We are hard a work getting together a 20 piece segment for Independent Film Week as well a two minute trailer and revised marketing materials. Here’s a short list of some of the distribution companies that will be attending and scheduling meetings with documentary filmmakers:

4th Row Films, A&E IndieFilms, Arte France, Arthouse Films, Atlas Media Corp., BBC Storyville, BBC Channel 4, Cactus Three, CBC Newsworld, Cargo Film & Releasing, Chicken & Egg Pictures, The Cinema Guild, Cinereach, Cinetic, Danish Broadcasting Corp., Emerging Pictures, The Film Sales Company, Filmmakers Library, Films Transit, First Hand Films GmbH, The Fledgling Fund, Goldcrest Films, Hartley Film Foundation, HBO, Impact Partners, IndiePix, ITVS, Louverture Films, New Video/Docurama, Open City Films, Oscilloscope, Ovation Films, PalmStar Entertainment, Paradigm Consulting, PBS, “P.O.V.”, Seventh Art, Sidetrack Films, Solid Entertainment, Studio-On-Hudson, Submarine, TruTV, VPRO, WE TV, WGBH International, WNET “Wide Angle,” Women Make Movies, YLE, ZDF-Arte,

JUST GOT IN TO IFW! Very excited about this and now a bunch of work to do to before September!

Dear Christopher,

Congratulations! I am pleased to inform you that your project, Diamond Vehicle, has been selected for the Spotlight on Documentaries section during IFP’s Independent Film Week, celebrating 30th anniversary September 14 – 19, 2008.

Spotlight on Documentaries (for filmmakers in production or post seeking financing partners, broadcast/distribution, and festival invitations)is one of the three sections in the Project Forum during Independent Film Week (formerly known as the IFP Market)….

Congratulations once again, and we look forward to seeing you in September.

Sincerely,
Jing He
Producer, Independent Film Week

Milton Tabbot
Senior Director, Programming

Hemal and I have submitted the application to Independent Film Week. It turned out rather well considering it was our first time working together. We have now begun the long process of watching all 80+ hours of the footage. This will take us a few weeks. I hope we can finish before I go up to The Flaherty Film Seminar. I am excited to attend this legendary institution and have received a fellowship that will help with my tuition and will allows me to screen an excerpt from the project in front of a intense audience of filmmakers and critics. There should be some inspiring work and very talented people at the seminar, so it is a perfect way to consider the approach when we come back to begin edit in July.

His Holiness the 17th Karmapa is visiting the us for the first time. On the Monday, he came to Wappingers Falls to visit Lama Norlha Rinpoche’s monastery. I was there to document the event for KTC and, of course, possibly the film.

EDITOR ON BOARD!

I met Hemal Trivedi at the prestigious Full Frame Festival where she was screening the film she most recently edited “Flying On One Engine” directed by Josh Weinstein. Hemal did an excellent job with that film which opened at SXSW and is screening at many festivals including IDFA in Amsterdam. We immediately clicked and Hemal expressed a lot of interest in hearing more about my project. A short look at the footage and a brief meeting with Lama Norlha Rinpoche, and we both knew we could be a great team for this film. Read Hemal’s bio here.

We are work together starting by putting together an application to the INDEPENDENT FILM WEEK, a competitive market to which work-in-progress documentaries can apply. It’s a good first task and definitely worth a shot.

I am at currently working on a project introduction video which is attempting to set the tone of the film. In the next week I will be screening a cut of this 6-8 minute introduction along with some other scenes to get some early critical feedback from the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective. This group meets regularly at my space, UnionDocs, to look at works-in-progress.

Also, I have had some great meetings with artist and animator, Molly Schwartz who is interested in getting involved in the visual design of the project.

After finding some financial support last month on a trip to Miami. I am excited to be able to start working full-time on this project. I have hired Amber Cortes to be the Operations Director at UNIONDOCS,, which will allow me to drastically decrease my day to day responsibilities as Exec Director and focus on producing and directing this film. In a week will be taking a short trip to Boulder, Colorado to learn about the Buddhist community there and to seek support for the film.

Video stills of Lama Norlha Rinpoche giving empowerments to a largely Chinese group in Flushing, Queens.

Video stills of Rinpoche in Manhattan.

Lama Karma, (Justin Wall) my collaborator and the original reason for my invitation to make this film has just disappeared today for three years and a three months. It’s his second traditional retreat. Astonishing and strange. And there I am, angling for a shot.