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Posts Tagged ‘LAFF’

Winning Films :: The LA Film Festival 2009

Posted by Dana Kaminski on 28th June 2009 in awards

Today, The Winners Were Announced…

The L.A. Film Festival Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Cyrus Nowrasteh’s ‘The Stoning of Soraya M.’ This film was just released, his weekend.

It was a beautiful film, and brutal. I’ll write more about it, specifically, in a bit. I set up interviews with some of the actors, and the director, so stay posted for that…

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Documentary Award

The Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Jeffrey Levy-Hinte’s ‘Soul Power’. It’ll be in theaters on July 10th.

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Best International Film

Eva Norvind’s ‘Born Without’ won the Audience Award for Best International Feature.

Target Sponsored Two Prizes–To The Tune Of $50,000

The Target Filmmaker Narrative Award went to ‘Wah Do Dem’ (What They Do), by Sam Fleischner and Ben Chace.

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The Target Documentary Award was given to Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Hagerman’s ‘Those Who Remain’ (Los Que se Quedan).

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Hat tip to my friend, Jeffrey Wells, who has an industry blog called Hollywood-Elsewhere, (link) for the info about the LA Film Fest winners…

And a big bow, too…he allowed me to accompany him for much of the festival, he’s a film brain…

Reminder :: An Actor Is A Dignified Thing To Be

Posted by Dana Kaminski on 24th June 2009 in acting business

I thought that I would be able to blog throughout the LAFF, I do apologize.
…Just isn’t time.

I have quite a few informative posts, nearly ready to pub online; so next week should be a good time to look at Hollywood Actor Prep often. That’s a heads up.

For actors, the problems remain the same. I don’t forget this; as I watch more movies that I ever realized are made, each year. As I attend party after party, even with VIP access, or press advantages.

The different professional levels of actors create lives that are so extremely different: in earnings, in lifestyle, in objective regard from the world.

The three or four different categories of professional acting are so radically different; the general life experiences of them are planets apart.

Example:
I saw ‘Public Enemies’ last night and went to the after-party. I was downstairs, and I was upstairs. The downstairs area was enormous, and packed. The upstairs had a VIP
section, and a red rope that separated it from the Very-VIP section. I some spent time in all of them. [I can write about the party later.]

As I was about to leave, at the end of the evening…I saw a young guy, downstairs, who I met outside the actors panel last Sunday. I’ve met quite a few people, and he’s one I happen to bump into a bit more, here at the LA Film Fest.

Obviously, he had somehow wrangled his way into the party at the end. The security must’ve slackened a bit, because it was extremely tight on party-entry, and throughout.

This guy is handsome; a bit of a tinge of his own funky style. He seems bright. He’s been doggedly attending all the high level stuff, as far as intelligent offerings of the film fest.

He was resourceful enough to somehow get into the party. He and Johnny Depp, if placed side-by-side, would look like friends. Related, maybe.

More related, or connected, than anyone that I saw surrounding Johnny Depp upstairs. All the agents, and studio people, PR…

[Listen, I'm late, and I've got to get to a discussion group at the LAFF Lounge.]

Point is, real actors are a rare breed. And the contribution that actors make, and have always made, to our culture, and to every culture, every damn society…is just vital.

The art of acting, is immeasurable in terms of any value basis that we have.

And to those of us who are lucky enough to be actors; we experience an evolution of our own art form, inside ourselves that is so damn beautiful… That I do feel sorry that others don’t know that beauty inside, if they aren’t born to do it.

[I'm sure I'll edit this later. I am so pressed for time.]

To Johnny, your artistry and it’s ever-evolving, makes us all proud of the fact that we are artists. And it raises the bar. Often.

It keeps the art an art, in a business that would take it either way, and would easily distort or bastardize it. (And sometimes does. It can’t touch yours though.)

And to the other guy, in the specialness all your own, you probably will not read this, as I haven’t mentioned this blog. You don’t know this either: I am committed to making a diff in your life. And other actors like you.

Entry into the acting business remains too difficult; impossible actually, for the majority of beautifully talented people, passionate about their art form– of acting.

The professional actor, of low or middle range, thriving with talent, skill, and ability; has a tough time surviving in livlihood. Their families too.

I’ve said this before and I repeat again: Acting is a beautiful thing. An actor is a virtuous profession. It’s a valuable profession.

My mission is to make things better for actors, somehow, someway. We’ve got to get our society to jibe the respect for the profession. To support the profession, with respect, at all levels.

And we really need to create a way, for all the talent that can’t, to easily get in.

Best,
:~Dana

Please pass this respect around…

Friday Night At The LA Film Festival

Posted by Dana Kaminski on 19th June 2009 in Film acting movie actors

Okay, this is ver-ry cool.

There is a “Lounge”.  It actually is a store that the LA Film Festival took over, for the fest.

There’s a bar, with free drinks.  

And lots of mingling, and you need a press pass or some other kind of hanging tag around your neck to get in.

And get this:

A counter with some MacBook Pros to diddle with.

Here’s  some photos that I was unable to put up before, with my iphone to wordpress:

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So…

I’ve got a yummy vodka mojito (one of the only choices)–to which I had the ‘tender add some pineapple juice, um-hm…

…and some Twizzler’s licorice that he was cute enough to offer me when I complained about the Zones power  bars…

…and a Mac.

Gotta go, there’s an outdoor screening of”Ghostbusters”.

They closed off a street to put a blow-up screen. Could be coolio.

Stay tuned, huh?

;~Dana

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PS I am next to an actor showing his short film on Youtube.  I am going to watch it and then go see a film.  I’ll let you know on Twitter…

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