XC Wire
11-12-2007, 06:03 PM
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ROBERT GREENWALD & JOANNA ANGEL TO SPEAK AT ALT-FILM FEST
Award-winning documentarian & Princess of Punk-Rock Porn lead the charge at new festival of upstart filmmakers
Los Angeles, CA, November 13, 2007 - Award-winning documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald ("Outfoxed," "Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers") and princess of punk-rock porn Joanna Angel ("Joanna's Angels," "Re-Penetrator") have joined the Alt-Film Fest as speakers at its inaugural event on Friday November 16th, 7:30pm at the Borders Books in Westwood CA. The festival is an independent filmmaking primer featuring unique filmmakers who choose to make provocative films outside the Hollywood/Indiewood systems.
In addition to Greenwald and Angel, the event will feature a range of young filmmakers whose work challenges the established methods and content of contemporary cinema; including James Spooner ("Afro-punk"), Esther Bell ("Exist"), Matt Pizzolo ("Threat"), and Curt Johnson ("Your Mommy Kills Animals").
"Each of these filmmakers has faced daunting challenges in their efforts to create films that articulate their unique points of view," said festival organizer Maddy Dawson. "The passions that inspire them and the clever methods they use to solve problems are inspiring and empowering to young artists and filmmakers."
The Alt-Film Fest is slated to expand nationwide in Winter 2008, with "how-to" panels at Borders Books stores followed by weekend-long festivals of midnight movie screenings.
Filmmaker Bios:
Robert Greenwald (Outfoxed, Iraq For Sale)
Robert Greenwald is a producer, director and political activist. Greenwald is the director/producer of several documentaries: "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" (2006), an expose of what happens when corporations go to war; as well as "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" (2005), detailing the retail giant's assault on families and American values; and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" (2004), about the right-wing opinion factory known as Fox "News." Greenwald also executive produced a trilogy of political documentaries: "Unprecedented: The 2000 Election" (2002); "Uncovered: The War on Iraq" (2003), which he also directed; and "Unconstitutional" (2004).
Greenwald's films have garnered 25 Emmy nominations, four cable ACE Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award, the Robert Wood Johnson Award, and eight Awards of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute. He has been honored for his activism by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California; the Liberty Hill Foundation; the L.A. chapter of the National Lawyers Guild; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Consumer Attorney's Association of Los Angeles; Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the Office of the Americas. He was a co-founder (with Mike Farrell) of "Artists United," a group of actors and others opposed to the war in Iraq.
Joanna Angel (Joanna's Angels, Re-Penetrator)
Joanna Angel is an award-winning filmmaker, entrepreneur, model, and actress in the "altporn" adult film world. She has been featured in The New York Times and Esquire Magazine, and she wrote a sex-advice column for Spin Magazine. After graduating from RutgersUniversity, Angel founded the punk-themed adult website Burning Angel, which grew into one of the most popular and heavily-trafficked web destinations. She developed the website into an adult film studio, directing traditional adult films while also producing erotic-horror films with horror filmmaker Doug Sakmann ("Punk Rock Holocaust"). Her award-winning films "Repenetrator" and "Xxxorcist" will crossover into the mainstream with cult film distributor UnitShifter Films' release of the 'unrated editions' in early 2008. Angel recently contributed a chapter to the book Naked Ambition: Women Pornographers and How They Are Changing the Sex Industry.
James Spooner (Afro-punk)
James Spooner is the director of "Afro-punk," a documentary film exploring race identity in the punk scene. He produced his film mostly out of New York, having had no previous training in film (he'd studied sculpting in college). As a DIY effort, he rigorously toured the film across the country like a band, showing it as many venues as possible, and rapidly amassing a devoted cult following, largely among minority punks centralized around a message board on his website afropunk.com. "Afro-punk" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2003, and Spooner's latest film "White Lies, Black Sheep" had its premiere at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.
Esther Bell (Exist)
Esther Bell is the director of "Godass" and "Exist," films that received critical acclaim in The New York Times and Variety for their tones of social and political relevance. "Exist," which stars TV On The Radio lead singer Tunde Adebimpe, was lauded for its incisive look into young activists' lives. Particularly relevant to a post-9/11 generation of activists, the film has been screened in festivals around the world, including the Rotterdam International Film Festival. While attending college in New York, Esther lost close friends to both heroin and AIDS. Her experiences led her behind the lens where she created two public service announcements: "Ashley," about heroin addiction, and "Sexually Explicit Material," addressing HIV prevention. "Ashley" received an honorary award from President Bill Clinton for its subsequent initiation of a national campaign against heroin addiction during the mid-nineties. Bell's first documentary, "Mark of an Amateur" won an award from TLC (The Learning Channel). Before embarking upon her feature film career, Bell shot several successful short films including "PURPLE JESUS," which screened as part of the Nuyorican's Fifth Night Series and the Women in the Director's Chair International Festival. Currently, Bell is in development on her third feature, "Flaming Heterosexual Female."
Matt Pizzolo (Threat)
Matt Pizzolo is an award-winning director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for his work as writer-director of the indie movie "Threat." A lifelong straightedger, Pizzolo brings a unique hardcore punk approach to his projects, both in terms of content and execution. He has referred to himself as "more agitator than artist" and appears more interested in provoking his audiences than entertaining them. "Threat" has attracted controversy for allegedly glorifying violence and class conflict. Film Threat called the film "unapologetically brutal and surprisingly intelligent" while Urb Magazine said it "makes 'Kids' look like an after-school special." Pizzolo is currently in production on his follow-up feature "The Long Knives."
Curt Johnson (Your Mommy Kills Animals)
Producer, director, writer Curt Johnson began working in film during college where he was an activist for ACT-UP. His first project "Thoth" won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. He then served as producer on the controversial film "Michael Moore Hates America," which received positive reviews from The New York Times and Variety, as well as "two thumbs up" from Ebert & Roeper. Johnson's newest film "Your Mommy Kills Animals" has not only been critically acclaimed but also earned the highest per-screen box office of all films released in July 2007. Variety called the film "a miraculously evenhanded treatment of a snarlingly divisive debate" and Cinephile said it was "the bravest American film I've ever seen."
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ROBERT GREENWALD & JOANNA ANGEL TO SPEAK AT ALT-FILM FEST
Award-winning documentarian & Princess of Punk-Rock Porn lead the charge at new festival of upstart filmmakers
Los Angeles, CA, November 13, 2007 - Award-winning documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald ("Outfoxed," "Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers") and princess of punk-rock porn Joanna Angel ("Joanna's Angels," "Re-Penetrator") have joined the Alt-Film Fest as speakers at its inaugural event on Friday November 16th, 7:30pm at the Borders Books in Westwood CA. The festival is an independent filmmaking primer featuring unique filmmakers who choose to make provocative films outside the Hollywood/Indiewood systems.
In addition to Greenwald and Angel, the event will feature a range of young filmmakers whose work challenges the established methods and content of contemporary cinema; including James Spooner ("Afro-punk"), Esther Bell ("Exist"), Matt Pizzolo ("Threat"), and Curt Johnson ("Your Mommy Kills Animals").
"Each of these filmmakers has faced daunting challenges in their efforts to create films that articulate their unique points of view," said festival organizer Maddy Dawson. "The passions that inspire them and the clever methods they use to solve problems are inspiring and empowering to young artists and filmmakers."
The Alt-Film Fest is slated to expand nationwide in Winter 2008, with "how-to" panels at Borders Books stores followed by weekend-long festivals of midnight movie screenings.
Filmmaker Bios:
Robert Greenwald (Outfoxed, Iraq For Sale)
Robert Greenwald is a producer, director and political activist. Greenwald is the director/producer of several documentaries: "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" (2006), an expose of what happens when corporations go to war; as well as "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" (2005), detailing the retail giant's assault on families and American values; and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" (2004), about the right-wing opinion factory known as Fox "News." Greenwald also executive produced a trilogy of political documentaries: "Unprecedented: The 2000 Election" (2002); "Uncovered: The War on Iraq" (2003), which he also directed; and "Unconstitutional" (2004).
Greenwald's films have garnered 25 Emmy nominations, four cable ACE Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, the Peabody Award, the Robert Wood Johnson Award, and eight Awards of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board. He was awarded the 2002 Producer of the Year Award by the American Film Institute. He has been honored for his activism by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California; the Liberty Hill Foundation; the L.A. chapter of the National Lawyers Guild; Physicians for Social Responsibility; Consumer Attorney's Association of Los Angeles; Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the Office of the Americas. He was a co-founder (with Mike Farrell) of "Artists United," a group of actors and others opposed to the war in Iraq.
Joanna Angel (Joanna's Angels, Re-Penetrator)
Joanna Angel is an award-winning filmmaker, entrepreneur, model, and actress in the "altporn" adult film world. She has been featured in The New York Times and Esquire Magazine, and she wrote a sex-advice column for Spin Magazine. After graduating from RutgersUniversity, Angel founded the punk-themed adult website Burning Angel, which grew into one of the most popular and heavily-trafficked web destinations. She developed the website into an adult film studio, directing traditional adult films while also producing erotic-horror films with horror filmmaker Doug Sakmann ("Punk Rock Holocaust"). Her award-winning films "Repenetrator" and "Xxxorcist" will crossover into the mainstream with cult film distributor UnitShifter Films' release of the 'unrated editions' in early 2008. Angel recently contributed a chapter to the book Naked Ambition: Women Pornographers and How They Are Changing the Sex Industry.
James Spooner (Afro-punk)
James Spooner is the director of "Afro-punk," a documentary film exploring race identity in the punk scene. He produced his film mostly out of New York, having had no previous training in film (he'd studied sculpting in college). As a DIY effort, he rigorously toured the film across the country like a band, showing it as many venues as possible, and rapidly amassing a devoted cult following, largely among minority punks centralized around a message board on his website afropunk.com. "Afro-punk" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2003, and Spooner's latest film "White Lies, Black Sheep" had its premiere at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.
Esther Bell (Exist)
Esther Bell is the director of "Godass" and "Exist," films that received critical acclaim in The New York Times and Variety for their tones of social and political relevance. "Exist," which stars TV On The Radio lead singer Tunde Adebimpe, was lauded for its incisive look into young activists' lives. Particularly relevant to a post-9/11 generation of activists, the film has been screened in festivals around the world, including the Rotterdam International Film Festival. While attending college in New York, Esther lost close friends to both heroin and AIDS. Her experiences led her behind the lens where she created two public service announcements: "Ashley," about heroin addiction, and "Sexually Explicit Material," addressing HIV prevention. "Ashley" received an honorary award from President Bill Clinton for its subsequent initiation of a national campaign against heroin addiction during the mid-nineties. Bell's first documentary, "Mark of an Amateur" won an award from TLC (The Learning Channel). Before embarking upon her feature film career, Bell shot several successful short films including "PURPLE JESUS," which screened as part of the Nuyorican's Fifth Night Series and the Women in the Director's Chair International Festival. Currently, Bell is in development on her third feature, "Flaming Heterosexual Female."
Matt Pizzolo (Threat)
Matt Pizzolo is an award-winning director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for his work as writer-director of the indie movie "Threat." A lifelong straightedger, Pizzolo brings a unique hardcore punk approach to his projects, both in terms of content and execution. He has referred to himself as "more agitator than artist" and appears more interested in provoking his audiences than entertaining them. "Threat" has attracted controversy for allegedly glorifying violence and class conflict. Film Threat called the film "unapologetically brutal and surprisingly intelligent" while Urb Magazine said it "makes 'Kids' look like an after-school special." Pizzolo is currently in production on his follow-up feature "The Long Knives."
Curt Johnson (Your Mommy Kills Animals)
Producer, director, writer Curt Johnson began working in film during college where he was an activist for ACT-UP. His first project "Thoth" won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. He then served as producer on the controversial film "Michael Moore Hates America," which received positive reviews from The New York Times and Variety, as well as "two thumbs up" from Ebert & Roeper. Johnson's newest film "Your Mommy Kills Animals" has not only been critically acclaimed but also earned the highest per-screen box office of all films released in July 2007. Variety called the film "a miraculously evenhanded treatment of a snarlingly divisive debate" and Cinephile said it was "the bravest American film I've ever seen."
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