A day of Reckoning comes to the big screen

The Reckoning, a documentary film by Skylight Pictures about the first cases of the International Criminal Court, will be presented at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Festival organizers selected about 200 films for exhibition from more than 9000 submissions.

Launched in 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first international tribunal of its kind, a permanent criminal court set up to prosecute individuals for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. The Reckoning, a feature-length documentary filmed in High Definition on 4 continents, follows charismatic, relentless Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo and his team as he issues arrest warrants for leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, puts 4 Congolese warlords on trial in The Hague, charges the President of Sudan with genocide and war crimes in Darfur, challenges the UN Security Council to have him arrested, and shakes up the Colombian justice system. How is this tiny upstart court in The Hague going to bring justice and enforce the Prosecutor’s mandate to end genocide in the Wild West of these conflict zones? As the Prosecutor tells us, he has to take this tiny court, created by dreamers, and turn it into a functional reality. He has a global mandate to prosecute perpetrators around the world for the worst crimes imaginable, whether they are warlords or military brass or heads of state, even as they continue to wreak havoc.  But he has no police force – he needs to shame and pressure the international community to follow through, to muster political will.  It has turned out to be a monumental David and Goliath challenge. Will it succeed?  This is a court for humanity, and it’s fighting for its life against the forces of impunity.

Playing for Change - the power of music

A clip from film “Playing for Change” by filmmaker Mark Johnson. This remarkable film took 10 years to complete.

The DVD appears to be discontinued but is available through rental companies.

Glass House - The El Salvador Action

Glass House, is an independent feature-length documentary about the historically-overlooked “El Salvador Action” in which two Salvadoran diplomats devised and implemented a daring plan to provide protection to approximately 30,000 endangered Jews during World War II.

Director Brad Marlowe who self-funded the project shot in high-end digital video brings Glass House to the Latino Film Festival in hopes of securing a larger distribution deal.

Glass House (78 minutes) is a moving documentary of how El Salvador, one of the smallest countries in the world, facilitated one of the most successful rescue operations during the second World War.   It shares the story that begins in 1942 when the lives of thirty thousand Jews were saved when they were issued certificates of Salvadorian citizenship thanks to “El Salvador Action”.   José Arturo Castellanos headed the operation, a man assigned to open the Consulate of El Salvador in 1938 in in Hamburg while Europe was under Nazi siege. Glass House shares one of the greatest humanitarian efforts in the Holocaust’s history.  The documentary was filmed over a three-year period on location in Central America, Switzerland, Hungary, and Spain, as the sons and daughters of the heroes themselves along with some of the survivors of the effort, share this inspirational story, all people who owe their lives to El Salvador.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell - the quest for Liberia

Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country.

Thousands of women - ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim - came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a critical element in bringing about a agreement during the stalled peace talks.

A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverence of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

Related Links

• ‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell’ documents Liberian women’s effort to end war (Los Angeles Times)
• Theater schedule and listings
• Liberia Information (wikipedia)

Hope’s Wish becomes a movie

The most any of us can wish for is to leave this world a better place for our having been in it. Soon the world will know how 12-year-old Hope Stout left this world a better place when she died of cancer in 2003. Her inspirational story is the subject of a feature-length film to be shot in the Charlotte region during December and January.

Before she dies Hope Stout stated her ‘wish’ to the Make a Wish foundation was

for the 155 other children on the waiting list for the foundation would receive their

wish.  Hope’s story and efforts raised over $1.1M to grant those wishes before she

passed.

The cameras will start rolling at Bank of America Stadium during the Panther’s home game Dec. 8. Hundreds of local crew members will be hired, including some who will film Charlotte streetscapes for the movie’s holiday segments. Filming will be on hiatus over the holidays and resume in mid-January when the more dramatic segments will be shot. Pre-production, which has begun, editing and finishing all will be done in Charlotte. Joanne Hock, co-founder of Charlotte-based Emulsion Arts, has written the original script. The cast, including some well-known stars, will be announced in a few weeks.

When Rick Eldridge, president and CEO of The Film Foundry, a Charlotte-based film production company, and head of Independent Producers Alliance (IPA), moved back to Charlotte 13 years ago, he was determined to help build the regional industry and support local film community any way he could.

“Although I can’t shoot every film here, I try to as much as possible,” Eldridge said. His current release “Running the Sahara,” which he co-produced with Matt Damon, was filmed in Africa. “However, this is very much a Charlotte story. The people of Charlotte who rallied around Hope and her wish are the same people who have rallied around the film. And the movie will let the world know how thousands of people were touched by Hope’s wish that Charlotte’s Make-A-Wish Foundation grant the wishes of all 155 of the other terminally ill children on its list.”

Beth Petty, director of the Charlotte Regional Film Commission, said that Charlotte has all the locations and talent needed for this project. Petty leveraged those assets to recruit movies, such as “The Patriot,” “Talladega Nights” and “Leatherheads,” among others.

“We are very appreciative of Rick Eldridge, Bert Hesse, Joanne Hock and all the other film industry professionals who have chosen to call Charlotte home,” Petty said.

Executive producer Bert Hesse of Charlotte-based film production company Synthetic Fur, has been working closely with Hope’s parents, Stuart and Shelby Stout, for the past three years to bring Hope’s story to the big screen. He and Eldridge are committed to using the film as a vehicle to expand Hope’s dream of fulfilling other children’s wishes through the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the family’s non-profit, the March Forth with Hope Foundation.

The producers also are working closely with Carolinas Medical Center to shoot on the floor on which Hope died. Since that floor is being renovated, filming would not disrupt patient care. The Charlotte production companies are partnering with Dean River, a production company based in Los Angeles with which Eldridge worked on “The Ultimate Gift,” to produce the film.

20th Century Fox is handling the theatrical and DVD releases. PorchLight Entertainment will be the international distributor. The producers say they plan to release Hope’s Wish in time for the 2009 holidays.

The Spirit of The Marathon (movie)

More than a million people enter The Marathon each year. These are the stories of 5 of them.

Spirit of the Marathon is the first ever non-fiction feature film to capture the drama and essence of the famed 26.2 mile running event. Filmed on four continents, the movie brings together a diverse cast of amateur athletes and marathon luminaries.

As the unique stories unfold, each runner prepares for and ultimately faces the challenge of the Chicago Marathon. More than a sports movie, Spirit of the Marathon is an inspirational journey of perseverance and personal triumph; a spectacle that will be embraced by runners and non-runners alike.