By The Global Film Initiative, on January 28th, 2013%
SF Film Society announces its newest Artist in Residence and it happens to be one of our filmmakers. How LOVELY…
After what seems to be the longest drum-roll ever, we’re pleased to announce that Indian director (and GFI grantee) Ashim Ahluwalia will be visiting the Bay Area next month as part of the San Francisco Film Society’s Artist in Residence program, February 23rd-March 9th!
The residency will feature the Bay Area premiere of MISS LOVELY-Ashim’s second feature, post Cannes, currently in Rotterdam, big stuff—on Thursday, January 28th (co-presented by GFI-tickets here), and a post-screening discussion moderated by Ivan Jaigirdar (of 3rdi). Also included in the residency will be visits to schools and universities, and in-classroom screenings of Ashim’s first film, JOHN & JANE (students only).
Continue reading NEWS: Ashim Ahluwalia @ San Francisco Film Society, February 23rd-March 9th
By Santhosh Daniel, on December 27th, 2012%
Global Lens 2013: Change the Way You See the World
Our tenth anniversary opens with China’s Sixth Generation, Sebastián Silva, the biggest film you’ve ever seen from Brazil (literally), and a host of Global Lens alumnus.…
It’s our tenth year and we’re kicking off Global Lens 2013, January 10th-26th, with ten films at the Museum of Modern Art! It’s going to be some celebration…
BEIJING FLICKERS will open the series on January 10th with a week-run at MoMA and director Zhang Yuan and actor Li Xinjun in attendance, to launch the festivities (a must see: Zhang is the acclaimed director of Beijing Bastards, and part of the gritty Sixth Generation ethos—who in the ‘90s, pushed Chinese filmmaking out of an overly-romanticized lens into the alter-reality of its edgy, urban psyche).
Also in New York for the GL13 opening: Suman Ghosh for the North American premiere of SHYAMAL UNCLE TURNS OFF THE LIGHTS, on January 11th. This film is something to indeed be experienced with the director, as he runs his fingers through the tangled hair of Kolkata’s bureaucracy; an inspired and insightful work that carries a subtle charm, similar to another Global Lens standout.
Continue reading NEWS: Global Lens 2013 @ MoMA!
By Santhosh Daniel, on December 26th, 2012%
The Inauguration: MARGARETTE'S FEAST, the first film acquired for Global Lens
After years of ‘pushing the envelope’ and ‘changing the game’ with Global Lens, we went back to the basics for our tenth year…
Global Lens 2013 is just around the corner, and if you haven’t noticed [with all the fanfare], it’s the tenth anniversary of our most beloved series. A ‘decade of film’—from silent to sign language, notes of opera and narrative “firsts.” Baghdad. Mina Gerais. The Caspian Sea…
It’s an accomplishment. Over the years, almost 100 filmmakers, from backgrounds as varied and diverse as the history of cinema, trusted us to take their vision to screen via Global Lens. That we did, with the help of just a few thousand friends. And in just a few short weeks, we’ll be heading to New York to christen this tenth year of Global Lens with our very first friend: the Museum of Modern Art.
Continue reading SUPPORT: Our Roots Are Showing
By The Global Film Initiative, on December 22nd, 2012%
A retrospective look at Global Lens via the images and ideas that took our signature series from infancy to adulthood…
As writer Robert Mckee said, “Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.”
We agree.
Stories are the basis of humanity. They teach, they entertain, and they shape how we see the world. As humans, we are wired to connect and bond with others.
GFI was created with this purpose: to create global understanding, empathy and connectivity through the powerful medium of film, and to promote and support the vibrant growth of global filmmaking. To date, we have distributed 96 independent films from over 38 countries to North American audiences, and hosted screenings in every U.S. state except North Dakota. (Anyone in North Dakota want to help us with our 2013 New Years Resolution? Contact us!)
Through these films, we hope to inspire people to keep learning about other perspectives and ways of life. In celebration of Global Lens’ 10th year anniversary in January, we take a look at some of our films and the themes they contain from the past decade…
Continue reading INDUSTRY: A Decade of Film
By The Global Film Initiative, on October 15th, 2012%
 “A gentle political satire set in a remote pueblo in 1980s Argentina…an engaging, often amusing portrait of a community on the cusp of change….” -Variety
“Sergio Teubal’s hilarious satire proves its capacity for both belly laughs and observant political barbs.” -Wines of Argentina
Not many political elections involve a severed finger in a jar, but then, this is not your typical election. Far from the debates and attack ads of Romney and Obama’s current race—but still based on actual events—Sergio Teubal’s THE FINGER concerns a moody shopkeeper bent on ensuring his brother’s mayoral victory, even after the beloved candidate turns up dead just weeks before the election. A guaranteed charmer, this dramatic comedy spins a tale of mystery, village life, revenge, and leadership, suggesting that sometimes a dismembered digit can point the way to a better future than an actual, living candidate!
Programmers and curators: View the 2012 lineup now on Vimeo or Festival Scope and email us at [email protected] to schedule the films today!
Film fans and enthusiasts: Read the list below and click on the map to find out where you can catch these fantastic films!
Continue reading NOW PLAYING: Let THE FINGER Point You Toward Global Lens!
By The Global Film Initiative, on September 10th, 2012%
 “It’s been a while since a film captured an actor’s world with the intelligence, creativity and insight of Craft.“ -Variety
“A wonderful and perfectly calibrated film….” -BrazilNYC
Like a well-seasoned actor who has the ability to charm or break your heart, Gustavo Pizzi’s visually rich CRAFT does both — effortlessly and beautifully. Featuring a pitch-perfect performance by Pizzi’s real-life wife, Karine Teles (upon whom the dazzling narrative of a struggling São Paulo actress/celebrity impersonator is based), this debut feature illustrates the kind of thrill and anxiety that often accompanies one’s dedication to a dream. Now available for booking in your festival or theater, along with nine other award-winning and critically acclaimed films from the Global Lens 2012 series!
Programmers and curators: View the 2012 lineup now on Vimeo or Festival Scope and email us at [email protected] to schedule the films today!
Film fans and enthusiasts: Read the list below and click on the map to find out where you can catch these fantastic films!
Continue reading NOW PLAYING: Gustavo Pizzi’s Award-Winning Portrait of an Artist, CRAFT!
By The Global Film Initiative, on August 9th, 2012%
 “Pegasus is a stunning film…a must watch film from a director who is quickly becoming one of the main voices of the New Moroccan cinema wave.” -Africa Screens
This month’s feature, PEGASUS, is all about memory, and you won’t be forgetting this filmmaker’s debut feature anytime soon. Mohamed Mouftakir’s eerie, David Lynch-like mind-twister—and winner of FESPACO’s highest honor, the appropriately titled Golden Stallion award—is now available for booking in your festival or theater, along with nine other award-winning and critically acclaimed films from the new Global Lens 2012 series!
Programmers and curators: View the 2012 lineup now on Festival Scope and email us at [email protected] to schedule the films today!
Film fans and enthusiasts: Read the list below and click on the map to find out where you can catch these fantastic films!
Continue reading NOW PLAYING: Take a Wild Ride with PEGASUS and Nine Other Global Lens Films that Will Send You Flying!
By The Global Film Initiative, on July 20th, 2012%
From the Global Lens Collection and MoMA’s Department of Film comes Global Lens filmmaker Maria Joao Ganga’s powerful exploration of innocence and Angola…
We’re very pleased to announce that one of our most favorite curators, and educators, Anne Morra, at the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Film, has put together a spectacular new film exhibit titled Unaccompanied Minors: From Feeding the Bay to the Hollow City, to run July 22nd-August 14th, in tandem with the Museum’s Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900–2000 gallery exhibit. Thirty-one short- and feature-length films are included the exhibit, at the exhibit’s core is Global Lens Collection film HOLLOW CITY :
Continue reading NEWS: HOLLOW CITY Leads “Unaccompanied Minors” Exhibit at MoMA
By The Global Film Initiative, on July 17th, 2012%
“Wonderfully natural acting and evocative imagery….” -The Hollywood Reporter
“The Prize faces us with a piece of our history that hurts. That touches us. That puts us on the alert. With the strength and intensity of someone who has experienced what is being told, Paula Markovitch succeeds in creating a deep and sensitive story about freedom, identity and unwavering hope.” -Mar del Plata International Film Festival
The story: A political activist’s life-in-hiding on an isolated stretch of Argentina’s coastline is jeopardized after her seven-year-old daughter is selected to participate in a local school’s patriotic essay contest.
THE PRIZE — Paula Markovitch’s quietly powerful debut feature — blends personal nostalgia with an underlying sense of dread as it transports the viewer to Argentina in the years of the dictatorship and its notorious Dirty War. Featuring an utterly captivating performance by Paula Galinelli Hertzog as the 7-year-old Cecilia, THE PRIZE is now available for booking in your festival or theater, along with nine other award-winning and critically acclaimed films from the new Global Lens 2012 series!
Programmers and curators: View the 2012 lineup now on Festival Scope and email us at [email protected] to schedule the films today!
Film fans and enthusiasts: Read the list below and click on the map to find out where you can catch these fantastic films!
Continue reading NOW PLAYING: All Eyes on THE PRIZE and Nine Other Global Lens Films!
By Santhosh Daniel, on March 24th, 2012%
How a chance encounter turned into an uncommon opportunity to support Sierra Leone’s first-ever international film festival
 We’ve always invested in Africa. Grants. Film exhibitions. Time. It’s been one of the many beating hearts, since our founding, that has kept the Global Lens film series, and the Initiative, alive.
A few months ago, outside a very crowded bar in San Francisco, Kieran Ridge, advisory board member of the Palo Alto Film Festival—one of our newest partners—had the insight to introduce us to someone with a very similar commitment to Africa: Banker White, of WeOwnTV. You may recognize the name, as a few years ago, Banker directed a documentary about a music innovation in Freetown called the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars.
Continue reading GFI @ the Sierra Leone International Film Festival
|
|
|
Leave a comment 
Asia, Cannes, College & University, Curators, Distribution, Distributors, Education, Events, Festival, Festivals, Filmmakers, Films, Funders, Global Lens, Granting, Industry, News, Partners, Partners, Programmers, Rotterdam, San Francisco, Secondary & High School, South Asia, Sponsors, Theatrical & Non-theatrical 
3rdi, Artist in Residence, ashim ahluwalia, bay area, bollywood, cannes, Churchill Bar, Dubai, federico veiroj, Futureast, india, Ivan Jaigirdar, Joanne Parsont, John & Jane, miss lovely, New People Cinema, Oday Rasheed, rotterdam, San Francisco Film Society 
