What we suspected long ago is now confirmed:
She may be a newcomer, but Alison Klayman, who makes her directorial debut with documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, isn't wet behind the ears. Klayman met the provocative Chinese artist while working in China for Global Radio News, producing radio and television features for PBS Frontline and NPR, and has been working on her documentary since 2008. Given Ai's recent arrest -- he was jailed in China for 80 days in April for alleged tax evasion, charges his supporters believe are the government's revenge for his online activism and fight for free speech -- this is one of Sundance's more anticipated docs. Klayman's explorations of modern China, as well as the blurring of politics and art, means we'll likely be hearing a lot more about this film and Klayman in the year to come.
Read more here.
Crazy Wisdom makes The Global Culture Girl's Guide to Last Minute Gifts on Huffington Post:
My favorite pastime is watching films. But not just any moving pictures, ones that will change my life. Fortunately, just in time for Christmas, three DVDs of personal favorites are available to buy and there is no excuse not to infuse your friends' lives with a little culture and a lot of cinematic love. ... for the spiritual junkies in your lives Crazy Wisdom is both entertaining and extremely enlightening.
Zombie movies always have a component of political commentary but how appropos that the Cubans have taken the popular genre and adapted it to satirize their own political revolution.
“Juan of the Dead” tells the blood-drenched tale of a slacker who decides to save the island from an invasion of cannibalistic zombies. As the zombies turn Havana into a gory circus of flying limbs and severed heads, the nightly news anchors continue to calmly assert the government line, that the attacks are not the work of the undead but dissidents in the pay of the United States.
Crazy Wisdom is now available for download-to-own, which includes a limited edition white label DVD that ships free. Available only from Alive Mind Cinema to US viewers. Tell your friends!
Limited Edition DVDs are Sold Out! (Update 01/10/12)
Just back from IDFA, where there was a plethora of great docs. The official prize for Best Feature Length Doc went to the South Korean film Planet of Snail and the Audience Award to 5 Broken Cameras. Other festival favorites: Putin's Kiss and Mads Bruegger's newest film, The Ambassador. We released his prior film, Red Chapel, which you can download here.
Sushi: The Global Catch also had its European premier and will be coming to a featival or theater near you soon.
Stay tuned for more.