I sit here thinking of my friend Nadia Szold’s retelling of her first encounter with New German Cinema icon Hanna Schygulla - muse to Fassbinder and one of my favorite on-screen performers- at the actress’ “apartment” in Paris last year (quotes because, according to Nad, the place was more of a palace). Nadia set up a meeting with Schygulla in hopes of nabbing her for a part in her upcoming feature film, a characteristically Szoldian story about two beautiful youths lost in (and to) France’s underbelly (Szoldian because Nad’s latest short, THE PERSIAN LOVE CAKE, is about a group of beautiful youths lost to the mystical woods - of the Berkshires). I don’t feel I would have had the guts to make an offer to Schygulla at such an early point in my filmmaking career - but cheers to Nadia for putting the ‘n’ in ambition! I envision Schygulla opening the door to her Parisian palace to the sight of my dear friend Nad, clad in a Fassbinderian combo of leather jacket and fedora. Did she blink twice?

Read all about the final films I saw, and my take on the awards, here .

What if 70s German prog-rock band Amon Duul II had done the score to LORD OF THE RINGS? Well, then I probably would have directed it…. here’s a creative youtuber’s lovely little mash-up, using “Archangel Thunderbird” off the classic Yeti (1970) album.

Watching this brings back old memories of that wintery February in 2003 when the Film Forum ran a series of Fassbinder flicks downtown. It was my first real exposure to the maestro. Here, he talks about the views that inspired his centerpiece series for TV, “Berlin Alexanderplatz”.

Egads, as a Smurf might say! (Did the Smurfs say Egads!) I left one of the most important winners off the list, Indiepix filmmaker extraordinaire, the inimitable Damian Lahey. The writer and star of COCAINE ANGEL picked up the Creative Excellence Award for the Horror Screenplay Competition: “Child in the Dark” by Damian Lahey & Ian Ogden at the Slamdance Film Festival.

Just found this film called MOUTH TO MOUTH, starring a then-unknown Ellen Page (JUNO) looking like a teenage Sinead O’Connor. The film, directed by Alison Murray, is about an Off-the-Grid-ish community that befriends Sherry (Page), a young girl in need of some direction. Having joined a cult in the late 80s, Murray probably has a few interesting things to say about the experience…this will be the first entry in what promises to be a fun slew of cult/commune/Burning Man-esque pics I’ll post up in conjunction with our AMAZING upcoming release, OFF THE GRID.