Beneath Us @ Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival

Very excited to announce that my short film Beneath Us will be having its world premiere in competition at the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival in Chicago. The boutique festival seeks out “character-driven independent film programming constructed by bold and innovative storytellers for the purposes of education, entertainment, and thought-provoking discussion.” I hoped Beneath Us could be a film that would be used to spark conversations on labour, immigration, and law enforcement, so I’m thrilled that Blue Whiskey is giving us this venue.

Beneath Us is also a very personal film to me. I’ve spent a great deal of time in the labour rights world while making my documentary feature My Cultural Divide and other shorts about the subject, and many of my fiction films are about immigration and belonging, so in a way this is a meeting of those two themes. I’m also very proud of the collaboration between myself and Mexican producer Marla Arreola, and the mostly local cast and crew that ensured we told a story that was an authentic (fictional) take on the dangers of building walls instead of bridges.

Beneath Us will be screening at Chicago Filmmakers, 1326 W Hollywood Avenue, in Chicago, Illinois Thursday, on July 21 in the 7:00 PM block of the festival.

The Jungle Book

My short film Mr. Crab is playing with The Jungle Book outdoors in Regent Park! When I was in college a Russian man on a bus once pointed at me excited and said “Mowgli! Mowgli!” When I realized what he was saying I was offended at the possible racism but then took it as a compliment. Because apparently Russians love the Jungle Book and I may have been the first Indian boy he had ever seen. I guess? Anyhow my friends then often referred to me as Mowgli ironically after this. Having my film with a young Indian Caribbean boy and an animated crab play with the new adaptation of The Jungle Book might be the best thing ever.

Free Screening August 3rd 7pm. Regent Park Boulevard, outside Daniels Spectrum.

Thanks to Caribbean Tales and The Regent Park Film Festival.

From the Facebook event page:

Did you miss The Jungle Book in theatres this year? Or love it so much that you can’t wait to see it again? Come out to the Big Park for a free screening of the 2016 hit The Jungle Book!

Watch the trailer here: http://regentparkfilmfestival.com/events/event/under-the-stars-the-jungle-book/

Make sure to come out at 7pm for the pre-show for lots of family friendly acivities! The movie will start at 9pm!

The Movie and pre-show activities are FREE!

Co-presented with CaribbeanTales International Film Festival. CTFF will be presenting the short film Mr Crab, directed by Faisal Lutchmedial, prior to the feature film. We know you’ll be moved by the story of a young boy who uses his vivid imagination to escape the realities of family life.

Music and dance workshops provided by UforChange!
Enjoy delicious food for sale at Taste of Regent Park from 5-8:30!

ArtHeart will be doing face paint – so come ready with your favourite animal!

Keeping with the Jungle Book theme The Children’s Book Bank Canada will attendance with books for kids. We will a donations bin set up so if you would like to donate bring out any lightly used children’s books that you may have.

Daniels Spectrum Summer Series is produced by Artscape in collaboration with our 2016 program partners and is made possible thanks to the generous support of two anonymous donors.

I was recently asked to speak on a panel about Asian representation in film and television during the Asian Heritage Month Film Festival, in Toronto. I was joined by fellow filmmakers Amanda Joy, Jag Parmar, and Kieth Lock, and the panel was moderated by Bobby Del Rio.

It was a lively conversation, and it was great to hear how fellow diverse / asian filmmakers had moved forward in their careers – and what kind of barriers they faced along the way.

Apparently there is a video they are going to post, so I’ll link that here when I get it.

From left to right: Bobby Del Rio, Keith Lock, Jag Parmar, Amanda Joy, Faisal Lutchmedial

The Vancouver Latin American Film Festival is showing Mr. Crab at the Caribbean Shorts program on the 31st of August, 2013. Show is at 2pm and is free with a $2 festival membership. SFU Harbour Center (HARB)

Other shorts in the program are The Chiney Shop by Jeanette Kong, Achantè by Emily McMehen, 4am by Janine Fung, and Doubles with Slight Pepper by Ian Harnarine.

Website: http://www.vlaff.org/content/caribbean-shorts

I’ll be speaking at the Reelworld Film Festival on a panel about screenwriting, put together by the WGC. The focus on the panel will be television writing, and working in the story department of a show. I haven’t written a post about it yet, but I spent a number of months working in the writing room of “The Listener” a CTV show about a crime fighter who can read minds. The experience was my first in a room, and I was given the opportunity by winning the latest round of the Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program. Some great and more experienced writers are also on the panel, including moderator Sugith Varughese, who was our instructor for the program, and Sudz Sutherland, who was my mentor when I was writing my spec and original. Sudz’s feature film Home Again is in cinemas now and doing really well – and if you haven’t yet, you should really go see it!

As an aside, the ReelWorld Film Festival has a special place in my heart as they programmed my two short films Useless Things, and Mr. Crab. Useless Things is free to watch (link here) and Mr. Crab is available on demand (link here).

The panel takes place Saturday April 13th, 2013 at the Famous Players Canada Square Cinemas 4
2190 Yonge Street. 12:30 PM. Click here for Tickets and info.

James Hoffman’s short film has been accepted into the NSI Online Short Film Festival, and you can watch it right here too.

The story: Avery wishes he were the kind of man to make friends, go back to school, find a girlfriend. Unfortunately he’s haunted by self-doubt, the ceaseless swirl of thoughts running through his head, and the ghost of the man he witnessed being murdered in the park. The ghost, Vik, wants the answer to one question: ‘Why didn’t you help me?’

The link to the festival, where you can watch the film in its entirety, is here: http://www.nsi-canada.ca/2013/02/things-worse/

Article in the Trinidad Daily Express newspaper about writer director Faisal Lutchmedial, and his film, Mr. Crab. Text below:

RISING STAR writer-director Faisal Lutchmedial will be visiting for the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, presenting his Trini-themed short film Mr. Crab. The Gondry-esque short follows Rishi, a ten-year-old boy that idolizes and fears his imposing father, who tells him stories about the crystal clear waters of T&T.

Lutchmedial recently was interviewed on the Canadian television show Short Film Face Off, where he was able to present Mr. Crab to a national audience. On the show film critic Mohit Rajhans complimented Mr. Crab, “I love the authenticity of the immigrant household, the beaded drapes, and even the way they spoke made me feel like they were definitely a West Indian family… I do give (Lutchmedial) credit for taking on a story I’ve never seen in a short film before.”

Lutchmedial said about his upcoming trip for the TTFF, “My father is from T&T and most of my work is connected to my South Asian and West Indian heritage so I’m incredibly excited about showing Mr. Crab to a Trinidadian audience. I also have two feature films in development that are Trini themed, so I am hoping to meet people to collaborate with while I am there.”

Lutchmedial was just awarded the top prize of the Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program, which was a training program / competition designed to help emerging and mid-level film and television writers develop prime-time television series concepts. The television project Lutchmedial is developing is entitled Welcome to Trinidad. The series is a 1-hour television drama-thriller about half-brothers who fight for control over the family business, a rum distillery that neither of them realize is haunted by dark, murderous spirits. Though winning the competition doesn’t mean the series will be made, it does award Lutchmedial the opportunity to work in the writing room of two existing Canadian series for three months.

Lutchmedial’s previous directing credits include the feature My Cultural Divide, a gripping documentary about sweatshop and child labour in the developing world. His last short film, Useless Things won the Writers Guild of Canada English script prize at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema, and aired on the CBC Anthology program Canadian Reflections last year.

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival is highlighting films from Canada this year. Director Faisal Lutchmedial will be attending, showing off Mr. Crab and doing a Q&A after one of the screenings. In fact, Mr. Crab has the honour of playing five times throughout the 2 week long event!

To check out the schedule: http://www.ttfilmfestival.com/2012/09/canada-focus/

Mr. Crab’s showtimes in Trinidad are now published on the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival website. Director Faisal Lutchmedial will be attending the last three screenings (on the 29th and then the two on the 30th), with a Q&A on the 30th! Please come and support diverse cinema and caribbean stories.

The TTFF2012 runs between the 19th of September and 2nd of October. It is the largest event of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, continues to evolve and expand in celebrating expression and empowerment through film. The Festival screens the best films from from Trinidad+Tobago and the Caribbean, the Caribbean Diaspora, and Latin American countries in the Caribbean Basin. The ttff also seeks to facilitate the growth of the Caribbean film industry by hosting workshops, panel discussions, seminars, conferences and networking opportunities.

Wed 19 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS
Sat 22 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS
Tue 25 Sept, 7.00pm, Mayaro
Sat 29 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Sun 30 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS
Sun 30 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A

http://www.ttfilmfestival.com/film-synopsis/mr-crab/

Sound recordist / sound editor of Mr. Crab Emory Murchison fuels up during the shoot.

Mr. Crab will be visiting London for the Caribbean Film Corner which runs alongside the Portobello Film Festival in London. It’s playing on the 6th of September, and tickets are FREE. As it says on the site, seats will go faster than Bolt in the 100m final.

http://www.caribbeanfilmcorner.com/#!films

Reserve your seating now, just put in the date (6th) and select # of seats: The Tabernacle, 35 Powis Square, W11 2AY. http://caribbeanfilmcorner2012-es2.eventbrite.com/?rank=1

The program is very strong, with great shorts like Pothound and Fish, both great T&T films that have to be seen. You should also check out Hand Full of Dirt if you haven’t yet, made by Barbadian filmmaker Russell Watson and starring Alwin Bully.