Grad Film Women at Sundance. l to r: Mollye Asher, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Tati Barrantes, Lucy Walker, Kristina Nikolova, Leonora Lonsdale.

OK, ENOUGH, GOODBYE WEBSITE

Read the Variety story on Cole and After The Storm here.

Pariah, which was Rees' thesis film in the Graduate Film Program, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and continues to garner high praise. Watch the trailer and find theaters screening Pariah here.

Dee Rees on the set of Pariah
Photo Credit: Jenny Baptiste

Grad Film Students Celebrating on Behalf of Dee Rees' Win at the NBR Awards Gala

Lucy Mulloy's thesis film, Una Noche, was selected for the Generation 14Plus Programme. Una Noche, a U.S.-Cuban-British co-production about two Cuban boys who build a raft to sail to Florida, was one of seven selections for the festival. The Berlinale screening will be the world premiere of the film.

Read the Berlinale announcement here.

Lisa Ohlin's film, Simon and the Oaks, will also screen at Berlinale 2012. The film is based on a novel by Marianne Fredriksson and tells the story of Simon, a bookish boy from a working class family who befriends Erik, a Jewish boy whose family fled Nazi Germany. Ohlin's film has been nominated for a record 13 Guldbagge Awards, Sweden's equivalent to the Academy Awards.

Read the Hollywood Reporter article here.

Jim Taylor is nominated for his work on Alexander Payne's latest success, The Descendants.

Christina Vachon is being recognized for her work on the highly-acclaimed HBO mini-series, Mildred Pierce.

Read about Mildred Pierce on the HBO website.

Read the Deadline.com announcement of the 2012 PGA Award Nominees here.

Read Shruti's post.

Shruti Ganguly

HUGO was directed by Alum Martin Scorsese, and THE DESCENDANTS was produced by Alum Jim Taylor.

KINYARWANDA

Dee Rees

OK BREATHE AURALEE - written and directed by Grad Film alumna, Brooke Swaney.
Auralee wants a baby and will go to great lengths to get what she wants. Grad Film student Peter O'Leary stars in the film and three other Grad Film students worked on the film, which is also Swaney's thesis work: Shripriya Mahesh (editor), Emily Reese (producer) and Zelmira Gainza (director of photography).

Kendra Mylnechuk and Peter O'Leary in OK Breathe Auralee

THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM - directed by Grad Film alumna, Lucy Walker.
Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan's recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins. A visual haiku about the ephemeral nature of life and the healing power of Japan's most beloved flower.

Lucy Walker

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID - co-produced by Grad Film alumna, Tai Burkholder.
Longtime best friends Bebe and DeeDee are both wrestling with love. Bebe has met someone new and is in the exuberant phase of a budding romance. DeeDee is trying to move on from someone she can’t forget—mostly in destructive ways. The women soon embark on the kind of outrageous misadventure that only New York City can offer.

VALLEY OF SAINTS - written and directed by Kanbar Undergraduate Film alumnus, Musa Syeed, with production funding provided by the Kanbar Institute and Sloan Foundation Film Production Grant.
Gulzar plans to run away from the war and poverty surrounding his village in Kashmir with his best friend, but a beautiful young woman researching the dying lake leads him to contemplate a different future.

Musa Syeed's Valley of Saints

RED HOOK SUMMER - produced and directed by Grad Film Creative Director and Professor Spike Lee. Several Grad Film students had the privilege of working on Lee's film, shot in New York.
The story of an Atlanta boy spending the summer with his grandfather in Brooklyn.

Toni Lysaith, Clarke Peters and Jules Brown in Red Hook Summer

KEEP THE LIGHTS ON - directed and co-written by Grad Film Professor, Ira Sachs.
An autobiographically inspired story of a passionate long-term relationship between two men driven by addiction and secrets but bound by love and hopefulness.

Ira Sachs' Keep the Lights On

SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME - directed by Kanbar Undergraduate Professor Sam Pollard. Grad Film alumnus, Michael Rossetti, worked as director of photography on the documentary.
As slavery came to an end with Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, a new system of involuntary servitude took its place with shocking force, brutalizing, terrorizing and ultimately circumscribing the lives of hundreds of thousands of African Americans well into the 20th century.

Sam Pollard's Slavery By Another Name, for PBS

Congratulations to NYU Graduate Film thesis students Kristina Nikolova and Frank Rinaldi (Tisch Asia) whose Feature Thesis Films have been selected for competition at the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival, to be held in Utah this January.

Congratulations also go out to NYU Grad Film alums Nat Livingston Johnson, Gregory Mitnick, and Levi Abrino, whose Thesis Shorts are in competition at Slamdance, and to 2nd year student, Vladimir de Fontenay, whose 1st year Narrative Film is in competition, as well.

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Faith, Love and Whiskey - directed by Kristina Nikolova and co-written with Grad Film Thesis student Paul Dalio will premiere at Slamdance. The film, which is Nikolova's thesis, is about a young Bulgarian woman, engaged to a well-off American, panics and runs back home, reuniting with her drifter friends and the wild life of her past and falling in love with her passionate but alcoholic best friend.

Kristina Nikolova

Sundowning, written and directed by Tisch Asia Grad Film student Frank Rinaldi will also premiere at Slamdance in Janurary. Sundowning, Rinaldi's thesis film, is a story about the relationship between a young woman who has lost her memory and her mysterious caregiver.

Frank Rinaldi

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LIVE ACTION COMPETITION SHORTS:

The Kook – Directors/Screenwriters: Nat Livingston Johnson, Gregory Mitnick. (USA)

A gentle and unassuming member of an eccentric religious sect in the Catskill Mountains experiences a crisis in faith.

Little Horses - Director/Screenwriter: Levi Abrino. (USA)

A divorced small town postal worker tries to use a pony to win his family back.

New Skin - Director/Screenwriter: Vladimir de Fontenay. (USA)

Helen spends New Year's Eve working at a gas station, where she meets an intriguing young man just before midnight.

Jonas Carpignano (writer/director) was selected for his thesis film, A Chjàna (Italy/U.S.A.).
After leaving his native Burkina Faso in search of a better life, Ayiva makes the perilous journey to Italy; though he finds compatriots along the way, they are unprepared for the intolerance facing immigrants in their newly-claimed home.

Jonas Carpignano was awarded Best Short Film at the 2011 Venice Film Festival, for A Chjàna.

Chloé Zhao (writer/director) was selected for her thesis film, Lee (U.S.A).
As his two best friends plan to leave for college, a Lakota teen wonders if his future on the reservation is pre-ordained when a tragedy forces him to take dangerous action to protect his family.

Chloe Zhao accepted NYU's Columbus Vague Production award earlier this year for her thesis film, Lee.

Etienne Kallos (writer/director) was selected for his film, Vrystaat (Free State) (South Africa).
Set during the annual corn harvest in the Free State, Vrystaat explores the rites of passage into manhood for a new generation as they navigate identity and sexuality within the fractured realm of post-Colonial Africa.

Etienne Kallos

Read the Indiewire release here.

Colin Firth ready for a take on the set of Arthur Newman, Golf Pro . The film co-stars Emily Blunt and Anne Heche, being shot with Arri Alexa cameras. The Executive Producer on the show is Lisa Bruce (NYU MFA-Prod) and the Production Supervisor is Tai Burkholder (NYU MFA-Prod). The film, just wrapped, was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina, where there are excellent EU Screen Gems sound stages and very good state incentive rebate support to reduce the budget.

Latest updates:

Susan Kirr (MFA-Prod) has wrapped the Val Kilmer picture Deep in the Heart as co-
Producer and is now in pre-production producing Winter in Blood staring Chaske Spencer and David Morse. She has now done three pictures since being the line producer on Terrence Malickʼs Tree of Life.

Tom Woodrow (MFA-Prod), is producing Skeleton Twins with Mark Heyman (MFA-Dir) directing. The film is starring Mark Duplass and Anna Farris. Mark Heyman was the writer of the runaway hit Black Swan.

Paul Mezey (MFA-Prod) has wrapped The Girl staring Will Patton and Abbie Cornish as producer. The film was directed by David Riker (MFA-Dir). They are currently cutting picture and expect a festival premiere as Mezy and Riker are both significant indie names, with Sundance and Venice track records.

Lisa Bruce (MFA-Prod) whose last picture was No Strings Attached has just wrapped Arthur Newman, Golf Pro, a Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, dark romantic comedy, written by Becky Johnston (Prince of Tides) in Wilmington NC. She flew in Tai Burkholder (MFAProd) as the production supervisor for the show.

Matthew Myers (MFA-Prod) wrapped Lola Versus with Greta Gerwig, Bill Pullman, Debra Winger. Matt was Co-Producer on the show shot in NYC and hired Tai Burkholder (MFA-Prod) as Production Supervisor.

Jason Sokoloff (MFA-Prod) has wrapped Love, Magical as Producer. It is the story of a R&B songwriterʼs struggle to get his music heard until a new woman comes into his life. The picture shot in NYC. The DP is Michael Rossetti (MFA-Camera). Jasonʼs previous picture was Jay Ananiaʼs Stare which he Line Produced for James Francoʼs (MFA - Dir) production company and has been picked up by Lionʼs Gate.

Tai Burkholder (MFA-Prod) also just wrapped Arthur Newman, Golf Pro, as Production Supervisor of the Colin Firth picture shot with three Arri Alexa cameras. Tai recently heard that the last film she worked on Thatʼs What She Said as co-producer, starring Anne Heche, was accepted by Sundance.

Amy Shatsky-Gambrill (MFA-Prod) is Line Producing Ethel for Shelia Nevins at HBO. The film is the life story of Ethel Kennedy being directed by Rory Kennedy. The film is now shooting. Amyʼs last picture was Bobby Fisher Against the World which Amy also Line Produced for HBO.

Ryan SIlbert (MFA-Prod) is in pre-production on Affluenza as Producer, staring upcoming talent Billy Mangnussen. A coming-of-age dramedy, the film explores the affluent and morally deviant suburban society of Great Neck, Long Island circa 1987. Ryanʼs last film was Julius Onahʼs (MFA-Dir) The Girlʼs in Trouble.

Gigi Dement (MFA-Prod) is Producing, Bastards of Young, Josiah Signorʼs (MFA-Dir) feature being shot by Michael Rossetti (MFA-Camera), Gigi was one of the Producers on the Oscar winning short God of Love.

Katie Jaconbs (NYU-MFA) continues as the Executive Producer on House M.D. and is now credited with producing 154 episodes of the multi Emmy winning show.

Tom Mangan (NYU-MFA) has released his latest picture Somewhere Tonight, starring John Turturro. The film was written and directed my Michael DiJiacomo (MFA-Directing) which was on the festival circuit this fall playing at the big festivals at Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki, Amsterdam and Sao Paulo. Tom is teaching at Tisch Asia this year.

A number of you have recently come to me with questions arising from this week’s news. I thought it would be beneficial to bring a little clarity.

The most prominent allegation – that Jose Angel Santana was fired because of a grade he gave a student – is false. Professor Santana has not been fired; like other assistant arts professors, he had a three-year contract – which is still in force, and under which he is still being paid – and Tisch chose not to renew that contract. The non-renewal of his contract had nothing to do with any grade he assigned to any student, nor did it have anything to do with his ethnicity, which he also claims.

It is not appropriate for me to go into the details of the review that led to the school’s decision not to renew Professor Santana’s contract; these are private personnel matters. But I do have a few additional thoughts I want to share.

Every student in the University is entitled to privacy regarding his or her academic records. Public disclosure of confidential student information by any faculty member is a violation of our community standards as well as the trust forged among teachers and learners in this department. I want to assure all students that the disregard for these standards is not representative of the Graduate Film faculty and will not be tolerated.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break.
Best wishes for a happy and productive New Year!

- John

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John Tintori
Chair, Graduate Film Program
Tisch School of the Arts
New York University
721 Broadway, 10th floor
New York, NY 10003
212 998 1568

http://blogs.nyu.edu/tisch/gradfilm/

http://gradfilm.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home.html