Apologies for the radio silence, gentle readers!
Summer has been a busy time for all of us at STE–a time spent settling accounts (as two of the boys graduated from college), reassessing work (as the first major Ruchiki shoot came to an successful close), and starting fresh (new projects in new places, with a few of us in new cities). We’ll be back up and running at full speed soon, but for now, let me kick off the coming fall with a happy announcement: Ain’t That The Way has started its festival run.
We’re looking forward to screenings at LA International Film Fest, Vegas Cine Fest, and Young Cuts Film Fest (and crossing our fingers for more), and we do hope, should any of you be in any of those fine cities on the nights in question, to see you there (more on the exact dates and times later).
We were especially excited to learn (in the same email that informed us of our acceptance, strangely enough) that the judging at LA International was complete, and that Ain’t That The Way had won Best Costume Design (Music Video), and had come in third overall in the Best Music Video category!
We hope you’ve had a lovely July and August, and are ready for an exciting fall. You’ll hear quite a bit more from us soon enough.
If you watched the Webby Awards–which, thank you so much for asking but, no, we did not sweep–you probably saw the funniest introduction of the night. It featured Jason Bateman and Will Arnett introducing Arnett’s wife, Amy Pohler:
What you may not know is that the introduction was written by Ruchiki writer and Company member Peter Warren. Congratulations, Peter, for the joke of the night–which means a lot next to Zach Galifianakis and BJ Novak. Make sure you put in a good word for us next time.
Well, it’s looking like the time has come for the Company to go international. I’m hopping the pond over to Europe to take Faith Healer to the Milan International Film Festival, where it’s nominated for Best Short Film. Check out the program here. It screens on Sunday May 9 at the Teatra Gnomo.
I’ll be posting updates on the blog periodically over the week, but if you want the play-by-play action follow me on Twitter.
This Friday, April 23, Faith Healer is playing at the Alabama International Film Festival in Troy, Alabama.
If you’re in the area, please swing by! Getting some friends of the Company in some seats would be amazing. The festival is being held during TroyFest, the local arts festival, and the entire town’s going to be alive and I’ve heard it gets crazy.
It’s playing at 5:30 pm this Friday, April 23, in Historic Downtown Troy at the Studio Theater on Walnut Street.
Last week, the Geneva Film Festival was a big success and this weekend will be just as great!
We’re proud to announce that Adam Hirsch’s Faith Healer, one of the first Company shorts, is making the festival circuit beginning at the Geneva Film Festival (April 16-18)*.
You can stop by Geneva IL (about 20 minutes west of Chicago), and see Faith Healer at 3:00 on Fri. April 16 at Riverside Receptions or at 2:00 on Sat. April 17 at the Mill Race Inn. Adam will be there, likely wearing a tie and jeans–unless he’s nervous, in which case he’ll up the style with, I’d wager, a vest.
The full schedule of films is here on the Festival site.
It’s a small festival (30 films or so) so it’s a guaranteed good time. Everyone showed such support and enthusiasm when we screened last June at the Brattle, we’re hoping to replicate the experience out there in the midwest.
Hope to see you there!
*Screening twice! You have no excuse!
Devon Sproule’s lovely brand of sweet, sophisticated folk has been a constant companion of mine since high school. Her album Upstate Songs was the first music I ever felt was really mine, my own; music I listened to privately, and shared only after careful consideration, with people I thought might, somehow, understand.
I’m honored to call Devon a friend, and thrilled to announce Ain’t That The Way, our music video inspired by the first track off her upcoming album, ¡Don’t Hurry for Heaven!
See the video here.
Check out Devon’s website here, and her myspace, too.
¡Don’t Hurry for Heaven! is currently a UK import only. Devon’s other albums are all available on iTunes.
We at Saint Eliot are very proud to be based in Boston, where (nearly*) all of us were born and raised. Until now, however, all we’ve had to show for our allegiance to our favorite city is gentle accents and fashion sense reminiscent of most english professors.
But today, I’m very pleased to announce Saint Eliot’s collaboration with Nuestra Comunidad and Youthbuild Boston at the launch of their historic partnership, The Greening of Blue Hill Ave.
The Greening of Blue Hill Ave is a new partnership between YouthBuild and Nuestra which aims to reverse the devastation caused in the low income and predominantly minority neighborhoods of Roxbury, Mattapan, and Dorchester by decades of discriminatory banking and insurance practices referred to as redlining.
Saint Eliot and Company is proud to be a partner of these organizations and to assist in their fight to educate, support and empower the people of Boston.
This video was produced by Company filmmakers Matt Paley and Brian Barth, along with frequent Company collaborators Sasha Winters, Christian Kiley, and Jeff Kulig.
See the film here.
Check out the new website for the partnership here. Also, be sure to check out Nuestra’s website, and Youthbuild’s.
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*Adam is from Oklahoma City. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; I hear the barbecue is great.
Jefferson Bull Fermor, as a boy.
Faith Healer, Adam Hirsch’s 2009 senior thesis film, has been almost as elusive in the past few months as its subject, Jefferson Bull Fermor. No longer! Adam finally taped together the last few pieces and scrounged enough up to get it out. I’m happy to point you to two newly published excerpts from the film.
Much more content to come.
It is my privilege to direct your attention to Rickets, a little experiment in abstraction conducted by our very own Brian Barth. Rickets marks Brian’s first foray into landscape filmmaking. It’s also the first full St. Eliot project to appear on our website.
Many more to come.
Our good friends Billy and Jason over at Delicious Design League–otherwise known as the geniuses behind the Bullseye and Faith Healer postcards and posters–are selling the hand-printed posters on their website.
We’re very proud of their interpretations of our work, and highly suggest you take a look at some of their other designs. They primarily work with bands–maybe you’ll see a concert poster you’ve just got to have. If you do buy something from them, tell them Matt and Adam sent you.
Some Enchanted Summer Evening:
New Movie Shorts by Local Filmmakers Have New England Premiere at the Brattle
Cambridge, July 10, 2009— Consider it a glimpse of things to come.
On July 10th, the Brattle will host two short films by first-time directors. The first, Faith Healer, blurs the line between documentary and fiction. When the faith healer at the center of his documentary disappears, director Adam Hirsch reconstructs his subject’s life through interviews with family and friends. Mr. Hirsch unravels the documentary form, searching for a moment of truth in what he regards as a manipulative and illusory medium. The result is an engrossing mystery, a cunning satire, and, most compellingly, a love story.
The second film, Bullseye, is a keenly observed story about growing up in New England. Writer-director Matt Paley has an eye for the nearly imperceptible changes that accompany the big moments: the private smile of a child who’s suddenly the center of attention; the bounce in the step of a teenager in the glow of a first sexual experience. There are a million shades of heartbreak in there, too. Candid performances from local teenagers breathe new life into the well-worn coming-of-age genre; Mr. Paley crafts a deceptively simple story that is satisfying without becoming sentimental.
Both Mr. Hirsch and Mr. Paley are graduates of Bard College’s experimental film program. Beyond their marked influences (Mr. Paley takes some obvious cues from Bard professor and Wendy and Lucy director Kelly Reichardt, while Mr. Hirsch’s epistemological experiment touches on the work of avant-garde filmmaker/professor Peggy Ahwesh), both directors are concerned with breaking the film form down into its basic elements—image, sound, and language—and exploring the particular powers of each. That Mr. Hirsch uses this as a philosophical stepping-stone, while Mr. Paley is more interested in reshaping a classic story, makes for an enjoyably eclectic evening.
Faith Healer/Bullseye starts at 6 pm, followed immediately by a Q&A with both filmmakers, moderated by local writer Scott Haas. Tickets are $5. For more info, please contact Scott Haas by email at scotthaas@comcast.net, or by phone at 617-497-2114.
