25 August 2008
We're very excited to be able to report that Jim Lichtscheidl has joined the cast (well, he's the only cast member so far) of our new feature film project, The Confession of Lee Harvey Oswald as - Lee Harvey Oswald! We'll start filming as soon as the SAG paperwork is finished, maybe as early as September. Jim is well known to Twin Cities audiences for his many appearance at the Guthrie Theater, 10 Thousand Things theater, the Minnesota Fringe Festival and Theater in the Round Players, to name just a few.
17 August 2008
The Quietest Sound has been selected to screen in competition at the One Take Film Festival in Zagreb, Croatia, November 20-22. Details soon.
4 April 2008
Two Harbors has been selected to kick off a new series of independent features called Home Grown Cinema at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis. The screening will be Monday May 12 at 7:00pm, with a cast and crew Q&A to follow.
29 February 2008
The Quietest Sound continues to screen at the on-going, state-wide Connecticut Film Festival, with screenings today at 3:00pm and the following two Friday, March 7 and 14 at 3:00pm.
12 February 2008
WNET-13 New York informed me that the ratings for the Saturday 19 January screening of Two Harbors indicated that 58,000 viewers watched the film. That's probably more people than will ever again see the film.
25 December 2007
The New York Times has a very nice article on the new WNET Reel 13 Indies series of independent features starting in January. Two Harbors will be broadcast Janury 13 at 11:00pm as part of the series. No mention of Two Harbors in the article, alas, but the article is the lead article in the Times's television section today. And it sounds as if that time slot is actually very popular, with some of WNET's highest ratings. Here's the article in its entirety:
WNET Adds Indie Films on Saturday Nights
By ELIZABETH JENSEN
For years WNET, Channel 13, in New York has broadcast back-to-back classic movies on Saturday nights, drawing some of its largest audiences of the week. Beginning on Jan. 5, this public television station will drop the second classic film and add independent and short films to the lineup, turning its movie night into an interactive experience catering to filmmakers and those who like to discuss what they have watched.
Building off its long-running Reel New York summer film festival, the station has begun soliciting short films from professional and aspiring filmmakers nationwide, with outreach through film schools, in theaters and elsewhere. Clips from three films each week will be posted on a new Web site (reel13.org), which is already partly operational and drawing some spirited debate to its comments forum. Each week viewers will be able to vote online for which of the three films they want to see shown in its entirety.
The new lineup, titled “Reel 13” and intended to attract a broader and possibly younger audience to the station, will continue to start with a classic film, at 9 p.m., followed by the viewer-chosen short. The late-night independent feature films will be drawn from works that got good reception on the film festival circuit but did not get wide theatrical distribution, said Neal Shapiro, the president of WNET.
Among the films already scheduled are the 2003 Australian coming-of-age comedy “The Rage in Placid Lake,” on Jan. 12; the 2004 comedy “Wilby Wonderful,” starring Sandra Oh, on Jan. 26; and “Boesman and Lena,” a 1999 adaptation of the Athol Fugard play about apartheid, on Feb. 16.
“New York is still one of the centers of independent film in the country,” and showing “Reel 13” will better reflect that community than “running ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ again at 11 p.m.,” Mr. Shapiro said of the new programming strategy for the night. Older viewers may be falling asleep by 11 p.m., he said, leaving an opening to try to attract “new and different viewers” to the station with films that are more contemporary and in color. Mr. Shapiro noted that despite the late hour, shows like NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” were able to attract solid audiences.
The open call for short films could end up being a boon for the legions of aspiring filmmakers in the city and elsewhere. Submissions, which must be no longer than 20 minutes and in English or English-subtitled, can be uploaded directly on the “Reel 13” Web site or mailed in on DVD.
The station said it had already received more than two dozen films for consideration. A preliminary judging panel led by Duana C. Butler, an independent filmmaker, will select which films are put in the mix each week for possible viewing. Those whose films are chosen for broadcast will receive $500.
Richard Peña, program director at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, will be the host for the independent feature-film portion of the evening. Along with the new programming strategy, WNET is hoping to get a lively discussion of film going on at the Web site.
Eventually, Mr. Peña said, the Film Society will become involved in picking the films for the lineup.
20 December 2007
DONATE! Partizan Theater, a Minnesota non-profit corporation, can now receive your tax-deductible contribution through its I.R.C.501(c)(3) fiscal agent, Springboard for the Arts. Simply make your check out to Springboard for the Arts, with Partizan Theater in the memo line, and send it to:
Springboard for the Arts
308 Prince Street, Suite 270
St. Paul MN 55101
And thanks! Click on Partizan Theater for more information.
17 December 2007
You can now watch Two Harbors free on your computer at Joost (you'll have to download their software first).
15 December 2007
Two Harbors and The Quietest Sound DVDs are now available for sale at Amazon.com. Click on DVDs, Downloads and Streaming for links.
21 November 2007
Two Harbors is scheduled to air on WNET-13 New York on Saturday, 19 January at 11:00pm EST as part of the new series, Reel 13 Indies. Anyone in the greater New York-New Jersey-Connecticut viewing area should be able to watch it.
19 November 2007
The Connecticut Film Festival has added an additional screening of The Quietest Sound at the Bethel Cinema in Bethel, CT, Friday, 30 November, 1:30pm.