A casual discussion over at NYC Fantastic....

Hello, just sat down for a relaxed convo over at NYC Fantastic Podcast. Check it out below -

Description from YouTube pulled from the video reads as:

We had a low key, chill, but illuminating discussion with filmmaker, actor, musician Amir Motlagh on Sunday 5/10/20. Many topics were discussed - including living in the Covid19 era, layers being removed from society, his 20 films, and music work. For all things Amir Motlagh visit his website - https://www.amirmotlagh.com/.

From his website - "Amir Motlagh has written and directed 20 titles (+ -), including the feature films THREE WORLDS, MAN, WHALE & RAINBOW SEASON (also a full length LP). He is the recipient of multiple awards (art is not about competition) and is a cross-media artist who makes music under the moniker, Mirs as singer, songwriter and record producer. He frequently collaborates with other artists. He is the founder of ANIMALS. Partial List of Festival Screenings & Awards include - deadCenter Film Festival, San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, SENE Film, Music & Arts Festival, 24fps International Short Film Festival, CiCFF, Iranian Film Festival, DanceswithFilms, Vancouver Asian American Festival, Los Angeles Asian American Film Festival, DeepEllum Film Festilval, Silverlake Film Festival, Microcinema International Independent Exposure Series, Chicago Asian American Film Festival, Taos Shortz Film Festival, Hells Half Mile Film & Music Festival."

Read the rest of the biography here - https://www.amirmotlagh.com/biography Check out https://www.amirmotlagh.com/ for updates on new projects.

Visit NYC Fantastic blog for other interviews by Sujewa Ekanayake - http://nycfantastic.com/blog/

A spotlight on MAN - Kicking the Seat

A funny thing happened a few nights ago that succinctly describes the plight of independent filmmaking and the practice of sending screeners. Let me preface that with this; one of the most rewarding aspects of filmmaking in the true independent sense is the process of self-actualization, a partially controllable condition. Now, the uncontrollable condition (everything after the creation) is that the farther a vision strews from established norms, the harder it becomes to attract a certain level of attention. This is woven into the classic gatekeeper paradigm.

Ok, back to the first sentence. Nearly two years ago, Chicago Film Critics Association member Ian Simmons was handed a screener to the film MAN (screening at Chicago at the time) by a colleague, he watched the first ten minutes of it and shut the screener off prematurely, writing it off as not his thing. Fast forward to a couple of nights ago, as he confessed this earlier sin on his “Kicking the Seat Podcast”, and now proclaimed that the film had, “blown his mind” while dedicating an entire episode talking about the film. A massive change of opinion nearly two years in the making, done in a transparent, respectable & honest way.

This is the reality of artmaking and it is unavoidable when the access & context is not in place. One cannot demand that people pay attention to your work. But it is always the artist's responsibility to tell what needs to be told, in the only way that one can.

Time takes care of the rest, not in the sense that people will come around, but in the sense that ultimately, it never really mattered in the first place.

Here is the link to the Kicking The Seat Podcast in which MAN is given a positive, newly minted spotlight in the eyes of one critic.

And below, a link to watch on our preferred platform.

Name dropped in a trailer for a film about a Werewolf Philosopher, a first for me

In what is now a first for me, I got name dropped in a trailer for a DIY film from NY based filmmaker/blogger Sujewa Ekanayake about a Werewolf philosopher solving the case of a string of dead art filmmakers turning up in NY.

Yes, in fact, that is the synopsis.

I received an early version of the film (was informed that some changes will be made) and sat down with it last night.

Again, I’m biased (see the trailer below), but knowing Sujewa’s work over the years, he reminds me of a living, breathing indie music fanzine from the 80’s-90’s. If you know anything about that time, you know that it was a labor of love, & it was the underpinning that drove that scene.

“Werewolf” never takes itself serious (its absurd comedy after-all), and Sujewa spends time through the Werewolf expressing his love for the things he’s interested in, centered around his influences, while imbuing the film with a workable philosophy that translates to the real world. It also has several legit laugh out loud moments sprinkled throughout.

This type of filmmaking is certainly not for everyone (long transitional cutaways/ long single take dialogue sequences/ a certain DIY wandering edit / no budget), but I can’t help but respect his drive and his passion for the scene he nurtures in it.

I think, in a different timeline, we would have had more variety of this type of work, but the indie film world never shaped up like the indie music scene; still, we have Sujewa keeping the fanzine alive with his particular vision.

“Werewolf Ninja Philosopher” is playing Oct 25-31st at 7pm at the Maysles Theater in Harlem. You can order it on VOD here as a pre-order.