This is reportedly a scene from a film, “Magadheera,” that cost $7 Million, the most any Tollywood film has ever cost. It’s extremely awesome.

(Via TDW)

The feature documentary “Destiny Hills” by my friend Leeor Kaufman produced for Channel 8. A great example of what a one man crew can do.

http://leeorkaufman.com/

The language of film is universal and the nature of creating film is incredibly collaborative—which is what draws me to the medium in so many ways. I created Zeila Films  in an attempt to bridge cultures, communities and perspectives through my art and as a new member of the D7 Squad– I love the idea of sharing our love of film and media with even greater audiences. I also appreciate the diversity represented in the various skill sets and interests of my fellow D7 Squad members which will only enhance our future endeavors. As a filmmaker, I love being exposed to new ideas, concepts and different ways of storytelling. One film that needs no translation and underscores the power of visual storytelling is the lyrical and beautiful film Alamar directed by Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio. Alamar blurs the lines between fiction and documentary and the cinematography is absolutely stunning. If you have an opportunity to see it, go! 

*** VIEW THE CAMPAIGN HERE ***

As if her print campaign for Calvin Klein Envy wasn’t sexy enough, Zoe Saldana is now uncovering even more of herself in the steamy new commercials for the iconic brand! In three unique mini-films shot by Mikael Jansson, the sultry actress is featured in conversational moments of undress as she reveals little known details about herself. Not only is Saldana the star of the sizzling videos, but she also had a hand in writing each script. Zoe’s new commercials for Calvin Klein Envy will debut on cable television in the U.S. just before Sunday’s 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. — Andrea DeSimone

(VIA People Mag Onine)

I recently watched Standard Operating Procedures on DVD. The documentary is about the military scandal at Abu Ghraib. Director Errol Morris uses interviews, re-enactments and of course photographs to effectively tell the story. It’s informative, shocking, appalling and definitely worth seeing. I also checked out the DVD extras (I love extras). They included a deleted scene with one particular soldier who, when watching the documentary, I thought he was a bit arrogant and unremorseful. However, after watching this deleted scene I totally changed my opinion. He now seemed sympathetic. This got me thinking about Truth in documentaries. As fair and unbiased as the director may try to be, his/her choices (which take, what questions to ask, who to include etc, etc) ultimately shape the tone/truth of the documentary. I don’t know why Errol Morris choose not to use this clip, maybe he didn’t deem it important to the story or maybe the lighting was just bad – either way, for me it illustrates the power of perception and the awesome responsibility to truth that documentarians (should) bear. Ah, but whose version of truth?

Here’s a link to Errol Morris discussing the doc, truth and storytelling recovering_reality.php

Tierra madre from Dylan Verrechia on Vimeo.

The Oldenburg Film Festival in Germany just invited me to present “Tierra Madre” from the 15-19 of September. This feature film is based on the true story of a woman determined to raise her children with her female partner in Tijuana, Mexico. Since its completion in March, it was an official selection to sixteen film festivals, has won four awards, and is now nominated for the Diversity Award at the Barcelona Film Festival. Not bad for a film shot in Spanish with a one man crew and $2,000… Note to self: – Don’t wait for it to happen, keep shooting, and telling stories about real characters.

http://tierramadrefilm.com/

K.Flay Live from K.Flay on Vimeo.

So I love, love, love music – everything from classical to hip hop.  I especially love discovering a new artist on the rise. Check her flow at the end – sick. She has an upcoming date opening for B.O.B. and is touring with 3OH!3.  www.kflay.com

I saw a Swedish film 2 months ago called “Let The Right One In” and I’ve barely been able to stop talking about it – it was one of those movie experiences that had me telling everyone to watch it asap – I mean it’s on Netflix Instant, you’ve got no excuses. It won best foreign language film at a number of festivals in 2008 when it came out but commercially wasn’t nearly as successful as it should’ve been. This was of course for one reason; it was minimally distributed because it was an Independent foreign-language film. This is not a genre notorious for killing at the box office in this country; who wants to have to read subtitles?

When I went to Inception for the second time (yes, I sweat Christopher Nolan), there was an instantly recognizable preview – an American remake called “Let Me In” directed by Matt Reeves of “Cloverfield” being released in theaters October 8th. An English version has the potential to be more commercially viable, but remakes of foreign films in general rarely live up to the originals. Yes, the production values will often be better and unknown foreign film actors will be replaced by recognizable American stars, but the remake rarely captures the soul the original. In this case even though the remake attempts to maintain an Indy movie aesthetic with a relatively low budget and no ‘name’ actors I’m still skeptical.

Check out the trailer of the original below and then do yourself a favor and watch it before you even consider the remake.

Check out the promo from my buddy Jameel Saleem’s upcoming indie feature “Exit Strategy”. Jameel’s been a guest on The Double Down Film Show twice already. Hear how he’s made it happen HERE.

Magic Hour is always classic, whether you’re on the east coast or it’s a Saturday evening on Main Street in Santa Monica, California. August 14, 2010. Shot on the Canon 7D.