Okay, so a week has passed since the whirlwind of schmooze and celluloid known as the IFP Market (or Independent Film Week, for those who mistrust brevity). I’ve had some time to process, to recover from the impact of all the phenomenal shorts, documentaries, and works in progress (or is it work in progresses…) I was exposed to. And now I’d like to share about a few of the projects that I sense you’ll be hearing about, and hopefully experiencing, in the near future. These movies jumped out from the pack, and that’s a pretty rockin’ pack, considering the difficult road to acceptance into the IFP Market. This is by no means an inclusive list, and is completely this guy’s opinion — so don’t blame IndiePix if I’m wrong about these. But after all, a bunch of folks with much deeper pockets and a substantially fancier pedigree than I somehow greenlit the pile of putrefaction known as Pearl Harbor.

Here’s some of the pics I really enjoyed:

Satan and Adam – a documentary work in progress, detailing the rise of the unlikely blues duo from Harlem street act into international acclaim. A great New York story with a huge (and aching) heart. Well shot, with a phenomenal soundtrack. Check out www.satanandadam.com for more information.

Salim Baba – a 35mm short about a man from Kolkata, India, who has been screening discarded film scraps for local children on a century-old, hand cranked projector for the past forty years. Beautiful, funny, and impactful, like an Indian Cinema Paradiso in a single exhale, the film is the directorial debut of award-winning editor and sound man Tim Sternberg. Film website.

Cornered – a work in progress, the film reveals the dark underbelly of the boxing world through the story of ex-prizefighter Luis Resto, who experienced an epic fall amidst the shadowy details surrounding a controversial MSG bout and the death of a boxer. This movie made me care about boxing, and the people who risk their lives to be a part of this controversial, dying sport. And director Eric Drath goes far beyond exhaustive researching — he treats his subject like an empathic, protective mother. This one’ll be big.
Find out more at www.theycame2fight.com

Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness – A feature doc which unearths the growing international subculture of adventure-seekers exploring the hidden, abandoned, decrepit and/or disgusting mysteries buried beneath our feet and beyond our boundaries. This movie was great fun, with intriguing characters, a sick rock/punk soundtrack, and more buried goodies revealed than in a year’s worth of Weird NJ magazines. www.urbanexplorersfilm.com

Unattached – A short film which depicts the Orthodox Jewish community’s struggles with a ’singles crisis’. Filmmaker J.J. Adler takes you inside the somewhat desperate world of young marriage-hopefuls who congregate on the Upper West Side, hunting for a soul mate in the modern world under the intense pressure of traditional family values. Illuminating and sad, this short may end up with expanded life as a feature — the story clearly merits it. Email the director at jjadler@gmail.com for more information.

Frontrunners – a quirky, hilarious-without-trying documentary which follows a recent election for class president at the country’s most competitive high school. It was unbelievable, and yet made perfect sense, how reflective this was of American politics in general. And it proves that as much as generations change, at heart we’re all the same. For once, a film about teenagers that didn’t make me feel old! Find out more at www.frontrunnersthefilm.com

Okay, that’s all for now. I’ll return in a bit with a breakdown of the industry’s take on the state of independent film, which I experienced during one of the IFP panel sessions. After I wipe the tears from my blurry vision…

I just wanna see some good indies…