Loins of Punjab Presents

It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. Its director, Manish Acharya, is the voice of “Shadow Puppet #3” in Sita. And it’s opening TODAY in the US!

Showtimes in NY/NJ/CT:

Quad Cinema, 34 West 13 Street (btwn 5th & 6th Ave)
Fri, Sat, Sun Showtimes: 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:35, 9:50

The ImaginAsian, 239 East 59 St. (btwn 2nd & 3rd Ave)
Fri, Sat, Sun Showtimes: 12:15, 2:30, 4:45, 7:00, 9:15, 11:30
(No 11:30 pm show on Sunday)

Bloomfield 8 Cinemas, 863 Park Avenue, Bloomfield, CT
Showtimes: Fri – 3:30, 5:30, 8:00, 10:00
Sat/ Sun – 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 8:00, 10:00

Columbia Park 12 Theatres, 3115 Kennedy Blvd, North Bergen, NJ
Showtimes: Fri / Sat/ Sun – 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00, 11:00
(no 11pm show on Sunday)

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The Bright Side of the Dark Side of the Rainbow

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Here’s that Very Good Idea I promised yesterday. Please bear with this long post, it’s worth it I promise.

I.

Everyone’s heard of Dark Side of the Rainbow: You play your own legally-obtained audio of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, while watching a legally-obtained video of the Wizard of Oz. As long as the audio is legal, and the video is legal, enjoying them at the same time is legal.

Continue reading “The Bright Side of the Dark Side of the Rainbow”

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Shit

Actually the DVDs have too many visual errors – from the messed-up HD master I was never able to view, because who has an HD system? – and I have to start from scratch, making a new HD master, new exhibition tapes (for the festivals that aren’t showing 35mm) and, if DVDs are to circulate at all, new DVDs. Please ignore my previous enthusiasm. This is the fault of my Post-Production Supervisor, who I am firing immediately. Oh wait that’s me.

I also accidentally dropped a Cintiq stand on my toe:

My Toe After Dropping a Cintiq Stand on it (click thumbnail – or should I say toenail? – for larger photo in gross-o-vision)

Yes, it’s been another bad day, but all is not lost, just the $7,500 I spent on DVD authoring and manufacturing, plus the $1,500 or so I spent on the HD master and all the HD, Beta, DigiBeta, and DVCAM tapes I made from it. Because I have an Idea. A Very Good Idea, I promise. More on that tomorrow. I’m going to bed now.

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“Review Copies”

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Look what arrived today! Thanks to Gillian and Sylvie at Elektrofilm for the professional authoring in both PAL and NTSC formats that hopefully won’t crash like my home-authored version, and especially to my genius Momz for managing what turned into a more complicated logistical challenge than any of us imagined.

These aren’t for sale, of course – that would be illegal. They’re just festival screeners and review copies for, like, reviewing and screening in a festive manner.

Update: That said, it has some, ah, glitches. Glitches that apparently some people won’t notice, or think I did on purpose, but watching them feels like knives in my heart. Glitches which I must correct on the “next” version. Glitches which were in my HD master. Oh boy.

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Sita Soundtrack Project

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With the help of old record collectors and Annette Hanshaw fans, I’m hoping to put together a free, easily-downloadable “soundtrack” of the 11 old Hanshaw songs in Sita Sings the Blues. The collectors will provide the tracks – MP3s probably – and I’ll provide the “album cover” and publicity.

Who wants to provide the server? We need a server to put all this on. Please contact me if you have some server space to donate.

This isn’t to make money, it’s to bring Hanshaw’s beautiful music to new eager ears for free. It’s also to publicize that all the effort in preserving and sharing Hanshaw’s voice has been on the part of record collectors, not the music industry.

***

The new music in the film is the responsibility of its respective composers, who are busy artists like me and haven’t yet had time to organize an album. Hopefully we’ll have a soundtrack of their stuff for you eventually, but meanwhile you can sample their delights at their respective web sites:
Todd Michaelsen
MASALADOSA
Rohan
Nik Phelps and the Sprocket Ensemble
Rudresh Mahanthappa

Any volunteers want to produce an album of their “Sita” music? It’s like herding cats, but they’re all super-nice, just very busy, like me.

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