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Life continues to unfold
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| (Tuesday, 05 January 2010) By CJTobias |
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As I write this I am feeling quite nostalgic, melancholy, confused, and many other numerous feelings one would feel after getting off the phone with his father, whom he hasn't spoken with in over 5 years and hasn't seen in over 10. I guess our past is a road to the future and the future is a window into the past. I look outside that window and I see my father, whom abandoned my mother, brother, and myself. It wasn't your classic case scenario where he went out for cigarettes and never came back. No it wasn't that at all. In fact it was a constant situation of here I am, now I'm not. A begrudgingly force of love and attention because he was a father and well I guess he couldn't bare the feeling of being a failure for long periods of time. His feeling would dissipate and the only thing left for our family was a memory of him. He wasn't a terrible father.He was however an alcoholic, womanizer, and a workaholic. When he was around, the guy wasn't that bad. But as I got older I began to blame him for my circumstances in life. It was his fault that my brother was in prison. It was his fault that my mom was a transient and became mentally ill. And well my path in life was only a derivative of my brothers path. I wound up in Jail at the age of 17. I was the only 17 year-old surrounded around lifers, killers, and racist convicts. With all that said I am here today standing as a human-being who is dedicated to the art of making a film. I wonder if I would have been inspired to tell stories If I hadn't walked down the path I chose. Or if my father hadn't made the mistakes he made. I guess that is why I have searched for him on the internet for the past 5 years. He made mistakes and I myself have made plenty of those. We all deserve a second chance, right? I wanted to give him a chance to defend himself. I wanted to see if he was alive or dead. Yesterday, after finally getting a good lead I obtained his phone number and I spoke with him. I must say it was difficult to get passed the feeling that I was talking to a stranger. Even after I spoke with him and we discussed what we had been up to, I really don't know how I should feel. I'm not sure if I can get passed the feeling that he had abandoned his family. As it stands now, he lives in Washington and I live in Los Angeles. I am not sure If I will see him anytime soon. In fact, I'm not sure if it was better for me to contact him. Was it better for me that I was living as if he didn't exist anymore, out of sight, out of mind? This situation as yet to resolve itself. But digressing back to our inspiration for telling stories. I guess this is why most of us get into filmmaking, is to tell a story. Many say you can't tell a story unless you have had some life experience. Well, I have plenty of that. So I guess i'm good for another 10 years. But in the mean time I will continue to write from the heart and to make films from the heart. In the end that is all we want. Sometimes we get lost in the fray, but when we look out that window into the past we want to be remembered as someone who put his heart into his work. That no matter what obstacles we faced, there is an endless road in front of us, waiting for us to mark our shoe print in it's path. I just finished school and I am taking a few months off and will be writing my second featured screenplay. I wish to thank Mary-Lou and everybody who keeps thereelshow going. All of my circle, you know who you are and the many filmmakers who upload their stories to this website
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Me, Myself and Ranga
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| (Saturday, 12 December 2009) By rsprasanna |
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"Ranga Plays a Girl" is up in competition for the "All Winners Fest" and I thought I would take this opportunity to speak a little about what Ranga means to me and what i am upto as a filmmaker right now.
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Ranga has been good to me. He has helped me a lot in the last one year.
I met Ranga one day in a restaurant when I had one of those panic
attacks, called 'Deadline Fast Approaching, and No Idea in Place'.
A
week to go for my thesis film script submission deadline and here I was
whining at a family dinner at a cosy lil restaurant round the corner
from home. My bro, as always, turned saviour. He mentioned this Tamil
novella that was a family favourite. He narrated a particular story,
which I had last heard read out by my dad years ago. As he spoke,
forgotten images reappeared in my mind. In the hurry to grow up, I had
forgotten this childhood bed time story. It was a wake up call right in
time.
I hoped my audience would long for the nostalgia of such a
story. I did, at the least. Where even villains were cute and lovable,
and the biggest angst of the protaganist was that he had to play a girl
in a village play, to be watched by a sparse crowd of 30 men, if at all!
As I dug into my sambar idli (a south Indian delicacy) with gusto, I realised Ranga could possibly save me.
And he did.
The
film went on to win the "Best Film and Director" award at the
Graduation ceremony of my film school (L V Prasad) and I received the
honor from the hands of Oscar winner A R Rahman. I can never forget how
he laughed at all the right places in the film, while I watched him
nervously, my heart in my throat!
It was thanks to that film
that I travelled to many film festivals (including The Delhi
International Fest), and was invited to the Pusan Film Festival's
Fellowship program. I also landed a job as a screenwriter in Bollywood,
and had the good fortune of working with the legendary filmmaker
Santosh Sivan (his film 'The Terrorist' made it to Roger Ebert's 100
Must See films). All this in the span of a year.
Now I have
turned media entrepreneur, with plans to make a subtle change to the
way internatioal film collaboration can be realised in India. Thanks to
my invitation to Berlinale and Pusan, I have had a remarkable learning
curve where I have become even more confident that cinema is universal
and we can all collaborate in creating a global cinema, using the
latest cutting-edge tools of remote communication.
In 2008, my
film 'ART' fetched me Best Indian Filmmaker Award from Reelshow, and
now 'Ranga Plays a Girl' is up in competition with the best student
films. May the Best film win. :)
I take this opportunity to
thank Reelshow and all my fellow filmmakers. Cinema unites. It connects
and elevates. And in these times of global warming and Human Coldness,
I think cinema can be the binding glue for humainty.
From me, my team, and Ranga, a very Happy, peaceful and Cinema-filled New year to you all!
PS:
As I write this, I am 3500 feet above mean sea level, close to the
Himalayas, India. I am honeymooning with the love of my life. (Yes, we
got married last week). Ranga has played a part in that too. But that's
a story rserved for later. If and when Ranga takes the bow :)
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Vincenzo Cosentino
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| (Monday, 07 December 2009) By cusenza |
| Hi to everyone, here is Vincenzo Cosentino. Finalist with the film The Old Dog. I am very happy about how this website gave me the chance to see that we are not "alone". That filmmakers are supported from people who believe in us. Sometimes it is really hard to rise up a film and it is even harder to have someone who believes in it. They did it rising up a website just for us with thousands of movies. A place where we can share what we think and see different style of filmmaking and people. They asked me to say what I am up to now. I am working on my first feature film, self produced with all the money I have got. 10.000 euros. I know it is not that much but it is all I have and I will make it happen. I wish that anyone of us can make it through, we deserve it just for the goddamn effort we make into it. ;-) I leave you the website so if you have time you can check it out: www.beinghandy.net |
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Fantastic days.
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| (Thursday, 02 July 2009) By Esses |
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Fantastic days.
I have risen on feet. Has opened eyes and has seen the new world which has made me happy.
In each second there is a set of bright and unforgettable shots. This happiness which to be inside. I love this sensation!!!
You know?! My life to become more interestingly when you come to me again and again. Please, do not forget me...
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Dopahar (Afternoon)
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| (Tuesday, 19 May 2009) By simplysid |
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Posting a link to a teaser trailer to my graduation film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcVwQvCg800
Find more information about the film here...
http://www.dopaharproductiondiary.blogspot.com/
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