THE HUMAN TOWER. Set in three countries, the film is a global story of fearless skills and heart-bounding suspense. In the slums of Mumbai, India, Sandeep, a coach with high dreams and a debilitating case of malaria leads his team to break the record and build India’s biggest human tower at the one-day Dahi Handi Festival. While in Vilafranca de Penedes, Spain, a legendary coach, Melilla, takes his dreams to Santiago, Chile, hoping to share the castellers’ tradition that goes back 400 years. Pressed for time, Melilla needs to prepare the Chilean team for the Universal Forum of Cultures where they will attempt the first seven-level tower in Chile. Helped by Luis, a scholar, they develop a model to unify Chilean society from the bottom up through the human towers. But all it takes is one shaky foot to send hundreds of bodies tumbling into the mud or onto the crumbling pavement. A passion beyond race, borders, and ages. [ more ]
ON THE ROAD WITH BOB HOLMAN. What happens when a downtown New York poet of the hip hop and slam persuasion discovers that the roots of spoken word go back thousands of years and span the globe? If he’s Bob Holman, he goes On the Road to track them down! He trades stories, fun, recipes, insights, jokes, songs, and poems. Along the way, he gets passionately immersed in the Endangered Language crisis — over half the world’s 6500 languages will disappear before the end of this century. Holman guides us to the bottom-line question of survival of these systems of consciousness with respect, joy, and dedication to diversity. He throws himself into the life – shares the meals, participates in the ceremonies, dances and parties. His enthusiasm infects the series’ fast-paced style – Hip, but not hipper than thou. Serious fun! Ok everybody, get ready — let’s take the road not taken, with Bob Holman. [ more ]
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. [ more ]
PIGEON KEEPERS OF BUSHWICK. 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. 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. [ more ]