Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee » News

2011 Work-in-Progress-Screened Film Gets Anchor Bay Deal

KC Jubilee — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:02:34 +0000

Biehn wrote the script and made his directorial debut with this film, a suspense thriller about a ruggedly handsome recluse (Biehn) living in the woods far from civilization, when a single knock on his door throws his solitary life into chaos.

Biehn, the star of The Terminator, Aliens, and Planet Terror, attended the screening with his co-star and wife Jennifer Blanc-Biehn. Blanc-Biehn reports that Kansas City FilmFest “holds a special place in our hearts, as it’s the first place we saw The Victim with an audience and it was such a blast to see the wonderful reactions.”

Works In Progress distributed by Vanguard Cinema

KC Jubilee — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:46:05 +0000

The locally-lensed feature film, Works In Progress, debuted at FilmFest 2010 before two sold-out audiences. Now it’s out on DVD so that even more people can enjoy the story and the chance to see Kansas City locales shown lovingly on film. It has just been released for distribution by Vanguard Cinema and is available from many outlets and Amazon.com.

The film, which has played at nine different film festivals around the country, was directed by Stephen Pruitt and written by Pruitt and his wife, Mary Settle Pruitt, both of Overland Park, Kansas. In addition to FilmFest 2010, Works in Progress has played at festivals in San Antonio, Memphis, and the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis.

As described by the director, Works in Progress is a poignant, romantic comedy feature film that follows the lives of two recent small-town college fine art graduates and a successful, yet unfulfilled insurance professional during a magical summer in “the big city.” The film stars local actors Christina Blodgett, Greg Brostrom and Ben Jeffrey. According to an October 23 article in the Kansas City Star, “the film’s romantic themes weren’t only in the script. Blodgett and Jeffrey met on the set and are now married.”

Works in Progress is set in the present day (with brief flashbacks) in rural western Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri.

We’re Hiring a Festival Coordinator

KC Jubilee — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:12:28 +0000

Please note: this posting has expired.
Thank you for your interest.

If you would like to volunteer for the AMC Theatres® KC FilmFest 2012, please contact us!

FilmFest feature gets national run in AMC Theatres

halli — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:54:44 +0000

(R to L) Rashid Ghazi, Tim DePaepe and Ash-har Quraishi at the 2011 Kansas City FilmFest

The FilmFest 2011 competition feature Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football has received numerous awards, including the Special Grand Jury Award at the Slamdance Film Festival, Special Jury Prize at the DEADCenter Film Festival, the Audience and Founders Award at the 2011 Politics on Film Festival and other awards. Yet it may have been its screening at the Kansas City FilmFest that catapulted it to a theatrical release at multiple AMC Theatres nationwide on September 9, 2011.

“Without our screening at KC FilmFest, I doubt we would have had the opportunity to prove to AMC that we could draw audiences to our film,” said co-director/producer Ash-har Quraishi. “Seeing Fordson in one of their own theaters with a sold out crowd surely helped us make the case and set in motion our nationwide theatrical release.”

The Fordson story takes place at Fordson High School, a public school built by Henry Ford in 1922 that was once all white, but now attracts a 98% Arab-American population. The film follows four talented high school football players from the working class Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan as they gear up for their big senior year rivalry game during the last ten days of Ramadan, a month when Muslims traditionally fast every day from sunrise to sundown. The film begins on September 11, 2009 and concludes at the end of Ramadan ten days later. As the Fordson team readies itself to play its affluent, cross-town rival, the film depicts a community that is desperately holding onto its Islamic faith while struggling to gain acceptance in post 9/11 America and hold on to the American Dream.

Sports fans, interfaith organizations, educational institutions and even the U.S. government have shown interest in the film. The U.S. State Department hosted a screening of the film two days before its theatrical release. At the State Department’s annual Eid dinner celebrating the end of Ramadan held that same evening, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the film as a “great documentary and a great story.” The filmmakers call it an inspirational story about the American Dream that they hope everyone gets a chance to see.

For more information: www.fordsonthemovie.com

Go to 11 on 11-11-11 with Spinal Tap

KC Jubilee — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:56:07 +0000

You’re invited to CinemaKC’s fall fundraiser, “Go to 11 on 11-11-11 with Spinal Tap.” The event includes a screening and celebration of the classic rock ’n’ roll mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap, on Friday Nov. 11, 2011 at the Screenland Crossroads Theatre, 1656 Washington. Tickets are $11.

Relive the sights, the sounds and the smells of Spinal Tap – including clueless guitar god Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and his collection of ludicrously loud axes that inexplicably “go to 11.”
Party to a rockin’ live band gamely performing “Big Bottom,” “Sex Farm” and many more highly questionable Spinal Tap ditties!
Come dressed as your favorite Spinal Tap band member or other overinflated figure from the topsy-turvy world of heavy rock!
Enter the “Go to 11″ Spinal Tap raffle offering 11 unusual prizes riding the fine line between stupid and clever!

For more information go to cinemakc.com.

Au Pair, KS Screening and Workshop: Sunday Oct 16

KC Jubilee — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:35:19 +0000

Filmmaker, photographer, and physician Jon “J.T.” O’Neal graduated from KU with an honors degree in history of art. His latest feature film, Au Pair, Kansas, took inspiration from O’Neal’s long-time interest in the Swedish immigrant artist Birger Sandzén, who taught and practiced art in Lindsborg, Kansas. Shot in Lindsborg, the film combines drama and comedy with shades of European magical realism to tell the story of a widowed woman who hires a Norwegian soccer player to be a male au pair and help her raise her two sons.

At the K.U. Spencer Museum of Art on Sunday, October 16, O’Neal will introduce his award-winning film and, following the screening, answer questions from the audience. The film screening is free and open to the public and is from 3:30-5:30 PM.

O’Neal also will conduct a special screenwriting workshop for artists from 1–3 PM; for more information about the workshop, please contact Celka Straughn, the Spencer’s Andrew W. Mellon Director of Academic Programs (straughn@ku.edu or 785.864.0136).

The film screening and workshop are organized by the Spencer in conjunction with the KU Department of Film and Media Studies. Please note that times are subject to change; check the SMA website for the most current information. To learn more about O’Neal and Au Pair, Kansas, please see the film’s official website.

The Spencer’s collection includes works by both J.T. O’Neal and Birger Sandzén.

2012 Call For Entries

KC Jubilee — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:52:26 +0000

The AMC Theatres Kansas City FilmFest presented by the Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee celebrates the creativity and hard work of filmmakers in the KC area and from around the world. FilmFest is a juried festival of films, media, seminars, panels and receptions. Our 16th annual film festival is being presented April 11-15, 2012.

EARLY DEADLINE DATE: October 14, 2011 (Other deadlines: 11/11/2011, 12/16/2011, and 01/13/2012)

Visit our Call For Entries page for complete details and entry form. You may also submit through Withoutabox.

Check out our special CinemaJAZZ division if you have made a work (short or feature) inspired by JAZZ.

If you have any questions, please call (816) 286-4777 or email: info@kcjubilee.org.

Breaking News, Breaking Down DVD now on Sale

KC Jubilee — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:47:18 +0000

Breaking News, Breaking Down (Honorable Mention at the 2011 KCFF) is on sale through the month of September at 15% off. To purchase, visit the PBS Store. The film also includes a director’s commentary.

There is also a classroom use version aimed at teachers and includes a study guide by Meg Spratt. It’s also on sale and available at the PBS Store.

View the trailer on the Breaking News, Breaking Down website.

Synopsis: Mike Walter spent his career chasing big stories, but on one September morning, the biggest story of his career was about to chase him down. He watched as a jet came raining down from the sky. It pierced the Pentagon, and for a time, shattered his emotional well-being.

Breaking News, Breaking Down, winner of the 2010 Cannes Independent Film Festival, is a revealing look at how journalists continually go after breaking news, from 9-11 to Katrina, never imagining how it can break them down.

In this landmark film, for the first time ever, a journalist turns the camera on himself and his profession, to candidly talk about how trauma impacted his life and the lives of others. It’s a long overdue look at a problem that has been largely ignored for years, until now. In the end you’ll watch journalists turn tragedy and trauma into triumph.

Kansas City FilmFest: 25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee

KC Jubilee — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:16:24 +0000

The Kansas City FilmFest was featured in the Spring 2011 issue of MovieMaker Magazine as one of “25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee”.

The full article is now available online: http://www.moviemakerdigital.com/moviemaker/iss92_vol18#pg76.

Moscow International Film Festival announces “A Tribute to Rob Nilsson”

KC Jubilee — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:10:27 +0000

Rob Nilsson signs autographs at the 2010 Kansas City FilmFest

The Moscow International Film Festival has just announced A TRIBUTE TO ROB NILSSON, a Retrospective of films by San Francisco director/writer/actor Rob Nilsson to be held during their 33rd annual festival June 23-July 2, 2011. The Retrospective will feature NORTHERN LIGHTS, co-directed by John Hanson (Camera d’Or at Cannes, 1979); HEAT AND SUNLIGHT, (Grand Prize at Sundance, 1988); NEED, from the 9 @ Night Film Series (San Francisco Film Critics Circle Marlon Riggs Award, 2008); IMBUED, starring Stacy Keach (2009); and the World Premiere of THE STEPPES, with veterans of Nilsson’s San Francisco acting workshops including lead actress and co- producer Irit Levi, Nancy Bower, and Marion Christian and also featuring Derrick O’Connor (BRAZIL, MONTY PYTHON) and David Hess (LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT).

Nilsson’s work—which John Cassavetes has called “beautiful, exciting, imaginative, unfamiliar and outside of that, very good”—has featured cinematography by San Francisco DP Mickey Freeman, and roles from actors such as Ron Perlman, Bruce Dern, Pam Grier, Stephen Lange and Robert Viharo. His films have been produced by David and Carol Richards, John Stout and San Francisco producers Michelle Allen, Marshall Spight, Beth LaDove and Steve and Hildy Burns, with music, sound cutting and mix by Al Nelson and the Noise Floor.

Four of the five Retrospective films are San Francisco productions and NORTHERN LIGHTS, shot in North Dakota, also features interiors shot on San Francisco locations. From 1992-2005 Nilsson worked with his San Francisco Tenderloin Y Group, conducting acting classes and making feature films with the homeless, inner city residents, local actors and all comers. Nilsson Retrospectives and Lifetime Achievement awards include Mill Valley, Kansas City, St. Louis, Fargo, Syracuse, Yerevan in Armenia, and Silver Lake in Los Angeles. The Filmmaker’s Alliance of Los Angeles gave him their inaugural Nilsson Award in 2008 which Nilsson now curates annually.

“To be recognized in the land of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Chekov, Mayakovsky, Isaac Babel and my favorite director, Elem Klimov (COME AND SEE) is humbling to say the least,” says Nilsson, whose latest film WHAT HAPPENED HERE?—which he describes as “a road movie/essay about Leon Trotsky, virtue and political certainty”—will be his 30th feature film.

[Rob Nilsson was a guest of the 2010 Kansas City FilmFest where he screened IMBUED with a live video chat with Stacy Keach. In 2006 the Kansas City Filmmaker’s Jubilee presented OPENING, a Direct Action feature sponsored and produced in Kansas City by the festival the year before, as its Opening Night film. - Editor]

For more Information contact: rnilsson@robnilsson.com