Helen's blog


Catering to the interests of international quality arthouse cinema and all aspects relating to distribution, promotion and networking at www.digitfilms.com. Catch up on pictoral reports of events in exotic places and neorealistic works on www.cinepobre.netfirms.com. Contact Helen at helentheresa@gmail.com
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FESTIVAL CINE 32 à AUCH

                11è FESTIVAL CINÉ 32 Indépendance(s) et création   - D'Artagnan Statue. Trente ans de Ciné 32 La 11ème édition du Festival CINE 32 « Indépendance(s) et Création » se déroulera à Auch et dans des salles du Gers du jeudi 16 au dimanche 19 octobre prochains. Cette édition marquera les 10 ans de sa création par Daniel Toscan du Plantier et Ciné 32, et donc les trent...

HUMBERTO SOLAS

         EL CINE POBRE DE HUMBERTO SOLÁS The prolific Cuban filmmaker, Humberto Solás, founder and conceptor of the Festival Internacional del Cine Pobre, inaugurated at the end of the year 2000, in the picturesque port of  Gibara, CUBA, which has matured to become an original and successful film event for young talents, passed away on September 18th, in his residence in Miraflores, Havana, after a short bout with cancer. One of Solas' colleagues described the cause of his death as &...

Republic of GEORGIA celebrates 100 years of Filmmaking

    This year, marks 100 years of rich cinema history in Georgia, the 100 year anniversary of Georgian cinema.To celebrate the 100th anniversary, originally several exhibitions, festive events and showings of Georgian silent films were planned, but due to current upheaval, Russian invasion and war in the country, the schedule has been jeopardized by more vital issues in a country striving for its independance.   Almost bereft of archives, many films have been destr...

COSTA RICA could be new player in the film industry

    Costa Rica churns out five features each year and they are very good !  Every Monday on TV, the program  "Lunes de Cinemateca" talks about them. New technology is planned for shooting films in the country. The TV program usually shows  *cine experimental* dealing with social problems and lack of communciation = drug addiction, prostitution and things people do to make money. Someone might pretend to have a heart attack in a bus an...

GERONIMO

  SUR LES PAS DE GÉRONIMOby Corine Sombrun and Harlyn GERONIMOAvailable in bookstores May 20th, 2008A new book has just come out on the legendary Apache Indian GERONIMO, published by Alban Michel.                                    Harlyn Géronimo, his great-grandson, was present in Paris to launch the edition based on his ancestor Geronimo (1829-1909)One of the last Indians to lay down his weapons at the end of the wars, after holding out to over  half...

"THE SCENT OF OAK" spearheads 1st TRAVELLING CARIBBEAN SHOWCASE AT UNESCO

"THE SCENT OF OAK" spearheads 1st TRAVELLING CARRIBBEAN FILM SHOWCASE : April 14-18 at UNESCO, Paris   This new travelling film showcase from the Caribbean region, chaired byCuban filmmaker, Rigoberto LOPEZ, at UNESCO, recently showed a selection of  features  and shorts chosen among 21 participating Caribbean countries.Under the umbrella of UNESCO to promote creativity, language and cultural diversity, supported by the Cuban Institute of Art and  Cinematographic Industry and Ca...

Garbage as ART : TRASH ART

Աղբ _ Art / akhb_ art/Աղբ- means trash in Armenian /summary of the project/ Curated by Arman Tadevosyan Where some people see trash, others see art. And, in some art, some people will only see a pile of meaningless trash. So, what's the difference? Maybe it's just in the eye of the beholder or artist. Maybe it's simply a matter of opening our minds to new and unique ways of doing and seeing things. Each of us can differentiate rubbish (garbage) from another material. T...

VAN by Arman Tadevosyan

Eastern Turkey's vast, highly alkaline inland sea called Lake Van (Van Gölü) is surrounded by history and stark beauty.

ANI, The GHOST CITY in Eastern Turkey by Arman Tadevosyan

SACRED SITEThe sacredness of the city of Ani is partly because the Armenian culture was the first to convert to Christianity. Subsequently they invented the form of architecture which we now call Gothic to celebrate their new religion. The protection of the region around Ani is important because of the role the area has played historically. It seems that the city of Ani was probably the most important city in the wor ...

TRANSFORMATION, a new film dedicated to the great Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents

A new short documentary TRANSFORMATION, shot in Kars, Eastern Turkey, is ready to unreel at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Dedicated to the great Armenian lyrical poet Yeghishe Charents, true to its title, the film explores cultural changes imposed on Armenian structures throughout time. Conceived by a young artist-painter, Arman Tadevosyan, native of Gyumri, Armenia, in collaboration with German Cameraman and filmmaker Thomas Balkenhol, who teaches cinema art at the An...

THE HOUSE OF Yeghishe Charents, (1897 - 1937) one of the greatest Armenian poets in KARS

On a quiet pedestrian street in KARS, is the run-down delapitaded house where Yeghishe Charents, (1897 - 1937) one of the greatest Armenian poets was born and lived.Both his primary and secondary schooling took place in KARS His patriotic pleas to unite Armenians against  Stalinism ended him in prison, where he died at the age of 40.  His poetry reflects his love and revolt for ARMENIA, in the throes of  a trubulent period under Russian occupation.Yeghishe Charents was jailed in 1936 ...

Türkiye : A 2-WORLD BALANCE ACT

TÜRKIYE : A 2-WORLD BALANCE ACT It is hard not to notice a certain dichotomy in Turkish society which has exacerbated with the recent elections held in that country. Although democracy has definitely expanded throughout the land, the cherished secularism of Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK, founder of the modern nation, is now being challenged by the ruling AKP party.This Justice and Development Party (AKP), after its July 2007 reelection, has gained a larger share of the popular vote, meaning that now a...

PARTING VIEWS NEAR KARS

Here are some ambiance parting views of the magnificent scenery near the Festival of Kars headquarters moving on towards Lake Cildir. Courtesy of  Mustafa Küpeli (Istanbul).....

Erkan Oğur sings in the BOLERO nightclub in KARS on closing night of Festival on Wheels

  Listen and SEE Erkan Ogur - Bulbulum Altin Kafeste : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21FHBHPQE94 and Hear ZEYNEP here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKAOTzzb6nk One of the biggest highlights at the Kars stop of the Festival on Wheels in Turkey in November 2007 was the last night performance of Erkan Oğur and İsmail H.Demircioğlu in the bustling Bolero Club in KARS, Turkey. Genial, warm and unassuming, performing his traditional folk repertoire before mesmer...

SERENE LAKE CILDIR

                        The Çıldır Lake is located in a volcanic area 70 kilometers north of Kars, on an altitude of 1,959 meters. The lake is shaped like a triangle, with its longest side (15 km) in the northern part. It is set on an area of 120 square kilometers. Çıldır Lake formed when lavas closed the front of a crater, causing water to collect inside it...

SARIKAMIS TOPRAK, in the heart of pine forests and natural beauties of NorthEastern Turkey

  Magificent Sarıkamış Toprak Hotel located in Northeast Turkey  welcomed a busload of 'Festival on Wheels Guests'. This is a new ski resort  entirely built by a Turkish architect and boasts  the longest ski track in the country with excellent dry, powdery snow.The pists lead through pine forests and the views, which festival attendees saw from the chairlift were breathtaking. The tracks rise to altitudes over 8,530 feet above sea level and include Turkey's longest , one of which is ...

'Saklı Yüzler' (Hidden Faces) by Handan İpekçi, a fılm about honor killings

 'Saklı Yüzler' (Hidden Faces) by female Turkısh Dırector, Handan İpekçi, presented at the Kars Festıval on Wheels  ıs a fılm about Turkısh famıly honor killings, a serıous ıssue, dealt wıth ın a dramatıc way. For what has now become a faırly unıversal theme, wherever Turkısh communıtıes are settled, statıstıcs report over 700 such  offences are commıtted yearly ın Turkey alone. The plot concerns a young woman, iıvıng ın another country, who ıs hounded and 'pun...

ANI, former capıtal of ARMENIA near KARS

              To acquaınt ınternatıonal and Turkısh festıval attendees wıth the ancıent cıvılızatıon ruıns at ANI. near  Armenıa, the Festıval on Wheels toured two hours out of KARS to the former capıtal of Armenıa.Ani is the ruins of the capital of medieval Armenia. near the Arpaçay River (a branch of Aras River). Arpaçay river constitutes the border between Armenia and Turkey. It takes its name from ancient Urartian fertility goddess Anahid. The city collapsed d...
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