Filmmaker Sujewa

New Wild Diner Films site under construction

2010-10-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

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Working on building a new Wild Diner Films site here. Once it's ready (later this month), it'll be published to wilddiner.com.

- S

Shooting the next movie in March 2011

2010-10-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Got a lot to do between now & then, not just on preparing for the next movie but on wrapping up & releasing most of the older movies (Date Number One, Brooklyn Fantastic, etc.). It's gonna be a busy few months!

Now blogging at Total Filmmaker

2010-09-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

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A little project that I am doing this Fall & Winter - check it out here.

- S

Money For Independent Filmmakers blog is alive

2010-03-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

A new side project of mine - check it out. I plan on updating that blog on a regular (at least once every couple of days) basis.

This blog is back on

2010-01-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

Alright, actually have some of my own moviemaking stuff to post about, so, this blog is back on. See you soon with some video.

DIY Filmmaker blog is back on

2010-01-16T06:34:00.001-08:00

That blog will be useful to me for at least another year/this year, so, will be blogging mostly there from now on. See ya there.

Saw a couple of Toback movies

2010-01-15T23:40:00.000-08:00

Well, 1 movie about James Toback - the doc The Outsider (pretty good), & then 1 movie by Toback - the Tyson doc (very good), & a part of another movie by Toback - When Will I Be Loved (stopped watching it half way through because it became obvious that it was an unscripted work & just could not get with the meandering dialogue after a while). All this recent Toback film activity aside, I do recall watching The Pick Up Artist a very long time ago at a movie theater & liking it. Read more about Toback here.

Haiti aid links & a little about political & economic problems in Haiti caused by outsiders

2010-01-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Read the post at Do The Work... blog.

Update on projects

2010-01-12T06:55:00.000-08:00

12 days into the new year, and it's another day of wall to wall day job work. But, on the bright side, bills will get paid & some time & $s for film work will open up in the near future because of all the day job work today. Here's the current status on film projects:

Date Number One - awaiting DVD release, also upload to web - should happen before January is over

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip - same as DNO

Brooklyn Fantastic - working on the script for part 2, planning on filming it & editing it this spring, for a 2010/this year release

Unlimited Dreamtime - should be available to view before the end of February

Other Projects: Wild Diner, Fresh Coffee, other shorts, 17 DC Poets, & anything else made in or prior to 2009 - will be available on a DVD & most likely also on the web before the end of June

Later on Eric Rohmer

2010-01-11T18:40:00.001-08:00

French filmmaker Eric Rohmer died today. Thanks for the movies Mr. Rohmer, see ya around at some other point of the universes perhaps. Here are some clips from one of his early movies - My Night at Maud's:

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And for a bit more about Rohmer's films & American independent films, check out this post at Filmmaker Magazine blog.

And, for some French hotness, check out the Rohmer film clip at The Back Row Manifesto.

Making the new Star Trek

2010-01-09T20:56:00.001-08:00

Revolutionary Road is bizarre and a little depressing

2010-01-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

More bizarre then depressing - good production design though. I caught the film last night on cable because I was tired & waiting for something else - the production design kept me watching (also the possibility of seeing Paris in the 50's, at first, for a few minutes) - but overall the movie felt like a play for the most part, and not well thought out/not completely thought out. For example - the female character's fear of being ordinary/not achieving some kind of a special status in the world vs. having a family/living in the suburbs conflict could have been illustrated better if she was an aspiring novelist or even attempting to break through as an actress (they should have shown repeated attempts, not just the part in the beginning/before the main titles). So I guess the flaw, for me, was in the script & the direction - the acting was good, the production design, cinematography, editing, sound were all good. Perhaps there will be a better remake/another attempt at adapting the novel in the future.

WOW

2010-01-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot Demo from Stargate Studios on Vimeo.

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Thanks Filmmaker Magazine blog for the video.

Blip.TV trouble for IFBRT

2010-01-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Looks like there was a problem converting that large file into flash. So, will have to cut it up into several smaller files/episodes & post 'em up. Should be done w/ in this coming week.

At the moment, Indie Film Blogger Road Trip - the entire movie only plays the audio at Blip.TV. Hopefully the problem will be fixed soon. Will update when it is fixed.

Weekend & Next Week

2010-01-07T22:55:00.000-08:00

Alright, most of January bills & other expenses are mostly under control for the moment, so I think I can get some film work done starting this weekend. On the 2 Do list:

- cut up Date Number One into several pieces & post it up on YouTube & elsewhere - promo for the DVD & a free opportunity for people who want to see the flick & can't/won't buy the DVD

- post up Date Number One & Indie Film Blogger Road Trip DVDs order info

Will post up links as those two items get done over the next few days.

The Juicy Middle :: Katz's "Cold Weather" is here

2010-01-06T23:21:00.000-08:00

In the THICK of day job work & bill paying - as is often the case in the beginning of the month & the end of the month, & often the middle of the month. Hmmm, that's not right :) - so, let's try this new approach this month - get a lot of day job work done during the 1st 10 days of the month & the last 10 days of the month, but leave at least 4 full hrs a day per day at the middle of the month to get film work done - that's 40 hrs over 10 days - not bad, enough time to move some projects forward.

I think being an indie filmmaker would be easier if one were already a millionaire :)

But, that not being the case, I guess hard work/a lot of work & creative time management is the way to go for now; we'll see how this middle of the month for filmmaking work plan goes in Jan.

Still coming with some Date Number One DVD distro news this weekend.

Also, congrats to Aaron Katz on finishing up a new movie - Cold Weather. Making any feature is a lot of work, specially on a low budget, specially when money for the work has to come from somewhere & it is often the responsibility of the filmmaker (at least in the DIY end of the filmmaking spectrum) to come up with it. So, nice to see people getting stuff done, even with all the obstacle$ around. Check out Cold Weather trailer here. Looking forward to checking it out, reminds me (off of the plot description) a little of Bored To Death.

A new year, a whole lotta new work...

2010-01-04T18:24:00.000-08:00

Be back this coming weekend with some Date Number One distribution news.

Temple builders, the symbol of the temple

2010-01-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

So it appears that my great grandfather on my dad's side built a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka, back in the day (early 1900's?) - according to my grand uncle's (my grandmother's brother - on my dad's side) biography.

My dad also played a key role in building a Buddhist temple like structure - a meditation center - in Virginia in the 1980's.

So I guess I have to build some kind of a temple to keep the tradition going. Not necessarily a Buddhist temple - 'cause, though useful to many, Buddhism is too narrow & its abilities are limited (for example, in spite of it being in Sri Lanka for over 2000 years - so they say - it was not able to teach a majority of the people on that island to be anti-racist - which caused the 30 some years long Sinhala-Tamil war most recently, even though anti-racism & helping the outsiders is said to be a core value of that faith - at least that's how it was taught in my youth) - so - some kind of a temple - maybe not only a physical temple but perhaps an intellectual & creative temple (since, unlike my father & my great grandfather, I also work with ideas & art, not just physical objects - an opportunity created for me, in part, by their work, no doubt).

What is a temple anyway? What does it mean in the human mind? What are the symbolic meanings & values of a temple, or the idea of a temple. I'll have to check & see what the Freemasons thought, also what the ancient Egyptians thought - along with what other groups of temple builders thought/believed re: this matter.

Saw Humpday, liked it

2010-01-03T17:42:00.000-08:00

Saw Humpday on Netflix (avail for Watch Now/streaming), liked it. Some very funny/hilarious moments, interesting but non-flashy/ordinary home made video looking cinematography, great editing & music. Find out more about the movie here.

The Limits of Control on DVD!

2010-01-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

Some Criterion DVDs on Amazon - check 'em out!

2010-01-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

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A few favorite NYC things of one actress

2010-01-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

!HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-31T20:26:00.001-08:00

Reject Race Theory blog is alive!

2009-12-31T17:59:00.000-08:00

Check it out here.

The "rejection of race theory in world cinema" idea will have to be worked into my 2010 movies, DNO & IFBRT DVDs are ready for sale

2009-12-31T09:41:00.000-08:00

So, a few interesting things;

1. I've figured out a way by which one real independent/ultra-low budget D.I.Y. filmmaker can easily make & release several (perhaps up to a dozen or more) excellent/competitive (in the marketplace of movies, fighting for audience eyeballs & attention) feature length movies in one year. Best to demonstrate this by actually doing it (various elements of this method have already been discussed at various places for the last few years), & then talking about it, instead of writing about it first. So, that's one of the things that will be happening in 2010 over here - attempting to make & release a dozen movies (most likely the best release method will be DVD for 2010 for these projects) w/ in one year.

2. Inspired by a recent discussion at Shadow & Act blog (see post below), I thought briefly about creating a blog that deals with rejection of race theory in world cinema. Meaning, writing about movies where the main characters or even some minor characters do not buy into or actively reject the idea that humanity breaks down into a handful of unique "races" (an idea developed & used for the European colonization of the world, also an idea that was used to justify slavery in the US, also an idea - in an older form - used to maintain the skin color based caste system in India, the race theory idea is primarily an intellectual tool of war & conquest, without any great value for a modern democracy & probably an idea that actively works against individual happiness & achievement in multi-"ethnic" democracies, also, in aggregate, national & global happiness & achievement). But, since a choice has to be made as to whether 2010 is going to be primarily a filmmaking year or a blogging year for me, I am going to go with filmmaking - but, will work in the rejection of race theory idea into the movies that I will make in 2010, & once each movie gets completed & released I can write/elaborate on how the race theory rejection idea plays a role in that movie - will write about it at this blog.

3. Date Number One and Indie Film Blogger Road Trip DVDs are made & ready for sale. Once I deal with some new year's celebrations/trips/family visits over the next couple of days & get a PO box, decide on a DVD storage & fulfillment option, perhaps on Mon I can post up the ordering info for the DVDs.

So, in the meantime, Happy New Year! Let's make 2010 awesome on all fronts.

- Sujewa

Talking about movie heroes & race theory at Shadow & Act

2009-12-30T22:45:00.000-08:00

After reading this post at Shadow & Act - about a movie where a "white" woman saves a group of "black" children, & reading some of the comments re: the post, I ended up writing the following 2 lengthy comments (the second one was a response to a comment that followed my first comment, see all the comments & the original article at Shadow & Act). Anyway, my 2 comments (including an additional note/comment) - some interesting ideas in these that I would like to elaborate on/develop later:

1

"On the other hand, people saving people from becoming sex slaves or getting killed or whatever is to be encouraged, regardless of what social group they – the hero – belong to – (but, yeah, i know, this is a site that believes in race theory & has to hold it up due to commercial interests tied to filmmaking & distribution – a commercial activity, so I should just shut up . Anyway, some films, off the top of my head, that feature non-”white” heros (not just shoot & kill people type heros, but other kinds too), including some “black” heros (i’ve grouped these two types of films featuring the two types of heros together because to hardcore racists on whatever camp theirs is the only race that matter/ the better one, everyone else is the “other”). Anyway, the list:
#1 – indigenes or that french wwii movie about african soldiers fighting for the allies
#2 – gandhi
let’s say 10 (#3 – 12) – i think pretty much any movie with danzel washington in the lead (must be a dozen or more)[glory, malcolm x, man on fire, etc.]
(let’s say 10 for that too (#13 – 22)- pretty much all movies with will smith in the lead
#23 – sweet sweetback…
#24 – miracle at st. anna(let’s say 10 for this one too – #25 – 34)- probably most movies made by spike lee
#36- badasss (mario van p’s pic about his dad making sweet sweetback)
#37 – 50,000 BC (is that the right title? recent emrich (sp?) film with cave dude facing down the saber tooth tiger on the poster, that dude & his whole tribe & allies lookd non-”white”)
#39 (this is television & there were probably like 250 episodes of this show over its 10 seasons, so we can count this as 1 or as maybe 200 different items) – Stargate SG1 – Teal’c was definitely non-”white” by earth social/political grouping standards, & probably one of the most famous & liked heros in sci-fi now (i’ll just consider the entire 10 seasons as 1 instance for this list’s sake, though counting each episode that tealc appears in would also work)
#40 – hotel rwanda
#41 – ghost dog (is ghost dog a hero? not sure, he is an assasin, a criminal, but with some heroic qualitites, i am going to count it in)
#42 – Bird (is charlie parker a hero? to some, yes)
#43 – envictus
#44 – G.I. Joe (in that story it is a team effort, but definitely with great contributions form the af-am character)
#45 – Limits of Control (again, with jarmusch movies, you never know, since the lone man seems to be killing some evil dude, let’s say he is a hero)[note: there are a whole host of films - thousands - made in Africa & India that feature non-"white" characters in heroic roles, but since i do not know the titles well, i'll leave them out of this list, also since the discussion is primarily re: hollywood/US movies, probably best to do that]
#46 – sidney poitiere (sp?) movies? (i have not seen any in a while, so not sure, probably – just in case the heroic qualities of his characters are not clearly established, we’ll count his movies as 1 item[another note: since hardly anyone around these days have seen these i guess we cannot count them: oscar micheaux movies. from what i read some do portray "black" people in a very positive light, also same with paul robesson (sp?) movies, but a releavant historical note]
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- so, off the top of my head, that’s somewhere around 46 to 100 (if you count stargate episodes that feature teal’c in a key role for the story) to quite possibly several thousand (if you count films from the African countries, perhaps some from Europe, and also India) that feature “black” & or non-”white” characters in heroic roles (in the role of a character who has a positive/useful to others impact on his world).
So, here’s a project/challenge for Shadow & Act & its readers: let’s create a comprehensive list – with links, etc. – of movies that feauture heroic “black” & other non-”white” characters.
(note: i think we also have to take into account Bruce Lee movies & asian martial arts movies, unless of course you want to religiously/deeply/unquestioningly hold on to the “black” identity, which was created as an intellectual tool of war/conquest. so, if you do count the thousands of martial arts movies featuring non-”white” characters in hero roles – including some Hollywood backed ones such as Crouching Tiger, & also ones featuring “black” martial arts heros – that one with Taimak – Dragon something? – comes to mind – anyway, if you count all those, there are literally thousands of movies that portray both “black” & other non-”white” heros (maybe even some of the blaxploitation movies could work for this purpose, also quite possibly the new Iron Man – Iron Man 2 w/ an Af-Am hero).
Anyway, on a side note – one of the appeals of heros is that they transcende (sp?) social divisions – the great heros of humanity have always appealed to people from many different social groups (in religious mythology jesus & buddha, & figures such as mandala & dr. king & gandhi in real life) – except if it was a so-called “hero” who worked only for one ethnic group – such as hitler, or if the pantheon of real heros is looked upon through racist eyes – meaning that the only heros that matter are the ones that look like me, are said to belong to my “race”, etc – as taught to me by oppressors who invented race theory to keep me down, etc. – that type of attitude (people who hold that view won’t be able to recognize heroism in many instances).
Alright, that’s a long enough comment Let’s make a more comprehensive list of non-”white” heros in movies! Could be useful for the future.
- Sujewa"

2

"To start off on the topic of Africans in India, in ancient & modern times, here is one article, about the Sidis:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2218/stories/20050909002609100.htm
A little bit from the article:
“When we think of African diasporas, we think of the Americas and the horrors of the slave trade, of African experiences of disruption and displacement. To most people it comes as a surprise that India should have been a slave-importing country as well. And yet, medieval Indian history abounds with references to Ethiopian or Abyssinian slaves serving at royal courts or in the armies of imperial/local rulers. But African presences in India testify not only to past systems of feudal power and warfare, but also to the subcontinent’s place in a larger Indian Ocean world. This world was ruled by maritime and trading connections extending to East Africa as much as to Arabia, the Persian Gulf and South-East Asia. African seamen, well known for their maritime skills, served not only on the ships of traders from India, the Swahili coast and Arabia, but also on those of Portuguese, British and other European colonial trading companies.”
That’s just one tiny fraction of connections between Africa & India. Most likely the majority of the ancestors of modern Indians/Pakistanis/Sri Lankans/Bangladeshis walked from Africa (back when the continents were closer) or sailed along the coasts from Africa, through Australia, & into the Indian sub continet from Sri Lanka & then going north – some to Europe & beyond. Also, if you study the ancient statues of gods (krishna, etc.) & epic heros (buddha statues, also those of the founder of jainism i forget his name – mahavira maybe) you will see that they had (back in the day, since mostly revised to look “aryan” – probably during the british raj era) physical features traditionally associated with people from Africa.
So, not sure about China, but in India/South Asia there is now & always have been talk of people from Africa & also ideas & institutions from Africa (religions, etc.) being a major influence on the culture, nations, people, etc. Just some stuff off the top of my head: similarities between Buddhism (which is accepted by many at this point as an Indian invention) and elements of Egyptian religions (certain orders of priets, emphasis on meditation, etc.), non-caucasian looking kings, kingdoms going back centuries in the Indian sub continet prior to either Iranian immigrants coming over to India proper (area that we now call India)/the aryan invasion theory (though many now believe that the so called aryans were just another tribe in india, & did not necessarily come from outside of the indian region). Anyway, if you look at the religious & cultural life in India, you see a reoccuring pattern of use of race theory to subjugate & control large numbers of non-”white” looking people by so called “aryans” (”white” looking people, to keep it short) – such as the development of a rigid skin color based caste system in hinduism & push back from counter-developments such as buddhism (which opposed the caste system) & much more recently individuals such as gandhi & increasing awareness & campaigning for equal rights for the so-called untouchables, etc.
Just as it is widely used world wide, race theory is used in the Indian subcontinent (most recently left over from British colonialism) to organize & control people (often not in the best interest of those being organized & controlled).
Also, African descent does not automatically mean that one believes in race theory & practices it (meaning, one defines oneself according to divisions among humans thought up by European colonialists probably less than 500 years ago, as far as we know the ancients such as the romans & the egyptians did not use a skin color based “race” system). From what I’ve read Malcolm X abandoned that position towards the end of his life – just to name one example.
Here is something to consider – in most modern European or Euro descended countries in the world right now individuality is accepted largely as a given for “white” people – being able to not conform to a limited set of cultural symbols, views, practices – allowing for all manner of experimentaion & invention (economic, creative, etc.) that comes back & further enriches those societies. But in most of the rest of the world, the focus is on conformity – on blending well into the group – wherether it be “Black” in the US, being a good Muslim or an Indian in India, etc. And when individuals are not free to use their minds to take themselves in whatever directions they want to go in & are instead forced to limit their thinking & action to live up to & conform to a narrow group identity, what does not happen is increased productivity, competetiveness & a great variety of intellectual, creative & other work output. Aside from Japan, countries that discourage breaking away from the norms are the less developed & poorer ones (granted, i am not 100% sure if not spending time conforming to race theory will improve the quality of life/state of things in some of these countries, but to me it looks like these countries & cultures have one hand tied behind their back when it comes to competing with cultures & nations that allow the individual greater freedom in thinking, modes of living, identity, etc.). I think there is a relationship between race theory (which considers “white” the norm & rest the “other”) & this present state of things…anyway, a big topic perhaps better suited for an examination of human social structures site, & not for a site attempting to create a community using African related cinema as the common point.
Reagardless, still a big fan of this site, often lots of very interesting posts to read.
And, to come back to the original point, movies that encourage humans to do heroic things probably should be celebrated even if the lead characters in those movies are not members of your favorite social group.That’s just my take on it, I understand that the goals of this site are different – not trans-human but pro-”Black”/African, etc. primarily. Thus I should have expressed my thoughts re: this subject elsewhere.
- Sujewa"

2.5

"One last item re: Africans in India, a photo essay, related to some of the stuff I mentioned above:
http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/india.html
From the doc:
“The questions we pose here are simply these: Who are the African people of India? What is their significance in the annals of history? Precisely what have they done and what are they doing now? These are extremely serious questions that warrant serious and fundamental answers. This series of articles, “The African Presence in India: An Historical Overview,” is designed to provide some of those answers.”

Chain & The Gang & Progress

2009-12-29T23:49:00.000-08:00

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Read about the band here.

A highlight of my 2009 was meeting Jim Jarmusch

2009-12-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

At one point I thought to myself, not sure what prompted this thought, but anyway, I thought that a world that has Jarmusch movies in it (meaning: a world that supports the making & distribution of such movies, a world that is interested in such movies to a survivable degree - where the artist can keep working) is not a bad world, or it is at least a world with potential for greater good/greatness.

Check out some still cam video I shot the day I met Jarmusch, in April of this year that's about to end - '09 - here (you'll have to scroll past 60 some blog headlines when you get to the page, sorry - gotta work for your posts baby :).

Also, something that must be said about Jarmusch movies (since a lot of people complain that they are about nothing) - they are like a Rorschach test - they create a contemplative & interactive stage for your mind (& the contents within - at least for some of it). I am not sure how Jarmusch does it (because I've seen other directors attempt something similar & not succeed as well), but, 1/2 of the secret to success with Jarmusch movies (as far as I can tell) is based on what the audience members bring with them/in their mind when they encounter the works. Here I am generally referring to the the fiction features; the early comedies - Stranger, Law, Train, Earth, & also the latest - Control, & not so much about the Crazy Horse doc or the shorts/C & C or Flowers (i may want to give flowers another chance later). Jarmusch movies are kind of Psychological Cinema - it is similar to a person talking to themselves within loose guidelines set by an expert (in this case the filmmaker). It's therapeutic really, at least for me, at times. Jarmusch movies are feel good movies but on a deeper level of the mind (for lack of another way of putting it), I think. Also Jarmusch movies can be called Spiritual Cinema or Ritualistic Cinema - where the main benefit is not what is contained on the screen or not the words that make up the chant or the actions that make up the ritual but the symbolic meaning of those items, how they work on the mind/soul.

One Way blog's list of 13 Most Important DIY Films of the Decade

2009-12-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

A lot of "best of decade" lists have been popping up lately, & a lot more will keep popping up for the next few weeks & months, but this one already has a nice nostalgic feel to it; 13 Most Important DIY Films of the Decade at One Way blog - check it out. DIY filmmakers - or filmmakers who got started in filmmaking through the ultra-indie/self-reliant/making & distributing movies like punk/indie rock - of the '00's are poised to fly high in the next decade - having learned a lot (through minor successes & great but rewarding failures) & having made some valuable connections/friendships in the last one.

In 2023 some media-making fascinated kid may look at the mid-2010's & will read about several interesting/unusual directors who became world famous & will read further & will find out that 5-10 years earlier they tried a weird, experimental (& now long forgotten by nearly all save for some aging film bloggers) filmmaking & distribution approach called DIY back in the '00's - & then that research may lead to this post at One Way blog (in the massive Google/Apple/Cyberdyne archives, no doubt :). Soon after the kid will be inspired to try to duplicate the DIY filmmaking movement - with the help of his friends, in his own time period (but using technology from the '00's?), which will result in a lot of sleepless nights & broke but busy days & hopefully many wonderful memories, which will then lead to some awesome creative & entrepreneurial breakthroughs (probably), starting the cycle of experimentation that leads to the discovery of suitable methods & to the building of filmmaking careers all over again; as it happened in the 1960's in Paris, in the 1980's in New York, & in the '00's in many cities & suburbs of America.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!!

2009-12-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Date Number One - 10 min. clip (Story 1 in its entirety)

2009-12-24T00:11:00.000-08:00

Start Over - Date Number One Story 1 from Sujewa Ekanayake on Vimeo.

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip - entire movie on Blip.TV

2009-12-22T23:55:00.000-08:00

Check out the only feature length documentary about indie film bloggers (or people who blog about indie film) to be made & publicly screened (at Anthology Film Archives no less) during this decade (2000 - 2009); INDIE FILM BLOGGER ROAD TRIP, at Blip.TV.

About the doc:

In the feature length documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip independent filmmaker & blogger Sujewa Ekanayake (Date Number One, DIY Filmmaker Sujewa blog) travels to several U.S. East Coast cities in the Summer of 2008 and discusses the thriving world of indie film journalism on the web, related Internet writings & other matters relevant to the indie film community with over a dozen bloggers who write about indie film and or media professionals who rely on indie film blogs to accomplish their daily work.

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip features: Anthony Kaufman (indieWIRE, Village Voice, Anthony Kaufman's blog), Brandon Harris (Cinema Echo Chamber, Hammer to Nail, Spout, Filmmaker Magazine), Stu VanAirsdale (The Reeler, Defamer), Melissa Silverstein (Women and Hollywood), Erica Ginsberg (Docs In Progress, Docs Interactive), Chuck Tryon (The Chutry Experiment, Newcritics, Fayetteville State University), Gabe Wardell (Atlanta Film Festival, Gabe's Declaration of Principles, ATL 365 blog), Paula Martinez (Atlanta Film Festival, Paula's After Thoughts), Tambay Obenson (The Obenson Report, Beautiful Things), Noralil Ryan Fores (ShortEnd Magazine), Armando Valle (Horror 101, Armando Valle blog), KJ Mohr (National Museum of Women in the Arts, My World Bank Lunches), and Brian Geldin (The Film Panel Notetaker). Film was produced, directed, videotaped, edited by Sujewa Ekanayake, and features music by Kevin MacLeod.

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip is a warm, multi-faceted, reflective introduction to - and a celebration of - a young, influential 21st century creative community.

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip had its World Premiere at Anthology Film Archives in New York City on February 17, 2009.

IFBRT Copyright 2008 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films.

See Indie Film Blogger Road Trip in its entirety at Blip.TV.

Prize for good governance in Africa

2009-12-22T11:02:00.001-08:00

Sounds like a great idea, check it out (thanks Shadow & Act blog for the link):

Happy New Year!!!

2009-12-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

Great song, OK video (ignore the 2009 at the end, imagine a 2010), enjoy & I hope you have an awesome 2010!

Run Away From Your Grave

2009-12-20T20:07:00.001-08:00

Between the Folds clip

2009-12-20T20:04:00.001-08:00

'05 Engadget article on turning your Mac mini into a media center

2009-12-19T23:52:00.000-08:00

My Mac mini is from '06, if I recall correctly, so, this article might still be useful to me (or anyone else who has an older mini). Check it out.

Italian immigrants photos & facts, La Guardia

2009-12-19T02:32:00.001-08:00

Italian farm family, 1910

Woke up around 5 AM & one of the first important thoughts I had this morning was that it would be cool to see a movie about the normal/majority/non-gangster immigrants from Italy to the US (since what most non-Italians in the US know about the early days of Italian immigration probably comes from The Godfather movies).

Some Googling led me to this page: Italian Immigrants in the USA (pic above is from that page).

Another page that gives some background about Italian immigration is this Digital History page. From the page:

"More Italians have migrated to the United States than any other Europeans. Poverty, overpopulation, and natural disaster all spurred Italian emigration."

A lot more at Digital History: Italian Immigration.

Then I stumbled upon the Wikipedia page for Fiorello H. La Guardia (up to that point all I knew was that there is a NYC airport named after him). It appears that La Guardia (1882 - 1947) led a very interesting & busy life, becoming, among other things, a major in the US Army Air Service during WW I, & mayor of New York City from 1934 - 1945.

An interesting passage from the La Guardia page on Wikipedia:

" "Being of Italian descent and growing up in a time when crime and criminals were prevalent in New York, La Guardia loathed the gangsters who brought a negative stereotype and shame to the Italian community. When he was elected to his first term in 1933, the first thing he did after being sworn in was to pick up the phone and order the chief of police to arrest mob boss Lucky Luciano on whatever charges could be found. La Guardia then went after the gangsters with a vengeance, stating in a radio address to the people of New York in his high-pitched, squeaky voice, "Let's drive the bums out of town." In 1934, La Guardia went on a search-and-destroy mission looking for mob boss Frank Costello's slot machines, which La Guardia executed with gusto, rounding up thousands of the "one armed bandits", swinging a sledgehammer and dumping them off a barge into the water for the newspapers and media. In 1936, La Guardia had special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey, a future Republican presidential candidate, single out Lucky Luciano for prosecution. Dewey led a successful investigation into Luciano's lucrative prostitution operation, eventually sending Luciano to jail with a 30-50 year sentence. The case was made into the 1937 movie 'Marked Woman', starring Bette Davis.

La Guardia was hardly an orthodox Republican. He also ran as the nominee of the American Labor Party, a union-dominated anti-Tammany grouping that supported Franklin D. Roosevelt for President beginning in 1936. La Guardia supported Roosevelt, chairing the Independent Committee for Roosevelt and Wallace with United States Senator George Norris during the 1940 presidential election.

La Guardia was the city's first Italian-American mayor, but was not a typical Italian New Yorker. He was a Republican Episcopalian who had grown up in Arizona, and had an Istrian Jewish mother and a Roman Catholic-turned-atheist Italian father. He reportedly spoke seven languages, including Hebrew, Croatian, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Yiddish.

La Guardia's fans credit him for, among other things, restoring the economic lifeblood of New York City during and after the Great Depression..."

Read the rest of the La Guardia page at Wikipedia.

And finally, here's some footage of La Guardia, from 1933 NYC mayor's race, from YouTube:

NYT article on Etsy

2009-12-18T10:01:00.001-08:00

There might be some interesting & useful ideas for filmmakers (of the indie/D.I.Y. variety) in this NYT article. From the article:

"But even the successes add a note of “seller beware.” To build a profitable business on the site, they say — well, it’s a business. You need to build a brand identity, which often means courting design blogs or the news media. You need to manage distribution, which might mean standing in post office lines with a baby on your hip and a garbage bag filled with 30 self-packed boxes to ship. And as with any start-up, you need to maintain the morale of the labor force, which can be particularly challenging when you are the labor force, and the workday runs from “Good Morning America” to “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” "

Read the rest of the article here.

Getting ready for 2010

2009-12-17T21:50:00.001-08:00

That's what I am up to in Brooklyn these days; getting ready for 2010 - a new year & the start of a new decade. Should be very exciting.

Part of the prep for 2010 & beyond involves getting things organized, simplified, etc. - so that things that need to get done can get done efficiently. Thus, we have this new blog (and I hope this will be the final general purpose blog that I start anytime soon - I've got 30 other blogs - check the links on right - most rarely used - but each one was useful to me at one point or another). Going forward, this blog will lead when it comes to my on-line presence, followed by project blogs/sites, & then social networking sites, etc.

Coming soon: lots of news from film projects of mine, links to interesting things, random thoughts & opinion, & hopefully some entertaining stuff too.

- Sujewa