Author: Bijan Tehrani

The last two presidential elections both came down to a relatively small number of votes, and in both elections the integrity of the voting process has been called into question. With the upcoming election looking to be similarlyclose, the time has come to ask the questions: what happened in 2000 and 2004; what has changed since; and what can be done to ensure a fair and honest tabulation of votes in 2008?STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote brings together behind-the-scenes perspectives from the U.S. presidential election of 2004 – plus startling stories from key races in 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2006.…

While the Duplass Brothers were shooting their last feature film The Puffy Chair, a crew member raised the question “what’s the scariest thing you can think of?” Someone immediately said “a guy with a bag on his head staring into your window.” Some agreed, but some thought it was downright ridiculous and, if anything, funny (but definitely not scary). Thus, BAGHEAD was born, an attempt to take the absurdly low-concept idea of a “guy with a bag on his head” and make a funny, truthful, endearing film that, maybe, just maybe, was a little bit scary, too.MARK AND JAY DUPLASS…

Eight Miles High tells the incredible true story of European wild-child Uschi Obermaier. The film tracks her restless life from a small town girl in rural Bavaria to a fast-living fashion icon in Munich; from free-loving companion of the Rolling Stones to ultimately becoming the embodiment of the 60’s generation of sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. This is one woman’s story about the discovery of freedom and the price one must ultimately pay to achieve it.Munich-born Uschi Obermaier celebrated her 60th birthday in September of 2006. She supported the film project of Eight Miles High, authorized the script, consulted with lead…

Sara Pollack is the Manager of Film & Animation at YouTube. She is responsible for building and managing the Film community on the site by highlighting exceptional content identified by the YouTube community, developing programs to foster the creation of quality content, and using community feedback to enhance YouTube’s features for both amateur and professional filmmakers. Sara is working to ensure that YouTube remains an integral part of the changing landscape of independent film distribution by helping filmmakers reach and engage with their audiences directly.Prior to joining YouTube, Sara was a Production Executive at Big Beach, an independent film production…

Catherine Breillat is a Paris based filmmaker and writer who became famous for her distinctively personal films on sexuality, gender trouble and sibling rivalry. Accused of being a ‘porno auteuriste’, Breillat allowed for an unbiased view of sexuality and extended the language of mainstream movies. She is also a best-selling novelist and wrote her first novel, L’Homme Facile, at the age of 17. Breillat acted in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris (1982) and wrote the screenplay for Maurice Pialat’s movie Police (1984). Since her first film Une vraie jeune filles (1975, not released before 2000), Breillat explored critically as…

Burbank, CA (June 26, 2008): The international film website Cinema Without Borders announced today that Mr. Fred Nassiri is the winner of its 2008 Bridging The Borders Award. A singer, songwriter, filmmaker and peace activist of international renown, Mr. Nassiri has received the award in recognition of his extraordinary and ongoing mission to help children throughout the world generate hope for world peace, and to bring all people of the world closer together through the arts of film and music.“Mr. Nassiri is an exceptional humanitarian as well as an accomplished artist in the fields of film and music,” noted CWB’s…

Laura Soloff has more than 25 years of experience in career-focused education and human resources management. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is actively involved in educational and community initiatives and serves on the Board of Directors of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and formerly served as past President of the California Academic Decathlon Board of Directors. Laura currently presides as President of The Art Institute of California—Los Angeles, one of The Art Institutes, a system of over 40 education institutions located throughout North America, since February 2003. She served as…

Film and Television writer/producer/director and development executive David Schreiber directed his first short movie at age 13 and has been in love with the art form since that early age. As a development executive in Hollywood, he helped shepherd into production some of the most commercially and artistically successful movies of the 1980’s, from The Elephant Man and The Fly to My Favorite Year and more.In the world of multi-camera production, Mr. Schreiber wrote for the Emmy-winning children’s shows Double-Dare and What Would You Do? As well as many game and reality shows. Having worked as a film reviewer for…

Richard Raddon is currently in his ninth year as Festival Director at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Before joining the festival, Mr. Raddon worked as an independent producer. His credits include: A Slipping Down Life, starring Guy Pearce, Lily Taylor, and Bruno Kirby, which premiered in competition at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Lions Gate Entertainment in May 2004; Shooting Lily, which garnered the grand prize at the 1997 South by Southwest Film Festival; …And God Spoke which was released theatrically by Live Entertainment; and Flow, an organ donation educational film for the Jamie Redford Institute.…

Tannishtha Chatterjee is emerging as one of India’s leading art house actresses. Her film credits include Shadows of Time (2004) directed by Oscar winning German director Florian Gallenberger and Swaraj (2002), for which she gained a National Best Supporting Actress nomination. Other award winning features which have screened globally are: Let the Wind Blow (2004), an Indo-French venture; Bas Yun Hi (2003); Strings; Divorce: Not Between Husband and Wife (2005); and Kasturi. Tannishtha’s latest principal role was in Bibar, based on the famous Bengali novel and has so far netted her the Best Actress awards at Osian’s Cinefan and the…