FLEFF Takes To The Town!

FLEFF opened downtown tonight to a sold out showing of 'Black Gold' at Cinemapolis. I was welcomed at the door with live music that had me dancing all the way to my seat. I was feeling a little FLEFFed out after five days of non-stop events on campus, but after arriving at Cinemapolis tonight I felt so re-energized. I am looking forward to using the rest of my festival pass downtown this weekend.

The film was followed by an engaging panel discussion about fair trade and the coffee industry. For more information on the movie and how you can take action, check out the movie site at www.blackgoldmovie.com.

"Our hope is one day the consumer will understand what they are drinking. It is not only on coffee, all products are getting a very low price - and the producers are highly affected."
- TADESSE MESKELA, Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union

Fall Creek and Cinemapolis have full schedules this weekend screening FLEFF films... but don't miss out on the other events in the theaters, especially the panel discussion tomorrow morning "How to Get Your Break in the Big (and Little) Metropoli" at Fall Creek, 11:00 am!

Kelly O'Brien
FLEFF Intern Extraordinaire

My plans for this weekend

This weekend is a big one for everyone involved with FLEFF - lots of films and events downtown!!! I thought I would give you all a listing of the events I plan to attend this weekend:

Friday, March 30th
9pm-1am: Welcoming Party @ Lost Dog Lounge

Saturday, March 31st
2:15pm: Dragones @ Cinemapolis
4:35pm: Fateless @ Cinemapolis

Sunday, April 1st
4:35pm: Jonestown @ Fall Creek
7:15pm: Amen @ Fall Creek
9:35pm: Disappearances @ Fall Creek

Of course, this all depends on me getting transportation to and from these venues... let's see what happens!!!

Jeff@Fleff
(Jeff Tatanus '10)

Yesterday at FLEFF

At 4pm on Monday, I went to the FLEFF gaming meme session with Ulises Mejias, Lisa Patti, and Claudia Pederson. Mr. Mejias is a brilliant man, and knew so much about the use of games for social change. It's amazing how related the session materials are to a course I am taking this semester - Serious Games (CMD-20300) with Dennis Charsky. We even discussed a lot of the same games as we have in class!

You can find a list of most of the games we discussed online at the FLEFF website.

Prof. Patty Zimmermann introduces the forum speakers. I have no idea how that woman gets so much energy - she's ALWAYS doing something!


Ulises Mejias gives expert input into the world of gaming for social change.

At night, I went to the opening of Memescapes. WOW is just about the only word I have for it - interesting archival footage paired with awesome live music.

Photo of the band at Memescapes. I apologize for the qualities for I am neither a professional photographer nor have I ever taken a photography course. I'm an Integrated Marketing Communications student with a point-and-shoot camera.

Going along with the more traditional definition of environment, yesterday was completely gorgeous - even though a thunderstorm developed during Memescapes.

Ah, Ithaca in the springtime.

- Jeff Tatanus '10
FLEFF Intern
"JEFF@FLEFF"

FLEFFtastic!

FLEFF is off and running! We're only into our second day of FLEFF week, and already a dozen or so screenings have occurred. Last night's kickoff was incredible, with Park Aud. packed to the brim with students, professors, and fellow FLEFFers to experience the sonic-sight-spoken word amalgamation "Memescapes", giving an explanation of the Festival's four themes that you could feel. And the best part is, there's more of these live soundtrack screenings to come! Be sure to check out "Panic Hits Home" with Renate Ferro on Thursday, March 29th from 5:00-7:00pm in the Handwerker Gallery, "His People" with Peter Rothbart, the IC Klezmorim and laptop orchestra on Sunday, April 1st at 2:15pm and 7:15pm at Cinemapolis, and "Man With a Movie Camera" with Chris White and Peter Dodge on Monday, April 2nd at 8:00pm in Park Hall. So much good stuff to do and see, I think I'm FLEFFing even in my sleep! Hope to see you all there. Until next time...

Caitlin
FLEFF Intern

A meme.. is a contagious idea.

FLEFF started off with a BANG at Memescapes last night, I hope you all made it, Park Auditorium was packed! For those who didn't - here's a little of what you missed:

Memescapes was a collaborative effort produced and directed by visual media artists Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, it included amazing original live music performed by Judy Hyman, Jeff Claus, Robby Aceto, Rick Hansen, and Jay Olsa as well as a moving performance using spoken word by Cynthia Henderson.

This event was a fun way to learn more about the four programming streams, (Metropoli, Maps and Memes, Panic Attacks, and Soundscapes) so if you didn't make it, ask your friends who did to tell you all about it!

Be sure you don't miss out on any more fantastic events, check out the schedule. There are tons of great films and speakers - but FLEFF is only here for a week!

Kelly O'Brien
FLEFF Intern

Memescapes Tonight!

I was FLEFFing last night.

Doesn’t it sort of evoke an image of a body writhing around on the floor in convulsions? It kinda sounds like a new dance move too. But last night I wasn’t writhing and I wasn’t dancing. I was witnessing a special sneak preview of tonight’s MEMESCAPES PERFORMANCE.

The result of a tremendous collaborative effort, the performance demonstrates the liberation of working with mixed media for artistic expression. The combination of live music, archival film and a spoken performance resonates in a startling gonna-stay-with-you kind of way (I know, because I can’t get it out of my mind!). This is certainly not something to be missed. And if you are still wondering what makes FLEFF “environmental” that is another reason to check this out. If this performance doesn’t challenge you to redefine what is considered “the environment” I don’t know what will. The excitement begins at 8 pm in Park Auditorium followed by reception and refreshments.

It’s FREE!

-Cara
FLEFF Intern

Hard Day's Night

Everyone loves the Beatles. EVERYONE.

This never-ending love lived on with the crowd groovin' and shaking at Castaway's Friday night for The FLEFF Kickoff- Beatles Tribute Concert: A Benefit for the Cayuga Waterfront Trail.

John,Paul,George and Ringo would have dug the creative and crazy remixes of local Ithaca bands. The diversity of styles and genres mirrored the Liverpool lads' own hodgepodge of influences.

Too bad, the boys couldn't make it.
Because for those of us who did, it was a hoot.
Don't believe me ? As those Brits would say , the proof is in the pudding:



Gabby oh-so-subtly points out what she owes her first curatorial debut to: the FLEFF sponsored ambient media screenwashes.



"No, no " Gabby says modestly, Peter Earle, technical operations extra-ordinarier, deserves credit for helping her creations come to life smoothly and in well timed manner .




Joe Crookston argees about those very cool screenwashes as he serenades us with a banjo and his rendition of Norwegian Wood ( This Bird Has Flown).



Tara & Hugh showcase how to properly accessorize your FLEFF t-shirt: the must-have lanyard,some bling, and a toothy grin.



Opps, Rachele reminds Hugh that a FLEFF outfit just isn't complete with out the sassy sombrero.




Ithaca mayor Carolyn K. Peterson give props to the greatness that will be the Cayuga Waterfront Trail.



Mary Lorson and St. Low sweetly renders Cry, Baby Cry.



But who needs music, when we've got the eloquence of co-director Tom Shevory singing the praises of Monday's upcoming Memescapes



Where on earth is this dynamic duo drawing our attention to ?




Right here : The FLEFF media and merch table, where Abi & Natalie field the big questions. (such as : SO what does all this cool stuff have to do with ENVIRONMENT ?)



Say you want revolution? The fat beats and rhymes of Cypher: Dissident rework this must have anthem for the hip hopper in all of us.

Missed this event?
Make it up to yourself and check out the over 150 events at this week's extravaganza that is FLEFF 2007 !

Join us. You wouldn't be disappointed.

- Lizzie

I can't believe it - FLEFF starts tomorrow!
9pm, Castaways, Tribute to the Beatles Benefit Concert

I plan on updating this blog throughout FLEFF with details on which events I plan to go to. The weekend of the 30th is really going to be huge, with lots of FLEFF things going on. I would highly recommend that everyone checks out the FLEFF festival calendar online at http://ithaca.edu/fleff/calendar.html.


Jeff Tatanus '10
FLEFF Intern


Hmm, "Jeff at Fleff... that has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?

PANIC HITS HOME
Handwerker Gallery, Thursday, March 29, 5-7pm

New media artist Renate Ferro ( http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/rtf9/) premieres her new installation Panic Hits Home for the 2007 Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival!

Renate Ferro questions what happens when the federal political bureaucracy maps out messages of panic via the media in a way that disrupts the balances of the boundaries between interior/exterior, psychic/social, and private/public. This is going to be a very interesting and powerful showing and I urge everyone to go if they are able to!!

This is going to be awesome. There's a reception after too! With (get this...) free food, amazing artwork, live music, (by The Maplewood Jazz Team) and a chance for all you to have a chat with the artist, Renate Ferro. This is a WORLD PREMIERE EVENT (cool, right?)

I'll be there, he'll be there, she'll be there, and I'm hoping you will too!

Ok...I think it's time for me to cool it with the "!'s"...

Jackie McB
FLEFF Intern

GO TO THE BEATLES BENIFIT SHOW!

I am so excited to start fleffing this week. Today's meeting just really got me pumped and and was so informative...plus...we got our lanyards (nice!)

There are a lot of great screenings and events coming up-check 'em out!

AMBIENT MEDIA is taking over

I have been meeting with Ithaca's multi-media engineer and helping to produce this Friday's FLEFF Beatles benefit concert at Castaway's. This past week I have been reviewing all of our ambient media that we were provided with and trying to figure out which videos should be projected during each song at the concert. Some of these videos are pretty intense and kind of addicting to watch! While some are on more of the psychadelic side, there is one that is on a loop where the screen is a car winshield and flies are flying into it before they are washed off by the car windshield wipers.....Very amusing to say the least....If you miss the Beatles show, look for ambient media throughout the campus plasmas all next week during the festival.

Life as a FLEFF intern...so far!

Hi All!

I just thought I'd share a little about what I've been doing this past week as a FLEFF intern. At first glance it might not seem like much. I used half a dozen glue sticks while attaching a list of the five French films that will be shown at the festival to five hundred postcards. I tabled at Cinemapolis and Fall Creek to spread the word about FLEFF, and I spent a morning at the Bookery II putting up a window display.

But in all honesty I was doing so much more than just a few menial tasks. Those 500 postcards I worked on? (With Kara's help, of course) Well, the French Embassy is a major sponsor of the festival, and they require special advertising for their films, to make sure they stand out from the many other screenings. So by gluing for an hour or two, Kara and I were actually improving international relations. All in a day's work.

And that window display in The Bookery? I'd like to say it is more than just a splendid, eye-catching piece of advertising (which it is, really, head down to the Bookery II on Buffalo Street and check it out!). I like to think that by displaying books related to FLEFF, we were promoting literacy, reading, and self education. At least that's what I tell my mother.
"So Kelly, what did you do today?"
"Well Mom, I woke up and had some waffles, then I went downtown to promote literacy among the masses."
"Good for you honey."
She's so proud.

When we tabled at the downtown theaters, we did more than hand out a few flyers. We spoke with dozens of Ithacans to get them ready for FLEFF. They seemed pretty excited about the events we have planned. Not only did we get to spread our knowledge of FLEFF, but we learned more than a little bit about the chaos of film distribution.

Well, that's about it! It has been a fun week, I've met some great people in the Ithaca community, and I learned a ton. I hope you all are ready for FLEFF, it's going to be a wild ride!

ta ta for now,
Kelly
FLEFF Intern Extraordinaire

NEW FOR 2007 Fest!

FINGER LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL SPECIAL FORUM!!!!

How to Get Your Break in the Big (and Little) Media Metropoli

SATURDAY MARCH 31
CINEMAPOLIS
11-1 p.m.
SPECIAL FLEFF FORUM
Free and open to the public


A special interactive session with entertainment industry insiders willing to divulge the ways to break into and enter independent, commercial and art cinemas and other entertainment industries.

In the new media ecology, the borderlines between commercial and nonprofit, between avant garde and entertainment, between playwriting and screenwriting, between academia and industries, between the intellectual and the popular, between the US and the globe, and between the local and the global are increasingly blurred. This rapidly changing--and completely restructured--international media environment can be completely baffling and opaque, or it can be one of the most exciting times for emerging creative types in all areas to figure out news ways to enter media, make media, and break open new media forms.

Join our panel of experts for two hours of enlightening and exciting discussion about HOW TO GET YOUR BREAK.

Featuring Steve Gordon, former executive VP for Viacom; Steve Ginsberg, screenwriter and playwright; Giovanna Pollarolo, screenwriter from Peru with credits like TINTA ROJA and DRAGONES; Craig Volk, screenwriter of NORTHERN EXPOSURE and playwright; Alberto Arvello, feature film director from Venezuela (TOCAR Y LUCHAR and HABANA, HAVANA); Jay Craven, feature film director and screenwriter ( DISAPPEARANCES and WHEN THE RIVERS FLOW NORTH) and Elisabeth Nonas, screenwriter and IC professor of cinema, photography and media arts.

Come early and grab a seat--we're expecting a SRO crowd for this one-time only event!

Do the forum, grab a quick lunch on the Commons and then pop back in for an afternoon festival matinee!

Welcome to the 2007 Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival blog!

After over a year of planning, it's hard to believe FLEFF 2007 takes off in two weeks with our Tribute to the Beatles Rock Concert and kick off party at Castaways, sponsored by the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce. The show is Friday, March 23, at Castaways in Ithaca, doors open at 8, music starts at 9. It's the FLEFF kick off party and a benefit for the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. Tix are $10 in advance and $15 day of show, you can pick them up at the Chamber, Castaways, or Maxies.

With only two weeks until the fest opens, we are working 24/7 to get the word out about this year's exciting programming around our festival streams: Maps and Memes, Metropoli, Panic Attacks, and Soundscaping. This year's fest features 150 events, 40 guests, 145 pieces of media ranging from feature films to digital art to installation, nearly 30 screenings of feature length documentaries and narrative films in Cinemapolis and Fall Creek theaters, and parties featuring live music and the chance to hang out with the panoply of film directors, experimental artists, media artists, digerati, industry insiders, musicians, scholars, writers, activists, who are participating in this year's FLEFF.

This year, we've programmed FOUR WORLD PREMIERES. One is an digital media installation by acclaimed digital artist Renata Ferro, called PANIC HITS HOME. It runs during the festival in the Handwerker Gallery on the Ithaca College campus.

The festival opens with MEMESCAPES, a multimedia show produced by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, with live music and a score by postmininalist alternative rock legends Judy Hyman and Jeff Claus and spoken word performed by actress Cynthia Henderson. The project is a collaboration with the Human Studies Film Archives of the Smithsonian Institution, and features an exploration of the 2007 fest's four programming streams, Maps and Memes, Metropoli, Panic Attacks, and Soundscaping.It's at 8 p.m. on Monday March 26 in Park Auditorium. It's free and open to the public, but get their early to insure a seat.

The festival closes with Dziga Vertov's 1929 city film, MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA, with a world premiere of new avant garde jazz improvisational score by electric cellist Chris White and keyboardist and percussionist Peter Dodge.

On Sunday, April 1, don't miss the world premiere of the new score for HIS PEOPLE, a silent film from 1925 chronicling Jewish immigrant life and assimilation. Composer Peter Rothbart has created a new score for laptop orchestra and klezmer, performed live in Cinemapolis Theater. The two shows, at 2:15 and 7:15 p.m., benefit the 7th Art Corporation, the non profit that operates Cinemapolis and Fall Creek. Tix are $15 and are available at Cinemapolis and Fall Creek.

Stay tuned to this blog for more updates on the festival, as well as news about which shows downtown are sold out! Get your festival pass and tix now, so you don't miss any of the films and events!

Check our website for more details on the festival: www.ithaca.edu/fleff