Sinopse: Gabriela Leite é a primeira prostituta de que se tem notícia a concorrer a um cargo eletivo no Congresso brasileiro. “Um Beijo para Gabriela” segue de perto a campanha a deputada federal empreendida por ela contra 822 oponentes em 2010, na qual enfrentou os desafios de um sistema político dominado pelo gênero masculino,para ver se uma prostituta, ativista, esposa, mãe e ícone cultural poderia contrariar a norma e vencer as eleições.

A atividade da prostituta não é ilegal no Brasil, embora o gerenciamento da prostituição, como a posse de um bordel, seja criminalizado, e a profissão sofra de forte estigmatização. Gabriela Leite vem se dedicando a mudar esse contexto há 30 anos, por meio do mais conhecido e controverso movimento de ativismo sexual do país, o de defesa dos direitos das prostitutas, fundado por ela em 1987. Autora de duas autobiografias, a segunda encenada no teatro e em adaptação para o cinema, Gabriela ganhou em 2005 o status de ícone cultural ao criar uma bem-sucedida linha de roupas, a grife Daspu, para promover os direitos das prostitutas e levantar recursos para a organização não-governamental que dirige, Davida.

O documentário acompanha a jornada de Gabriela como líder carismática, por meio de um estilo observador, garantido pelo acesso irrestrito concedido por ela à diretora. No belo e sedutor cenário do Rio de Janeiro, repleto de pôsteres de candidatos homens e brancos, principalmente, a protagonista surge fazendo sua própria campanha, recusando a oferta de um pastor evangélico de captar votos em sua comunidade em troca de dinheiro, cozinhando para o marido, cantando seus sambas favoritos, trabalhando sozinha tarde da noite e chorando ao votar em si própria pela primeira vez. O filme é um retrato intimista de uma mulher marcante cujos motivos de notoriedade e proeminência são os mesmos que tornam remota a possibilidade de sua eleição.

Embora a ativista não tenha sido eleita, em “Um beijo para Gabriela” percebemos que o importante para mulheres como ela, que desafiam estereótipos, não é ganhar ou perder, mas ter a oportunidade de entrar em campo e jogar.

Vencedor do “Best Documentary Pitch” no Fusion Film Festival em Nova Iorque em marco do 2011. Para maiores informações, escreva para laura (at) akissforgabriela.com

Diretora: Amiga de Gabriela desde 2004, a diretora Laura Murray trabalha com grupos internacionais que defendem os direitos das prostitutas como cineasta, ativista e pesquisadora desde 2000. Este é o seu terceiro projeto de documentário sobre sexualidade no Brasil. Laura cursa doutorado em antropologia da medicina na Universidade Colúmbia, escrevendo seu tese sobre ativismo relacionado à prostituição no Brasil.

Equipe. “Um Beijo para Gabriela” é uma co-produção de Rattapallax e Miríade Filmes. O produtor executivo do filme, Ram Devineni, produz filmes exibidos em festivais internacionais de prestígio e é editor e publisher da Rattapallax, uma editora e produtora sem fins lucrativos. Cheryl Furjanic, a produtora, é uma cineasta premiada que, há mais de uma década, leciona produção de vídeo-documentário na New York University. A produtora associada, Beatriz Seigner de Miríade Filmes em São Paulo, é a diretora, produtora e roteirista do filme celebrado pela critica brasileira e internacional, “Bollywood Dream – O Sonho Bollywodiano”. A produção da finalização do filme esta sendo coordenado pela produtora Larissa Bery, de Bruta Flor Produções no Rio de Janeiro.

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Synopsis: Salt is famously “the only rock eaten by humans.” It’s also the only rock inhaled by humans for health benefits. SALT IN THE AIR, a feature-length documentary film, will tell the stories of salt miners, mine engineers, doctors, asthma patients and residents of a small Ukrainian village called Solotvyno, which is located deep in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Romania. A 2,000 year old salt mine exists beneath the town with salt so pure that inhaling it can virtually cure asthma in children. Today, the salt mine is collapsing, the asthma clinics are troubled, the miners have held protests, and the mine director has been fired. Tensions are rising. On May 19, 2011, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych announced that he would “take all necessary measures” to rectify the environmental crisis at the salt mine in Solotvyno, though few believe his claim.

But the subject of salt is larger than salt mining and this environmental crisis in the Carpathian Mountains, and it’s more mysterious. As an icon for life’s wonderful and terrifying magnificence, salt has been equated with the soul and noted as a possible source of life itself. Alchemists claimed it was a combination of water and congealed fire. This reification of a vital material substance presents us with a visceral example of our dependence on the Earth and a reflection of what it means to be human. Similar to air and water, salt is the Earth made palatable or ingestible. While presenting a portrait of a mining town, SALT IN THE AIR will also trace the connection between a huge deposit of salt deep underground and the fragile lungs of an asthmatic child who walks through a small village, far above on the Earth’s surface.

SALT IN THE AIR is nothing less than a story about life, with salt as the centerpiece. The characters engage in conversations about mining, childhood, industry, betrayal, capitalism, corruption, food, health, air and life. SALT IN THE AIR is at once about a small town dealing with profound change and a large question about the meaning of salt to all living beings and to the Earth. In an interview recorded for SALT IN THE AIR, beloved poet Oleh Lysheha tells us, “Salt all the time reminds us of human memory, tears and the bitter taste of great happiness.” Status: Post-production.

ENRICO ROSSINI CULLEN is a film director, producer and writer. He is currently directing a long-form documentary titled SALT IN THE AIR and exec-producing THE HUMAN TOWER. Enrico co-produced PUSHING THE ELEPHANT (2010), which premiered at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York and was broadcast on Independent Lens in March 2011. He was a producer for AN ENCOUNTER WITH SIMONE WEIL (2010), which premiered in competition at IDFA in 2010. He was a consulting producer for ELECTION DAY (POV 2008) and ARCTIC SON (POV 2007). He edited AMAZING GRACE (2004) and HANGING (2004) with artist Wangechi Mutu and he wrote, directed and edited THE MISADVENTURE OF 95 (2005), an original short narrative. He holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Chicago.

MAO & RAM is a marriage of two mega-super powers, CHINA and INDIA, as they battle for cultural supremacy of the world. In order to appease the emerging “Cold War,” the Indian cultural icon, RAM, travels to Beijing to commission a random local street artists to create a clay bust of his head next to China’s cultural icon, Chairman MAO. Both heads then take a honeymoon trip to the Great Wall. Will there be peace between two disparate societies?

Available for syndication. Shot on the Canon 7d.
NTSC. Full HD. 5 minutes.

Look up from the busy hectic streets of New York City life, and you will see a flock of purebred pigeons flying in circles around an abandoned tenement building in Bushwick. Their aerial acrobatics are guided by their keeper, a street-wise Puerto Rico man nicknamed 2Tone. On the other end of Brooklyn, Goodwin and his pal, Super 13, tend their pigeon coop and flock of 300 birds. Each one trying to lure each other’s pigeons away in order to get bragging rights. The keepers are “animal freaks,” as Super 13 calls himself. They love all animals, but are enamored by pigeons. Pigeon keeping is an art that has been around for centuries and practiced all over the world. In the past, pigeon coops were all over New York City, but have been relegated to obscure parts of the outer Burroughs.

PIGEON KEEPERS OF BUSHWICK is a beautifully shot documentary designed for online news and cultural publications. The film is told through the voices and perspectives of the pigeon keepers and brings the audience into this obscure and dying culture in New York City. The video is inspired by a series of stunning photos by Chris Arnade, which are also available for syndication.

Available for syndication. Shot on the Canon 5d.
NTSC. Full HD. 9 minutes.

“A true pigeon-man will never give it up, and that’s the god’s honest truth. Even if its one bird in a box in a corner somewhere. As long as he has one bird, and that’s the bird he loves, he is content with that.” — 2Tone

Photo spread featured in COLORS magazine.

Featuring 2Tone, Super 13 & Goodwin
Producers: Ram Devineni, Ashok Sinha & Martina Sönksen
Camera: Ashok Sinha & Ram Devineni
Director & Editor: Ram Devineni
Executive Producer and Camera Stills: Chris Arnade
Rattapallax. All rights reserved.

In spring 2011, poets & writers Joshua Ferris, Eliza Griswold, Bob Holman, Nathalie Handal & Christopher Merrill traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and UAE as part of a literary tour sponsored by the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. POSTCARDS is a series of short transmedia pieces about their trip including their experiences in Pakistan when Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces.

POSTCARDS FROM EARTH’S WHISPER

JOSHUA FERRIS, the author of the novel, Then We Came to the End (Little, Brown and Company and finalist for the National Book Award), is the main character who leads us from the stability of Brooklyn to the turbulent countries of SouthEast Asia. He witnesses the political violence in Karachi to the a national shutdown of Kathmandu due to Maoist Rebels to the daily struggles of living in war-torn Kabul. (42 minutes, HD NTSC)

POSTCARDS FROM KARACHI

Writer and reporter ELIZA GRISWOLD (The Tenth Parallel, Farrar Straus Giroux) is in Karachi, Pakistan conducting workshops with the rest of the delegation when suddenly Osama bin Laden is killed and the country is thrown into turmoil. She is asked to report on the general feelings and fears of the Pakistani people for the Daily Beast. A great documentary on the insights of reporting in difficult area during turbulent times. Featured in GUERNICA MAGAZINE (9 minutes, HD NTSC).

POSTCARDS FROM KATHMANDU

Spoken-word poet BOB HOLMAN is on a search to record a Newari poet for the endangered languages cento, which will be presented at the United Nations in New York City. Pressed for time, he travels to Kathmandu and experiences the diverse languages and peoples of the mountainous country. In the midst of a national strike that shutdowns Kathmandu, he finds a young poet who reads a poem about her grandfather. Bob returns to New York City and jubilantly presents the cento at the UN’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. (11 minutes, HD NTSC)

POSTCARDS FROM KABUL

Poet NATHALIE HANDAL is living in New York City. As the editor of New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond (W.W. Norton & Co.), she published an Afghanistani woman poet who was later killed, so Nathalie travels to Kabul to meet with other women poets and experience their culture and language. At Kabul University, she teaches a poetry workshop with young girls and creates a beautiful love poem with them, which becomes featured in COLORS magazine. Featured in BOMB magazine and the POETRY FOUNDATION. (8 minutes, HD NTSC).

Photo spread and poem featured in COLORS magazine.

Produced in association with the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. This video and the tour was made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Special thanks to Natasa Durovicova, Christopher Merrill, and Kelly Bedeian. Also special thanks to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, American Embassies in Kabul, Abu Dhabi, and Kathmandu, and the diplomats and local staff who organized the tours. Rattapallax is supported through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

VERSE: A murder mystery. When a young poet discovers a lost manuscript, he is drawn into the New York City literary world with the only key to an unsolved, 30-year-old murder. Starring Jon Sands, Angel Nafis and Mark Greenfield. Produced by Rattapallax Productions. Directed by Ram Devineni. Script by Susan Brennan. Music by Shira E. & the Tiny Tornadoes.

CAST OF CHARACTERS


Jon Sands (Jon) is a spirited spoken-word poet and New York City bike messenger living on the edge. He stumbles upon a manuscript that will lead him through a dark maze of the past.


Angel Nafis (Angel) is a young poetry graduate student who works at Poets House. She jumps at the opportunity to uncover the arcane life of a forgotten poet.


Mark Greenfield (Mark) is a reckless, hot-tempered poet on the brink of major career success unless the past avails to haunt and destroy him.


Lamont B. Steptoe (Lamont) is a radical poet from the 1970’s who served time for firebombing a Vietnam recruiting center. Paranoid and dangerous, he fears the manuscript as a threat.


Bob Holman (Bob) is Angel’s eccentric professor and world renowned poet who knew Claire from the 1970’s NYC poetry scene. He inadvertently helps Jon track down the murderer.


Julie Berndt (Mary) was once a member of the Poets Freedom Project, but now a middle-class housewife who sold out her radical principles for a stable life. The manuscript risks exposing her past to her family and rekindles long-lost memories and regrets.


Sophia Holman (Claire) was a young poet who was murdered in the early 1970s. Her lost manuscript is the center of the story and Jon’s obsession.


John Giorno (John) is a poet and performance artists and Beat writer William S. Burrough’s friend. Together they found Claire’s body hanging in Burrough’s BUNKER .


Taylor Mead (Taylor) is the infamous hoarder poet and former Andy Warhol movie star, who drops Jon and Angel an enticing clue.

OTHER CAST: Bill Kushner, Maggie Balistreri, Joelle Hann, Jyrki Ihalainen, Eileen Myles, Kurt Boone, Steve Cannon, Stacy Szymaszek, Jared Singer, Brian Moreland, Rolando Torrens, Jennifer Chapis, Susan Brennan, Ed Zeizel, Josh Goldfaden, Leonardo Novik and Boaz Novik.

Watch the episodes for free at KOLDCAST.TV. KoldCast TV is the premium discovery site for Web-­‐based programming. Their media player streams in both standard definition and high definition (720p and 1080p) in order to accommodate varying Internet connection speeds around the globe.

Watch VERSE on a new cable network called YouToo TV. It is on a show called “KoldCast Presents” and premiering on Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox, and Brighthouse reaching 15 million subscribers. The network Call Sign is YOUTV.

LA Webseries Festival Winner for Best Script in a Dramatic Webseries: Susan Brennan and Best Musical Score in a Dramatic Webseries: Shira Erlichman. Selected for 2011 International TV Festival in Los Angeles.

“VERSE packs some onamatopoaic mystery, metaphoric wildness, and the poetry story line is in the mouths and imagination of some very talented folks. Kudos to Ram Devineni for taking the syllables and images of verse to the movies.” – Anne Waldman, The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics.

DRUNKEN OASIS by Claire Wilks. Edited by Susan Brennan.
Buy the book from Blurb–$7.95 (paperback)
Based upon the award winning webseries, VERSE: A MURDER MYSTERY.

“Seeing Claire Wilks’ poems after so many years is like seeing New York City in the turbulent, exuberant times we shared, when being young and an artist was everything, and the Only Thing! I see her: Claire, the quintessence of New York poetry — fierce, enraged, ecstatic, iconoclastic. And now that we finally have Drunken Oasis, she will be forever remembered in her prime.” –BOB HOLMAN, winner of the American Book Award for Aloud! Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

CLAIRE WILKS was a downtown poet in New York City in the 1970’s. This is her lost collection of poems, which were recently discovered and published 36-years after she was murdered. Learn more about the book and Claire Wilks at “Murdered Poet Resurrected By Internet Series, VERSE.“

Some of our partner sites that are hosting the webseries:
Poets and Writers, Poetry Project, Tribes magazine, Carte Blanche, Poetry Night, Devil’s Lake Literary Journal, Marie-Elizabeth Mali, The Dressing, Blogalicious, Moving Poems, The Steiny Road to Operadom, Arc Poetry Magazine

Add one of our banners on your site. LINK: http://rattapallax.com/blog/verse/

Synopsis: Gabriela Leite is the first known sex worker to run for Brazilian Congress. “A Kiss for Gabriela” (28 minutes) accompanies her 2010 campaign as she faces 822 opponents and challenges the male dominated political system to see if a sex worker, activist, wife, mother, and cultural icon can beat the odds and win the election. Status: Post-production.

Prostitution is a legal profession in Brazil, yet it is still heavily stigmatized. Gabriela Leite has dedicated the past thirty years of her life to trying to change this, making her perhaps the most well known, and controversial, prostitute activist in Brazil. She founded the Brazilian Network of Prostitutes, an NGO for sex worker rights called Davida, has authored two autobiographies, and gained status as a cultural icon after founding Daspu, a clothing line to promote sex worker rights that has been featured in the international mass media. Despite her political activism, her 2010 campaign was the first time she sought to enter the predominantly male and economically privileged circle of Brazilian Federal Deputies.

Combining an observational style with unrestricted access, this 55-minute documentary follows Gabriela’s journey as a charismatic candidate full of contradictions. Scenes of her embarrassed to hand out pamphlets contrast with her openly talking about having had three illegal abortions in campaign speeches. Invitations to exclusive parties are set against her struggle to run a campaign with virtually no money and being evicted from her campaign headquarters in a historic sex motel. Images of her cooking for her husband, refusing a bribe from an Evangelical pastor, behind the scenes at popular television talk shows, singing her favorite sambas, working alone late at night, and crying as she votes for herself for the first time form the backdrop to this intimate portrait of a remarkable woman whose reasons for notoriety and prominence are the same reasons that make the possibility of her election impossible.

Although Rio de Janeiro voters did not elect Gabriela, in “A Kiss for Gabriela,” we see that it is not whether you win or lose, or even how you play. For women like Gabriela that challenge stereotypes and make history with their campaigns, it’s that you’re in the game.

Winner “Best Documentary Pitch” at the Fusion Film Festival in March of 2011. For more information, contact laura (at) akissforgabriela.com

LAURA MURRAY has worked with sex worker rights groups internationally since 2000 as a researcher, activist, and filmmaker. A Kiss for Gabriela is her third documentary film about sexuality in Brazil: she co-produced one about an HIV prevention intervention with sex workers and co-directed and produced a short about a transvestite samba school president living on the border of Brazil and Bolivia that is currently in post-production. Laura is a PhD Candidate in Medical Anthropology at Columbia University where she is writing her dissertation about sex worker activism, media, and citizenship in Brazil. She has published journal articles on sexuality and HIV in Brazil in Social Science and Medicine, Culture Health and Sexuality, and the American Journal of Public Health in addition to a book of the life histories of sex workers in the Dominican Republic.

Read Portuguese version.

Completed.
A film by Ram Devineni and Cano Rojas.
75 minutes feature documentary.
http://www.thehumantower.com/

Three countries. One passion. Three hundred bodies climbing, reaching the sky to build a human tower — all for a touch of glory. In Mumbai, India, Sandeep, a coach with high dreams and a debilitating case of malaria leads his team of men to break the record and build India’s biggest human tower at the one-day Dahi Handi Festival. In Vilafranca de Penedes, Spain, a group of “castellers”, or climbers formed by men, women and children, dedicate their lives to reach the heavens and share their passion with the world following a tradition that goes back 400 years. An old legendary coach, Melilla, takes his passion to Santiago, Chile, hoping to empower and help the local groups to improve their performances while unifying them as a community. Pressed for time, Melilla needs to prepare the Chilean team for their first public performance at the Universal Forum of Cultures in Valparaiso where they will attempt the first seven-level tower in Chile. Helped by Luis, a very passionate scholar and leader of this initiative in Chile, they develop a plan that will become a symbolic first step to rebuild Chilean society from the bottom up through the human towers. The film cuts between the three countries leading to a major climatic scene that will take your breath away and keep you on the edge of your seats.

In Santiago, Mumbai, and Vilafranca, all it takes is one shaky foot and the human tower falls, sending hundreds of bodies tumbling in the rain or into the mud or onto the crumbling pavement of a forgotten neighborhood. But the makers of these human towers keep starting again for the glory of seeing how high, altogether, they can go. A passion beyond race, borders, and ages. A global story of fearless skills and heart-bounding suspense of immense human towers.

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