PROVOCATIVE BOTTLED WATER DOC “TAPPED” TO HAVE WORLD PREMIERE AT MAINE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Documentary takes on bottled water makers such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Festival Sponsor Poland Springs
Los Angeles, CA (July1, 2009) – On Sunday, July 12th "Tapped" will have its world premiere at the 12th Annual Maine International Film Festival. From the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car and I.O.U.S.A., this timely documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never become a commodity: our water.
Director Stephanie Soechtig says, "I am thrilled that "Tapped" will have its world premiere at the Maine International Film Festival. Maine residents know the perils of the bottled water industry first hand in their own on-going battles with local producer Nestle-owned Poland Springs. To be able to showcase our film in the very backyard of the corporate bottled water business is exciting.”
From the plastic production to the ocean so many of these bottles end up in, "Tapped" is an inspiring doc that trails the path of the bottled water industry and the communities which were the unwitting chips on the table. A powerful portrait of the lives affected by the bottled water industry, this revelatory doc shows those caught at the intersection of big business and the public's right to water.
"Tapped" is produced by Stephanie Soechtig and Sarah Gibson. Executive producers are Michael Walrath and Michelle Walrath.
Founded in 1998, the Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) is a project of the Maine Film Center. During the 10 days of the festival we show nearly 100 films, representing the best of American independent and international cinema. MIFF also spotlights some of Maine and New England's most exciting and innovative filmmakers.
A Letter From Kathryn Bigelow about "The Hurt Locker"
Often times, after a movie opens, folks will come up to me and ask a question or two, wanting to know how I managed this or that shot, or why I chose this or that approach to the film as a whole. But usually, they get around to what’s really on their minds, and they say something like, “What’s the most challenging part of the job of being a director?” They want to know about the tough stuff, the hard stuff.
We’re all like that, I guess.
We’re all interested in challenge.
The truth is, once you’ve decided on the material—and that’s the first tough call—all the rest of directing, from the camera work, to creating a visual grammar for the film, to post-production, fall into place on their own, at least for me.
But there’s a big if.
If…you survive the one fork in the road that you absolutely cannot back track on.
And that’s casting. Pick the wrong actor and it doesn’t matter how dazzling your camera work is, or how great the movie sounds, you’ll still end up toast.
For The Hurt Locker, I was lucky enough to work with a brilliant screenwriter, Mark Boal, whose direct, vivid writing about the inner life of men in the bomb squad had the ring of truth and honesty that can only come from first-hand observation. Mark is also a journalist, and he’d been in Baghdad with the Army, and seen with his own eyes the intense bravery and fear these men live with on a daily basis. In William James, he’d created an extremely complex fictional character rife with vivid paradoxes—both a thrill-seeking cowboy and a calm professional, at once a hero and a man adrift in his own isolation.
My problem? Finding an actor with shoes big enough to fill such a nuanced role. I needed a young Sean Penn or a young Russel Crowe. I needed, in other words, a miracle.
I looked and looked for quite some time and then happened to see a small independent movie called Dahmer, in which this terrific actor named Jeremy Renner gave an incredibly nuanced performance, eliciting compassion and revulsion in almost equal measure. It was an arresting display of major talent, and from that moment forward I was determined to work with him. I cast Jeremy as James.
Some folks involved in the financing of the movie were a bit concerned by the choice because Jeremy wasn’t (yet) a household name. They felt they’d have to work extra long hours to bring this bright new star to the public’s attention. But to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t all that worried. Though I still had to go and actually film the movie—and spend six months in the Jordan heat and sand—the hardest part of my job was done.
An Open Letter from Francis Ford Coppola on "Tetro"
Tetro is the kind of film I might have been making 35 years ago, had my career not taken an abrupt and sudden turn as it did with The Godfather. Sure, it was exhilarating to find myself an important Hollywood director, with all that came with it. But as the years went on, I found myself trying to avoid becoming a gangster film director, with all that came with that: stabbings, shootings, car crashes and strangulations. It became pretty clear that even if well-paid, a Hollywood director is expected to do what the company who employs him wants. And most times it is a genre film of some type, if not a gangster film, then take your choice between a thriller, a caper film, a romantic comedy (nothing wrong with that) or sci-fi epic (nor that). I found myself dissatisfied, and frustrated over the fact that even though I had made successful films and won plenty of awards, I still would have to go, hat in hand, and beg permission to make something really new.
With Apocalypse Now, I ultimately found I had to finance it myself. Financing movies is a perilous activity, especially when the films are as unusual as I wanted to make. At first Apocalypse Now seemed as if it would bury me—the initial reaction wasn't good, despite some acknowledged spectacular scenes, but it was deemed too philosophical or worse, 'arty'—which is the ultimate damning word that can be used on a film. Well, I thought, weren't most of Ingmar Bergman' or Michelangelo Antonioni's films 'arty but good'? As were the many films of Federico Fellini or Akira Kurosawa? Maybe those films weren't financial powerhouses, but they stayed with you and were inspirational. And also, they were all different from any other films being made. That in the end is my main criteria for enjoying a film: that I never saw it before or anything quite like it.
Many years went by.
Then, taking inspiration from my daughter who had learned the very same tricks from me, I decided to return to my youth, and realizing that the smaller the budget of a film the greater the ideas of that film could be, began to self-finance the very kinds of films I had hoped to make at the beginning. It was like trying to find my place, after being away a long time. I took a story from Mircea Eliade, Youth Without Youth. When it was done, I found the film audience had ventured even further away from anything other than the pre-made, pre-measured genre films that I had tried to escape from, and now wanted even their independent films to be mini-Hollywood ventures. No matter, I thought, the idea was to find myself and I had done that. Now, the next step was to pick up where I had left off, and write an original story and screenplay, something I hadn't done for 30 years since The Conversation.
The result is Tetro, which you are about to see soon at a Landmark theatre near you. I hope you will find it moving, as it is drawn from real emotions related to my experiences and life—though not in any way autobiographical. I hope you wish me well on this new career of mine. It was the one I always wanted from the beginning, to be an independent filmmaker, writing stories and making personal films. God knows what will come next!
I read in the Times [New York] today about a new film review-compiling site run by former Fox marketing executive David Gross, that purports to give moviegoers the most accurate and complete picture of movie reviews possible. A professional standard for measuring and understanding reviews [sic].
After being sufficiently bored by the low quality design and math nerd graphs, I clicked on the "About Movie Critics" section that harbors all of the weekly and monthly magazine, and daily newspaper, critics that the site deems professionally applicable, and was intrigued to discover how many reviews these critics write per week and their average word count.
Robert Abele (LA Times and Chicago Trib) writes one 250 word review per week, while James Adams (Toronto Globe & Mail) writes one review of 575 words in length. Walter Addiego (SF & Houston Chronicle) writes one 323-word review a week, while Sara Alterman writes one 196-word review a week.
Even the Hollywood Reporter's Ethan Alter only writes one 579 review a week.
The thing is that I typically write four to five reviews--between 1200 and 1600 words--a week. If it's any wonder why salaried critics are seeing their jobs go down the drain, it might have something to do with their low output.
In all fairness, Roger Ebert writes 4.6 691-word reviews a week, and David Edelstein writes 2.8 397-word reviews a week.
PROVINCETOWN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - JUNE 17th-21st
Thursday, June 11, 2009 -- (PROVINCETOWN, MA) – The Provincetown International Film Festival will take place in Provincetown, Massachusetts from June 17th through June 21st. The Opening Night Film will be Woody Allen’s WHATEVER WORKS (New England Premiere) starring Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley, Jr. The festival will close with Jay DiPietro’s PETER AND VANDY (East Coast Premiere), starring Jason Ritter, Jess Weixler and Zak Orth.
As previously announced by Executive Director Gabby Hanna, Artistic Director Connie White and Director of Programming Andrew Peterson, the 2009 Filmmaker on the Edge Award will be awarded to writer/director Guy Maddin (“My Winnipeg,” “The Saddest Music in the World,” “Careful”), actor Alessandro Nivola (“Junebug,” “Laurel Canyon,” and the upcoming 2009 films “Coco Before Chanel” and “Howl”) will receive the Excellence in Acting Award and Strand Releasing will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 20 at 6:00p.m.
Other highlights of the week include:
YOUTH & DIVERSITY PROGRAM (sponsored by the Gale Fund and Bank of America) -- This panel will take place on Friday, 6/19 at 2:00p.m. Films in this year’s program include 3 shorts from SCENARIOS USA, a program that asks teens to write about the issues that shape their lives for the annual “What’s the Real Deal?” writing contest. The winning writers then partner with top filmmakers to transform their stories into award-winning short films – “Bitter Memories”, directed by Joshua Marston, “MANChild” directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, and “Misunderstood” directed by Clark Johnson; OFF AND RUNNING, directed by Nicole Opper, and PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI directed by Paul Saltzman.
THE PORTUGUESE PROGRAM – films premiering in this section that honor the heritage/cultural influence of the Portuguese who settled in Provincetown are GOOD NIGHT IRENE, FADOS, and OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST.
WAR DOGS OF THE PACIFIC (Saturday 6/20 at 11:30a.m.) -- East Coast Premiere telling the extraordinary story of the Marine Dog Platoons of World War II. A benefit screening for the Provincetown Dog Park and the Carrie Ann Seamen Animal Shelter.
For a complete schedule of screenings, panel and events – please refer to the Festival’s website at:
http://www.ptownfilmfest.org
First produced in 1999 (the same year Provincetown celebrated its 100th anniversary as America’s oldest art colony) the PIFF is on the edge - artistically and geographically. Provincetown takes pride in embracing creativity and diversity in a thriving and increasingly year round tourist, business and art economy. For decades, Provincetown has attracted legendary artists, writers and filmmakers to this furthest tip of Cape Cod. Eugene O’Neill, Norman Mailer, Lily Tomlin, John Waters, Connie Francis, Helen Hayes, Billie Holiday, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Richard Gere, and Eartha Kitt have all worked and performed here to the delight the town’s cosmopolitan visitors and residents. Presenting Sponsors of the film festival are Art House, Bacardi Dragonberry, Crown & Anchor and HBO. PIFF is also supported by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Provincetown Tourism Fund.
