Charles Burnett is best known for his landmark portraits of Black American life, from the aching neorealism of “Killer of Sheep” to the mordant mysticism of “To Sleep with Anger,” his films aim to depict the broken contract the country made with its African American citizens in the aftermath of World War II.
His lesser-known masterpiece “My Brother’s Wedding,” however, is emblematic of a different continuum running through Burnett’s films: the theme of becoming.
An intimate window into early ’80s Los Angeles, where confluences of Black Southern roots were still trying to flower in a hostile urban environment — “My Brother’s Wedding” is a heated tale about the perils of upward mobility, the rising drug epidemic, and the tight alliance shared by two Black men, Pierce (Everett Silas) and Soldier (Ronnie Bell), the latter of whom has just been released from prison as the film begins.
Young and proudly working-class,...
His lesser-known masterpiece “My Brother’s Wedding,” however, is emblematic of a different continuum running through Burnett’s films: the theme of becoming.
An intimate window into early ’80s Los Angeles, where confluences of Black Southern roots were still trying to flower in a hostile urban environment — “My Brother’s Wedding” is a heated tale about the perils of upward mobility, the rising drug epidemic, and the tight alliance shared by two Black men, Pierce (Everett Silas) and Soldier (Ronnie Bell), the latter of whom has just been released from prison as the film begins.
Young and proudly working-class,...
- 8/17/2023
- by Robert Daniels
- Indiewire
Although it may seem that films are now more accessible than ever, it’s simply not the case for independent film history.
“The truth is that movies are simply not as available today as they were during the heyday of VHS when some brick-and-mortar video stores carried tens of thousands of titles,” the manifesto for indie film preservation group Missing Movies states. “Now, with a few giant companies controlling the most popular streaming services and trying to outdo one another with original content, many older movies are being left behind.”
A collaborative effort between filmmakers and cinephiles, Missing Movies sets out to “empower filmmakers, distributors, archivists, and others to locate lost materials, clear rights, and advocate for policies and laws to make the full range of our cinema history available to all,” as IndieWire can exclusively share.
Founding Missing Movies filmmakers include Mary Harron, Shola Lynch, Nancy Savoca, Ira Deutchman,...
“The truth is that movies are simply not as available today as they were during the heyday of VHS when some brick-and-mortar video stores carried tens of thousands of titles,” the manifesto for indie film preservation group Missing Movies states. “Now, with a few giant companies controlling the most popular streaming services and trying to outdo one another with original content, many older movies are being left behind.”
A collaborative effort between filmmakers and cinephiles, Missing Movies sets out to “empower filmmakers, distributors, archivists, and others to locate lost materials, clear rights, and advocate for policies and laws to make the full range of our cinema history available to all,” as IndieWire can exclusively share.
Founding Missing Movies filmmakers include Mary Harron, Shola Lynch, Nancy Savoca, Ira Deutchman,...
- 2/4/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Lumière Festival’s International Classic Film Market (Mifc) in Lyon, France, bows Tuesday, again bringing together distributors, exhibitors, streamers, TV programmers, film restorers and festival reps for one of the world’s leading heritage cinema events.
This year’s market looks set for a much more upbeat atmosphere compared to the 2020 edition, which took place right before the pandemic’s second wave that led to months-long cinema closures.
“It’s more about getting back on track,” says Mifc programming coordinator Gérald Duchaussoy. “The impression that we have when we talk to the distributors and rights owners is that they are very motivated to make it happen, to make it move once again. I’m not saying it’s easy, but frankly we feel a lot of very positive energy when we talk to them.”
It’s a very different vibe compared to last year, when the market took place under very difficult conditions,...
This year’s market looks set for a much more upbeat atmosphere compared to the 2020 edition, which took place right before the pandemic’s second wave that led to months-long cinema closures.
“It’s more about getting back on track,” says Mifc programming coordinator Gérald Duchaussoy. “The impression that we have when we talk to the distributors and rights owners is that they are very motivated to make it happen, to make it move once again. I’m not saying it’s easy, but frankly we feel a lot of very positive energy when we talk to them.”
It’s a very different vibe compared to last year, when the market took place under very difficult conditions,...
- 10/8/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Milestone’s library of more than 150 titles includes Portrait Of Jason, Say Amen, Somebody.
Kino Lorber has signed a multi-year strategic distribution and acquisition agreement with Milestone Films, the New York-based company renowned for restoring and distributing classics such as Mikhail Kalatozov’s I Am Cuba.
Under the pact Kino Lorber gets exclusive US and international distribution rights to Milestone’s library of more than 150 titles and all its future restorations and acquisitions under the Milestone Films In Association With Kino Lorber label.
Husband-and-wife partners Dennis Doros and Amy Heller founded Milestone in 1990 and have over the past three decades...
Kino Lorber has signed a multi-year strategic distribution and acquisition agreement with Milestone Films, the New York-based company renowned for restoring and distributing classics such as Mikhail Kalatozov’s I Am Cuba.
Under the pact Kino Lorber gets exclusive US and international distribution rights to Milestone’s library of more than 150 titles and all its future restorations and acquisitions under the Milestone Films In Association With Kino Lorber label.
Husband-and-wife partners Dennis Doros and Amy Heller founded Milestone in 1990 and have over the past three decades...
- 6/2/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSFilmmaker Bertrand Mandico has illustrated the 70th anniversary cover of Cahier du Cinéma, entitled "Gloria, angel of the history of the cinema." The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center have announced the lineup for the 50th edition of New Directors/New Films. Screenings will take place from April 28-May 8 through the MoMA and Flc virtual cinemas, and in-person screenings at Flc through May 13. The lineup of 27 features and 11 shorts includes Theo Anthony's All Light, Everywhere, Andreas Fontana's Azor, Alice Diop's We (Nous), and Jane Schoenbrun's We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Recommended VIEWINGAnother Gaze's free streaming project, Another Screen, has announced two new programmes: Hands Tied, about hands, and Eating the Other, about gendered notions of eating. The first official trailer for Mamoru Hosoda's Belle, which...
- 4/6/2021
- MUBI
Dan was one of the most influential figures in the entire indie Art House Business. One of the Fathers both as an exhibitor and distributor. A true pioneer on so many levels.Dan TAlbot
On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 2:50 Pm, Gary Meyer wrote:
I just got word from Bill Thompson of the passing of Dan Talbot. A funeral is set for Sunday but no other details.It is a sad day for our community. As one of the icons and innovators of art cinema, Dan kept on going right up to the end.We enjoyed a dinner with Toby and Dan in late spring discussing the Koreada film they had just seen at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.This adds to the reasons why they were not renewing the lease on the theater.More details as they come in but if you did not read this Spring 2017 Cineaste article it is a good one.
On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 2:50 Pm, Gary Meyer wrote:
I just got word from Bill Thompson of the passing of Dan Talbot. A funeral is set for Sunday but no other details.It is a sad day for our community. As one of the icons and innovators of art cinema, Dan kept on going right up to the end.We enjoyed a dinner with Toby and Dan in late spring discussing the Koreada film they had just seen at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.This adds to the reasons why they were not renewing the lease on the theater.More details as they come in but if you did not read this Spring 2017 Cineaste article it is a good one.
- 12/29/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
An experimental film by an Irish playwright, shot in New York with a silent comedian at the twilight of his career? Samuel Beckett’s inquiry into the nature of movies (and existence?) befuddled viewers not versed in film theory; Ross Lipman’s retrospective documentary about its making asks all the questions and gets some good answers.
First there’s the film itself, called just Film from 1965. By that year our high school textbooks had already enshrined Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot as a key item for introducing kids to modern theater, existentialism, etc. … the California school system was pretty progressive in those days. But Beckett had a yen to say something in the film medium, and his publisher Barney Rosset helped him put a movie together. The Milestone Cinematheque presents the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s restoration of Film on its own disc, accompanied by a videotaped TV production...
First there’s the film itself, called just Film from 1965. By that year our high school textbooks had already enshrined Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot as a key item for introducing kids to modern theater, existentialism, etc. … the California school system was pretty progressive in those days. But Beckett had a yen to say something in the film medium, and his publisher Barney Rosset helped him put a movie together. The Milestone Cinematheque presents the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s restoration of Film on its own disc, accompanied by a videotaped TV production...
- 3/18/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Milestone wraps up its ‘Project Shirley,’ an in-depth study of the independent director of The Connection and Portrait of Jason. Practically all of Shirley Clarke’s small and experimental films are here from the early 1950s forward, plus a wealth of biographical film.
The Magic Box: The films of Shirley Clarke, 1929-1987
Blu-ray
The Milestone Cinematheque
1929-1987 / B&W + Color
1:37 flat full frame / 502 min.
Street Date November 15, 2016 / 99.99
featuring Shirley Clarke
Produced by Dennis Doros & Amy Heller
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some disc boutique companies license ready-made movie classics for home video, and some slap whatever odd-sourced items can be had into the Blu-ray format and call it a restoration. Although the general tide for quality releases is rising, only a few companies will invest time and effort in historically- and artistically- important films lacking an obvious commercial hook. Milestone Films has been consistent in its championing of abandoned ‘marginal’ films,...
The Magic Box: The films of Shirley Clarke, 1929-1987
Blu-ray
The Milestone Cinematheque
1929-1987 / B&W + Color
1:37 flat full frame / 502 min.
Street Date November 15, 2016 / 99.99
featuring Shirley Clarke
Produced by Dennis Doros & Amy Heller
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some disc boutique companies license ready-made movie classics for home video, and some slap whatever odd-sourced items can be had into the Blu-ray format and call it a restoration. Although the general tide for quality releases is rising, only a few companies will invest time and effort in historically- and artistically- important films lacking an obvious commercial hook. Milestone Films has been consistent in its championing of abandoned ‘marginal’ films,...
- 11/19/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Filmed in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma, this silent tale of Native American life has an all-Kiowa and Comanche cast, and is credited as accurately recreating cultural details and costumes. Thought lost for the better part of a century, it was rediscovered just a few years ago. The Daughter of Dawn Blu-ray The Milestone Cinematheque 1920 / B&W (tinted) / 1:33 Silent Ap / 80 min. / Street Date July 19, 2016 / vailable through Mvd Entertainment / 27.96 Starring Esther LeBarre, White Parker, Belo Cozad, Hunting Horse, Wanada Parker. Produced by Richard Banks New Music Score David Yeagley Written by Richard Banks, Norbert Myles Produced by Richard Banks Directed by Norbert Myles
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
"Constancy, thy name is Red Wing!" Ethnographer alert! As one of the go-to destinations for unusual or difficult cinema discoveries, Milestone Films' Dennis Doros and Amy Heller has turned out exceptionally good theatrical and home video restorations of important films like The Exiles,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
"Constancy, thy name is Red Wing!" Ethnographer alert! As one of the go-to destinations for unusual or difficult cinema discoveries, Milestone Films' Dennis Doros and Amy Heller has turned out exceptionally good theatrical and home video restorations of important films like The Exiles,...
- 7/2/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Exactly one year after the infamous Sony hack, former Sony VP, Global Commercial Planning and Innovation Amy Heller has sued the studio and other defendants for defamation, negligence and invasion of privacy. In the complaint, Heller is seeking multiple damages and unspecified compensation for loss of income, as well as claiming that Sony’s lack of secure systems caused her emotional distress. Heller, who was laid off in the spring of 2014, says the studio acted in a “deliberate, cold, callous, fraudulent, and intentional manner in order to injure and damage” her. Also Read: Sony Hack Class Action Settlement Approved by...
- 11/25/2015
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Turner Classic Movies has teamed up with Milestone Film & Video to brings viewers an entire evening dedicated to Milestone's 25th Anniversary. Radio and TV personality Ben Mankiewicz will host the night, which will include exclusive interviews with Dennis Doros and Amy Heller, the couple who run Milestone Film Company. Read More: 15 Years of Film Distribution: The Then & Now Since its creation in 1990, Heller and Doros have received critical acclaim for releasing a mixture of timeless classics, newly released foreign films, innovative animation and investigative documentaries along with independent works. With the aim of "rediscovery, restoration, and release of 'forgotten' films by and about people traditionally outside the mainstream of Hollywood Cinema, including the work of black, gay, and women filmmakers," according to a statement, Milestone has attempted to reach all audiences by distributing both print and digital copies of films. For the traditional...
- 11/6/2015
- by Elle Leonsis
- Indiewire
It’s been a couple months since the last edition of What’s Up Doc? placed Michael Moore’s surprise world premiere of Where To Invade Next at the top of this list and in the meantime much shuffling has taken place and much time has been spent on various new endeavors (namely my Buffalo-based film series, Cultivate Cinema Circle). Finally taking its rightful place at the top, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hagedus’ Unlocking the Cage is in the midst of being scored by composer James Lavino, according to Lavino’s own personal site. Though the project has been taking shape at its own leisurely pace, I’d expect to see the film making its festival debut in early 2016.
Right behind, the American direct cinema masters is a Texan soon to make his non-fiction debut with Voyage of Time. Just two weeks ago indieWIRE reported that Ennio Morricone, who scored...
Right behind, the American direct cinema masters is a Texan soon to make his non-fiction debut with Voyage of Time. Just two weeks ago indieWIRE reported that Ennio Morricone, who scored...
- 11/5/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Next month, Turner Classic Movies will celebrate the 25th anniversary of essential distributor Milestone Film & Video and honor the late, great Irish actress Maureen O'Hara, who died Saturday at 95, with two must-see slates of special programming. Read More: "Maureen O'Hara and the Road to the Academy Governors Awards" First, on Nov. 12, TCM devotes an entire evening to Milestone, founded by the husband-and-wife team of Dennis Doros and Amy Heller in their one-bedroom New York apartment in 1990. In recent years, the company has turned its attention to restoring and releasing "forgotten" films from black, gay, and women filmmakers to both film and digital formats—including such groundbreaking films as Charles Burnett’s "Killer of Sheep," Luchino Visconti’s "Rocco and His Brothers," and Kathleen Collins’ "Losing Ground." Among the highlights of TCM's programming is the television premiere of Shirley Clarke's "The...
- 10/27/2015
- by Matt Brennan
- Thompson on Hollywood
Thoughts in response the news that the Sundance Cinemas sold to Carmike for $36 million were shared on the Art House Convergence Group Mail. The buyout concerns members of the Art House Convergence because the Sundance Cinemas represents the second of three Art House “chains” (Landmark being the largest, Sundance second and Laemmle third)
Read the article this conversation is based upon in The Hollywood Reporter.
John Toner of Renew Theaters: Branding is such an important part of our world. And it turns out that the Sundance name was part of this sale:
"The deal does not provide for Carmike to expand the Sundance brand, but Carmike will have the ability, under a license arrangement, to operate the five theaters under the Sundance brand name."
Interesting. A major, mainstream chain will now fly the Sundance flag.
The Sundance Cinemas website says that they "bring the finest selection of art, independent, foreign and documentary film programming to cities across the country."
Hmmm.
Does the Carmike chain operate any purely art house style theaters? I don't know the answer to that question.
And I wonder if that license limits how Carmike can operate their Sundance Cinemas?
And will this sale affect the Sundance Institute brand in any way?
Or can people differentiate?
What do you think?
Anonymous:
Given Carmike’s history, it will be a race to see what happens first: they go bankrupt (again) or destroy the brand.
Gary Meyer:
Sundance was financed by Oaktree and it is not a surprise that they would wait for the moment when they thought they could make a profit. Though I was part of the original team developing a concept when General Cinema (remember them?) was the major partner, the theaters play a very different on screen menu than was proposed.
Redford wanted it to be pure art, one screen dedicated to documentaries 365 days a year, another showing experimental films. Never in a mall. The most "green" place you ever saw. An outdoor amphitheater on the roof for film and live shows, art gallery, filmmakers flown in.
Damn but we had fun coming up with ideas. We (Redford included) were kids..."Let's put on a show like nobody has ever seen." But the reality is when you spend the kinds of multi-millions they did to build their very nice places, you have to play studio blockbusters to pay the bills. Only the Sunset Sundance in Los Angeles (booked by Jan) is a true art house. The others play mostly commercial with a sprinkling of art.
And plaudits must go to Paul Richardson who carried out the mission of designing and building classy cinemas that often set a new standard. He oversees the look and feel but it is hard to imagine he will stay too log after the transition period.
As has been pointed out there have been many for-profit Sundance ventures. Redford dominates that brand and can do what he wants ---- though I doubt he is happy about Sundance cigarettes considering his vehement anti-tobacco position and who knows about Sundance Hottubs and Sundance Microprocessors amazingly owning the url http://www.sundance.com/.
Many non-profits bring in for-profits to operate businesses (the National Park system are a prime example) but museums, symphonies, operas generally do operate those shops and some of their restaurants (others are for profit concessionaires). And there are conventions just for running those shops. It is an art.
My wife Cathy points out:
All the nonprofits who have shops etc pay what is called Ubit, or Unrelated Business Income Tax.
Gary Meyer
Founder/Director
EatDrinkFilms.com
An Online Magazine & Presenting events throughout the year
Food Day / Film Day event - October 24, 2015
Feastival - Summer 2016
John Toner:
SunDance cigarettes!
Oh, yeah, in my Sundance hot tub, smoking a SunDance menthol. Livin’ La Vida Loca!
I guess the word Sundance, itself, is not completely trademarked.
Opens up all sorts of ideas for unauthorized spinoffs, doesn’t it?
Yes, the nonprofit Sundance Institute is separate from the for-profit Sundance Cinemas, which will be owned by Carmike.
Heck, the for-profit Sundance Channel/ TV was previously sold off and is now owned by AMC.
And then there’s the for-profit Sundance Catalog, the for-profit Sundance Resort, and I’m sure there are others…
Branding is about perception. But the nonprofit Institute brand does not seem to be affected by these for-profit cousins.
Does anyone else find that interesting?
Juliet Goodfriend, President at Bryn Mawr Film Institute:
Everything we know about branding is that it is a perception not necessarily affected by facts or by the relationship of the brand to the values trying to be communicated. Certainly becoming a commercial brand even into the exhibition area will affect adversely the Sundance brand. We can be sure that the customer will be confused at the very least.
Chapin Cutler, Boston Light & Sound:
The non-profit Sundance Institute and the commercial Sundance Cinemas have no connection except both being "owned" by Mr. Redford. This, the sale will have no effect on the Institute or any of its projects.
David Bordwell, Film Historian & Blogger:
It seems to me that the Sundance Cinemas and the Sundance Festival are very different in their taste orientations.
In Madison (where the firm opened the first dedicated Sundance venue) the theatre shows pretty much what the multiplexes are showing: “Black Mass”, “The Intern”, “Grandma”, “Sicario”, “Everest”, “Testament Of Youth”, and “The Martian”. “Princess Bride” is thrown in for extra.
The other Sundance Cinema I know, the one in Seattle, is only a little less standardized (has “Going Clear”, which we have yet to get), but still is mainstream.
https://www.sundancecinemas.com/seattle_film_info_reviews_discussion.html )
I saw “Gone Girl” there.
Some of these titles might screen at the Sundance Festival, because of its increasing industry orientation. But I see a real split between the festival’s tastes and the chain’s taste.
Incidentally, I’m told by our local Sundancers that they have no ability to program specifically for our community; the programming is done at another corporate level.
Interesting to compare the Sundance playlists with the Landmark ones. By and large—there are outliers here and there—they seem to me to have similar programming around the country.
http://www.landmarkreccinemas.com
They even have “Hotel Transylvania 2”.
One of the things I’ve learned from lurking on this list is that there can be a huge difference in terms of programming (or curating, your call) for non-profit and for-profit art houses.
Which only makes Tim League (Drafthouse) all the more heroic. How the devil can Alamo do what it does in Lubbock, Texas? And, Tim, if you’re reading this, why not look at Madison, Wisconsin?
Ps: I assume that one attractive aspect of Sundance to Carmike is the liquor licenses. True?
John Toner:
The Smithsonian, National Geographic, and the Metropolitan Museum are great examples of nonprofits pushing into for-profit territory.
But I think that most people would recognize that a gift shop is significantly different from the core mission of an institution.
A magazine is closer, but still different.
A TV channel is closer still. Those channels easily could be packaged as nonprofit, like a PBS or BBC operation.
But aren’t the Sundance Film Festival and the Sundance Cinemas really close in mission?
Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with for-profit art houses. In fact, I’m a little bit in awe. It’s sort of like tight rope walking without a nonprofit net.
Can anyone think of any other examples?
Gary Meyer:
The non-profit brand being used for for-profit purposes isn't unique to Sundance. Our friends here in DC at the Smithsonian, a government-chartered public non-profit, partnered with Showtime and CBS to run a for-profit cable channel, as do our friends here in DC at National Geographic, who partner with fucking Rupert Murdoch, who just also took over the iconic magazine :(.
Amy Heller, Milestone Films:
Not to mention that every museum has a shop that bears its name. The Metropolitan Museum also has stores at airports and Rockefeller Center.
John Toner:
I think that most people would recognize that a gift shop is significantly different from the core mission of an institution."
But for whatever it is worth, I found this online: "The mission of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store is to connect people to the world of art and to the museum experience. Just as visits to the Met are enjoyable, educational, and inspirational, our products evoke fond memories, invite moments of reflection, and foster day-to-day enjoyment and appreciation of art, artists, and cultures from around the globe and across the centuries. We work closely with art historians and master craftspeople to assure that each reproduction, adaptation, and publication meets the highest standards of design, quality, and value. All purchases—whether through our catalogue, online, or in person—help support the Museum and its programs."...
Read the article this conversation is based upon in The Hollywood Reporter.
John Toner of Renew Theaters: Branding is such an important part of our world. And it turns out that the Sundance name was part of this sale:
"The deal does not provide for Carmike to expand the Sundance brand, but Carmike will have the ability, under a license arrangement, to operate the five theaters under the Sundance brand name."
Interesting. A major, mainstream chain will now fly the Sundance flag.
The Sundance Cinemas website says that they "bring the finest selection of art, independent, foreign and documentary film programming to cities across the country."
Hmmm.
Does the Carmike chain operate any purely art house style theaters? I don't know the answer to that question.
And I wonder if that license limits how Carmike can operate their Sundance Cinemas?
And will this sale affect the Sundance Institute brand in any way?
Or can people differentiate?
What do you think?
Anonymous:
Given Carmike’s history, it will be a race to see what happens first: they go bankrupt (again) or destroy the brand.
Gary Meyer:
Sundance was financed by Oaktree and it is not a surprise that they would wait for the moment when they thought they could make a profit. Though I was part of the original team developing a concept when General Cinema (remember them?) was the major partner, the theaters play a very different on screen menu than was proposed.
Redford wanted it to be pure art, one screen dedicated to documentaries 365 days a year, another showing experimental films. Never in a mall. The most "green" place you ever saw. An outdoor amphitheater on the roof for film and live shows, art gallery, filmmakers flown in.
Damn but we had fun coming up with ideas. We (Redford included) were kids..."Let's put on a show like nobody has ever seen." But the reality is when you spend the kinds of multi-millions they did to build their very nice places, you have to play studio blockbusters to pay the bills. Only the Sunset Sundance in Los Angeles (booked by Jan) is a true art house. The others play mostly commercial with a sprinkling of art.
And plaudits must go to Paul Richardson who carried out the mission of designing and building classy cinemas that often set a new standard. He oversees the look and feel but it is hard to imagine he will stay too log after the transition period.
As has been pointed out there have been many for-profit Sundance ventures. Redford dominates that brand and can do what he wants ---- though I doubt he is happy about Sundance cigarettes considering his vehement anti-tobacco position and who knows about Sundance Hottubs and Sundance Microprocessors amazingly owning the url http://www.sundance.com/.
Many non-profits bring in for-profits to operate businesses (the National Park system are a prime example) but museums, symphonies, operas generally do operate those shops and some of their restaurants (others are for profit concessionaires). And there are conventions just for running those shops. It is an art.
My wife Cathy points out:
All the nonprofits who have shops etc pay what is called Ubit, or Unrelated Business Income Tax.
Gary Meyer
Founder/Director
EatDrinkFilms.com
An Online Magazine & Presenting events throughout the year
Food Day / Film Day event - October 24, 2015
Feastival - Summer 2016
John Toner:
SunDance cigarettes!
Oh, yeah, in my Sundance hot tub, smoking a SunDance menthol. Livin’ La Vida Loca!
I guess the word Sundance, itself, is not completely trademarked.
Opens up all sorts of ideas for unauthorized spinoffs, doesn’t it?
Yes, the nonprofit Sundance Institute is separate from the for-profit Sundance Cinemas, which will be owned by Carmike.
Heck, the for-profit Sundance Channel/ TV was previously sold off and is now owned by AMC.
And then there’s the for-profit Sundance Catalog, the for-profit Sundance Resort, and I’m sure there are others…
Branding is about perception. But the nonprofit Institute brand does not seem to be affected by these for-profit cousins.
Does anyone else find that interesting?
Juliet Goodfriend, President at Bryn Mawr Film Institute:
Everything we know about branding is that it is a perception not necessarily affected by facts or by the relationship of the brand to the values trying to be communicated. Certainly becoming a commercial brand even into the exhibition area will affect adversely the Sundance brand. We can be sure that the customer will be confused at the very least.
Chapin Cutler, Boston Light & Sound:
The non-profit Sundance Institute and the commercial Sundance Cinemas have no connection except both being "owned" by Mr. Redford. This, the sale will have no effect on the Institute or any of its projects.
David Bordwell, Film Historian & Blogger:
It seems to me that the Sundance Cinemas and the Sundance Festival are very different in their taste orientations.
In Madison (where the firm opened the first dedicated Sundance venue) the theatre shows pretty much what the multiplexes are showing: “Black Mass”, “The Intern”, “Grandma”, “Sicario”, “Everest”, “Testament Of Youth”, and “The Martian”. “Princess Bride” is thrown in for extra.
The other Sundance Cinema I know, the one in Seattle, is only a little less standardized (has “Going Clear”, which we have yet to get), but still is mainstream.
https://www.sundancecinemas.com/seattle_film_info_reviews_discussion.html )
I saw “Gone Girl” there.
Some of these titles might screen at the Sundance Festival, because of its increasing industry orientation. But I see a real split between the festival’s tastes and the chain’s taste.
Incidentally, I’m told by our local Sundancers that they have no ability to program specifically for our community; the programming is done at another corporate level.
Interesting to compare the Sundance playlists with the Landmark ones. By and large—there are outliers here and there—they seem to me to have similar programming around the country.
http://www.landmarkreccinemas.com
They even have “Hotel Transylvania 2”.
One of the things I’ve learned from lurking on this list is that there can be a huge difference in terms of programming (or curating, your call) for non-profit and for-profit art houses.
Which only makes Tim League (Drafthouse) all the more heroic. How the devil can Alamo do what it does in Lubbock, Texas? And, Tim, if you’re reading this, why not look at Madison, Wisconsin?
Ps: I assume that one attractive aspect of Sundance to Carmike is the liquor licenses. True?
John Toner:
The Smithsonian, National Geographic, and the Metropolitan Museum are great examples of nonprofits pushing into for-profit territory.
But I think that most people would recognize that a gift shop is significantly different from the core mission of an institution.
A magazine is closer, but still different.
A TV channel is closer still. Those channels easily could be packaged as nonprofit, like a PBS or BBC operation.
But aren’t the Sundance Film Festival and the Sundance Cinemas really close in mission?
Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with for-profit art houses. In fact, I’m a little bit in awe. It’s sort of like tight rope walking without a nonprofit net.
Can anyone think of any other examples?
Gary Meyer:
The non-profit brand being used for for-profit purposes isn't unique to Sundance. Our friends here in DC at the Smithsonian, a government-chartered public non-profit, partnered with Showtime and CBS to run a for-profit cable channel, as do our friends here in DC at National Geographic, who partner with fucking Rupert Murdoch, who just also took over the iconic magazine :(.
Amy Heller, Milestone Films:
Not to mention that every museum has a shop that bears its name. The Metropolitan Museum also has stores at airports and Rockefeller Center.
John Toner:
I think that most people would recognize that a gift shop is significantly different from the core mission of an institution."
But for whatever it is worth, I found this online: "The mission of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store is to connect people to the world of art and to the museum experience. Just as visits to the Met are enjoyable, educational, and inspirational, our products evoke fond memories, invite moments of reflection, and foster day-to-day enjoyment and appreciation of art, artists, and cultures from around the globe and across the centuries. We work closely with art historians and master craftspeople to assure that each reproduction, adaptation, and publication meets the highest standards of design, quality, and value. All purchases—whether through our catalogue, online, or in person—help support the Museum and its programs."...
- 10/14/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The fall festival rush is upon us. Locarno is currently ramping up. Venice has released their line-up and Thom Powers and the Toronto International Film Festival team have dropped a bomb with a previously unannounced new feature from powerhouse docu-provocateur Michael Moore. It is truly a miracle that the production of a film such as Moore’s upcoming Where To Invade Next (see still above) managed to go completely undetected by the filmmaking community until it was literally announced to world premiere at one of the largest film festivals in the world. Programmed as a one of the key films in the Special Presentations section at Tiff, the film sees Moore telling “the Pentagon to ‘stand down’ — he will do the invading for America from now on.” Also announced to premiere at Tiff was Avi Lewis’ This Changes Everything, which has slowly been rising up this list, as well as...
- 8/7/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Since founding Milestone Films in 1990, the husband and wife team of Dennis Doros and Amy Heller have been restoring and distributing some of the most significant and overlooked titles in the American independent cannon. Ornette: Made in America, one of four feature films in their “Project Shirley” Shirley Clarke collection, is wrapping up a week long run at Spectacle today, as part of a celebration of Ornette Coleman. Filmmaker spoke to Doros about the acquisition and restoration process behind Clarke’s characteristically singular documentary, as well as Milestone’s recent objection to Stephen Winter’s Jason and Shirley, which liberally re-imagines the set of Portrait of […]...
- 7/23/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Since founding Milestone Films in 1990, the husband and wife team of Dennis Doros and Amy Heller have been restoring and distributing some of the most significant and overlooked titles in the American independent cannon. Ornette: Made in America, one of four feature films in their “Project Shirley” Shirley Clarke collection, is wrapping up a week long run at Spectacle today, as part of a celebration of Ornette Coleman. Filmmaker spoke to Doros about the acquisition and restoration process behind Clarke’s characteristically singular documentary, as well as Milestone’s recent objection to Stephen Winter’s Jason and Shirley, which liberally re-imagines the set of Portrait of […]...
- 7/23/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Milestone Film & Video is one of the finest and most well-established U.S. distributor of docs and arthouse features. They have such great films like the classic "I am Cuba" and have been working on compiling all they can on the filmmaker Shirley Clarke ("The Connection") whose film in the 60s, "The Cool World," made me one of her avid fans forever. Their film, "Portrait of Jason," also by Clarke, premiered at Idfa 2014, the premium doc festival in the world and I was lucky enough to see it at the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland. Its clarity and humanity moved me so much that I feel obliged to publish this here. When Amy Heller and Dennis Doros of Milestone speak the way they do in the following blog, I listen. Since the film "Jason and Shirley" just premiered at BAMcinemaFest and Frameline Film Festival, both wonderful events, I think it is important for everyone to know what they have to say. "In 25 years, we have never weighed in on anyone else's film (except to recommend those we love), but Dennis and I felt the need to go on the record about Stephen Winter's new feature Jason and Shirley."
'Jason and Shirley': The Cruelty and Irresponsibility of 'Satire'
by Amy Heller
In the twenty-five years that we have been running Milestone Films, we have never before reviewed or commented publicly on anyone else’s film—except to recommend it. But we have now encountered a new feature film that purports to “satirize” a film and a filmmaker we represent and have spent years researching. While we are absolute believers in freedom of speech and artistic expression and do not dispute that the producers, writers and stars of Jason and Shirley have every right to make their “re-vision” of the making of Shirley Clarke’s great documentary "Portrait of Jason," we feel we must go on the record about the film’s inaccurate and simplistic portrayals of a brilliant filmmaker and her charismatic subject.
Director Stephen Winter (and co-writers Sarah Schulman and Jack Waters) have created a fictitious drama that imagines what might have happened on December 3, 1966 when Shirley Clarke spent twelve hours with Jason Holliday, Carl Lee, Jeri Sopanen, Jim Hubbard and Bob Fiore shooting "Portrait of Jason." The filmmakers claim the right to re-imagine the events that took place in that Hotel Chelsea apartment, but they fail to understand something that Shirley Clarke knew and conveyed in all her films: the need for integrity.
Clarke’s first feature, "The Connection," a fiction film based partly on real people, has enormous respect for all its characters, an understanding of humanity, and a love for cinema. Shirley knew that a genuine artist values inner truth, whether the film is a documentary or a dramatic feature. And of course, Shirley did not use real names. She knew that when you use real people’s names and identities, you need to seek and explore the truth in all its complexities. Ornette: Made in America, a film that she and Ornette Coleman were very proud to create, is an example of Clarke’s quest for meaning and authenticity.
We at Milestone are now in the seventh year of “Project Shirley,” our ongoing commitment to learn everything about Clarke as a director, an artist and a person. With the cooperation of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater and the Clarke estate, we have digitized nearly one hundred of her features, short films, outtakes, unfinished projects, home movies, and experimental films and videos. We have gone through thousands of pages of letters, contracts, and Shirley’s diaries. We have interviewed and talked to dozens of people who knew and worked with her.
We have heard wonderful stories, tragic stories, and stories of such real pain that they are almost unbearable. Shirley Clarke was a sister, wife, mother, dancer, lover, filmmaker, editor, teacher, and yes, for a sad period, a junkie. It wasn’t intended, but along the way we fell in love with Shirley and came to feel that we owed it to her to create a portrait of a real woman and an artist. Shirley’s daughter Wendy Clarke and her extended family have supported our efforts every step of the way, encouraging us to reveal what is true, for better or worse. We have shared our discoveries with the world in theaters, on television, on DVD and Blu-Ray, in lectures — and in our exhaustive press kits (available on our website, free for everyone).
We have strived for the highest levels of accuracy, knowing that critics, academics, bloggers, and the general public deserve and depend on our research. We corroborated all the oral histories we conducted using primary sources, including original letters, interviews, and contracts. Finally, we asked people who knew Shirley to check and proof all our work. We have shared this research with every filmmaker, scholar and critic who has asked us for information.
So it was truly agonizing for us to watch Stephen Winter’s "Jason and Shirley," a film that is bad cinema and worse ethics—that cynically appropriates and parodies the identities of real people, stereotyping and humiliating them and doing disservice to their memory. The filmmakers may call it an homage, but their complete lack of research and their numerous factual errors and falsehoods have betrayed everyone who was involved in making "Portrait of Jason."
Winter and his team call their film an “imagination” of the night (although they stage the filming during the day) of December 3, when Shirley Clarke shot "Portrait of Jason." But interestingly, they only use the real names of those participants who have died: Clarke, Jason Holliday and Carl Lee (perhaps because you cannot libel the dead). They did not interview the people who were on the set that long night and who are still around—filmmakers Bob Fiore and Jim Hubbard.
They also chose not to work with Shirley’s daughter, artist and filmmaker Wendy Clarke, whom they never bothered to contact (and go out of their way to mock in the film). Jason and Shirley even features a title card in the closing credits thanking Wendy, implying that she has given her approval for the film. In truth, Wendy’s response, when she finally saw Jason and Shirley, was: “I don’t want people seeing this film to think there is any truth to it. This film tells nasty lies and is a parasitic attempt to gain prominence from true genius.”
Similarly, the filmmakers never asked us at Milestone for access to the reams of documents we have discovered from the making of "Portrait of Jason." Instead, they preferred to pretend to know what happened, to create their own “Shirley Clarke,” “Carl Lee,” and “Jason Holliday,” rather than try to create honest and respectful portraits of these very real people.
Lazy filmmakers make bad movies and "Jason and Shirley" is false, flaccid, and boring—unforgivable cinematic sins. Perhaps its most egregious and painful crime is taking the strong, brilliant woman that Shirley Clarke truly was and portraying her as a lumpy, platitude-spouting Jewish hausfrau—an inept cineaste who doesn’t know what she is doing and eventually needs her boyfriend to “save” the film for her. In service of their alleged investigation into race relations (a topic Shirley explored far better with her powerful and intelligent films "The Connection," "The Cool World," "Portrait of Jason" and "Ornette: Made in America"), they reduced her to a sexist cliché—the little woman—and a tedious cliché at that.
Shirley Clarke was wild, creative, brilliant, graceful, challenging, incredibly stylish, vibrant, and alive with the possibilities of life. At home at the center of many creative circles in New York City and around the world, she was adored by countless admirers—despite (or sometimes because of) her faults and failings. And Shirley is still loved by those who remember her—the people who worked on her films, her friends, her family, and the audiences who are rediscovering her great films. She was incredibly special. The misshapen caricature of Clarke in Jason and Shirley insults and trivializes a great artist and pioneer.
We also find “Jason” in Winter’s film to be a one-dimensional and disrespectful distortion of the very complicated man who was born Aaron Payne in 1924. Jason Holliday’s life was difficult in many ways—as a gay black man he experienced police harassment, poverty, family rejection, imprisonment, painful self-doubt, and innumerable varieties of personal and institutional racism. But he was also vibrantly an original, a self-invented diva, a survivor, and a raconteur of the first order who was the inspiration for his own cinematic Portrait. Shirley decided to make her film in order to explore this extraordinary Scheherazade’s 1001 stories—and the fragile line between his reminiscences and his inventions.
And truly, it is not easy to tell what was real and what was not in Jason’s life. In his “Autobiography” (reprinted in Milestone’s press kit), Holliday talked about appearing on Broadway in “Carmen Jones,” “Finian’s Rainbow,” and “Green Pastures” and about performing his nightclub act in Greenwich Village. And while much of his narrative may seem improbable, the Trenton Historical Society found newspaper articles from the 1950s corroborating Jason’s claim that he was a performer at New York’s Salle de Champagne. So did he study acting with Charles Laughton and dance with Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham? We may never know. But the man who spun those marvelous yarns was not the alternately maniacal and weepy loser in "Jason and Shirley."
Here are just a few of the other things that are obviously, carelessly and offensively wrong in "Jason and Shirley":
In the very beginning, there is a title card stating that the filmmakers were denied access to the outtakes of "Portrait of Jason." These recordings were available for all to hear at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, where all of Shirley’s archives can be found—or by contacting Milestone. In fact, all the outtakes (30 minutes of audio) were released on November 11, 2014 as a bonus features on Milestone’s DVD and Blu-Ray of the film. That was six months before "Jason and Shirley" was completed.
In "Jason and Shirley," “Jason” has never previously visited “Shirley’s” apartment and knows nothing about her. In reality, they had been friends for many years and Jason would often visit her apartment. The film states that the cinematographer on Portrait of Jason had worked on Clarke’s other two features. Actually, the film was Jeri Sopanen’s first job with her. Further, absolutely no crew member had an issue about working on "Portrait of Jason," as the new film portrays.
In the film “Shirley” says, “See that horrible painting on the wall? My daughter painted that… I have a daughter who is a terrible artist.” Fact: in several video interviews with Shirley (including one released as a bonus feature on Ornette: Made In America, which also came out last November) and in many of her letters and diaries, Clarke talked about how extremely proud she was of her daughter Wendy and her art. Mother and daughter worked happily together for years on many projects including the legendary Tee Pee Video Space Troupe. Wendy’s fine art, textiles, and video work have received critical praise for nearly 50 years. It was needlessly and maliciously hurtful for the filmmakers to include a line that is so obviously false and unkind.
In the film, “Shirley” says her maiden name was Bermberg. She was born Shirley Brimberg.
There is an Academy Award® statue for "Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel With the World" in “Shirley’s” apartment and the other characters repeatedly mock her for it. The film did win an Oscar®, but although she received directing credit, Shirley had been fired from the final edit and producer Robert Hughes picked up the award. (You can see this on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOS70Tqsz7U)
“Shirley” asks “Jason” to go up on the roof of the Hotel Chelsea with her to talk. In reality, her apartment was famously on the roof.
In the film, “Shirley” is unable to finish Portrait of Jason and tells everybody to go home and “Carl Lee” comes in to take over the film and save it. This is ludicrous, wrong and misogynistic. Clarke was a consummate film professional and all her collaborators attest to her skill and drive.
The film ends with a title card stating that Shirley died in New York (which is simply incorrect) and that Carl Lee died of a heroin overdose. Tragically, Lee died of AIDS and this information is in the Milestone press kit.
Another title card indicates that when Jason Holliday died that there were no friends or family listed in his one obituary. In truth, the Trentonian on July 31, 1998 wrote that two sisters, six nieces and two nephews survived him. We found the relatives when doing our research.
The filmmakers have labeled "Jason and Shirley" a satirical work of fiction. We are just not sure who or what they claim to be satirizing. The film is not ironic, humorous, sardonic or tongue-in-cheek. We can only surmise that they are deliberately parodying the idea of cinematic integrity.
On behalf of Milestone, Wendy Clarke, and Shirley Clarke’s extended family and friends, we respectfully ask film fans not to base their appraisal of Clarke and her filmmaking on the unkind depictions in "Jason and Shirley."
Yours in cinema,
Amy Heller and Dennis Doros
Milestone Films...
'Jason and Shirley': The Cruelty and Irresponsibility of 'Satire'
by Amy Heller
In the twenty-five years that we have been running Milestone Films, we have never before reviewed or commented publicly on anyone else’s film—except to recommend it. But we have now encountered a new feature film that purports to “satirize” a film and a filmmaker we represent and have spent years researching. While we are absolute believers in freedom of speech and artistic expression and do not dispute that the producers, writers and stars of Jason and Shirley have every right to make their “re-vision” of the making of Shirley Clarke’s great documentary "Portrait of Jason," we feel we must go on the record about the film’s inaccurate and simplistic portrayals of a brilliant filmmaker and her charismatic subject.
Director Stephen Winter (and co-writers Sarah Schulman and Jack Waters) have created a fictitious drama that imagines what might have happened on December 3, 1966 when Shirley Clarke spent twelve hours with Jason Holliday, Carl Lee, Jeri Sopanen, Jim Hubbard and Bob Fiore shooting "Portrait of Jason." The filmmakers claim the right to re-imagine the events that took place in that Hotel Chelsea apartment, but they fail to understand something that Shirley Clarke knew and conveyed in all her films: the need for integrity.
Clarke’s first feature, "The Connection," a fiction film based partly on real people, has enormous respect for all its characters, an understanding of humanity, and a love for cinema. Shirley knew that a genuine artist values inner truth, whether the film is a documentary or a dramatic feature. And of course, Shirley did not use real names. She knew that when you use real people’s names and identities, you need to seek and explore the truth in all its complexities. Ornette: Made in America, a film that she and Ornette Coleman were very proud to create, is an example of Clarke’s quest for meaning and authenticity.
We at Milestone are now in the seventh year of “Project Shirley,” our ongoing commitment to learn everything about Clarke as a director, an artist and a person. With the cooperation of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater and the Clarke estate, we have digitized nearly one hundred of her features, short films, outtakes, unfinished projects, home movies, and experimental films and videos. We have gone through thousands of pages of letters, contracts, and Shirley’s diaries. We have interviewed and talked to dozens of people who knew and worked with her.
We have heard wonderful stories, tragic stories, and stories of such real pain that they are almost unbearable. Shirley Clarke was a sister, wife, mother, dancer, lover, filmmaker, editor, teacher, and yes, for a sad period, a junkie. It wasn’t intended, but along the way we fell in love with Shirley and came to feel that we owed it to her to create a portrait of a real woman and an artist. Shirley’s daughter Wendy Clarke and her extended family have supported our efforts every step of the way, encouraging us to reveal what is true, for better or worse. We have shared our discoveries with the world in theaters, on television, on DVD and Blu-Ray, in lectures — and in our exhaustive press kits (available on our website, free for everyone).
We have strived for the highest levels of accuracy, knowing that critics, academics, bloggers, and the general public deserve and depend on our research. We corroborated all the oral histories we conducted using primary sources, including original letters, interviews, and contracts. Finally, we asked people who knew Shirley to check and proof all our work. We have shared this research with every filmmaker, scholar and critic who has asked us for information.
So it was truly agonizing for us to watch Stephen Winter’s "Jason and Shirley," a film that is bad cinema and worse ethics—that cynically appropriates and parodies the identities of real people, stereotyping and humiliating them and doing disservice to their memory. The filmmakers may call it an homage, but their complete lack of research and their numerous factual errors and falsehoods have betrayed everyone who was involved in making "Portrait of Jason."
Winter and his team call their film an “imagination” of the night (although they stage the filming during the day) of December 3, when Shirley Clarke shot "Portrait of Jason." But interestingly, they only use the real names of those participants who have died: Clarke, Jason Holliday and Carl Lee (perhaps because you cannot libel the dead). They did not interview the people who were on the set that long night and who are still around—filmmakers Bob Fiore and Jim Hubbard.
They also chose not to work with Shirley’s daughter, artist and filmmaker Wendy Clarke, whom they never bothered to contact (and go out of their way to mock in the film). Jason and Shirley even features a title card in the closing credits thanking Wendy, implying that she has given her approval for the film. In truth, Wendy’s response, when she finally saw Jason and Shirley, was: “I don’t want people seeing this film to think there is any truth to it. This film tells nasty lies and is a parasitic attempt to gain prominence from true genius.”
Similarly, the filmmakers never asked us at Milestone for access to the reams of documents we have discovered from the making of "Portrait of Jason." Instead, they preferred to pretend to know what happened, to create their own “Shirley Clarke,” “Carl Lee,” and “Jason Holliday,” rather than try to create honest and respectful portraits of these very real people.
Lazy filmmakers make bad movies and "Jason and Shirley" is false, flaccid, and boring—unforgivable cinematic sins. Perhaps its most egregious and painful crime is taking the strong, brilliant woman that Shirley Clarke truly was and portraying her as a lumpy, platitude-spouting Jewish hausfrau—an inept cineaste who doesn’t know what she is doing and eventually needs her boyfriend to “save” the film for her. In service of their alleged investigation into race relations (a topic Shirley explored far better with her powerful and intelligent films "The Connection," "The Cool World," "Portrait of Jason" and "Ornette: Made in America"), they reduced her to a sexist cliché—the little woman—and a tedious cliché at that.
Shirley Clarke was wild, creative, brilliant, graceful, challenging, incredibly stylish, vibrant, and alive with the possibilities of life. At home at the center of many creative circles in New York City and around the world, she was adored by countless admirers—despite (or sometimes because of) her faults and failings. And Shirley is still loved by those who remember her—the people who worked on her films, her friends, her family, and the audiences who are rediscovering her great films. She was incredibly special. The misshapen caricature of Clarke in Jason and Shirley insults and trivializes a great artist and pioneer.
We also find “Jason” in Winter’s film to be a one-dimensional and disrespectful distortion of the very complicated man who was born Aaron Payne in 1924. Jason Holliday’s life was difficult in many ways—as a gay black man he experienced police harassment, poverty, family rejection, imprisonment, painful self-doubt, and innumerable varieties of personal and institutional racism. But he was also vibrantly an original, a self-invented diva, a survivor, and a raconteur of the first order who was the inspiration for his own cinematic Portrait. Shirley decided to make her film in order to explore this extraordinary Scheherazade’s 1001 stories—and the fragile line between his reminiscences and his inventions.
And truly, it is not easy to tell what was real and what was not in Jason’s life. In his “Autobiography” (reprinted in Milestone’s press kit), Holliday talked about appearing on Broadway in “Carmen Jones,” “Finian’s Rainbow,” and “Green Pastures” and about performing his nightclub act in Greenwich Village. And while much of his narrative may seem improbable, the Trenton Historical Society found newspaper articles from the 1950s corroborating Jason’s claim that he was a performer at New York’s Salle de Champagne. So did he study acting with Charles Laughton and dance with Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham? We may never know. But the man who spun those marvelous yarns was not the alternately maniacal and weepy loser in "Jason and Shirley."
Here are just a few of the other things that are obviously, carelessly and offensively wrong in "Jason and Shirley":
In the very beginning, there is a title card stating that the filmmakers were denied access to the outtakes of "Portrait of Jason." These recordings were available for all to hear at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, where all of Shirley’s archives can be found—or by contacting Milestone. In fact, all the outtakes (30 minutes of audio) were released on November 11, 2014 as a bonus features on Milestone’s DVD and Blu-Ray of the film. That was six months before "Jason and Shirley" was completed.
In "Jason and Shirley," “Jason” has never previously visited “Shirley’s” apartment and knows nothing about her. In reality, they had been friends for many years and Jason would often visit her apartment. The film states that the cinematographer on Portrait of Jason had worked on Clarke’s other two features. Actually, the film was Jeri Sopanen’s first job with her. Further, absolutely no crew member had an issue about working on "Portrait of Jason," as the new film portrays.
In the film “Shirley” says, “See that horrible painting on the wall? My daughter painted that… I have a daughter who is a terrible artist.” Fact: in several video interviews with Shirley (including one released as a bonus feature on Ornette: Made In America, which also came out last November) and in many of her letters and diaries, Clarke talked about how extremely proud she was of her daughter Wendy and her art. Mother and daughter worked happily together for years on many projects including the legendary Tee Pee Video Space Troupe. Wendy’s fine art, textiles, and video work have received critical praise for nearly 50 years. It was needlessly and maliciously hurtful for the filmmakers to include a line that is so obviously false and unkind.
In the film, “Shirley” says her maiden name was Bermberg. She was born Shirley Brimberg.
There is an Academy Award® statue for "Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel With the World" in “Shirley’s” apartment and the other characters repeatedly mock her for it. The film did win an Oscar®, but although she received directing credit, Shirley had been fired from the final edit and producer Robert Hughes picked up the award. (You can see this on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOS70Tqsz7U)
“Shirley” asks “Jason” to go up on the roof of the Hotel Chelsea with her to talk. In reality, her apartment was famously on the roof.
In the film, “Shirley” is unable to finish Portrait of Jason and tells everybody to go home and “Carl Lee” comes in to take over the film and save it. This is ludicrous, wrong and misogynistic. Clarke was a consummate film professional and all her collaborators attest to her skill and drive.
The film ends with a title card stating that Shirley died in New York (which is simply incorrect) and that Carl Lee died of a heroin overdose. Tragically, Lee died of AIDS and this information is in the Milestone press kit.
Another title card indicates that when Jason Holliday died that there were no friends or family listed in his one obituary. In truth, the Trentonian on July 31, 1998 wrote that two sisters, six nieces and two nephews survived him. We found the relatives when doing our research.
The filmmakers have labeled "Jason and Shirley" a satirical work of fiction. We are just not sure who or what they claim to be satirizing. The film is not ironic, humorous, sardonic or tongue-in-cheek. We can only surmise that they are deliberately parodying the idea of cinematic integrity.
On behalf of Milestone, Wendy Clarke, and Shirley Clarke’s extended family and friends, we respectfully ask film fans not to base their appraisal of Clarke and her filmmaking on the unkind depictions in "Jason and Shirley."
Yours in cinema,
Amy Heller and Dennis Doros
Milestone Films...
- 6/23/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
For some time now, Milestone Films president Dennis Doros has been interested in bringing back films lost to history that explore the borders between fact and fiction. For him and his company, started by Doros and the woman who would become his wife, Amy Heller, the turning point was Milestone's release of "Killer of Sheep." L.A. Rebellion filmmaker Charles Burnett's naturalistic film was well-respected and in need of a proper release a few years ago. "It was an impossible challenge for myself," says Doros. "It was very difficult to clear the music rights, and after six years and $150,000 we got those cleared. We spent a total of $450,000 on the restoration. Burnett was a well-respected director but wasn't commercial. The film grossed $660,000." Noting the company's -- and his -- role in revitalizing historical films, Doros adds: "Somehow this really changed our company. We've been able to work on [Kent Mackenzie's]...
- 11/30/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Independent distribution company Milestone has launched a Kickstarter campaign to aid the Academy Film Archive's costly restoration of filmmaker Shirley Clarke's seminal 1967 documentary "Portrait of Jason," one of the first openly frank Lgbt films in existence. The verité-style film follows a black, gay hustler, and was so progressive for its time that it was quickly shelved into obscurity. The original film elements have been lost for nearly a half-century. Now, as the Academy's restoration team works to bring Clarke's film back to its original glory, Milestone is looking to raise $50K to aid the project. Milestone is a homegrown company comprised of only two employees, husband-and-wife founders Dennis Doros and Amy Heller. They are seeking the help of film lovers, Lgbt activists, historians and anyone interested in protecting this unique cultural document. A side-by-side comparison of the in-process restoration of "Portrait...
- 11/7/2012
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
indieWIRE and the Film Society of Lincoln Center packed the new amphitheater at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center on Satuday for a panel on "15 Years of Distribution," tied to iW's 15th anniversary over the weekend. Hosted by iW's own Dana Harris, panelists included Richard Abramowitz from Abramorama, Amy Heller from Milestone, SnagFilms and Fslc's Bingham Ray, Ira Deutchman (Emerging Pictures), Bob and Jeanne Berney from FilmDistrict, Mark Urman ...
- 7/19/2011
- Indiewire
Milestone Film and Video has acquired all North American rights to Marcel Ophuls' 1994 documentary Veillees d'armes (The Troubles We've Seen: A History of Journalism in Wartime). Milestone co-founders Dennis Doros and Amy Heller said they will release the film theatrically in 40-50 cities, with a DVD to follow. Shot primarily in 1993 in Sarajevo, the former capital of Yugoslavia, the 243-minute film explores the ethical challenges of war reporting and the Western attitudes toward war.
- 12/10/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.