The New Orleans Film Society is now accepting submissions for the 23rd annual New Orleans Film Festival, to be held October 12-18, 2012.
They are looking for new and original films completed on or after July 1, 2011, and are accepting films in eight categories: narrative feature, narrative short, documentary feature, documentary short, animated short, experimental short, Louisiana feature, and Louisiana short.
The final deadline for submitting a film is June 4.
Paper Diamond, the new venture (formed in 2011) for Pretty Lights and associated artist Alex B, just released its new EP Wavesight EP on May 3 and debuted its first music video on May 9.
Now, before you get too excited, Paper Diamond aka Alex B is a Colorado-based act, but apparently he has no shortage of NOLA love.
The first video debuted for the EP this week features local singer Nasimiyu Murumba (aka Nasimiyu) and local, well, er, locations (with at least Magazine Street being clearly identifiable.)
Perhaps more important than my love of New Orleans architecture and street scenes, however is my love of New Orleans’ artists. Nasimiyu is a versatile artist who mixes genres and styles and is on a mission to poetically portray the world around her. In my humble opinion, her feature on Paper Diamond’s track doesn’t allow her to truly shine – she’s a bigger artist and more soulful singer than this video suggests, so be sure to check out her solo stuff. Her full album is due out this summer – June 23rd to be exact.
While you wait with baited breath for her album to drop, you can enjoy this amuse bouche from Paper Diamond with its smorgasbord of color, heavy beats, and dazzle. Bonus points to anyone who can identify all of the exact locations featured in the video.
Paper Diamond feat. Nasimiyu “Turn Off The Lights”
Nasimiyu
Paper Diamond
Be sure to follow Nasimiyu on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and because he shows NOLA-love, go ahead and follow Paper Diamond too (on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube).
Download Paper Diamond’s new EP on Soundcloud.
Recently, the New Orleans Film Society (NOFS) and The Prytania Theatre closed out another successful Film-O-Rama spring showcase. Now in its third year, the weeklong event is dedicated to bringing a vast array of new independent, foreign, and documentary films to New Orleans. And this year, it did just that – showcasing over twenty unique and diverse films, most of which would not normally be released here.
Film-O-Rama was originally designed as a counterbalance to NOFS’s major annual event – the New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF), held every year in October at locations all across the city. Since NOFF is held rather belated on the film festival circuit calendar, it is either too late or too early to screen some of the movies that the film society would like to show, so Film-O-Rama was started to handle that overflow. Though unlike NOFF, Film-O-Rama is made up of an entirely curated selection of films; there are no amateur films, shorts, or judged competition.
In the years after Katrina, New Orleans really lacked the presence of stable local theatres that would feature arthouse, foreign, and documentary films. Therefore Film-O-Rama was a way to fill that void as well. And even though newer venues such as The Theatres at Canal Place and Chalmette Movies have picked up the slack as well, Film-O-Rama is still the best way to see so many movies that local film lovers would likely never have gotten opportunity to see otherwise.
Modeled after similar festivals like SXSW, Film-O-Rama has grown tremendously over its few years as more films and features are added every year. With screenings spread out over a weekend and a few weeknights, NOFS was able to take a few risks in their scheduling. Relatively unknown films, like the delightfully bizarre Greek film Attenberg and niche documentaries Guilty Pleasures and Girl Model, were scheduled during prime evening timeslots to give them an even better opportunity to be seen and discovered.
Several noted filmmakers – including The FP’s directors/producers and Jiro Dreams of Sushi documentarian David Gelb – attended their film’s screenings and participated in Q&A’s with the audience. Special discussions and introductions were held for other films as well. Even a few celebrities (like Seth Rogen, in town filming a movie) popped in to catch a flick. These add-ons and special appearances are popular features of NOFF, though this is the first year Film-O-Rama has also featured them, but NOFS would like to expand on it for future Film-O-Ramas.
As for this year’s event, some of the most popular films included The Kid with a Bike (French films typically do well here in New Orleans), the midnite screening of the British crime-thriller Kill List, and the Bob Marley documentary, simply titled Marley, which was so popular a third screening was added on the festival’s final night. The Prytania has also decided to hold over three films from the festival (Marley, Monsieur Lazhar, and The Deep Blue Sea) and add them to their daily lineup.
Join the New Orleans Film Society and the New Orleans Museum of Art for an outdoor screening of the classic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA.
About the film: This is the film that gave Audrey Hepburn her iconic role as Holly Golightly, a socialite naïf juggling the affections of millionaires in an idealized Manhattan. The film was nominated for several Academy awards, winning Best Score for Henry Mancini and Best Song for Johnny Mercer’s “Moon River.”
Costumes are encouraged!
As part of the evening’s events, there will be music by Paul Soniat from 5 to 7 p.m.; an art-making activity beginning at 5 p.m.; and a comedic art tour with the New Movement beginning at 6 p.m.
Feel free to bring a blanket or chair to enjoy the outdoor screening, but no outside food or drink is allowed as there will be vendors on site beginning at 5 p.m., including Crêpes à la Cart, La Cocinita, & Green To Go NOLA.
New Orleans Museum of Art
One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park
Friday, May 11
7:30 p.m.
Sure the big box office hit, “The Avengers” was bound to be successful, but who would have thought this movie would gross 200.3 million in the first weekend, completely obliterating Harry Potter’s earth shattering finale. Here is my 5 point review of the movie including lots of cuss words…
(Subtle spoilers were included in this post that probably won’t ruin the movie.)
1. Lots of stuff blew up and I fucking loved it. The level of unnecessary explosions and gratuitous CGI kept me on the edge of my seat like a true fanboy. (See Hulk smash!!)
2. Superheroes love to argue — it was like watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion show as these macho bros and Black Widow fight to see who’s the boss.
3. Nick Fury is an altruistic, manipulative super genius and there is no man better to play him than screaming Sam Jackson in an eye patch.
4. Iron Man actually has a heart of gold and I kinda love it. On the other hand, I passionately hate Captain America and his abnormally small waist.
5. Loki, is by far the most pathetic super villain I’ve ever seen, especially when he gets his ass beat by basically every major character. You probably knew this already, but the good guys win… or do they?
Have you seen the movie. What did you think??
