December 1997

It has taken her six years and countless hours of drawing with a team of animators. But now Boston filmmaker Ellie Lee is reaping some of the rewards. Her film Repetition Compulsion, which recounts the experiences of homeless and battered women, premiered at the Harvard Film Archive to a packed crowd. Last month, it won the Bronze Award for Best Animated Short at the WorldFest-Charleston International Film Festival. Currently, it's playing on the World Wide Web as part of the read more...

The three-year old Northampton Film Festival on November 6-9, 1997 achieved a humble greatness in the cluttered landscape of regional festivals simply by asserting its basic strengths - bringing to a beautiful and friendly small community several unique indie films and videos (5 features and dozens of shorts) sprinkled with a few high-profile events over a long weekend. Free from industry hype or the regional art house cookie-cutter lineup, this is an event that reminds one of the read more...

If there’s one film and television event you attend this year, make it the Mass Media Alliance (MMA) Winter Wrap Party ’97, the annual celebration for the members of New England’s booming film and television industry. Over 500 are expected to attend this epic production on Tuesday, December 9, from 7:00 PM to 1 AM at The Roxy Nightclub, 279 Tremont Street in Boston. A special VIP reception will be held from 6:30-7:30 PM.

Entered in Sundance’s 1997 Dramatic Competition, Black & White & Red All Over is about the streets, but never takes to them. The characters leave their apartment; the camera doesn’t. On camera, the all-African-American cast gets high, laments the loss of certain sitcoms from BET’s regular schedule, and argues the position of blacks in a white US. But what happens off-camera — during the 9-to-5 world of some of the characters and the 5-to-9 world read more...

Having connections doesn’t have to mean you know someone in Hollywood. New Hampshire filmmaker Bill Millios had "connections" with a couple of budding filmmakers from the Manchester Public Access station and a fellow graduate of the University in New Hampshire. Together, they collected their funds to create Old Man Dogs – a romantic ghost story set against the beautiful backdrop of New Hampshire’s woods and mountains.

In theory, the world of video provides independent films access to a wider audience via release on videocassette. The reality, however, presents quite a different picture.

During 12 years as sales manager for a leading video tape distributor, I've watched as the promise of video has, unfortunately, all but surrendered to the economic realities that define the industry today.