by Marc Halperin We had lunch last Saturday with Michael Nash the director of Climate Refugees which has a free screening today at the LA film festival. The film focuses on Bangladesh, Chad, China, Kenya, Tuvalu, and the USA and promises to be a riveting 89 minutes. “Climate Refugees” is a term few people outside the U.S. military and U.N. circles are familiar with until now. This illuminating documentary takes the next step after An Inconvenient Truth and examines...

LA Film Festival day 6: Talking about 'Revolucion' ... and the education revolution brought to you by Superman Yes everyone, it´s only one day till the world premiere of Twilight. All those happy campers in the square are about to get very excited. But more on that tomorrow... People are not only talking about vampires, but about Superman (the LAFF premiere of 'Waiting for Superman', the new doc on the US public education system)- So I want to share with you something SHOCKING. All those Ameri...

The LAFF Premiere of Davis Guggenheim's WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” was on Monday, June 21st, Celebrities attending include: Jerry O’Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Pamela Reed (Jericho), Jay Roach (Producer), Elisabeth Rohm (Law & Order), Lesley Ann Warren (In Plain Sight), Cheryl Hines, Brett Ratner, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood). There was another Gala screening and Conversation with John Legend, director Davis Guggenheim, and school expert Gregory Canada, who is featured in the f...

After you have produced one of the influential documentaries of your generation (and also won an Oscar for it), what do you do for an encore? Well, for Davis Guggenheim, the director of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, the rousing documentary that focused on the debate surrounding global warming and climate change (and that resurrected the moribund political career of former vice president Al Gore), the focus returns to a fundamental American challenge: the eroding educational system. Screening on Wednesd...

 by Marla Lewin  The LAFF Premiere of Davis Guggenheim's WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” was on Monday, June 21st, Celebrities attending include: Jerry O’Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Pamela Reed (Jericho), Jay Roach (Producer), Elisabeth Rohm (Law & Order), Lesley Ann Warren (In Plain Sight), Cheryl Hines, Brett Ratner, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood). There was another Gala screening and Conversation with John Legend, director Davis Guggenheim, and school expert Gregory Canada,...

Yes everyone, it´s only one day till the world premiere of Twilight. All those happy campers in the square are about to get very excited. But more on that tomorrow... People are not only talking about vampires, but about Superman (the LAFF premiere of 'Waiting for Superman', the new doc on the US public education system)- So I want to share with you something SHOCKING.  All those Americans reading this article, you'd better take a seat. Did you know one high ranking student from ...

  After you have produced one of the influential documentaries of your generation (and also won an Oscar for it), what do you do for an encore? Well, for Davis Guggenheim, the director of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, the rousing documentary that focused on the debate surrounding global warming and climate change (and that resurrected the moribund political career of former vice president Al Gore), the focus returns to a fundamental American challenge: the eroding educational system. Scr...

   The recent tragic events in Haiti have given an unexpected resonance to a new documentary on child sponsoring that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this past weekend. A SMALL ACT by Jennifer Arnold looks at the modern day phenomenon of Westerners sponsorship and adoption of third world children.   With the Haitian crisis generating hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from almost every nation of the world, often by exploiting images of ...

Last night 'Age of Stupid' had its North American premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and after watching I feel more called to action than I have in my 23 years on earth. "I hope you enjoy the film- well not enjoy exactly- it's not a feel good movie but a feel inspired movie," director Franny Armstrong said before the show. This is not your average documentary. Age of Stupid starts in the future- the year 2055 at a [computer generated] "digi...

Last night 'Age of Stupid' had its North American premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and after watching I feel more called to action than I have in my 23 years on earth. "I hope you enjoy the film- well not enjoy exactly- it's not a feel good movie but a feel inspired movie," director Franny Armstrong said before the show. This is not your average documentary. Age of Stupid starts in the future- the year 2055 at a [computer generated] "digital archive" in Copenhagen. ...

 Monday, October 29--------Former Vice President and possible Presidential candidate Al Gore will give the Keynote Speech at the sympsium A DAY OF DIALOGUE: THE FUTURE OF NON-FICTION FILM. Gore, who recently was a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and whose film AN INCOVENIENT TRUTH (directed by Davis Guggenheim) won the Oscar this past year as Best Documentary, is expected to talk about the current state of the world of documentary and non-fiction reportage and where it is heading in the fu...

For their overwhelmingly successful efforts to promote and publicize the critically acclaimed Academy Award-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," Megan Colligan, Paramount Vantage executive vice president of Publicity and Promotions; Buffy Shutt, Participant Productions executive vice president for Marketing; and Michael Feldman, Glover Park Group founding partner, received the Public Relations Professional of the Year award from the 31,000-member Public Relations Society of America (PRS...

Off the street customers shelled out sixty bucks a shot ($60 USD) last night to pack the mighty Arlington Theater from wall to wall and stem to stern, for a privileged view and hearing with former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Al Gore, in town with director Davis Guggenheim to present their landmark Global Warning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". Festival director Roger Durling, barely able to contain his excitement at pulling this off -- (i.e., getting Gore to swing up to...

Thursday, December 21----If another indication of the growing influence of non-fiction film was needed, the prestigious Sundance Film Festival has decided to open its ten-day celebration of indie and international cinema with a documentary film. CHICAGO 10, a factual and fanciful look at the infamous trial of organizers of the demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in the summer of 1968, a turning point in America’s evaluation of the Vietnam War, will open the Festiv...

When Change becomes Charge, interview from Cannes. Al Gore was invited to Cannes for the premiere of An Inconvenient Truth, his documentary about climate change. “I know this about politics. The political system has one thing in common with the climate system: it too, is non-linear. It can appear to change only gradually. But it can cross a tipping point, beyond which it moves dramatically, ...

When Change becomes Charge, interview from Cannes.Al Gore was invited to Cannes for the premiere of An Inconvenient Truth, his documentary about climate change. “I know this about politics. The political system has one thing in common with the climate system: it too, is non-linear. It can appear to change only gradually. But it can cross a tipping point, beyond which it moves dramatically,” he tells Andrew L. Urban.On the rooftop terrace of the Cannes Hilton, squinting against the Mediterran...

Second Tahoe/Reno International Film Festival brings Social Consciousness to Pristine SettingWeaving socially responsible content into pure entertainment at one of the most pristine locations on the West Coast is the driving force behind the country’s fastest growing, emerging film festival. In just its second year out, The Tahoe/Reno International Film Festival (T-RIFF) offers a unique film festival experience that educates, touches hearts, inspires ideas, and connects audiences to the joy d...

Film is my life... That sums up how I feel about the movies.I don't care much for the big budget blockbuster American films and don't see many of them. I live for the small films with small budgets where you still see people and hear stories about people. They also have no car chases and big explosions which I don't see as art.I discovered the Durban International Film Festival in 2005 by accident when I read on the Internet that they will be premiering Paradise Now and the two main actors and d...

Friday, June 9----Fresh off his tour of the Croisette at the Cannes Film Festival with his film AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, former Vice President (and current media darling) Al Gore will delivery the Keynote Address at the SILVERDOCS Documentary Film Conference on Thursday, June 15. Gore's film, directed by Davis Guggenheim, a wake-up call on the effects of global warming, has been a media sensation since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and reached a fever pitch when Gore walke...