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Prized Emails...

Two emails came in yesterday, back to back. The first said we won a Silver Chris, that is, Best Film in the section "Art," at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival, and are now up for the Best Of Festival Award, and the possibility of a screening. Before I had a chance to digest this, Eric Panter sent a message, saying Atlanta audiences loved the film, and awards have just been posted. I clicked on the link, and there it is: 1000 Journals won the Audience Choice Award!

Journals projects DIY -- tips and tricks

One of the many beautiful surprises in our audience's feedback is the traction we have with educators. 1000 Journals touches on many teaching subjects, from recent history to social studies to art, and combines these playfully with the more elusive subjects of collaboration, and creative expression. Since many schools have requested a classroom license of our film, we are working on Teaching Materials, and a website section to exchange links, experiences, and tips and tricks on starting journals projects. I emailed a questionnaire to a number of people, and the first replies have been coming in.

One of the questions is about the top 3 do and don't do tips, and the answers are intriguing, for example, from creative mind extraordinaire McNair:

A. DON'T OVER-THINK!  Set a theme, start the journal, get it out of your hands ASAP. If you spend forever fine tuning an esoteric theme you will create a maze of rules and instructions that will inhibit most (if not all) potential contributors.
B. DON'T WAIT. Once you have done one journal (that others contribute to and participate in) you will be hooked and want to do more. So, get one started today. If you wait to come up with the perfect idea, theme, cover, opening pages, it will be YEARS before it gets into another person's hands. Starting is the most challenging part of almost any creative project. (Knowing when to stop is is the second biggest challenge.) IF you start your first journal right away, you will want to do more. You can start another journal tomorrow. Do several so you cannot keep track of them and thus fret, fuss, and fidget over them. So, as they come back, each one will be a great surprise.
C. DON'T BE TOO FANCY. For your first few journals, use a simple, non-fancy (not expensive) book. In the new Dawn DeVries Sokol's amazing new book, 1000 Artist Journal Pages, many are clearly pages from spiral-bound sketch books. That's great. What's important is what is ON the pages, not where those pages are. It is certainly not about those pages being luscious, cotton rag, hand-made (by children in tiny Tibetan villages) paper. Many young artists and non artists get excited about carrying a daily sketchbook or journal and ask me where to get a "good" book  with "nice paper." If you get an expensive book as your first, you won't write, draw, montage in it until you think you have come up with the "perfect" idea. Guess what. There is no perfect idea, Sparky. Now even if you have been journaling, sketch booking, etc. for years, others whom you want to contribute may be brand new and will be scared to do anything on the exquisite pages of the fancy book that you send them.
Journals are not a contest!

If you have set-up a journals project, or any other kind of collaborative project, and can add your five cents, please fill in and send back this form.

One week to go...

Today in one week, on Friday, August 22nd, 1000 Journals will screen in two locations: I will present the movie at the mixed media workshop weekend ZNE ConvenZioNE, at the Amador Theater in Pleasanton, CA, starting at 7:00 PM.

Someguy will be in Atlanta, GA for the Docufest screening, and more... Bring your journals, see the film, and meet the man who started it all at Youngblood Gallery, at 9:30 PM.

ZNE tickets | Docufest Atlanta tickets

September will be a very international month for 1000 Journals, with festival screenings in Italy, the UK, Canada, and a limited theatrical run in Amsterdam, Holland. The film is also invited to the Port Townsend Film Festival in Washington, where we filmed at Artfest and with Tracy and Teesha Moore in April 2006. All screening details will be posted soon.

Held Over!

We are getting a second week at the Roxie Theater! Visit roxie.com for infos and tickets.

Just Think

Since we had such a great time at the San Francisco Film Society's Schools at the Festival, I stayed in touch with SFFS Education Program Managers Joanne Parsont and Keith Zwolfer.  They really open doors (and my eyes) and reach out with films, by bringing filmmakers to students, for hands-on, direct exchanges. As I was already in town for the Roxie opening, Keith set me up with a Youth Media Educators initiative at Just Think, "where young people learn media literacy skills for the 21st Century." Every summer, high school students from all over the Bay Area are chosen to participate in this paid, six-week intensive summer program, which includes production projects and peer-to-peer teaching. When I walked in, Monday, about 20  students  were just warming up with a game called "Catch The Bacon." Two teams, one stuffed animal, who gets to it first? Most had seen 1000  Journals at the press screening,  so we jumped in to revisit a couple of multiple subject interviews on the DVD, and then tried to apply this to one of the students' projects, a documentary about gang violence. We set up two cameras, appointed a second group (whose project is a PSA on Global Warming) as mock subjects, and started rolling...

"The Bacon" made it back into the classroom, too...

There's no better give and take than sharing a bit of experience with students. How else does one even know there's something to share? These kids may think of me as oh-so-professional and grown-up, but in my day to day life, I'm inventing my wheels just like everyone else, one step at a time, with lots of experimenting, trials and errors, slowly finding out what works for me and what doesn't. And this hasn't changed all that much in my 40 plus years. But interestingly, all it takes is a few hours in a classroom, and the sense that one, or two, maybe three of the kids are really learning something and are encouraged to keep going. And that's how I felt when I arrived back at the airport -- encouraged to keep going, since I can share my process and extend help and support. I can't wait to see the finished 2008 YME films and will post links.

Update 9/13/2008: The films I See No Changes, A Green Able Truth, and In Difference, are no posted on Just Think's  YouTube channel.

Arthur Grau, Program Director

Keith Zwolfer (SFFS), and  teacher Jane Mauchly.

3117 16th Street

Four shows a day over the weekend, four Q+A sessions, and lots of time on  16th Street. I browsed used books stores, and when I was finally able to eat again, sampled Thai and Vietnamese vegetable broth, and was exploring the Mission. On Sunday night, the locals started to recognize and greet me, and one guy, heavy hitting Charles, began to follow me around...

The Roxie box office...

... and the concessions.

Press and Opening Day

Our publicist Karen Larsen set up a day of interviews for Someguy and me. Back to back, we met with Astrid Moltow-Gunter, a reporter for the German language California Staats-Zeitung; Andrea Chase of Movie Magazine International, a weekly radio show; Sabrina Filanty who writes for Kabari News; and Sonia Mistry of Berkeley Radio's KALX FM Film Close Ups. As soon as we find the podcasts of the radio shows, we will post them in the news scroll.



Movie Magazine International's Andrea Chase flips through the 1000 Journals Compilation book.



Kelda McKinney, one of Karen Larsen's collaborators, with freshly assembled press kits to take to the opening.

I'm not sure how, but I got through this day on an empty but badly hurting stomach, thanks to a bit of sushi food poisoning the night before. Ouch!