My Absence Is Noted

The last three weeks, and the coming two, are going to be quite insane.  I’ve been finishing up a second cut on a documentary that is screening in Beijing next week and I hop on a flight to China Friday evening with (I hope) all of the Quicktimes and SD DVDs ready for screening. The film, which was shot and edited in HD, using the Panasonic P2 technology — and edited in Avid (and looks absolutely amazing) deals with life around five international rivers — the Amazon, Danube, Ganges, Mississippi and the Rio Grande — and is a lyrical piece about people’s relationship to their surroundings.  I like it quite a bit, though it’s only in a second cut.  A lot of work.

The other thing that I’ve been doing is finishing up my book, THE LEAN FORWARD MOMENT, which will be coming out from Peachpit Press in December. Finalizing the sixty or more color stills, from movies such as THE GODFATHER, THE MATRIX, FINDING NEMO, three student films, two web series and more, has been sucking away a goodly portion of time as well. You can click on the book title and see a flyer about it, which also gives you a discount if you order ahead of time.  Buy early.  Buy often.

Finally, one other thing that I’ve decided to do (besides vote — absentee ballot, since I’ll be away — vote early and vote often) is to evangelize for a fantastic new film which is having a one week run out here in Los Angeles beginning November 7th.  It’s called CAPTAIN ABU RAED and is without a doubt one of the best films of this year.  It is Jordan’s first ever entry in the Foreign Film Oscar category.  It is a truly amazing story about an airport janitor who finds a captain’s hat one day, puts it on, and is convinced by the poor kids in his neighborhood to tell them stories of his “travels” as a pilot. I know that you think that every film coming from an Arab country has to be political, but this is political only in the sense that WALL-E is political. It is set in a world where the reality shapes the characters, but they live within the world without resorting to politics, because they simply are.

Many of us complain about the low quality of films in the theaters today and then don’t bother to support the films that elevate our experience when they ARE out there.  For those of you in the LA area, this is your chance to do something about it.  Go see the film at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills in the week that it’s there.  Support small films, made by independent filmmakers (the director, a Jordanian and American, graduated a year or two ago from AFI, and made the film for 2 million bucks) who have personal stories to tell.

Go do it people, and then I’ll see you when I emerge.