Zatoichi is a 2003 Japanese samurai drama/action film, directed, written, co-edited by and starring Takeshi Kitano in his 11th directorial venture. Kitano plays the role of the blind swordsman.
Jackie Beat is the drag persona of actor, singer, songwriter and screenwriter Kent Fuher. Beat has appeared in a number of independent feature films both in and out of drag, including Wigstock: The Movie, Flawless, and Adam & Steve. In television, Beat has appeared on Sex and the City and was a writer for the short-lived sketch comedy series Hype on The WB Television Network.
Earth is a 2007 nature documentary film which depicts the diversity of wild habitats and creatures across the planet. The film begins in the Arctic in January of one year and moves southward, concluding in Antarctica in the December of the same year. Along the way, it features the journeys made by three particular species—the polar bear, African bush elephant and humpback whale—to highlight the threats to their survival in the face of rapid environmental change. A companion piece to the 2006 BBC/Discovery television series Planet Earth, the film uses many of the same sequences, though most are edited differently, and features previously unseen footage.
Deborah Scranton is an American film director. She directed The War Tapes, a documentary detailing the personal stories of soldiers in the Iraq War. It was the first of its kind in that she sent the soldiers video cameras so they can shoot raw footage of their actual, on hand experiences in combat. The film won several honors, including Best International Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival and Best International Documentary at BritDoc in 2006 and was shortlisted for an Oscar in 2007.
Niharika Singh is an Indian film actress and a former Miss India. She won the title of Femina Miss India Earth in 2005 and made her acting debut with the film Miss Lovely, which competed in Un Certain Regard at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
Mania Akbari is an Iranian filmmaker, artist, writer and actress whose works explore women's rights, marriage, sexual identity, disease and body image. Her style, in contrast to the long tradition of melodrama in Iranian cinema, is rooted in the visual arts and autobiography. Because of the taboo themes frankly discussed in her films and her opposition to censorship, she is considered one of the most controversial filmmakers in Iran. As an actress, she is probably best known for playing the lead role in Abbas Kiarostami's Ten (2002).
Rage is a 2009 satirical mystery art film written and directed by Sally Potter, starring Jude Law and Judi Dench. The filmmakers said that the film created a new genre in filmmaking, called “naked cinema”.
The National Film Festival for Talented Youth, held annually in Seattle, Washington, showcases work by filmmakers 24 and under from across the U.S. and the world. It was created in 2007 with the goal of becoming the most influential youth-oriented film festival in North America. The festival includes film screenings, filmmaking workshops and panels, concerts by youth bands, and a gala opening night.
Harish Saluja is a filmmaker and artist residing in Pittsburgh, United States. He was the founder and executive director of the Silk Screen Asian Arts and Cultural Organization and the host of the Music from India radio program. He is working on his next feature film and creating art for upcoming gallery shows.
Sebastian Copeland is a French-American-British photographer, polar explorer, author, lecturer, and environmental activist. He has led numerous expeditions in the polar regions to photograph and film endangered environments. In 2017, Copeland was named one of the world's top 25 adventurers of the last 25 years by Men's Journal. He is a fellow of The Explorers Club. His documentary Into the Cold was a featured selection at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and was released on DVD timed to Earth Day 2011.
Ben Rivers is an artist and experimental filmmaker based in London, England. His work has been screened at film festivals and galleries around the world and have won numerous awards. Rivers' work ranges in themes, including exploring unknown wilderness territories to candid and intimate portraits of real-life subjects.
Jeff Orlowski is an American filmmaker. He is best known for both directing and producing the Emmy Award-winning documentary Chasing Ice (2012) and Chasing Coral (2017).
Erin Li is a Taiwanese American filmmaker, writer, director and producer. She has directed and written the short films To The Bone, L.A. Coffin School and others. She has also served as an Associate Producer on the documentaries Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (2012), The Girls in the Band (2011), America The Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments (2011), and Voices Unveiled: Turkish Women Who Dare (2009).
The Austin Cinemaker Co-op was a nonprofit Super 8 film collective based in Austin, Texas. The organization was founded by Barna Kantor and Kris DeForest in 1996, and merged with the Center for Young Cinema to become the Austin School of Film in 2003. The organization provided Super 8 camera rentals and production training, regular Super 8 mini-festivals showcasing locally produced work, screening salons with visiting filmmakers, and other small-gauge film events for the Central Texas community. The organization embraced a grassroots, do-it-yourself ethos.
Giovanni Davide Maderna is an Italian film director.
Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival (BITS) was first founded by Kelly Micheal Stewart in 2012 as an offshoot of his then ongoing monthly film series entitled "Fright Nights at the Projection Booth" which were held at the former Projection Booth theater in Toronto, Ontario. With a considerable number of Canadian films all vying for a spot in the showcase, Stewart decided to put together the first edition of what would become a yearly film festival that replaced the monthly series. After a first edition entitled "Fright Nights :Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival weekend", Stewart shortened the name and re-imagined the construct of the festival, bringing on a programming team and sharpening its focus with the aim of promoting, spotlighting and helping to develop the independent contemporary genre filmmaking community across Canada. The festival has branched off in its efforts to become visible all year round with a public access television interview show and a podcast.
Waghoba: Provider, Destroyer, Deity is a 2016 documentary short film about Indian tigers and their relationships with human society. It is directed and written by Malaika Vaz and produced by Sandesh Kadur. The film helped win the National Geographic ROAD Talent award for Wildscreen Festival.
Moothon, is a 2019 Indian action thriller film written and directed by Geetu Mohandas, and jointly produced by S. Vinod Kumar, Anurag Kashyap, Ajay G. Rai and Alan McAlex. Featuring a bilingual narrative in Malayalam and Hindi, the film stars Nivin Pauly, Sobhita Dhulipala, Shashank Arora, Melissa Raju Thomas,Sanjana Dipu and Roshan Mathew. Anurag Kashyap wrote the dialogues in Hindi. It's Geetu's second feature-length directorial and debut film in Malayalam. The film tells the story of a 14 year old child from Lakshadweep who comes to Mumbai in search of his elder brother.
Landfill Harmonic is a 2015 documentary film directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley. It stars and tells the story of Paraguayan music teacher Favio Chavez and his Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a children's orchestra in Paraguay which performs with materials recycled from a trash landfill near Asuncion. In Paraguay, the current administrative director of the orchestra is reported to the prosecution for alleged lack of transparency with donations.
Taking Stock is a popular 2015 film festival award-winning independent caper written and directed by Maeve Murphy and starring Kelly Brook. It was shot on location in Kings Cross, London in homage to The Ladykillers. Some interior scenes were shot in Crystal Palace, London. The film tackles the issue of redundancy and unemployment in a lighthearted way as Kate fantasises about robbing the shop that has just made her redundant.
