Film

"whale" first official trailer

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Here it is....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR39tdVZaAI[/youtube]

whale


Cameron, a writer who seems to have never finished his first novel, returns home to his mother's house in Orange County Ca., after a failed relationship and lack of direction with life. Back home, Cameron spends his time reacquainting with old high school friends, only to find that life has only gotten more confusing for everyone. What is a young man to do when he seems to have lost all hope?

The film uses a cast made up of mostly non-actors, including Motlagh's real life parents. Many of the cast were first seen in Amir Motlagh's short film, Dino Adino (2001). By using an alternative narrative style, the film destroys the lines of fiction and documentary by engaging the audience in a way that traditional narrative fictions cannot. Motlagh utilized an approach that mixes the cinematic language, using influences ranging from Dogme 95, No Budget DIY, Iranian Cinema, Collage, John Cassavettes and Youtube  to string together the film in a unique and original way.

-Quotes-
"DIY meets cinema art"

"A collage of life, weaved with a sparring, gentle narrative that says more, without hardly saying anything"

"An autistic vision of cinema, equal parts beautiful, indulgent, and raw"

"Life unfolds in Amir Motlagh's new film whale"

-Cast-
Amir Motlagh
Darren Oneil
Mike Flowers
Atefeh Galledari
Yousef Motlagh
Rastin Ashtiani
Kindy Barr

-Company Credits-
Production Company - AYA Films
Produced by - Amir Motlagh, Darren Oneil
Music- Shanks and the Dreamers

Total Run Time: 72 Minutes

whale

"Absorbed", and further updates on whale

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So, the film Micro from last year is going to be titled Absorbed, and if you read my last post, i am giving it away free.  I will keep relaying why i am doing this, to give it a greater context(both social and personal), and i think that in the end, the conceptual gap between the works whale, "Plain Us" and Absorbed will hopefully mend.

 At this time, i am of the mind that as artist, we have to be very reluctant to give away our work for free, especially now that the internet audience feels entitled to media without fee, but at the same time i am starting to see a diminishing quality of work being put fourth in the ultra indie community that has abandoned both singularly(which i don't mind so much and can be beneficial in the world of low budget DV/HD) and comprehensively (detrimental to the filmmaking community), concept, craft and art.  The thing about the proliferation of DV in the nineties was that in the words of Jean Cocteau, "Film will only became an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper", well its not pencil and paper, but damn near close, although Jean Cocteau might not have been thinking about how the internet and lack of scope was going to muddy his quote.  Because we are on the subject, this was another gem from Cocteau, "Art is not a pastime but a priesthood", which echoes the commitment to the work that one does.  

Unfortunately, quantity has taken over quality, art for commercial viability even in the lower echeln of no budget work.  DV gave us the opputunity to experiement with form and ideas, sometimes, or mostly at the expense of craft but that was OK, it was a trade of.  You don't talk about resolution when you watch the personal diary pixel vision works of the 80's, nor do you call into question the simple editing and VHS footage of Tarnation.  But these days, both craft and concept go out the window and we are left with work that neither resembles Cassavetes nor wannabe Spielberg's.  Its something more akin to the Hollywood Romantic Comedy, or shows like Flight of the Concords without any real social commentary.  And without the truth that Cassavetes forced you to watch.  In fact, Cassavetes name gets thrown out alot these days, but my god, if you compare 5 minutes of A Women Under the Influence or Husbands, you will understand what realism is, not pseudo naturalism.  I am guilty of that myself, but i would never believe that my craft is at that level yet, nor is it trying to be, nor might it ever be.  Lets just never compare these contemporary micro works to Cassavetes again, until it truly fucking deserves it OK.  And lets face it, its not going to happen because talent doesn't develop that quickly.  Now if Mike Leigh was given $3000 to make a feature film, he could pull something of.   

Nevertheless, there has never been a Micro Budget movie that i have ever witnessed to carry that type of truth, maybe interesting but without the developed craft, nor as i stated concept.  Those are two separatist ideas.  I will not ask for craft if concept is compelling enough, if the argument really exists.  In the 90's we had Dogme, but the new crop of internet filmmakers isn't shooting for that, isnt shooting for Breaking the Waves or The Celebration, but shooting work that resembles sitcoms, with people who are hipper then what you would be seeing on network TV.  In a way, Absorbed has many elements of the trend i am argueing against, but at the same time, it knows what it is.  Its critically looking at itself.  I shot a movie to resemble a youtube journal, and what better way to express that, then give it away in the format that it was mimiking.  It might be the first feature film to be made for the web, both in content and style. The work is also a self-reflexive reaction to what is availble without all the metaphors.  Where as whale is a culturalist piece cloaked as character piece, Absorbed is a character piece cloaked as a culturalist piece.  

On a more urgent note, whale has taken me around three years to complete, from its inception.   To be honest, i have no idea how anyone will view it, whether they call it adolescent or brillant, nor if i where to be truly honest, do I really care.  I do hope that people see it for more Kiarostami then XYZ filmmaking, but thats just my hope.  Of course i would love an audience, but i cannot dictate that.  I also don't have the desire to sit on myspace for 8 hours a day, adding people to view my film.  But one thing is that regardless of some of the home made aesthitcs, or what some might loosely call lack of craft(i have other films you know, and an MFA), it was made out of my understanding of what DV micro budget filmmaking might have become.  To me, its all craft, its all concept, and its all personal.  But not my life.  Ofterall, i'm not that self-absorbed that i might make it out to be, it might all look real, but is all fiction.

I am going to set up the blog or website this coming week for Absorbed.  I calculate that it will be in 16 parts with the first part going up in late August or early Sept.  I'm talking a break writing this while in the middle of finishing the sound for whale, which will be a completed, locked picture by August 18th.  

Until next time, behave yourselves.,

Peace

AM

 

Where can i find yo shit, like Still Lover and such?

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Ok, so people always ask where they can see or buy things i have created.  Well, for one, Still Lover is currently being distributed by CrushedPlanet.com which is an online pay to play website with high quality, curated content.  The company was founded by Joe and Harry Gantz of Taxi Cab Confessions, which was an amazing show at the time, and could be the first reality show to play on Cable?  Maybe.

Anyways, go and take a look, and if you sign up you get two free views, then its pay to play, or subscription based.  So this all means that you need to go and see the film Still Lover for the first time, or the third, but go and make me some money meng.    Artist deserve to make that bling too....

Also, if you're into music, and can't wait for the new Shanks and the Dreamers album to drop on Sept 16th, 2008, you can cope our smooth, last years instrumental record, "A Day Late: Instrumentals for Illegal Aliens" over at itunes, or amazon, or cdbaby, and take it easy man.

Ok, so, the new news is that knock. knock. has been picked up for distro.  So if you want to see that film, go harass the distributors Ouat! Media.  For all international sales, please click here.

 

 

 

knock. knock. gets distro deal

in ,
To update on the most recent happenings in life, knock. knock. has been acquired by Toronto based distribution company Ouat! Media for an exclusive worldwide deal.  I can now hand over the duty of getting the damn thing seen to someone else.

In other news, Shanks and the Dreamers album is officially ready to be sent out for mastering.  I think i posted on this before, but alas, we went in and mixed some more.  But this time, its for real. It includes 11 tracks with names like, WhiteHouse, 405, Hush and Popsicles.  Nothing too pretentious, just short and sweet mutherfuckin titles.

We are sending it out to a NY Mastering House, since ART is rolling through NY in a few weeks and were getting good vibes from a couple dudes out there but...... there are a couple solid choices in LA as well, so nothing is finalized as to who will do the honors, but the field has been weeded out.

Keep it fresh

FM/AM

 

"Plain Us" movie trailer and info

in ,
So, my new film Plain Us is finished and i 'm ready for both the love and the hate.  I wrote and directed the piece. It was shot by cinematographer Zamir Kokonozi on 35mm, who also shot my last film knock knock.

The film also features songs on the upcoming full length Shanks and the Dreamers album, My Darling Dia.

Here is a short synopsis:  "Cy, a touring musician in an up and coming band drops into the town he grew up in":

In my next few post i'll get more in depth with the process, and conception of the piece.

The film features:

Kindy Barr

Nadia Anwar

Art Toussi

Tom O'Connell

Rami Dogg

Kristen Penza

Josh Virnick

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=iFC4mQeEeDM[/youtube]

feature film done, plus two

in ,
I'm finished with my first narrative feature(whale, although the title might change), but  this is where it gets kind of tricky.

I can't release it yet. Why you ask, well, because i shoot another film in about a month tentatively titled "Plain Us" which is a 20+ min. short and pre production has been exhausting(last short in a long long time).
Also in the mean time, i have been filming "Micro" which is my second fictional feature during the past two months as it is an ongoing project.

They will be released in this order, mind you all the titles are tentative.  Whale (Dec), Plain Us (March), and Micro (May).

This is a trilogy of sorts.  They are all related. Its not a sequential thing, and yes, they are all certainly independent from one another in all aspects but in the grand scheme of things, there paths cross.  I don't really want to talk about it more then that, but i'm excited anyways.  Its a cumlative effort

It seems i've been MIA for a while, but i have never been busier artistically then right now and i guess that keeps me from the promoting aspect.

I'll see you guys in a little over a month.

This was taken from Chris Manz's myspace blog promoting my latest film knock. knock. from a guy who was in the movie.

in ,

-Note:  This is not my writing.  I am copying and pasting only.  Permission was granted. 


"Knock. Knock." and why it's kind of like "The Chris Manz Show"


Ok, so in the past I have used this blog as a place to post little improvised stories of varying quality. But today I am going to use it like it is intended to be used, to promote an art project thing that I worked on. I'm talking to you about "Knock. Knock.", a film that I wrote and starred in, and which is just now starting to hit the film festival circuit (or has at least been sent out into it). I'm going to conduct this thing in an interview format, and sort of rip-off one of my past (more popular) blog entries called "Dialogue of the Chris Manz's". Time to begin...

First a setting. This interview is to take place in my house (for a visual reference please refer to the most recently added picture in my myspace picture section, where I am standing up wearing an "Art Ensemble of Chicago" t-shirt, and looking off into space planning my next move (which was to go into the kitchen to eat something, if I remember correctly)). Now in this room there shall be two Chris's. One Chris will be sitting at the piano located in the back of the picture (where the book of BACH MASTERPIECES is displayed, ready at all times to have the 2 simplest preludes of the well-tempered clavier performed). This seated chris will be the interviewer. The other Chris will stand up kind of like how I am in the picture, but probably face more towards the Chris who is seated at the piano (rather than away).

Chris (seated at the piano): So, Chris. What is this "Knock. Knock." thing?
Chris: Well it's a movie that I developed with director Amir Motlagh--
Chris: Is he a good director?
Chris: Yes. And you will find that out when you watch the film. I have a copy here and I will show it to you after we finish the interview.
Chris: Ok, who else was involved in this film?
Chris: Well it also features two wonderful performances by Keaton Shyler who plays a character named "Carla" (my ex-girlfriend in the film), and Lene Pederson who plays "Sharon" (a guest on my show). It was produced by Chris Otteson, edited by Rick Curnutt, and was co-produced by (and features a production design by) Tom O'Connell, who frequently works on the Chris Manz show.
Chris: Ok, now you say that Keaton plays an ex-girfriend and Lene is a guest on your show. What does that mean? Do you mean it's like your internet show?
Chris: It's a lot more narrative than that, and a bit more glossy. It's loosely based off of the idea of the Chris Manz show (and to further confuse things the internet show that appears in the film is called the Chris Manz Show) but the story is totally made up and NOT auto-biographical, even though the character I play has my same name.
Chris: So do you have an enormous ego then? Why do you play a character named after yourself in this film? Why do you have a show named after yourself?
Chris: Actually Amir worked with me on some of the development of the script, and when he cast me in it, he said he wanted me to go by real name. He likes to blur fiction and reality in his films, and by making these choices, he achieves that in "Knock. Knock." In terms of the show, I wouldn't say that I have a very high self-esteem, but not so much a low one either. And the show wasn't even my idea originally, but my friend's. I guess it's kind of like therapy. Just learning to be comfortable with myself, and learning to talk to other people and to not be afraid of that.
Chris: So what happens in this movie?
Chris: Well there isn't really a story to it. I mean there is in that it feels like a narrative film, but all of the events in it just kind of happen in a very intuitive manner. Much of my past work has been totally non-narrative, experimental, very stylized, and much more about image and sound relationships (or textual). There is a hint of some of that in this, but not much (although the film does truly achieve an original feel, and perhaps story). And it just seeks to capture that awkward feeling of making peace with an ex-lover, and sometimes revisiting that, and how things are always changing, are more funny than we realize, and how it's really hard to control everything, or something like that…
Chris: I don't really get that last part—in terms of what you are trying to say—
Chris: Sorry… I'm not totally sure what the movie is about. I'm just saying that it definitely succeeds at something. It does capture certain feelings. And many people have responded pretty favorably to it. But it's really in poor taste to list the types of praise your work receives…
Chris: So it has received praise?
Chris: Some. But like I said, I'm not going to talk about that.
Chris: So is this film LIKE other films? What are some cinematic reference points?
Chris: Not that "Knock. Knock." is on the same level, but there are some elements of early Godard, a bit of Woody Allen, also some of that guy who did "In the Mood for Love."
Chris: Wong Kar-Wai?
Chris: Yeah, but I still haven't watched a full movie of his yet.
Chris: ...Because you're against Chinese cinema?
Chris: No! Nothing like that. I just don't really like contemporary films, and so I see very few of them. Hopefully my position will change. I hear a lot about how good he is. But that new movie he did with the girl who thinks she is a jazz singer (on the pop radio stations) didn't seem to fair to well, from what I have read...
Chris: Well, I haven't seen it myself, so I can't really comment. Ok, I guess we're getting towards the end of the interview. Anything else you'd like to add?
Chris: Well, just go see "Knock. Knock." For what it is, there's nothing about it that I would change (and the same has been said from everyone else who was involved with it). And it works! Yes it has a story and characters, but it is fun to watch and it really has some "real" elements in it. Also, stay tuned for more Chris Manz shows. And if you like the Chris Manz show (or even if you hate the Chris Manz show) you might very well like "Knock. Knock."
Chris: And I guess I'm going to go ahead and watch it right now, right? You said you were going to show me a copy after the interview...
Chris: Yeah, let me go get it. See if you can find the remote to the TV if you can.
Chris: What does it look like?
Chris: It's gray, has buttons... You know, like a remote.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=KmvYGpQrojk[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zl6JQ5qci0E[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=fVio9OC3CPc[/youtube]