Videos

As Bill Paxton’s Severen Said in NEAR DARK, ‘Yoo-hoo, Mayor de Blasio …’

by  • 

NYC Bike Family Mass Die-in, Washington Square Park, July 9, 2019 by Transportation Alternatives. #NYCBikeFamily staged mass die-in to protest the killing of cyclists. Non-violent, peaceful memorial event. Drivers have killed 15 people on bikes this year — more than double the number killed this time last year.

#NYCBikeFamily: “We de­serve safe pa­ssage. We deserve the pure joy of riding a bike. We will not stop rid­ing and we will not ac­cept this injus­tice.

Making sure that “May­or Bill de Blasio knows that the NYC Bike Family will not stand for the threat on our lives. Vision Zero is in a state of emergency, and the only way to stop the killings is to break New York City’s car culture.

NYAFF 2019 Trailer

by  • 

WORKING WOMAN Preview

by  • 

OPENING

New York City – Wednesday, March 27 at the IFC Center; Marlene Meyerson JCC of Manhattan

Director Michal Laviad

Orna (Liron Ben Shlush), the mother of three young children, wearing a lot of care taking hats, wants to help her husband struggling to start his own restaurant by wearing another hat. She takes a job, and, cutting to the chase, her boss sexually harasses her even as she her financial success is  good for the company. His escalating, menacing sexual harassment creates a crisis for her.

“Slow Burning – builds its tension so subtly you don’t realize you’ve been holding your breath” – Elizabeth Kerr, Hollywood Reporter.

Holding our breaths? Uh oh!

Director Laviad says about the time she started identifying herself as a feminist, she began directing films in San Francisco in the 1980s. Her 10 documentary and narrative films look at complex social and political issues from the point of view of female protagonists, she says in a statement. “Making films from the point of view of women is a way to remind us that women’s ways of understanding and acting in the world matter, and are worth showing – and this theme is recurrent in all my work.”

Review coming soon.

Gregg W. Morris can be reached at gmorris@hunter.cuny.edu

hillbilly

by  • 

Winner of the Best Documentary Feature at the 2018 Los Angeles Film Festival and made its New York City premiere at DOC NYC. Debuts Tuesday, January 8, 2019, on Digital, Cable and Satellite.

Directed by Sally Rubin and Ashley York
Cast – bell hooks, Amythyst Kiah, Frank X Walker, Crystal Good, Ronny Cox, Billy Redden, Michael Apted, Silas House
1:25:1 Run Time

What the Filmmakers Say

Since the presidential election, cultural divide in America has been the source of riveting and visceral discussions and arguments. Stereotyping and slurs are rampant, finger-pointing and name-calling abound. hillbilly is a personal and political journey by the filmmakers into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media misrepresentation in their creation of the iconic American “hillbilly,” and examining the social, cultural, and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype.

hillbilly will surprise if not shock imaginations because of its revelations, such as the renown artists, poets, activists, queer musicians, “Affrilachian” poets, and intersectional feminists who are unexpected voices emerging from this historically misunderstood region. Author, feminist, and social activist bell hooks is a hillbilly.

 

 

Gregg W. Morris can be reached at gmorris@hunter.cuny.edi

THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS – Oscar Shortlisted Documentary

by  • 

One of 15 contenders for Best Documentary Feature at 91st Academy Awards. The nominations to be released 22 January, 2019, and the winner to be announced at the 91st Academy Awards February 24, 2019.

What the Film Makers Say

Set in Eastern Ukraine on the front-line of the war, following  the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg throughout a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of war. Oleg lives with his beloved grandmother, Alexandra, in the small village of Hnutove. Having no other place to go, Oleg and Alexandra stay and watch as others leave the village. Life becomes increasingly difficult with each passing day, and the war offers no end in sight. In this now half-deserted village where Oleg and Alexandra are the only true constants in each other’s lives, the film shows just how fragile, but crucial, close relationships are for survival.

Through Oleg’s perspective, the film examines what it means to grow up in a war zone: A child’s growing universal struggle to discover what the world is interlaced with all the dangers and challenges the war presents.

 

 

Directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont.
Produced by Monica Hellström (THE ACT OF KILLING), Final Cut For Real

Spotlight Award Nominee – Cinema Eye Honors 2019
Honorable Mention – Pare Lorentz Award – 2018 IDA Awards
Winner – First Appearance Award – IDFA 2017
Winner – Best Nordic Documentary – Göteborg Film Festival 2018
Winner – Golden Gate Award – SFFILM 2018
Winner – Fipresci Award – Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival 2018
Winner – Best International Film – DocAviv Film Festival 2018
Nominee – Best European Documentary – European Film Awards 2018

 

Gregg W. Morris can be reached at gmorris@hunter.cuny.edu

Fresh Food Box @ Hunter

by  • 

GrowNYC’s Fresh Food Box Program is a food access initiative that enables under-served communities to purchase fresh, healthy, and primarily regionally grown produce well below traditional retail prices. Through the power of collaborative purchasing, Fresh Food Box customers purchase for $14-15 what would cost $20-$30 in a store. All Fresh Food Box sites accept SNAP/EBT and Health Bucks, to make our shares even more affordable.

The produce included in each Fresh Food Box is the best of what’s seasonally available. From July through November, Fresh Food Box sources from farms in the Northeast; in the winter and spring, Northeast produce is supplemented with produce from carefully vetted farms in Southern states, like Florida. This ensures Fresh Food Box provides a wide variety of fresh produce year-round while driving sales of locally-available items such as apples, root vegetables, eggs, grains, and dried beans.

More info here.
And here too.

 

Gregg W. Morris can be reached at gmorris@hunter.cuny.edu

This I Gotta See …

by  • 

The Film

Release Date: August 4, 2017
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Producers: Megan Ellison, Kathryn Bigelow, Matthew Budman, Colin Wilson and Mark Boal.
Cast: John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore, Jason Mitchell, Hannah Murray, Kaitlyn Dever, Jack Reynor, Ben O’Toole, Joseph David Jones, Ephraim Sykes, Leon Thomas III, Nathan Davis Jr., Peyton Alex Smith, Malcolm David Kelley, Gbenga Akinnabve, Chris Chalk, Jeremy Strong, Laz Alonzo, Austin Hebert, Miguel Pimentel, Kris Davis, with John Krasinski and Anthony Mackie.

Annapurna Pictures, founded by Megan Ellison, focuses on creating sophisticated, high-quality content that is critically and commercially conscious while still appealing to a diverse audience.

 

True Events

 

Gregg Morris can be reached at gmorris@hunter.cuny.edu