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MESSAGE FROM GFI: JOIN OUR GLOBAL COMMUNITY
GFI keeps growing! Global Lens can now be seen coast to coast in 40 cities, from Tampa, FL to Anchorage, AK. Our Education program is expanding to the Internet with a new student friendly, Web-based accompaniment to our films (Bluescreen), and this Fall, we're once again inviting universities and colleges across the nation to host Global Lens during International Education Week. All of these innovations and expansions make us more accessible than ever before. So read on, see what's new and learn how you can join the GFI community!
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EDUCATION: INTRODUCING BLUESCREEN!
We've launched a new online supplement to our Education program!
Bluescreen is a web-based education resource designed to enhance the viewing of Global Lens films. The site features film-clips, cultural trivia and free discussion guides, all of which can be used as in-classroom teaching tools or independent study aids before, during and after you see a film (coming soon: lesson plans!)
The site also features The Blackboard, a dynamic arts & culture blog showcasing everything from viral videos and offbeat cultural phenomena to Global Lens film reviews by student writers (currently featured is Thientam Nguyen, winner of GFI's 2006 Creative Writing Competition and soon-to-be student at Vancouver Film School).
(l–r: The Fish Fall In Love, The Bet Collector, Let the Wind Blow, The Kite)
See a film! Global Lens 2008 educational films (playing in various locations around the U.S.; check the calendar for details), can be previewed now on Bluescreen. Additionally, visit the blog — everyone's encouraged to read and add comments! Or, just surf the pages until you find something you like!
Questions? Ask us all about Bluescreen here!
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NEWS: TEN FILMMAKERS AWARDED PRODUCTION GRANTS
GFI recently awarded grants to ten filmmakers — from a group of 52 applications from 28 different countries — during our Spring 2008 granting-cycle!
Spring 2008 grant recipients:
ADDICTED TO LOVE, Liu Hao (China) Despite social conventions and disapproving families, two elderly friends struggle with Alzheimer's and a growing attraction for one another.
 BLIND PIG WHO WANTS TO FLY, Edwin (Indonesia) The dreams and ambitions of nine Jakarta residents intertwine and unravel amidst ethnic, racial and social tensions of urban Indonesia.
THE FIFTH STRING, Selma Bargach (Morocco) A lute player considers pursuing a career as a traditional Andalusian musician despite his family's desire that he attend university.
INDEPENDENCE, Raya Martin (Philippines) As American forces begin the occupation of the Philippines, a mother and son leave their village for the mountains to live in quiet resistance to the colonization.
K & ALI, Pelin Esmer (Turkey) A friendship between an aging collector and his doorman leads to an unusual exploration of class and privilege in modern Istanbul.
 THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY NET POTATO, Vipin Vijay (India) An epic tale of spirituality and self-discovery is revealed through the eyes of an Internet hacker and his black magician grandfather.
 NATIVE DANCER, Guka Omarova (Kazakhstan) A mystic healer, displaced from her home by land developers, is enlisted to aid in the search for a missing boy.
 OCTOBER, Daniel Vega Vidal and Diego Vega Vidal (Peru) Two friends reevaluate their personal and emotional attachments after becoming unwitting caretakers to an abandoned baby.
 QUELEH, Abdi Ismail Jama (Somalia) After his father is abducted during a civil conflict in 1980s Somalia, a young boy comes-of-age and learns to care for his family.
 THIEF, Jacques Trabi (Ivory Coast) A man unexpectedly joins a gang of thieves to provide his wife and college-bound children with a more prosperous life.
This Spring's awards mark the 69th film and filmmaker supported by the Initiative since its founding. In addition, the awards also reflect our presence in five new nations: Kazakhstan, Cote d'Ivoire, Somalia, the Philippines and Morocco.
Read the full press release about the Spring 2008 grant recipients here.
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GRANTING: NEW DEADLINES FOR APPLICATION
GFI has changed its granting cycles to Winter and Summer. The new dates and deadlines for upcoming cycles are as follows:
Winter Cycle
Submission: October 15th, 2008 — January 15th, 2009
Deadline: January 15th, 2009
Decision: early-March, 2009
Summer Cycle
Submission: April 1st, 2009 — June 30th, 2009
Deadline: June 30th, 2009
Decision: early-September, 2009
Please note that the Initiative will not be accepting granting applications before October 15th, 2008. For granting applications and guidelines, or more information about the Initiative's Granting Program, click here.
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PARTNERS: FILM SCREENINGS LAUNCH ASIA SOCIETY-GFI PARTNERSHIP!
The Asia Society and GFI kicked off their partnership this summer with a dynamic presentation of OF LOVE AND EGGS (dir. Garin Nugroho, Indonesia, Global Lens 2007). The screening was presented at the Asia Society's New York headquarters as part of its "Creative Voices of Islam" program, and is the first of many planned film events in the GFI-Asia Society partnership.
The Asia Society and GFI are also working together to take Global Lens abroad! The first international screening was held in partnership with the Asia Society's Manila center and took place at the University of the Philippines Film Institute in Manila, September 10th-12th.
Upcoming screenings:
Los Angeles:
THE FISH FALL IN LOVE (dir. Ali Raffi/Iran) — October 7th
LUXURY CAR (dir. Wang Chao/China) — November 6th or 13th (TBD)
OF LOVE AND EGGS (dir. Garin Nugroho/Indonesia) — December 1st
STOLEN LIFE (dir. Li Shaohong/China) — January 7th
New York:
DAM STREET (dir. Li Yu/China) — November 21st
THE FISH FALL IN LOVE (dir. Ali Raffi/Iran) — December 2nd
For more information on Asia Society-GFI film screenings, contact the Asia Society.
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FESTIVALS: GFI @ FESTIVAL DO RIO 2008!
Board Chair, Susan Weeks Coulter will be attending the Festival do Rio 2008, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 27th to October 3rd as an invited guest of the Festival! She will be meeting with Festival attendees to discuss U.S. distribution and funding opportunities available through GFI, and will also have the opportunity to meet with Global Lens filmmakers. Stay tuned for our Rio festival report later this year!
EDUCATION: INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK — HOST OR SEE A FILM!
Global Lens 2008 films are screening at college and university campuses across the country during International Education Week (IEW) this November! This is the second year GFI is partnering with campuses to host screenings during IEW, so check our calendar in October for dates and locations, and read what previous partners have to say about GFI–IEW film screenings:
"Global Lens screenings last year were a perfect fit for our language departments, and the films really resonated with students and led to great conversations in the classroom later. We're definitely screening Global Lens films again this year!" — Jessica Dories, International Student Advisor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Interested in participating in IEW this year? Hosting films on your campus during IEW or other educational events is easy! Just click here for more information.
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EDUCATION: EDUCATION FILM SCREENINGS IN 13 STATES THIS FALL!
From Palm Springs, CA to Schenectady, NY and everywhere in between, GFI education film screenings are taking place in 13 different states this Fall. Screenings are sponsored by venues hosting the Global Lens 2008 film series, and are free for students, so contact one of the venues below for dates, times and how to sign up!
• Aberdeen, SD: Aberdeen Community Theatre (Capitol Cinema); Fall (month TBD), Contact: capitolcinema@nvc.net, (605) 226-5494
• Brookline, MA: Coolidge Corner Theatre; October 13th & November 3rd; Contact: Joseph Zina, jzina@coolidge.org
• Danbury, CT: Connecticut Film Festival; Fall (month TBD); Contact: Thomas Carruthers, ctfilmfest@yahoo.com
• Honolulu, HI: Honolulu Academy of Arts; October 20th, 21st & Dec 1st, 2nd; Contact: Kita McCord, kmccord@honoluluacademy.org
• Jackson, MS: Crossroads Film Society; Fall (month TBD); Contact: Nanette Beaumont, nbeaumont107@yahoo.com • Memphis, TN: Indie Memphis; October (exact dates TBD); Contact: Erik Jambor, erik@indiememphis.com • Paducah, KY: Paducah Film Society; Fall (months TBD); Contact: John Holt, jholt@maidenalleycinema.com • Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs Art Museum; October (exact dates TBD); Contact: Robert Brasier, rbrasier@PSMUSEUM.org
• Portland, OR: Northwest Film Center; Fall (month TBD); Contact: Ted Hurliman, ted@nwfilm.org
• Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake Film Society; September (exact dates TBD); Contact: Chris Lippard, c.lippard@m.cc.utah.edu
• Schenectady, NY: Proctor's Theatre; September 16th, October 21st, & November 18th; Contact: (518) 382-3884 x139. • St. Louis, MO: Cinema St. Louis; November (exact dates TBD); Contact: Brian Spath, brian@cinemastlouis.org, (314) 289-4153
For an up-to-date calendar of educational film screenings, click here. If you are interested in becoming an educational screening partner, please contact: education@globalfilm.org.
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PERSPECTIVES: THIENTAM NGUYEN
"GFI has broadened my exposure to foreign films and the cultures portrayed in them. With each new film, I seem to gain a new perspective in both the art of cinema and the lives of others around the globe; knowledge that I hope to use once I start studying at Vancouver Film School."
- Thientam Nguyen, 1st place winner of the Global Lens 2006 Writing Competition and GFI intern
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NOW PLAYING: GLOBAL LENS 2008
Global Lens 2008 is everywhere! Here's where the series is currently playing:
• Aberdeen, SD: Aberdeen Community Theater (September-October)
• Anchorage, AK: Out North Theater (August-December)
• Atlanta, GA: Cinefest (November 14th-29th)
• Boston, MA: Coolidge Corner Theater(April-December)
• Brunswick, ME: Frontier Cinema (July-December)
• Columbia, SC: Columbia Film Society (July-November)
• Danbury, CT : Connecticut Film Festival (September-December)
• Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (October 12th-November 9th)
• Green Bay, WI: Green Bay Film Society (May-October)
• Paducah, KY : Paducah Film Society (August-December)
• Palm Springs, CA : Palm Springs Art Museum (June 26th-December 31st)
• Salt Lake City, UT : Salt Lake Film Society (September 5th-24th)
• St. Louis, MO: Cinema St. Louis (November 8th-19th)
• Tampa, FL: The Gasparilla Film Festival (May-October)
• Memphis, TN : Indie Memphis (October 10th-16th)
Special Screenings:
San Francisco, CA: Expanding on our partnership with a neighboring organization, the San Francisco Film Society will screen Opera Jawa September 19th-25th at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. This marks the first screening in an ongoing partnership that brings the Global Lens Series home to San Francisco.
Montreal, QB, Canada: On October 11th, Cinémathèque Québécoise will screen Luxury Car as part of a program featuring writers who also work as filmmakers.
Washington, D.C.: The Middle East Studies Association is hosting a screening of The Fish Fall In Love at their annual conference held November 22nd-25th.
Check our calendar for fall scheduling details and updates on where the series is screening this Fall and Winter.
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NEWS: GFI MAKING HEADLINES
Read, watch and listen to what people are saying about GFI!
SF360.org examined the granting efforts of GFI and considered the organization's global reach.
movieScope Magazine published an in-depth look at GFI. Read the article here.
Minnesota NPR interviewed Director of Programs Santhosh Daniel.
Studio 10, a television program in St. Petersburg, Florida, interviewed Gasparilla Film Festival Executive Director John Rosser about screening the Global Lens 2008 series.
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FILMS & FILMMAKERS IN THE NEWS: I AM FROM TITOV VELES, THE CUSTODIAN, ANOTHER MAN'S GARDEN AND GFI GRANT-RECIPIENTS
• I Am From Titov Veles, by Macedonian director Teona Mitevska, was an official selection of the Pavillon les Cinémas du Sud at the 2008 Festival de Cannes (France). GFI grant awarded 2005, featured in Global Lens 2009.
• The Custodian, by Argentine director Rodrigo Moreno, won the Best Actor Award at Festivalissimo: Festival de Films Ibéro-Latinoaméricains de Montréal (Montreal, QC, Canada). Featured in Global Lens 2008.
• Another Man's Garden, by Mozambican director João Luis Sol de Carvalho, was an official selection at the 2008 Durban International Film Festival (South Africa). GFI grant awarded 2004, featured in Global Lens 2007.
• Little Heart, by Vietnamese director Nguyen Thanh Van, was screened at fifteen U.S. college campuses in partnership with the Institute for Vietnamese Culture & Education (IVCE). GFI grant awarded 2007.
• Ramchand Pakistani, by Pakistani director Mehreen Jabbar, was selected for the World Narrative Feature competition at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival (USA). GFI grant awarded 2007.
• Acne, by Uruguayan director Federico Veiroj, was selected for the Un Certain Regard competition at the 2008 Festival de Cannes (France). GFI grant awarded 2006.
• My Marlon and Brando, by Turkish director Hüseyin Karabey, won the Best New Narrative Filmmaker award at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival (USA). GFI grant awarded 2006.
• Pandora's Box, by Turkish director Yesim Ustaoglu, was supported with a Hubert Bal's Fund for post-production in the Spring 2008 Selection Round. GFI grant awarded 2005.
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RECENT REVIEWS:
GLOBAL LENS 2008 AND THE GLOBAL LENS COLLECTION
Global Lens 2008
Paying the price in All for Free
Creative Loafing — July 9, 2008
"At its unpretentious, tragicomic best, All for Free conjures up the nihilistic slapstick of the Golden Age of Eastern European cinema, those dark, droll and endlessly imaginative films that emerged around the time of France's New Wave, mixing high anxiety and low comedy."
Click here for entire article.
The Bet Collector scores big
Creative Loafing — June 4, 2008
"If Arthur Miller had been Filipino, and maybe a woman, Death of a Salesman might have looked something like this."
Click here for entire article.
Global Lens 2008: Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow)
Getafilm — May 22, 2008
"...in the days since seeing it I've found that its characters have stayed with me, and I feel one step closer to understanding India's dynamic recent history - and that's what the Global Film Initiative is all about."
Click here for entire article.
Bunny Chow
The Stranger — March 21, 2008
"...this stylish black-and-white feature from South Africa... it's fast-moving and entertaining, with a buoyant soundtrack."
Click here for entire article.
Plus... Jonathan Rosenbaum defends OPERA JAWA against a critical review by Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times:
The New York Times returns to its philistine roots
Chicago Reader — January 16, 2008
"...then I read the ugly, xenophobic, tossed-off review of Opera Jawa by Jeannette Catsoulis in today's paper, and I realize that in some ways we might as well be back in the 60s, when a barbarian like Bosley Crowther was smugly ruling the roost."
Click
here for entire article.
Global Lens Collection
DVD Review: Sacred Family
San Francisco Chronicle — August 31, 2008
"Sacred Family builds naturally and convincingly without feeling the need to metaphorically shout out every time the plot is about to turn."
Click here for entire article.
Fine Dead Girls DVD Review
two.one.five Magazine — May 30, 2008
"At first, the story strolls along, quiet and restrained as Mataniç examines the residents' strange comings and goings, but soon enough, it propels to a manic pace, with a rise in body count and viewers' heart rates."
Click here for entire article.
Fine Dead Girls
Shared Darkness — May 1, 2008
"Fine Dead Girls is a stunning, fascinating work — deserving of all the accolades it's rung up, and also a much wider audience." Click here for entire article.
Dam Street
DVD Talk — April 22, 2008
"Dam Street is a quiet drama full of pain and sadness and the occasional quiet joy. Its greatest strength is its brutally raw realism." Click here for entire article.
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GLOBAL LENS ON DVD:
ENOUGH! & SACRED FAMILY
Two Global Lens films are newly available for purchase on DVD:
Enough!
Director: Djamila Sahraoui
Algeria/France
Set in war-torn Algeria in the 1990s, Enough! follows two women on the dangerous search for the younger woman's husband, a journalist whose writings resulted in his disappearance. Their journey leads them across the picturesque landscapes of Algeria, to a deeper understanding of how their lives were shaped by their country's history.
The Sacred Family
Director: Sebastián Campos
Chile
Using improvised dialogue and hand-held camera-work, The Sacred Family captures the disintegration of one family's polite appearances at the hands of a sensual and brash outsider. When two additional family friends arrive, along with a mysterious young woman committed to a vow of silence, a weekend at the beach turns into a vacation that will change all their lives.
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ABOUT THE GLOBAL FILM INITIATIVE:
The Global Film Initiative is a U.S.–based, 501(c)3 organization specializing in the acquisition, distribution and support of independent film from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Founded in 2002 with the mission of promoting cross–cultural understanding through cinema, each year the Initiative awards numerous grants to deserving filmmakers from around the world, and supports a touring film series entitled Global Lens. For more information about the Global Lens film series and Global Film Initiative programs, please visit our website or contact us at gfi–info@globalfilm.org.
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