2010 All Roads Film Festival A Success!

View in Web Browser   October 2010 • Big hit for the 2010 National Geographic All Roads Film Festival in Washington, D.C.! • Film Grant Program • Photography Program • National Geographic All Roads Hosts Screening of Boy At AFI Fest Big hit for the 2010 National Geographic All Roads Film Festival in Washington, D.C.! More than 3,000 people attended and several D.C. community partners participated in the events at the seventh edition of the All Roads Film Festival this year. During six days, the festival presented more than 55 cultures from around the world, screened 30+ films, and brought many talented directors and producers from New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Europe, to name a few. The opening night film Reel Injun, whose comedic mash-up of Hollywood history and stereotypes of Native Americans in film encapsulated the festival's theme of "Inspiring Stories Connecting Cultures," had an excellent audience turnout. After that humorous and inspiring opening night, each evening of the festival saw a screening of a great cinematic story, whether from Somalia, New Zealand, Australia, or Tibet. Saturday night, a Bhangra and Afrobeat dance party kept people's feet moving to the latest sounds from South Asia and Africa. The week closed on a strong note with the screening of Shooting With Mursi, which also happened to be one of three All Roads Film Festival award—winning films, for Best Documentary. A Best Narrative award was given to Samson & Delilah. A new award, "the Merata Mita Award - Honoring a Legacy of Outstanding Storytelling," named in honor and memory of the recently passed All Roads board chair, Merata Mita, went to Boy. This was also one of several sold-out shows during the festival. The free All Roads Photography exhibition of this year's awardees' works continues to draw visitors from different cultural backgrounds to National Geographic, and will remain open for display during FotoWeek DC until November 20 in the Society's courtyard in Washington, D.C. Many screenings were followed by lively question-and-answer sessions, which enhanced the viewing experience tremendously for audience members. Among the talented filmmakers in attendance were filmmakers Taika Waititi and Ainsley Gardiner from New Zealand (Boy); Canadian First Nations Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond (Reel Injun); Suzi Yoonessi (Dear Lemon Lima); Kath Shelper from Australia (Samson and Delilah); Tracy Rector from Longhouse Media (Unreserved: The Work of Louie Gong); Carole Hart (For the Next 7 Generations); Karin Williams and Jon Waterhouse (We Live By the River); Erica Scharf, Christina King and the three students portrayed (Up Heartbreak Hill); and Ben Young and Olisarali Olibui (Shooting With Mursi). Their insights and inspiration added a great deal to festival week, and provided opportunities for these talented artists to share ideas among themselves. An emotional highlight of the festival was a special curated film program entitled Mãori Film Retrospective, which presented excerpts from the film works of the late All Roads founding board chair, Merata Mita, honoring her contribution to indigenous filmmaking. Many of her past colleagues, including fellow filmmakers and past students whom she guided and influenced, were part of the panel discussion following the screening. Film Grant Program Thus far this year, film projects from the U.S.A., Canada, Federated States of Micronesia, Russia, Ethiopia, Samoa, Rwanda, and Zambia have each received a film grant. Grant awards range from $1,000 to $10,000. The next deadline to apply for a grant is December 15. Stay tuned for previously awarded film projects screening in the upcoming 2011 festival circuit around the world! Photography Program The photography exhibition of the 2010 All Roads Photography Program awardees' work can be seen in the National Geographic courtyard in Washington, D.C., through November 21. Three photographers were recognized in three categories of awards: Sumit Dayal (Kashmir) as an Emerging Photographer, Tomás Munita (Chile) as a Mid-career Photographer, and Rashid Talukder as a Pioneer Photographer. Dayal presents the daily life of his culture and history in Kashmir, a region that has been the center of conflict between India and Pakistan for decades, in his winning photo-essay "On Going Home." Munita's "Lost Harvest–The Death of Loa River" captures the dichotomy of traditions and culture against the onslaught of modern mining in the isolated high Atacama Desert of Chile. And as Pioneer Photographer, Talukder, a photographer for nearly 50 years, documented the most crucial period in his homeland's history of Bangladesh in his photo-essay "The 1971 Liberation War." National Geographic All Roads Hosts Screening of Boy at AFI Fest AFI FEST 2010 presented by Audi Grauman's Chinese Theatre, neighboring Mann 6 Theaters, and the Egyptian Theatre All regular screenings are free! Boy New Zealand | DIR Taika Waititi CAST: James Rolleston, Te Aho Eketone-Whitu, Taika Waititi The year is 1984, and 11-year-old Boy is a dreamer who spends his days idolizing Michael Jackson, fantasizing about his first hickey, and inventing memories of his absent thug father. When Dad returns home in a cool muscle car and leather jacket, Boy is determined to please him. Meanwhile, Boy's younger brother Rocky fancies himself a superhero, and a sprawling brood of cousins expect Boy to fix them supper. As Boy gradually realizes that his father lacks any parenting skills, he is forced to forget and forgive his hero in order to find his own potential. In a film that abounds in wonderful-terrible King of Pop impersonations, all the actors inhabit their roles with joy and bumbling grace. Stepping lightly between over-the-top comedy and gentle naturalism, writer/director Taika Waititi's heart-tugging story explores the elusive moment when a boy starts to make the choices that determine the man he will become. Saturday, November 6 6:15 p.m. Mann Theatre #6 Get your free tickets starting Thursday, October 28 at AFI.com or AFI.com/AFIFEST or by calling 1-866-AFI-FEST. You can also obtain tickets by going to the Festival Box Office located at the Mann 6 Theatre in Hollywood, CA, starting on October 26, or on the day of the screenings via rush lines.     If you received this email from a friend and would like to subscribe to this or other National Geographic emails, click here. Unsubscribe | Change Email Address | Update Email Preferences | Privacy Policy | Mission Statement | NGS Customer Service Click the unsubscribe link above to be removed from our email program, or send your request to... 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