Bucharest: My House On Wheels in Development

Cristian Pascariu's first documentary and first long film My House on Wheels will follow two truck drivers, focusing on the life, the stories and the untold secrets of a profession which we usually know from a few stereotypes. 

Pascariu comments in the director's note:

"There is a folklore of the road which must not go to waste. Their world is made up of words, of stories, of fleeting hours and space, and in time, this world will fade away."

Shooting is set for September-October 2012 and will cover Romania, Spain, Italy, UK, Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland. The plan is to follow two truck drivers, one throughout Romania and the other in Europe.  

My House on Wheels/Casa mea pe roţi is produced by Iuliana Tarnoveţchi and ALIEN FILM Productions.

More info on Film New Europe

-Simone

The Alternative Box Office, Feb. 28

Football documentary Undefeated remains in the top spot in the specialty box office.

Oscar foreign language film nominees (and winner!) In Darkness, A Separation, and Bullhead  follow close behind with Rampart taking the fifth spot.

* courtesy of Indiewire

-Simone

Sunday Morning Films by Monday Evening Concerts @ The Goethe

Sunday Morning Films, produced by Monday Evening Concerts in association with the Goethe-Institut, documents the lives and works of contemporary music's most important personalities. 
From illuminating films to up-close conversations with composers and performers, these Sunday morning events hosted by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles provide a unique educational experience prior to Monday evening's concert.
 

All events in the 2011-12 Sunday Morning Films series will take place at the Goethe-Institut Media Lounge at 11:00 a.m. Doors will open at 10:30 for refreshments. Free parking in the building.
General admission is $5 per person. Tickets are available at the door only. Advance ticketing is not available at this time.

Season subscribers receive free admission on a first come, first served basis. 

Location for Sunday Morning Films:
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles
5750 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100,
Los Angeles, CA 90036,
                              Tel. 323.525.3388

Come and enjoy events at the Goethe as it will also serve as the fantastic venue for our very own SEE Fest!

-Simone

Apply Now to IFP Independent Filmmaker Labs- Documentary & Narrative

The IFP now calling for all first-time filmmaker documentaries as well as narratives!



Documentary deadline: March 9, 2012
Narrative deadline: April 6, 2012




Read the guidelines and apply:
http://www.ifp.org/programs/labs/






-Simone

Theme announced for Greek Film & Foto Week Short Film Contest!

Greek America Foundation has announced the theme that all short films in the 48 hour competition  of the will have to incorporate. The theme is one that the organizers felt compelled to incorporate due to the tremendous negative publicity that has impacted Greece in the past few years and the Foundation's attempt to not only mitigate it, but to shed a true light on what Greece "really" is and means to the world.

*Film theme/statement: Perception is not Reality: Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and contemporary perceptions of Greece*
 
Finalists will screen at the Greek America Foundation's Greek Film & Foto Week in Toronto on Friday, May 4th at a special screening.

Filmmakers interested participating (or if you have any questions)- email gffw@greekamerica.org
More info on the competition can be found on the contest's Facebook page HERE


Good luck, filmmakers!
-Simone

Orkestar MÉZÉ @ Rusty's Surf Ranch on March 2

"Peasant Friday" parties continue with another edition of sultry melodies, slippery rhythms, sexy horns, exotic vocals, and delicious solos performed by your favorite 11-piece peasant funk Orkestar!

2 sets and over 2 hours of music, dancing, drinking, flirting and having fun in beautiful Santa Monica over the Pacific Ocean.

Rusty's Surf Ranch
Santa Monica Pier
Friday, March 2
10pm; all ages
$7 at the door

Hope to see you there!
-Simone

From Sepharad to Sarajevo: A Journey of Persecution, Survival and Reconciliation

From Sepharad to Sarajevo: A Journey of Persecution, Survival and Reconciliation is an event jointly sponsored by the Pasadena Museum of History and the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center. Edward Serotta, an expert on Balkan Jewry, will be there to lecture on the themes of Sephardim, the Balkans, and memory, woven through Geraldine Brook's People of the Book, the 2012 winner of Pasadena's "One City, One Story." The lecture will explore different periods of Sephardic and Balkan Jewry, the role of cultural memory, and the complex fabric of multi-ethnic and interfaith relations.With Ladino music courtesy of Cantor Ruth Berman Harris of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center. Rebecca Golbert, a visiting professor of Jewish Studies at Pepperdine University and Associate Director of the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies, will be moderating.

Serotta will also be in conversation with SEE Fest's very own founder and director Vera Mijojlic! This is an event not to be missed!

Where/When:

Wednesday,February 29, 2012
7:30 pm
Avery Dennison Auditorium, Pasadena Museum of History, 450 W. Walnut  Avenue, Pasadena 91103.

Tickets: PMH and Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center members $15, Non-members $20
Limited seating. Reservations suggested; please call 626.577.1660, ext. 10


-Simone

Book talk with author Gail Kligman, UCLA

Tomorrow, February 23rd, the University of California, Los Angeles is hosting a book talk with Gail Kligman, author of Peasants Under Siege: The Collectivization of Romanian Agriculture, 1949-1962. The work examines Romania's fledgling communist regime which unleashed a radical and brutal campaign to collectivize agriculture in the largely agrarian society. Peasants under Siege provides the first comprehensive look at the far-reaching social engineering process that ensued.

Where/When:

Thursday, February 23, 2012
12:00 PM
10383 Bunche Hall

 Everyone is welcome! 

 

  Sponsor(s): Center for European and Eurasian Studies, History, Sociology, UCLA Culture, Power, and Social Change Group 

 

-Simone

Don't miss PINA, by Wim Wenders

If you love beautiful things and you want to be moved, you must see PINA, the documentary by Wim Wenders.

 

It captures some of the legendary German choreographer Pina Bausch’s 40 dances, using 3-D technology that draws you into the dance in a way that’s never been filmed before. And it’s earthy! Where else have you seen dancers ooze into actual dirt, fling themselves into water and rock, burst through woods in spring, or dance a lonely arabesque on a concrete island surrounded by traffic and overhead trains?

Don't miss Germany's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 84th Academy Awards 2012! If you are in Los Angeles, check out Pina now playing at Arclight or Landmark theaters.

– Deirdre

SEE FEST announces collaboration with Metropolis Books for 2012!

We looked for a partner who loves movies, cherishes those

great old ones and has an ear for contemporary tastes as well. We hope you'll

like them too: Metropolis Books. From now on every time you look for a book and

make a purchase at this cool online store, you will be supporting SEE FEST too.

So, don't forget to mention our name!! Metropolis has suggested a few titles by

authors from South East Europe for your reading pleasure:

The Tiger's Wife is Tea Obreht's debut novel and National Book award finalist as well as New York Times bestseller. It weaves together family legend, loss and love, and the recent troubled past. Winner of 2011 Orange Prize for fiction, The Tiger's Wife

is a brilliant and beautifully written first novel.

 

Peasants Under Siege by Gail Kligman and Katherine Verdery. In 1949 Romania's fledgling communist regime unleashed a radical and brutal campaign to collectivize agriculture in this largely agrarian country, following the Soviet model. Peasants under Siege provides the first comprehensive look at the far-reaching social engineering

process that ensued. 

One of the favorite authors at Metropolis Books is Orhan Pamuk: The Museum of Innocence is a dark and moody novel with a message about the human condition. Truly one of Orhan Pamuk's best novels about the tumultuous 1970's in Istanbul.

 

Other notable authors from South East Europe are also

available at the Metropolis Books online store. Website: http://www.metropolisbooksla.com/
 

-- Deirdre

  Happy browsing!