Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Phew!
Well, a lot has happened. Briefly, I finished my comedy about art, ABSOLUTELY MODERN and premiered it at New Horizons Film Festival, Wroclaw in July. Fantastic experience. I love this fest and this city where my grandparents got married. Film very well received and I also filmed some scenes for my Cold War Musical, THE SOUND OF SPYING. Which reminds me I have been filming that on and off all year. I also am finishing and restoring my horror movie STRANGE MATTERS with the late Zelda Rubinstein, which we filmed originally in 70MM in 2003 at the then called Ennis Brown House, a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece. I'm planning a premiere in Australia for ABMOD in November at the NFSA (archive) in Canberra, and a show of new paintings called "MORE REALLY GOOD TASTE ART." The beat goes on.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Just came back from a premiere of my new film CONTINUITY at the New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland. Formerly Breslau this was where my grandparents got married in 1909. This was my third year at the festival. Last I showed my doc GERMAN SONS. Reaction to Continuity was a great success d'estime. Greeted as a "mind massage" by Kino Zeit and a "mindf***" by a Brit fan in the
Q&A, the second screening ended with an intense series of questions. The first screening everyone got the jokes and the idea--the film deconstructs itself as continuity is finally obliterated in time, narrative and all else. Probably will end up as one of my best films creatively. Actually inspired by an extra looking at his watch in The Greatest Story Ever Told, 1965, and helped along by Robert Mitchum changing his crutches in Rio Bravo. The 100,000 plus Polish film lovers in Wroclaw are a kick to be around as they watched over 400 films and over 100 premieres in this progressive uber festival.
Q&A, the second screening ended with an intense series of questions. The first screening everyone got the jokes and the idea--the film deconstructs itself as continuity is finally obliterated in time, narrative and all else. Probably will end up as one of my best films creatively. Actually inspired by an extra looking at his watch in The Greatest Story Ever Told, 1965, and helped along by Robert Mitchum changing his crutches in Rio Bravo. The 100,000 plus Polish film lovers in Wroclaw are a kick to be around as they watched over 400 films and over 100 premieres in this progressive uber festival.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Swastika Redux 1973-2009
The London screening of SWASTIKA at the BFI on 28th September was a well attended success, with a spirited Q&A after the film, with the audience and Lutz Becker, Sandy Lieberson, Lord Puttnam and myself. The BFI will have an online version of the Q&A up soon.
I did an interview on Night Waves for the BBC and the knowledge of the interviewer, Anne McElvoy was impressive. The Jewish News gave us a good mention as did the Scotsman. Onwards to Germany, where the film will OPEN the Biberach Film Festival.
As I mentioned in the BBC interview, some cliches or iconic statements are profound. One of these is Arendt's comment that the Nazis defined the "banality of evil."
I did an interview on Night Waves for the BBC and the knowledge of the interviewer, Anne McElvoy was impressive. The Jewish News gave us a good mention as did the Scotsman. Onwards to Germany, where the film will OPEN the Biberach Film Festival.
As I mentioned in the BBC interview, some cliches or iconic statements are profound. One of these is Arendt's comment that the Nazis defined the "banality of evil."
Friday, July 3, 2009
RUSH OF EVENTS IN AUSTRALIA
In May, my wife Pamela and I went to Newcastle, Australia, where I spoke on Film and History at the Museums Australia international conference. Four hundred attended and we were hosted by Gavin Fry, the fine director of the Newcastle Museum. We went on to Melbourne to see my mother and brothers. Mirka was painting away, better than ever. Tiriel was preparing for a film role as Rene Rivkin, a notorious Sydney character, and William was busy arranging exhibitions of indigenous art.
I attended some of the Sydney Film Festival, and met my old friend, film expert extraodinaire, David Stratton, in the bar at the Carrington Hotel in the Blue Mountains. The beautiful, venerable Carrington is a G rated version of the hotel in The Shining. At the festival I met a Western Saharan woman accused in a shockumentary of being a slave in a refugee camp in Algeria. Clearly, she was not a slave and the whole incident brought up issues of what is a documentary exactly? Tabloid, truth, a mix? The relentless pressure on film makers and others in the media to get attention can easily consume them and consign them to oblivion.
Then on to Canberra where I started an extensive oral history at the National Film and Sound Archive. There I ran into Ted Kotcheff who was about to show his masterpiece WAKE IN FRIGHT. This brilliant film, made in 1971, scarred a generation of film makers with its blistering expose of fear and loathing in the beer soaked outback. Donald Pleasance gave a terrifying performance as a weird doctor, and hangovers have never been more traumatic. The celluloid effect was so bad I didn't drink beer for a few days. Life and art mix, because when I later directed the wonderful Mr. Pleasance I was concerned about his drinking, and he would ingeniously hide bottles of Chardonnay everywhere.
However, the culture of booze is alive and well Downunder. In fact, in Sydney's Chinatown, deluxe wine stores
sell bottles of cognac for as much as $A10,000.
We left Australia sober, incredibly well fed and optimistic.
I attended some of the Sydney Film Festival, and met my old friend, film expert extraodinaire, David Stratton, in the bar at the Carrington Hotel in the Blue Mountains. The beautiful, venerable Carrington is a G rated version of the hotel in The Shining. At the festival I met a Western Saharan woman accused in a shockumentary of being a slave in a refugee camp in Algeria. Clearly, she was not a slave and the whole incident brought up issues of what is a documentary exactly? Tabloid, truth, a mix? The relentless pressure on film makers and others in the media to get attention can easily consume them and consign them to oblivion.
Then on to Canberra where I started an extensive oral history at the National Film and Sound Archive. There I ran into Ted Kotcheff who was about to show his masterpiece WAKE IN FRIGHT. This brilliant film, made in 1971, scarred a generation of film makers with its blistering expose of fear and loathing in the beer soaked outback. Donald Pleasance gave a terrifying performance as a weird doctor, and hangovers have never been more traumatic. The celluloid effect was so bad I didn't drink beer for a few days. Life and art mix, because when I later directed the wonderful Mr. Pleasance I was concerned about his drinking, and he would ingeniously hide bottles of Chardonnay everywhere.
However, the culture of booze is alive and well Downunder. In fact, in Sydney's Chinatown, deluxe wine stores
sell bottles of cognac for as much as $A10,000.
We left Australia sober, incredibly well fed and optimistic.
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