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A PERFECT WORLD: Kristine Heykants Evan Baden Jan 22-March 20 Click Here

Paul von Stoetzel's feature documentary SCRAP, about the two eccentric builders Jim Bishop and Tom Every, will be premiering April at The 12th Wisconsin Film Festival. He also recently won 3 Awards at EgoFest for his two newest short films; MY FRIEND ROOT ROT won Best Documentary and DINNER DATE won Best Horror Film and Best Direction for the 2010 EgoFest Film Festival.

Also, Paul von Stoetzel and his talented cast and crew have just completed principle photography for the interiors for his most recent H.P. Lovecraft film adaptation THE CURSE OF YIG which has been featured in MinnesotaPlaylist as a part of Craig VanDerSchaegen's photo essay. He will also direct Theatre of the Cheshire Cat's DETOUR as its inaugural production at the Bryant Lake Bowl Fridays: March 12, 19, and 26 and Saturdays: March 6 & 27. Based on the 1945 film noir classic, DETOUR is the story of New York nightclub pianist Al Roberts, who hitchhikes to Hollywood to join his girl Sue. Along the way, the sleazy gambler he's riding with mysteriously dies. Afraid of the police, Roberts takes on the man's identity, but thanks to a blackmailing dame, Roberts' every move plunges him deeper into trouble.

IFP out of state member Amee Resnik, also known as "Amelah," just returned from the Beloit International Film Festival where her first feature-length documentary film, The Flowers of Madison screened to a sold out crowd. The Flowers of Madison was a finalist for Best Documentary, and was listed on the festival Executive Director and Programmer's Top Ten list at BIFF.  The Flowers of Madison has screened at the Orlando Hispanic Film Festival, Gig Harbor Film Festival, Red Rock Film Festival, Beloit International Film Festival, Carnegie Mellon University, and is heading to the New Hope Film Festival next. This film has strong IFP ties, Maria Tototzintle, Matt Ehling/ETS, Dawn S., Buzz Cutz, Doc Club, and the final score in the film was inspired by the great DocClub founder Melody Gilbert.  www.theflowersofmadison.com

Eric Howell's Ana's Playground will be playing at the Nobel Peace Prize Festival at Augsburg College's Melby Hal, Saturday March 6th @ 3:15pm ($10 for screening and closing ceremonies on Saturday) and WIFTI Short Film Showcase at Walker Film Center, Sunday March 14th @ 1pm ($8/$6 for Walker and WIFTI members). The film is a narrative piece about war-affected children and it our mission to raise awareness about their plight and the organizations that are working to help change their lives.

Back in the Twin Cities by Popular Demand: Dawn Mikkelson's The Red Tail at The Riverview . . . ONE NIGHT ONLY!
After a year of touring international film festivals from Ireland to Germany and a sold-out screening at the 2009 Minneapolis/ St. Paul International Film Festival -- The Red Tail will play for one night only on the big screen on February 24, 2010, 7:00pm at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis.

"The aftershocks of Northwest Airlines' labor disaster are still being felt in the Twin Cities. We are honored to share The Red Tail once again with the community most directly impacted by this story," says Director Melissa Koch, (Koch partnered with Director Mikkelson on this film). See film Official Trailer at http://www.redtailmovie.com/page15/trailer.html

IFP member and producer Jan Selby, co-owner of Darn Good Documentaries, is pleased to announce that her directorial-debut film, A CIRCLE AND THREE LINES, is an official selection at six film festivals: Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Peace on Earth Film Festival, Big Muddy Film Festival, Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, Sundial Film Festival, and Heart of Gold International Film Festival. A CIRCLE AND THREE LINES was originally created for the MN Historical Society’s 1968 Project Film Competition in 2009 where Jan won the Emerging Filmmaker award. This short doc follows the history of the peace symbol from England in the 1950’s through its commercialization today. While in Montana for Big Sky, Jan will begin production on her second peace symbol documentary. For more information, visit www.acircleandthreelines.com or write to janselby@mac.com.

Note from Jan: "IFP has provided amazing support for this project! FCP editing classes with Paul Bernhardt have been great. The staff has been available when needed. The crew includes fellow IFP members Melody Gilbert (Documentary Muse) and Kevin McKeever (Technical Advisor). Pixel Farm, Channel Z, and The ADS Group have been great partners, too. Thank you to everyone!"

Sam Thompson announces the Living Arrangements DVD Release & Werewolf Prevention Video Series Release: Living Arrangements is now available on DVD only from www.LivingArrangementsMovie.com. Living Arrangements is about a vegan couple Sasha and Billie who move into a new apartment and find a werewolf living in their attic. Starring Joe Noreen, Alexandra Glad and Mark Borchardt. Featuring Original Music by Mark Mallman. Order now and receive your DVD in a promotional meat-tray! Featuring Music by: A Paper Cup Band, Best Friends Forever, CVS Trio, Sleeping in the Aviary and T-Veno. "Sam Thompson's deadpan farce is as delicious as a sip of free-trade coffee, as ironic as a vintage t-shirt, and as zippy as a Prius. 3 out of 4 stars." -Colin Covert, Star Tribune

In conjunction with the DVD release, Astrix Home Video (a leading provider of instructional videos) has released its FREE video series, "Werewolf Prevention and Protection," hosted by David Jansen. Please see visit their blog and share this information with anyone you know who may have a werewolf living in their home. Thank you. www.WerewolfPreventionvideos.wordpress.com

Paul von Stoetzel and Brian Walstad disturbing short film DINNER DATE will have its local premiere at IFP's Cinema Lounge as a part of their Valentine's Day lineup. The film features Clarence Wethern and Heather Raiter.

Tom Maertz's Will Work for Food will screen at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis on February 11th at 7:00 pm. It is a feature documentary about homeless people and panhandling activity in Minnesota. Most motorists have seen these individuals standing by freeway exits and other areas asking for a handout. The film explores the lives and backgrounds of several
panhandlers and sign flyers through personal interviews and scenes of everyday survival. Admission is $7.00. Length: 96 minutes. The trailer can be viewed at www.myspace.com/ww4fmovie

After a year of touring international film festivals from Ireland to Germany and a sold-out screening at the 2009 Minneapolis/ St. Paul International Film Festival, Dawn Mikkelson and Melissa Koch's The Red Tail will play for one night only on the big screen on February 24, 2010, 7:00pm at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis. This past year has been full of excitement for the film as it received international acclaim and is currently being distributed in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. According to Felim MacDermott, Festival Programmer for 2009 Galway Film Fleadh, "These are the days that a programmer is besieged by documentaries that explain the financial crisis that our world has found itself in. Your documentary [The Red Tail] managed to illustrate the effect greed has against communities, families and a man's dignity in such a wonderful manner, congratulations."

As the former hometown airline, Northwest Airlines, disappears in its merger with Delta, the stories of the lives left behind still linger. "The Red Tail will make sure that the stories and legacy of the workers are not forgotten," says Director Dawn Mikkelson. The documentary follows the airline mechanics from the picket line to the bread line as they lost their jobs to outsourcing. Koch and Mikkelson received unprecedented access in Hong Kong and Xiamen, China, two of the cities NWA mechanic jobs were outsourced to. Koch says, "The Red Tail becomes increasingly relevant in the context of this economy as more and more US workers lose jobs. The NWA mechanics story is powerful and cautionary, and begs the question, 'What can the average person do in the face of globalization and outsourcing?'  See film Official Trailer at http://www.redtailmovie.com/page15/trailer.html

Local filmmaker and IFP member Allen Keating-Moore's feature length silent film, Shut The Mouth, will screen at Fill In The Blank Gallery in Chicago, on February 26th. Shut The Mouth offers a fresh approach to filmmaking as a personal and philosophical discipline, rendering images as insights and music as an auditory fountain bursting with meaning. It's about a vow of silence, elusive philosophical realities, and the inner turmoil all of us will face in order to find our way forward. Shut The Mouth is a contemplative film, drawing the viewer into its depths while refusing easy answers. Click here for more info on the screening.

And, Shut The Mouth is being distributed by Cinemapraxis, a film label founded by Allen Keating-Moore and based out of Minneapolis. "Cinemapraxis is an independent film and video label. We support filmmakers who're doing something interesting and doing it with passion, outside the confines of both mainstream filmmaking efforts and the now mainstream indy-film world. We release DVDs along with other artwork(s) and things that seem worthwhile. We use biodegradable, environmentally sound packaging whenever possible. We do our best to compensate the artists while still keeping things affordable and we try to keep it real."

Check out Jon Springer's spoof of "The Shining" (Grain Belt Beer Ad) at the following link. You will be asked to rate the spot on a scale from 1 to 10. High score wins the contest. Here is the link.

Cole Kohler and Ben Krueger are finalists in Dorito's Crash the Super Bowl commercial contest. The top 3 commercials will air during Super Bowl XLVI on February 7th. Last year, amateurs turned the advertising world upside down when their Doritos commercial scored the number-one ranking of all Super Bowl commercials on the USA Today Ad Meter. They're excited about the possibility of repeating that win with their commercial. You can to vote for their commercial "Snack Attack Samurai." You can vote once a day and will be entered in a drawing to win 2 tickets to the Super Bowl each time.  To see their commericial, go to: http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/1786.

To kick-off the National Jewish Disability Awareness Month of February, Jewish Family and Children's Service of Minneapolis (JFCS) is sponsoring a FREE screening of Julie Rappaport's Autistic License, Sunday, January 31st. The screening will take place 3-4:30 with a discussion with author Stacey Dinner-Levin from 4:30-5:30 at the Minneapolis Sabes Jewish Community Center (4330 Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis). Space is limited, reservations are required. RSVP for your FREE tickets: inclusion@jfcsmpls. or call 952-542-4879.

Autistic License will also be broadcast on TPT at the end of April, 2010, as a feature for TPT's Autism Film Festival in honor of Autism Awareness Month. The MN State Dept of Education has pledged to endorse that all 316 school districts in the state consider utilizing Autistic License as a vehicle for awareness, and will encourage all other 49 states' Departments of Education to do the same.

Paul von Stoetzel is co-producing a film competition that will be going on late February in the Twin Cities. It's sponsored by Z Systems who deal in high end post production and rentals. The deal is that the script can be pre-written, up to 7 pages, and applications must be submitted by February 1st. You then have a week to produce the short (February 22nd to Feb 28th) and the films will be screened at the Oak Street Cinema March 6th and 7th. First Prize is $1,000. More info: http://www.zsyst.com/zfest/

Cole Kohler and Ben Krueger are finalists in Dorito's Crash the Super Bowl commercial contest. The top 3 commercials will air during Super Bowl XLVI on February 7th. Last year, amateurs turned the advertising world upside down when their Doritos commercial scored the number-one ranking of all Super Bowl commercials on the USA Today Ad Meter. They're excited about the possibility of repeating that win with their commercial. You can to vote for their commercial “Snack Attack Samurai.” You can vote once a day and will be entered in a drawing to win 2 tickets to the Super Bowl each time.  To see their commericial, go to: http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/1786.

Alec Soth has a new blog (littlebrownmushroom.wordpress.com/) and bookstore (littlebrownmushroom.com/).

From Troy LaFaye: NOMINATE TV-TV for a Streamy Award! Hey Fans! The Steamy Awards Public Submissions is now OPEN. Please submit Transylvania Television (or one of our cast or crew) for any of 35 different award nominations (we'd like to suggest: Best New Web Series or Best Animated Web Series - but YOU decide what we're best for!). The most submissions get the nomination. So please - Vote now! Vote Often! (limit 1 vote per IP address per day. You can make a submission at the link below, or on twitter or by sending an email to: submissions@streamys.org. Public Submission closes on January 15th, 2010! Don't delay! Oh, and tell your friends or we'll give you rabies. http://www.streamys.org/submit/public-submissions/

Linda Flanders was one of 3 contest winners for a recent PBS/NOVA open call video contest on "How We Become Human." The 3-minute video documentary is on their site and may be considered for showing as part of NOVA's Darwin series currently on PBS.

The production company Hammel/Ramaswamy LLP (featuring member Robert Hammel) announced that its Dance for Camera Short Film "Padam Vazhi: The Path Is Hidden" is an Official Selection of Danse Kamera Istanbul, the premier Dance Film Festival in Turkey. The screening at Danse Kamera Istanbul was the world premiere of this film.  It is scheduled to screen in Minneapolis at Bryant Lake Bowl on January 27th at Laurie Van Wieren's  9X22 Dance Showcase.

From Bill True: Runaway, my debut feature, will be released on Tuesday, December 8 on DVD. The film has been hailed as "Brilliant!" and "Unforgettable," and Variety said it will "keep you off balance 'till the bitter end." As you may recall, it premiered, in fact, to universal accolades at Tribeca, and went on to screen at other great fests, including Toronto, Vail, Woodstock, and Avignon. I was fortunate in the process to win the "Best Narrative Feature" writing award at the prestigious Austin Film Festival. I will be sending out more information as the release draws nearer. You can also check out my Facebook page, which I update frequently. A website, Facebook fan page, MySpace page, etc. is forthcoming. For now, here's an out take from an interview I did for the bonus features. Enjoy this sneak preview.

IFP Advisory Board member Melody Gilbert reports that two of her documentaries, A Life Without Pain and Whole, are now available for rental or purchase on iTunes. Both are featured under "New and Noteworthy." Two of her other films will become available on iTunes in the next couple of weeks. In other news ... Melody continues to screen her films around the world. Most recently, A Life Without Pain was broadcast on German television (RTL). She also recently screened Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and her film Fritz: The Walter Mondale Story screened to a packed house in Washington, D.C. with Mr. Mondale in attendance. Melody was also the "guest filmmaker" at the Big Water Film Festival recently where she showed clips from all six of her feature-length films and spoke about why and how she has made them. For more information about Melody's feature film production company, go to: www.frozenfeetfilms.com.

Ron Johnson's film America's Next Felon, starring Scott Jorgenson, Dan Quaile, Paul von Stoetzel, is making its premiere at The Minneapolis Underground Film Festival on Dec 6th.

Maxine Davis, Director of Telly winning "In the Shadow of the Acropolis," will be in New York City for the showing of her documentary, December 20, 2009. It is also being shown in Tornoto, November 9th, as part of the city's Holocaust Education Week.

From Bill Kruse: Dirty Country is Coming to DVD! Dirty Country, the outrageous documentary about profane music and most notably retired factory worker turned master of musical filth Larry Pierce, is coming to DVD on November 3rd! The unrated Director’s Cut DVD includes never before seen footage, a full Larry Pierce concert with i-tis, filmmaker commentary, a how-to video on playing “warshers”, and much more! Please do all you can to spread the word and help build buzz for this epic release. Add us to your cues on Netflix and Blockbuster Online. Become a fan on Facebook. And check out our official site for all the latest info! Thanks for your continued support!

Into Temptation is gaining on it! The one-market-at-a-time theatrical strategy of Writer/Director Patrick Coyle’s critically acclaimed indie hit, Into Temptation is working: two screens, $100,000 gross. Into Temptation premiered to sold-out audiences at The Newport Beach Film Festival this summer. Now, after a five week run in Minneapolis that included a four-week holdover and a six-week run in Omaha that included a five-week holdover, the film is headed for Chicago. The Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago has booked Into Temptation into its main theatre for a two week run beginning December 18th. Rob Nelson in Variety called it, “Intoxicating. Coyle strikes a nearperfect balance between humor and holiness.”

The Walker Art Center published a blog entry by Jon Thomas about creating the title sequence for the Coen Brothers' Intolerable Cruelty.  Read it here>

Upcoming Events:

McKnight Screenwriting and Filmmaking Fellows Show Their Work, March 3 and 10.

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The 2010 Spring Class Line-up Now Available Online!

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