The East Lansing Film Festival - ELFF

48/5 Contest Winners Announcement

This article was posted on Fri, Feb 23 2007

We had an amazing turn out and enjoyed showcasing everyone’s films! The competition was extremely tight, but of the whopping 17 teams the judges were eventually able to decide on the winners. And so now onto the top films which will be shown Sunday, March 25 at 7pm in Wells Hall as part of the 10th East Lansing Film Festival…

FIRST PLACE:

Overjoyed Productions - “All the Fake Girls”
Producer: Nick Fries
Bryan Johnson, John Krause, Steve Dean, Dan Judd

SECOND PLACE:

Hippo Productions - “Max”
Producer: Kyle Surma
Oliver Jones, Teal Mathie, Neel Patel, Tom “Teddy Bear” Castiglione, Brian Kruse, Nick Schultz

THIRD PLACE:

Homegrown Entertainment - “Speed Dating”
Producer: Christopher Harrison
Jared Shirkey, Genesis Doyle, Roger Wingfield, John Mele, Julie Christie, Sandra Miska, Connie Pierce-Winters, Phillip Van Wagoner, Nick Rotkowske, Bridget Martin

HONORABLE MENTION:

ESP Productions - “Processed Love”
Producer: Errol Allmacher
Randall Nolin, Tim Lowry, Adam Hirzel, Daniel Rose, Amanda Marston, Matt Edmonds, David P. Parks Jr., Mark Kwas, J. Robin Sumbler, Aaron Greer, Bob Phelps, Kayleigh Waterman, Kate Sumbler, Julianne Amato, Danise Lyon

HONORABLE MENTION:

Team X-Bladz - “Root Beer”
Producer: Mike Berlucchi
Jeff Pianki, Philip Letten

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR PARTICIPATING!
7-Mile Productions - John Wilkerson
Against All Odds - Nicholas Foster
Andy’s X2 - Andrew Childers
Blind Squirrel Productions - Paul Keehn
Cobra Commander - Michael Babcock
The FilmEdge Funsters - Bonnie Bucqueourx
KATEM - Kristen Miller
Kung Fu House - Scott Stevenson
Party Ghost Productions - Sandra Jurado
Reminiscent Studios - Timothy Howarth
Team SWAM - Norm Witte
Team Zissou - Jacob Mendel

Best wishes and hope to see you at the festival in March!

Kristen

FIRST PRIZE:

1 East Lansing Film Festival BOFFO Pass
2 East Lansing Film Festival Gold Passes
Best Movies of the ‘70s Book (courtesy Schuler’s Books & Music)
Legends of the Silent Screen Book
$25.00 Gift Card to SBS (Student Bookstore)
3 Coldstone Creamery Coupons

SECOND PRIZE:

2 East Lansing Film Festival Gold Passes
5 East Lansing Film Festival Sunday Passes
Roger Ebert’s Move Yearbook 2007 (courtesy Schuler’s Books & Music)
Legends of the Silent Screen Book
$20.00 Gift Certificate to Green River Café
3 Coldstone Creamery Coupons

THIRD PRIZE:

11 East Lansing Film Festival Sunday Passes
Move Lust Book (courtesy Schuler’s Book & Music)
Legends of the Silent Screen Book
4 BTB Burrito Coupons
3 Coldstone Creamery Coupons

HONORABLE MENTION:

1 Movie Poster (courtesy Beyond the Wall)
3 Coldstone Creamery Coupons
Legends of the Silent Screen Book
To claim your prizes, please come to the Green River Café (211 M.A.C. Avenue, East Lansing, MI) on Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 6:00pm.
Please e-mail me () if you have any questions or need to make other arrangements!

Seeley & Baldori perform live at the Festival

This article was posted on Wed, Feb 21 2007

An East Lansing Film Festival fundraiser. Come support the arts and the making of the Seeley & Baldori documentary Boogie Stomp! - a history of boogie, blues and jazz. After purchase of tickets your name will be added to list at the box office. On night of the performance present your ID at the door for admission.

About the documentary - Boogie Woogie is the backbone of American Music. The two best players in the world, Bob Seeley and Bob Baldorri, tell of its origins, subsequent history and ongoing development through their own experience. Together they bring to life to this very American music and the spirit of jazz, blues, swing and stride like no one in the last fifty years. Followed by a concert by the incomparable Bob Seeley and Bob Baldorri - 2 Bobs, 20 fingers and 2 dueling Baby Grands.

Tickets ($15): http://spirit-records.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=43
myspace: http://myspace.com/seeleybaldori
website: http://www.boogiebob.com/

See more info on the 2007 East Lansing Film Festival Program here - http://www.elff.com/festival/2007_program/

Exclusive Addition to festival - straight from Sundance!

This article was posted on Wed, Feb 21 2007

"Eagle Vs. Shark,” directed by Academy Award® - nominee Taika Waititi (the short, “Two Cars One Night"), is a wry comedy that chronicles the quirky romance of two awkward misfits, Lily (Loren Horsley), a shy fast-food restaurant cashier, and her crush, Jarrod (Jemaine Clement, HBO’s “One Night Stand: The Flight of the Conchords"), an electronic store clerk. On the day Lily gets fired from her job at Meaty Boy, she musters up the courage to attend Jarrod’s annual “come as your favorite animal” costume party. The dressy affair sparks the beginnings of a romance as well a small journey for the pair to Jarrod’s quiet hometown, in which Jarrod plans to seek revenge on an old nemesis and where Lily unwittingly finds herself stranded amongst Jarrod’s family of eccentrics.

Directed by: Taika Waititi
Country: New Zealand (2007)
Language: English
Running time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Website: http://www.eaglevsshark.net/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/eaglevsshark/trailer/

Our tenth year! 2007 Festival Press Release

This article was posted on Wed, Feb 21 2007

The East Lansing Film Festival Celebrates its Tenth Year!

The tenth annual East Lansing Film Festival (ELFF), the largest film festival in Michigan celebrates its tenth year of bring independent films in a film festival setting to Michigan. This year’s ELFF takes place March 21 - 29 in East Lansing, on the MSU campus and in Lansing. The 2007 selection of over 120 films covers a broad range of subjects and genres – two Academy Award nominees, four Midwest premieres, fascinating documentaries, delightful comedies, intense dramas, always-entertaining short film programs, foreign films, local films and more. Over 75 directors will be on hand to discuss their films with the audience.

The film festival kicks off, Wednesday, March 21, at 7:30pm at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road, East Lansing with the Midwest premiere of the insightful comedy, THE TV SET, starring David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver. Directed by Jake Kasdan, this very funny film takes a poke at the convoluted business of making a television show. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $7 for students and seniors 60 and over.

On Thursday, March 22, at 7:30pm at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center, ELFF is very excited to present a Boogie Woogie Concert by Bob Seeley and Bob Baldori, arguably the best boogie-woogie musicians in the world. The concert will be preceded by Boogie Stomp! directed by Bob Baldori, that documents the origins, subsequent history and ongoing development of Boogie Woogie through their own experience. Tickets are $15.

On the weekend, from Friday, March 23 through Sunday, March 25, ELFF will present films at Wells Hall, MSU campus and at the Celebration Cinema in South Lansing. On Friday evening, the film extravaganza begins at 7pm at Wells Hall where 4 films will be shown at 7:00pm and 4 more films at 9:30pm. A party open to the public will be held at Beggar’s Banquet, 218 Abbott Road, East Lansing beginning at 11pm with delicious food provided, music and a no-host bar.

On Saturday, March 24, the film festival will run concurrently at Wells Hall and at Celebration Cinema.

Wells Hall highlights are the following:

11:30am - the popular “Roundtable Discussion”, a panel of the visiting directors giving insight into what it takes to make a film. Free.

1:30pm - Documentaries, OldBoy -Asian cult film and “Leonard Maltin’s Favourite Animated Films from the National Film Board of Canada” executive producer, Gerry Flahive on hand.

4:00pm - Jesus Camp - Oscar nominee and Short Film Program 1

6:30pm - The Hip Hop Project - Michigan Premiere; O Homem do Ano - Brazilian film.

9:00 - Midwest premiere of Severance - a British horror-comedy; The Bridge - acclaimed doc on jumpers of the Golden Gate Bridge; Who the #$&* is Jackson Pollock? - fascinating doc on art.

At Celebration Cinema:

1:00pm and 3:30pm: Tales of the Rat Fink - documentary about Ed “Big Daddy” Roth who created custom car flourishes and Rat Fink, the anti- Mickey Mouse of the 50s and 60s.

On Sunday, March 26, the very popular and unique Lake Michigan Film Competition (LMFC), formerly known as the Michigan’s Own Film Competition, is held. LMFC screens and awards films made by filmmakers from the states that border Lake Michigan - Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Over 40 films representing all four states will be shown.

On Sunday, at Celebration Cinema, the Oscar nominee, Jesus Camp, will be shown at 1:00pm and 3:30pm. At 8:00pm, the delightful romantic comedy, Expiration Date, that has received many festival awards – Michigan Premiere!

On Sunday evening at 7:00pm, the Lake Michigan Film Competition Awards Ceremony will be held at Wells Hall. Cash awards will be given to the best three films in the Feature, Documentary, Short and Student categories and the new Message Makers award, a three-day film and editing packet, will be handed out for “The Most Promising Student.” Also the best films from the new film contest, “48/5 Film Contest”, will be shown and awarded.

A new addition to the film festival is the partnering with Celebration Cinema to show repeat programming from Sunday, March 25 to Thursday, March 29 at Lansing multiplex, 200 E. Edgewood, Lansing, Michigan. The films being repeated are THE TV SET, EXPIRATION DATE, BLACK GOLD, THE BRIDGE, THE HIP HOP PROJECT, SHORT FILM PROGRAM 1 and JOHAN.

The festival will close on Thursday, March 29 with the screening of HIGH TECH SOUL, the first documentary about the creation of techno music in Detroit. The director, Gary Bredow and producer, Julian Beal, as well as some of the musicians featured in the documentary will be on hand to discuss the film.  CLOSING NIGHT DANCE PARTY and ELFF Fundraiser - 9pm at Club 131 (below Harper’s Brew & Pub), 131 Albert Street, East Lansing. $5/ students; $10 non-students; $5/ anyone with an ELFF ticket stub.

Films are $7/ general and $5/student; for the Opening Night Film, THE TV SET, the tickets are $10/ general and $7/students; the Boogie Woogie concert - $15. 

Tickets (except for the films at Celebration Cinema) are available online at http://www.presaleticketing.com beginning on March 1.

From March 16 - 20, advance tickets will be sold at Video to Go, 300 N. Clippert Street, Frandor Shopping Center, Lansing.  For at from 5pm - 8pm.

Films at Celebration Cinema in Lansing, you can buy them online at http://www.celebrationcinema.com Tickets are $8.00 for adults, $7.00 for students, $6.00 for children (12 and under) and for seniors 55 and over.

Passes that give you preferred entry to the film festival events are also available in advance online and at Video to Go. The different Pass categories and prices are: BOFFO - $150 (Entry to ALL film festival events) Gold Pass $50 (entry to all ELFF films at Wells Hall); Silver Pass for Student and seniors $30 (all films at Wells); an All-Day Saturday Pass $20 and $15; Sunday Pass $18 and $12.

For the complete schedule and up to date information, please visit the East Lansing Film Festival website, http://www.elff.com or call the festival office at 517-336-5802.

This activity is supported by the Michigan Council of Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts

Cell Phone Trailer Contest

This article was posted on Sun, Feb 04 2007

Send in your best “Turn Your Cell Phone Off” trailer for our yearly contest

To get more local & national filmmakers involved in the 9th annual East Lansing Film Festival, we are holding a contest for “Turn Your Cell Phone Off” trailers that will be shown before each film screening.

These are the guidelines:

- No longer than 20 seconds including credits.
- Final presentation format must be on DVD (not MiniDVD)
- You can submit the screener on VHS.
- Must be submitted in completed state- no “works in progress” or editing after submission
- Deadline: Must be postmarked no later than March 1, 2007

Mail to:
East Lansing Film Festival
Attn: Trailer Competition
P.O. Box 4880
East Lansing, MI 48826

Submit as many as you like. We may select more than one from each director. Please keep in mind that the audience will probably see the trailer multiple times - so make it entertaining. For more information or call 517.336.5802.