| American Features Competition
EFFIE T. BROWN
Effie T. Brown is a LA-based independent producer. After graduating with a degree in Film production from Loyola Marymount University, Effie worked her way up the indie ranks. She was Director of Development for Tim Burton Productions and served as line producer on several features including DESERT BLUE, BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER and THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER More recently, Effie was a Producer on Cheryl Dunye’s HBO film, STRANGER INSIDE, which was nominated for three IFP Spirit Awards. She produced Patricia Cardosa’s REAL WOMAN HAVE CURVES, winner of two Sundance Film festival awards. Effie was Executive Producer for Jane Campion’s IN THE CUT and recently produced Jim McKay’s latest film, EVERYDAY PEOPLE which premiered this year at Sundance. Effie received the Motorola Producer Award at the 2003 IFP West Independent Spirit Awards.
C. JAY COX
C. Jay Cox grew up on a ranch in Eastern Nevada, downwind from the nuclear test site. This explains a lot. He made his first film, the 2 minute 8mm opus, VAMPIRE CAVE, in third grade. He was later sent to the principal’s office for using the term film noir in class. His teacher said she knew it was French and “figured it had to be dirty.” His first screenplay, THE THING IN BOB’S GARAGE was optioned by Norman Lear. He subsequently has written projects for Bette Midler, Antonio Banderas, Walt Disney and Columbia Pictures. His first produced script SWEET HOME ALABAMA starring Reese Witherspoon, holds the record as biggest September opening ever. His directorial debut, LATTER DAYS, won the HBO Audience Award for First Feature at last year’s Outfest. It is currently enjoying a successful theatrical run, and will be released on DVD and home video September 7th.
HARRIET “HARRY” DODGE
Harriet “Harry” Dodge is a visual artist, director, writer and performer whose work has shown across the country. She earned her MFA from Bard College and is currently working on sculpture/installation and a series of improvisatory film shorts, one of which, WINNER, has screened internationally and at Slamdance. Dodge has appeared in numerous independent film projects, including John Waters’ CECIL B. DEMENTED. BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, a feature written and directed by Harry Dodge and Silas Howard won the 2001 Outfest Screenwriting Award and tied for the Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Feature. It was an official selection at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and has garnered seven “Best Feature” honors. HOOK is currently showing on the Sundance Channel and available in most video stores.
International Features Competition
SUZY CAPO
Suzy Capo is a journalist and independent curator based in Sao Paulo. She did her undergraduate studies in Brasilia, the modernist capital of Brasil and got her master's degree in Performance Studies from New York University. She made her curatorial debut as assistant dance curator for The Kitchen. Suzy made the leap from moving bodies to moving images, when she worked as a guest curator for Mix New York. She is the co-founder and current director of Mix Brasil Cinema and Video Festival of Sexual Diversity. She's also a programmer for the Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival and is currently developing a series on women's filmmaking. In her spare time she practices yoga, cooking and is frequently seen on the dance floor over Sao Paulo's lively nightclub scene.
DAVID EHRENSTEIN
David Ehrenstein is a film critic, historian and entertainment journalist. In 1965 he published the first-ever interview with Andy Warhol for Film Culture magazine. In 1976 David began work as a journalist for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. He collaborated with Bill Reed on the book Rock On Film. He has also written extensively for December, The Village Voice, The San Francisco Examiner, Rolling Stone, Film Quarterly, Sight & Sound, Daily Variety and The Advocate. In 1984 he wrote Film: The Front Line, a survey of experimental and independent film work. Other David Ehrenstein books include The Scorsese Picture: The Art and Life of Martin Scorsese and Open Secret: Gay Hollywood1928-1998.
JOEL SOLER
Award-winning French documentary film-maker Joel Soler has been interviewed on numerous occasions by CNN, Fox, MSNBC and ABC among others after his critically acclaimed film UNCLE SADDAM became the highest rated documentary on Cinemax in 2002. His films have been broadcast to 50 countries on major TV networks. Due to the sensitive subject matter he investigates, Soler has been deported from Iraq, jailed in Al Qaeda in Yemen and received FBI protection after receiving death threats. He recently spent several months tracking down and interviewing Jihad leaders and close relatives of Osama Bin Laden for his upcoming film BIN LADEN: DYNASTY OF TERROR which traces links between family members and terrorist groups
Documentary Competition
KARA LYNCH
Kara Lynch has lived and worked in New York City as a film/video, visual and performance artist since 1990. She is an Assistant Professor of Video Production and Criticism at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA and recently completed her MFA in Visual Arts at University of California, San Diego. She has received several awards for her video work including the Planet Out/ifilm Queer Short Movie Award and both the New York Foundation for the Arts and New York State Council for the Arts Individual Artist Awards in video and new media. Recent works include a feature documentary, BLACK RUSSIANS, and experimental pieces titled: MI COMPANERA, ME-BA I'M COMING and XING OVER. Ms. Lynch has also served on the selection committees for MIX: New York Experimental Film and Video Festival and the New Festival.
NANCY ROSENBLUM
Nancy Rosenblum has been involved with non-fiction filmmaking for years. She has won 10 Los Angeles Emmy Awards for cutting documentaries. Last year she co-directed as well as edited Laughing Matters, which won the Outfest Audience Award for Best Documentary. She has cut numerous docu/reality shows including the recent BRAVO hit, Showbiz Moms and Dads. She is currently cutting a pilot for VH-1. Nancy is also a print and radio journalist. Her work has been published in the Los Angeles Times and the Lesbian News. Her interviews and film critiques can be heard on IMRU, 90.7 FM, KPFK.
CARL SPENCE
Carl Spence is currently the director of programming of the Seattle International Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He previously held the position of director of programming for the San Francisco International Film Festival where the organization had two of its most successful seasons in its 46 year history. Prior to San Francisco, Carl spent eight years at the Seattle International Film Festival as a programmer and associate director. He was a major contributor to the festival’s growth and reputation as one of the most respected festivals in North America from 1994 - 2001. He currently resides in Palm Springs from October to January and catches up with the rain for the remainder of the year in Seattle. |
