Mike Ott, alumni, '05 MFA Program Film and Video screened his thesis film "Analog Days" at the following festivals:

• Los Angeles Film Festival - June 2006


• Montreal Film Pop - Oct 2006


• VIENNALE, Vienna International Film Festival - Oct 2006


• Starz Denver Film Festival - Nov 2006


• Cinequest Film Festival - March 2007

Additionally, "Analog Days" has been selected to screen at the following venues:

• Mar Del Plata International Film Festival (Argentina) - March 2007


• Bradford Film Festival (UK) - March 2007


• Florida Film Festival - March 2007


• Indielisboa Film Festival (Portugal) - April 2007

Allan Brocka, alumni, MFA, Program in Film and Video BOY CULTURE opened theaters Friday, March 23 in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, the theatrical opening of BOY CULTURE! Directed by Allan Brocka, and co-wrote the script with Philip Pierce. It took nearly
a decade to make.

The movie is based on a brilliant, critically-acclaimed novel by Matthew Rettenmund and is produced by Stephen Israel, Victor Simpkins and Philip Pierce. It has won 18 national and international awards. Allan has been as far as Africa, Brazil, Montreal, and London, promoting it, and now in the US.

As many of you know, the first weekend box office determines if a film will sink or swim. Independent films are left to fend for themselves each week. The opening weekend numbers will determine how wide our film plays and how long it lives in theaters.

BOY CULTURE does not have a marketing budget to buy expensive TV commercials or billboards. We have only the power of community and grassroots outreach. With its awards and positive reviews, Boy Culture is getting a lot of attention right now, so its box office performance
will be watched carefully by others who are considering investing in gay-themed films.

If BOY CULTURE is not coming to your city, please call your local art house theater and ask them for it! We're trying to book it in every town possible, it's the theaters who don't think there's an audience for gay indie film. Just a single phone call from a local audience member can
change someone's mind. It happens all the time!

To find more information about the BOY CULTURE, to view the trailer and to read interviews with the actors, please go to:
www.boyculturemovie.com or
www.myspace.com/boyculture.

So far, the early reviews have been 100% positive!

Eric Leiser, almuni, '05 BFA, Experimental Animation has exciting news
to share:

Fringe Exhibitions gallery in Chinatown, Los Angeles has included Eric's films "Emphemera" (2007) and "Forest" (2006) permanently into their media project screening within the gallery. The Getty may include the media project into their museum. Also the Hollywood Reporter Daily magazine has announced the completion of my 2nd feature film "Imagination". The DVD is expected to be released internationally in the last quarter of 2007 and will be entered into the festival circuit and screened nationally until then.

"Imagination" is an official selection for the Aarhus Film Festival of Independent Arts in Denmark. It will screen April 25th. Eric has been invited to come and speak about the film!

Nabawia El-Soudani, alumni, '06 MFA Program in Film and Video
Nabby's latest video installation had been accepted in the following exhibition Saturday, March 24, 2007 entitled "Turf", global reflections on planet earth, presented by Los Angeles Art Association, Gallery 825. Exhibition juried by Gregorio Luke, Director of the Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA).

Maile Colbert, alumni, Program in Film and Video announced her wonderful fortune to be asked to participate in an arts residency in Nodar, Portugal October 2007 (Binaural).

On Radio Portugal, a program dedicated to the artists of the upcoming year, and a piece of Maile's was played. The piece is called Arshy's Song, dedicated to her dear friend Arshia Haq.

Nina Menkes, Faculty, Program in Film and Video, received a great review in Independent Film Quarterly for her film "The Bloody Child", reviewed by IFQ Critic Todd Konrad.

review from IFQ:
A welcome fixture on the underground film scene for the past twenty-five years, Nina Menkes has consistently challenged and enthralled viewers with her intricate and always attention grabbing forays into both time and form. While the current Hollywood may hesitate in embracing her with open arms, those filmmakers and enthusiasts in the know understand and appreciate the skill that Menkes brings to the table. When one receives praise from publications like Cahiers du Cinema and filmmakers like Gus Van Sant, you know you're definitely putting something out into the air that can hold its own weight against the typical mainstream fare that's here today and gone tomorrow. Released by Facets Video, the uninitiated now have the opportunity to view for themselves what is perhaps Menkes' most highly praised work The Bloody Child. An essential pick for people who like their movies to push boundaries, both formally and spiritually, while taking them along for the ride.

The story is based upon a real-life incident that caught Menkes eye back in the early 90's around the time of the Gulf War. While on standard patrol, two military police came upon a Marine digging a grave in the middle of the desert near dawn. Sensing trouble, they further
investigated the scene until they discovered in the back seat of the Marine's car lie a murdered woman. The victim was later to be revealed as the Marine's pregnant wife. Using this small, practically overlooked news item as a starting point, Menkes spins a web of conflicting
circumstances and scenes, held together by a fragmented temporal schema. Essentially the plot boils down to the following elements inspired by the news item, two MP's discover the Marine digging a grave for his dead wife and then take the man into custody, holding him at the crime scene until the proper measures are taken.

The crime scene itself becomes the core space that the film occupies providing atmosphere, with flashbacks and flash forwards punctuating the slow, banal waiting that both the participants and viewers are subjected to as the scene is locked down. With this stage effectively established, Menkes then further fragments the narrative down by flashing before the
viewer the events both leading up to the killing, and what appear to be events taking place in the aftermath. A further ingredient introduced into the mix is a mysterious, naked woman occupying some sort of dream space, perhaps representing the victim's spirit observing the actions
while whispering spells and chants in a childlike voice. Are we meant to think that what we are witness derives directly from her point of view? It certainly is possible as such a device has been used before, notably in Sunset Boulevard.

The other main character in the story is a young female Marine captain played by Menkes's sister and frequent collaborator Tinka Menkes. In charge of the scene, yet essentially ostracized due to her gender by the hyper-masculine environment she occupies, the captain is left to witness and muse over the events that have transpired. Tinka exudes a calm,
detached demeanor that both reflects the environment that she occupies yet through her body language and especially her eyes, we always sense that the wheels are turning and more is going on internally in her psyche yet due to her circumstances, this woman is unable to allow those thoughts a voice with which to exit.

Flashes of blood and bored posturing are frequent as Menkes uses these as signifiers of a world created by both hyper-masculine violence and the emotional disconnect that allows such acts to arise and more importantly increase in severity without any regards to conscience; a
particularly punishing image is that of a MP burying the Marine's face in his wife's remains, particularly her womb. Smearing the man's face in blood while defiling the victim's body, the captain coldly watches as her colleague tortures this man with a near-childlike degree of glee
hidden within his outward contempt. These flashes are however punctuated by silence and banality as the remaining guards joke and chit chat while a corpse deteriorates in the midday sun and a man covered in blood sits restrained in a car as if it were nothing to think about. The viewer is left horrified by both the carnage itself and the manner in which it is casually disregarded.

In the end, Menkes' latticework of temporal shifts allows the viewer to take into account the myriad of circumstances and emotions that can lead to such a brutal crime, while essentially keeping the tragic aftermath clearly in the forefront. A formal tour-de-force as well as spiritual
and emotional investigation, The Bloody Child clearly proves that despite hardships faced, the underground and avant-garde are still alive and kicking and we should be all the more happy for it.

For more information on this title, go to www.facets.org.

MFA3 student, Program in Film and Video, Chie Yamayoshi's three films - We Have Decided to Live in the Air, I Want to Make a Video about You and Re: Chronicle of a Summer were invited to the 12th Vilnius International Film Festival "Kino pavasaris" (http://www.kinopavasaris.lt), the main event of independent cinema in Lithuania, which takes place in Vilnius, the Capital of Lithuania, from March 22 to April 5, 2007.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, 28th Annual College Television Awards were announced and they include two CalArts students in the Animation/Traditional category:

1st Place - Ian Worrel: "Icarus & The Tree Herder." Ian is a third-year, Character Animation program student.

2nd Place - April (Seo Jin) Lee: "Love Pills." April is a fourth-year, Character Animation program student.

They were both awarded at a gala event Saturday, March 31, 2007. (except below from the Variety) (for addition info visit: http://www.emmys.org/foundation/collegetvawards.php)

ATAS fetes college tries:
Sixteen student filmmakers accept awards
By JOHN YOUNG

College filmmakers got a taste of the limelight Saturday night as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation handed out kudos at its 28th annual College Television Awards.

Sixteen students accepted first-prize awards, each worth $2,000, for their undergrad or graduate film or video projects. Winners came from Brigham Young U., *CalArts*, USC, Northwestern U., Art Center College of Design, City College of New York, UCLA, U. of Florida, Robert Morris U.
and St. Cloud State U.

"Survivor" producer Mark Burnett received the foundation's first Innovation in Television Award.

Winning works were publicly exhibited Sunday at the College Television Awards Festival, held at the TV Academy's North Hollywood headquarters. The Sundance Channel, MTVU and Plum TV will also air the honored productions.

Tom Bergeron, co-host of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," hosted the black-tie gala at Culver Studios.

Colin Barton, alum and current Faculty, Experimental Animation program, School of Film/Video. Colin's film titled 'Friend Film' screened March 21st at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. This film premiered October 2006 at the Berkeley Film and Video Festival and won for 'best experimental film'

Alina Skrzeszewska, MFA 2 student, Program in Film and Video, School of Film/Video has been invited to screen her film "Stories of a Promised Land - part 1" at the Oberhausen short film festival (May 3-8) Alina's film will be screened Saturday, May 5th.