Check out Austin School of Film’s blog post that features a bit more about the 20 filmmakers (including me!) screening at the Official SXSW Community Showcase @ Austin Film Society Cinema, tomorrow March 12 at 2 pm. FREE event. 90 minutes and includes Q & A. Woot!
https://austinfilmschool.org/blog/2022/3/11/20-filmmakers-to-see-at-sxsw-2022
From Chris:
Great news!! My newest film The Layers, which features Super 8 footage paired with music and a recitation of the Stanley Kunitz poem by the same name will be part of the Austin School of Film Showcase at SXSW 2022!
Some background:
I signed up for the Avant-Garde and Experimental filmmaking class at Austin School of Film in Fall 2021, which included Super 8 cameras and film and instruction on how to use the camera. I started filmmaking later in 2012 and have been using digital methods ever since, so the chance to work with an actual film camera sounded way cool. It was definitely outside of my comfort zone, but aligned with my filmmaking process in general. And…I pulled it off!
While the bulk of the film is made from Super 8 footage I filmed, I also added a found footage section using 16mm archive film, along with a segment at the end filmed with my iPhone. So, it’s a mixture of different kinds of filmmaking, with analog film featured prominently.
This film is a bit more personal as this poem really spoke to me recently, so it feels semi-autobiographical. I also list the names of some friends who have passed away over the years, which impacted me.
More details to come, but the screening is set for Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 2 pm at AFS Cinema.
Here is a link to the lineup, which features 20 short films made by Austin School of Film students since 2019. The overall program runs 90 minutes: https://austinfilmschool.org/sxsw-official-film-showcase
From Chris, director of Spinning Goat Productions:
Happy New Year and 2021!
I feel a sense of relief, and grief, having made it through 2020. Let’s hope our continued work to improve society for ALL has many more fruitful results in the new year, and beyond.
As a way to kick off the New Year and celebrate independent, creative spirits – like Pittsburgh musician Tom Moran – I’m releasing my self-produced feature-length documentary about his musical journey online today for free!
About the film:
Tom Moran has been in music since he was a child, starting his first band with his friends in his basement in 1969. From there, he has grown and expanded into a musician that can play anything with strings, who seems to understand the “soul” of music, which he seems to embody while performing. He has collaborated with multiple artists in the US and from all over the world, and is a consummate expert in music history “from the mountains of Appalachia to the sands of the Sahara.”
Improvising the Divine: the Music of Tom Moran is a zero-budget, indie documentary feature about Pittsburgh musician, Tom Moran, and his 50-year journey performing rock, punk, bluegrass, Middle Eastern, Indian, experimental music – and everything in between.
Featuring performances by Tom Moran, The Five, The Deliberate Strangers, Stephanie M. Vargo, Cousin Emmy, Elizabeth Cotten, Hamza El Din, and more.
Not only can Tom play – and build – anything with strings, he exemplifies the independent, artistic spirit, demonstrates respect for cultural music traditions and musicians, and shows how cool it can be to reinvent yourself every once in a while.
The documentary is filmed and edited by “one-woman crew” of Chris Mason of Spinning Goat Productions.
Improvising the Divine: the Music of Tom Moran
Filmed and produced by Spinning Goat Productions
Director: Chris Mason
© 2018 Chris Mason
Watch on youtube (see below) and vimeo: https://vimeo.com/354429058
Lots of cool happenings at Unblurred tomorrow night, and if you have time, stop into the pop-up gallery at Penn & Mathilda to view some awesome paintings and visual art by Tony Cavalline and other artists.
And view some films! A couple of new Spinning Goat experimental films were made just for this event, along with a slideshow of pictures from Cuba: from La Habana, Santiago de Cuba, El Caney, Baracoa, and El Cobre, taken by Chris Mason and Brenda Solkez. There will also be updates about the upcoming documentary “3 Rivers to Cuba.”
September 2, 2016
6-11 pm.
FREE.
*includes some of the best boxed wine you’ll ever drink. 😉
News: the Guaracha documentary trailer will screen at Film Kitchen on January 12th! Come see it on the big screen!
Tuesday, January 12th; $5 gets you Spak Brothers’ pizza and free beer or soda!
7 pm reception, with films at 8 pm.
Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Avenue, 15213.
Q & A with each filmmaker, too. 🙂
*a locally produced music documentary will also screen, as well as a new experimental short film by Spinning Goat.
Pittsburgh Filmmakers Film Kitchen series
A second Pittsburgh screening of this zero-budget, Pittsburgh-produced, independent documentary that tells the story of Puerto Rican music and history through the storytelling and performances of Machete Kisumontao.
Join us for a FREE screening at 1700 Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh campus. Doors open at 6:30 pm. There will be refreshments and music, and Q & A with the filmmaker and Machete Kisumontao Director Geña Nieves.
Event runs until 9 pm (or later – it’s Friday night!)
Parking near Hillman Library, Carnegie Library and along Schenley Drive. Take any 71 or 61 bus to Bigelow.
Posvar Hall is located behind the Hillman Library, off Forbes & Bigelow. Rm 1700 is on 1st floor.
Spinning Goat Productions 