An Autobiography Carved from Biography

Trailer for Moyra Davey’s film, Les Goddesses.

My latest review for VANDOCUMENT is online. This one takes-on Moyra Davey’s challenging 2011 film, Les Goddesses, in which she tells the story of a sad, distant time in her past via the biographies of other women: the 18th Century proto-feminist philosopher and literary figure Mary Wollstonecraft, Ms. Wollstonecraft’s daughters (including the writer Mary Shelley), and Ms. Davey’s own three sisters.

Check it out.

One thing about the review bears mentioning. I attempt to take Ms. Davey’s project seriously and therefore offer my best effort to dissect whatever-the-hell might be going-on in the film. Without in any way abandoning criticality, I am loathe to write derogatorily about any of the work I cover for VANDOCUMENT. My objective there (unlike the sometimes-harsh things I write on memestream) is to present a fair sense of a project or event contributing to the current local art scene while being supportive of the artists and institutions who are putting themselves on-the-line and bringing value to the community. So, if I have committed to a degree of non-negativity and intellectual engagement with Ms. Davey’s work in my review, please do not be misled into thinking that the film is any good. It is not.

Friends Without Borders, Global Rickshaw Style!

Click on image to view video

One of the many awesome experiences in the process of putting together the ill-fated Dil se Dil Independence Day Friendship Celebration was the chance to work with the brilliant Mumbai filmmakers Shivraj Shantakumar and Aparna Wilder, whose award winning film company Wild Kumar makes music videos and television commercials, and whose side project Global Rickshaw does shorts for the NGO community. We were looking for 90 seconds of fun to introduce Friends Without Borders to the television audience at Dil se Dil.

Click on the image above (or here) to see a low-res, high-spirit film about Friends Without Borders by Global Rickshaw, presented in three, unbelievably adorable parts.

If you missed our earlier film, created by Buddy Mukherji of Black Magic Motion Pictures, click here.

MāM Movies: Independent Filmmaking from the Heart

MāM Movies is all about film and all about energetic Bombay-based filmmakers; but it is not your typical Bombay dream machine. Not a single member of the MāM collective has ever shot an item number. And none has produced their first blockbuster – yet.

Instead, the dedicated young writers, directors, editors, and production technicians who call the 12-foot wide Andheri West walk-up their home-away-from-home (and frequently find themselves sleeping on its narrow roof terrace) are practicing their craft as an instrument of social change.

A Close Shave, a film by Rahul “Frenchy” Brown

I am pleased – OK, not all that pleased – to present A Close Shave, the latest film by celebrated international auteur, Rahul “Frenchy” Brown. This is an exclusive memestream world premiere.

The film, presented in three acts and a powerful epilogue, is a tragic-comedy of sub-epic proportions. It explores a variety of issues surrounding intravenous (and intramuscular) drug use, focusing principally on the devastating mental destruction that is an all-too-frequent side-effect of the high.

Click on the image below to download and view A Close Shave.

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A CLOSE SHAVE
A film by Rahul “Frenchy” Brown

Cast (in order of appearance)

MBJ as Appendicitis Victim, Stoner, and Furball
Rahul “Frenchy” Brown as Voice of God
John “Uncle” Sillyhead as Amused Onlooker
Archana Sankara as Telephone Caller
Yoo-Mi Lee as Nonchalant Family Member
Dr. Rajiv as Attending Physician
Dr. Randeep Wadhawan as Senior Laparoscopic Surgeon
Santos as the Butcher of Rockland Hospital

Production

Rahul “Frenchy” Brown: Director, Cinematographer, Editor, and pretty much Everything Else

Post-Production Sympathy

Mona Panchal
Sachi Maniar

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No animals other than me were harmed in the making of this film.

A Rough Day

I had kind of a rough day yesterday, even by Delhi standards, culminating in the removal of my inflamed appendix last night. I am starting to feel a bit like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Luckily, like the Knight, I don’t have major body integrity issues.

Photos soon.

Friends Without Borders, Reruns

You loved the book, now see the movies.

As we embark on the Phase II of the Friends Without Borders Project, delivering letters of friendship from kids all over India to kids in Pakistan, I want to put our video and presentations at everyone’s easy disposal. I should have done this long ago.

Listed below are links to: our Public Service Announcement Television Commercial, which aired last year throughout India and Pakistan; a short history of Phase I of the project, made by Rahul Brown just before we crossed into Pakistan last year; and two slide presentations introducing our project and the World’s Largest Love Letter events.