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Empowering the Maverick, Cinequest Institute produces: Cinequest Film Festival, Cinequest Distribution, and Cinequest Mentoring & Education. Cinequest discovers Maverick artists and showcases the latest cutting-edge technology.

Official Cinequest Blog. Susan Tavernetti contributing (and more)


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Cinequest Film Festival

Empowering the Maverick, Cinequest Institute produces: Cinequest Film Festival, Cinequest Distribution, and Cinequest Mentoring & Education. Cinequest discovers Maverick artists and showcases the latest cutting-edge technology.

Cinequest 18 Awards Announced

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Sunday, March 9, 2008 -- The 2008 Cinequest Juries selected winners from over 150 films from 34 countries. Cinequest Executive Director and Co-founder Halfdan Hussey read the following statement: “They discovered myriad worlds that challenged, excited and surprised. Their job to find the top films was not an easy one, and reaching a unanimous vote was nearly impossible because the films truly affected them in many ways and heated debates were sparked because of the passion each felt for the st...

Bobby Moresco: From Hell’s Kitchen to Cinequest Maverick

Academy Award-winning writer Bobby Moresco received the Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award, the festival’s highest honor. The straight-talking screenwriter/producer of CRASH (2004) and co-producer of MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004) was joined on the San Jose Repertory Theatre stage by producing partner Mark Harris (CRASH, THE BLACK DONNELLYS). The lively Q&A with moderator Robert G. Phelps and an audience sprinkled with aspiring writers was part of the Film and Technology Forum titled "Sigh...

Cinequest 18 – March 2008 - Weekend Viewing and Anywhere, USA

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Cinequest 18 is turning out to be a particularly strong festival this year. The quality of filmmaking on view is quite staggering, and, in this reviewer’s opinion, surpasses previous years for quality of storytelling and technical accomplishment.  Becoming John Ford – United StatesI began my weekend with this well-crafted and insightful documentary by director Nick Redman. Through archival footage, interviews with the great man’s contemporaries and film clips, a multi-dimensional portrait...

Cinequest 18 Press Conference - March 1st 2008 - Selected Highlights

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Joint organizer of Cinequest 18, Jens Hussey, introduced the press conference on Saturday afternoon, noting that on the previous day, the festival had recorded its highest ever numbers for mid-week audiences. At this rate, the estimated total attendance of 80,000 people seems a strong reality.The following segments from the 90 minute conference  should give you an overview of the talent involved in this year's festival.Robert Peters (Director) - Half Empty “It’s a musical filmed over eight ...

Cinequest 18 - Feb-March 2008 - The First Two Days

This year the Cinequest film festival offers movie lovers a festival of discovery, and thus far, they have not disappointed.Opera – MexicoOpera is a story divided into five acts, with each act more or less starting the same way. A girl (Magdelena Flores) wakes up, endures a boring road trip with her older lover (Arturo Rios), and we get to look at some scenery. Her lover is a writer, who scorns his novels in favor of paying gigs, such as the travel guide he is currently writing. This is ironic...

D-Tour: A Tenacious Documentary

Saturday, March 1, 2008 -- If you've heard of the band Tenacious D, you probably know it consist of the comedic Jack Black and some-other guy. That some-other guy is Kyle Gass. Kyle, a San Francisco Bay Area native, co-founded the band with Jack Black in 1994. But as the band embarks on its first world tour, Kyle gets tired of playing second fiddle. In the documentary film "D-Tour," we ride along with Tenacious D on their tour. It’s a fun ride as the band revs up to take it to the ...

Cinequest 18 Opens A Door to Discovery

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 – “I guarantee the next 12 days and nights of Cinequest will be a cabaret,” Cinequest Co-founder and Executive Director Halfdan Hussey promised upon greeting the opening night crowd. Hussey urged festival-goers to connect with each other—and to discover films and forums that matter, Maverick legends and fun. “A whole lot of fun, because we need that, too, as we’re stimulating our minds and our souls,” Hussey added. More than 1,000 people flocked to the...

Cinequest Opening night

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The 18th Cinequest opened Wednesday, February 27, with the world premiere screening of Paul Leuer's Eden Court starring Thomas Lennon (Reno 911), Kimberly Williams-Paisley (Father of the Bride, According to Jim) and Stephnie Weir (MADtv). Eden Court is a dramatic yet humorous story of a washed up baseball star living in a trailer park trying to escape his current life by running off to Australia in pursuit of his "American Dream." It's not a story where one man beats the odds to become...

Cinequest 2008 Preview

Cinequest 2008 Preview

Video Excerpt from Trained in the Ways of Men Press Conference March 10, 2007

Trained in the Ways of Men is a powerful new documentary by filmmaker Shelly Provost which investigates the controversial events surrounding the murder of Gwen Araujo in 2002. On the eve of the premiere of the film, Shelly and Gwen's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, held an emotional and thought-provoking press conference.

High School Drag and Cannibals - just another day at Cinequest

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There's nothing better than being able to attend screenings of films so diverse in their outlooks that it almost borders on the surreal. Now that Cinequest has concluded, and with this in mind, I would like to reflect upon couple more favorites of mine, Russell P. Marleau's The Curiosity of Chance, and Chris Power and Nathan Hynes' Long Pigs.The Curiosity of Chance is a hugely entertaining high school musical romp that is everything the John Hughes collection should have been. Russ M...

Cinequest 17 Awards

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Sunday, March 11—Cinequest Co-founder Kathleen Powell presented the awards on the closing night of the festival.(Descriptions excerpted from the Cinequest program guide.)Director's AwardsGLOBAL VISION AWARD: to the filmmaker who defies convention and exhibits work of universal vision, making bold use of storytelling to create evocative cinema of the future.FRESH AIR/FRISS LEVEGÕ (Hungary)From its wry opening in a Hungarian Lonely Hearts ballroom dance to its daring ending, Ágnes Kocsis...

Cinequest 17 Wraps

Monday, March 12—The Cinequest Film Festival may not generate buzz about industry distribution deals or celebrity sightings, but a record-breaking 70,102 indie film lovers joined several hundred filmmakers and technology innovators in downtown San Jose for the 12-day salute to all things maverick. Writer-director-cinematographer Stephane Gauger, Executive Producer Timothy Linh Bui (director of GREEN DRAGON, co-producer of THREE SEASONS) and actor Cat Ly (JOURNEY FROM THE FALL) closed the festi...

Mira Nair’s THE NAMESAKE Opens Cinequest

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No one seems better suited to transform Jhumpa Lahiri’s touching prose into film than Mira Nair. Both the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of INTERPRETER OF MALADIES and the director of SALAAM BOMBAY and MONSOON WEDDING know firsthand about the Indian-American immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, and the search for identity that informs their art. Adapted from Lahiri’s eponymous first novel, published in 2003, the deeply felt family drama doesn’t disappoint.The narrative unfolds diffe...

Stewart Copeland Cops Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award

Saturday, March 3---Stewart Copeland makes his entrance with a bang. Whether bounding onto the California Theatre stage before a packed house of 1,100 people or striding into a small room for a press conference, the founder of the newly reunited The Police radiates high energy. He flings his arms in the air, and his voice booms all the way to the last row of the balcony and back. Never has anyone been so enthusiastic about receiving a Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award. Just a 50-year-old suburban ...

The Best of the Fest part 1 - Student Shorts, Monster Camp and Blood Car.

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It is Monday, March 12th, and Cinequest has come to an end. This is a bitter-sweet moment; on the one hand I am already missing the frenetic buzz of running from film to forum and back to film, stopping to chat with filmmakers and attendees along the way and getting another caffeine dose in order to do it all over again. On the other hand, this now frees me up to actually get to the blog entries I have been meaning to assail you with, covering everything from my favorite festival films, to my fi...

The Maverick filmmaker

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In the moments before the press conference kicked off on Saturday, Jens Hussey spoke a little about the term 'maverick'. He explained that the word originated from a Texas cattleman named Sam Maverick, who refused to brand his cattle, preferring instead to let them roam free, not 'following the herd'. This is the main principle of the Cinequest Film Festival, to embrace the maverick filmmaker, to promote new innovations and artistry in film and to present the visions of filmmaker...

Stewart Copeland: his film and The Police reunion

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4:11 minutes (1.92 Mo)

Minnie Driver Receives Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award

Saturday, March 3---Minnie Driver slowly removed her sunglasses at the Cinequest press conference, and quietly said, “I don’t want to force my bloodshot eyes on you.” She had worked until 3:30 a.m. before traveling to San Jose to receive the Maverick Spirit Award at an event scheduled later in the afternoon. “I’m really happy to be here. Exhausted but happy,” stated the London-born actor.When asked if she considered herself a maverick, Driver thoughtfully replied, “I don’t lie i...

About cinequest

Tavernetti Susan




Cinequest Film Festival is a discovery festival of Maverick films and technology forums.
This blog features festival dailies moderated by Susan Tavenetti and Bruno Chatelin

Link to the Official festival website


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