Sign up for our
monthly Communiqué
e-mail newsletter!
E-mail:  



CR's First Original Feature Film 'Je Ne Sais Quoi' Set to Screen at Minneapolis Underground Film Festival August 31, 2008


Photo by Brandy Sadovnikova

The film follows up its successful June run at the Ritz Theater with this screening at the first annual Minneapolis Underground Film Festival which runs August 29-31 at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. "Je Ne Sais Quoi" is set to screen at 7:00 PM in Auditorium A on Sunday August 31. This may be the last local screening for a while, so don't miss your chance to see the film on the big screen.

The film is a story of the mysterious force that fuels attraction and desire, success and vitality: that elusive 'je ne sais quoi'. Some have it, some don't, and Paul, an unpredictable loner, falls into the latter category. A frustrated creative living a dead end life, Paul is at odds with everything in his environment and with himself. When he reaches out to Anna, a seemingly kindred spirit who lives across the hall, could things be changing for him? With a distinctive sharp wit and visual expression, the film explores the complexities of 21st century relationships and the fine line between acceptance of others and settling for less.

The film is inspired by diverse works, such as Mike Leigh's 'Naked', Eric Rohmer's 'Six Moral Tales', Jean Eustache's 'The Mother and the Whore' and Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Nobody Knows'. Written and directed by first-time feature director John Koch, the film also features the talents of two individuals who are award-winning filmmakers in their own right. Lead actor Dave Andrae, who plays the role of Paul, won the 'Best Experimental Film' award at the 8th Boston Underground Film Festival, and also participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus at the Berlin Film Festival in 2006. Greg Yolen, the film's cinematographer, won a Kodak Vision Award at Slamdance for his camera work on the award winning train-hopping documentary 'Long Gone'. The film is shot on DVCPRO50 video, and features an unconventional visual style, experimenting with color, selective focus, and unorthodox framing and editing.


View the Trailer

"Je Ne Sais Quoi" Official Site


Dance Film Project Venue/Dates Announced

The Cinema Revolution Dance Film screenings and performances have been confirmed for Intermedia Arts in the theater, showing on two nights, Friday December 12 and Saturday December 13 at 7 PM. The same show will repeat n both nights.

The organizational meeting took place at Intermedia Arts in April, and we have 10 confirmed collaborations underway. Here are some notes from the meeting:

Thanks to everyone for their enthusiastic response to my call for collaborators for the CR Dance Film Project.  The response has been tremendous, I am very excited about it, and I feel we all have the potential to make some great work together.

To summarize my ideas for the project, I would like it to consist of a series of short films of dance which is choreographed for the camera.  The impetus behind creating the project is to explore the expressiveness of dance cinematically rather than merely filming a performance, and in order to keep the pieces consistent it is important that we share the same intentions.  Other than keeping those creative parameters in mind, the rest is all up to the participants.  I would also like to have one extended live performance that incorporates film/video to follow the short films.  


Overview:
This project aims to combine both dance and film in order to examine how the two media use or interpret time. Dance is tied to the linear where as film is not, thus we are trying to find a way to make dance untied to the linear by considering it in conjunction with film and exploring the expanded possibilities of how time can move through a dance.

Here is the Tarkovsky quote that I read aloud - for your reference (from the book Sculpting in Time):

"If one compares cinema with such time-based arts as, say, ballet or music, cinema stands out as giving time visible, real form. Once recorded on film, the phenomenon is there, given and immutable, even when the time is intensely subjective....A piece of music can be played in different ways, can last for varying lengths of time. Here time is simply a condition of certain cause and effects set out in a given order; it has an abstract, philosophical character. Cinema on the other hand is able to record time in outward and visible signs, recognizable to the feelings. And so time becomes the very foundation of cinema; as sound is to music, color in painting, character in drama."

Deadlines:
There is an open call for proposals and the finished work is due at Cinema Revolution by the end of the day November 1, 2008. Projects should be submitted via MiniDV cassette or on a data DVD. Due to the fact that the films need to be compiled into one piece, submissions on DVD video cannot be accepted.

Project Guidelines:
- The projects themselves should be short films capturing dance performance that is choreographed for the camera. Keep in mind, this is not meant to be merely a recording or documentary of a live performance, but rather the task is for each group to consider combining the two mediums in a new and unique way.
- Each film project should be no more than five minutes in length.
- The completed individual films will be played together as one piece at the event in October. The pieces will be played as an omnibus film, and will be followed by a live dance performance which will likely be as long as all of the short films combined.
- Live performance accompaniment with the short films is acceptable (i.e. live dance performances with video or film playing simultaneously).
-Stop motion is also acceptable.

For more information contact john(atsymbol)cinemarevolution.com



CR's Next Feature Film 'The Seducer' in Pre-Production
I am in the process of finishing writing our next feature called "The Seducer" which will begin production in November. Think of it as Dostoyevsky meets Brecht. I can't say too much more about it at this time, but that it picks up on similar themes in "Je Ne Sais Quoi" and delves ever deeper into the study of human relationships. The film will feature actors Jon Ferguson, Zach Humes, Betsy Hieb and Victoria Nohl. Any actors out there can still feel free to drop off head shots/resumes for other roles.