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2007-2008-2009
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Ed Sharpe / CouryGraph Productions
 Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV 2007 EMMY®Award Winner

2007
Rocky Mountain Region  Emmy® Award Winner for Breaking News/ Continuing Coverage 

FIRST IN GLENDALE!

 


Berkeley Film Festival
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2011



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2009 - 2010 -2011 





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2007-2008-2009

 

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2006-2007-2008


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2007-2008-2009
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2013-2014

 


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2008/2009

 

 

Trophy photo
2007/2008/2009 Aegis 
Finalists and Winners


Accolade Award Winner
2007-2008-20010


Arizona Assn. of Black Journalists Diversity Winner
2008/2009

 


Arizona Press Club Winner
Ed Sharpe, 
The Glendale Daily Planet:
  Use of Online Media
  "Cesar E. Chavez 2007"

 


Berekeley Film Festival
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2009-2010-2012

 

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CouryGraph
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CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RADIO SOCIETY IS PLEASED TO HONOR

EDWARD A. SHARPE
WITH THE
CHARLES D. 'DOC' HERROLD AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN THE PRESERVATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF EARLY RADIO.

BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 1992:

 

 

 

 

CouryGraph Productions

 

Ed Sharpe / CouryGraph Productions / Glendale Daily Planet /  KKAT-IPTV Background

 

 

Ed Sharpe 1972 W/ 4x5 Speed Graphic

   

NCOIC 2037 Com. SQ MARS Station Luke AFB


Ed Sharpe  1973 USAF TAC Photo Winner


Ed Sharpe 1978 Trans Rent-A-Car Shoot


Ed Sharpe in darkroom 1978-79

Ed Sharpe Large Format  Symposium 1981

 

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 Ed Sharpe CEO Computer Exchange Inc

 HP-2000F  timeshare system on display At SMECC -  originally bought by Maricopa Community Colleges and then when retired was run as a time share system  in the early days at Computer Exchange Inc.   located in Phoenix Arizona.  It was upgraded to a HP 2000 Access towards the end of it's service.

 

Ed Sharpe accepting 2007 Rocky Mountain Emmy® Award in Advanced Media 

 

Meet Ed Sharpe

 


  The Early Years

An Emmy-award-winning director and photojournalist, Sharpe’s photography, broadcast and engineering  career spans three states and over 3 decades. Sharpe started the Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV team in 2004. 

Sharpe  did his first radio engineering as a youth back in the mid 60's in the Los angles area. It seemed many kids he attend school with wanted to be  'disc jockeys' - Sharpe though could furnish a transmitter! His  first  use of video  dates back to 1968 and directed and taught other students to use the  then newly emerging 1/2 video tape technology  at the high school he attended.

During his tour in the US Air Force where Sharpe was a specialist in radio communications maintenance and operations, he also  participated in  doing  photography for the "Jet Journal" the Luke AFB newspaper as well as  "The Westsider" which covered Goodyear, Avondale and Cashion. During this time period Sharpe garnered  many letters of  appreciation both from  the Luke  AFB  information office and his   squadron's recognition.

 

 

After the Air Force

After working as a photographer both for himself and others, Ed Sharpe relegated it back to an avocation when he started Computer Exchange Inc at the end of 1979. Sharpe continued to do photography to document communications history and received the  CHRS Charles D. "Doc" Herrold Award for preservation and Documentation of Electronics communion history at the end of the 1980's 

 

 

Modern Times

After  Starting the Glendale Daily Planet /KKAT-IPTV,  Sharpe  was able to share some of his talent with other media efforts also. In 2006 he assisted Glendale 11 during the shooting of the program they did on the Jazz Festival. If you see that old tape look at the  portion of the programming with Carvin Jones.... I am running the camera on the left side of the stage, Deb running the center camera, Rubin Trujillo  on the right side and Bill Meyer switching between us!

A regular contributor to other newspapers such as The Glendale Star and  Panorama Hills Monthly, Sharpe enjoys getting his work out where it can be seen and enjoyed by others.

 

Also of note, Ed  and the Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV was the first Glendale Arizona News Media Outlet to receive an Emmy®  Award.  In addition,  this was also the first Advanced Media  Emmy Award to be presented for Breaking news/ Continuing Coverage in the Rocky Mountain Region.

 

Enjoying all phases of the enterprise Sharpe also enjoys teaching other people that enter the field. 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My first Speed Graphic Camera  Purchased  from Sgt Compton when he went to Alaska to work on Radar's there. Photo shot at barracks at Luke AFB Arizona

   

NCOIC 2037 Com. SQ MARS Station Luke AFB

 

 

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Ed Sharpe TAC Photo Contest Winner  Proceeded to get Honorable Mention Air Force World-Wide.

 

 
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Photo dated Jun 72

 

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Meet Ed Sharpe - Early 70's with Mamiya RB-67 Bought from Dan George at Guild Camera

 

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73 74? West Valley art league show

 

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Date???

 

I got  home  from the Transmitter Site and everyone  filled my room and wanted to Jam. 
 We used to irritate some of the country and western fans  with our Rock n' Roll 

 

 

Mid- 1970's

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Steve Coppinger and Ed Sharpe  visit to Norman G. Wallace 
of early Arizona Highways fame

 

 
 

                 

 

 

 

Shot By Roger Williams 
at Christown who 
I worked for  74/75

 

In the Darkroom... 1977 or 1978

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HERMAN CRYLE'S ARIZ-PRO LABS 1977 or 1978 - I WOULD GO TO TAKE WORK IN HANG OUT EAT LUNCH!
AND A FEW SHOTS IN THE SHARPE PHOTOGRAPHIC 6415 W CARON UPSTAIRS OF  THE HOUSE!

 

 

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Trans Rent-a-Car Shoot. Paul DiGruccio landed this  for us and we shot it! 
It was on a courtesy card, also brochures and even a bill-board!
(click photos  for larger view... these  were scanned of a contact sheet so a little  fuzzy!)

 

 

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Another  from my photography days!             Ed Sharpe Large Format  Symposium 1981

 

Ed Sharpe Interviews Sgt. Joe Turitto Glendale Police Department  During a Mock DUI
Presentation at Ironwood High School. Photo by Heather Thompson 

 

 

 

WE SCREENED!

YOUR MOVE...

  www.smecc.org/media/yourmove512.wmv loband
 
http://www.smecc.org/media/your%20move%20final%203.1%20mbps%20%20credits.wmv
Hiband

 

 

 

 

 

Rose Prescott AKA 'COCO WHITMAN" displays
 the  AVA award the CouryGraph Productions 
Crew won for  Cam Stryker Man From T.R.A.S.H.

The Legend of the Evil Count Spatula

"Sharpe takes the literal challenge of making a common kitchen utensil into an epic maelstrom of comedic proportions"  -  Mel Vapour, Director, BVFF.

 
Laura Graff Hit and Run - Search for the Driver
 
"The Emmy Award Winning, Glendale Arizona news gatherer, Ed Sharpe, is once again on the scene for this short news spot in the heinous hit and run accident involving local resident Laura Graff, Sharpe's daily news-webcasts are legendary and award winning in Arizona and beyond." Mel Vapour, Director, BVFF.

 

 

 

One Upon a Time...
In A Little Town Called Prescott...

The Teleprompter Cable Experiment!

 

 

 

Glendale Daily Planet /KKAT-IPTV News Goes Really  "In Depth" 
The Site Embraces 3D Video Imaging Technology Giving Users 
‘Deep News Viewing Pleasure’!

 

 Glendale, AZ -- The Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV, an IPTV station owned by Ed Sharpe of  CouryGraph Productions in Glendale, Arizona, unveiled the latest technology initiative to be deployed by the station. “3D,” according to Sharpe, “Has been around for since before the Civil War. The public first experienced it in the parlors of Victorian era homes as a form of entertainment and education with cards that had two images on them. Viewer consisted of either handheld devices or elaborate table top cabinet style viewers ” Photo By Bette Sharpe

 


Early 3-D Cameras from the SMECC Museum Collection L to R –
Rochester Optical Company 5x8 View Camera 1895,
Scoville 5x8 with Prosch Triplex Stereo Shutter 1889
Connely 5x7 ‘bicycle style folding stereo plate camera 1995
Photo By Ed Sharpe

 

 

 

Glendale, AZ -- The Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV, an IPTV station owned by Ed Sharpe of  CouryGraph Productions in Glendale, Arizona, unveiled the latest technology initiative to be deployed by the station. “3D,” according to Sharpe, “Has been around for since before the Civil War. The public first experienced it in the parlors of Victorian era homes as a form of entertainment and education with cards that had two images on them. Viewer consisted of either handheld devices or elaborate table top cabinet style viewers ”

 

Sharpe continued, " When you would place the card into a special 2 lens viewer you would be able to see a resulting three dimensional image of the scene. How did this get on the card? Easy! It was done with a camera with two lenses separated roughly the intraocular distance of your eyes."

 

The KKAT-IPTV 3-D   NEWSCAM made its debut at the Country Inn & Suites at 20221 North 29th Ave on January 15, 2008 during a Glendale Chamber Of Commerce Mixer. Regarded with high amounts of curiosity by party goes due to it's off two lens look, Sharpe was besieged with questions about it.

 

Sharpe states" If you are just going to shoot a line up of people or a city council meeting, the advantage to 3D is not as apparent as if you are videoing cars coming towards you, fists flying towards the lens or parts moving towards the camera in a conveyor belt. In other words… extreme movement is good!”

 

The version of this technology deployed by the Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV was developed keeping in mind that it was desirable for footage shot in this system of 3-D could be re-mastered for any future 3-D methodology. Sharpe elaborates  ”If you have   footage shot with two cameras, it can be used in a 2 color Anaglyph image 3-D system, or later chopped and sequenced into a field sequential viewing system format, or even run to two separate projectors that utilize polarizing technologies to produce the 3-D imagery.”

 

Anaglyph images are the most popular presentation of 3-D and the one most commonly associated with stereoscopy by the public at large. It is largely popular because of their ease in producing.

 

In an anaglyph, the two images are either superimposed in an additive light setting through two filters, one red and one cyan, or this process can be done electronically within the video editor. Glasses with colored filters in either eye separate the appropriate images and give you a ‘near real’ color scheme.

 

The use of this technology from the viewer’s perspective, according to Sharpe, couldn't be simpler. “The viewer just puts on the glasses and looks at the window on the webpage.”

 

Always willing to share innovative endeavors he is involved in, Sharpe enjoys collaboration and educating others on the technology at hand. Contact Ed and Glendale Daily Planet at http://www.glendaledailyplanet.com for information and  resource links on 3D Technology

 

The future? Sharpe chuckles…” Probably like the 3-D image of Princess Leila in star wars that R2-D2 projected for Luke to view… no screens no glasses just… the image… but…  it is still a ways off for living room news viewing!”

 

To learn more on the fascinating history of 3-d still and moving imagery give Google a workout!  You will be entertained for days with the amount of information out there. In is fun to read about the ‘early’ 3-D movies that Hollywood turned out…

 

The cool KKAT is wearing a new set of shades these days!

 

 

 

Top 2 photos… Ed  Sharpe for Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV
records footage of  the  Mock Airline Crash at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale Arizona for a 3-D   News special on Glendale Fire Department Community Training Involvement
Photos by  Daniel  Valenzuela Glendale Fire Department

 

Photo above - Ed  Sharpe for Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV   records footage of  an interview with Glendale Fire Department PIO Daniel T. Valenzuela at the  Mock Airline Crash at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale Arizona for a 3-D   News special on Glendale Fire Department Community Training Involvement 
Photo by Glendale Fire Captain John Walter II.

---------------------------

About CouryGraph Productions / Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV in Glendale, AZ

Glendale Daily Planet, the parent organization of KKAT-IPTV was started in 2004 as the first community journalism news site in Glendale and perhaps all of Arizona... Serving The Metro West Side of the Valley of the Sun, Glendale Daily Planet has witnessed, participated in and recorded the further rejuvenation of the downtown core, the meteoric rise of the 'Glendale Sports Empire' and the restoration of historic sections of the town.


One aspect Sharpe is most proud of is the ability to have a continuous 24/7 stream of archived footage in the player but yet, when a special event arises, have the ability to go live interrupting the pre-programmed content to cover the event. With the advent of higher speed EVDO radio cards and compact portable satellite terminals the options are limitless.


Residents can now catch stories of interest on their schedule, taking advantage of the on-demand character of Internet media. No more waiting for 5 or 10pm and no need to program the TiVo. Important stories remain available, a mouse click away, for years in the online archives..

Sharpe is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), Independent Feature Project (IFP) (IFP/PHX), Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communications and Computation (SMECC), Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) and other associations.


The work of Ed Sharpe from CouryGraph Productions and other participative community journalists and engineering staff may be viewed, 24-hours a day, seven days a week at
http://www.glendaledailyplanet.com/  .


Interested in having your work seen by the world? Contact the Glendale Daily Planet / KKAT-IPTV to schedule airing! Use the email link on the site.

 

 

  

Ed appears as a Wall-E look-alike!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.smecc.org/media/cam_spy_spy_cold_1e_movie_512.wmv


Put Online Feb 20, 2009

http://www.smecc.org/media/cam_spy_spy_cold_1e_3mbps.wmv

Right Click and then 'SAVE AS" High Bandwith 3MBPS

 

Cam Stryker in:

The Warehouse of Doom!

 

523kbps       3mbps-play only if you have  large pipe

 

 

 

 

Ed and Bette Sharpe -  at the Rocky Mountain  Emmy® Awards Ceremony held at the
Renaissance Hotel and Conference Center in Glendale Arizona October 6th, 2007.
(Photo by Julie Sharpe)

 

 

 

Ed and Bette Sharpe at ZOE's Sandwich shop after a A3F Film Contest Meeting! 2007
It was novel for awhile to lug the award around!

 

Bette Sharpe With HERMES Award she won for photographic work

 

 

 

    

No... I was not there but these are cool so I bought them!

 

 

 

CouryGraph Productions  Reels in a Grand Festival 
Award at the 2009 Berkeley Video & Film Festival !

BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2009
An Independent Cinematic Marathon
 

Screening September 25, and 26
Continuous Screenings Start at  -  7:30pm Friday . 12:00am Saturday . 1:00pm  
Friday, September 25, 2009 and Saturday, September 26, 2009
Landmark Shattuck Cinemas . 2230 Shattuck Avenue in Downtown Berkeley

© 2008 - Glendale Daily Planet Staff
www.glendaledailyplanet.com

 


 

 


 

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Ed Sharpe Director at  CouryGraph productions, has received a BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2009 Grand Festival Award  for the entry "IN THE GRIP OF THE COLD" .

 

The East Bay Media Center proudly presents the 18th Edition of the Berkeley Video & Film Festival, screening in Downtown Berkeley at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas - 2113 Kitteredge at Shattuck in Downtown Berkeley California September 25 and 26.

 

The exact time of Sharpe's film screening will be: Saturday night at 11:52pm
  -But there is so much to see...
To see all the Berkeley Video & Film Festival 
Official Selections and the Program Schedule go to: http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org/

 

One production that caught Sharpe's eye  is a documentary  “YOU DON’T KNOW JACK: THE JACK SOO STORY” By  JEFF ADACHI


Jeff Adachi, director of the documentary The Slanted Screen, which examined the history of Asian-Americans in Hollywood, takes on the life story of singer and comedic actor Jack Soo. From his childhood in Oakland to his young adulthood in Japanese internment camps during World War II-era, and finally to his breakthrough roles in Flower Drum Song, Valentine’s Day and Barney Miller, the erstwhile Goro Suzuki’s brave refusal to comply with America’s “oriental” stereotypes almost single-handedly broke the mold, recasting Asian Americans in a new light in our popular entertainment. 69 minutes. Screens Saturday at 1:15pm Grand Festival Award

 

A few other that  jumped off the page for us here at the planet were: Curses and Sermons, Under My Garden, Behind The Wheel, Karma Calling, Words of Advice and The Devil At Your Feet... But Wait! There Is more! See the complete list at the BVFF website!

 

Sharpe stated : "The mix of documentaries, features, shorts, works by young producers, experimental films and more rivals any of the  festivals I normally attend." He continued "It is unbelievable Vapour and his group can offer this entertainment at a $13 dollar a day pass rate!"

 

Being able to interact with producers, directors and cinematographers is what makes attending a live screening like this a great event.

 

"We're amazed by the quality of the  creative work shown at the festival" said  Sharpe. "We're honored that our production were chosen to be screened and also to receive a prestigious award."

 

CouryGraph Productions competed against filmmakers from the Bay area and also those that participated internationally.

 

Festival Director Mel Vapour stated: "Over 150 submissions were received and juried this year and the quality of this year's submissions was extremely high and competitive for the final screenings. The screening / jury committee feels it has selected works that reflect the highest artistic integrity of all the submissions. " (see the link to the  list on BVFF site to see all of the  productions that will screen)

 

Vapour continued "Since our previous BVFF, we have witnessed a regime change in Washington, and a global economic collapse, however, the spirit of indie cinema prevails, as witnessed by this years remarkable filmmakers and their substantive creative endeavors."

Sharpe regularly participates in Film Festivals internationally as well as his home base of Arizona. When he is not out directing creative dramatic works, he is going though the same process with fact filled news reporting for the metro Westside  -  'Valley of the Sun' in Arizona.

 

Sharpe stated: "With all the new growth in the west valley it presents an ever evolving canvas for my camera to record." He continued: "The new world-class Stadium and other sports facilities, new shopping districts, fascinating constructions projects... it is a newsman's heaven!"

 

Sharpe enjoys  works of whimsy such as the  Cam Stryker series.  Sharpe states, " Cam Stryker  allows me to let my imagination fly while at the same time incorporating  some of  my  thoughts and ideas..."  Sharpe adds,: "Works of fiction allow  my wife Bette and I to collaborate starting from the  rudiments of a  story idea and though all the processes leading up to the final screening,"

 

"Ed Sharpe's "In The Grip Of the Cold" is a 'snotty' glimpse of a fallen media warrior from the flu 'bugs'. No trophy is safe, from the green phlegm spewing from his proboscis. This is all in good fun, and his acting talents improve with each short he makes. After all, he's a TV media veteran that's out in the field daily, 'cept when  the bugs attack."  - Mel Vapour, Director BVFF

----------------------------------------------------------------

Ed Sharpe and CouryGraph Productions  dramatic and video news reporting can be seen at www.glendaledailyplanet.com In addition there are email links at the site to contact Sharpe and his group.

  To see all the Berkeley Video & Film Festival Official Selections and the Program Schedule go to: http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org/

 


TICKETS
Tickets. $13. General Admission. $10. Students . Elders.
All tickets are valid for the entire day and evening.
Tickets available at the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas Box Office
2230 Shattuck Avenue . Downtown Berkeley . Box Office . 510.464.5980
Festival Info . 510.843.3699
www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org
BVFF Ticket holders and attendees: Please plan to arrive at least ten minutes prior to any listed film(s) during our marathon continuous screening schedule, to insure seating and to allow for programming offsets.

BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2009
An Independent Cinematic Marathon BVFF’s two day event this year, features outstanding and challenging independent new cinema from Italy, Cuba, Germany, Venezuela, Great Britain, and the USA, as well as, 15 local San Francisco Bay Area Filmmakers being represented.

 


 

The BVFF 2009, encompasses some of the best of the Independent Film communities
Features, Short Features, Student Filmmakers, Documentaries and more;
 some of the Highlights of this years’ BVFF include:

 

 

ANIMATION - MACHINIMA

“THE SUNFISHER” - CECIL HIRVI aka GEORGE AGUILAR
Aguilar continues his series of virtual films, unleashing his avatar alter ego Cecil Hirvi in Second Life for another installment of “Machinima Poetry.” This episode finds Hirvi finding himself as he gazes into the media mirror, watching old Hollywood footage of young soldier’s uncertain return from the battlefield to the open fields of Wyoming. 15 minutes. Screens Friday at 8:10pm
Grand Festival Award

“DIVISION DENIM” - BARRY LEVY
A poor downtrodden kid in a third world country making the low priced clothes we can’t live without, in our buy more, care less society crashes the location for a commercial and it’s payback time - ninja style. 3 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:40pm Grand Festival Award

ARTS

‘CRACKED GODDESS” – COLIN STILL and OPTIC NERVE - Great Britain
A sunny trip through the studio and sited pieces of sculptor, Amy Evans McClure, with poem by Michael McClure and music by Terry Riley. 7 minutes. Screens Saturday at 8:00pm *West Coast Premiere
Grand Festival Award

“HOMELAND SECURITY” - LaDONNA WITMER and MICHELLE M. BROWN
A carnivalesque cinematic poem employs the imagery of Santa Cruz and its boardwalk amusement park as a backdrop for a rumination on communication, honesty and vulnerability. 4 minutes.
Screens Friday at 8:05pm Grand Festival Award

CELL PHONE - WEBCAM VIDS

“ALT_VIEW” - KENT SPARLING
A portrait of San Francisco made exclusively with mobile devices, juxtaposing unusual visual and acoustic perspectives of S.F.’s iconic locations. 7 minutes. Screens Saturday at 11:44pm
Grand Festival Award

COMEDY

“IN THE GRIP OF THE COLD” - ED SHARPE
Cam Stryker falls prey to a pandemic; no doubt the “Evil Doctor Vibe” is romping all over the downtown citizenry. 3 minutes. Screens Saturday at 11:52pm Grand Festival Award

DOCUMENTARIES

“BEHIND THE WHEEL” - TAO RUSPOLI and LAFCO
Director Tao Ruspoli and his band of Los Angeles filmmaker cohorts outfitted an old school bus as a fully equipped portable production studio and set off across the United States in search of art and artists. The journey takes across the country’s southern states in a quixotic examination of the intersection of the personal and the political. 84 minutes. Screens Saturday at 9:25pm
Grand Festival Award

“WORDS OF ADVICE - WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS ON THE ROAD”
LARS MOVIN and STEEN M. RASMUSSEN - DENMARK
Influential experimental artist and writer William Burroughs as few have seen him. Burroughs toured often in his final decades, reading from his work in theaters and clubs, bringing his unique diction and wily humor to bear on his wildly original prose. The prickly aloofness of his image is belied by his bashful charm as he meets and greets his fans, but when the lights dim and the microphone swings into place, the fierce, fiery satirist, sage and starry-eyed dreamer is unleashed, revealing a performer of great wit, drama and strength. 74 minutes. Screens Saturday at 8:10pm *US Premiere.
Grand Festival Award

“YOU DON’T KNOW JACK: THE JACK SOO STORY” - JEFF ADACHI
Jeff Adachi, director of the documentary The Slanted Screen, which examined the history of Asian-Americans in Hollywood, takes on the life story of singer and comedic actor Jack Soo. From his childhood in Oakland to his young adulthood in Japanese internment camps during World War II-era, and finally to his breakthrough roles in Flower Drum Song, Valentine’s Day and Barney Miller, the erstwhile Goro Suzuki’s brave refusal to comply with America’s “oriental” stereotypes almost single-handedly broke the mold, recasting Asian Americans in a new light in our popular entertainment. 69 minutes. Screens Saturday at 1:15pm Grand Festival Award

“OH MY GOD! IT’S HARROD BLANK” - DAVID SILBERBERG
Harrod Blank’s life is every bit as much a peripatetic work of art as the eccentric, eclectic art cars to which he has devoted his life. Silverberg’s film tracks the farm boy-turned-artist as he passes through UC Santa Cruz and Berkeley in his single-minded—some would say obsessive—pursuit of self-expression, enlisting a series of girlfriends as sidekicks on a rambling journey that is at times maddening but never less than fascinating and endearing. 75 minutes. Screens Saturday at 5:18pm
Grand Festival Award

“THE DEVIL AT YOUR FEET” - BRIAN DARWAS and JENNIFER CARCHIETTA
Ride along with Hot Rod Builder and Award Winning Filmmaker ( The Road to Bonneville ), Brain Darwas, as he travels over three-thousand miles from East to West. Visit Car Clubs, and hot rod builders, with a passion for traditional hot rods, nailheads, flatheads, and the open road. A Hot Rodding movie so intense, it will leave you with grease stains and the smell of exhaust . 61 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 6:45pm *West Coast Premiere Grand Festival Award

“KAZIAH, THE GOAT WOMAN” - AMY JANES and KATHLEEN DOLAN
Kaziah Hancock, armed with oils and brushes, celebrates the lives of U.S. Soldiers, killed in Iraq, by painting gift portraits for their families; honoring over 600 American Soldiers. On her remote ranch in Utah, she also raises goats. Born into a polygamist sect, she knows the meaning of freedom, as she’s had to fight for hers. Liberation and discovery of self, is joyfully celebrated in her art and this cinematic document . 25 minutes. Screens Saturday at 4:25pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award

“CIUDAD del FUTURO” - DAMIAN CARNERO and KARIN LOSERT - CUBA *Premiere
The critical history of a former socialist model town in the outskirts of Havana, told by the adult children of its first inhabitants. 20 minutes. Screens Saturday at 3:02pm Grand Festival Award

“RAINBOW WARRIORS” ( GUERREROS DEL ARCOIRIS )
GABRIELA GONZALEZ FUENTES and LA TAGUARA FILMICA - VENEZUELA
A close-up look into Bolivia’s radical changes, led by indigenous populations and the resistance against them by minority groups holding economic power. 30 minutes. Screens Saturday at 3:23pm
*US Premiere Grand Festival Award

“BASKETBAL GURU” - DOUG HARRIS
An affectionate biography of the legendary basketball coach who started at the University of San Francisco and went on to coach for Cal and the U.S. Olympic team. 13 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 2:25pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award

“WHITE MOVEMENT” - EMIO TOMEONI
As Berkeley attempts to lead toward Climate Change, a cast of characters emerges with issues of their own. 11 minutes. Screens Saturday at 2:50pm Grand Festival Award

EDUCATIONAL

“DISCOVER YOUR HEALTHY WEIGHT” - CONNIE SOBCZAK
A different view of weight and health, with professionals and ‘real’ women sharing their problems with dieting and methods of living healthier and happier lives. 26 minutes. Screens Saturday at 12:45pm
Grand Festival Award

ETHNOGRAPHIC

“POLKA FACE” - ANDREA YOUNG
The filmmaker returns to her hometown and gives an affectionate capsule of quilting, concertina clubs, church festivals, and the seasonal cycle of country chores, all with rural Minnesota charm.
6 minutes. Screens Saturday at 4:50pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award

“ZAPOOK OF THE NORTH “ - HOLLAND WILDE
A soci-cultural memory mash up, reviving the tenets of ethnographic surrealism. Please don’t eat the yellow snow! 14 minutes. Screens Saturday at 11:18pm Grand Festival Award

EXPERIMENTAL

“FOSSIL LIGHT” - TONY GAULT
A little story about the ‘preservation’ of an endangered species. 11 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 11:33pm *West Coast Premiere Grand Festival Award

“I KNOW WHO REALLY SENT THE ANTHRAX LETTERS” - NEIL IRA NEEDLEMAN
What family secrets are hidden in the grainy ghost images of ancient 8mm celluloid? Something to think about the next time you open your mail. 7 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:58pm
*West Coast Premiere Grand Festival Award

“SACRIFICIO” - PETER TURNER
An erotic journey of awakening and surrender; told through layers of shifting realities, images, masks, sound, color, archetypal beings and natural elements. 9 minutes. Screens Friday at 11:05pm
*Premiere Grand Festival Award

“WALL TAPS” - CAROL JACOBSEN
Carol Jacobsen’s short documentary roams the perimeter of a women’s prison in what amounts to a sustained traveling shot of fences, gates and barbed wire. Superimposed periodically are the faces of former inmates as they relate their experiences of fear, humiliation, degradation and shame as intermittent glimpses flicker by of life inside the prison gates. 10 minutes. Screens Saturday at 2:39pm
*West Coast Premiere Grand Festival Award

FEATURES

“KARMA CALLING” - SARBA DAS
“A fable about hope and love for a family of Hindus from Hoboken,” as the narrator describes, Das’s feature takes place at the intersection of two strands of western-influenced easterners. An Indian family living in New Jersey finds itself stretched thin under the cultural and financial strains of American life. Meanwhile, in India, a young man employed as a call-center info peddler for an American corporation also hears the call to go west in the form of an unexpected long-distance romance. 90 minutes. Screens Friday at 9:35pm Grand Festival Award

SHORT FEATURES

“UNDER MY GARDEN” ( SOTTO IL MIO GIARDINO ) - ANDREA LODOVICHETTI - ITALY
In Lodovichetti’s evocative and ominous short film, a boy’s interest in the behavior of ants, paired with the disappearance of a neighbor’s wife and his new affair with a young, nearly naked companion, leads the boy to suspect that a body is buried in the yard in a sort of miniature Rear Window told from a child’s perspective. Golden Globe Award Winner, The Spike Lee Award and over 30 Major International Film Festival Awards. 19 minutes. Screens Friday at 9:15pm Grand Festival Award

“CURSES and SERMONS” - NIC SAUNDERS and 14167 FILMS - GREAT BRITAIN
Nic Saunders’ short film is a mystic reimagining of a Michael McClure poem, “Rainbows Reflected on Sheer Black,” that is both expressionistic and eclectic, ranging from rugged Western to Technicolor dream/nightmare. 15 minutes. Screens Friday at 8:40pm *West Coast Premiere
Grand Festival Award

“SCISSU” - TOM BOWILOGUA and ALEX BEIER - GERMANY
A bevy of buzzing lights, visceral electronic noise, pulsing heartbeats and a sort of breathy claustrophobia suffuse this unsettling film of sex, guns, violence and depravity. It is a story told in reverse, constantly stepping backward to fill in the gaps, gradually piecing together a plot consisting of desperate people resorting to desperate means in pursuit of cheap thrills, fleeting pleasures and sensual violence. In German with English subtitles. 27 minutes. Screens Saturday at 10:50pm *US Premiere
Grand Festival Award

“AT NIGHT” - MAX LANDES and PHILIP ACETO
A couple watches an erotic mystery on a giant TV. Soon their world and that of the glowing box merge. Who is in remote control? 11 minutes. Screens Friday at 8:25pm Grand Festival Award

“BIRTH CONTROL” - JONATHAN DANE
An extremely quick take on love, marriage, pregnancy and malaise. 3 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:54pm
Grand Festival Award

“DIAMOND” - GERALD GUTSCHMIDT and PAMELA WEI ENDIRA
An eleven year old, grows more desperate when his grandmother puts herself in the way between him and his jailed father. 12 minutes. Screens Saturday at 5:05pm Grand Festival Award

STUDENT FILMMAKERS

“THE EDGE OF THE SEA” - MARIA JOSE CALDERON
Puerto Rican fisherman trying to stop coastline development, privatization and beach erosion.
27 minutes. Screens Saturday at 3:54pm Grand Festival Award

“THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW” - KELLEN MOORE
An innocent young girl, fearful of the outside world, has never ventured outside the comforts of her own home. 9 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:44pm Grand Festival Award

“THE DISGRUNTLED WORKER” - GRETCHEN OLIVERO
A young man starts a new job in an isolated factory with restrictions and odd occurrences, which lead to his termination. 4 minutes. Screens Saturday at 4:58pm Grand Festival Award

MUSIC VIDS

“ESCAPE FROM OAKLAND” - DAN K HARVEST
Dan K Harvest’s guerilla-style music video follows a local rapper’s attempt to escape—by car, by bike, by any means necessary—his evil record company’s plan to cast him in a reality show. The clip takes us on a madcap journey through Berkeley and Oakland as the beleaguered hip-hopper tries to buck the corporate hacks and keep it real in the East Bay’s urban jungle. 7 minutes. Screens Saturday at 6:35pm
Kustom Kar Kommando Award

“FRIDA IN THE MIRROR” - ADRIAN ARIAS
An experimental music vid-poem with twenty women dressed like Frida to honor the power, force and sensuality of women. 5 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:35pm Grand Festival Award

“OBAMA WON!” - DON ARBOR
Inspired by a dream, an uplifting song, matched with positive images from the campaign. 4 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:30pm Grand Festival Award

YOUNG PRODUCERS

“MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE”
CASSIE FOX-MOUNT and EAST BAY MEDIA CENTER’S SUMMER TEEN MEDIA CAMP 2009

A behind-the-scenes look at the fashion industry from the perspectives of various fashion professionals. Exploring themes of body image, personal style, the creative process and social responsibility; delivering stunning visuals, consistent humor and compelling ideas. 28 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 12:15pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award

“BEAUTY AMONG DECAY” DIEGO BRAVO, OREN BECKER, KIERAN NAGEOTTE AND JOSH KARON - UNCONVENTIONAL METHODS and EAST BAY MEDIA CENTER’S SUMMER TEEN MEDIA CAMP 2009
The ‘campers’ focus on urban decay and elegance, “beauty is in the eye of the camera”. 10 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 12:00pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award




Friday, September 25, 2009 and Saturday, September 26, 2009
Landmark Shattuck Cinemas . 2230 Shattuck Avenue in Downtown Berkeley
TICKETS
Tickets. $13. General Admission. $10. Students . Elders.
All tickets are valid for the entire day and evening.
Tickets available at the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas Box Office

2230 Shattuck Avenue . Downtown Berkeley . Box Office . 510.464.5980
Festival Info . 510.843.3699
www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org
BVFF Ticket holders and attendees: Please plan to arrive at least ten minutes prior to any listed film(s) during our marathon continuous screening schedule, to insure seating and to allow for programming offsets.

 

 

 

 

 

2010 Berkeley Video & Film Festival - This Weekend!

Showing at - Landmark Shattuck Cinemas . 2230 Shattuck Avenue in Downtown Berkeley

By Ed Sharpe  Glendale Daily Planet -  material gleaned from  EMBC &  BVFF and conversations with Mel 

A special Director's Cut of  Cam Stryker in the  Warehouse of Doom, a whimsical comedic terror film,  screens this weekend  alongside one of the most amazing collection of cinematic treats to be enjoyed on the west coast or... well heck  for anywhere! Try on... BVFF’s 19th edition which  screens 68 outstanding independent filmmakers... It's a sure fit!


Highlights of the three-day event include a spotlight on short films and animation from the students of the USC School of Cinematic Arts; a tribute screening of Nisei Soldier by the late Berkeley documentarian Loni Ding; Bay Area filmmaker Waylon Bacon’s world premiere of Help Wanted, in addition to a selection of his past work; a special presentation of Tao Ruspoli’s documentary Being in the World; a premiere of a “hyper narrative interactive feature film,”
Turbulence, by Nitzan Ben Shaul and Daphne Cohen Ben Shaul from Israel; the world premiere of Canadian filmmaker Mathew Bennett's new feature, Kick Me Down; and Frankie Latina’s blaxploitation-meets-arthouse feature, Modus Operandi, is really what made Milwaukee famous.

 

30 years you  say?

Lets  pause here though and  reflect on the East Bay Media Center that sponsors  The Berkeley Video and Film Festival...

It is a big birthday for these folks... 30 Years!   -   HAPPY BIRTHDAY EBMC!

Mel Vapour states: "The EBMC blossomed out of my, and Paul Blake’s, persuasion that the 1979 Panasonic VHS camera was going to irreversibly and importantly change the course of filmmaking."

Indeed! All it  took was  a reliable and reasonable priced  camera / tape system that was reliable and easy to use as a creative tool.

East Bay Media Center was established in 1980 as a 501(c)3 Non-profit Corporation. By providing technical and educational media needs to communities in the East Bay, EBMC gained popularity as a Media advocate for community involvement, especially for marginalized youth and minorities. 

In the mid -1980’s, EBMC pioneered the camcorder and personal computer video revolution by being the first production/post-production organization to offer integrated video/computer workstations. EBMC created specialized training programs to provide independent producers and organizations with the necessary tools for successfully navigating new technologies. 

In August 1986, EBMC Board of Directors, Mel Vapour, Paul Kealoha Blake and Gloria Belsky presented to Berkeley City Council, a proposal to establish and create a Public Access Cable TV Facility to Mayor Gus Newport. EBMC developed their Interim Access Facility on University Avenue.

In the late 1980’s, EBMC developed Disability Video training programs, and with the help of two California Arts Council Grants and two Vanguard Foundation Grants, we provided the basis for a variety of programming including: African Connections, Pacific Wave, Barrier Free TV, Video 99, and Berkeley Muzik TV. 

To provide a public venue for the works of unknown video artists and producers, EBMC created Berkeley Video & Film Festival in 1991. The festival boasts a growing audience, national attention, and international entries.

The NEW EAST BAY MEDIA CENTER, located in Downtown Berkeley's Arts District, was founded by Mel Vapour and Paul Kealoha Blake in 1998. With the acquisition-purchase of its new Facilities, a new chapter in the future history of EBMC has been chartered.

Mel Vapour states: "The EBMC blossomed out of my, and Paul Blake’s, persuasion that the 1979 Panasonic VHS camera was going to irreversibly and importantly change the course of filmmaking."

 We wanted to get a closer look and document this change. "With the support of George Manupelli (director of Ann Arbor Film Festival), who had met Vapour at the Ann Arbor film festival in the late 60’s, BVFF would become a festival of international acclaim showing unusual, off-beat as well as mainstream documentaries and short film. More importantly, the BVFF grew quickly in popularity because of its willingness to promote highly experimental as well as politically conscious film that would always include the development of highly advanced technical refinement and skill.

 

Students Thrive at BVFF

Mel explains "In as much, this year, the Festival begins by showing astonishing and refreshing films from young producers between the age of 12 and 17 (Like Eric Slack’s film “19”).   "The second portion of outstanding films derives from student-filmmakers in some of the best Institutions of Higher Learning in the world for film: NYU’s Tisch School, University of Austin Texas, UCLA, and USC School of Cinematic Arts. Particularly the latter enables film with sophisticated high technical production value as well as unusual, insightful and wacky stories to develop (some of the best on the planet). "

 

 

But that's not all!

"This year Ryan W. Chen’s We the Divided is a must see! The third portion consists of important features by older and more established filmmakers," Mel tells us.

BVFF’s 19th edition screens 68 outstanding independent filmmakers.


Some more highlights of the three-day event include  a tribute screening of Nisei Soldier by the late Berkeley documentarian Loni Ding; Bay Area filmmaker Waylon Bacon’s world premiere of Help Wanted, in addition to a selection of his past work; a special presentation of Tao Ruspoli’s documentary Being in the World; a premiere of a “hyper narrative interactive feature film,” Turbulence, by Nitzan Ben Shaul and Daphne Cohen Ben Shaul from Israel; the world premiere of Canadian filmmaker Mathew Bennett's new feature, Kick Me Down; and Frankie Latina’s blaxploitation-meets-arthouse feature, Modus Operandi, is really what made Milwaukee famous.

 

"This is our biggest festival yet. We received nearly 200 submissions and we’re screening more films than ever before. Sit back, relax, and let this extraordinary lineup of compelling filmmakers inform, shock, challenge and entertain you."

                                                                                                                                   — Mel Vapour, Director BVFF

 


See all the offerings  and the major awards

An Independent Cinematic Marathon
To see all of the selections being screened and the major awards see: http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org/Official%20Selections%202010.html

Specialty and craft awards will be announced Friday night 


TICKETS   $13. General Admission. $10. Students . Elders. All tickets are valid for the entire day and evening.

Tickets available at the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas Box Office
2230 Shattuck Avenue . Downtown Berkeley . Box Office . 510.464.5980
Festival Info.    510.843.3699    
www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org 

3 Day Event Pass: $27.50 available from East Bay Media Center only.

BVFF Ticket holders and attendees: Please plan to arrive at least ten minutes prior to any listed film(s) during our marathon continuous screening schedule, to insure seating and to allow for programming offsets.

If you  desire accommodations: Hotels for Filmmakers and Festival attendees:

Hotel Shattuck Plaza - 2086 Allston Way - Downtown Berkeley - 510-845-7300 www.hotelshattuckplaza.com

Downtown Berkeley Inn - 2001 Bancroft Way - Downtown Berkeley - 510- 843-4043 www.downtownberkeleyinn.com

 



"Cam Stryker in the Warehouse of Doom" 

 

Ed Sharpe penetrates the 19th Edition of the Berkeley Video and Film Festival 2010, with his latest "Cam Stryker: In the Warehouse of Doom" short film.

 

Sharpe amps up the ante with shimmering film noire flash light lighting techniques, reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project. This episodic self clip approach, reinforces his one man band style of cinema. The story lines are always incidental, his iconic face and Speed Graphic '50's camera prop, reveal his yarn spinning tales are always tongue and chic, this latest version is a mouthful. (see photo at left )
                                        - Mel Vapour, Director, Berkeley Video & Film Festivals

 

"Cam Stryker in the Warehouse of Doom"  Ed Sharpe - CouryGraph Productions - 3:00

 

 

http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org/

© 2010 - Glendale Daily Planet Staff
www.glendaledailyplanet.com

 
 
 
 

 

CouryGraph Productions  Reels in a Grand Festival 
Award at the 2009 Berkeley Video & Film Festival !

BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2009
An Independent Cinematic Marathon
 

Screening September 25, and 26
Continuous Screenings Start at  -  7:30pm Friday . 12:00am Saturday . 1:00pm  
Friday, September 25, 2009 and Saturday, September 26, 2009
Landmark Shattuck Cinemas . 2230 Shattuck Avenue in Downtown Berkeley

© 2008 - Glendale Daily Planet Staff
www.glendaledailyplanet.com

 


 

 


 

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Ed Sharpe Director at  CouryGraph productions, has received a BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2009 Grand Festival Award  for the entry "IN THE GRIP OF THE COLD" .

 

The East Bay Media Center proudly presents the 18th Edition of the Berkeley Video & Film Festival, screening in Downtown Berkeley at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas - 2113 Kitteredge at Shattuck in Downtown Berkeley California September 25 and 26.

 

The exact time of Sharpe's film screening will be: Saturday night at 11:52pm
  -But there is so much to see...
To see all the Berkeley Video & Film Festival 
Official Selections and the Program Schedule go to: http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org/

 

One production that caught Sharpe's eye  is a documentary  “YOU DON’T KNOW JACK: THE JACK SOO STORY” By  JEFF ADACHI


Jeff Adachi, director of the documentary The Slanted Screen, which examined the history of Asian-Americans in Hollywood, takes on the life story of singer and comedic actor Jack Soo. From his childhood in Oakland to his young adulthood in Japanese internment camps during World War II-era, and finally to his breakthrough roles in Flower Drum Song, Valentine’s Day and Barney Miller, the erstwhile Goro Suzuki’s brave refusal to comply with America’s “oriental” stereotypes almost single-handedly broke the mold, recasting Asian Americans in a new light in our popular entertainment. 69 minutes. Screens Saturday at 1:15pm Grand Festival Award

 

A few other that  jumped off the page for us here at the planet were: Curses and Sermons, Under My Garden, Behind The Wheel, Karma Calling, Words of Advice and The Devil At Your Feet... But Wait! There Is more! See the complete list at the BVFF website!

 

Sharpe stated : "The mix of documentaries, features, shorts, works by young producers, experimental films and more rivals any of the  festivals I normally attend." He continued "It is unbelievable Vapour and his group can offer this entertainment at a $13 dollar a day pass rate!"

 

Being able to interact with producers, directors and cinematographers is what makes attending a live screening like this a great event.

 

"We're amazed by the quality of the  creative work shown at the festival" said  Sharpe. "We're honored that our production were chosen to be screened and also to receive a prestigious award."

 

CouryGraph Productions competed against filmmakers from the Bay area and also those that participated internationally.

 

Festival Director Mel Vapour stated: "Over 150 submissions were received and juried this year and the quality of this year's submissions was extremely high and competitive for the final screenings. The screening / jury committee feels it has selected works that reflect the highest artistic integrity of all the submissions. " (see the link to the  list on BVFF site to see all of the  productions that will screen)

 

Vapour continued "Since our previous BVFF, we have witnessed a regime change in Washington, and a global economic collapse, however, the spirit of indie cinema prevails, as witnessed by this years remarkable filmmakers and their substantive creative endeavors."

Sharpe regularly participates in Film Festivals internationally as well as his home base of Arizona. When he is not out directing creative dramatic works, he is going though the same process with fact filled news reporting for the metro Westside  -  'Valley of the Sun' in Arizona.

 

Sharpe stated: "With all the new growth in the west valley it presents an ever evolving canvas for my camera to record." He continued: "The new world-class Stadium and other sports facilities, new shopping districts, fascinating constructions projects... it is a newsman's heaven!"

 

Sharpe enjoys  works of whimsy such as the  Cam Stryker series.  Sharpe states, " Cam Stryker  allows me to let my imagination fly while at the same time incorporating  some of  my  thoughts and ideas..."  Sharpe adds,: "Works of fiction allow  my wife Bette and I to collaborate starting from the  rudiments of a  story idea and though all the processes leading up to the final screening,"

 

"Ed Sharpe's "In The Grip Of the Cold" is a 'snotty' glimpse of a fallen media warrior from the flu 'bugs'. No trophy is safe, from the green phlegm spewing from his proboscis. This is all in good fun, and his acting talents improve with each short he makes. After all, he's a TV media veteran that's out in the field daily, 'cept when  the bugs attack."  - Mel Vapour, Director BVFF

----------------------------------------------------------------

Ed Sharpe and CouryGraph Productions  dramatic and video news reporting can be seen at www.glendaledailyplanet.com In addition there are email links at the site to contact Sharpe and his group.

  To see all the Berkeley Video & Film Festival Official Selections and the Program Schedule go to: http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org/

 


TICKETS
Tickets. $13. General Admission. $10. Students . Elders.
All tickets are valid for the entire day and evening.
Tickets available at the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas Box Office
2230 Shattuck Avenue . Downtown Berkeley . Box Office . 510.464.5980
Festival Info . 510.843.3699
www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org
BVFF Ticket holders and attendees: Please plan to arrive at least ten minutes prior to any listed film(s) during our marathon continuous screening schedule, to insure seating and to allow for programming offsets.

BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2009
An Independent Cinematic Marathon BVFF’s two day event this year, features outstanding and challenging independent new cinema from Italy, Cuba, Germany, Venezuela, Great Britain, and the USA, as well as, 15 local San Francisco Bay Area Filmmakers being represented.

 


 

The BVFF 2009, encompasses some of the best of the Independent Film communities
Features, Short Features, Student Filmmakers, Documentaries and more;
 some of the Highlights of this years’ BVFF include:

 

 

ANIMATION - MACHINIMA

“THE SUNFISHER” - CECIL HIRVI aka GEORGE AGUILAR
Aguilar continues his series of virtual films, unleashing his avatar alter ego Cecil Hirvi in Second Life for another installment of “Machinima Poetry.” This episode finds Hirvi finding himself as he gazes into the media mirror, watching old Hollywood footage of young soldier’s uncertain return from the battlefield to the open fields of Wyoming. 15 minutes. Screens Friday at 8:10pm
Grand Festival Award

“DIVISION DENIM” - BARRY LEVY
A poor downtrodden kid in a third world country making the low priced clothes we can’t live without, in our buy more, care less society crashes the location for a commercial and it’s payback time - ninja style. 3 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:40pm Grand Festival Award

ARTS

‘CRACKED GODDESS” – COLIN STILL and OPTIC NERVE - Great Britain
A sunny trip through the studio and sited pieces of sculptor, Amy Evans McClure, with poem by Michael McClure and music by Terry Riley. 7 minutes. Screens Saturday at 8:00pm *West Coast Premiere
Grand Festival Award

“HOMELAND SECURITY” - LaDONNA WITMER and MICHELLE M. BROWN
A carnivalesque cinematic poem employs the imagery of Santa Cruz and its boardwalk amusement park as a backdrop for a rumination on communication, honesty and vulnerability. 4 minutes.
Screens Friday at 8:05pm Grand Festival Award

CELL PHONE - WEBCAM VIDS

“ALT_VIEW” - KENT SPARLING
A portrait of San Francisco made exclusively with mobile devices, juxtaposing unusual visual and acoustic perspectives of S.F.’s iconic locations. 7 minutes. Screens Saturday at 11:44pm
Grand Festival Award

COMEDY

“IN THE GRIP OF THE COLD” - ED SHARPE
Cam Stryker falls prey to a pandemic; no doubt the “Evil Doctor Vibe” is romping all over the downtown citizenry. 3 minutes. Screens Saturday at 11:52pm Grand Festival Award

DOCUMENTARIES

“BEHIND THE WHEEL” - TAO RUSPOLI and LAFCO
Director Tao Ruspoli and his band of Los Angeles filmmaker cohorts outfitted an old school bus as a fully equipped portable production studio and set off across the United States in search of art and artists. The journey takes across the country’s southern states in a quixotic examination of the intersection of the personal and the political. 84 minutes. Screens Saturday at 9:25pm
Grand Festival Award

“WORDS OF ADVICE - WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS ON THE ROAD”
LARS MOVIN and STEEN M. RASMUSSEN - DENMARK
Influential experimental artist and writer William Burroughs as few have seen him. Burroughs toured often in his final decades, reading from his work in theaters and clubs, bringing his unique diction and wily humor to bear on his wildly original prose. The prickly aloofness of his image is belied by his bashful charm as he meets and greets his fans, but when the lights dim and the microphone swings into place, the fierce, fiery satirist, sage and starry-eyed dreamer is unleashed, revealing a performer of great wit, drama and strength. 74 minutes. Screens Saturday at 8:10pm *US Premiere.
Grand Festival Award

“YOU DON’T KNOW JACK: THE JACK SOO STORY” - JEFF ADACHI
Jeff Adachi, director of the documentary The Slanted Screen, which examined the history of Asian-Americans in Hollywood, takes on the life story of singer and comedic actor Jack Soo. From his childhood in Oakland to his young adulthood in Japanese internment camps during World War II-era, and finally to his breakthrough roles in Flower Drum Song, Valentine’s Day and Barney Miller, the erstwhile Goro Suzuki’s brave refusal to comply with America’s “oriental” stereotypes almost single-handedly broke the mold, recasting Asian Americans in a new light in our popular entertainment. 69 minutes. Screens Saturday at 1:15pm Grand Festival Award

“OH MY GOD! IT’S HARROD BLANK” - DAVID SILBERBERG
Harrod Blank’s life is every bit as much a peripatetic work of art as the eccentric, eclectic art cars to which he has devoted his life. Silverberg’s film tracks the farm boy-turned-artist as he passes through UC Santa Cruz and Berkeley in his single-minded—some would say obsessive—pursuit of self-expression, enlisting a series of girlfriends as sidekicks on a rambling journey that is at times maddening but never less than fascinating and endearing. 75 minutes. Screens Saturday at 5:18pm
Grand Festival Award

“THE DEVIL AT YOUR FEET” - BRIAN DARWAS and JENNIFER CARCHIETTA
Ride along with Hot Rod Builder and Award Winning Filmmaker ( The Road to Bonneville ), Brain Darwas, as he travels over three-thousand miles from East to West. Visit Car Clubs, and hot rod builders, with a passion for traditional hot rods, nailheads, flatheads, and the open road. A Hot Rodding movie so intense, it will leave you with grease stains and the smell of exhaust . 61 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 6:45pm *West Coast Premiere Grand Festival Award

“KAZIAH, THE GOAT WOMAN” - AMY JANES and KATHLEEN DOLAN
Kaziah Hancock, armed with oils and brushes, celebrates the lives of U.S. Soldiers, killed in Iraq, by painting gift portraits for their families; honoring over 600 American Soldiers. On her remote ranch in Utah, she also raises goats. Born into a polygamist sect, she knows the meaning of freedom, as she’s had to fight for hers. Liberation and discovery of self, is joyfully celebrated in her art and this cinematic document . 25 minutes. Screens Saturday at 4:25pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award

“CIUDAD del FUTURO” - DAMIAN CARNERO and KARIN LOSERT - CUBA *Premiere
The critical history of a former socialist model town in the outskirts of Havana, told by the adult children of its first inhabitants. 20 minutes. Screens Saturday at 3:02pm Grand Festival Award

“RAINBOW WARRIORS” ( GUERREROS DEL ARCOIRIS )
GABRIELA GONZALEZ FUENTES and LA TAGUARA FILMICA - VENEZUELA
A close-up look into Bolivia’s radical changes, led by indigenous populations and the resistance against them by minority groups holding economic power. 30 minutes. Screens Saturday at 3:23pm
*US Premiere Grand Festival Award

“BASKETBAL GURU” - DOUG HARRIS
An affectionate biography of the legendary basketball coach who started at the University of San Francisco and went on to coach for Cal and the U.S. Olympic team. 13 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 2:25pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award

“WHITE MOVEMENT” - EMIO TOMEONI
As Berkeley attempts to lead toward Climate Change, a cast of characters emerges with issues of their own. 11 minutes. Screens Saturday at 2:50pm Grand Festival Award

EDUCATIONAL

“DISCOVER YOUR HEALTHY WEIGHT” - CONNIE SOBCZAK
A different view of weight and health, with professionals and ‘real’ women sharing their problems with dieting and methods of living healthier and happier lives. 26 minutes. Screens Saturday at 12:45pm
Grand Festival Award

ETHNOGRAPHIC

“POLKA FACE” - ANDREA YOUNG
The filmmaker returns to her hometown and gives an affectionate capsule of quilting, concertina clubs, church festivals, and the seasonal cycle of country chores, all with rural Minnesota charm.
6 minutes. Screens Saturday at 4:50pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award

“ZAPOOK OF THE NORTH “ - HOLLAND WILDE
A soci-cultural memory mash up, reviving the tenets of ethnographic surrealism. Please don’t eat the yellow snow! 14 minutes. Screens Saturday at 11:18pm Grand Festival Award

EXPERIMENTAL

“FOSSIL LIGHT” - TONY GAULT
A little story about the ‘preservation’ of an endangered species. 11 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 11:33pm *West Coast Premiere Grand Festival Award

“I KNOW WHO REALLY SENT THE ANTHRAX LETTERS” - NEIL IRA NEEDLEMAN
What family secrets are hidden in the grainy ghost images of ancient 8mm celluloid? Something to think about the next time you open your mail. 7 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:58pm
*West Coast Premiere Grand Festival Award

“SACRIFICIO” - PETER TURNER
An erotic journey of awakening and surrender; told through layers of shifting realities, images, masks, sound, color, archetypal beings and natural elements. 9 minutes. Screens Friday at 11:05pm
*Premiere Grand Festival Award

“WALL TAPS” - CAROL JACOBSEN
Carol Jacobsen’s short documentary roams the perimeter of a women’s prison in what amounts to a sustained traveling shot of fences, gates and barbed wire. Superimposed periodically are the faces of former inmates as they relate their experiences of fear, humiliation, degradation and shame as intermittent glimpses flicker by of life inside the prison gates. 10 minutes. Screens Saturday at 2:39pm
*West Coast Premiere Grand Festival Award

FEATURES

“KARMA CALLING” - SARBA DAS
“A fable about hope and love for a family of Hindus from Hoboken,” as the narrator describes, Das’s feature takes place at the intersection of two strands of western-influenced easterners. An Indian family living in New Jersey finds itself stretched thin under the cultural and financial strains of American life. Meanwhile, in India, a young man employed as a call-center info peddler for an American corporation also hears the call to go west in the form of an unexpected long-distance romance. 90 minutes. Screens Friday at 9:35pm Grand Festival Award

SHORT FEATURES

“UNDER MY GARDEN” ( SOTTO IL MIO GIARDINO ) - ANDREA LODOVICHETTI - ITALY
In Lodovichetti’s evocative and ominous short film, a boy’s interest in the behavior of ants, paired with the disappearance of a neighbor’s wife and his new affair with a young, nearly naked companion, leads the boy to suspect that a body is buried in the yard in a sort of miniature Rear Window told from a child’s perspective. Golden Globe Award Winner, The Spike Lee Award and over 30 Major International Film Festival Awards. 19 minutes. Screens Friday at 9:15pm Grand Festival Award

“CURSES and SERMONS” - NIC SAUNDERS and 14167 FILMS - GREAT BRITAIN
Nic Saunders’ short film is a mystic reimagining of a Michael McClure poem, “Rainbows Reflected on Sheer Black,” that is both expressionistic and eclectic, ranging from rugged Western to Technicolor dream/nightmare. 15 minutes. Screens Friday at 8:40pm *West Coast Premiere
Grand Festival Award

“SCISSU” - TOM BOWILOGUA and ALEX BEIER - GERMANY
A bevy of buzzing lights, visceral electronic noise, pulsing heartbeats and a sort of breathy claustrophobia suffuse this unsettling film of sex, guns, violence and depravity. It is a story told in reverse, constantly stepping backward to fill in the gaps, gradually piecing together a plot consisting of desperate people resorting to desperate means in pursuit of cheap thrills, fleeting pleasures and sensual violence. In German with English subtitles. 27 minutes. Screens Saturday at 10:50pm *US Premiere
Grand Festival Award

“AT NIGHT” - MAX LANDES and PHILIP ACETO
A couple watches an erotic mystery on a giant TV. Soon their world and that of the glowing box merge. Who is in remote control? 11 minutes. Screens Friday at 8:25pm Grand Festival Award

“BIRTH CONTROL” - JONATHAN DANE
An extremely quick take on love, marriage, pregnancy and malaise. 3 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:54pm
Grand Festival Award

“DIAMOND” - GERALD GUTSCHMIDT and PAMELA WEI ENDIRA
An eleven year old, grows more desperate when his grandmother puts herself in the way between him and his jailed father. 12 minutes. Screens Saturday at 5:05pm Grand Festival Award

STUDENT FILMMAKERS

“THE EDGE OF THE SEA” - MARIA JOSE CALDERON
Puerto Rican fisherman trying to stop coastline development, privatization and beach erosion.
27 minutes. Screens Saturday at 3:54pm Grand Festival Award

“THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW” - KELLEN MOORE
An innocent young girl, fearful of the outside world, has never ventured outside the comforts of her own home. 9 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:44pm Grand Festival Award

“THE DISGRUNTLED WORKER” - GRETCHEN OLIVERO
A young man starts a new job in an isolated factory with restrictions and odd occurrences, which lead to his termination. 4 minutes. Screens Saturday at 4:58pm Grand Festival Award

MUSIC VIDS

“ESCAPE FROM OAKLAND” - DAN K HARVEST
Dan K Harvest’s guerilla-style music video follows a local rapper’s attempt to escape—by car, by bike, by any means necessary—his evil record company’s plan to cast him in a reality show. The clip takes us on a madcap journey through Berkeley and Oakland as the beleaguered hip-hopper tries to buck the corporate hacks and keep it real in the East Bay’s urban jungle. 7 minutes. Screens Saturday at 6:35pm
Kustom Kar Kommando Award

“FRIDA IN THE MIRROR” - ADRIAN ARIAS
An experimental music vid-poem with twenty women dressed like Frida to honor the power, force and sensuality of women. 5 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:35pm Grand Festival Award

“OBAMA WON!” - DON ARBOR
Inspired by a dream, an uplifting song, matched with positive images from the campaign. 4 minutes. Screens Friday at 7:30pm Grand Festival Award

YOUNG PRODUCERS

“MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE”
CASSIE FOX-MOUNT and EAST BAY MEDIA CENTER’S SUMMER TEEN MEDIA CAMP 2009

A behind-the-scenes look at the fashion industry from the perspectives of various fashion professionals. Exploring themes of body image, personal style, the creative process and social responsibility; delivering stunning visuals, consistent humor and compelling ideas. 28 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 12:15pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award

“BEAUTY AMONG DECAY” DIEGO BRAVO, OREN BECKER, KIERAN NAGEOTTE AND JOSH KARON - UNCONVENTIONAL METHODS and EAST BAY MEDIA CENTER’S SUMMER TEEN MEDIA CAMP 2009
The ‘campers’ focus on urban decay and elegance, “beauty is in the eye of the camera”. 10 minutes.
Screens Saturday at 12:00pm *Premiere Grand Festival Award




Friday, September 25, 2009 and Saturday, September 26, 2009
Landmark Shattuck Cinemas . 2230 Shattuck Avenue in Downtown Berkeley
TICKETS
Tickets. $13. General Admission. $10. Students . Elders.
All tickets are valid for the entire day and evening.
Tickets available at the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas Box Office
2230 Shattuck Avenue . Downtown Berkeley . Box Office . 510.464.5980
Festival Info . 510.843.3699
www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org
BVFF Ticket holders and attendees: Please plan to arrive at least ten minutes prior to any listed film(s) during our marathon continuous screening schedule, to insure seating and to allow for programming offsets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My  Father!  Harry "Al"  Sharpe Pre- 1951  The Acting Era.

I need to find the  magazine page... this is an old photo I found  of it....

 

I  do not know about this.... anyone?  artist was George Sato (and says  deceased)

 

THE HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOK OF RADIO and TV

we are looking  for this  book how and why wonder book of radio and  tv nice art? great telstar  pic!

Some thoughts on 48 hour film festivals

 by Ed Sharpe CouryGraph Productions (from a letter to some folks I sent)

 

I think it is harder to make a movie in 3 minutes than it  is  to make one in 8.

 
I remember back to my very first timed endeavor....  it  was  a 30 second one!   It was called UA 30 and  was to make a commercial for urban living.  30 seconds is tough!
 
I had shot news and  did  Internet video for a while but had never used any of the  software to any great extent  to make DVD's   needless to say... it  screened but   was not eligible to win anything  due to the fact I did not make the time limit.
 
-------------------------- 
 
 
I think  timed 'trials' such as this ay not exhibit our best work though. I spent  the morning in the edit bay today  reworking a few things that I think improved the glow of the movie. They were things I thought of at the last moment  but knew I needed to  finish quick and....
 
1 -  Allow plenty of time for  rendering (I had an ultra complex  film 8 minutes with  tons of layers track moving sliding yada yada etc.... and I think machine lost it's mind some too.. and the render.... took hours! - needless to say I condemned this entire edit ay to run  Microsoft office applications only for the rest of it's days)
 
2  - Allow time for a vehicle breakdown and the recover time of calling a cab to haul you down to the IFP. Yea I have a good car.. but... the  damn things do go astray and what a time  for it to happen... so leave transport time open.... 
 
but wait... there's more!
 
 
3 - The one that can  cancel you!
That takes care of the two end of mission failure points but one other one  is to allow time to have a migraine or to be sick. 

 

Here is an example....  The A3f... subject of the movie to be heroism.... on my way home  come across some of the Glendale police  at a massive accident scene.... I shot... before I even got home I had it in the bag.  I like to watch Sci Fi channel Friday nights....  so I did....
 
But alas..... Saturday I was totally wiped out  with one of the worse migraines I have ever had  on that side of the head.....
 
If you look at Heroism- First to respond  that went on to win other awards, you will notice the intro and   sign out I did  on Sunday you see only one of my eyes... and I seem disoriented as I am narrating.. well the other eye was droop closed still ( Sunday was still nasty but at least I could crawl around without hurling but one eye drooped and  not able to speak well.... sort of like  what you would think a small stroke was like)
 
Well shot the intro the sign out  edited  like a banshee ( a sick one)  Sunday and had an hour and a half to get to the Jae A3F turn in point...    All I remember is screaming at the machine as it  took it's sweet ass time to render this... it took... a few hours.... needless to say I missed the   turn in time...  what a disappointment.. .the good thing  was though it went on else where be selected for  other film festivals, won some statues and  that film although it did not  win as the Laura Graff Hit and run one did it did get nominated for a news Emmy (R) Award... so not all was lost... but... it sure felt like it  when I saw the wall time expire as I stared a the clock...
 
 
4. Here is how I have things running these days... Lets talk equipment failure.....  I have been lucky in this area....  (except part of the heroism render time might have been hardware too)  but one thing I always do now is save off the project  file and all the source files  onto a 500 gig USB drive.....  so I save to main system then save to  separate drive and back and forth.

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I am a PC user not a Mac person so edit with Sony Vegas which is a powerful dependable editor and a hellva lot easer to learn than Avid.  -  I have a copy of it on the  prime edit suite the backup edit suite and my laptop. Should the main suite smoke itself or trash the  system or eat the system disk drive  then I    pull the  500 meg USB drive off and march it to another system and I am back online with my  film I am editing real quick.. 
 
Have never had to do this but am ready should I need to.....
 
Go out and  buy a good USB drive... Cheap insurance!
 
I will add one more thing.....  I like 48 hr challenges because the  force me to shoot some fictional stories....
normally I shoot news so this is a change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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