“Good design should speak for itself - like a joke. If you have to explain why it works, then it probably doesn’t”. These pioneering words from artist Eric Skillman, package designer for the Criterion Collection. And leave it up to Criterion to devote a healthy bit of editorial on DVD package design by the phenomenal creations of said artist. And who else, really, to do the job, than the creative team responsible for these gems? 
It’s also not the package alone; from DVD menus to the meticulous notes of their inside-the-case booklets, Criterion knows little stirs up a cinephile’s fervor like the excellent treatment of a beloved film. To those who thought a DVD menu was incapable of drawing up sentiments that would best be described in a foreign language (saudade, anyone?), feast on this icily perfect menu for FANNY AND ALEXANDER: 
Luckily, though, Indiepix is not too far behind. I’m proud to introduce the designs of Matt Posorske, our in-house designer, whose work for the re-release of Estonian filmmaker Ilkka Jarvilaturi’s CITY UNPLUGGED is undoubtedly the work I’m most proud of yet.
There seems to be a film festival for anything and everything these days. When I read a blurb for the Nyc Mental Health Film Festival, then, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Only by the programming - “designed to raise awareness among the general public about those living with psychiatric disabilities” - which struck me as surprisingly dour for a festival. More appropriately named might be a fundraising screening series, since the program features just 3 films over the course of a day and benefits NYAPRS. This reminds me how many of my favorite films are actually about losing one’s mind. The fourth annual Mental Health Film Festival will take place on Saturday, April 26 at St. Francis College, 182 Remsen Street, between Court and Clinton.
Our favorite animator, Signe Baumane, will be presenting her short films at The Be Underground Film Festival on May 2nd. According to Signe, the fest is a “true treasure chest”. TEAT BEAT OF SEX: Episodes 8,9,10,11 are screening on May 2nd at Dolby Screening Room, 1350 Avenue of Americas.
I went to a preview screening of Tarsem Singh’s new movie, THE FALL, on Wednesday night at Moma, because I’m a massive Eiko Ishioka fan. My first run-in with Eiko was undoubtedly my mother’s Shiseido shampoo bottle - a cyclindrical tin can with abstract seaweed and gold slashings, which I remember distinctly. Whether it’s a costume for a film, a perfume bottle, a stage set for the opera, or an advertising campaign, Eiko’s visuals have the kind of stark conviction that transforms the environment around them. Like a lot of the work of my favorite artists, they ask absolutely no permission from the spectator. So it was with a guaranteed level of excitement that I approached this preview screening. I was familiar with Eiko and Tarsem’s last collaboration together - THE CELL - and knew what to expect: a feature-length music video with high entertainment value and questionable nutritional content. Honestly, the only thing mesmerising about that film were the sweeping, lavish and horrifyingly unique design, and the same can be said for THE FALL. From soaring, dream-like vistas of never-ending sand dunes, to intricately carved land-art in forests and swamps, Tarsem has a knack for manipulating his environment to unexpected, transcendental heights, often envisioning paradise as Hades, and vice versa. Maybe I’d be more open to the storyline if I hadn’t already been somewhat earlier seduced by PAN’S LABRYNTH; it follows a similar reality-then-dream-then-reality-again narrative structure, which I regretted, always wishing there was more time to spend in fantasia (I will say, though, that the actress who played the little girl in this film is a total discovery). In any case, Eiko stuns again.
Hot off his exclusive IndiePix interview, Pras is continuing his press tour with a stop to chat sex, politics, and Skid Row with Katie Halper of the Huffington Post.
Enjoy!
Pras talks SKID ROW to the Huffington Post!
It’s nice to see that Lisa Rovner, a filmmaker (STORM IN THE SKULL) and artist friend, is faring well over in the city of lights. The New York Times’ guest blogger has highlighted the girl ” with a certain magic about her.” I wonder if he saw the same thing I did when I first met Lisa at a bar on the Lower East Side years ago, and asked if she’d play a role in my NYU thesis film. Check out a series of deceptively simple music videos she did for songwriter Ami Sioux.
