Congratulations are in order. SEMBENE! , the locally produced documentary about leading African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène, was selected to take part last week in the prestigious Tribeca All Access Program. The program is part of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. SEMBENE! is directed by Samba Gadjigo and Santa Fe filmmaker Jason Silverman. The film was one of only 20 selected as part of this year’s All Access Program, which was created to “cultivate relationships between filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities and film industry executives.” SEMBENE! is a work in progress. The filmmakers hope to have it completed by 2011.
Reel World: More Kudos More Kudos
In other film fest news, the locally made coming-of-age drama Becoming Eduardo captured both Best New Mexican Film and Audience Choice Award at the recent White Sands International Film Festival down in Las Cruces. Congrats to director Rod McCall, his cast and crew. For more info on the film (including a trailer), log on to becomingeduardomovie.com.
Reel World: The Horror, The Horror! The Horror, The Horror!
Do you like to scare people? Starting Friday, May 7, Albuquerque will host an amazing three-day Horror Film Boot Camp. Aspiring filmmakers from all over the country will be there to absorb a lifetime of tips from experienced, working directors, producers and others. Among the instructors is writer and director Darren Lynn Bousman ( Saw II , III and I;, Repo! The Genetic Opera ; the upcoming remake of Mother’s Day ). Spooky Dan Walker has worked as a visual effects artist on more than 50 TV and film projects (including Final Destination 2 and 3 ). Michael Emanuel is a successful commercial, TV and film actor who’s produced a number of horror films ( Lucky, The Uninvited, Maneater ). Kurly Tlapoyawa is a local actor ( Gimme Skelter ), stuntman ( Gamer ) and writer (and sometimes Alibi film section contributor) who co-authored Direct Your Own Damn Movie! with the legendary Lloyd Kaufman of Troma Entertainment. Altogether, they’ll give you the down-and-dirty, hands-on info you need to move from pre- to post-production. The entire event is being organized and moderated by Lee Stranahan, a visual effects artist and columnist for the Huffington Post. While early registration is closed, Stranahan has agreed to extend a special low rate to all New Mexicans interested in signing up for the weekend of lectures, workshops and film shoots. For all the frightful info, log on to horrorfilmbootcamp.com.
