Filmmaker Residency Program - Deadline Approaching

Working Films is once again sponsoring their Content + Intent Documentary Institute, which allows filmmakers a chance to develop outreach plans for their projects.

(Wilmington, NC. December 18, 2007) – It’s that time of year again! Working Films is accepting applications for its five-day residency for documentary filmmakers at MASS MoCA. The residency, which is called the Content + Intent Documentary Institute, willtake place March 12-16, 2008 in North Adams, MA. The application deadline is January 25, 2008.

Ensuring that a film’s release has an impact is as important as its production. The Content + Intent Documentary Institute will guide approximately ten filmmakers and advanced film students through the development of outreach plans for their film projects. Linking the documentaries-in-progress to organizations committed to progressive social change will be a key component of the Institute. Participants will create an audience engagement plan for their films, identify community partners, and develop support materials, including effective timelines, budgets, and implementation strategies. Working Films will offer insight on the development of web sites, fundraising tactics and press strategies.

Working Films will announce accepted applicants on February 7, 2008.


Working Films

602 South Fifth Avenue

Wilmington, NC 28401

(910) 342-9000

Fax: (910) 342-9003

www.workingfilms.org


Working Films advances social, economic, environmental and racial justice by linking independent non-fiction media to activism.


To learn more visit their website here.

Choices at IDFA

Choices will be attending the IDFA festival and market in Amsterdam from November 22nd to November 27th.

For more information about the IDFA, please visit www.idfa.nl.

Choices at National Media Market

Choices will be attending the National Media Market next week in Mesa, AZ. This annual event brings together film and video distributor with library and educational professional who focus on media. Workshops and screenings of new titles take place for four days.

Choices will be represented by Erik Gudris in Room #602. If you plan to attend, please stop by and say hello.

To learn more visit the event's website here.

New Release - Rumi: Turning Ecstatic

Choices is pleased to announce our latest release, "Rumi: Turning Ecstatic" which follows one woman's personal journey with the Sufi master and poet - Rumi.

Mevlana Jelalludin Rumi was a 13th C. mystic and poet whose writing and teachings still inspire millions around the world today. Filmmaker Tina Petrova shares her extraordinary personal journey with the Sufi master in Rumi: Turning Ecstatic.

Journey deep into the heart of Sufi mysticism, with thought provoking discussion, featuring interviews with Coleman Barks, the world's most popular translator of Rumi, and other noted experts. Also included are numerous readings of Rumi's poetry, historical background and a haunting soundtrack of ecstatic music making Rumi: Turning Ecstatic a treasured resource of knowledge and inspiration.

The DVD will sell for $24.95 and will be released on September 18th. For more information, please visit here.

The Perfect Life - New York Premiere

We pleased to announce that the New York City premiere of "The Perfect Life" will take place on Sunday, September 9th at 4:30pm at the Pioneer Theater at E. 3rd St. btwn Ave A & B.

The screening is FREE. Admission is on a first come, first served basis. A Q&A with the director, Sam Lee, will take place after the show.

Screening of "A School of Their Own"

"A School of Their Own" will screen at the Charlotte Film Festival on Sunday, September 9th at 3:40 pm. For more information and to get tickets, visit the festival's website here.

Our Feathered Friends

Choices is pleased to announce the release of our newest title, Our Feathered Friends.

Spend a year on a farm with the chickens!

From the producers of the acclaimed City of Bees comes a new film exploring the fascinating and complex world of chickens from a child's point of view. The story is set in the countryside, where two brothers spend time with their grandma on her farm. There they learn that chickens live both in the coop and in the trees. Young roosters battle to oust the old ruler and hens confront pheasants and hawks trying to enter the nest.

The youngsters watch new chicks emerge in the spring and follow their progress while learning all about the bird’s origins, what they eat, and how they develop. With up-close photography, vibrant music and even an interactive "chicken dance", viewers of all ages will be enchanted and informed by Our Feathered Friends.

The DVD will be available on August 21st. Price is $24.95.

Interview on Columbia Journalism Review with Bill Gentile

Columbia Journalism Review just posted their interview with Bill Gentile, director of "Dateline Afghanistan: Reporting the Forgotten War" on their website. To read the interview, click here.

New Release - Joyce to the World

Choices is pleased to announce the release of its newest title, "Joyce to the World".

What makes James Joyce’s Ulysses so compelling that it continues to attract devoted readers one hundred years after its publication? Joyce to the World explores the global phenomenon known as “Bloomsday” celebrated every year on June 16th, the day the novel takes place. Celebrate the 100-year anniversary of this amazing tradition when Joyceans around the world open a book, raise a pint, and dress in costume in homage to their fictional heroes. With extensive biographical footage and commentary, viewers follow Joyce from his early life in Dublin to his later years of self-exile with his wife, Nora Barnacle. Interviews with award-winning actors, writers and scholars including Brian Dennehy, Frank McCourt, Malachy McCourt, Fionnula Flanagan and Senator David Norris, bring audiences inside the artist’s mind and explain why so many are drawn to his work. Die-hard fans and those just beginning their exploration of this acclaimed artist will find Joyce to the World a treasured resource for years to come.

The DVD is priced at $49.95 and includes a Director's Statement, Photo Gallery and Guidebook. You can learn more about the title here.

ALA Convention in Washington D.C.

Choices will attend the upcoming American Library Association (ALA) convention in Washington D.C. this June. We will be at booth #2160. If you plan to attend, please stop by and say hello.

New Release - Dateline Afghanistan: Reporting The Forgotten War

Choices is pleased to announce the release of our new title, "Dateline Afghanistan: Reporting the Forgotten War"

As the United States and its allies engage in a continuing battle to free Afghanistan of its ties to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, many journalists from around the world cover the ongoing conflict. Go inside the ranks of these brave men and women as they risk their lives to present the truth of what's really going on today. Veteran reporter and filmmaker Bill Gentile profiles noted journalists from The New York Times, the BBC, Time, and The Washington Post as well as others to reveal the daily personal and professional pressures they face. Learn how female reporters get the story despite the harsh restrictions placed on women in the country and how the U.S. military presence both aid and hinder journalists in their efforts to give fair and balanced coverage. Through stunning footage and first-hand accounts, audiences will get an up close look inside the media's role to report the issues and conflicts behind America's forgotten war.

Choices will release the DVD on May 8th. To learn more, click here.

South Asian Studies Alliance Conference - This Weekend

We're pleased to say that several of our South Asian themed titles will be screened at the upcoming SASA conference at Loyola Maramount University in Los Angeles this weekend. Along with the screenings, director Debra Kaufman (A School of Their Own) will take part in a panel on making films in South Asia on Sunday morning.

The screenings will take place in Ahmanson Auditorium on Saturday, April 28th. The complete schedule can be found here.

For more information visit the conference website here.

Tribeca Film Festival

Choices will be attending this week's Tribeca Film Festival. Aside from checking out new films and catching up with all our friends in NYC, we also plan to take part in Tribeca All Access where we will meet with filmmakers who have documentaries in progress.

Please feel free to say hi if you see Erik Gudris at any of the events. You can't miss him as he's quite tall. :)

Rwanda Film Festival

We are happy to post this story which appeared on the BBC's website about director Eric Kabera and his work running the annual Rwanda Film Festival.

You can read the article here.

Digitally Remastered Version of The Hours and Times Now Available

Digitally Remastered “The Hours and Times” Imagines John Lennon – Brian Epstein Relationship


Los Angeles, CA (April 2007) – Choices , Inc. proudly announces the long-anticipated re-release of The Hours and Times on DVD in a new high-definition digital transfer approved by director Christopher Münch. Hailed by the Village Voice as “the best American indie in many years,” The Hours and Times imagines what might have happened between John Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein during a 1963 vacation in Barcelona, just months before Beatlemania swept the world. Candid, intelligent, and loaded with backstage conjecture, the movie captures the fleeting moments of their intense friendship before celebrity washed over intimacy.

Considered to be a landmark film in contemporary gay cinema, The Hours and Times launched director Christopher Münch into the forefront of independent directors leading him to direct such films as “The Sleepy Time Gal” and recently “Harry and Max.” The new and improved version of “The Hours and Times” t DVD will include a 22-minute featurette on the making of the film, and a commentary by writer/director Christopher Münch. Erik Gudris, Director of Marketing at Choices, commented, “We are very pleased with the new digital transfer and hope it brings new audiences to this classic film.” Choices , Inc.will release the The Hours and Times on DVD on April 3rd, 2007. SRP is $24.95, and orders may be placed at www.choicesvideo.net.

Read Anthony Kaufman's post on Indiewire about the release here.

The Perfect Life

Choices is pleased to announce the release of its newest release The Perfect Life.

“...involving study of academic apathy, the challenges of inner city life and the pain of hopes and dreams unrealized….” - Variety

The Perfect Life takes a hard look at the challenges of growing up in America’s inner cities. In 1992, filmmaker Sam Lee moved from England to teach second grade at a unique school in Harlem aimed at helping disadvantaged youth. Ten years later, she decided to revisit her former students, now seniors in high school, and find out what had become of their dreams, their families, and their lives. With candor and eloquence, each student discusses their personal challenges from living with no parental support, emotional issues, grinding poverty and lack of opportunities. The transition to adulthood is difficult and each must draw upon their own inner resources to make it in the world, some more successfully than others.

Brutally honest and without adult commentary, the film exposes the stark lines that divide inner city life from the rest of America. Audiences are offered an exclusive lens through which to understand what it takes to succeed – or as one student says, "have a house, kids...the great American dream, the perfect life."

Special Features will include Director's Statement, Photo Gallery and Lesson Plan/Guidebook. The DVD will sell for $99.95 and will be released March 27th.

To View the Trailer click here.

In the Tall Grass - ALA Notable Video of the Year

We're pleased to say that "In the Tall Grass" was selected by the American Library Association as one of its Notable Videos for Adults for 2007!

The list’s purpose is to call attention to recent video releases that make a significant contribution to the world of video recordings.

The selections were made during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington, January 20-25.

We want to congratulate the film's director, J. Coll Metcalfe, on winning this award for his film.

To learn more, click here to visit the ALA website.

In the Tall Grass - Screening at UCLA in February

Choices is pleased to announce that "In the Tall Grass" will have a public screening at UCLA on Wednesday, February 7th at 7pm.

In the Tall Grass picks up where Hotel Rwanda left off, focusing on the Hutu and Tutsi as they struggle through Rwanda’s unique reconciliation process Gacaca, a network of grassroots community courts. With unprecedented access, this powerful documentary follows a survivor through this historic process as she confronts the man she says murdered her husband and children, giving audiences a stark and terrifying look at how the genocide of 1994 continues to shape the lives of Rwandans today. She receives some justice, and her village finally faces their pain, but she is only one story in hundreds of thousands.

The film's director, J Coll Metcalfe, will take part in a Q&A session after the screening. Admission is free and open to the public.

The screening will take place at UCLA, 190 Royce Hall. Parking is available in Lot 5.

This screening is sponsored by the UCLA African Studies Center and Choices.

To learn more about the film, click here.
Read an article on the film here.

Daughters of Afghanistan - Screenings

Our popular title "Daughters of Afghanistan" will have several screenings next month.

Daughters of Afghanistan will be playing at the Latches Theater on March 17th at 4pm and again at the Hooker Dunham Theater on March 18th at 1pm. This is part of the Women's Film Festival being held in Brattleboro, VT.

For more information visit the festival website here.

Daughters of Afghanistan will also being playing as part of the University of Delaware's International Film Festival in March. More details on the screening will appear soon.

The Miseducation of Pakistan

Choices proudly announces our new release "The Miseducation of Pakistan" which will be released on DVD on January 30th.

A nation’s future hangs in the balance when it cannot educate its youth. Using a journalistic approach, The Miseducation of Pakistan explores the country’s appalling public education system. Schools with no teachers, schools overflowing with garbage, schools under the open sky, without drinking water or electricity; this is what most students of public schools in Pakistan can look forward to. Little wonder that a vast majority of primary school graduates can’t even be considered literate by international standards. All the while, a corrupt hierarchy of officials and school staff line their pockets with funds meant for educating the nation’s children and powerful feudals deny the children of their peasants the right to even a basic education, while sending their own offspring to the best schools in the country and abroad. And no one is held accountable. Using In-depth interviews and shocking footage, the filmmakers reveal a country where quality education is reserved only for a chosen few, while millions of children are denied the chance of a future.

The DVD will be priced at $59.95 and will include a guidebook and photo gallery.

Click here to watch a clip from the film.

Take Our Survey - Win a Free DVD!

Happy New Year to All!

This hopes to be an exciting year for all of us at Choices. To celebrate we are offering a FREE Choices DVD to everyone who takes part in a brief survey.

The survey starts now and runs until February 2nd. One winner will be chosen from all who complete the survey.

No Purchase Necessary. Void Where Prohibited. Prize value not to exceed $100.

Click here to take the survey.