Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film News

Independent Film Festival of Boston is in Full Swing!

This week is all about the Independent Film Festival of Boston! Festivities kicked off last night where an appearance by Ben Kingsley at Brad Anderson's latest film, TRANSSIBERIAN got the crowd going. This weekend the festival takes over the Somerville, Brattle and Coolidge Corner Theatres, and Chlotrudis is co-presenting not one, but two terrific films that you should take the time to see. Many of you are volunteering at the festival and the rest of you need to check out the excellent schedule of films, panels, and parties that take over indie Boston this weekend. The Festival runs nearly a week this year, wrapping up on Tuesday night at the Coolidge with a screening of Werner Herzog's latest documentary, ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD.

Brace yourself. If your idea of Ellen Page comes from JUNO, or even MARION BRIDGE, you'd better hold on when you see THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS. We're not even talking about the visceral discomfort of HARD CANDY here, but rather a wrenching, emotional rollercoaster ride depicting a young teenager's spiralling decent into loss and madness. My favorite film at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, I call THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS, LILYA 4-EVER meets PI. A visual and aural assault that utilizes a collage-like editing technique that is still anchored securely by Page's phenomenal performance. You can't miss this film, and here's your chance to see it before everyone else. it plays twice during the IFFB, Friday, April 25, 9:45 p.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, and Sunday, April 27, 10:00 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre. Both shows co-presented by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film.

The Chlotrudis Society has long been a supporter of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin, giving nominations to his last four feature films, BRAND UPON THE BRAIN, COWARDS BEND THE KNEE, THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, and DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN'S DIARY. Now he's back in his own inimitable style, with a film that's part narrative, part documentary, part travelogue, an homage to the city of his birth and upbringing, MY WINNIPEG. I first caught this film at Toronto last year as well, with Guy himself performing the narration live. He said that he wouldn't be doing that again, but Guy is in fact, planning to be in attendance at this year's IFFB screening, which takes place Monday, April 28, 8:00 p.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. And since, Chlotrudis is co-presenting MY WINNIPEG at the IFFB, we're making it this week's Chlotrudis Monday Movie of the Week! You really want to try to catch this one.

The films being co-presented by Chlotrudis are just scratching the surface of the terrific array of films coming to town this week. Documentaries, narratives, shorts, the IFFB has got them all. Here's a sampling of some of the films that I am excited about. SAVAGE GRACE is the very long awaited follow-up to SWOON by Tom Kalin. It's his first feature film is 16 years! SAVAGE GRACE tells the real-life tale of Barbara and Tony Baekeland, a peculiarly close mother and son whose story takes on the themes and proportions of Greek tragedy. Julianne Moore stars as Barbara Baekeland in a chilling role that go a long way to putting her back on the top of must-see actress list. Because of her stellar documentary work on such films as IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL and this year's Chlotrudis winner for Best Doc, PROTAGONIST, Jessica Yu is one of those diretors whose work I will always check out. I did just that last year in Toronto with her wacky family comedy, PING PONG PLAYA! Christopher "C-dub" Wang is an irresponsible, swaggering wannabe basketball player that is forced to pick up a paddle when his ping pong champion brother is injured. Jimmy Tsai, who co-wrote the screenplay with Yu, plays C-dub, and while the comedy is broad and a bit juvenile, the familiar story is a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to GOLIATH, David and Nathan Zellner's SXSW hit that explores the bond between a lonely man and his pet cat. Another film that has been making waves on the documentary festival circuit is AMERICAN TEEN which takes a look at the lives of four Midwestern teens. This film was shot over a 10-month period by Nanette Burnstein who brought us THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE.

All these films and more are part of Boston's premiere festival, the Independent Film Festival of Boston. Do check out their website for information on how to get tickets, where the parties are, and the panels that are going on around town. And say hello to your fellow Chlotrudis members who will be hard at work volunteering!

Chlotrudis Winner Jesse Epstein Returns to Boston for IFFB

If you were around four years ago, you might remember the Audience Award winner at the 4th Annual Short Film Festival was a powerful yet amusing documentary about body image and the way photographs a manipulated to obtain an impossible perfection. That film, WET DREAMS, FALSE IMAGES, was made by a talented New York filmmaker, originally from Brookline, MA, Jesse Epstein.

I am very happy to report that Jesse is back with another short film entitled 34x25x36, another documentary about body image and elusive perfection, this time using mannequins as the subject. Jesse's film will play the Independent Film Festival of Boston as part of their Plays in Shorts 2: Docs series, on Thursday, April 24 at 7 p.m. and Friday, April 25 at 6 p.m., both at the Somerville Theatre. Check out a trailer for 34x25x36 here:

Jesse's previous film, WET DREAMS AND FALSE IMAGES, has a distributor in New Day Films. The film is being targeted toward educational institutions, which makes perfect since given its subject matter and the skill at which it is presented. Check out a trailer of WET DREAMS FALSE IMAGES here.

CHLOTRUDIS CO-PRESENTS ELLEN PAGE IN ‘TRACEY FRAGMENTS’ and GUY MADDIN’S ‘MY WINNIPEG’ AT INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF BOSTON

The Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film (CSIF) is pleased to join with the INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL OF BOSTON (IFFB) once again to co-present two films as part of the festival’s 6th year. MY WINNIPEG, the latest from director Guy Maddin, will play on Monday April 28th, with the director in attendance, and THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS, starring recent Academy Award nominee Ellen Page, will screen on Friday April 25th and Sunday April 27th.

Showcasing his signature use of silent and early sound era cinema, MY WINNIPEG is legendary director Guy Maddin’s loving tribute, or what he calls a ‘docu-fantasia’ to his hometown in Manitoba. The Toronto Film Festival, where it premiered last fall, describes the film as “equal parts mystical rumination and personal history, city chronicle and deranged post-Freudian proletarian fantasy, it blends local myth with childhood trauma”, eventually “morphing into a meditation on belief and truth, memory and myth.” The film will have only one screening, at 8pm on Monday April 28 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. Guy Maddin will be in attendance to present the film and participate in a post-film Q&A session.

Presented almost completely in split-screen frames, THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS is a film that uses its fractured visual design to convey the chaos and emotion that catapults a disturbed teenaged girl as she navigates her broken world. Director Bruce McDonald pushes the split-screen technique to bursting point, “virtually tearing the screen apart in an effort to capture Tracey’s headspace”, playing with the film’s tone “wildly as Tracey struggles to deal with events that move from schoolgirl fantasies to quasi-surreal encounters to frenzied accounts of high-school persecution. Ellen Page carries the weight of this film with extraordinary confidence; her performance as the troubled Tracey is electric and compelling. THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS will be shown Friday April 25 at 9:45pm at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, and again on Sunday April 27 at 10pm at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville.

Celebrating its 6th year, the IFFB has become the premiere film festival in Boston, bringing dozens of independent films and filmmakers together each spring to showcase the best and brightest to an ever-growing, appreciative Boston audience. Thanks to its continued success and popularity, the festival extended its run by two days this year. Check the IFFB website at http://www.iffboston.org for more information on these and all other film and film events that will be part of this year’s festival.

ONCE Best Movie Surprise Winner at 14th Annual Chlotrudis Awards

Despite a strong showing by THERE WILL BE BLOOD, which came away with Trudies for Paul Thomas Anderson (Best Director), Daniel Day Lewis (Best Actor) and Paul Dano (Best Supporting Actor), this year the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film bestowed its Best Film award to the charming Dubliner film ONCE, which had received a sole nomination in that category.

The prestigious Buried Treasure award was won by Rumania’s 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST. In order to be eligible, Buried Treasure nominees had to have earned less than $250,000 in US box office. Chlotrudis created the category in order to shine a spotlight on those films the society feels deserve wider attention and a second look.

Beating out Julie Christie and Ellen Page in their Oscar nominated roles in AWAY FROM HER and JUNO, respectively, was Kate Dickie for her riveting performance in RED ROAD. In yet another category of strong nominees, Jessica Yu’s PROTAGONIST emerged as first among contenders, winning Best Documentary. Cate Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress for I’M NOT THERE; Visual Design ended up with PAPRIKA and PAN’S LABYRINTH sharing the win; WAITRESS walked away with Best Ensemble; and the writing awards went to the original THE LIVES OF OTHERS and the adapted AWAY FROM HER.

The winners from the 8th Annual Chlotrudis Short Film Festival were also
officially announced during the show. The Audience Award went to FISH
BUT NO CIGAR, directed by Tara White & Lyn Eliot, while GIRLS ROOM by Maria Gigante, took away the Best Film win. Ms. Gigante made the trek from New York to accept in person.

Presenters and guests included many members of the Boston film community, among them nationally respected film scholar Gerald Peary and Peter Keough, film editor for The Boston Phoenix. In addition, representatives from the Independent Film Festival of Boston, the Boston Jewish Film Festival, the Boston Latino International Film Festival, Women in Film/Video New England, the Boston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the CineMental queer film series participated in the night’s festivities.

This year’s musical numbers extolled the virtue of the night’s nominees and honoree while emulating a Feist video, and while taking on a Sondheim operetta. Many guest presenters had fun with their moments in the spotlight, some even going so far to arrive with their own props in tow.

But the highlight of the night was the heartfelt and forthright speech by Alberta Watson, the year’s special honoree, as she accepted the Society’s Career So Far award. Ms. Watson, an actress perhaps best known on film for her costarring role in SPANKING THE MONKEY, and on TV for her supporting role in LA FEMME NIKITA, pulled no punches as she spoke about her career’s highs and lows, and her feelings about the state of the film and television industries today, in both her country of Canada, and in Hollywood.

For a complete list of winners, visit the Awards Page.