Hot Docs is a wrap!
Great to meet the filmmakers
See you all next year...
Met fellow filmmakers from around the world on Saturday night April 26 at the Duke of York pub on Prince Arthur before heading to the IDC Screening at Innis Hall. Despite the sudden TTC strike, the house was almost full and it was great to see the diverse selection of 14 finalists. Enjoyed Bend and Bow by my friends at Team Profluence (about the Saw Lady of New York). I also really liked Click, Whoosh about Polaroid cameras by the Real Grrls of Seattle (they won the $1000 IDC prize), Ars Magna about the high art of anagrams and I=me2 by Year of the Rooster about 2 twin brothers who are also filmmakers (Kevin won best editing). Their film Dante's Massage won Best Sound Design in the 2006 National Film Challenge. Also great to met Tony, Dinah, Joanne & Evan from Team It Donned On Me and congrats to them for picking up 2 IDC awards for directing and cinematography. Their film Stick and Pound about Melanie DeMore and the art of stick pounding made us want to go out and try it (I think it would be a positive stress buster). Interesting to see Beholder by Eric Daniel Metzgar, a New York filmmaker and Independent Spirit Award nominee whose also had his feature doc Life. Support. Music. about Jason Crigler's miraculous recovery screen at this year's hot docs. Also liked Ghost Bike by Team GO! of Toronto. They had the same genre/theme of Art/Change as team haikugirl this year. The music for Ghost Bike was by Tim Vesely of the Rheostatics. Richard was very pleased to meet Tim on Saturday night and the music had a haunting quality that matched the film perfectly. Kind of like the way Curbside Lapse created the atmosphere for Marathon Women!
Visit haikugirlmovies for the complete list of 2008 IDC winners and CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Hot Docs - 2nd instalment
Tuesday: Saw Man On Wire, a fascinating doc about Philippe Petit who is a wirewalker (the coolest French word ever: funembule) who walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974. At over 450 metres, it's still the highest wirewalk in history. Director James Marsh succeeds in building the suspense before the walk with another filmmaker's old stock footage of the training sessions in France as well as B&W re-enactments using stand-in New York locations. It's amazing to see the people interviewed today and how young they looked in the old footage from 30 years ago. Marsh also used footage from the construction of the WTC whose empty base at the outset looks eerily like Ground Zero after 9/11. Petit is charming and engrossing as a megalomaniac who is consumed by the art of the act, nothing more. It's interesting how the team bonded and grew together to support the project, then dissolved after the event took place. Well worth seeing - the title is how they labeled Petit's crime on the complaint form filed with the Port Authority.
Wednesday: Saw FLicKeR about Brion Gysin, friend of Beat poet William S. Burroughs and the Dream Machine that Gysin constructed to create a hypnotic, hallucinatory effect without drugs. An interesting account of the times including interviews with many of Gysin's old friends. Like many of my TIFF events, the more people on stage before the screening, the more disappointed I usually am. Director Nik Sheehan invited 20 people up to the front in advance of this World Premiere and the end result was okay, even a bit draggy. Should show up on Bravo (co-funder of this doc) in time. Weird to see Bravo! a division of CTV onscreen (I know that's the story but it's still weird not to see CHUM). My friend Chris should see this as a philosophy PhD from McGill, everyone else wait till it airs.
Friday: seeing Waiting for Hockney then Saturday cheering for my friends at the IDC Screening and Awards presentation at Hot Docs.
Wednesday: Saw FLicKeR about Brion Gysin, friend of Beat poet William S. Burroughs and the Dream Machine that Gysin constructed to create a hypnotic, hallucinatory effect without drugs. An interesting account of the times including interviews with many of Gysin's old friends. Like many of my TIFF events, the more people on stage before the screening, the more disappointed I usually am. Director Nik Sheehan invited 20 people up to the front in advance of this World Premiere and the end result was okay, even a bit draggy. Should show up on Bravo (co-funder of this doc) in time. Weird to see Bravo! a division of CTV onscreen (I know that's the story but it's still weird not to see CHUM). My friend Chris should see this as a philosophy PhD from McGill, everyone else wait till it airs.
Friday: seeing Waiting for Hockney then Saturday cheering for my friends at the IDC Screening and Awards presentation at Hot Docs.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Boston Marathon Finishers: CONGRATS!
Exciting to see the 112th running of the Boston Marathon on TV. The weather was perfect (51F, clear, sunny skies) I know 3 runners who finished and I am SO PROUD of them!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
>>My work friend Jowenne Herrera, age 30, (bib# 2580) finished in 2:59:02 AMAZING TIME! (he was 1090 overall and about 8 minutes behind Lance Armstrong (bib# 100, 2:50:58, who was 488 overall). JOWENNE YOU ROCK!!!
>>Dr. Jean Marmoreo, founder of JeansMarines (bib# 18723) finished in 3:55:07 (that's 12912 overall, 4101 place among women) - a pretty awesome achievement for anyone, let alone a 65 year-old woman. YAY Jean!
>>My manager's father Don O'Donnell, age 62, (bib# 19516) came all the way from Ireland to run in Boston and finished in 4:01:21 --WAY TO GO Jenny's Dad!
You can check all the results at bostonmarathon.com
It was the second largest field in Boston Marathon history (over 30,000 runners). The Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot won the men's race for the 4th straight year in 2:07:46 and Ethiopian Dire Tune won a very tight women's race in 2:25:25 holding off Russian Alevtina Biktimirova only 2 seconds behind her. And great to see Kathryn Switzer doing the commentary (I KNOW her - and she signed a copy of her book for me). We also gave her a copy of Marathon Women last year.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL FINISHERS! Truly an inspiring day.
>>My work friend Jowenne Herrera, age 30, (bib# 2580) finished in 2:59:02 AMAZING TIME! (he was 1090 overall and about 8 minutes behind Lance Armstrong (bib# 100, 2:50:58, who was 488 overall). JOWENNE YOU ROCK!!!
>>Dr. Jean Marmoreo, founder of JeansMarines (bib# 18723) finished in 3:55:07 (that's 12912 overall, 4101 place among women) - a pretty awesome achievement for anyone, let alone a 65 year-old woman. YAY Jean!
>>My manager's father Don O'Donnell, age 62, (bib# 19516) came all the way from Ireland to run in Boston and finished in 4:01:21 --WAY TO GO Jenny's Dad!
You can check all the results at bostonmarathon.com
It was the second largest field in Boston Marathon history (over 30,000 runners). The Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot won the men's race for the 4th straight year in 2:07:46 and Ethiopian Dire Tune won a very tight women's race in 2:25:25 holding off Russian Alevtina Biktimirova only 2 seconds behind her. And great to see Kathryn Switzer doing the commentary (I KNOW her - and she signed a copy of her book for me). We also gave her a copy of Marathon Women last year.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL FINISHERS! Truly an inspiring day.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Hot Docs 2008 is HOT!
Been catching up on my movies since Hot Docs started.
Friday: saw Air India 182, an emotional film about the bombing. The director did a beautiful job weaving together the intrigue of the case and interviews with family members who lost relatives in the bombing. Everyone aboard (331 people) died, including 86 children. Over 270 of the passengers were Canadian so it was a huge tragedy for the country and an early introduction to the impact of terrorism. Don't worry if you missed it: CBC will air it uncut and commercial free on the anniversary of the take-off on June 22 (check local listings).
Saturday: Saw Altogether Now, a mesmerizing look at all the work that went into creating the Cirque du Soleil show LOVE using all original Beatles music. Amazing behind-the-scenes camera and interviews with Cirque director and members and the remaining Beatles and their wives. Interesting how Yoko Ono and George Harrison's widow both had so much input to Cirque along with Ringo and Paul. The crew shot 180 hours of footage and genius editor Heidi Haines whittled it down to an engrossing 2 hour movie. Director Adrian Wills was at the Bloor Cinema for the screening along with Giles Martin (son of Sir George Martin, who worked on all the original Beatles albums.) Giles is a hottie and very funny. Adrian's french is flawless. Uncle Wes and Marcella have seen LOVE at The Mirage in Vegas twice. I already have the soundtrack (natch) and told Richard he has a year to take me to Vegas to see it and that I want the DVD of the movie for Christmas. If you've seen LOVE, you need to see this movie; if you see this movie, you need to see LOVE. This has been my top pick of hot docs so far! Great to see it with our friends Tom & Linda - congrats on your engagement les amis!!
Sunday: Saw Talking Guitars about Flip Scipio who repairs and builds guitars. Both he and Director Claire Pijman were at the screening at Isabel Bader. Flip is a nice unassuming Dutch guy with an encyclopedic knowledge of guitars and tremendous skill with the instrument and love for it. He also happens to be based in New York and in demand by a very famous clientele, including Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, Ben Taylor (son of James & Carly) whom we all see in the movie. A relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon listening to wonderful calming music and conversation. Lovely to have Hardish, William & Cassie join us.
Next screening on Tuesday: Man on Wire
Friday: saw Air India 182, an emotional film about the bombing. The director did a beautiful job weaving together the intrigue of the case and interviews with family members who lost relatives in the bombing. Everyone aboard (331 people) died, including 86 children. Over 270 of the passengers were Canadian so it was a huge tragedy for the country and an early introduction to the impact of terrorism. Don't worry if you missed it: CBC will air it uncut and commercial free on the anniversary of the take-off on June 22 (check local listings).
Saturday: Saw Altogether Now, a mesmerizing look at all the work that went into creating the Cirque du Soleil show LOVE using all original Beatles music. Amazing behind-the-scenes camera and interviews with Cirque director and members and the remaining Beatles and their wives. Interesting how Yoko Ono and George Harrison's widow both had so much input to Cirque along with Ringo and Paul. The crew shot 180 hours of footage and genius editor Heidi Haines whittled it down to an engrossing 2 hour movie. Director Adrian Wills was at the Bloor Cinema for the screening along with Giles Martin (son of Sir George Martin, who worked on all the original Beatles albums.) Giles is a hottie and very funny. Adrian's french is flawless. Uncle Wes and Marcella have seen LOVE at The Mirage in Vegas twice. I already have the soundtrack (natch) and told Richard he has a year to take me to Vegas to see it and that I want the DVD of the movie for Christmas. If you've seen LOVE, you need to see this movie; if you see this movie, you need to see LOVE. This has been my top pick of hot docs so far! Great to see it with our friends Tom & Linda - congrats on your engagement les amis!!
Sunday: Saw Talking Guitars about Flip Scipio who repairs and builds guitars. Both he and Director Claire Pijman were at the screening at Isabel Bader. Flip is a nice unassuming Dutch guy with an encyclopedic knowledge of guitars and tremendous skill with the instrument and love for it. He also happens to be based in New York and in demand by a very famous clientele, including Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, Ben Taylor (son of James & Carly) whom we all see in the movie. A relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon listening to wonderful calming music and conversation. Lovely to have Hardish, William & Cassie join us.
Next screening on Tuesday: Man on Wire
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Under the Knife
haikugirl's been busy recovering from surgery so that's why you've seen no new posts for a while. Thanks to everyone for their support and concern - I am definitely on the mend but these things always take more time than you think. It's amazing how much we use our stomach muscles every day.
surgery went well
4 holes in my stomach and
5-inch fibroid gone
For more under the knife, I saw Nip/Tuck tonight (the Lulu Grandiron episode). Talk about night of a million stars (or should I say night of a million 80's has beens). This one included Donna Mills of Knot's Landing fame, a freaky-looking Joan Van Ark (who appears to have had too much low-budget plastic surgery in her real life) also a Knot's Landing alum, and even a handsome-looking Shari Belafonte. They were playing a group of Miami socialites who wanted Christian (the dreamy Julian McMahon) to do all their plastic surgery. It had a funny twist ending which I won't spoil. It just made me want to search IMdB to get all the names right. And I was wrong about who played Eden, Dr. McNamara's new love interest. I thought it was Kelli Garner of Lars and the Real Girl and Thumbsucker but it's AnnaLynne McCord. And Sharon Gless of Cagney & Lacey is the doc's lying agent. Could they cram more beloved has beens in one 42-minute hour? I think not.
ungraceful aging
how many 80's has beens
can Nip/Tuck cram in?
surgery went well
4 holes in my stomach and
5-inch fibroid gone
For more under the knife, I saw Nip/Tuck tonight (the Lulu Grandiron episode). Talk about night of a million stars (or should I say night of a million 80's has beens). This one included Donna Mills of Knot's Landing fame, a freaky-looking Joan Van Ark (who appears to have had too much low-budget plastic surgery in her real life) also a Knot's Landing alum, and even a handsome-looking Shari Belafonte. They were playing a group of Miami socialites who wanted Christian (the dreamy Julian McMahon) to do all their plastic surgery. It had a funny twist ending which I won't spoil. It just made me want to search IMdB to get all the names right. And I was wrong about who played Eden, Dr. McNamara's new love interest. I thought it was Kelli Garner of Lars and the Real Girl and Thumbsucker but it's AnnaLynne McCord. And Sharon Gless of Cagney & Lacey is the doc's lying agent. Could they cram more beloved has beens in one 42-minute hour? I think not.
ungraceful aging
how many 80's has beens
can Nip/Tuck cram in?
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