Tag Archives: Mass Cultural Council

Women Working Together as the Earth’s Caretakers: Experience “ARISE” in Lowell on February 26!

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“The fact is that we all have the potential to create change and to be respectful of the Earth for the coming generations. We each have something that we can do to create change within our communities.” -- Lori Joyce, Filmmaker & Activist

Join the Lowell Film Collaborative and the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust for the 2nd film of our 6-month Eco Film Series! Directed & Produced by mother-daughter West Coast filmmakers Lori Joyce and Candice Orlando, Arise captures the inspiring work and infectious spirit of a remarkable group of women from around the world who are working together to transform our Earth, one community at a time. We are proud to present this documentary in commemoration of Lowell Women’s Week and with the support of Lowell National Historical Park.

Date/Time  •  Tuesday, February 26 @ 7PM
Venue  •  Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center, 246 Market Street
Admission  • FREE

ARISE (2011)

Not Rated  |  1 hr 19 mins

Written, Directed & Produced by Lori Joyce & Candice Orlando
Executive Producer: Molly Ross
> ArisetheMovie     

"Arise" the MovieFrom Georgianne Nienaber of The Huffington Post: “The opening scene of the documentary Arise is stark. Jane Goodall’s call to arms in declaring that ‘it’s time for women to rise up, own their power, and heal the planet’ floats in an obsidian sky as a yellow-orange full moon casts her glow, recalling the great Roman goddess Diana, Queen of Heaven, patron of animals and goddess of the hunt. Like Diana, the women of Arise are called by destiny to protect the earth while at the same time utilizing earth’s bounty for the nourishment of life and community. Living on the earth responsibly requires partnership. One must replenish what one uses in a spirit of respect and stewardship. There is no longer room on the planet for narcissistic caretakers whose self-absorption and greed is sucking the life from our planet. Is a feminine approach to leadership, stewardship, and commerce the answer? Idanha filmmakers Lori Joyce and Candice Orlando make a powerful case that this is so.

Narrated by actress and environmental activist Daryl Hannah, Arise is both a documentary and an ethnographic study of women from around the world who share a profound intellectual and spiritual understanding of what it takes to live in harmony with the environment. In a twist, ‘the environment’ is not always a pristine rainforest, African savanna, or glacial lake. Broken and abandoned urban landscapes and neighborhood food ‘dead zones’ can provide fertile ground for food bounty with the vision and tenacity of women leaders.

Arise was the official selection at the 2012 Colorado Environmental Film Festival in February 2012, and winner of the ‘Spirit of Activism’ award. The mother and daughter team of Lori Joyce and Candice Orlando spent seven years bringing Arise to the screen. Joyce has independently produced nine documentaries over the last 20 years including the Emmy-nominated, and award-winning The Journey of Sacagawea, which aired nationally on PBS.”  …  > Read the full story

Mass Cultural Council
This film program is supported in part by a grant from the Lowell Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a stage agency. 

 

 

Our “2011 Film & the Arts Series” continues in Lowell this March!

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"Who Does She Think She Is" screens in Lowell on Tuesday, March 8.

A few months ago, we merrily announced the first film of our series of documentaries & feature films presented en masse as our Film and the Arts Series. We kicked off this group of films with a screening of the beautifully haunting animated film The Secret of Kells, followed by the inspirational documentary Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision. These two films were a great way to introduce the rest of the series which is continuing this March. On a VERY exciting note, we are thrilled to announce that in partnership with the Arts League of Lowell, the LFC received a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council which will greatly help us subsidize the cost of the series. We are incredibly grateful to the MCC for recognizing the passion we have for bringing films to Lowell, whether they be under-the-radar indie films or more recognizable productions.

We hope you will mark your calendars for these upcoming events and help us spread the word! Hopefully there is at least one film in the series that will pique your interest, though in our opinion, each one of them has astounding allure. Please visit our 2011 Film & the Arts Series page on this site for program updates. As you will see, we are still in the process of nailing down some venues and showtimes, but we’ll update that page as plans progress. If you aren’t on our mailing list, please sign up to receive our periodic e-news — this is the best way to keep posted on program details.

We’re kicking off the series with a fantastic Boston-area produced documentary titled Who Does She Think She Is, which is also being shown in commemoration of Lowell Women’s Week in partnership with both the Arts League of Lowell and Lowell National Historical Park. This amazing documentary is intended to honor and applaud all the strong, loving female artists out there and the people that support them. We are thankful to have these great ladies in abundance in Lowell; because of that fact, this film is TRULY a must-see!

We hope you will save the date for Who Does She Think She Is
on Tuesday, March 8!

- CLICK HERE to visit our 2011 Film & the Arts Series event page -

Local film news, courtesy of NewEnglandFilm.com

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Coming soon: The Walpole HS Film Festival!

We at the LFC try to keep our fingers on the pulse of Great New England film news. Here are some juicy nuggets, courtesy of one of our favorite online resources, NewEnglandFilm.com. It’s worth the time to sign up for their e-mail notifications, especially if you’re a local film festival buff — there are film fests aplenty in the New England area!

Keep up to date with industry news at NewEnglandFilm.com, and please share with us any news YOU might hear throughout the spring.

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LOCAL MAY FILM FESTIVALS

Boston’s 26th Annual LGBT Film Festival, May 6 – 16: The Fest kicks off with an opening night screening of Bob Christie’s documentary Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride. Other films include Is It Just Me?, Play in the Gray, Wild About Harry, and 8: The Mormon Proposition. Several filmmakers will be in attendance at their screenings. Advance tickets are available through the MFA and Brattle Theatre for films showing at those locations; tickets for screenings at Fenway Health can be purchased at the door with cash only. Passes are also available through the MFA Box Office. Visit http://bostonlgbtfilmfest.org/ for the full festival schedule and more ticket information.

23rd Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, May 27 – June 5, Hartford, CT: Keep up to date with this Fest at http://www.outfilmct.org/ for updates and volunteer opportunities.

8th Annual Walpole High Film Festival May 16, 18, and 20, Walpole, MA:  The fabulous Fest features student work and finishes with a red carpet event on May 20th. Visit http://www.whsfilmfestival.com/Walpole_High_School_Film_Festival/Welcome.html for more details and contact information.

New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival, May 15, New Hampshire Technical Institute, Concord, NH: This event is free and open to the public, with an awards ceremony to follow! Visit http://www.nh.gov/film/hsfest/index.htm for the full list of films.

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INDUSTRY BUZZ

State budget cuts pose a serious threat to the Vermont Film Commission, reports the Burlington Free Press (http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100415/ENT02/100414017). The commission’s budget has been reduced by approximately $70,000, and the commission must eventually find new ways of funding itself. The article quotes executive director Joe Bookchin, who says, “If the state stops funding us, I think that would be the end of the film commission.”

The Massachusetts state House of Representatives rejected amendments to prevent another proposed cut to arts and cultural funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). The final House budget plan calls for $9.1 million the MCC, or roughly $600,000 less than the agency’s current allocation. For more information, visit http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/.

Emmy-award winning Friends producer Kevin Bright is currently working with students at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. Bright, who is also an executive artist in residence at Emerson College, is teaching a filmmaking course to the students, who recently completed their first short film. Read the full story in the Boston Globe: (http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2010/04/21/blindness_is_no_barrier_in_filmmaking_class/).

Principle Pictures of Plymouth, Massachusetts, has been awarded a Cinereach grant for Beth Murphy’s upcoming documentary What Tomorrow Brings. The film follows a year at a girls’ school in Afghanistan. Principle Pictures is currently in production on the documentary The Promise of Freedom. Visit http://www.cinereach.org/grants/grants-recipients/what-tomorrow-brings for more details.

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FILMMAKER OPPORTUNITIES!

The Camden International Film Festival is currently accepting submissions for their June 15 deadline ($45 fee for feature films, $35 short); Late deadline is July 15 ($55 feature, $40 short); Extended deadline is August 1 ($60 feature, $45 short.) Visit http://www.camdenfilmfest.org/submissions.php for submission form and updates.

Start preparing your submissions for this year’s Boston Film Festival, September 17 – 23. Deadline for submissions is June 11. Visit http://www.bostonfilmfestival.org/ for more details and to complete an application.

 Submissions are currently being accepted for the 12th Annual Williamstown Film Festival, October 15–24. Visit http://www.williamstownfilmfest.com/ for further details!

Celebrate Opening Night of the Lowell Film Festival! – Thursday, April 8

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Opening Night of the Lowell Film Festival
Thursday, April 8  | 5:30 – 6:45 PM
Athenian Corner Restaurant
207 Market Street, Lowell
Special Guests: Senator Steven Panagiotakos
and Anita Walker (Mass Cultural Council)

Suggested donation: $10 to support the Lowell Film Festival
Come dressed in your 1930′s BEST!

Music! Food! Cocktails! And a night of thanks and recognition — all of this awaits you at Thursday’s Lowell Film Festival Opening Night Soiree at Lowell’s own Athenian Corner restaurant. Come help us kick off this year’s fabulous theme of Hollywood and the Great Depression by coming dressed in your most fancy (or most Depression-era inspired) 1930′s garb. It was truly a cinematic time of big-budget musicals, sweeping epics, and political commentary. Our country hungered for escape as the nation plummeted into financial crisis. It’s no wonder that films like Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” (being screened Saturday), “Gone with the Wind,” and “The Wizard of Oz” all made impacts at the box office or in filmmaking history. Additionally, Walt Disney premiered his very FIRST feature-length animated film in 1937 with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (also screening Saturday) — its success led to Disney Studios’ decision to move full forward with producing full-length animated films for the masses. “Grand Hotel,” Hollywood’s first “ensemble cast” film, came to the screen in the 1932 starring Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Berry. If you haven’t seen “Grand Hotel,” put it in your queue ASAP. The ongoing action and character portraits are absolutely compelling.

All of these are just some of the reasons we’re paying homage to this incredible era in movies. The parallels to our current economy and that of the 30′s are distinguished not just by financial numbers, but by movie-going: the 1930′s saw a spike in film attendance just as the past two years have seen large spikes in box office sales. People escape to the theaters when times get tough, and Hollywood quickly answers the call!

We hope you’ll come out and join us on Thursday for our Film Fest kick-off at Athenian Corner — afterwards, we’ll head across the street to the National Park Visitor Center for the Festival’s Opening Night Film, “Jezebel” starring the irresistible Bette Davis in one of her most seductive roles. But before you leave Athenian Corner, don’t forget to sample their special Lowell Film Festival cocktail, Zorba’s Dance (inspired by the fabulous final scene in “Zorba the Greek!”)