independent I FILM AND VIDEO MONTHLY A Publication of The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers www.aivf.org They make isiory. We sell it. The ITN Archive holds one of the biggest collections of news material anywhere in the world, and includes Reuters Television, several international newsreels and Bhtish Independent Television News, all fully searchable at www.itnarchive.com ITN Archive (New York) ITN Archive (Los Angeles) The Reuters Building 3500 West Ohve Ave 3 Times Square Suite 1490 4th Roor Burbank New York CA 91505 NY 10036 Tel: 818 953 4115 Tel: 646 223 6671 Fax: 818 953 4137 Fax: 646 233 6675 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] ITN Archive iM " FILM FESTIVAL 10 Days Celebrating 10 Years Call for Entries Filmmakers' Favorite "One of the most enjoyable festival experiences I've fiad...in ttie top tier of filmmaker-friendly festivals anywhere. .everyone who gets invited is a big winner." — Mark J. Gordon, writer and director, hier Majesty "Never before have we screened for over 900 people at a single festival screening. You have unlocked a door that many a festival director is trying to find— the key to solid attendance. — Adrienne Wehr, producer. The Bread, My Sweet Entry is FREE this year in honor of our 10th anniversary Competitions in 35mm and 16mm films include feotures, shorts, documentaries, and animation. Stony Brook Film Festival does not project video. Largest venue and film screen in the region • 1 ,000-plus seats • 40-foot screen • More than 13,000 attendees at the 2004 festival. Entry forms available online at 5tonybrookfilmfestival.com Or write to: Stony Brook Film Festival Staller Center for the Arts, Room 2030A Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 1 1794-5425 Deadline: May 2, 2005 For more information, call 631-632-7235 or e-mail: [email protected] AA/EOE STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY www.stonybrookfilmfestivaL com CENTER FOR THE ARTS sxsw.com MARCH 11 - 19 » AUSTIN, TEXAS The SXSW Film Conference and Festival has quickly emerged as one of the world's premier venues for discovering new film- makers as well as honoring established legends. Visit us at sxsw.com 2005 TOPICS include: Independent film pioneer and founder of "Killer Films" Christine Vachon, will host a For more information including: career retrospective. Vachon has spent the last two » conference updates decades producing an impressive body of work with » registration discounts some of the most innovative directors in the business. » list of exhibitors i. >»'; ..' TalentMatch com Talent, Industry and the Fans that Support Them Volume 28 Number i Cover: Curtis Wheeler: the subject of Jacob Okada's film, Curtis (Jacob Okada) Upfront Features 5 EDITOR'S LETTER 40 THE ANATOMY OF A SHORT The genre is becoming increasinglv 6 CONTRIBUTORS legitimatized within the film industry By Marisa S. Olson 8 NEWS 44 SHORT PEOPLE Conservative film fests; Kodak's VIS10N2 A roundup of some of the top short-makers expands; San Franciscos Proposition 1. is a loser By Margaret Coble By Lindsay Gelfand 48 BACK TO THE FEATURE 12 FIRST PERSON How (some) shorts grow long By Rick Harrison Movieside's director muses about the current state of short films 52 THE TALENTED TENTH By Rusty Nails Indie actors-turned short-filmmakers Bv Kate Bernstein 1 6 PRODUCTION JOURNAL The heart and mind behind the filming ot Curtis 56 BOOK REVIEW By Jacob Okada The Sam-croiv Video Movie Guide's take on a 22 PROFILE century of film By Lisa Selin Davis Kevin Everson turns the ordinary into the extraordinary By Laila Lalami 27 DOC DOCTOR The short: does it make financial sense? Listings Is there a structure to follow? By Fernanda Rossi 61 FESTIVALS 30 FESTIVAL CIRCUIT 68 CLASSIFIEDS The Chlotrudis Short Film Festival 71 FILMS/TAPES WANTED By Ben Chung 74 NOTICES 34 Q/A 78 SALONS Big Short Film's David Russell B\' Fiona Ng 79 THANKS 80 THE LIST 36 ON THE SCENE The 25th anniversan,' of Asburv Shorts of New York Bv Colin Ginks www.aivf.org January/February 2005 I The Independent 3 The BEST Of ADFF independent at BAM Feb 11 • Feb 17, 2005 •'} www.NYADFF.org Publisher: Bienvenida Matias r |publisher@aivf org] The African Diaspora Editor-in-Chief: Rebecca Carroll J Film Festival (adff), Managing Editor: Shana Liebman an eclectic mix of independent, |independent@aivf org| urban, foreign and classic films that Assistant Editor: Rick Harrison vv |lacl(5Jaivf org] depict the Global Black Experience. Designer: R. Benjamin Brown |benbrowngraphic@msn com] For more information, call the BAMcinematek Production Associate: Timothy Schmidt www.NYADFF.orgBifflW J I 1 1 'Hi 1 l'l'»'J * Ki Wik\kiH>r 1 W«l I' [gfaphics®aivf org] B r a s i I , USA, Belgium, Senegal, Congo, A u s t r a I i al Editorial Associate: Lindsay Gelfand [notices'a)aivf org] Contributing Editors: Sherman Alexie, Pat Aufderheide, Monique Cormier, Bo Mehrad, Cara Mertes, Kate Tuttle Contributing Writers: Elizabeth Angell, Margaret Coble, Lisa Selin Davis, Matt Dunne, Greg Gllpatrick, Gad! Harel, JohnPavlus Advertising Representative: Veronica Shea I21ZI 807-1400 x232, Iveronica'aaivf org] Advertising Representative: Michael Tierno (212) 807-1400 x234. (mikeigaivf org] Classified Advertising: Michael Tierno (212) 807-1400 x241: |[email protected]] • National Distribution: Ingram Periodicals (800) 627-6247 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Independent Film & Video Monthly, fl 304 Hudson St , 6 , New York, NY 10013 The Independent Film & Video Monthly ilSSN 1077-8918) is published monthly (except combined issues January/February and July/August) by the Foundation for Independent Video and Film (FIVF), a 501(c)(3) dedicated to the advancement of Bringing people together to broaden media arts and artists. Subscription to the magazine is included in annual membership dues ($70/Yr individual. $40/yr student: SlOO/yr nonprofit/school, sliding scale (see website) for the understanding and celebrate business/industry) paid to the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF), the national professional association of individuals involved in moving image media. Library subscrip- the power of independent film tions are $80/yr. Contact: AIVF, 304 Hudson St., 6 fl., New York, NY 10013, 12121 807-1400; fax: (212) 463-8519; [email protected]. through cinema and the Periodical Postage paid at New York, New York and at additional mailing offices Sedona experience*' Printed in the USA by Cadmus Specialty Publications ,^ Publication of The Independent is made possible ^ff in part with public funds from the New York State :.•.;;:.•.; Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the National °' ~ MARCH 3-6, 2005 Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency Publication of any ad in Tifie Independent does not constitute an endorsement. FIVF is not responsible for any claims made in an ad. All contents are copyright of the Foundation for Independent Video PASSES ON SALE NOW and Film, Inc Reprints require written permission and acknowledge- ment of the article's previous appearance in The Independent Tne Independents indexed in the Alternative Press Index and is a mem- ber of the Independent Press Association. Arizona AIVF staff: Bienvenida Matias, executive director. HARKINSTHEATRES Sedona, Soma Malfa. program director, Priscilla Grim, membership director; Bo Mehrad. information services director. Greg Gilpatrick, technology consultant, Emily Banks, Tama Caceres, Jeffrey Scheible, interns; FIVF legal counsel: Robert I. Freedman, Esq., Cowan, 928.282.1177 DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard AIVF Board of Directors: Joel Bachar, Liz Canner, Anne del Castillo, 888.3999.FILM Doug Hawes-Davis, Regqe Life, Bienvenida Matias (ex oficio), Michele Meek, Simon Tarr, Rahdi Taylor, Elizabeth Thompson, WWW.SEDONAFrLMFESTIVAL.COM Jim Vincent. Bart Weiss © Foundation for Independent Video & Film, Inc. 2004 Visit The Independent online at: www.aivf.org 4 The Independent I January/Februan/ 2005 Reliable, Global, Total Coverage! In the feature well, west coast writer U U Marisa S. Olson walks us under the tent poles 0) .a 0) of the short film as genre (page 40) —says cc Shane Smith, artistic director of the Worldwide Short Film Festival at the EDITOR'S LETTER Canadian Film Centre: "The short film is increasingly becoming respected as an art Dear Readers, form in its own right." Brilliant. Let's talk The short film—what a perfect genre. about it. A contributing writer for The Like the perfect snack. Or the very best Independent, Margaret Coble, rounded up a poem: intensity and imagination distilled group of working short-filmmakers (page down to the most crucial and poignant of 44) —some with great new projects in the words. Short films are the quintessential hopper, others still riding the wave of their starting point, and for some filmmakers, the last—among them Cina Levy (Too Too Dust), definitive end goal. Many of you will be read- Jesse F^pstein ( Wet Dreams and False hnages), ing this i.ssue while at the Sundance Film and Tom Wilson (Pulling Rank). Festival 2005—and perhaps some of you who Writer and filmmaker Kate Bernstein are returning may recognize this issues cover (whose short Ladies Room is currently touring shot from Curtis, the brilliant short film by the festival circuit) checked out the growing Jacob Okada that debuted at Sundance last trend of independent actors-turned short year. Jacob shared the process of making his film directors that includes lllcana Douglas, very poetic film in this months Production Hank A/aria, and Ralph Macchio. Yes, //;/// Journal column (page 16). Ralph Macchio (page 52). And assistant edi- There are new and inveterate shorts people tor at The Independent, Rick Harrison (page all around us. \bu probably know one or sev- 48), considers the jump from short to feature eral, or even as likely, you are one. We at The for a few lucky filmmakers (or not so lucky.