The first is an outdoor screening of our trailer.  It goes down Sunday night at 8:30 in Brooklyn.  See the below image for more info.

The second is the annual Minnesota Film Board Icepack party.  The fun begins Monday evening at 5:30 at The Vig in Nolita.  Show up and tell us we all have accents like Marge Gunderson – it’ll be fun.

A total of 116 projects have been invited to the Project Forum. Acceptance is by invitation only, and free of charge to filmmakers. All projects are accepted based on artistic merit.  Projects participate in one of three sections: Emerging Narrative (for first-time feature directors currently in post seeking representation, completion funding, and festival invitations), No Borders International Co-Production Market, and Spotlight on Documentaries.

Emerging Narrative

PHASMA EX MACHINA, directed by Matt Osterman, produced by Jennifer Kramer

AU PAIR, KANSAS, written and directed by JT O’Neal, produced by Joan Jerkovich, Catherine A. McCabe & JT O’Neal, starring Traci Lords (ZACK & MIRI MAKE A PORNO, CRYBABY) and Spencer Daniels (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON)

CITY ON A HILL, directorial debut of actress Amy Seimetz (ALEXANDER THE LAST, WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY), executive produced by Justin Barber (MEDICINE FOR MELENCHOLY)

THE IMPERIALISTS ARE STILL ALIVE!, written and directed by Zeina Durra, produced Vanessa Hope, starring Élodie Bouchez (THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS; SORRY, HATERS)

THE MYTH OF TIME, directed Miller “Jaguar X” Koepenick and produced by Scorpion Hernandez

PERFECTION, the debut feature from actresses Christina Beck (SUBURBIA) and Annette Murphy (STAR MAPS)

POSTALES, directed by Josh Hyde, produced by Claire Connelly, Dan Fischer, Maxim Holland and PJ Fishwick

STRANGER THINGS, directed and produced by Ron Eyal & Eleanor Burke (Filmmaker Magazine 2009 “25 New Faces”)

THE TESTED, directed by Russell Costanzo, produced by Melissa B. Miller, staring Aunjanue Ellis (“True Blood”), Nathan Corbett (“The Wire”), Tobias Truvillion (BROOKLYN’S FINEST) and Armando Riesco (CHE)

WANDERLOST, directed and produced by David Kabler, produced by Dan Judson and Mitch Rumfelt

Read more here.

Here’s a bit:

Does the PHASMA EX MACHINA story have any reflection in your own convictions? Do you believe that there is something highly spiritual/metaphysical in high technology?

Absolutely, but maybe in a different way. I read a great quote the other day.  It was something like, “humans are a clever bunch, but our cleverness is far outstripping our intelligence.”  I took this to mean that humanity has the ability to create world-changing technology, yet we may be too stupid to understand the implications of doing so.  Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.  As an example, the main character in the movie, Cody, creates this device to make up for his past mistakes.  In his attempt to create the machine, he neglects the people around him and ultimately makes his situation even worse.

We live in an interesting world that is going to be increasingly so in the coming decades.  A really smart guy named Ray Kurzweil predicts that computers will outperform human intelligence as early as 2050.  Once computers are allowed to improve their own source code, all bets are off.  I don’t want to get too philosophical, but the lines between technology and spirituality are beginning to blur.  At some point, science may indeed be the key that answers all our big questions about life, death, and god.

Check out the rest of the english version or click here to read the translated version for all you Polish speakers out there.

An entire week of workshops, parties, panels, and subway hopping will do that to a person.  We couldn’t be happier and more proud of how the experience turned out.  A huge thanks to Amy, Scott, Gretchen, Rose, Iyabo, Lee, Lance, Alan, and all the other IFP mentors and workshop leaders.  In addition, I’d also like to send out a huge thanks to all the other filmmakers who made the week a fun and unforgettable experience.

Our fellow filmmakers are all very cool folk and their respective films are as amazing as they are unique. It’s hard to share any significant developments or epiphanies we’ve had at this point, but I know once we return we’ll have quite the to-do list.  So long for now!

Here’s a bit:

Acceptance into the program is just one achievement out of several that point to the fact that the film is headed for great things. Osterman was one of seven nominees for the McKnight Fellowship for Screenwriters last year for the Phasma script. And when they put the trailer online back in March, they had websites all over the world talking about it and sharing the video within two days. They experienced a tremendous rush of interest; festivals and sales agents swamped them with requests for the film. But Osterman, speaking like a true Minnesotan, warns that no one has seen the finished product yet so it may all be a moot point. “I think everyone got excited because they saw a spooky flick that didn’t fall back on cheap gags and or talk down to them,” he said. “I’ve found there’s a big subset of movie fans who abhor things like the Saw franchise and are desperate for smart supernatural fare.  It seems most people pinned the trailer as a Primer-meets-The Six Sense.  I’d say that’s pretty close to accurate in the most obvious way.”

You can read the entire article here.

And don’t forget to bookmark their MNdialog website.  It’s always a great source of local and national film news/opinion.

Variety
Hollywood Reporter
IndieWire
ScreenDaily
Filmmaker Magazine

I’ll continue to add to this list on this post if more press comes in.

Au Pair Kansas 

Director: JT O’Neal
Producers: Joan Jerkovich, Catherine A. McCabe & JT O’Neal 
Editor: Brad Roszell

Helen, recently widowed, hires Oddmund, a fun-loving Norwegian soccer player, to work as a male au pair in a small town in Kansas and help raise her two boys and work on their bison farm. Featuring Tracy Lords (Zack & Miri Make a Porno, Crybaby) and Spencer Daniels (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).

City on a Hill

Director: Amy Seimetz
Producer: Justin Barber
Editor: Adele Romanski

Present and past begin to merge when Paul finds out his old fling and quasi-revolutionary partner committed suicide. From the producers of Medicine for Melancholy, City on a Hill marks the directorial debut of actress Amy Seimetz (Alexander the Last, Wristcutters: A Love Story).

Phasma Ex Machina 

Director: Matt Osterman 
Producer: Jennifer Kramer
Editor: Matt Osterman 

A young man tasked with raising his brother after the death of their parents invents a machine intended to be a conduit to the supernatural. 

The Imperialists Are Still Alive! 
Director: Zeina Durra 
Producer: Vanessa Hope
Editor: Michael Taylor

The Imperialists Are Still Alive! is a film about a woman making her way as an artist in an indifferent and sometimes hostile world. Featuring Élodie Bouchez (The Dreamlife of Angels; Sorry, Haters).

The Myth of Time 
Director: Miller “Jaguar X” Koepenick
Producer: Scorpion Hernandez
Editors: Miller “Jaguar X” Koepenick & Scorpion Hernandez

Shot over five years in Guatemala with a diverse cast including over 5,000 extras, the film relates the unwritten chapter of the Popol Vuh (The Mayan Book of Advice), as told through the protagonist’s (The Dark Eyed-One) journey into manhood. 

Perfection
Director: Christina Beck
Producer: Annette Murphy
Editor: Rob Poswell

The debut feature from actresses Christina Beck (Suburbia, Boys Next Door) and Annette Murphy (Star Maps), Perfection chronicles the life of Kristabelle, a woman her thirties living at home with her mother who cuts herself to feel “something”; little does she know that Simon, a sweet, newly sober, British stand up comic is about to show her that her scars can’t scare love away. 

Postales 
Director: Josh Hyde
Producer: Clare Connelly, Dan Fischer, Maxim Holland and PJ Fishwick
Editor: Josh Hyde & Evan Smith

In the streets of Cusco, Peru, the lives of an American businessman and his family become irreversibly intertwined with those of a rural Peruvian family struggling day to day to survive. 

Stranger Things 
Directors: Ron Eyal & Eleanor Burke
Producer: Ron Eyal & Eleanor Burke
Editors: Ron Eyal & Eleanor Burke

Oona is a young woman faced with the dreadful task of clearing out her dead mother’s home. Returning to the countryside property, Oona discovers a vagrant, Mani, has broken into the house. Their surprising friendship surmounts the disparities between them and offers unexpected hope and strength. 

The Tested
Director: Russell Costanzo
Producer: Melissa Miller
Editor: Russell Costanzo & Michael Taylor

One year ago, plain clothes cop, Julian Varone gunned down an unarmed teen. Darralyn Warren, the teen’s mother, has spiraled into a pit of despair, as her other son Dre, flirts with ganglife. As Julian prepares to get back to work, the three find they cannot find closure without each other. Featuring Aunjanue Ellis (The Taking of Pelham 123, True Blood), Nathan Corbett (The Wire), Tobias Truvillion (Brooklyn’s Finest) and Armando Riesco (Che). 

Wanderlost
Director: David Kabler
Producers: David Kabler, Dan Judson, Mitch Rumfelt & Troy Scott Burnette
Editor: Dan Judson

The Drifter is a train-hopping gutter punk alone in the world, isolated by years of ritual abuse and life on the fringe. He returns to his father’s grave to break the curse that haunts him, where he sees salvation in a beautiful girl who could be his key to freedom.