film
No Festival Required Celebrates 10 Years
Posted on 6/13/12 by Christina O'Haver » No Comments
No Festival Required founder Steve Weiss. Photo by Anthony Sandoval
Steve Weiss took out his yellow highlighter.
The local resident and film programmer was preparing to show an independent documentary at the Phoenix Art Museum and was marking up the resumé of Los Angeles filmmaker, Andrea Kreuzhage.
He wanted to mention some of her most significant projects to the audience during his introduction to her piece, “1000 Journals,” but he realized he was highlighting almost all of them. Unable to choose from the impressive list of experience, he asked Kreuzhage what he should talk about.
“I don’t want you to mention any of that,” she replied. “If you want to say anything, say that I sold my house to make this film.”
“That’s why I like independent films,” Weiss explains as he tells the story that has stuck with him for the last three years.
Weiss’s Phoenix-based, one-man film programming company, No Festival Required, is turning a decade old this year – a milestone he’s amazed by.
“It was a total crapshoot 10 years ago,” he says.
The idea developed out of his and the film community’s discontent with the traditional process of film festivals, which Weiss says rarely includes explaining to filmmakers why their pieces aren’t selected and often includes charging such filmmakers the same entry fee as those who receive slots in the festivals.
Weiss came across filmmakers in search of other avenues for presenting their short films and, in 2002, he began forming “the anti-festival.”
In June of that year, Weiss and former Modified Arts booker Leslie Barton threw up a sheet at the gallery and performance venue and waited to see if anyone would show up to watch the approximately 60 minutes of content Weiss had gathered. After seeing a decent turnout, Weiss and Barton deemed the inaugural show a success and decided to continue it. They played more than 600 short films in 50 screenings over a period of five and a half years.
While still screening regularly at Modified Arts, Weiss began showing movies at other venues. His first show outside of NFR’s Roosevelt Row home occurred at the Phoenix Art Museum in February 2004 and consisted of a compilation of what he considered to be the best short films from the screenings at Modified Arts.
In 2010, Weiss heard about FilmBar, a independent movie theater-slash-bar, slated to open in Downtown Phoenix. He approached owner Kelly Aubey about getting involved, and after assisting with six months of pre-planning, Weiss spent six more programming for the space until his departure in August 2011.
Weiss has learned over the years that bringing a film to an audience is much easier than bringing an audience to a film.
While screening at one location, Weiss had to attract people who were willing to see a flick that they knew nothing about and maybe wouldn’t even relate to. But showing movies at various locations allows him to present a broader range of work and attract viewers who actually have an interest in the specific content of the films.
He says his Building Communities Cinema series, which includes films about improving the livability of cities, attracts many Downtowners and arts advocates.
Weiss’s predictions for the future of NFR include continuing to work with many different venues and individuals, becoming more involved in the film distribution process to help filmmakers promote and sell their films, and maybe even bringing shows to small towns interested in creating art house, documentary and independent film environments.
Weiss enjoys gathering the community around uncommon cinema and championing filmmakers’ good works.
“There are a few films that I’ve screened and re-screened because I just think if the whole world hasn’t seen these films, I’m just going to show them again and again until just one person is left in the theater,” he says.
For Weiss, one of the biggest benefits of working with independent films is developing close connections with filmmakers like Kreuzhage, whose “1000 Journals” documentary he has screened twice.
“For the viewer, I think it’s knowing that people really put their hearts into these things,” he says.
Upcoming Shows
Film: “Trimpin: The Sound of Invention”
Filmmaker: Peter Esmonde
Date: Thursday, June 14, 2012
Time: 7:30 p.m. (Doors open at 7 p.m.)
Where: SMoCA Lounge, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Admission: $7
Synopsis: “A documentary feature profiling the life and work of a highly creative and somewhat eccentric artist/inventor/engineer/composer. The artist Trimpin generally shuns publicity, yet he has received a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and many other international accolades for his outrageous musical investigations.” Learn more
Film: “Two Americans”
Filmmakers: Dan De Vivo and Valeria Fernández
Date: Monday, June 18, 2012
Time: 7 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
Where: 3rd Street Theater, Phoenix Center for the Arts
Admission: $6
Synopsis: “The life of a 9-year old child is forever changed when ‘America’s Toughest Sheriff’ arrests her Mexican parents for working at a local carwash. Fighting to rescue her parents from deportation, Katherine Figueroa becomes the poster child of a movement to oust Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio from office. Exposed by the media, Kathy’s family is challenged to overcome their fear of living in Arizona. But when Sheriff Joe uses his power to retaliate against the County Board, it’s the legality of his actions that is questioned. Now the Sheriff’s fate hangs in the balance of an FBI criminal probe.” Learn more
From the Wire | FilmBar Announces New Programming Line-Up
Posted on 11/08/11 by DPJ Staff » No Comments
(From the Wire includes press releases received from reliable sources that help tell the story of the many happenings in Greater Downtown Phoenix. Yep, they are ripped from our inbox.)
Photo by Ryan A. Ruiz
FilmBar, Downtown Phoenix’s premiere indie movie house and lounge, is excited to announce a new film programming line-up which will add consistency and variety for area film buffs and performing art lovers. Utilizing the digital technology network of Emerging Pictures, FilmBar will offer a wider variety of films, as well as live performing art events such as works from London’s Royal Opera House and Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet.
FilmBar owner, Kelly Aubey says, “As a 70 seat, single screen theater, I have struggled to offer the wide variety of films I had envisioned to our diverse customer base, while keeping our ticket pricing affordable. The Emerging Pictures’ technology allows me to do just that, and I’m thrilled to be able to bring the highest quality live performing arts events from all over the world to Downtown Phoenix.”
FilmBar will be available for rentals and special events on Monday evenings, Tuesday nights will feature a different documentary each week – with standup comedy following, Wednesday will feature classic films, Thursday night will be cult-ish film night, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday will showcase new releases. FilmBar will also continue to be available for daytime weekday rental, as well as bringing in a variety of dj’s to the lounge and play host to various late-night events and performances in the theater.
About FilmBar: FilmBar which opened in February 2011, is a 21+ beer/wine lounge with over 30 different craft beers, 15 different wines and a separate, sound-proof room dedicated to screening new, classic, cult and local independent films in a micro-cinema setting, with seventy comfy seats.
About Emerging Pictures: Emerging Pictures is the largest all-digital Specialty Film and Alternate Content theater network in the United States. Emerging has a network of arts institutions, media arts centers and independent art house theaters, tied together through digital technology – enabling them to cost effectively exhibit art films, documentaries, foreign language films, independent cinema and cultural programming.
For more information visit: thefilmbarphx.com and http://www.emergingpictures.com
The Living Dead Invade First Friday in Search of… Stuff?
Posted on 10/02/09 by Greg Humphrey » No Comments
Zombies will be lurching through Roosevelt Row
The living dead are invading First Friday, but fear not, they won’t be there looking for brains. No, instead of brains, these reanimated corpses will be on the hunt for random items in the Second Annual First Friday Zombie Scavenger Hunt. Presented by the upcoming International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival, the event will be kicking off with a zombie walk starting at the Arizona Ghostbusters (exactly what it sounds like) booth located a 501 E. Roosevelt St. The walk will end at the film festival’s booth, and from there the scavenger hunt will take place with teams of four trying to find as many items on their list as they can. Their hunt will end at the Alwun House, where all contestants will receive free entry to the premiere of Blood Bath of the Bat Beast that night. More details and entry forms can be found at the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival site.
Heard Museum to Host ‘Movie Mondays’ Again This Week
Posted on 8/15/09 by Christina O'Haver » No Comments
On Monday, August 17 at 1:30 p.m., head over to the Heard Museum for another great film, part of the museum’s weekly Movie Mondays program.
The museum will show Our Nationhood. Canadian First Nation filmmaker and artist Alanis Obomsawin chronicles the determination and tenacity of the Listuguj Mi’gmaq people to use and manage the natural resources of their traditional lands.
The Heard Museum is located at 2301 N. Central Ave. Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors age 65 or older, $5 for students with a valid student ID and $3 for children ages 6 to 12. Children under 6, Heard Museum members and American Indians receive free admission.
For more information, call 602.252.8848 or visit www.heard.org.
Heard Museum Brings Fun Indoors With ‘Movie Mondays’
Posted on 8/08/09 by Christina O'Haver » No Comments
If you haven’t yet, it’s time to check out Movie Mondays at the Heard Museum.
On Monday, August 10 at 1:30 p.m., the museum will be showing Waterbuster, a 2006 documentary chronicling the dislocation and relocation of the Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara Nation of North Dakota due to a dam that inundated their homeland along the banks of the Missouri River. The 79-minute film is also the personal story of the director’s family, whose life choices were influenced by this powerful reshaping of the landscape.
The Heard Museum is located at 2301 N. Central Ave. Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors age 65 or older, $5 for students with a valid student ID and $3 for children ages 6 to 12. Children under 6, Heard Museum members and American Indians receive free admission.
For more information, call 602.252.8848 or visit www.heard.org
