(Thanks to Merveillesxx who told me about this)
American Documentary Showcase
10 – 13 November 2009
At TK park, 8th Fl., Central World
TK park and the Embassy of the United States of America invite you to the American Documentary Showcase.
Apart from screening of multiple awards-winning documentary (including Best Documentary United Nations Association Film Festival, Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2008 and International Jury Prize Mumbai International Film Festival 2008), Flow: For Love of Water, which is an investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: The world water crisis. There will be a film workshop on making documentary film with special guests, Steven Starr, the producer of “Flow” and Billy Luther, the director of “Miss Navaho” at TK park on Tuesday 10 November at 16.00 – 18.00 hrs.
All screenings are in English with Thai subtitles.
Reservation please call 02 257 4300 x 120 (free admission for TK park members, for non-members there will be a 20 THB fee for One-Day Pass)
For more information about the films please go to:
http://ufva.org/content.php?type_id=10&article_id=267
American Documentary Showcase
Tuesday 10 – Friday 13 Nov 2009
Mini Theater 1, TK park, 8th Fl., CentralWorld
Tuesday 10 November 2009
16.00 – 18.00 Film Workshop with Steven Starr, the producer of “Flow” and Billy Luther, the director of “Miss Navaho” at Mini Theater 1
18.00 – 19.30 Reception at Open Square
19.30 – 21.00 Screening of “Flow: For Love of Water” (84 Mins) at Mini Theater 1 – 2
Wednesday 11 November 2009
16.00 – 16.30 Screening of “Beginning Filmmaking” (23 Mins)
16.30 – 17.30 Screening of “America’s Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prarie” (58 Mins)
17.30 – 19.00 Screening of “The Garden” (80 Mins)
Thursday 12 November 2009
16.00 – 17.15 Screening of “Made in LA” (70 Mins)
17.15 – 18.45 Screening of “A Man Named Pearl” (78 Mins)
18.45 – 19.45 Screening of “Red Gold” (55 Mins)
Friday 13 November 2009
16.00 – 16.45 Screening of “Children in No Man’s Land” (39 Mins)
16.45 – 18.30 Screening of “The Betrayal” (97 Mins)
18.30 – 19.30 Screening of “Miss Navaho” (60 Mins)
1. “BEGINNING FILMMAKING” (SHORT)
DIRECTOR: JAY ROSENBLATT
RUNNING TIME: 23 MIN., YEAR: 2008
SYNOPSIS: A PORTRAIT OF A VERY YOUNG ARTIST AND AN ENTHUSIASTIC FATHER WHO DISCOVERS TRUTH IN THE CLICH “CREATIVE DIFFERENCES” WHEN HE ATTEMPTS TO TEACH HIS 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER ABOUT FILMMAKING. ELLA LEARNS WHAT SHE WANTS TO, DISCARDS WHAT SHE DOESN’T, AND IS DETERMINED TO BE A STAR IN HER OWN MIND.
— DIRECTOR ROSENBLATT: A FORMER A FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTION INSTRUCTOR AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY AND ELSEWHERE, HIS FILMS HAVE WON OVER ONE HUNDRED AWARDS AND HAVE BEEN SCREENED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
2. “THE BETRAYAL”
DIRECTOR: ELLEN KURAS AND THAVISOUK PHRASAVATH
RUNNING TIME: 97 MIN., YEAR: 2008
SYNOPSIS: FILMED OVER 23 YEARS, TELLS THE STORY OF A FAMILY’S EPIC JOURNEY FROM WAR-TORN LAOS TO THE MEAN STREETS OF NEW YORK. THAVISOUK PHRASAVETH TELLS HIS OWN STORY OF STRUGGLING AS A YOUNG MAN TO SURVIVE BOTH THE WAR AND THE HARDSHIPS OF IMMIGRANT LIFE, AS WELL AS HIS MOTHER’S ASTONISHING TALE OF PERSEVERANCE.
— DIRECTOR KURAS: AWARD-WINNING CINEMATOGRAPHER AND THREE-TIME WINNER AT SUNDANCE, THIS IS HER DIRECTING DEBUT. LAOTIAN CO-DIRECTOR PHRASAVATH IS ALSO THE MAIN SUBJECT OF THE FILM.
3. “CHILDREN IN NO MAN’S LAND” (SHORT)
DIRECTOR: ANAYANSI PRADO
RUNNING TIME: 39 MIN., YEAR: 2008
SYNOPSIS: FOLLOWS THE PLIGHT OF UNACCOMPANIED MINORS WHO TRAVEL INTO THE UNITED STATES. TWO YOUNG COUSINS ATTEMPT TO CROSS THE US/MEXICO BORDER ALONE TO REUNITE WITH THEIR MOTHERS IN THE MIDWEST.
— DIRECTOR PRADO: LATINA MAGAZINE NAMED HER ONE OF THREE UP-AND-COMING LATINA FILMMAKERS IN THE UNITED STATES. SHE IS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF A NEW DISCOVERY SERIES ON HUMANITARIAN ISSUES IN THE LATINO COMMUNITY IN THE U.S.
4. “THE GARDEN”
DIRECTOR: SCOTT HAMILTON KENNEDY
RUNNING TIME: 80 MIN., YEAR: 2008, WON GRAND JURY AWARD AT SILVERDOCS DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL
SYNOPSIS: FOLLOWS THE PLIGHT OF MOSTLY IMMIGRANT FARMERS FROM THE TILLED SOIL OF THE UNITED STATES’ LARGEST URBAN FARM TO LOS ANGELES CITY HALL, TELLING THE STORY OF BACK ROOM DEALS, LAND DEVELOPERS, GREEN POLITICS, POVERTY, POWER AND RACIAL DISCORD AS THE FARMERS ORGANIZE AND SPEAK OUT WHILE BULLDOZERS ARE POISED TO LEVEL THEIR 14-ACRE OASIS.
— DIRECTOR KENNEDY: HIS DEBUT DOCUMENTARY, “OT: OUR TOWN” WON AWARDS AT TOP FILM FESTIVALS AND WAS NOMINATED FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY BY THE IFP INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS.
5. “MISS NAVAJO”
DIRECTOR: BILLY LUTHER
RUNNING TIME: 60 MIN., YEAR: 2007
SYNOPSIS: REVEALS THE INNER BEAUTY OF THE YOUNG WOMEN WHO COMPETE IN THIS CELEBRATION OF WOMANHOOD. NOT ONLY MUST CONTESTANTS EXHIBIT POISE AND GRACE AS THOSE IN TYPICAL PAGEANTS, THEY MUST ALSO ANSWER TOUGH QUESTIONS IN NAVAJO
AND DEMONSTRATE PROFICIENCY IN SKILLS ESSENTIAL TO DAILY TRIBAL LIFE: FRY-BREAD MAKING, RUG WEAVING AND SHEEP BUTCHERING.
— DIRECTOR LUTHER: A NATIVE AMERICAN WHO IS NAVAJO, HOPI, AND LAGUNA, LUTHER CONCEIVED THE FILM AS A CELEBRATION OF WOMANHOOD AND A TRIBUTE TO HIS MOTHER, SARAH JOHNSON LUTHER, WHO WAS MISS NAVAJO NATION 1966-67.
6. “MADE IN LA”
DIRECTOR: ALMUDENA CARRACEDO
RUNNING TIME: 70 MIN., YEAR: 2007
SYNOPSIS: FOLLOWS THE REMARKABLE STORY OF LATINA IMMIGRANTS WORKING IN LOS ANGELES GARMENT SWEATSHOPS AS THEY EMBARK ON A THREE-YEAR ODYSSEY TO WIN BASIC LABOR PROTECTIONS FROM TRENDY CLOTHING RETAILER ‘FOREVER 21.’
— DIRECTOR CARRACEDO: NOW A U.S. CITIZEN, WORKED AS A TELEVISION DIRECTOR IN SPAIN BEFORE COMING TO THE U.S. AS AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOLAR TO WORK ON HER DOCTORAL DISSERTATION AT UCLA FILM SCHOOL.
7. “AMERICA’S LOST LANDSCAPE: THE TALLGRASS PRAIRIE”
DIRECTOR: DAVID O’SHIELDS
RUNNING TIME: 58 MIN., YEAR: 2005, WINNER OF THE IDA PARE
LORENTZ AWARD
SYNOPSIS: TELLS THE STORY OF HOW AND WHY THE PRAIRIE WAS CHANGED BY EURO-AMERICAN SETTLEMENT. THE FILM HIGHLIGHTS PRAIRIE PRESERVATION EFFORTS AND EXPLORES HOW THE TALLGRASS PRAIRIE ECOSYSTEM MAY SERVE AS A MODEL FOR A
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE OF THE FUTURE.
— DIRECTOR O’SHIELDS: WAS ALSO THE FILM’S WRITER, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY. HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE AS A CAMERAMAN AND DIRECTOR IN COMMERCIAL TELEVISION. FOUNDED NEW LIGHT MEDIA TO FOCUS ON FILMS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT, DEMOCRACY, RACE AND AMERICAN HISTORY.
8. “FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER”
DIRECTOR:IRENA SALINA, PRODUCER: STEVE STARR
RUNNING TIME: 84 MIN., YEAR: 2008, NOMINATED FOR GRAND
JURY PRIZE AT SUNDANCE, WON BEST DOCUMENTARY AT VAIL FILM FESTIVAL
SYNOPSIS: AN INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT EXPERTS LABEL THE MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE OF THE 21ST CENTURY–THE WORLD WATER CRISIS–THAT BUILDS A CASE AGAINST THE GROWING PRIVATIZATION OF THE WORLD’S DWINDLING
FRESH WATER SUPPLY WITH A FOCUS ON POLITICS, POLLUTION, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE EMERGENCE OF A DOMINEERING WORLD WATER CARTEL. INCLUDES A LOOK AT PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS PROVIDING PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE WATER CRISIS AND THOSE DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL AND ECONOMIC TURNAROUND.
— PRODUCER STARR: FOUNDED THE ONLINE VIDEO-SHARING MEDIA NETWORK REVVER.COM, ALSO A WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER OF AWARD-WINNING INDEPENDENT FILMS.
9. “RED GOLD”
DIRECTOR: TRAVIS RUMMEL AND BEN KNIGHT
RUNNING TIME: 55 MIN., YEAR: 2008
SYNOPSIS: A FILM ABOUT THE PROPOSED PEBBLE MINE TOLD THROUGH THE UNIQUE AND DISPARATE VOICES OF COMMERCIAL, SUBSISTENCE AND SPORT FISHERMAN OF BRISTOL BAY, ALASKA THAT DOCUMENTS THE TENSION BETWEEN MINE OFFICIALS–WHO SAY THEY WILL BUILD A “CLEAN” MINE THAT WILL LEAVE THE SALMON’S HABITAT UNTOUCHED–AND LOCAL FISHERMAN WHO OPPOSE THE PROJECT.
— DIRECTORS RUMMEL AND KNIGHT: BOTH ARE ENVIRONMENTALISTS WHO BELIEVE IN UTILIZING FILM TO RAISE AWARENESS AND TO BE VEHICLES FOR CHANGE.
10. “A MAN NAMED PEARL”
DIRECTORS: SCOTT GALLOWAY AND BRENT PIERSON
RUNNING TIME: 78 MIN., YEAR: 2008
SYNOPSIS: A BIGOTED REMARK MADE IN 1976 DISSUADES PEARL FRYAR FROM MOVING INTO A WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD. TOLD THAT “BLACK PEOPLE DON’T KEEP UP THEIR YARDS,” PEARL CREATES AN EXTRAORDINARY TOPIARY GARDEN, WHICH RECEIVES OVER 5,000 VISITORS A YEAR.
— DIRECTOR GALLOWAY: HAS PRODUCED MORE THAN 650 TELEVISION PROGRAMS FOR NETWORKS INCLUDING ABC, A&E, COURT TV, ESPN, FOOD NETWORK, HGTV, HISTORY CHANNEL AND THE TRAVEL CHANNEL. HE HAS WON AN EMMY, A NEW YORK FILM AND
TELEVISION AWARD AND MORE THAN TWENTY TELLY AWARDS.
— DIRECTOR PIERSON: HAS PRODUCED AND WRITTEN DOCUMENTARY FEATURES AND TELEVISION PROGRAMS FOR A&E, DISCOVERY CHANNEL, HISTORY CHANNEL, NBC, PBS, UNIVERSAL-MCA AND OTHERS.
Limitless Cinema in Broken English 
