Videoblog : New York International Independent Film and Video Festival

Death Taxes and Chocolate Trailer

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:39:47 +0200

AWARD-WINNING DARK COMEDY "DEATH, TAXES... AND CHOCOLATE!" PREMIERES AT THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL!

"One Sweet Movie" - New Bern Sun Journal

New York NY [August 26, 2008] -- Holistic practitioner and former geologist turned award-winning screenwriter Dr. Andrea Levinson today announced that her first independent film "Death, Taxes... and Chocolate! will screen at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF). The dark comedy feature will have its East Coast Premiere on Sunday September 21 at 6PM with a decadent reception to follow at Still NYC. The film has been very well received by critics and recently won multiple awards at the NYIIFVF in LA including, Best Original Screenplay, Best Dark Comedy, a Best Supporting Actress award for Catherine Trail, Best Orignal Score in a Feature Film as well as Best Film Marketing Campaign, and director Bud Dowdey was nominated for Best Director.

Adapted by Dr. Levinson from her 2005 play, "Death Taxes and Chocolate!", and co-written and directed by "Bud" Dowdey, the film is an indie "dark chocolate" comedy that exposes US health agencies' bias towards conventional health care. Levinson based the story on real events with herself and seven of her very witty friends, and created six characters for the story including an engineer, turkey farmer, natural medicine doctor, teacher, boat captain and a former CIA Agent who now sells insurance.

Most of the story takes place on a yacht (Levinson's real healing office), where the six friends lament over the frightening health care options targeted particularly at aging seniors. Together they take charge of their own destiny and devise a plan to avoid the depressing pitfalls of aging. Cast and crew attending the New York screening include Dr. Andrea Levinson, Peggy Droz (General Hospital), Catherine Campbell (Dawson's Creek, Matlock), Terrie Batson (Cyborg, Chandler & Chandler), Greg Frucci, (PCP...A VanGuard Chronicle, Undoing Time), Jan Hartsell and Dan Donovan.

In a recent interview with Independent Film Quarterly, Levinson explains the crucial catalyst and message in the film, which she also executive produced. "Being totally disabled for four years and losing everything, including custody of my children because of my conventional health care, changes your perspective on life. I became a Doctor of Natural Medicine so others wouldn't have to go through what I did. An estimated over 300,000 Americans are killed and even more are harmed by their health care each year. My mother died from her Chemotherapy, not cancer; yet for the second time my practice was shut down for teaching nutrition and preventative health care to my patients. In my dispair, I wrote the original play that became the movie "Death, Taxes... and Chocolate!" The film encompasses many of the events I had to endure as a doctor of holistic medicine including the fear of going to work. If the Berlin Wall can fall, we Americans need to make the AMA and the FDA held accountable for the failure of health care in this country today," added Levisnon.

The film was written, produced and filmed entirely in North Carolina and boasts stunning cinematography and an original soundtrack by various local musicians including Andrea and Phil Owens, Margaret Rose, Chantal Hallatschek and Glenn Kolleda and even Levinson herself wrote the compelling song " Doc's Lament" and the funny, edited out scene of the "Senior Trot."

Here's what the critics are saying:

"One Sweet Movie"

-Charlie Hall - New Bern Sun Journal

"Finally a movie that makes you think!"

-Michael Sterling - Richmond Times

"I'm used to working with people who are widely published, widely produced, prolific award-winners. I encourage them to write stories that are useful to the social fabric. I was touched by the honesty and sincerity and truth of (Andrea's) story. She was saying 'this is my gift'. Sweet Jesus... She pulled it off!"

-Mark Woods - New River Dramatists

"I am very impressed by "Death Taxes... and Chocolate!" It is important and informative yet darkly funny. The film also has beautiful cinematography, a clever script and a great cast. Dr. Levinson is talented, passionate and not certainly afraid to take risks. Audiences will enjoy the film and we really look forward to giving the film the exposure it richly deserves."

-Stuart Alson (Publisher of Independent Film Quarterly)

The fall edition of NYIIFVF will run from Sep 18-25 at City Cinemas Village East (181 2nd ave. and 12th street). NYIIFVF is a competitive event that screens the work of emerging and established filmmakers from around the globe. Levinson and her team will have their award-wining film exhibit at a prime location at Mansion for the festival's opening night kick-off party and film market.

Advance tickets are $12 and can be purchased at www.nyfilmvideo.com. Press and distributors can obtain an all-access pass by faxing a request on company letterhead to (702) 361 6309 (attn. Nicole Holland). Sponsors for the New York screening and party include Webb's Candies, Equal Exchange Fair Trade Chocolate and Dandy Blend.

For all interview and review requests, and invitation to the premiere and afterparty, please contact Briege McGarrity at 917 783 4042 or email her at BMcGarrityPR@aol.com. For further information about "Death Taxes and Chocolate, check out www.deathtaxesandchocolate.com or contact Dr. Levinson at 713-376-6570 or 252-638-3311 or via email at alevinsonfilm@yahoo.com.

Interview with award-winning screenwriter Dr. Andrea Levinson

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:21:42 +0200

filmfestivals.com' Bruno Chatelin Interview with award-winning screenwriter Dr. Andrea Levinson
(Holistic practitioner and former geologist turned award-winning screenwriter)

The dark comedy feature will have its East Coast Premiere on Sunday September 21 at 6PM with a decadent reception to follow at Still NYC. The film has been very well received by critics and recently won multiple awards at the NYIIFVF in LA including, Best Original Screenplay, Best Dark Comedy, a Best Supporting Actress award for Catherine Trail, Best Orignal Score in a Feature Film as well as Best Film Marketing Campaign, and director Bud Dowdey was nominated for Best Director.

Adapted by Dr. Levinson from her 2005 play, “Death Taxes and Chocolate!”, and co-written and directed by “Bud” Dowdey, the film is an indie “dark chocolate” comedy that exposes US health agencies’ bias towards conventional health care. Levinson based the story on real events with herself and seven of her very witty friends, and created six characters for the story including an engineer, turkey farmer, natural medicine doctor, teacher, boat captain and a former CIA Agent who now sells insurance.

Most of the story takes place on a yacht (Levinson’s real healing office), where the six friends lament over the frightening health care options targeted particularly at aging seniors. Together they take charge of their own destiny and devise a plan to avoid the depressing pitfalls of aging. Cast and crew attending the New York screening include Dr. Andrea Levinson, Peggy Droz (General Hospital), Catherine Campbell (Dawson’s Creek, Matlock), Terrie Batson (Cyborg, Chandler & Chandler), Greg Frucci, (PCP...A VanGuard Chronicle, Undoing Time), Jan Hartsell and Dan Donovan.

Levinson tells us of the making of th emovie and explains the crucial catalyst and message in the film, which she also executive produced. “Being totally disabled for four years and losing everything, including custody of my children because of my conventional health care, changes your perspective on life. I became a Doctor of Natural Medicine so others wouldn't have to go through what I did. An estimated over 300,000 Americans are killed and even more are harmed by their health care each year. My mother died from her Chemotherapy, not cancer; yet for the second time my practice was shut down for teaching nutrition and preventative health care to my patients. In my dispair, I wrote the original play that became the movie "Death, Taxes... and Chocolate!" The film encompasses many of the events I had to endure as a doctor of holistic medicine including the fear of going to work. If the Berlin Wall can fall, we Americans need to make the AMA and the FDA held accountable for the failure of health care in this country today,” added Levisnon.

The film was written, produced and filmed entirely in North Carolina and boasts stunning cinematography and an original soundtrack by various local musicians including Andrea and Phil Owens, Margaret Rose, Chantal Hallatschek and Glenn Kolleda and even Levinson herself wrote the compelling song “ Doc’s Lament” and the funny, edited out scene of the “Senior Trot.”

For further information about “Death Taxes and Chocolate, check out www.deathtaxesandchocolate.com or contact Dr. Levinson at 713-376-6570 or 252-638-3311 or via email at alevinsonfilm@yahoo.com.

Newark Street Preechers

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:49:32 +0200

”Newark Street Preachers” thought-provoking documentary explores ways to combat gang violence in New Jersey

Celebrated Police Captain turned multi award-winning filmmaker Donna Roman (D.R.) Hernandez today announced that her latest film "Newark Street Preachers" has been selected for exhibition at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF). Tickets are selling very fast for this urban crime feature documentary, which makes its world debut on Saturday September 20th at 4pm at the City Cinemas Village East, 181 2nd Ave. & 12th Street in Manhattan.

Written, produced and directed by Hernandez in conjunction with her production company, Blue Force Films, Newark Street Preachers is a powerful film that explores a faith-based community's determination to combat street violence and gang warfare on the streets of Newark. As the City of Newark, New Jersey struggles to curb rising gang activity, four Newark Street Preachers are devoted to keeping alive Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy for non-violence. Together they celebrate Dr. King's memory through preaching, mentoring, marching and successfully mobilizing their multi-cultural congregations onto the front lines of an urban battlefield where gang violence, poverty, and innocent lives are intertwined with deadly results.

The Newark Street Preachers strongly encourage young people not to fall prey to gang violence. Using a hand-held camera, Hernandez followed the preachers as they marched and prayed in the presence of gang members and revisited "street memorials" where young men were gunned down by gang violence.

Hernandez also conducted a range of on-camera interviews with the Preachers about their mission to "Stop the Killings." Other noteworthy subjects include Armando Fontoura, the Sheriff of Essex County, New Jersey who praised the Preachers for their grassroots movement to help the Police in their battle against gang activity. Audiences can also learn about the urban gang lifestyle from a New Jersey State Police Detective, a former gang member who survived a near death experience after being shot 5 times and left partially paralyzed, and a former drug addict turned Minister who now mentors parolees and recovering addicts.

Additional components of the documentary include gospel music, archival video and photos of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a compelling rap song composed by D. R. Hernandez.

In an interview for Independent Film Quarterly, Hernandez explained the catalyst for her film: "I was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey and was appalled after four college-bound teenagers were shot point-blank last August in a Newark school yard, three of them mortally wounded. The following month I participated in a march to « Take Back the Streets for Jesus » and felt spiritually and emotionally reminded of how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the greatest American Preacher, took to the streets forty years ago with a similar mission-to stop the violence in our communities."

Hernandez further states, "I made "Newark Street Preachers" to visually illustrate how Newark's faith-based community and its Preachers are motivated in this millennium to keeping Dr. King's vision and voice alive for non-violence.

According to NYIIFVF's Founder and Executive Producer Stuart Alson "I was very impressed by Newark Street Preachers and we are honored that it is a festival entry. Hernandez is a very driven filmmaker and she tackles a difficult subject very well, proving once again that she is not afraid to take chances in order to educate the public. The touching interviews, the outstanding work of the Preachers and the "real deal" insights from former gang members and law enforcement officers should definitely capture the attention of our New York audience."

Tickets are $12 in advance (www.nyfilmvideo.com) and $15 at the door. For all interview requests and an invitation to the screening, please contact Briege McGarrity at 917 783 4042 or email her at BMcGarrityPR@aol.com. For further information about "Newark Street Preaches" and Blue Force Films, visit www.blueforcefilms.com or contact D.R. Hernandez at (973) 979 9207.

About D.R. Hernandez: Donna Roman (D.R) Hernandez is an award-winning Latina filmmaker who was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. D.R became a Police Officer in 1980 and recently retired at the rank of Captain with the Caldwell Police Department after twenty-six years of service. In 2005, Ms. Hernandez founded Blue Force Films, an independent film production company specializing in documentaries and the human psyche. Her propensity for story telling has resulted in 4 impressive films, the multi award-winning documentary "The Ultimate Betrayal: A Survivor's Journey that exposed her family's 40-year history of physical and emotional terrorism at the hands of her father. Her second film "Closure" is an award-winning short drama about the altered life of a police office who lost her sister, an NYPD cop, in the World Trade Center attacks. In March 2008, Hernandez won "Best New York Director" for her visceral short documentary film "A Call for Valor. "

As a veteran Police Captain in 2006, D.R. was named the 1st Runner-up for the National Positive Force Award, a prestigious award for exceptional acts of heroism in the community. D.R. is a Domestic Violence Police Specialist and a Police Academy Trainer.

Halford Resurrection World Tour - Live At Rock In Rio III

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:09:59 +0200

Metal God Entertainment and Rob Halford are pleased to announce New York screenings of Halford Resurrection World Tour Documentary an Official Selection of the New York International Independent Video and Film Festival (NYIIVFF) September 18th – 25th in the category of Best Music Documentary.

Neshoba Trailer

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:01:15 +0200

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NESHOBA, the documentary film that finally tells the true story behind the "Mississippi Burning" murders, will have its New York premiere at this year's New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.. NESHOBA is directed by Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano. The premiere will be held at the Village East Cinema, 181 2nd Avenue at 12th Street on Saturday, September 20th at 6:00 p.m. Directors Dickoff and Pagano will attend the premiere.

"I'm so excited the film is premiering in New York City, my home town and where Tony has lived and worked for 30 years," says Dickoff. "When Ben Chaney, also a New Yorker, called me about making a film about his brother's murder, I jumped at the chance."

Dickoff, an award-winning filmmaker and social activist, was haunted by the slayings of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, kids only a few years older than she was at the time, who were murdered for doing the right thing during the famed minority voter registration drives in the southern states of the U.S.

"In 1964, the Klansmen bragged about what they did. I was offended by the lack of truth and justice in the case," Dickoff explains.

Teaming with Pagano, an award-winning director of photography, they began shooting NESHOBA on the 40th anniversary of the killings in Neshoba County, Mississippi where the three civil rights workers were slain in 1964. Pagano makes his feature directorial debut on NESHOBA.

"When Micki introduced me to Andrew Goodman's mother Carolyn, I knew I needed to tell this story," says Pagano. "Micki's passion for the truth and Carolyn's passion for justice were doubly inspiring."

Through intimate interviews with the families of all three victims, candid interviews with black and white Neshoba County citizens, and exclusive first-time interviews with 80-year-old preacher Edgar Ray Killen, the alleged mastermind of the killings, the film explores whether the prosecution of one unrepentant Klansman constitutes justice and whether healing and reconciliation are possible without telling the unvarnished truth.

"With a black man running for President in 2008 - unthinkable 40 years ago - our film serves as a current reminder of how far we've come in race relations and how far we need to go," says Dickoff.

The Chaney family will also attend the screening.

For tickets, contact: www.nyfilmvideo.com

For more information about the film, contact: neshobafilm@yahoo.com

To view NESHOBA Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watchv=H0UJtv48DqI&feature=email

To view NESHOBA Productions Stills, Director Bios, Trailer: www.myspace.com/neshoba film