Contributors to this month’s WWW include (in addition to the Imagine staff) Emily Singer, Steve Gianino, and Heather Morehouse

Errol Morris always asks questions. What is normal? What is unusual? What is the fascinating? Errol Morris constantly explores these questions. His films deal with topics, which, at first glance, are most unusual. For example, his subject matter may be about someone who is the world’s foremost expert on mole rats, a champion lion-tamer, or a person devoted to the point of obsession to topiary gardening. However, when we meet them through Morris’ eyes, these people seem as normal as a neighbor. His CHEAP FAST AND OUT OF CONTROL gave us that experience.

Filmmaker Errol Morris worked two years as a detective before becoming a writer-director. He is based in Cambridge, MA and never stops fascinating his audiences with his own fascination for the human element that is unusual and strange. At press time, Morris was awaiting word of renewal for his documentary series "First Watch," which just concluded airing on BRAVO. Photo courtesy of Fourth Floor Productions.

In THE THIN BLUE LINE, Morris himself becomes obsessed with justice being done to a man wrongfully accused of murder and sentenced to die in the electric chair. The man is consequently found to be innocent, and then proceeds to sue Morris in an opportunistic attempt to get money...fascinating, yet human. Morris then goes on to explore the mind of a man who maintains the electric chair, DR. DEATH. How this person is exploited by forces of hatred cause him to promulgate the notion that The Holocaust never occurred, which results in his downfall.

In his latest 11 documentary efforts, which have been airing on BRAVO on Wednesdays at 10:30 PM, Morris explores the world of the Giant Squid, among 10 other fascinating matters. We are fascinated to learn that no one has ever seen a live giant squid. We only know of their existence in that scientists have found an occasional dead body washed up on shore. Morris interviews an expert on the topic, whose account of these creatures is horrific. Evidently, the shark in JAWS comes across like "Flipper" in a direct comparison of the horror of an attack, (if one were to ever occur on a human). The squid would attack hundreds of two-inch diameter "suckers" all over a man, then slowly pull him apart. The hapless victim in such an instance would die a slow and agonizing death that would make the rapidity of a shark bite a welcome relief. And thus is the way in which Morris draws us into a world; his world, that is unusual, fascinating, and yet still contains the human element. What can he do for an encore? Perhaps he can make a documentary about a filmmaker who saves a man’s life, only to be sued by him in an exploitive attempt to make a quick buck. But alas, who would ever believe such a tale?

Imagine finds it fascinating that while surfing the web, we found an Errol Morris fan sponsored site offering the following: "Errol Morris’s weekly television series, ‘First Person’ has ended, and while there are no reruns scheduled, if you missed any episodes write me and I’ll try to hook you up with a tape." You can find this comment and more at http://homes.acmecity.com/movies/moviestudio/165/.

At press time Errol’s office is awaiting word from BRAVO of a "First Person" renewal.

Imagine reports it here first. Hamzeh Mystique Films has just completed securing the necessary funds for their feature film SHADOW GLORIES. The script, written by Marc Sandler, was a semi-finalist in both the Nicholl Fellowship Awards given by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and The Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema Screenplay Competition under its former tile "Sojourn". The film will be directed and produced by Ziad Hamzeh (Imagine cover story, September ‘99).

This multi-million dollar film will begin shooting this August for a five-week schedule in the New England area. Currently, options of filming in either the State of Rhode Island or Massachusetts are being explored. Imagine will keep you informed. Casting notices will also be available shortly.

The company has been approached by numerous distributors. However, plans are for the film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival as well as the Cannes Film Festival.

Emily Singer, Publicist, from the Office of Public Information at Berklee College of Music brings Imagine up to date on the talent they harbor. Korean film PEPPERMINT CANDY features a score by Jae-Jin Lee ‘00 of Seoul, Korea, a Film Scoring student at Berklee College of Music. The film won awards in 5 categories at the 37th annual Korean Academy Awards. PEPPERMINT CANDY is currently in its 12th week of release, one of the longest runs in Korean film history.

Members of Berklee College of Music’s Film Scoring Department are seen here with film composer and Grammy-winning trumpeter Mark Isham during his recent visit and lecture at Berklee. From left to right are: Associate Porfessor of Film Scoring Richard Davis; Dean of the Professional Writing Division Joe Smith; Mark Isham; Asst. Chair of the Film Scoring Dept. Michael Rendish; Chair of the Film Scoring Dept. Don Wilkins; and Associate Professor of Film Scoring Eric Reasoner. Photo credit: Liz Linder.

In April, Lee was one of two students who received the Georges Delerue Memorial Scholarship in Film Scoring, which was presented by Colette Delerue, widow of the legendary film composer. Erik Alvarez ‘00 of Caracas, Venezuela also received a scholarship. Mrs. Delerue created the scholarship to honor the memory of her husband, who scored such films as JULES ET JIM, THE DAY OF THE JACKEL, SILKWOOD, and PLATOON. During her visit, Colette was joined by Georges’ close friend and colleague Dan Carlin, who helped her to establish the scholarship and whose Segue Music in Los Angeles offers internships to Berklee students.

Alumna Aimee Mann ‘80 received an Academy Award nomination in the Best Original Song category for "Save Me" from the soundtrack to the film MAGNOLIA. Scott Gershin ‘84 was the supervising sound designer for the film AMERICAN BEAUTY, which won five Oscars. Scott’s work on the film also earned him a Golden Reel Award—the highest recognition one can achieve for film and television sound. Newly-appointed Berklee Film Scoring faculty member and Berklee alumnus Matthias Gohl worked as music producer for John Corigliano’s Oscar-winning score for THE RED VIOLIN.

Here Imagine needs to confess that in our feature spotlight story Berklee Blows the Doors of Film Scoring Wide Open (Imagine April ‘00), this picture inadvertently was printed in reverse. We reprint it here with our apologies and a correct caption that actually reads left to right instead of the other way around.

BuyIndies.com, the first online community for buying and selling independent films, today announced an alliance with several award-winning filmmakers, including David Sutherland of THE FARMER'S WIFE and Jay Craven of A STRANGER IN THE KINGDOM. For the first time, buyers will be able to locate and purchase their harder-to-find titles right online at BuyIndies.com.

"The biggest challenge facing independent filmmakers is the challenge of effective distribution in the face of domination by the major studios," says Jay Craven. "We’re thrilled to have found an ally with BuyIndies.com." Through BuyIndies.com, Craven's company Kingdom Country Productions now sells all of their titles online-not only their popular hits. but also several of their award-winning hard-to-find titles such as GAYLEEN, IN JEST, WHERE IS STEPHANIE/ and JOURNEY INTO COURAGE.

"It’s exciting to bring such wonderful titles into the BuyIndies.com catalog that in the past have only been available for purchase by contacting the filmmaker or production company," says BuyIndies.com Founder and President Michele LaMura. "It’s about time that filmmakers had a viable option for distributing their own work, and we’re honored to work with them to make that a success."

"When you’re an independent, you become identified with one or two films, although you have others that are just as good or better. BuyIndies.com is a great way to get your body of work out there, not just the bestknown titles," says David Sutherland. Although best known for his runaway hit THE FARMER'S WIFE," David's other films DOWN AROUND HERE, OUT OF SIGHT and WILLIAM C. PALMER have been shown throughout the country at festivals and have won numerous awards.

BuyIndies.com enables any indie film distributor or individual filmmaker to join as a seller and instantly begin adding titles to the catalog. Sellers can import photos, upload video streaming links, and list awards, festivals and press quotes. Using a completely automated system, BuyIndies.com enables sellers to choose their own pricing, ship time and available formats.

Michele LaMura received an Image Award for Vision and Excellence from Women in Film & Video New England May 16th

Harvard Film Archives has a special treat coming up. Beginning June 16, the HFA presents the: "The Left Bank Revisited:Marker, Resnais, Varda", a retrospective of what critic and curator Richard Roud dubbed the "Left Bank" group, a loose association of makers that consisted principally of the directors Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, and Agnès Varda. This classification derived from the simple fact that the Left Bank area of Paris was home to each of these directors, but Roud associated this neighborhood with a "state of mind" as well—one that in his estimation was synonymous with "a fondness for a kind of Bohemian life and an impatience with the conformity of the Right Bank, a high degree of involvement in literature and the plastic arts, and a consequent interest in experimental filmmaking." He recognized as well that this community, long a center of the avant-garde, was also "traditionally frequented by the political Left".

Jacquot Demy is a little boy at the end of the thirties in a happy family that likes to sing and go to the movies. Agnes Varda, in person, will talk about JACQUOT DE NANTES and her other films at the Harvard Film Archives June 23 - 25th.

The three directors whom Roud had first united nearly forty years ago continue to be actively engaged in filmmaking that is replete with as much intellect and adventurousness as ever. The shorts, documentaries, and features these directors have created could easily fill a month of our programming. Instead we present an intertwined sampling from the collective oeuvre of the "Left Bank" group and, as a very special highlight, are honored to host a visit by Agnès Varda, who will speak not only about her own remarkable career, but about the work of her lifelong friends and (cinematic) neighbors Chris Marker and Alain Resnais.

Widely regarded as one of the most important filmmakers of the Nouvelle Vague, Agnes Varda has produced during the past 45 years a wide-raging and highly original body of work including numerous short films, documentaries, and fiction films including such celebrated works as CLEO FROM 5 to 7, LE BONHEUR, VAGABOND and JACQUOT de NANTES. This month she will present her latest film THE GLEANERS AND ME at the Cannes Film Festival as well as being invited to present the festival’s annual Lessons of Cinema lecture.

In conjunction with her visit to the Archive, Agnes Varda has agreed to host a book signing at Schoenhof’s Bookstore on the afternoon of Saturday June 24th (time to be announced). She will be signing copies of her book Varda par Agnes published by Cahiers Du Cinéma.

All screenings and in-person presentations take place at the HFA located on the lower level of the Carpenter Center.

Imagine reports its own wrinkles and whoops under the WRINKLES portion of WWW. Last month in the May issue, in a quintet of profiles, writer Jules Becker reports here that the veteran cinematography is Gary Hennoc, not Hennick (the incorrect spelling in the piece) Our apologies to Gary. We will never misspell his name again, ever!

Becker further reports that while Scott Crawford did do some still photography early on, that aspect of his work stopped at college. Actually his major focus for many years has been both motion pictures and cinematography. Besides such films as those described in the May feature, TEACAKES OR CANOLI and CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, Crawford has been producing corporate videos and documentary programming for the Discovery Magazine show on the Discovery Channel, and probably four out of 13 shows in a major series for the Discovery Health Channel. Inadvertently the feature spoke of Edward Weston and Bill Burke as important photographers in the development of his work, but the highly demanded cinematographer actually regards noted director of photography John Lueba (profiled in "John Leuba: Painting With Light" in the May issue) as the major influence on it (his work). At the same time, he highly respects the camerawork of Nestor Almendros and Conrad Hall (although the piece, in a regrettable error-suggested that he regarded the latter master as "the prince of darkness."

Two Scott Crawford related websites should be mentioned here. The first, www.corporatesucker.com applies to CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, not to TEA CAKES AND CANNOLI, as previously indicated. The second- www.scootercam.com- is a personal website (not noted in the May issue).

And there is more, S.G. Collins contacted Imagine to let us know that more facts were a "little minced" in the same piece. THE SAME SIDE OF REJECTION STREET was shot in late 1998, not 1988, and Bernie Karol was the DP not S.G. Collins. And still another ìCorrection: The quotes from Merle Bertrand’s review of Richard Allen’s films CRASH PAD and THE ONE ARM BANDIT at Slamdance this year, were from FILM THREAT WEEKLY, and not from filethirteen.com/reviews/" as written in the April WWW.

Whew! We strive here to set the record straight and get the egg off our face. As we have said only once before, egg on the face is only good for our complexion, not our reputation. Our apologies all around.

Parallax Productions, a film, TV & video production company, just wrapped shooting a Public Service Announcement (PSA) with the legendary stage and screen star, Julie Andrews. Emmy award-winning Director, and Parallax Productions’ Founder, Alan Chebot directed the spot.The Director of Photography was local filmmaker, Austin de Besche. The spot was shot in a New Jersey, at the John Harms Center for the Arts.

Julie Andrews – best known for her roles in MARY POPPINS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC and VICTOR VICTORIA – warns viewers of the dangers of Osteoporosis, and how to protect against it. The bone disease effects an estimated 22 million American women and poses a significant threat to post-menopausal women in their 50’s and upward. Ms Andrews, mother suffered from Osteoporosis.

Julie Andrews with Director, and Founder of Parallax Productions, Alan Chebot, on location at the John Harms Center for the Arts, in Englewod, NJ.

The Osteoporosis national awareness campaign debited in May, to coincide with National Osteoporosis Prevention Month. The Parallax Productions’ Julie Andrews PSA is being shipped to TV stations nationwide for immediate rotation. The spot is sponsored by the National Women’s Health Resource Center, Inc. For more information, call this 1-800-430-8289.

Parallax Productions is enjoying its third season of its nationally syndicated weekly television show, WILD WEB. Acclaimed as THE television guide to the Internet, the show gives viewers a fun and entertaining look at the global phenomenon of "the Net." Distributed by King World Productions, the show airs in 148 markets across the country covering 88% of U.S. television households. The show is produced in Parallax’s 7500 square foot television production facility and studio.

The first annual Dudley Digital Film Festival at Harvard University proved to be a success. Organized by Valerie Weiss, Harvard’s Dudley House Film and Drama Coordinator, this showing of digital short films made by Harvard graduate students was an excellent example of what digital video technology and imagination can do for film.

The Dudley Digital Film Festival at Harvard’s first 5 filmmaker panel: (L-R) Aykan and Tugba Erdemir , Bridget Wagner, Tom Deuel, Gustavo Medeiros, and Reina Solunaya. Photo courtesy of Zheng Wang

For many of the filmmakers this was their first time making a film. The films ranged from informative and serious to hilarious and emotional. In post-viewing panel discussions the budding filmmakers shared with the packed audience their excitement at the ease with which their films could be shot and edited. Most of the films were shot and edited in just a handful of intense days. The audience was clearly pleased by the professional-quality product digital video and editing afforded the filmmakers.

One of the featured films, THE FISH AMONG US directed and produced by Thomas A.S. Deuel was inspired by Deuel’s observation that fish and humans have much in common. He turned this casual observation into a humorous, witty, mockumentary. Another of the films, BOND, directed and produced by Rufus Williams, was an emotional portrait of the bittersweetness of going through a break-up. Zheng Wang’s ONLY YOU, an enthralling tale of a struggling graduate student’s relationships with women, featured excellent acting performances by Harvard graduate students. MARCIAL, directed, produced, and photographed by Iliana Pagan-Teitelbaum and Julio Moura Figueiredo, captured the life of an immigrant as he tries to make a life for himself in Boston. For more information about film events at Harvard’s Dudley House visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~dudley/fellows/drama/drama.html