Watch “Ilyanica” on Amazon Prime
The Ilyanica Trilogy
The Ilyanica Trilogy tells the story of two friends, Ilyana and Erica, who met as college students studying in Berlin in 2005 when they are 20. Ilyana offers a last souvenir to Erica on the final day of their study abroad year, sparking a discussion of values and identity with their futures on the line. They meet up again ten years later in Austin, Texas in a drained out pool where Erica seeks to win Ilyana’s renewed companionship by showing her a film she made of an important incident in their lives. Finally, they meet in their 40s in an abandoned prison in Poland where Ilyana has become involved with a group of radicals occupying the site where the U.S. tortured people in the 2000s.
Written and Directed by Scott Cobb. All cinematography by Colemar Nichols.
“Ex Patria” stars Shelby Graham as Ilyana and Rebecca Karpovsky as Erica.
“The There” stars Venus Monique as Ilyana and Teresa May Nichta as Erica.
“Ilyanica” stars Circe Sturm as Ilyana and Cynthia Fray as Erica.
Production Temporarily Suspended Until After Coronavirus Crisis
We will reschedule filming for when things get back to normal, probably after there is a vaccine or effective treatment.
Drawing for My Untitled German Short Film
Ex Patria Accepted to 2020 Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival
Ilyana offers a last souvenir to Erica on the final day of their year junior year abroad, sparking a discussion of values and identity with their futures on the line.
Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival is committed to presenting nationally and internationally acclaimed narrative fiction, documentary, animated and experimental films and filmmakers with truly original voices.
1/25/20 3:15pm at Cité des Arts on Lafayette, Louisiana.
Cast Call for Untitled Short Film in German
Historic First: More Women than Men Directors in UT RTF Thesis Class Screening
I attended the screening Sunday May 19th of the UT-Austin RTF Undergraduate thesis production class. For the first time in the decades long history of RTF, there were more women than men directors in the thesis class. Congratulations to all the directors, crew and cast members of all the films. According to the printed program distributed at the screening, there were a total of 14 films created by 15 directors (one film had co-directors). 9 of the directors are women. 6 of the directors are men. Compare that to 2016, when 12 of the thesis films had men directors and 1 was directed by a woman. In 2017, it was 8 men and 3 women. In 2018, it was five and five. I started raising money for production grants a few years ago to support women and diverse directors in RTF. The grants given out since 2017 by Women In Cinema plus all the outreach and other activities they do have really had an impact! Thank you to major donors Kat Candler and the non-profit run by Michelle Voss, Moving Image Arts and Education!
Update on Impact of Production Grants by Women in Cinema
Some good news related to the production grants given out by Women in Cinema in RTF at The University of Texas at Austin.
Here is a list of the 2019 Undergraduate Thesis Production Films. There are a total of 17 films created by 18 directors (One film had co-directors). Ten of the directors are women. 8 of the directors are men.
Compare that to 2016, when 12 of the thesis films had men directors and 1 was directed by a woman. In 2017, it was 8 men and 3 women. In 2018, it was five and five.
The grants given out starting in 2017 by Women In Cinema plus all the outreach and other activities they do have really had an impact! Special thanks to major donors Kat Candler and Moving Image Arts & Education .
https://rtf.utexas.edu/…/end-semester-screenings-spring-201…
2019 Undergraduate Thesis Films
RTF seniors enrolled in the Production Thesis class, taught by Associate Professor Richard Lewis, will screen their films for the public on Sunday afternoon, May 19th. Beginning at noon at UT’s Hogg Memorial Auditorium, the event is free and open to the community.
EPILOGUE
Director: Eboni Ellinger
Producer: Jordan M. Auzenne
HOMESICKENING
Director: Emma Rappold
Producer: Annika Horne
DP:Heather Grothues
CATFISH
Director: Alicja Zapalska
Producer: Annika Horne
UNION MADE
Director: Rikki Bleiweiss
Producer: Claire Norris
FEMININA
Director: Ilana Mittleman
Producer: Kat Quinn
LUPE
Director: Marisela Campos
Producer: Yannira Herrera
LIMINAL
Director: Nicholas Castorina
Producer: Wesley Herbst
MANONG
Director: Rajinee Buquing
Producer: Lucky Nguyen
PARANOID
Director: Veronica Alvarez Ferreira
Producer: Melissa Metyko
WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
Directors/Producers: Aish Noubad, Eric Johnsen
DP: Noble Walker
RAIN IN THE DESERT
Director: Benjamin Root
Producer: Luisa Gonzalez
DP: Noble Walker
THE ALL-NIGHTER
Director: Elias Hinojosa
Producer: Brittany Braun
WATCH IT
Director: Rene Castro
Producer: Emily Reyna Ortega
INDIGO
Director: Ethan Yun
Producer: Trevor Nitschke
AND THE RIDER WAS DEAD
Director: Tiger Hill
Producer: Hannah Goulden
SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH PETER
Director: Nick Bonesteel
Producer: Skyler Frost
DP: Tiger Hill
LUCKY GIRL
Director: Sidi Wang
Producer: Zhixuan “Sonia” Li
Daily Texan Article on Exorbitant SXSW Badge Prices
SXSW Attendees by Household Income
I was contacted by a reporter from The Daily Texan regarding SXSW. The Texan included some of my replies in the article: Are SXSW discounted student badges still too expensive?.
Scott Cobb, a 2014 alumnus of the radio-television-film program at UT, said he could never afford a SXSW badge as a student, instead buying $15 entry tickets to see some of the films.
“My most memorable experience with SXSW when I was in college was walking through the crowded convention center wishing I could afford to get into a panel,” Cobb said. “They have so many great panelists each year on film-related topics, and I would have learned a lot, but I never got to attend, so all I learned was how exclusionary for-profit cultural festivals are.”
Students who want to purchase the discounted tickets have to apply through the SXSW website with proof of current school enrollment. This year, student ticket prices are $425 lower than the $800 price of the past.
According to the SXSW 2018 demographics, 6 percent of SXSW attendees came from households that make less than $25,000 a year, while 37 percent came from households making more than $150,000. One percent of attendees were younger than 21, and 6 percent were between the ages of 21 and 24.
A cultural festival such as SXSW that charges $1,650 for a platinum badge, $1,325 for a regular badge and currently almost $400 for a student badge has failed as an organization. The exorbitant SXSW prices are signs of a civilization in decline. They are emblems of a city where culture is reserved for the privileged, where low-income people are unwanted and purposefully excluded by prices only the affluent can afford.
SXSW is known as an “Austin Event”, yet students and low income non-students are not able to afford to attend. That says a lot about Austin and it makes me alternatively sad and angry. Only 6 percent of SXSW attendees come from households making less than $25,000, while 37 percent come from households making more than $150,000. The solution to increase diversity is to lower the badge price for anyone earning less than $25,000 to somewhere between free and $50. As a former film student, I can also add that SXSW should also waive all submission fees for short films and all application fees for bands. Get the corporations who are so visible at SXSW advertising this and that new product to cover the lost income from waiving the submission fees. The Cannes Film Festival does not charge filmmakers to submit short films. Austin needs to make affordable access to culture something that Austin is famous for.
Applications Open for 3rd Year of Grants by Women in Cinema at UT-Austin
Women in Cinema, a student organization at UT-Austin, has posted the grants application for this year’s Women in Cinema Spring 2019 Female-Directed Thesis Grant! If you are a woman in Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin, you can apply for one of the grants if you’ll directing a film in the undergraduate thesis class in spring 2019.
From the application: “Thank you for your interest in this year’s grant application read more at Views For Cash website! We are seeking to support women directors through this grant program by providing funds for those in the undergraduate thesis class in spring 2018. We have $5000 to award. All female directors in the thesis class will receive some of these funds. This application can be completed by the director OR producer of the project. In order to be eligible for this grant, your project must be directed by a currently registered female student enrolled in the spring 2019 undergraduate production thesis class.
As applicants for the thesis class, you are to request the grant amount you want (any amount from $0-$1000). Awards will be contingent on the amount of applications and the availability of funds. This application is due (by email to austinwomenincinema@gmail.com) by 11:59PM CENTRAL TIME ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15. The grant winners will be contacted by the beginning of December. Please reach out to us if you have any questions!”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x-dSocq0ov5VedKGl2BD9NqCRaVHNCg09papYWF034c/edit
Last year Women in Cinema gave out more than $5,000. In 2016, WIC gave out more than $1,600 with funds raised through the Grants Initiative to Support Women and Diverse Filmmakers in RTF. The goal has been to increase the number of women directors making films in the thesis in RTF. In 2016, the undergraduate thesis class had 12 men directors and only one woman director. In 2017, the thesis class had only 3 women directors out of 11 total directors. In 2018, the class had an equal number of women and men directors, 5 and 5.