Not many directors can thank the lilt of the banjo for their move into feature projects, but this week’s guest Alex Walker - a self confessed indie boy - followed the siren’s call down the rabbit hole of Country/Americana after being exposed to the genre through his work and friendship with band Hey Negrita and came back with the documentary We Dreamed America; an exploration of Americana as expressed through the British bands that call it their musical home.

We Dreamed America Materials
Stills

Showlinks
Brickwall Films
We Dreamed America
Buy the DVD
Goldsmiths College
SXSW
Sony HVR-Z1U
Sony HVR-V1U
Verve Pictures
Cambridge Film Festival
Observer Review

• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• DN LFF07: The English Surgeon - Geoffrey Smith

We Dreamed America (2007)
A documentary that delves deep into the dark recesses of the British Americana music scene, exploring the gritty underworld of the New British Country movement.

Featuring an array of music from all the featured artists, cultural and historical critiques from London’s luminaries of musical journalism as well as a heady slice of perspective from some of Country and Americana’s leading forefathers.

We Dreamed America tells the story of what happens when Country music comes home.

• DN EP 108: We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson
• The Super Noble Brothers - Mark Escribano
• Routes - Alex Reuben
• Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott

Sometimes when I get really lucky, a director whose work we’ve featured will stick around once the interview dust has settled and become a firm friend who I can have extended film discussions with and tap up for viewing suggestions. Thankfully since his first appearance on DN 028 Kurtis Hough has fallen into that category, so it’s pleasure to welcome him back for an extra special episode kicking off our 100th consecutive week of podcasting to discuss his latest project Storm.

To watch Storm visit Kurt’s site and select the fourth thumbnail.

Showlinks
KH Studios
Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Baraka
Microcosmos
Galapagos
The Blue Planet
Winged Migration
Godfrey Reggio
Koyaanisqatsi
Philip Glass
Grave of the Fireflies

• DN Ep 028: Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning - Kurtis Hough
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• Time Piece - Kat Mansoor
• Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning - Kurtis Hough
• Miss D 2007 Top Ten

If you’re tapped into a community, creative or otherwise, the laws of nature dictate that either through chance or shear determination certain individuals will become the embodiment of that scene. Mark Escribano found such an incarnation in the Super Noble Brothers who where ubiquitous across the Milwaukee music and arts scene, and decided to explore what it means to dedicate yourself to the artistic ideal through the stories of Andy, Tommy and Davey Noble.

Showlinks
Email Mark
AgileEye
The Super Noble Brothers
The Super Noble Brothers MySpace
Kings Go Forth
Digital Cinematique
Duane Michaels
Bolex
Panasonic AG-DVX100
Lotusland Records
straight 8

• The Super Noble Brothers - Mark Escribano
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• DN EP 083: Escape From Luanda - Phil Grabsky
• DN EP 067: Four Eyed Monsters - Arin Crumley & Susan Buice
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening

The Super Noble Brothers (2007)
The Super Noble Brothers chronicles the ‘beautiful struggles’ of the uncompromising artists and entrepreneurs Davey, Tommy, and Andy Noble. Raised by independent art dealers and encouraged from the outset to pursue their artistic interests, they quickly garnered local celebrity in their home town of Milwaukee, Wisconsin as talented musicians, painters and tasteful rare funk and soul DJ’s.

Andy Noble rose first to fame as the founding bassist of the nationally acclaimed Ska band, The Pacers and Tommy Noble followed suit with his much praised pop showmen, The Thousandaires. Throughout this time, the younger Davey Noble forged his own larger than life identity as the hard hustling painter of hundreds of colorful abstract erotic nudes. Diligent self-promoters, culturally opinionated and socially ubiquitous, the brothers often found themselves the subject of public admiration and fierce criticism. Bohemian elite, connoisseurs of funk and tireless purveyors of good times, they are the Super Noble Brothers.

• DN EP 099: The Super Noble Brothers - Mark Escribano
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson
• Routes - Alex Reuben
• Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott

It’s not often I experience the films we feature in their full cinematic glory, and even rarer that I also get face to face time with the directors, but of the many films we’ve covered on the show Marcy Garriott’s feature documentary Inside the Circle - which opens a window into B-Boy culture, friendship and the challenges of growing up and finding your place in the world - definitely warranted the big screen experience. Marcy took some time out from promotion duties to discuss her approach to filmmaking.

Inside the Circle Materials
Notes for Casual Documentary Filmmaking Workshops

Showlinks
Inside the Circle
Inside the Circle MySpace
Still in Motion Interview
Sony HVR-Z1U
B-Boy City
Sony DSR PD-150
Sony DSR-PD170
SXSW
Children in Jail

• Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN EP 108: We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• DN EP 083: Escape From Luanda - Phil Grabsky
• DN EP 071: Good Copy Bad Copy - Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen & Henrik Moltke

Inside the Circle (2007)
Capturing the raw power of a grassroots hip-hop movement, the award-winning documentary Inside the Circle tells the stories of strikingly talented b-boys Josh and Omar, former best friends who become rivals when they join competing dance crews. Immersed in the b-boy culture of defiant creativity, Omar rises to international renown, while Josh tangles with the law. Both of them struggle to keep dance at the center of their lives, and the “B-Boy City” competitive events thrown by visionary street dancer Romeo Navarro serve as emotional milestones in their journey to adulthood. Facing off in intense dance battles that mirror the larger events in their lives, Josh and Omar seek respect, meaning and identity “inside the circle.”

• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• Routes - Alex Reuben
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson

What happens when you’re far from home and on-route to living your dream? Do you come back to start again with nothing to show for your years of effort when things get rough or do you hang on in the hope that success and the life you’ve imagined is just round the corner? Co-directed by Daneeta Loretta Saft and Patrick Jackson, Tokyo Cowboys follows the stories of four Gaijin living those very questions in seductive Japan. Daneeta joins us this week to discuss their feature debut.

Showlinks
The Elektrik Zoo
Tokyo Cowboys (The Blog)
Down in the Parish
Story Truths
The London Film School
Canon XL1S
Apple Final Cut Pro
Japan Film Festival
Little Rock Film Festival
Blood is Thicker Than Floodwater Article

• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• DN LFF07: The English Surgeon - Geoffrey Smith
• DN EP 108: We Dreamed America - Alex Walker

Tokyo Cowboys (2008)
Tokyo Cowboys follows the stories of four western men living long-term in Tokyo. The film’s delicate and humorous portrait illuminates the price some pay for a taste of Tokyo’s success.

• DN EP 096: Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• The Super Noble Brothers - Mark Escribano
• Routes - Alex Reuben
• Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott

Director Tomas Leach joins us to discuss his feature documentary All The Drunken Horsemen, which saw him travel to the isolated Mayan town of Todos Santos in the mountains of Guatemala to capture the preparations for its legendary annual drunken horse race.

Showlinks
Tomas Leach
3 Minute Wonders
FourDocs
Fabrica

• All The Drunken Horsemen - Tomas Leach
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• DN LFF07: The English Surgeon - Geoffrey Smith
• DN EP 108: We Dreamed America - Alex Walker

All The Drunken Horsemen (2007)
High in the mountains of Guatemala lies the small Mayan town of Todos Santos. Each year, on November 1st the town celebrates its legendary drunken horse race.

This film follows Ramon as he prepares to race on the town’s holy day for the first time. He follows 9 days of prayer, preparation and alcohol as he joins the men of his family as a rider. As Ramon enters an alcohol induced, trance-like state, for the day long race, the town erupts in celebration.

• DN EP 088: All The Drunken Horsemen - Tomas Leach
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson
• The Super Noble Brothers - Mark Escribano
• Routes - Alex Reuben

When I’m not working on Directors Notes you can normally find me trying to convince anyone and everyone that they really need a film podcast. CINECITY ‘07 actually listened and set me loose with a mic and contact details for some of their directors, which is how I got to spend the morning in Grant Gee’s kitchen to discuss his feature documentary Joy Division, which finally got its UK release yesterday and is as good an excuse as any for posting the interview here.

Grant Gee is well know for his work on music promos as a director, cinematographer and producer and perhaps most recognised for his 1998 Radiohead tour documentary, Meeting People Is Easy. His new project is an exploration of the iconic band Joy Division and the city of Manchester which itself had a role in shaping their unique sound.

Showlinks
Grant Gee
Joy Division
Meeting People Is Easy
CINECITY
Bolex
Warren Sonbert
Idioteque - Radiohead
Fried My Little Brains - The Kills
Nature Boy - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Control
Touching from a Distance
Jon Savage
Apple Final Cut Pro
Northwest Film Archive
Factory Records
Sheffield Doc/Fest
The Weinstein Company
The Works
Jim Perrin
Banff Mountain Festival

• Miss D 2007 Top Ten
• MarBelle 2007 Top Ten
• DN EP 099: The Super Noble Brothers - Mark Escribano
• DN EP 070: Routes - Alex Reuben
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening

Luckily though, I overcame my inner sloth and caught Marcy Garriott’s INSIDE THE CIRCLE at the beginning of this month when it played at the Brixton Ritzy Cinema. Even better, after 102 minutes of the sickest moves, wrapped in a thoughtful documentary about friendship, ambition and finding your way, I got to meet Marcy (and B-boy Omar) who I can’t wait to get on the show for an interview very soon.

Yes I know there’s nothing worse than someone harping on about how great a screening was that you didn’t attend, but if you’re anywhere near London on Thursday 1st May, the Breakin’ Convention guys are screening INSIDE THE CIRCLE at Lilian Baylis Theatre (details below), so get over there and show your love!

INSIDE THE CIRCLE presented by Breakin’ Convention
Thursday 1 May, 19:45 pm
Lilian Baylis Theatre (Stage door entrance) at Sadler’s Wells
(Rosebery Avenue, Islington, London EC1R 4TN)
Tickets: £5

Follow the link for more information, grab the directions so you don’t get lost and check out the trailer.

• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• DN LFF07: The English Surgeon - Geoffrey Smith
• DN EP 070: Routes - Alex Reuben
• Routes Hits a Cinema Near You

Director Phil Grabsky has been working in the film industry for over 20 years, creating documentary programmes for BBC strands such as Timewatch and Reputations, as well as arts programmes for Channel Five. However, I first came into contact with Phil’s work through his 2003 feature documentary The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan and am pleased to have him join me this week for an interview about his latest feature doc Escape From Luanda.

Showlinks
Seventh Art Productions
Escape From Luanda
The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan
Sony DSR PD-150
straight 8
back2back productions
Sony HVR-Z1U
Sony HDW 750
Sony HDW F900
Sony PMW-EX1
More4
Sundance Institute
Black Gold

• The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan - Phil Grabsky
• DN EP 099: The Super Noble Brothers - Mark Escribano
• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• DN EP 082: 1000 Journals - Andrea Kreuzhage
• DN EP 039: Talk to Me - Mark Craig

Escape From Luanda (2007)
In Luanda, one of the world’s poorest and most dangerous places, three students from Angola’s only music school work towards their end-of-year concert. The Music School is Angola’s first and only school of its kind. It houses some 80 students, most of them desperately poor. Many face disapproval and outright rejection from their families who can’t see a future in music. This film asks if, despite the ravages of 27 years of civil war, musical passion can overcome terrible hardships.

• The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan - Phil Grabsky
• DN EP 083: Escape From Luanda - Phil Grabsky
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Trusted Computing - Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel
• Tovarisch I Am Not Dead - Stuart Urban

Grabsky decided to embark on the project after researching an arts film on the possible reconstruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, the tallest stone statues in the world and Afghanistan’s foremost tourist attraction which were destroyed in March 2001 by the ruling Taliban. Having discovered that there were refugee families living amongst the caves near the ruins, Grabsky did his research and completely against British Foreign Office advice, headed to Bamiyan with his fixer and wandered the caves to find the true story.

Various broadcasters turned down the idea as it was deemed no longer topical. However, he managed to find half of the £120,000 budget himself with Channel Five picking up the balance due to their prior relationship with Grabsky and his company Seventh Arts on their Great Artists slate of programmes. Despite Channel Five’s support, the plan was always for The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan to be a feature length documentary rather than a TV documentary.

“There was never any doubt in my mind that The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan would be made first and foremost at cinema length, for cinema distribution. It’s a risk as distribution is hard to secure but certainly the festival circuit is very active and rewarding. Television is very transitory - one’s films air then may never be seen again, whereas theatrical documentaries have a much greater life and, for the director, a much greater interaction with the audience. The Boy.. will make the most of both worlds and, in doing so, hopefully attract the greatest attention to Mir and the 25-30 million refugee children like him worldwide.”

The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan has screened at festivals around the world and was awarded a special Documentary Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Grand Jury Documentary Award at Washington’s DCIFF.

Phil joined us in DN083 to discuss the sequel in progress The Boy Mir along with his latest feature doc Escape from Luanda.

- Originally published in Showreel, Issue 4 (Summer 2004)

• DN EP 083: Escape From Luanda - Phil Grabsky
• Escape From Luanda - Phil Grabsky
• 15 - Royston Tan
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson

As a producer with over 20 years experience in the business Andrea Kreuzhage was well aware of the advice against funding a pet project, but that didn’t stop her from selling her house to finance her directorial debut, the feature documentary 1000 Journals; an exploration in to the 1000 Journals project initiated in 2000 by graphic artist Someguy which she joins us this week to discuss.

FILM TITLE Materials
Press Notes

Showlinks
1000 Journals
1000 Journals Blog
1000 Journals MySpace
The 1000 Journals Project
The 1001 Journals Project
Meet Journal 526 - Interview with Indie Express
Sony HVR-Z1U
NAB
AFI Fest
Berlin International Film Festival

• DN EP 083: Escape From Luanda - Phil Grabsky
• 1000 Journals - Andrea Kreuzhage
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• DN LFF07: The English Surgeon - Geoffrey Smith

1000 Journals (2007)
1000 blank journals are passed from hand to hand throughout the world, collecting stories, pictures, collages — slices of the lives they touch. One came back, filled. Where are the other 999? 1000 Journals investigates their worldwide journeys, and chronicles the self-governed collaboration of thousands of random people who added to this global “message in a bottle.”

• DN EP 082: 1000 Journals - Andrea Kreuzhage
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson
• The Super Noble Brothers - Mark Escribano
• Routes - Alex Reuben

BRITDOC, one of our favourite film festivals will be kicking off its third year on the 23rd - 25th July at Keble College, Oxford and are now on the hunt for films to screen in their British Feature Documentaries and FourDocs Short Film competitions. In their own words: “We’re looking for films that explore the world we live in and the people we share it with, and we are always keen to see experimentation.”

So get over to www.britdoc.org to apply and while you’re at it have a listen to Jan’s report from last year’s festival.

• DN Special: Screen South - Digital Shorts 2007
• DN Festival: Britdoc 2007
• DN EP 088: All The Drunken Horsemen - Tomas Leach
• DN EP 056: Time Piece - Kat Mansoor
• DN EP 039: Talk to Me - Mark Craig

Chances are that if you’re into music, but have had your fill of the sanctioned, glitzy, over produced pop promo you’ve at some point stumbled over the work of director Vincent Moon co-creator of The Take-Away Shows (Concerts A Emporter). Beginning back in his photography work and now in video, Vincent has re-define the approach to capturing live music, mutating it into a new form that’s best described as a performance documentary of the moment, in which multiple takes and planned setups are unwelcomed conceits. He joins us this week to discuss his work.

Showlinks
Vincent Moon
La Blogotheque
The Take-Away Shows
William Klein
Michael Ackerman
Antoine D’Agata
The National
Chryde
Arcade Fire
Banksy
Marla Hansen
Sony HVR-Z1E
Sony HVR-A1U
Scout Niblett
R.E.M.
Supernatural Superserious
Step Across the Border
Gimme Shelter
Dont Look Back
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup

• The Take-Away Shows - Vincent Moon
• Taxi!!
• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• Routes Hits a Cinema Near You
• Routes - Alex Reuben

The Take-Away Shows: #83.3 - Sidi Toure - Part 3 & #78.3 - Scout Niblett - Nevada
You meet a band. You take them outside, in the streets, and ask them to play there, shoot the movie in one unique shot, whatever happens. Those are the Take-Away Shows, the weekly Video podcast from french weblog La Blogotheque.

Watch more episodes at The Take-Away Shows

• DN EP 077: The Take-Away Shows - Vincent Moon
• Taxi!!
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Trusted Computing - Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel
• Tovarisch I Am Not Dead - Stuart Urban

Ralf Christensen joins us this week to discuss his film Good Copy Bad Copy - co-directed with Andreas Johnsen and Henrik Moltke - a documentary debate investigating the opposing views to copyright and how it affects us all as the media we consume becomes ever more accessible.

Good Copy Bad Copy Materials
Stills

Showlinks
Good Copy Bad Copy
Good Copy Bad Copy - blip.tv
Steal This Film
The Pirate Bay
IFPI
MPAA
Napster
Girl Talk
Danger Mouse
The Grey Album
Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films
DJ Drama
Sony DSR-PD170
Apple Final Cut Pro
Creative Commons
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Free Culture Movement
Electronic Frontier Foundation

• Good Copy Bad Copy - Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen & Henrik Moltke
• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• DN EP 067: Four Eyed Monsters - Arin Crumley & Susan Buice
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee

Good Copy Bad Copy (2007)
A documentary about the current state of copyright and culture.

• DN EP 071: Good Copy Bad Copy - Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen & Henrik Moltke
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Trusted Computing - Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel
• Tovarisch I Am Not Dead - Stuart Urban
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson

As part of my CINECITY ‘07 Film Festival coverage I caught up with DJ and director Alex Reuben at South East Dance’s Dance For Camera launch to discuss his dance road movie Routes and the roll of dance as a major tool in documentary filmmaking.

Showlinks
Alex Reuben
Alex Reuben MySpace
CINECITY
South East Dance
Anthology of American Folk Music
Fats Domino
When the Levees Broke
Communities in Motion
Robert Gordon
Capture 4
Arts Council England

• Routes Hits a Cinema Near You
• Routes - Alex Reuben
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN Special: Joy Division - Grant Gee
• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott

Routes (2007)
A dance road-movie inspired by Harry Smith’s compilation, Anthology of American Folk Music. Alex Reuben sets out on the road to document lesser-known forms of American culture and the extraordinary dancing Americans of the Deep South.

• Routes Hits a Cinema Near You
• Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• DN EP 070: Routes - Alex Reuben
• We Dreamed America - Alex Walker
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson

Along with the great selection of films you’d expect to see, the Times BFI 51st London Film Festival, presented Power to the Pixel - The Digital Distribution Forum for Independents. Festival Director Sandra Hebron, introduced lead advocates and practitioners of digital distribution, along with filmmakers currently making digital distribution work for them. Perhaps the most well known