Out of Competition

REEL PARADISE



Steve James

Country of production: USA
Year: 2005
Mins: 110

Production company: A View Askew Production
Producers: Steve James, Scott Mosier
Cinematography: P.H. O’Brien
Editing: Steve James
Sound: Richard K. Pooler
Music: Norman Arnold

Source: Cinetic Media
Micah Green, Dana O’Keefe
555 West 25TH Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10001, USA
Tel: 212-627-9898
e-mail: micah@cineticmedia.com
dana@cineticmedia.com


Influential indie film personality John Pierson is probably best known for launching notable careers (including those of Spike Lee, Kevin Smith and Michael Moore), writing books (such as Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes), and hosting the Independent Film Channel’s “Split Screen.” Reel Paradise documents another aspect of his career: cinema operator. Never one to take the easy route, Pierson signed up to operate one of the world's most remote movie houses, the 180 Meridian in Fiji. Having discovered the venue while taping a “Split Screen” segment, he fell in love with the wholehearted enthusiasm displayed by the audience. When he heard that the theater was slated to close, Pierson decided to move to the island for a year, along with wife Janet, daughter Georgia and son Wyatt, and show movies for free. Janet is happier than expected, except when her laptop is stolen; their daughter forges deep friendships with the locals; and their son offers plenty of smart-mouthed programming advice. Encompassing cultural differences and family conflicts, this is an engaging celebration of the links cinema forges between people.


Director, producer and editor Steve James is perhaps best known as the award-winning director, producer and co-editor of Hoop Dreams, which swept every major documentary award of 1994. James recently served as an executive producer, story director and series editor on "The New Americans," a seven-hour miniseries on the lives of contemporary immigrants that aired to critical acclaim on PBS in 2004. In 2002, James produced, directed and edited Stevie, which won the coveted grand jury prize at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, and major awards at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and Yamagata International Documentary Festival. Stevie was released theatrically and landed on more tha a dozen "Ten Best Films of 2003" lists.

FILMOGRAPHY

REEL PARADISE (2005)
STEVIE (2003)
HOOP DREAMS (1994)

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2005 AT 3.00 PM. / CHOPIN THEATRE