The common view that actual events are more compelling than fictional stories is rarely translated into documentary programs. The HBO documentary series THE INVISIBLE PILOT produced by Emmy award honoree filmmakers Phil Lon and Ari Mark delivers this message. Central to the three- part program is the life story of 81-year old Gary Betzner. The program covers his professional accomplishments, financial success in many areas, his numerous marriages with large families, and his tim...

16th Third Eye Asian Film Festival: VII TEAFF was organised by the Asian Film Foundation and P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy, and co-organised by Prabhat Chitra Mandal and Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal. An annual event, it is supported by Department of Culture, Government of Maharashtra. Screenings were held at Ravindra Natya Mandir Mini Auditorium, Mumbai, which has been the venue for the last few years. In my last instalment, I covered two Marathi films. Today, we wi...

    THE PETROV FILE (Bulgaria/Germany) directed by Georgi Balabanov (screenplay: Georgi Balabanov, Jean-Claude Carriere) A prominent stage actor makes his return after the fall of the communist regime. Soon after, he gets an offer to lead a new political party. Can art and politics be separated under the "new" regime?  Balabanov’s clever approach to his story and characters created a piece that immediately captures the viewer's attention, w...

Gabbar is Back, review: No, he’s not In his first incarnation, he was called Ramana. When the Tamil film was remade in Telugu, they called it Tagore. Then came the Kannada version, called Vishnu Sena (deriving its title from the lead actor, the late VishnuVardhan). Now, 13 years after the first film, we have a fourth version, called Gabbar is Back, starring Akshay Kumar, and hitting cinemas 40 years after Sholay, which starred late Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh, the ultimate villain. Gabba...

Production almost completed - we need your support.    Production is scheduled to be completed this Friday, October 25 with the filming of several establishing shots and the filming of a time-lapse sequence. Everything that has been done so far is pointing to an outstanding finished product. We are just short of one third of our Kickstarter goal with 14 days to go. We would appreciate any support you can give us to get us to our goal. If we don't reach our goa...

Santa Fe Film Festival Facing Bankruptcy, Shakes Up Management In the wake of past corruption scandals, the Santa Fe Film Festival struggles to pay off debts to filmmakers while undergoing a change of management  By John C Morley, The Morley ReportSeptember 21, 2010 – Over two years ago, Camerado producer Jason Rosette learned through one of his actors that his latest feature, "Lost in New Mexico: the strange tale of Susan Hero", had appeare...