NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Lisa Gossels

By Kelly Strodl
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Today we talk with Lisa Gossels, director of My So-Called Enemy, the coming of age story of six Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls who travel to the U.S. to participate in a women's leadership program called Building Bridges for Peace and the transformative journey that follows both in the program and upon their return to their native countries. In July 2002, 22 women came to the U.S. to participate in the program, and during their time learned to reconcile their experience in the program with the realities of life back home in the Middle East over the next 7 years. What unfolds is an emotionally-charged film about the human consequences of all conflicts--as seen through the eyes of 6 young women who are thoughtful, intelligent and articulate beyond their years.

Q:  How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?

From Steve Shor, a Film Festival Advisor to the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.

When I started making "My So-Called Enemy" in 2002, I had no idea how long it would take to make the movie, or how transformative the 8-year journey would be.  I did not make the film with any answers;  the process was all about asking questions. 

Right after 9/11, I remember engaging in heated political debates about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  I came to understand how wars could be fought on words and how easy it is to reduce conflicts to black and white terms. 

Two months earlier, I had the privilege of meeting Melodye Feldman, the founder of Seeking Common Ground (and its Building Bridges for Peace flagship program), at a Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education conference (CAJE) in Denver.  Melodye shared the stage with some Palestinian and Israeli participants from her 2001 summer program.  I was so taken by the stories from the teenage girls about how the program had changed them that I knew I had found the subject-matter for my next film. "My So-Called Enemy" was never a film about an idea, but about young people. And, I loved the idea that those young people were women, because, as Nicholas Kristof once wrote, "focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism."

While the first act of "My So-Called Enemy" takes place in the emotionallly charged 2002 Building Bridges program, to me the film is really about what happens to the six participants when they return home to the Middle East over the next 7 years.

Q.  What is the core message of your film? 

The central message of "My So-Called Enemy" is the transformative power of knowing  "the other," or "the enemy," as a human being.  Through the stories of the young Israeli, Palestinian and Palestinian Israeli women in the film, we see how creating relationships across emotional, ideological and physical borders is a first step towards resolving conflict.  Because "My So-Called Enemy" is an emotional journey, it opens hearts and minds and creates the space for dialogue about not only the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but issues that divide us in our families, schools and communities.  By watching "My So-Called Enemy," viewers will see the complexities of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through a human lens--and the possibility and hope that comes from listening to each other's stories.

Q: Your take on the main characters in your movie (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)

Adi, Gal, Hanin, Inas, Rawan and Rezan, the main characters in "My So-Called Enemy," were teenagers when I first started filming them.  Because they live in a conflict region, it took a great deal of courage for them to participate in the movie.  While we had some access issues of where we could film some of the girls, particularly the Palestinians, all of them opened their hearts, minds and lives to our cameras.  Because films can be very manipulative and will be seen by mass audiences, we have an awesome responsibility as  documentarians to not only convey the personal truths of our subjects, but to honor the trust they have bestowed upon us--with the understanding that will have to live in their societies with the final film.  We were always careful to respect not only the girls' dignity, but their personal safety.  We never created high drama, or humorous moments, at their expense.  The young women in "My So-Called Enemy" are my hope. They all have become my family.

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MY SO-CALLED ENEMY screens on Sunday, May 1 at 1 PM at the Triangle Square Theater 3. And Wednesday, May 4 at 3:30 PM at the Regency Lido Theater.

Click on link below to watch a sample of the film:

Click below to buy tickets for the film:

http://newportbeach.slated.com/2011/films/mysocalledenemy_lisagossels_newportbeach2011

Or for more information on the film and program, follow the links below:

www.mysocalledenemy.com

www.facebook.com/mysocalledenemy

www.s-c-g.org

Posted by Kelly Strodl
 

NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Seth W. Owen

By Kelly Strodl

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Today I spoke with Seth W. Owen, director of Peepers, an interesting film about a rag-tag group of peeping toms, led by the eagle-eyed Steve, who take to Montreal's chilly rooftops under cover of night to get a vantage of people in their most intimate, within their homes. They're on the prowl for the perfect peep desperate to glimpse a "hottie hookup," a "panty party" or a "big booty buffet" through un-shuttered windows. But their lives are about to change. Enter Annette, a brazen academic who turns the tables by setting her sights on the peepers themselves. Soon it's a Battle Royale for rooftop supremacy will these die-hard obsessives manage to defend their turf, or will peeping as they know it never be the same?


Q: How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?
A: Met a fine fellow at Cinequest who recommended it. Then, looking into it, we may have heard something about yacht parties. At that point it became really clear we had to make it to Newport.

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.
A: The story does not stem from any illicit yoyeuristic experiences in my own life, surely! But Montreal is a city conducive to peeping, in all its many guises, and spending a lot of quality time on Montreal’s glorious rooftops – for purely non-peeping purposes! - sparked the initial idea. Later, when I was writing the film with Dan Perlmutter and Mark Slutsky, our writing room had these big, big windows that looked out at an opposing apartment building’s bathroom windows. There were a lot of hard-to-ignore showers going on over there. So that fed into the script, to be sure, and maybe slowed us down, too, because it took us a few years to finish the thing. Then Andi State came on board as producer, and it was damn the torpedoes full steam ahead right to production. We shot predominantly on the chilly November rooftops of Montreal. We were a little army of peeping toms, making it - under cover of night! With nudity! But it was cold, cold, cold, and we had to hustle. We were shooting like crazy to get the thing done in two weeks, and it was an ambitious little production for the budget and time that we had.

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.
A: For over a decade, I’ve been making underground films under the umbrella of Automatic Vaudeville Studios, and screening them at our boisterous live events. We’re somewhere between a comedy troupe and a major motion picture studio. We’ve shot every genre under the sun – monster pictures, westerns, musicals, Germanic art films. All for around ten bucks. Peepers was an amazing opportunity to make a film with a real budget, and all the perks that come with it. Now I may have to stay above-ground for a little while longer. That having-a-budget thing – I fear it’s gotten its bejeweled claws in me.

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)
A: Automatic Vaudeville has a nice little repertory of friends and actors who’ve been in a lot of our films, and our producer Andi State also happens to be a talent agent, so we kind of brought those two houses together to create the ensemble. Montreal is a city with a lot of amazing, undiscovered talent, and I’m so happy we managed to get so many great folks in the film, even in the smaller roles. The actors had it pretty rough on this one. It’s tough to be funny when you’re freezing your ass off on a windy rooftop in the middle of the night. And they all rose to the occasion.

Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film?
A: I spend most of the time on the couch, wondering when I am going to be able to make another smash indie film. The couch is also a great place for finding change, and the perfect vantage point from which to indulge my appetite for an unhealthy amount of reality television programming. When it’s nice out, I may even take a walk.

 

PEEPERS screens at 8:15 PM today, Thursday, April 29 in the Edwards Island theater 4.

 

Click here to purchase tickets for shorts showcase:

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=256887

 

Watch the film’s trailer here:

 

NBFF Filmmaker's Five with Danny Buday

By Kelly Strodl

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Today we talk with Danny Buday, director of FIVE STAR DAY, the Opening Night selection for the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival – also the first local film to be chosen as the festival opener since the festival began in 1998.

In the film, Jake Gibson suffers a less than stellar birthday, when his world is turned upside down and all that could go wrong, does – to rub it in his horoscope forecast a perfect 'five star day.’ Determined that astrology has no legitimacy, Jake embarks on a journey to test the theory of astrology by finding the three people born the same time and place as himself. Jake's pursuit in finding his three astrological matches not only will test his convictions, but validate how life's unexpected twists of fate can deliver much more than the anticipated. What Jake learns along the way is an important lesson about life, love, fate and destiny that will unexpectedly change his life forever.

Q:  How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?

A: Both Mike Robertson (our Executive Producer/Producer) and myself have roots in the Orange County area so I first heard of the Newport Beach Film Festival a few years back. Also, I remember hearing good things about the festival while I was at AFI (American Film Institute).

Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.

A: FIVE STAR DAY is a journey film about a guy (Cam Gigandet) who sets out to disprove the theory of Astrology by finding the other three people born the same time and place as himself. I think what people are most surprised about when I initially tell them the premise of the film is that that it's not a comedy, given its Astrological theme. We filmed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Atlantic CIty on a very tight shooting schedule, so production was like an amazingly organized traveling circus.

Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.

A: I grew up in Chicago till my family moved to Southern California, where I went to high school in Huntington Beach (Marina High '95). When I finished up undergrad at Cal State Long Beach ('99) I moved up to L.A. and graduated from AFI's (American Film Institute) directing program in 2005. After shorts and music videos along the road to the first feature, Five Star Day is my feature film debut.

Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)

A: Both Cam Gigandet and Jena Malone were amazing to work with. Cam is a focused and quiet perfectionist, and Jena is a magically improvisational wonder to watch act.

They both gave strong performances in the film. I'm definitely excited to have people see Cam as a 'good guy' character. And Jena as a single-mother is so subtle and touching. Brooklyn Sudano is also amazing, but I think Max Hartman's breakout role as an Atlantic City lounge-singer is going surprise a lot of people.

Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film?

A: I'm a self-admitted workaholic, so it's rare that I'm not locked up working on some project, but in my spare time I enjoy hanging out with my family and friends, playing music; basically getting into as much trouble as possible.

FIVE STAR DAY is the Opening Night film, showing at 7:30 PM on Thursday, April 22 at the Edwards Big Newport Theater.

Plus join the filmmakers and other celebs, VIPs, and more at the OPENING NIGHT GALA in the Bloomingdale's courtyard in Fashion Island. The night's festivities features a performance of Cirque du Soleil's Mystère, a fashion show put on by Fashion Island, food from acclaimed Newport Beach area restaurants, and an Open Bar hosted by Absolut Vodka and Stella Artois and Perrier.

Dress: Cocktail attire, black tie optional. Age: 21 & Over

Buy tickets for FIVE STAR DAY here:

http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=256819

Watch the trailer here:

http://www.facebook.com/l/2f8c2;www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIhxSlLgdiw

Posted by Kelly Strodl