William Stanley Merwin was an American poet who wrote more than fifty books of poetry and prose and produced many works in translation. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, his writing influence derived from an interest in Buddhist philosophy and deep ecology. Residing in a rural part of Maui, Hawaii, he wrote prolifically and was dedicated to the restoration of the island's rainforests.
Evan Beloff is a Canadian film writer, producer, director and production company executive. He is known for Bigfoot's Reflection (2007), Daughters of the Voice (2018) and A People's Soundtrack (2019).
James Baker Hall was an American poet, novelist, photographer and teacher.
Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 by Sam Hamill, Tree Swenson, Bill O'Daly, and Jim Gautney, specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington.
Stefan Schaefer is an American writer, director and producer of films and television.
Confess is a 2005 American independent feature film written and directed by Stefan Schaefer.
The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital is the largest environmental film festival in the world. The festival is held annually March in Washington, D.C., presenting more than 100 films to an audience of over 30,000. Often combined with thematic discussions and social events, the films screen at museums, embassies, libraries, universities and local theaters.
Eva Orner is an Australian Academy and Emmy Award-winning film producer and director based in Los Angeles. Her works include Untold Desires, Strange Fits of Passion, Taxi to the Dark Side, and Gonzo, The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Orner's directorial debut, The Network, a feature documentary set behind the scenes of Afghanistan's largest television station, premiered in the US in March 2013.
Eric Daniel Metzgar is a filmmaker who lives and works in San Francisco.
Cicala Filmworks is an American independent film production company based in New York City. Feature film credits include My Last Day Without You (2011), Get a Job (2011), Michael Imperioli's debut The Hungry Ghosts (2009), Olaf de Fleur's The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (2008), Arranged (2007), and Confess (2005). Documentaries include Even Though the Whole World Is Burning (2014) and Contested Streets (2006), which was broadcast as part of "The Green" on The Sundance Channel. Founded in 1997 by Stefan Schaefer and Diane Crespo, the company has also created promotional content for The Guggenheim Museum, The New York Yankees and The March of Dimes.
Rakhshān Banietemad is an internationally and critically acclaimed Iranian film director and screenwriter who is widely considered a premier female director and her films have been praised at international festivals as well as being popular with Iranian critics and audiences. Her title as "First Lady of Iranian Cinema" is not only a reference to her prominence as a filmmaker, but also connotes her social role of merging politics and family in her work. Her signature style is that she focuses on a character representing a part of society to explore it while staying objectively neutral. The first period of Banietemad's cinematic activity originates from dark humor. Still, in the second period of her work, dark humor gives way to serious and influential films, and deeper and broader issues are addressed. Banietemad has a more realistic view of life.
My Last Day Without You is an independent feature film starring Nicole Beharie and Ken Duken, and directed by Stefan Schaefer. It was written by Schaefer and Christoph Silber, and produced by Diane Crespo, Silber and Schaefer and their companies Cicala Filmworks and Silver Shepherd.
Alexander Yefymovych Rodnyansky is a Ukrainian film director, film producer, television executive and businessman. As a media-manager Rodnyansky founded the first Ukrainian independent television network 1+1 and ran Russian CTC Media, which under his management became the first Russian media company to publicly trade on NASDAQ.
The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) was founded in 2005 by Kelley Vickery in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The four-day festival features independent films for filmmakers and film aficionados, with showings of features, documentaries, shorts, and animation—as well as panel discussions and special events focusing on filmmakers and talented artists from both sides of the camera.
Ammar Aziz is a Pakistani documentary filmmaker and poet. He's a recipient of the International Federation of Film Critics Award. His debut feature-length film A Walnut Tree had its world premiere at IDFA and North American premiere at Hot Docs. The film won awards for the best film from Film SouthAsia, Moscow International Documentary Film Festival, Sole Luna Doc-Film Festival and others. His Second feature film, Discount Workers, had world premiere at One World Film Festival and opened a film festival in Kolkata
Lola Creel is a Mexican documentarian, director, and producer. Her documentaries often center on poetry, art, and their creators.
Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a 2014 American documentary film produced and directed by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. The film explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment—examining such environmental concerns as climate change, water use, deforestation, and ocean dead zones—and investigates the policies of several environmental organizations on the issue.
Cathy Henkel is a South African documentary filmmaker who lives and works in Australia. Her works have typically focused on subjects of environmental activism, and to a lesser extent, the performing arts.
Roya Sadat is an Afghan film producer and director. She was the first woman director in the history of Afghan cinema in the post-Taliban era, and ventured into making feature films and documentaries on the theme of injustice and restrictions imposed on women. Following the fall of the Taliban regime in the country, she made her debut feature film Three Dots. For this film she received six of nine awards which included as best director and best film. In 2003,A Letter to the President her most famous film that received many international awards, she and her sister Alka Sadat established the Roya Film House and under this banner produced more than 30 documentaries and feature films and TV series. She is now involved to direct the opera of A Thousand Splendid Suns for the Seattle Opera and she is during pre production of her 2nd feature film Forgotten History.
The Queen is a 1968 American documentary film directed by Frank Simon and narrated by Flawless Sabrina. It depicts the experiences of the drag queens organizing and participating in the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest held at New York City's Town Hall. The film was screened at the International Critics' Week section of the 1968 Cannes Film Festival; however, the festival was ultimately curtailed and ended due to ongoing civil unrest in France before any awards could be given out.
