SELECTED FILMS:
harley
Harley is known in his community of Patterson, New Jersey for being a confident media sensation as a criminal defense attorney for big time criminals, and despite the real life drama he encounters daily in his professional life, it is no comparison to his personal life: as a fifty year old living at home with his mother, he spends most of his time shopping for his dream woman, a sex worker in Germany whom he visits once a month bearing gifts; his home is adorned with half-nude photos of himself which are not likely to draw her positive attention. For some reason, he decides the key to her heart will be proving his physical strength and prowess by entering and winning a Mixed Martial Arts competition in Brazil. Your feelings about Harley may be conflicted, but one thing's for sure- you won't be able to look away.
Director: Jean-Cosme Delaloye
Distributor: Andrew Herwitz / The Film Sales Company
Screenings: Tribeca Film Festival
THE UNDOCUMENTED LAWYER
Lizbeth Mateo is an attorney who swore to uphold the U.S. constitution, despite being undocumented herself. When a client takes sanctuary in a church to avoid deportation, Lizbeth’s own experience guides her fight for justice.
Directors: Zach Ingrasci & Chris Temple
Screenings: Tribeca Film Festival
116 CAMERAS
116 CAMERAS follows Eva Schloss, a Holocaust survivor and stepsister of Anne Frank, as she embarks on an ambitious new project: preserving her story as an interactive hologram that will have conversations with generations to come.
Director and Producer: Davina Pardo
Awards: Shortlisted for the Academy Awards, Florida Film Festival - Audience Favorite Short
Screenings: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Hot Docs, AFI DOCS, Montclair Film Festival, NY Times’ Op-Docs
THE PAWN
LA PRENDA is a film about two women fighting to end the climate of impunity in Guatemala, one of the world’s most violent countries. Karin Gramajo is a single mother of three whose life drastically changes when her teenage cousin Kelly is brutally kidnapped and murdered. Despite death threats, she studies to become a lawyer to help others fight for justice. Astrid Elias was kidnapped and raped at the age of 14. She flees to the U.S. where she overcomes her fear to speak out about her past, while facing deportation.
Director: Jean-Cosme Delaloye Producers: Francine Lusser and Gerard Monier - Tipimages Distributor: CAT & Docs
Awards: TRT Documentary Days Istanbul – Best Documentary, Havana Film Festival – Best Documentary, Festival Icaro – Best Documentary
Screenings: Hot Docs, Thessaloniki, Guadalajara International Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, Costa Rica International Film Festival, Human Rights Film Festival San Sebastian
“La Prenda is brutal to watch, but also fiercely resistant to despair.” -The Talon
“An exceptional testimony.” -Le Petit Journal de Mexico
FUREVER
A feature documentary about post-mortal pet preservation, and the dimensions of grief people experience over the loss of a pet.
Director: Amy Finkel Producer: Eliza Flug - Gaia Indie Films Distributor: PBS International
Awards: Brooklyn Film Festival - Best Documentary, Atlanta Docufest - Best Director, Feature Documentary, Nevada International Film Festival - Best Documentary, Las Vegas Film Festival – Best Feature Documentary, Kingston Film Festival – Best Documentary, iD Fest – Best Feature
Screenings: Hot Docs, DOXA, Seattle International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Salem Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, SF Indiefest
“Always thoughtful, sometimes absurd, and completely amazing...” -Film Threat
FUREVER was listed as one of the top ten films of 2013 by K.j. Doughton at Film Threat.
MINKA
MINKA is a short documentary about a remarkable Japanese farmhouse and the memories it contains. In 1967, an American journalist and a Japanese student rescued the ancient house from the snow country of Japan, and their lives were forever changed. A film about place and memory, a farmhouse in Japan, and the lives of the people who called it home.
Director and Producer: Davina Pardo
Awards: Cinema Eye Honors Nominee - Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking, IDA Awards Nominee - Best Documentary Short, Florida Film Festival - Grand Jury Award for Best Doc Short, Savannah Film Festival - Special Jury Award
Screenings: Aspen Shortsfest, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Hot Docs, True/False Film Festival, DOC NYC, Sheffield Doc/Fest, SILVERDOCS, Palm Springs ShortFest, DOK Leipzig, Seattle International Film Festival , Cleveland International Film Festival, The New York Times
“beautifully perfect…an amazing short film” -Movie Pie
*Read about the making of the film at NYTimes.com
THE CANVAS “LA TELA”
Art requires concentration, most of the times solitude. This condition is essential to the Sardinian painter Salvatore Garau, as he decides to question himself while taking a big blank canvas into a top-security prison in Sardinia, Italy. He does not mean to teach prisoners how to paint, but to share creative energy with those who are not used to freedom at all.
Director: Salvatore Garau Producer: Alessandro Bonifazi - Blue Film
Screenings: Oaxaca Film Festival, Portugal International Film Festival, Dromos Festival, Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Documentary about a Liberian writer’s search for redemption post civil war.
Director: Jonathan Stack Producers: Mara Batlin & David B. Deniger
Screenings: IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Madrid Film Festival
OFFICIAL SITE
UNDER THE ROLLER COASTER
To thousands, the Thunderbolt Roller Coaster was a Coney Island icon, but for Mae Timpano it was home. This enchanting film examines the true-life experience of one woman and her unique relationship to Coney Island living under the famed Thunderbolt Roller Coaster. The destruction of the Thunderbolt, one of the last remaining Coney Island icons, represented the end of an era in the amusement area’s ever-evolving history. Mae’s story is a window onto a lost world and makes us think about the importance of place in a new way.
Director and Editor: Lila Place
Awards: Slamdance Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short, Palm Springs International Short Film Festival - Best Documentary, Coney Island Film Festival - Best “Made in Coney Island” Film, International Student Documentary Competition - Best Biographical Film, Caucus Foundation - Outstanding Student Film Award, Mediterranean Film Festival of Sardinia - City of Carloforte Prize, Angelus Award Finalist
Screenings: Broadcast on PBS as part of ReelNY, Museum of Modern Art, Margaret Mead Film Festival, IFP Market / IFP Buzz Cuts, Aspen Shortsfest. Silverdocs/AF, Los Angeles Film Festival, Rooftop Films