This week at SFC - Little Voice

STUDIOFILMCLUB
BUILDING 7 (front stairs)
FERNANDES INDUSTRIAL CENTRE
EASTERN MAIN ROAD
LAVENTILLE
PORT OF SPAIN


The Studiofilmclub is now screening its films in the front foyer space of building 7.
Food and drink are available courtesy CAFÉ 7.
Our screenings are FREE and all are welcome.

doors open 7:30 - film starts 8:15 pm.

You are welcome to STAY LATE for our weekly post filmclub lime... Food, Drinks and Music.

"Little Voice" directed by Mark Herman / 1998 / 93mins /UK

Starring: Michael Caine, Ewan McGregor, and an Academy Award nominated performance by Breada Blethyn.

In an English seaside town, one of its timid inhabitants, known as LV (little voice), mourns over her dead father and obsesses over his record collection by singing along to his favorite performers. her rare talents for emulating the dulcet tones of Judy Garland, Marilyn Munroe and Shirley Bassey are soon discovered by her dominant mother's boyfriend, a small-time showbiz agent. Their attempts to propel her to stardom are at first successful when the local town gets to see her perform.
However, LV is soon wise to their selfish intentions and withdraws from performing again, thus forcing an emotional showdown between the three.

This week at SFC - Lost in La Mancha

The Studiofilmclub is now screening its films in the front foyer space of building 7.
Food and drink are available courtesy CAFÉ 7.
Our screenings are FREE and all are welcome. doors open 7:30 - film starts 8:15 pm.


You are welcome to STAY LATE for our weekly post Film Club lime... Food, Drinks and Music.
"Lost in la mancha"
Filmmakers Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe initially set out to chronicle the making of Director Terry Gilliams, "the man who killed Don Quixote" that was to star Jean Rochefort,
Johnny depp, and Vanessa Paradis. Instead they captured the floods, bombings, and various "acts of god" that shut the movie down. The result is "Lost in La Mancha", a documentary about a courageous but capsizing production.
By presenting Gilliam's story, Fulton and Pepe also illustrate the joy and pain that all filmmakers experience to some degree. We often witness Gilliam's frustration, but we also see his delight when his vision briefly comes to life.

Nominated for Best Film at the British Independent Film Awards and Best Documentary at the European Film Awards.


"Lost in La Mancha" / 2003/ Keith Fulton & Luis Pepe / 93 mins / UK


"Making a film is essentially about two things: belief and momentum" -- Terry Gilliam Lost In La Mancha may be the first "un-making of" documentary. In a genre that exists to hype films before their release, Lost In La Mancha presents an unexpected twist: it is the story of a film that does not exist. Instead of a sanitised glimpse behind the scenes, Lost In La Mancha offers a unique, in-depth look at the harsher realities
of filmmaking. With drama that ranges from personal conflicts to epic storms, this is a record of a film disintegrating. In September 2000, when the cameras began rolling on Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Don Quixote, the production already had a chequered past including ten years of development, a series of producers and two previous attempts to start the film. Gilliam had achieved the difficult task of financing the
$32 million budget entirely within Europe -- a feat that would provide him with freedom from the creative restrictions of Hollywood. The uphill journey was not, however, inconsistent with Gilliam's career: his more than fifteen year history of battling the Hollywood machine had cast him, like Quixote, as a visionary dreamer who rages against gigantic forces. Joining the Madrid based production team eight weeks before the shoot, Lost In La Mancha directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe witness the successes as well as the failures. Problems are quick to emerge: the multilingual crew struggles to communicate detailed ideas; actors remain absent as they run over schedule on other projects; and everything from untrained horses to a sound stage -- that isn't sound-proof -- threatens the film. But through it all, there is the palpable, mounting excitement that Gilliam's ideas will finally come to fruition: the crew watch test footage of marauding giants; puppeteers rehearse a troop of life-size marionettes; Gilliam and Johnny Depp brainstorm over the script. By the time Jean Rochefort straps on his Quixote armour, success, though far off, seems almost possible. Not long into production disaster strikes: flash floods destroy sets and damage camera equipment; the lead actor falls seriously ill; and on the sixth day production is brought to its knees. Uniquely, after Quixote's cameras have
stopped rolling, the documentary continues to record events as they unfold: the crew waits, insurance men and bondsmen scramble with calculators and interpretations of "force majeure" and behind it Gilliam struggles to maintain both belief and momentum in his project. In the best tradition of documentary filmmaking, Lost In La Mancha captures all the drama of this story through "fly-on-the-wall" vérité footage and
on-the-spot interviews. Gilliam's plans for the non-existent film come alive in animations of his storyboards, narrated and voiced by co-writer Tony Grisoni and Gilliam himself. And with the camera tests of the leading actors and the rushes from the only six days of photography, Lost In La Mancha offers a tantalizing glimpse of the cinematic spectacle that might have been. Lost In La Mancha is less a process piece about filmmakers at work and more a powerful drama about the inherent fragility of the creative process -- a compelling study of how, even with an abundance of the best will and passion, the artistic endeavor can remain an impossible dream.

This week at SFC - Paris Je T'aime

BUILDING 7 (back stairs)
FERNANDES INDUSTRIAL CENTRE
EASTERN MAIN ROAD
LAVENTILLE
PORT OF SPAIN
http://studiofilmclub.blogspot.com/

Our screenings are FREE and all are welcome.

doors open 7:30 - film starts 8:15

Paris Je T'aime is a collection of short films set in paris and directed by such celebrated directors as the Coen brothers, Gus Van Sant, Gurinder Chadha, Wes craven, Walter Salles, Alexander Payne and Olivier Assayas. Each of the 18 short film shows Paris in a different light, but all the vignettes aim to celebrate the most famous and cosmopolitan city in France.

Also this Thursday
Time: 6-7pm at the Studio Film Club foyer.

UWI student Michelle Isava will be presenting and recording a performance art piece for her art and design final year project entitled "the machine" - A play about the relationship between human and machine.
The play consists of 6 scenes with three major themes:
Becoming the machine
Reacting to the machine
Fatalism.
Technology and mass media plays the major role of "the machine", and forms the underlying structure of the play.


Paris je t'aime / 2006 / Multiple directors / 120 mins / France / Liechtenstein / Switzerland

Paris, the city of love. Twenty filmmakers will bring their own personal touch, underlining the wide variety of styles, genres, encounters and the various atmospheres and lifestyles that prevail in the neighborhoods of paris.

The movies are as diverse as the filmmakers themselves, who hail from around the world. Each director tells the story of an unusual encounter in one of the city's neighborhoods, portraying aspects of the city rarely seen in feature films. Family, race, religion, crime, love, death, even angels and vampires -- all can be found in this ultimately intertwining narrative.

Racial tensions stand next to paranoid visions of the city seen from the perspective of an American tourist. A young foreign worker moves from her own domestic situation into her employer's bourgeois environs. An American starlet finds escape as she is shooting a movie. A man is torn between his wife and his lover. A young man working in a print shop sees and desires another young man. A father grapples with his complex relationship with his daughter. A couple tries to add spice to their sex life.

The all-star ensemble cast includes international stars such as Natalie Portman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Fanny Ardant, Elijah Wood, Nick Nolte, Bob Hoskins, Juliette Binoche, Emily Mortimer, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Rufus Sewell, Barbet Schroeder, Ludivine Sagnier, Gena Rowlands, Miranda Richardson and Steve Buscemi.


The stronger entries include Gurinder Chadha's Quais De Seine, which follows a young white Parisian boy's crush on a beautiful Muslim girl; the Coens' Tuileries, starring Buscemi as a Yankee tourist who makes eye contact with the wrong people at the Metro Station; Place Des Victoires (directed by Nobuhiro Suwa), about an inconsolable mother (Juliette Binoche) who has an encounter with the ghost of her young son who died the week before; and Sylvain Chomet's Tour Eiffel, which follows two mimes who fall in love.

There's also Pigalle, written and directed by Richard LaGravenese, about two old lovers (Bob Hoskins and Fanny Ardant) looking to spice things up; Wes Craven's P¿re-Lachaise, featuring Emily Mortimer, Rufus Sewell and the ghost of Oscar Wilde; Faubourg Saint-Denis, directed by Tom Tykwer, about an American actress (Natalie Portman) and her blind French boyfriend; Frederic Auburtin & Gerard Depardieu's Quartier Latin, starring Gena Rowlands (who also scripted) and Ben Gazzara as two aging spouses saying good-bye before their divorce is finalized; and Alexander Payne's, Arrondissement, about an overweight, middle-aged American woman (Margo Martindale) who comes to terms with loneliness while on vacation.

Vincenzo Natali's Quartier De La Madeleine is the biggest oddity; it features Elijah Wood as a young man who has a strange but sensual encounter with a female vampire (Olga Kurylenko). Olivier Assayas' Quartier Des Enfants Rouges -- arguably the worst entry -- is a pointless vignette about a partying American actress (Maggie Gyllenhaal) looking to score drugs from the pusher who pines after her. The most surprisingly weak entry is Alfonso Cuaron's Parc Monceau, shot in one long take and starring Nick Nolte as a father taking a walk with his grown-up daughter.

Paris Je T'aime is a poignant and ultimately rewarding experience. It offers something for everyone, and provides an insightful, multi-cultural look at the City of Lights.

You are welcome to stay late for our weekly post filmclub lime... Food, Drinks and Music.

This week at SFC - Wristcutters: A Love Story

BUILDING 7 (front stairs)
FERNANDES INDUSTRIAL CENTRE
EASTERN MAIN ROAD
LAVENTILLE
PORT OF SPAIN


Our screenings are FREE and all are welcome.
Thursday April 10th

doors open 7:30 - film starts 8:15

You are welcome to STAY LATE for our weekly post Film Club lime... Food, Drinks and Music.

THIS WEEK SFC PRESENTS WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY ......... THE SUNDANCE, GRAND JURY AWARD NOMINATED FILM
BASED ON A SHORT STORY BY ETGAR KERET ENTITLED "KNELLER'S HAPPY CAMPERS".

Wristcutters: A Love Story / Goran Dukic / USA / 2007

If a film begins with a suicide, chances are, it won't be the feel-good movie of the year. But WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY is surprisingly sweet and funny even as it proudly features a dark streak that lives up to its title. After a rough breakup, Zia (Patrick Fugit) decides to off himself by slashing open his wrists. Instead of waking up in heaven or hell, Zia arrives in a bland world that looks a lot like the one he just left, though with far less color, life, and--obviously--happiness. In this afterlife reserved for suicides,no one can smile, and the sky is a starless void. But when Zia hears that his ex-girlfriend (Leslie Bibb) has killed herself and lives
in his world, he sets out on a road trip to find her. Joined by Russian musician Eugene (Shea Whigham) and pretty hitchhiker Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), Zia crosses the desolate landscape and encounters a variety of strange characters. With the help of
Mikal, Zia realizes that maybe his ex-girlfriend isn't really what he's looking for.
Most films don't stray from prescribed genres or simple plots, but this dark comedy from director Goran Dukic is audacious in its originality. Dukic adapted Etgar Keret's short story "Kneller's Happy Campers" into a film that succeeds on every level. His cast, particularly Fugit and a brilliant Tom Waits in a supporting role, is worthy of the excellent material and blackly comic dialogue. Though it could be described as a romantic comedy, this film is far closer to ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND than SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE.
WRISTCUTTERS's soundtrack is also something to sing about with several infectious tracks from Gogol Bordello and a pitch-perfect score from Bobby Johnston.

This week at SFC:Dancing Deities & In the Mirror of Maya Deren

STUDIOFILMCLUB
BUILDING 7 (back stairs)
FERNANDES INDUSTRIAL CENTRE
EASTERN MAIN ROAD
LAVENTILLE
PORT OF SPAIN


Our screenings are FREE and all are welcome.

Thursday April 3rd

doors open 7:30 - short film starts 8:15

You are welcome to STAY LATE for our weekly post filmclub session... music by this weeks guest: songwriter/producer/artist Alonestar LIVE!


Dancing Deities (Emilie Upczak/USA&TT/2007/23')

Dancing Deities is a documentary short that attempts to depict the practices of the Claxton Bay Orisha community in Trinidad. The film is primarily non-narrative in that it uses imagery to convey the rich musical, rhythmic and mythological aspects of this blend of African and Caribbean culture. Two local
practitioners, do however, give their perspective on Orisha worship as well as descriptions of a few deities in order to provide the viewer with some background information. But really, the film is a collage of images that portrays modern Orisha ritual practice whilst providing viewers with a positive
depiction of this often misunderstood tradition. Dancing Deities is invaluable as one of the few existing present day visual resources on modern Orisha practice in Trinidad.


In the Mirror of Maya Deren (Martina Kudlacek/Austria/2003/110')

Wide ranging, authoritative and often beautiful documentary about the avant garde movie-maker who virtually created the US independent film scene. From her immigrant roots (b. Kiev 1917) to her death aged 44 from a cerebral haemorrhage, Deren was a tireless experimenter in both content and context, a spiritual parent to Jonas Mekas' archive and exhibition activities. According to Stan Brakhage, one of many film-making contributors , her poetic films were 'rituals in moving vision', just part of a portfolio that included pioneering research into Haitian voodoo. For Deren, as demonstrated here, art and life were intense and inseparable.