Trade is more important than aid
October 29, 2007
One of the greatest things that developed nations can do to help developing nations is engage in fair trade, and given that coffee is the most valuable commodity we trade worldwide after oil, it represents an industry that for many poor farmers represents their only way out of poverty. But while we in the developed nations continue to pay outrageous prices for fancy Starbucks coffee, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields. How can this be? This paradox is most evident in Ethiopia, which, ironically, is the birthplace of coffee. In the documentary Black Gold, we follow the story of Tadesse Meskela, a man on a mission to save his tens of thousands of struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price. The film follows Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the centers of power in the multinational coffee industry that is controlled by multinational corporations, commodity traders, coffee exchanges, and trade ministers. The film reveal the many challenges that Tadesse and his farmers face in their quest for a humane and lasting solution for the coffee farmers. For Meskela, “Trade is more important than aid.” Wake up and smell the coffee industry. It’s time for a change.
New Media and a Smile in New Hampshire
October 4, 2007
Join me and fellow panelists Kevin Anderton and Steve Garfield at the New Hampshire Film Festival on October 12th from 1:30 to 3:30pm for a panel titled “Future Now: New Media and the Modern Filmmaker” at the Portsmouth Public Library. The session, to be moderated by John Herman, will explore the creative and cultural intersection of filmmaking and new media. Bring your ideas and questions to share.
Later the same day at 4:15pm my new short, Smile Boston Project, screens at the Music Hall along with Front Wards, Back Wards. Hope to see you there!
A Conversation with Les Blank
October 3, 2007
While I was at the Woods Hole Film Festival this summer I had a chance to sit down and have a conversation with documentary filmmaker Les Blank. We spoke about his new film All In This Tea, his experiences with Werner Herzog, why he self distributes, and which of his films he considers his favorite. The interview, titled A Conversation with Les Blank, appears in the newly re-launched Independent (the publication formerly known as The Independent Film & Video Monthly, which ceased publication with the demise of the AIVF).
Smile Boston Project joins slate of documentaries at Newburyport Documentary Festival
September 27, 2007
This weekend my short documentary, Smile Boston Project, (which won Best Short Documentary at the Woods Hole Film Festival) joins a slate of wonderful documentaries screening at the Newburyport Documentary Festival. Check out the schedule, if you live in the area, consider a day trip on Saturday or Sunday to catch some of the wonderful documentary films screening this year. On Saturday night the festival is screening Beth Murphy’s Beyond Belief, which won Best Film at the Woods Hole Film Festival. On Sunday afternoon at 1:45pm Smile Boston Project screens along with Steven Delano’s No Bigger Than A Minute, which premiered in October 2006 on PBS. There will be a Q&A following the screening. Then at 4pm Bren Bataclan (the subject of my film) and I will be at a reception at A Hog On Ice Gallery. If you plan to come to any of the screenings, I suggest you purchase tickets in advance, many of the films are expected to sell out, and opening night on Friday is already sold out.
A soundtrack for the movie of your mind
August 30, 2007
Last year filmmaker Todd Verow asked Colin Owens to write a film score to run 84 minutes concurrent with an experimental film made from 10 second clips of mobile phone video. The result of this work is Hooks to the Left, Colin’s most emotional, complex, and provocative music to date.
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Summertime gazpacho
July 2, 2007
Summertime is gazpacho time. This cold soup is popular in Spain’s Andalusia during the summer and when Alice and I were there for our honeymoon, I gained an appreciation for it. The soup has its origins in ancient Andalusian cuisine as a mixture of stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar. It is not always easy to find a flavorful yet subtle gazpacho here in the states, I was once served a bowl at James Gate that tasted like salsa pored right out of an industrial sized container. The best way, by far, to experience good gazpacho is to make it yourself from fresh vine ripened tomatoes in season. Here’s my recipe.
2007 Woods Hole Film Festival
June 27, 2007
This week the Woods Hole Film Festival posted their festival schedule. Now in its 16th year, the festival opens with a screening of the remastered 1971 Documentary Classic, Blue Water, White Death, about the search for the elusive Great White Shark. Woods Hole is a wonderful festival with a large percentage of attending filmmakers. In addiiton to screening many films of note, the festival hosts a range of Panels & Workshops you will not want to miss, including: Documentary Filmmaking Master Class with Les Blank (Thursday, August 2 at 2:00 PM) a panel on The future of long form documentary in the age of Internet video on Sunday, July 29th at 2:00 PM, and Delivering Video via the Internet: Challenges and Opportunities on Tuesday, July 31 at 2:00 PM. (yours truly will be moderating the future of long form doc and video via the internet panels). For more information on the festival, visit woodsholefilmfestival.org.
2007 Plymouth Independent Film Festival
June 27, 2007
The Plymouth Independent Film Festival announced today its film selection for the third annual film festival. Over forty films will be screened at the Plimoth Plantation beginning on Thursday July 19 at 4pm. Highlights include seventeen films as part of the Made in Mass screenings series:
Remembering John Marshall (trailer)
March 5, 2007
Binta, Marshall, and Slim to screen at NIFF
November 9, 2006
The 2006 Northampton Independent Film Festival will present a screening of three very special short films on Saturday, November 11th at 4:45pm in Stoddard Hall, Smith College inNorthampton, Massachusetts. The films are Binta Y La Gran Idea (Javier Fesser), Remembering John Marshall (yours truly and Alice Apley), and Living with Slim (Sam Kauffmann). Sam, Alice and I will be at the screening for Q&A, we hope to see you there if you’re planning to be in Northampton for the festival.
Download the Binta-RJM-Slim NIFF Flyer (PDF, 1 MB).
