New York, U.S.A. – Underdog Entertainment, a New York-based production company, have announced that “Save Lolita” is a finalist and will screen at the 2012 Blue Ocean Film Festival. The award-winning public service announcement (PSA) raises awareness of the plight of Lolita the orca, who has been held captive for 42 years in a small concrete pool.

Forty-two years ago, herders violently took Lolita from her family in Puget Sound and transferred her to a 20-foot-deep tank at the Miami Seaquarium. Only four times her size at its widest point, the tank appears to be illegally small under Department of Agriculture regulations.  Many are calling for retiring Lolita to a coastal sanctuary.

“Research clearly shows that orcas are sentient, highly intelligent and social beings who are aware of their surroundings.  To confine such a beautiful 22-foot creature to a tiny 35-foot-wide tank seems inhumane.  I felt compelled to do something,” explains PSA director Azarian.

The Blue Ocean Film Festival & Conservation Event (BLUE) screens over 100 finalist films from 25 countries.  In addition, BLUE will be recognizing two great heroes of ocean exploration, Don Walsh and James Cameron, with their Legacy Award for their lifetime achievements in exploration and ocean filmmaking.  The 7-day festival will take place September 24th-30th, 2012 in Monterey, California. All events are open to the general public and industry delegates.

Azarian, an established director of television commercials and branded entertainment, recently won two Telly Awards for “Save Lolita.” In all, he has won five Tellys – including the Silver Award, Telly’s highest honor. This past fall, he directed the “Bullying is Violence” PSA campaign for the Anti-Violence Project and the music video “Teenage Popstar Girl” which was featured on AOL Music and was a winner at the 2012 Robot Film Festival.

He has directed and produced national spots for 3M’s Scotch-Brite brand and Horizon Organic. Blue-chip telecommunications firms and entertainment networks have licensed Azarian’s commercial spots for their US and international mobile networks.

Image Courtesy of  tifotter

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Just one year after its launch, JustFilms, the Ford Foundation’s documentary film fund, is providing major support to five independent films selected for competition and premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the world’s leading showcase for independent filmmaking.

Each of the five embodies JustFilms’ vision of the power of independent film to illuminate the world in which we live and inspire people to engage in pressing social challenges, from the untold story of bravery and activism that opened access to AIDS drugs in the United States to a poignant account of Detroit residents reimagining their city.

“We’re extremely pleased that five projects receiving major support from JustFilms have been selected to premiere at Sundance,” said Darren Walker, vice president of Ford’s Education, Creativity and Free Expression Program. “This is exactly what our initiative is all about– ensuring that talented filmmakers who are tackling tough social issues can break through to large new audiences in a timely way.”

JustFilms was launched one year ago, a day before the start of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In its inaugural year, the initiative has made more than $10 million in grants to support more than 100 filmmakers and mediamakers around the world.

“We believe that Sundance is just the beginning of an opportunity for these filmmakers, and many others like them, to reach a new audience of engaged people who are hungry for stories about issues shaping our future,” added Walker.

JustFilms focuses on film, video and digital works that show courageous people confronting difficult issues and actively pursuing a more just, secure, and sustainable world. Through 2016, it will invest $10 million every year to support and expand the community of filmmakers and mediamakers around the world focused on creating documentaries with passion and purpose, but who often lack funding to realize their visions or reach audiences.

“While focusing on issues as diverse as human rights, poverty, cultural expression, and sustainable development, every project supported by JustFilms has one thing in common– the power of good storytelling,” said Orlando Bagwell, director of the JustFilms initiative at Ford. “These films make complex and often difficult issues accessible and entertaining, opening up whole new opportunities for audiences to engage on topics that may have once felt overwhelming or simply out of reach.”

With the explosion of digital media production over the past decade, there is far more film and video content available from which audiences can choose. However, it remains a challenge for most documentary filmmakers to find support– and audiences– for works that address social issues in meaningful and compelling ways. JustFilms seeks to support courageous filmmakers to complete their important works and to help them reach a growing audience of engaged and socially conscious viewers.

The Ford Foundation’s JustFilms initiative builds on the foundation’s longtime support for scores of documentaries, including such landmark productions as “Eyes on the Prize,” “State of Fear,” and “Why Democracy.” It also leverages the foundation’s global network of 10 regional offices to identify and lift new talent from around the world and to strengthen emerging communities of documentary filmmakers.

Ben Haslam / Haslam Photography / Shutterstock.com

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Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced the winners of its four Spirit Awards filmmaker grants today at its annual Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch held at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood. Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson hosted the casual event and handed out the honors.

Winners for the remaining categories will be revealed at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards in a tent at Santa Monica beach on Saturday, February 25, 2012. The awards ceremony will premiere later that evening at 10:00 P.M. ET/PT on IFC, and as previously announced actor, writer, and producer, Seth Rogen, will serve as host of the ceremony.

“We’re so appreciative to Audi of America, Nokia, Piaget, and Jameson Irish Whiskey for funding cash prizes as part of the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. In addition to industry recognition the Spirit Awards provides, this kind of direct financial support makes a meaningful difference. It allows our grant winners to pay some bills as they take the next natural step in their careers, and it brings extra attention to their compelling and provocative stories,” said Co-President Josh Welsh.

“At Film Independent, we exist to provide a community for independent filmmakers, and the brunch is one way we bring together current and past Spirit Award nominees to, first celebrate them, but also to introduce them to one another prior to the awards ceremony.

The event especially shines a spotlight on the talented group of emerging film artists, selected by our blue-ribbon committees, who should be on the radar of the film industry. The grant nominees and winners are part of the next generation of filmmakers we expect to inspire film lovers for years to come,” said Co-President Sean Mc Manus.

Mark Jackson, director of ‘Without,’ received the Audi Someone to Watch Award, which recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award, which is in its eighteenth year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Audi of America. The finalists for the award included Simon Arthur for ‘Silver Tongues’ and Nicholas Ozeki for ‘Mamitas’.

Heather Courtney, director of ‘Where Soldiers Come From’ received the Nokia Truer Than Fiction Award, which is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not received significant recognition. The award is in its seventeenth year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Nokia. Danfung Dennis for ‘Hell and Back Again’ and Alma Har’el for ‘Bombay Beach’ were also finalists for the award.

Sophia Lin, producer of ‘Take Shelter’ received the Piaget Producers Award, which honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The annual award, in its fifteenth year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget. Finalists were Chad Burris for ‘Mosquita Y Mari’ and Josh Mond for ‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’.

Benjamin Murray and Alysa Nahmias for ‘Unfinished Spaces’ received the second annual Jameson FIND Your Audience Award, which helps one low-budget independent film find a broader audience. The award included a $40,000 marketing and distribution grant funded by Jameson Irish Whiskey.

The other finalists were Cara Marcous for ‘On the Ice’ and Sheldon Larry for ‘Leave It On The Floor’. The nominating committee was composed of publicist and Film Independent Board Member, Laura Kim, filmmaker Scott Macaulay, and CrowdStarter’s Liz Ogilvie.

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The Big Apple Film Festival rolled on into the weekend and generated its biggest crowds yet. Saturday’s line-up of films proved to be a success as cinema lovers came to Tribeca Cinemas to support dozens of independent movies.

Early Saturday evening’s program grouped together six short films. The first film, “The Empty Playground,” was directed by Philip Giordano. Although the film only lasted four minutes, it made audience members think critically about the main character’s intentions. As a middle-aged man, he lures a young girl to the back of his van and, when noticed, he speeds away.

Even though there was little dialogue in the film, the acting shined through and portrayed a telling story. After “The Empty Playground” came a film directed by Chris Adler, entitled “Reco.” Set in the 1880s on the American frontier, an adopted teenage girl named Annie tries to find her biological mother.

Annie learns that she was given up because her biological mother wanted to protect her from her abusive father. Reco, Annie’s horse, took her to her mother’s lonely cabin where Annie and her mother could finally have the opportunity to understand each other. A 16-minute film, “I Remember,” had a distinct way of portraying the life of a gay man in his early 20′s.

The main character, Derek, has already come out to his friends and family, but still feels alienated at times within the gay community. The film was directed by John Sylva, who explained that he had yet to see a movie that depicted the life of a man who still had internal conflicts after previously coming out to the people in his life.

One of the highlights of this group of short films was a movie called “I Am Julia.” This 15-minute film captured one of most prominent problems many teenagers struggle with every day: bullying. Julia, a high school teenager, has just moved from Colombia to New York City, and is constantly bullied by a trio of her schoolmates.

It is an extremely realistic and shows how constant torment can cause a person to feel helpless. The director, David Capruso, explained, “It deals with a situation that we have right now all around the world with bullies.” Equally sharing the role of most-loved film during the evening’s program was “Pennies.”

Artistic cinematography skills shined in this 14-minute movie where Jimmy walks around New York City trying to find the owners of pennies he has found on the street. Throughout his search, the majority of the people he meets have a hard time understanding why he is on his mission.

Jimmy meets a young boy named Ashley, who explains that he donates all his loose change to charity. When Jimmy realizes that his pennies can go to a greater cause, he leaves a large basket full of pennies at Ashley’s door for him to give to charity. “I’ve always since I was a little kid been obsessed with hidden treasures,” stated Jonathan Chanin, director of the film.

“I was trying to think how that would work in the city.”

The final short movie of the program was only three minutes long but one of the most visually pleasing of the night. Director Levi Bowman created “Found,” an artistic approach to poetry. This film was based on a poem that was found on the New York City streets by an anonymous author. Bowman was able to take the poem and create a piece of work that exemplifies artistry and film making.

The evening capped off with a filmmakers party in the Varick Room, a bar and lounge connected to Tribeca Cinemas. Sponsored by Belgian beer Stella Artois, film makers, actors, and audience members had a great opportunity to mingle over free beer while a DJ helped liven the crowd with upbeat music. All in all, Saturday evening at the Big Apple Film Festival was a thriving night of talent and art.

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It is the 10^th annual Tribeca Film Festival! And tonight we watch the Awards show online from Germany, to make a great coverage of what went on, for all our dear readers to grab a look. It just couldn’t get better, with tons of excitement, and the exposure and appreciation of diverse tastes, and talented directors of incredible films, bringing their views and insight to incredible stories and plots, of all types of varieties, and styles.

The Tribeca Film Festival was co-founded by Robert De Niro and has gained special interest and value to all the different directors out there who create independent films. It has become a medium to present their work. The collaboration and founding sponsor American Express, awarded many directors with great prizes.  Tonight’s ceremony was hosted in New York City, at the W. Union Square.

The night started with the awards host, Gideon Yago. He started the awards mentioning that tonight; it’s been the time to see and hear from the filmmakers, directors that brought their talent to the festival.

The evening counted with many festival juries. Chief Geoff Gilmore presented chief creative officer the first two awards of the night. The first award of the evening went to Rider and Shiloh Strong with Dungeon Master.

The best feature film went to Donner Unknown by Jerry Rosswell. The award contain a price of $25.000 by the founding partner American Express, and also an artistic award by Chanel, a piece valued in $35.000. As the awards went on the first jury award, was presented by Ahmed Ahmed Juror. He presented the Student visionary award: Whose prize consisted on a Mac pro Desktop donated by Apple, valued at $35,000. The film was admired by appreciating its detail. “Sometimes Less is more,” said Ahmmed Ahmmed, referring to the film Rooms, by Johanna Jurewicz.

One of the most outstanding films of the night that reflected the experienced trauma in time of war, where a man struggles for his legacy, was the film Incident in New Baghdad by James Spione. He went to the stage and thanked saying: “It is a small firm, which was made by only four people”. He gave special acknowledgements and appreciation to Ethan McCore referring to him as: “A man that went to Irak as one person, and came back as another, what amazed me was his incredible courage in coming back and telling what he experienced there.

The comedian Denis Leary Juror presented the best Narrative Short award. He mentioned that it was a difficult category. “ There were about 40 short films, and we were only able to pick 2 films, very difficult”, he said.  He tried to bring a little bit of the publics attention to the film by saying: “The opening scene in that movie involves a dad shooting his son and its a comedy, it is a terrific movie, terrific acting, and it is their first short film, and the winner is David Leon and Marcus McSweeney, with their film Man and Boy.

The Tribeca Film Festival introduced a new category to the documentary section, the juror, Lauren Hutton presented the Best New Documentary Director. She said, “First I like to give special jury mention, to a film, and honor the films makers of 6 years of hard work, that exposed how a society has collapsed, in the movie Giving Up tomorrow, by Michael Collins.”

The Best new documentary director award went to the film Like Water, by Pablo Croce by opening up a violent world. Croce received his award by saying “This is very Surreal, It was quite a journey, quite an experience personally. We found a treasure behind this whole world.”

A very interesting award category was, the best new narrative director: Which was awarded with 25.000 dollars in cash and 50,000 dollars donated by company 3. The movie was valuated by its extraordinary journey of an outcast. The movie was “emotionally erasing” and the award went to Park Jung-bum, The Journals of Musan.

Later on, Amir Bar-Lev Juror presented the best of the world documentary competition. The award consisted on the best editing, with a prize $5000. The award appreciated the emotional personal narrative exposed in the film, Semper Fi: Always Faithful by Tony Hardmon and Rachel Libert.

Lastly the night ended with several final awards, the final award for best documental feature, for its beauty and literacy the award was given to one of the most outstanding films of the festival Bombay Beach, directed by Alma Har’El. She received the award saying these words “ It was just overwhelming, to see how people just respond to the film” She gave special thanks to her team who were open to do something different, and ended up saying “Go visit Bombay Beach is really cool”.

By the end of the awards, there were other films mentioned and awarded by the precious experience, which take us to various journeys, which make these films special. The juror Rula Jebreal mentioned, the 1^st award best screenplay, which was an anonymously award given by the jury, to the film by Jannnicke Systad, Turn me on Godammit.

The night ended up mentioning and depicting the best cinematography in a narrative feature, for a vivid depiction of external and internal landscape, awarding one of the most noticeable films of the night, Artificial Paradises by Luisa Tillinger.

The night finished with emotion. Where many directors, and filmmakers felt content to have a place where their work can be rewarded and shown. The Tribeca Film Festival has become an open door for many directors out there, who are very talented and wait with an inner sigh hoping to have their work appreciated and valued.

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