Seyrusefer

Documentary

Seyrusefer (English: Cruising) tells the story of Istanbul’s city ferry system and its hardworking crew. Straddling Asia and Europe, Istanbul is divided by the beautiful Bosphorus, whose bustling waterway breathes life into the city from day to night. Ferries play a vital role in daily life, helping Istanbulites commute from one continent to the other around the clock. Seyrusefer follows Sehir Hatlari, Istanbul’s oldest ferry company, and offers a glimpse into the life of their crew. Because of their 24 hour shifts, these crews have learned to work and live as a family… even down to arguing over whose turn it is to do the dishes.

Seyrusefer Trailer from hakan akyol on Vimeo.

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Credits

Writer/Director: Hakan Can Akyol
Director of Photography: Hakan Can Akyol
Editor: Hakan Can Akyol
Sound Designer: Hakan Can Akyol
Production Designer: Hakan Can Akyol

Featuring

Ferudun Dokgoz
Volkan Depe

Hakan Can Akyol

Hakan Can Akyol is a Turkish filmmaker, born in Istanbul, now living in New York City. During his undergraduate years at Anadolu University, he studied Cinema and Television and was awarded a PA internship at Turkish Radio and Television, the national broadcasting company. During this time he also worked on a children’s television show. After graduating, he moved back to his hometown of Istanbul and worked as assistant director at a TV commercial production company. He is currently pursuing an MFA in media arts production with a concentration in documentary film making at the City College of New York. His thesis film, “Seyrusefer”, means cruising in Turkish and tells the story of the hardworking crew on the city ferries of Istanbul.

Specialization

Writing & Directing Documentary

CITY BOYS

Documentary

As a teenager growing up in the 1980s writer/director Ron Dodd discovers a “coming out” novel called A Boy’s Own Story. The book gives him a glimpse into a world far removed from his family’s farm in rural Texas, and begins a life-long fascination with its author Edmund White.

CITY BOYS traces the filmmaker’s journey from isolated teenager to self-accepting gay man, similar to that of his literary hero, whose unapologetic, autobiographical novels explore his own personal struggles against the backdrop of a half-century of LGBT history. Woven together, CITY BOYS creates a rich portrait of a lonely, but determined young man who finds inspiration in the books of a celebrated author and cultural icon.

Credits

Writer/Director: Ron Dodd

Producer: Ron Dodd

Editor: Pamela Ralat

Featuring

Edmund White
Ron Dodd

Ron Dodd

Ron was Research Producer for the Oscar-nominated documentary HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE. He’s been a writer, producer, and an on-air contributor for several TV, web, and radio organizations including CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, AOL, SIRIUS XM, AIR AMERICA RADIO, and HITN-TV. He was Series Producer for Public Television’s award-winning series IN THE LIFE.

Specialization

Writing & Directing Documentary

Contact Ron

http://www.cityboysmovie.com

ENERGY 11105

Documentary

The boat graveyard is one of the largest collections of historical boats in the United States. They all have their own life story, but many of these stories have disappeared with the crew and captains. This short documentary brings audience to an amazing journey to the mysterious shipyard, revealing complex layers materials of boats’ constructions. This is part of their unique language, which the film explores visually.

Credits

Writer/Director: Uladzimir Taukachou

Producer: Uladzimir Taukachou

Director of Photography: Uladzimir Taukachou

Editor: Uladzimir Taukahcou

Sound Designer: Uladzimir Taukahcou

Production Assistant(s): Noriko Sugiura
Special Thanks: Dave Davidson

Featuring

Additional Camera:
Kjerstin Rossi, Marcelitte Failla, Veronika Savitski, Noriko Sugiura

Uladzimir Taukachou

Uladzimir Taukachou born and raised in the former Soviet Union and immigrated to the US from totalitarian Belarus in his twenties. An accomplished cinematographer specializing in scripted, unscripted, documentary, fiction, short and feature films. He brings his unique vision to his work and problem solving having lived in two opposite systems communism and capitalism.

Specialization

Writing & Directing Documentary

Quote

There are no rules in art

Contact Uladzimir

http://www.utcinema.com

Picnic

Fiction

Through a little boy’s magical journey in life, his expectations of “family” are always set very high. After failing to achieve this many times, we find that he is repeating the life of his parents…

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Credits

Writer/Director: Fan He
Assistant Director: Yifeng Li
Producer: H.C Fang/ Bingqiao Zhou/ Zirui Lv/ Liu He/Fan He
Co-Producers: Yinghua Wong
Director of Photography: Gordon Yu
1st Assistant Camera: Jeanette Sears
Gaffer(s): Muge, Xaisongkham Induangchanthy
Editor: Yung-jen Yang
Sound Designer: William Hsieh
Sound Mixer: Youngki Jin
Production Designer: Seungwon Park, Esther Pang
Script Supervisor: Kanchalee Wijakpaisarn, Jingyang Cheng
Production Assistant(s): Bendi Liu, Zhifan Jia
Special Thanks: Youngki Jin, Felicia Bradford

Cast

Colin Chen, Monica Liang, Fenton Li, Alestair Shu, Seunghyun Hwang, Xin-Zhong Du, Sarah Polen, Geoff Lee, Yoyo Yang

Fan He

Fan He is a MFA candidate at City College of New York. Born from Hubei, China, Fan is now exploring his creative career in New York City. His short film Morning Song won Best Fiction at CUNY Asian American Film Festival in New York and got selected by festivals both in Beijing and Taiwan. In 2013, Fan made another short film Red Fog which represents the air pollution problem in China, the film catches attention from audiences both in China and abroad. It has been selected by Student Academy Awards- Regional Semifinalist, Palm Spring International ShortFest and other festivals all over the world.

Before film, Fan He was once vice chief editor at soufun.com (NYSE: SFUN) and vice chief editor at Mtime.com (Biggest movie website in China). In 2012, Fan He started to take charge of the new media distribution works at Huayi Brothers Media Group. He is a pioneer of short film international distribution. In 2013, Fan He launched his own distribution company EnMaze Pictures LLC in New York City. enMaze Pictures focuses on short film production and new media distribution, helps amazing short films to find their global audiences.

Specialization

Writing & Directing Fiction

Credits

Sunny Side – Producer
Red Fog – Producer/Director
Morning Song – Producer/Director

Portraits Of An Incest Survivor

Documentary

A picture is worth a thousand words. PORTRAIT OF AN INCEST SURVIVOR, will paint a picture and each stroke will be a brief look into the lives of five extraordinary and courageous people from different cultures, backgrounds and walks of life who have survived the trauma of being sexually abused not by a stranger, but by a member of their family. Poetry and an interview with Rachel Lloyd, author of “Girls Like Us” and founder of GEMS (Girls Educational Mentoring Services) weave the film together as Alviria, Angelia, Ashton, Jamillah and Soyini break their silence to tell their stories of surviving incest.

Credits

Writer/Director: Sonya Denise Reed

Producer: Sonya Denise Reed

Director of Photography: Brad Toms
1st Assistant Camera: Uladzimir Taukachou
2nd Assistant Camera: Noriko Sugiura

Editor: Somaliah “Trinity” Williams

Sound Designer: Cuetrax
Sound Mixer: Cuetrax

Production Assistant(s): Michelle Reaves and Gail Harry
Special Thanks: Pastor A.R. Bernard and Christian Cultural Center Church

Featuring

Soyini Crenshaw, Alvira Key, Jamillah Z. Peyton, Ashton Pina, Angelia Williams, featuring Rachel Lloyd

Sonya Reed

Sonya Denise Reed is a graduate student at The City College of New York and the founder of Alabaster Box Productions.

Her background in both newspaper and broadcast journalism opened the doors to becoming a documentary film maker.

She has worked as freelance writer, producer and director, and is currently a part time production associate for Maysles Documentary Film Center in Harlem, New York.

Her previous film credits include the documentary short film “The Story of Joan, Angel Advocate” about the brutal rape and murder of 8 year old Joan D’Alessandro by a high school math teacher and her mother’s relentless 30 year battle to change the laws of imprisonment for child killers, and the narrative short films “The First Lady” and “HIV, Happiness Is Vanished”.

As an artist, Sonya remains true to her calling by knowing who she is.

Specialization

Writing & Directing Documentary

Quote

“I do not “want” to be a filmmaker, I “am” a filmmaker.” “If you know who you are, you will remain true to yourself and create films that are authentic and not like someone else’s.”

Credits

“Double Take-Director”

Sunnyside

Fiction

Fernando, a Latino day laborer tries to find a job on the streets of Queens in New York City, however, he fails to do so. Instead of waiting on the street to find his next job he tries to find one himself. Finally, he finds a job as a snow-shoveler. This film follows a day in the life of a day laborer.

Credits

Writer/Director: YoungKi Jin
Assistant Director: Natasha Soto
Producer: YoungKi Jin
Co-Producers: Fan He
Director of Photography: Roberto Collado
1st Assistant Camera: Jeanette Sears
2nd Assistant Camera: Yung-Jen Yang
Gaffer(s): Warut Snidvongs, Xaisongkham
Editor: Sarah Kim
Sound Designer: YoungKi Jin
Sound Mixer: Napat Snidvongs
Production Designer: Seungwon Park
Script Supervisor: Kanchalee Wijakpaisarn
Production Manager: EunSeok Choi
Production Assistant(s): Arum Jung, Seunghyun Hwang, Jonah Park, Jinyoung Huh, Jaewoo Park
Special Thanks: Haesun, my wife, my parents and sister, Melissa Butler, Dulce Navar

Cast

New York Cast

Fernando – Israel Islas Bustamante
Flesh guy – Plinio Villablanca
Subway Girl – Melissa Butler
Subway Guy – Fan He
Pick up guy 1 – Donghwan Lee
Pick up guy 2 – Jaewoo Park
Deli Owner – Donghun Park
Korean Girl – IVY Yoon

Mexico Cast

MARIA – Blanca Leticia Guerra
SOL  – Ismael Fernandez
LUNA – Dora Elizabeth Morales
ABUELA – Maria Orfelinda Trejo
COYOTE  – Javier Trevino
AMIGO – Max Morales

Youngki Jin

YoungKi Jin (B, in Seoul, South Korea) is a Writer/Director. After studying film at Jeonju University, he worked as a writer and Assistant director for Korean Production Company. He is studying for his MFA in Film directing at The City College of New York. He has made movies related to family problems such as how characters can sustain and love their families.

Specialization

Writing & Directing Fiction

Credits

Sunnyside – Writer & Director
A Saturday Morning – Production Sound
The Fate of Fruit – Production Sound

Contact Youngki

http://vimeo.com/filmmakerjin

The Coup

Documentary

The 1953 Military Coup uncovers the untold documentary story of how the British, in collaboration with Grand Ayatollah of Iran, over threw the secular government of Dr. Mossadegh at the cost of Iran’s oil nationalization and its nascent secular democracy.

With the help of a beautiful aristocratic tango dancer, a son traces
his father’s memories (after facing Alzheimer’s) and discovers secret
British embassy correspondences and networks that reveal the British ties to religious fanaticism of past and current Iran.

Credits

Writer/Director: Piruz Alemi
Producer: Piruz Alemi
Director of Photography: Frank Hooker
Gaffer(s): Yung-Jen
Editor: Frank Hooker
Sound Designer: Roberto Collado
Special Thanks: Abbas Attar

Featuring

PENELOPE YIALLOURIDOU
Piruz Alemi
Valeria Solomonoff
Jorge Torres
Julia Vishnepolsky

Piruz Alemi

Piruz Alemi has a PhD in Political Economy and an MFA in film. Currently he is a member of faculty of political economy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

On one of his trips from New York back to Tehran, Piruz enrolled in the film classes of Ustad Nāsser Taghvāí. The atmosphere of those classes were tense. It was never clear if or when either Taghvāí or a student could be arrested. Piruz made his first formal film on an adaptation of a Sadeqh Hedayat short story in Iran.

Piruz then came back to New York and met Professor Andrzej Krakowski coming out of that great tradition of Andrzej Wajda Polish film makers. This time Piruz began making a film about the 1953 Military Coup in Iran.

The short and long featured film of the 1953 Military Coup covers the untold story of a shooting on unarmed civilians. The documentary plot reveals the implementation of a British racist policy whose military and religious, fanatic and fascist network of collaborators ultimately blocked the nationalization of oil and led to the sexual segregation in Iran and the ascendancy of the Islamic State.

Specialization

Writing & Directing Documentary

Credits

Water Melon http://vimeo.com/60198244
Azure http://vimeo.com/58861171
Neruda http://vimeo.com/66531948

Zio Ninuccio

Documentary

Carmine Ametrano is one of the few remaining farmers practicing traditional winemaking on Mt. Vesuvius in southern Italy. It is a technique that goes back to the ancient civilisation of Pompeii. Following Carmine through the course of a year’s harvest, this documentary explores the inherent hard work and beauty of his winemaking.
Carmine is just a one craftsmen whose tradition is in danger of disappearing. “Zio Ninuccio” is a tribute to dying traditions around the world.

Please visit Zio Ninuccio Film website
Follow my Facebook page!

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Credits

Writer/Director: Noriko Sugiura
Producer: Lorenzo Ciaravola
Co-Producers: Shanna Forlano, Ruth Reiss, Ron Dodd
Director of Photography: Noriko Sugiura
2nd Assistant Camera: Shanna Forlano
Editor: Noriko Sugiura
Sound Designer: Noriko Sugiura
Production Designer: Annalisa Ciaravola, Salvatore Ciaravola
Special Thanks: Warm people of Boscotrecase

Featuring

Carmine Ametrano
His family Circle

Noriko Sugiura

Noriko is a New York City based filmmaker and multimedia artist. Her aim is to raise awareness and empower subjects such as humanity, culture and environment, using film as a tool. She actively works for NGOs, NPOs and charitable organizations in England, Italy, Japan, India, USA, etc, producing films and multimedia.

Please visit Zio Ninuccio Film website
Follow my Facebook page!

Specialization

Writing & Directing Documentary

Quote

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” ― Albert E.