Amy, Review: Alcohol, Drugs, Sex and all that JAZZ (a.k.a. Amy: The Girl Behind The Name) If you are a film-maker looking for a subject, a feature-length documentary on a recently deceased top-ranking female jazz-soul artiste, who had troubled relationships and died at 27, would be as good as it gets. Add to that the fact that extensive, excellent quality footage is available or obtainable, and you are in business. But, as is inevitably the case, the million-dollar questions faced by a docum...

By Maria Esteves – June 22, 2014 First Time Fest 2014: The Second Time Around (FTF 2014) Opening Panel Women in Entertainment with celebrity panelists Brooke Shields, Carol Alt, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Rosie Perez moderated by Village Voice Anna Merilyn commenced Thursday, April 3, 5:00 PM at NeueHouse, New York. Presented by Royal Bank of Canada and hosted by NeueHouse, these amazing women discussed progress in recent years for women in the entertainment industry from working conditions a...

By Maria Esteves – June 22, 2014 First Time Fest 2014: The Second Time Around (FTF 2014) Opening Panel Women in Entertainment, with celebrity panelists Brooke Shields, Carol Alt, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Rosie Perez moderated by Village Voice Anna Merilyn was held at NeueHouse, New York, Thursday, April 3, 5:00 PM. Presented by Royal Bank of Canada and hosted by NeueHouse, these amazing women discussed progress in recent years for women in the entertainment industry from working conditions ...

By Maria Esteves – March 17, 2014 FIRST TIME FEST 2014 (FTF 2014), hosted by NeueHouse will be held at Loews Village VII Cinemas, New York, April 3-7, 2014. FTF 2014, the second time around will showcase twelve new international films by prominent filmmakers from around the world along with panel discussions, the John Huston Award for outstanding film achievement and FTF Grand Prize Award for theatrical distribution. FTF 2014 Opening and Closing films are PARIS IS BURNING (1990), directe...

By Maria Esteves – March 21, 2013 The Inaugural First Time Fest (FTF) 2013 Closing Night Awards honoring first-time filmmakers hosted by Award winning actress (Oscar, Emmy, Tony) Ellen Burstyn and presented by Anthony Rapp commenced Monday, March 4, 2013, 8:00 PM, at the historic Players Club, New York. Founded by Johanna Bennett and Mandy Ward, the festival presents directorial debuts from around the world with theatrical distribution, as it’s key element. This year’s FT...