persuasive pitch delivered by Mr. Mark Stansberry, an independent short-film maker.

As commuters on the train received his direct and enthusiastic speech; it was clear that his sale approach was both personable and effective. Consistently, he promotes his work by selling DVD copies on the subway for a dollar with the aim of raising money that will fund his upcoming feature short-films. Additionally, Stansberry views his promotion method as an extra benefit, “It will attract more people who will become conscious of local filmmakers in the city and hopefully they will share with others about my work”. Surprisingly, despite a few flaws contributed by many distressed panhandlers the subway cars have proved to be a great platform that provides people with samples of works made by small-time artists/filmmakers.

Independent film-maker Mark Stansberry and his family

Stansberry is a working artist, film-maker and father of eight children. He currently resides in Brooklyn, where he manages his studio, Screen Arts Animation, which has provided him the necessary workspace and platform to create original short-film animations. With over 15 years of experience in the animation and film production industry, he has faced many career challenges and financial difficulties. With determination, he has completely invested time and money to finance his dream. As a self-taught artist, Stansberry took his passion for animations and transferred it into acquiring skills for creating short-films.

In 1994, he went to work and created an original short-film animation series starring the unique leading character “Puddin”, inspired by the imagination and personality of his four girls. With a staff of three inclusive of his oldest daughter and son, he dutifully creates free-style, sketches which are transformed into live short-film animations. Today, many children are discouraged and influenced to pursue careers that will support them financially. Unfortunately, the result following is countless, scattered inventive dreams of being a fireman, baseball player, ballerina, singer, etc. Initially, his interest in film began during his childhood after viewing the time-honored, Disney movie, “Sleeping Beauty”.

Stansberry held onto his childhood dreams and aspirations; he has remained passionate about films. He says, “If you love it, no matter what you have to take the risk”. Currently, his inspiration is derived from the perseverance of legendary Walt Disney and raw talent from well-known filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. He has always admired their mutual hard-work ethic, motivation and passion for making films. “Both men are relatable and inspiring; they are masters at creating true storylines that captivate audiences,” said Stansberry.

In regards to being an independent film-maker, Stansberry validates that there are positive and rewarding aspects of being your own boss; with a small staff unit and a successful creative outlet, it provides a wholesome production process for his work. Truly, within the city that never sleeps and the millions of residents flowing in and out of the boroughs; there needs to be a highlight of the collective talent and creativity that resides in Brooklyn. He says, “Brooklyn is affordable; its places that artist search for that will provide a platform for work”.  Despite the current economy, Stansberry continues to strive and work towards his dream of creating more sensational, family-friendly short-film animations.

He is a true representation of the rewarding act of doing what you love instead of following the norm of the regular nine to five job. Stansberry believes that people should hold on the one thing their passionate about and stick with it. When asked about the advice he would give to college students and folks in general who are stuck and unhappy with their jobs, he said, “You should always do what makes you happy. “Yes, it has been a lot of years struggling but in the end it’s really worth it!”.

Our big city has come a long way and done a lot of cleaning up over the years. The days of seedy downtown bars, sketchy hole-in-the-wall hangouts, and no-good trouble-seekers roaming the streets are turning into distant memories.

Rest in peace, CBGB. (sigh)

Gory horror flicks are largely just memorabilia now, as they’ve made way for docu-dramas about teen pop idols and unfortunate remakes of past successes. Luckily for you seedy, sketchy, no-good trouble-seekers, though, there’s still a time and place for everything.

The New York City Horror Film Festival, running ten years strong, brings together the enthusiastic gore-seekers of New York City and beyond for five days each October to pay homage to the best in the business; new and established, young and old, big-budget and broke. Festival director Michael Hein started the event in 2001 with the goal of creating a serious genre-based film festival that would attract serious industry attendance and provide exposure and recognition for filmmakers, directors, producers, and actors.

Hein, a seasoned producer, director, special effects makeup artist and horror/sci-fi enthusiast, hoped to create an atmosphere not only for film screenings and judging, but also for networking opportunities.

Founder/Director Michael Hein

“I wanted filmmakers to be seen, not just by the horror fans, but also by people who actually buy movies for distribution.”

With loads of work and dedication (“a labor of love,” as he puts it) on the parts of Hein, his friends and family, and sponsors and staff, his brainchild was born and met with eager excitement from horror-fanatics even outside of its home of New York City. Now approaching its ten-year anniversary, the NYCHFF has become exactly what its creators hoped for: a creative outlet for a vast array of filmmakers, a place for industry members to meet and make connections, and a great gathering for horror lovers from around the world to enjoy some brilliant, gory fun. Hein adds, “Having a full bar and lounge right inside the venue doesn’t hurt the constant party atmosphere either.”

Were the enthusiastic crowd and staff not enough, the NYCHFF also features an impressive judge panel line up. While the judges change each year, the panel always consists of film industry workers or genre-based journalists.

The 2010 NYCHFF panel of judges

The 2010 festival panel featured well-known figures in the horror film scene such as Robert Englund aka Freddy Krueger of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Tony Todd, better known as the Candyman, and the managing editor of Fangoria Magazine Michael Gingold.

Each of the approximately 500 short and feature films and 100+ screenplays submitted to the festival each year are judged on a ten-point system in nine categories: Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Cinematography, Best Special Effects, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Submitted Screenplay, Best Screened Screenplay, and Audience Choice. The screening of the films is essentially a party, a gathering of friends and an awesome place to make new ones, and the films, while not all award-worthy, deliver just what the audience is looking for: fresh blood, quite literally.

Each year brings a greater number of submissions and new names and faces from all over the world. For any eager amateur filmmakers, no matter the budget or level of experience, this festival is a great place to put work out for some of the best eyes in the industry to see and to network with others. As Hein assures, “It’s not about your budget, it’s what you did with what you had!”

One horror buff and festival fan, Steve Kelly, speaks about the upcoming festival with the excitement of a kid anxiously awaiting Santa’s yearly visit. “There’s just no words for the mix of people, the atmosphere, the music, the movies, it’s just a crazy ride. You can walk up to your horror idol from the ‘80s and give him a hug, and he’ll talk to you like you’re old friends. It’s nuts.”

Some of the staff and crowd at the 2010 NYCHFF.

If you’re a fellow horror-freak thirsty for some fresh ideas and faces, or just a curious newcomer looking for a good time with an eclectic group of people, keep up to date on “gory details” of the NYCHFF on their website and Facebook page, and come through in October for the tenth annual festival.

A sword by itself rules nothing. It only comes alive in skilled hands.

If you needed subtitles, that quote is from Couching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Ang Lee’s film, centers on a bunch of people fighting over a sword called Green Destiny. Many individuals gravitated towards the action and the story of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. One of those individuals was Ling Li.

A scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Not to be confused with the main character of the movie, Master Li Mu Bai, who is played by Yun- Fat Chow, Ling Li was not part of the cast that helped collect ten Academy Award nominations in 2001. It won four Academy Awards, which includes: Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Art Direction, and Best Foreign Language Film.  In 2000, Li, who everyone calls Leo these days, was just a child when he saw this critically acclaimed movie.  “I just really like that movie. I guess that is when I started to love film, says Leo. Leo Li was born and raised in China. As a young adult he emigrated to the United States with the same dream and passion in film.  After going to Baruch College for a year, Leo Li transferred to Columbia University.  After contemplating an accounting career, Li decided to go study his passion.  He joins a student body that amounts to nearly thirty thousand people.  Fall enrollment in 2008-2009 was 25,459 people.  In 2008-2009, 1865 students were awarded Bachelor Degrees and 5526 students were awarded master degrees.  Only fifteen students were awarded a bachelors degree in Film Studies. There are more students who take Art History as a major. Seven more people! Even more people take statistics for a major. Who really would want to take that?  “I don’t know if I truly wanted to do a business degree. It’s always in the cards if this film thing doesn’t work out. I don’t think I would be happy if I were to do a career in finance or accounting,” says Li.  “I liked my time in Baruch, but Columbia is where I wanted to be.”

What’s the difference between Baruch and Columbia? “It’s the price obviously,” Li jokes.  “There isn’t a huge camaraderie in Columbia also. Maybe after a couple more semesters, I will be more accumulated to the film department,” he says.  Alex, a film student in Columbia and a person who is too shy to give out a last name, believes that Columbia is “very difficult.” “You can get lost in the shuffle,” Alex says.

Leo likes his classes very much. “They are interesting but challenging. I have to know the conceptual aspects of the films. One class I like particularly is Chinese Film,“ says Li.

Columbia University

Richard Pena teaches his Chinese Film class.  Pena, who teaches Topics In World Cinema every semester, serves as the Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Director of the New York Film Festival since 1988. Filmmakers covered in this class includes: Xie Jin, Chen Kaig, Zhang Yimou, Jia Zhangke, King Hu and Wong Kar-wei.

Richard Pena serves as the Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Director of the New York Film Festival since 1988

Leo has two other film classes where he spends a couple of hours watching a film. If he manages to stay awake then he has to participate in a class discussion of what he and fellow classmates saw.  “While that sounds fun, I have to watch older movies. Some are good and others are just there,” says Li. He plans to join an alumnus that includes Lisa Cholodenko, Kathryn Bigelow, Henry Alex Rubin, and Albert Berger. They all went through the same program and achieved success in recent years.  While ‘The Kids are all Right” and “The Hurt Locker” were huge successes, Leo Li will pave his own way through the film industry. One day he is sitting in a classroom and the next day he is standing on a podium accepting an award. Li hopes to own the Green Destiny of Film.

“Without Green Destiny, you  are nothing!”

Spiral Galaxies in Collision

As a certified Electrical Inspector, Richards has little experience in the field, but he feels that experience is overrated. “You don’t need a degree to make movies,” he says. “You just need to know your audience and what they like.”

Richards’ first film, Memories, was a short film about a soldier that returns home with posttraumatic stress disorder. The film was shot in his hometown of Coram, Long Island. The resources for the film were easy to come by, according to Richards. “There are lots of actors that want to make it big. All I had to do was put out some flyers and people were willing to do the film for free.”

Richards' Telescope

While he was satisfied with the film, Richards wanted to start making films that are less traditional than what we see in theaters today. The solution came when Richards received a telescope from a friend as a gift and became fascinated with astronomy. Seeing so many educational movies that bored him to death, Richards decided to combine the two things he loved, film and astronomy, to make a film that people could watch in its entirety without falling asleep.

The film, which has yet to be given a title, features all the planets and is the first of a series of films that Richards plans on creating dealing with the solar system and deep space. Most educational films show slides and images with voiceovers, rather than actors, but Richards’ film veers away from this tradition. He incorporates several actors in the film to give it a more interactive feel. “It’s definitely more interesting than your average science film,” says Raheem Kareem, one of the actors in Richards’ film. “When I read the script for the first time, I really got into it. I even learned a few things myself.”

For Richards’, like many aspiring filmmakers, the goal is to make a name for himself. If the film lives up to his expectations, he plans on pitching it to several astronomy websites and high schools in Long Island. “I have a good feeling about this one,” he says.

“The idea for the festival started about 8 years ago when we [Dante Albertie, Hector Olivieri and Maggie Krupka} decided that the Bronx needed a real film festival that featured films that were on the same level as every other film festival, to fight the notion that the Bronx has no culture, to show films that are on the same level as the Tribcca Film Festival or Sundance.”

Krupka, the director of the festival, went on to write “The mission of The Bronx International Film Festival is to celebrate the history of film in The Bronx by showcasing promising filmmakers while promoting The Bronx as a cultural destination and Bronx venues, like Lehman Stages, as prominent New York performance spaces.”

Albertie, Director of Lehman Stages, had the same feeling saying that the group “felt the Bronx didn’t have anything like it at the time so we wanted to provide it.”

According to the website “The Bronx Stage & Film Company, Inc., is a professional non-profit arts organization dedicated to the discipline of theater and film” and goes on to say, “Our goal is to be a touchstone for emerging artists and to promote art particularly from The Bronx and the outer boroughs.

This year’s Bronx International Bronx Film Festival will run from June 16^th through the 19^th at the Lovinger Theatre. There is no limit on how many films can be submitted, but there is a limit for what programming what will screen at the festival. Krupka wrote “we fit as many films as possible into this time frame.” What is their average attendance at the festival? Well, it is difficult to say. They do have followers on Facebook (2,189) and Twitter (560).

When it comes to choosing the films that will be showcased at the festival each film is prescreened and then it goes to a panel for judging. Ms. Krupka would not specify the people that would be on the panel. At the end of the festival the panel gives out two main monetary prizes: “Best of Festival”, which is a prize of $1,000, and the recently added “Best Documentary”, which is also $1,000.

Asked about past winners she mentioned first year winner Cary Fukunaga and second year winner Alrick Brown. Both worked on the film “The Adventures of Supernigger: Episode I – The Final Chapter”; Brown was the director and Fukunaga was cinematographer. One of Fukunaga’s recent films was “Sin Nombre” in 2009, where he was both writer and director. For that film he won the Cinematography Award and U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival The Trailer to \”Sin Nombre\” (2009).

Brown and his co-producer received the “HBO Life Through Your Lens Emerging Filmmaker Award” to produce the documentary “Death of Two Sons.” In 2007 he addressed the Motion Picture Association of America on C-SPAN. His most recent film is “Kinyarwanda” for which he won the 2011 World Cinema Audience Award for Dramatic Film at Sundance.

Putting the festival together takes six months from when they make the announcements for submissions until the final programming. However, to Ms. Krupka “the festival is always in process because we are always doing something connected the festival during the course of the year from brainstorming ideas to planning events.”

When asked about future events for The Bronx Stage and Film Company there are not any at the moment that they’re willing to announce.  Right now the company is focused on the festival.

Funds, according to Krupka, go into marketing, prizes, and supplies for the festival.

When asked about her thoughts on the Bronx International Film Festival she said “we see endless possibilities for the festival anything that that will help build the festival. We are always coming up with new ideas to expand and grow.”

Albertie said “I want it to be a festival the Bronx can be proud of. I want it to be a festival that shows the early works of the future greats.”

When asked to define Indie films, Zeshawn Ali replies “I would say Indie film is like ‘Do-it yourself’ film making, it’s not so much about a style as it is more about the amount of resources you have…the type of movie you make is determined by your budget.” He pauses and says “It’s all about the new film makers.”

Ali can relate. The twenty year old Ohio native has made his way to the big city to follow his dreams in becoming a filmmaker. He currently attends Tisch School of the Arts in NYU.

Ali shooting for his newest film

Through his education at Tisch, Zeshawn says that they really emphasize a lot on helping the student make a film that you can continue to pursue outside of college. They call it “The Fifth Year Film.” “It helps prepare you for the real world” Zeshawn adds. This may just be true, considering Tisch has gotten a lot of attention lately from its most recent graduates, Luke Mattenu, having won an Oscar for his short film “God of Love.”

Ali claims that the students who are born and raised in New York City obviously have an advantage in showing these unknown and amazing locations in their films. Those who are not from the city focus more on being experimental and adding a “weird style” to their films. “At Tisch, there seem to be two types of filmmaking, there are those who are from the city and those who are not and it is so easy to distinguish between the two.”

That logic also seems to apply to even the most prestigious film festivals. Ali worked for the Tribeca Film Festival for six months, helping prepare for its opening in the spring of 2010. “They separate the films into the Hollywood alternative films versus the outreach films.” Hollywood alternative films are with first time directors who have big Hollywood figures star in their films. The outreach films are the low budget, indie films that make their way to this showing for a chance to be spotted by a big time director or producer to endorse their future projects.”I personally prefer the Hollywood films, only because its cool to see these big time actors, who probably aren’t getting paid much, help participate and work with a first time director.”

“We did a lot of research on films, I was part of the development department and did alot of market research  like collect exit polls, which are surveys viewers take after seeing the movie and use them as part of the research.”  Zeshawn also explained that when picking which films to place in the festivals, the department purposefully picks those that are different from previous award winners. “They’re really into foreign films this year” Zeshawn adds.

Though all films entered into the Tribeca Film Festival are from New York City, its filmmakers nationalities range from all over the world. Ali says that Brazil is the newest spark of interest for the festival and that most of its contestants have made films there.  “It adds a lot more diversity to the mix and therefore continues to make the film choices different from years prior.”

Zeshawn is most excited for his upcoming internship with Magnolia Pictures. The newest film that they have released is All Good Things, starring Kristen Dunst and Ryan Renolds. The film is inspired by a missing person’s case set in New York City in 1982. Robert Durst was suspected but never put on trial for killing his wife Kathie who mysteriously disappeared and was never found.  The film is also produced and directed by Andrew Jarecki, who was the director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Capturing the Friedmans and producer of Catfish.

“I make movies about things I know and the things that people in my movie know” Zeshawn has made about 12-15 films within the past two years at Tisch, all incorporating what he calls real life elements. “I only use people I know in my films and I make sure to use what those people know as a main aspect of my film.  One of my friends was really into graffiti and I took his knowledge and love for the subject and incorporated it into my film. It makes it real.” You can check out Zeshawns work here.