"Watching the Earth Melt Away", directed by Joe McNally, at the Ridgefield Independent Film Festival

Via Ridgefield's Hamlet Hub

October 9, 2020

"Watching the Earth Melt Away" directed by Joe McNally, an internationally-acclaimed, award-winning photographer and filmmaker will screen live on Friday, October 16 @ 4:00 pm at the Ridgefield Theater Barn and is also available to screen virtually.

Watching The Earth Melt Away is a wake-up call to climate change. In 2001, McNally covered a story about George Divoky, an ornithologist who, at that time had spent three months every summer for the past 28 years, living on a Cooper Island, a forbidding stretch of ice north of Alaska, where he studied artic seabirds. Over the course of his study though, which has now spanned 46 years, Divoky had inadvertently amassed one of the world’s largest experiential accounts of global warning. In 2001, McNally took a breathtaking photo of Divoky standing on a stretch of ice with the artic sky behind him. When McNally returned to Cooper Island in 2019, he recreated the photograph. The glaring difference between the two said it all—Divoky was standing knee deep in water. The magnitude and speed with which the landscape had melted and changed is heartbreakingly evident in the haunting film, Watching The Earth Melt Away.

THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL: REMEMBERING LENNON

By Kate Mcgraw


(C)The Albuquerque Journal
Friday, October 22, 2010


Remembering Lennon
Hamill’s works with the iconic star are shown at Monroe Gallery

Brian Hamill: John Lennon, The Dakota, New York, 1975

John Lennon would have been 70 years old on Oct. 9. For those whose college days came alive to the Beatles' music, that's an almost unbelievable statistic. One advantage of dying young — Lennon was only 40 when he was murdered on Dec. 8, 1980 — is that the victim remains forever young in memory.

Brian Hamill, for instance, is a longtime celebrity photographer who's aging, like the rest of us, but who has indelible memories of the three intimate sessions he had with Lennon in the '70s. Fortunately, his memories are on film. Many of the photographs from those sessions are being shown in an exhibit opening today at Monroe Gallery of Photography on Don Gaspar.

Brian Hamill: John Lennon, The Dakota, 1975

Hamill has written movingly abut his memories of Lennon in a blog on the Monroe website.

"... I will always remember John Lennon as a quick-witted, vulnerable, stand-up, soft-spoken but unafraid guy," Hamill wrote. "In my short time hanging with him, he spoke only the truth. I only spent time with him twice. I photographed him three times. They were all as memorable in my brain and in my heart as the awful day when he got murdered by a two-bit swine. On Dec. 8, 1980, I was sitting in a rocking chair of my living room at my country house in Rhinecliff, N.Y., holding my 3-week-old infant daughter Cara in my arms. Just the two of us were there, listening to music together on the radio, me with the goofy faces and smiles and the baby talk, when suddenly the music was interrupted by a bulletin stating that John Lennon had been murdered. Projectile tears instantly shot out of my eyes onto my beautiful daughter. I had never cried like that. They were such immediate, forceful tears. I will never forget the combination, a one-two punch on the chin, of celebrating the wonderful joy of fatherhood one moment that was completely shattered in a split-second moment by that painful, horrible news bulletin. John Lennon, dead!? Nooooooooooo!... for my generation, for many generations, he was a major musical force and a phenomenal creative icon of the 20th century who influenced the world. No doubt about that. Everybody knows."

Brian Hamill: John Lennon, Madison Square Garden, New York, 1972

Brian Hamill has moved among the famous for most of his career, and this exhibit shows that, according to Sid Monroe, gallery director. Monroe Gallery specializes in classic black and white photography with an emphasis on humanist and photojournalist imagery. The gallery features work by more than 50 renowned photographers and also represents a select group of contemporary and emerging photographers.

Hamill was born in Brooklyn, NY and studied photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology. In the late 1960s, he began a career as a photojournalist covering the rock 'n' roll scene as well as the boxing world. He also worked as an assistant to several top fashion photographers. In the early 1970s he traveled to Northern Ireland to photograph the troubles there, and widened his scope into unit still photographer jobs on movie sets. Since then, he has worked as a unit still photographer on more than 75 movies, including 26 Woody Allen films, resulting in a coffee table photo book titled "Woody Allen At Work: The Photographs of Brian Hamill" (Harry N. Abrams, 1995).

The redoubtable director is in fact quoted marveling at Hamill's ubiquitousness: "His currency is knowledge, information, connections, street smarts. There's not a person he doesn't know or he doesn't have the skinny on or know about, not a restaurant, not a broad — it's really quite astonishing."

Hamill's work also has appeared in other books, publications and exhibitions, including a one-man show at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1995. In 2005 he had solo exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles and Austin with his images of John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, Mick Jagger, Robert DeNiro from "Raging Bull" and Woody Allen from "Manhattan." In addition to his movie work, Hamill has an extensive file of photographs that includes the "Troubles In Northern Ireland — 1972," rock 'n' roll, boxing, travel photographs from around the world, and a collection of nudes from the 1970s to the present that he plans to include in a forthcoming book.

He still mourns the gentle music man he met in those Lennon sessions not long before the singer-songwriter's tragic death. "John Lennon never got to fully mature as a man," Hamill writes. "The dude was only 40 years old! He never really got to bring his full genius to all of us, although he certainly brought us some real genius. He never got to share more of that fun and laughter and wackiness with Yoko that we all were lucky enough to glimpse in a small way, and you certainly know a lot more of that was on their horizon. He never got to spend a lot of quality time with his nice sons. Yet he gave us all so much. Those John Lennon tears of mine will never fully dry. He will be missed forever."

Brian Hamill: John Lennon, The Dakota, New York, 1975

Opening Reception and Special Film Festival Exhibit For Brian Hamill
Friday, Oct. 22  5 - 7 PM
Exhibit continues through Nov. 21.


Related: LENNONYC at The Santa Fe Film Festival Saturday, Oct. 23. Ticket info here.
Brian Hamill will introduce the film and take part in a panel discussion afterwards.

MONROE GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY
112 Don Gaspar
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505.992.0800
505.992.0810 (fax)
info@monroegallery.com
http://www.monroegallery.com/

SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND

Fewer titles, but much to love for film fest fans
Santa Fe Film Festival scales back annual event



Robert Nott
The New Mexican
October 21, 2010

Film buffs will have their pick of movie fests this week as the Santa Fe Film Festival kicks off its 11th (some say 12th) year Friday while the relative newcomer, Santa Fe Independent Film Festival (which started Tuesday evening), continues its second year through the weekend.


Both fests promise film screenings, informal panel discussions and social events, but in terms of quantity, the Independent Film Festival is offering some 60 titles this year — mostly indie titles. The Santa Fe Film Festival, by contrast, has contracted its schedule considerably, cutting back from the usual 100 to 200 titles to eight feature films, 15 short movies, four panel talks and one party.

Yet organizers of both fests say the buzz is high and ticket sales are brisk. Michael Hare, co-artistic director of the Santa Fe Film Festival, said Wednesday that seven of the festival's eight major titles are selling very well and may be sold out by Friday.

Those films, which include The Four Times (Le Quattro Volte), an Italian spiritual fable that was just selected for the Directors' Fortnight showcase at the Cannes Film Festival, and French film director Bertrand Tavernier's The Princess of Montpensier, are all playing at the Center for Contemporary Arts Cinematheque on Old Pecos Trail, which only seats about 140 patrons.

The eighth big title, the 1970 Mike Nichols' film Catch-22, runs at the much larger Lensic Performing Arts Center on San Francisco Street on Sunday afternoon. That screening will be followed by a discussion with Catch-22 actors Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss (and maybe star Alan Arkin, a Santa Fean who is currently filming a movie on the East Coast).

Hare acknowledged this year's festival is smaller as the organization attempts to rein in the spending and refocus its mission.

"We are just reducing the scale," he said. "There are smaller, more intimate and relaxing festivals around the country, and we want to be at that end of the spectrum." He and co-artistic director Rose Kuo are laying out a three-year plan for the festival, which was founded in the late 1990s by film buffs Jon Bowman, David Koh, Michelle Kiley and others. (Accounts differ as to whether it was officially founded in 1999 or 2000.)

Meanwhile, the upstart Santa Fe Independent Film Festival is trying to make a name for itself as "the premiere exhibition platform for independent film here," according to David Moore, who co-directs the event with Jacques Paisner.

On Tuesday, 120 people attended a free screening of Salt of the Earth (the 1954 labor drama shot in New Mexico), Moore said. "To get that many people in one room on a Tuesday night I consider quite an accomplishment. I'm surprised at how people responded and applauded at the end; if that's a harbinger of things to come, we're very pleased," he said.

The Independent Film Festival's screening venue is Warehouse 21 on Paseo de Peralta, though it hosts informal coffee chats about the film business at the Aztec Cafe on Aztec Street.

Hare said he thinks the two events will complement one another. "I'm kind of a 'the more the merrier' guy," he said. "We know we are creating a relatively small footprint, so we encourage people to do their own thing and make it a good weekend."

Moore and Paisner have said they think it's a smart idea to hold their festival at the same time as the more mainstream Santa Fe Film Festival — as they did last year when both fests took place in December.

Both festivals are expecting participation from filmmakers who have products playing here; Hare said each of the feature films in the Santa Fe Film Festival will be followed by a question-and-answer session with either film artists associated with the movie or film historians and critics familiar with the work.

He said this is a year for the changing festival to "test-pilot some ideas. We want to make sure we do it well.

"Hopefully people will be patient, and next year it will be a little bit bigger — we may have 16 titles next year and by year three get into the low 20s."

Moore said he wants the Independent Film Festival to be "the best fest that it can be to bring independent film to people."

Visit http://www.santafefilmfestival.com/ and/or http://www.santafeindependentfilmfestival.com/ for a schedule of events and details on both festivals.



Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.
Copyright The Santa Fe New Mexican

Related: Secial Film Festival Exhibition for Brian Hamill

SPECIAL FILM FESTIVAL EXHIBIT FOR BRIAN HAMILL

Brian Hamill: Diane Keaton and Woody Allen, 59th Street Bridge, New York, 1978, "Manhattan"

Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to welcome Brian Hamill for a very special exhibit in conjunction with the Santa Fe Film Festival, which takes place October 22 - 24. There will be a public reception with Brian Hamill on Friday, October 22, 5-7 PM at Monroe Gallery of Photography.

On exhibit will be a selection of Hamill's photographs from the sets of  movies, including Raging Bull, Annie Hall, and Manhattan. Additionally, an exclusive series of intimate photographs of John Lennon will be on exhibit, coinciding with the anniversary of what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday and the screening of LENNONNYC at the Santa Fe Film Festival October 23. (Brian Hamill will introduce the film.)

Brian Hamill: Robert DiNiro,"Raging Bull", 1979

Additionally, Monroe Gallery has curated an exclusive exhibit of photographs from the sets of classic movies for the festival venue, Center for Contemporary Arts.

Steve Shapiro: Homage, The Godfather

Brian Hamill was born in Brooklyn, NY and studied photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology. In the late 1960s, Hamill began a career as a photojournalist covering the Rock & Roll scene as well as the boxing world. He also worked as an assistant to several top fashion photographers. In the early 1970s he traveled to Northern Ireland to photograph the troubles there, and widened his scope into unit still photographer jobs on movie sets. Since then he has worked as a unit still photographer on over seventy-five movies including twenty-six Woody Allen films, resulting in the much acclaimed coffee table photo book entitled “Woody Allen At Work: The Photographs of Brian Hamill". Hamill’s work has also appeared in numerous other books, publications and exhibitions including a one-man show at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1995.

Steve Schapiro: Robert DiNiro, Taxi Driver, 1975 (Enlarged Contact Sheet)

More about the Santa Fe Film Festival here.

SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL AND MONROE GALLERY ON RADIO STATION KBAC

This week radio station KBAC ("Radio Free Santa Fe")  is broadcasting information and interviews relating to the Santa Fe Film Festival.

Tune in Tuesday at 1 PM to listen as Sid and Michelle Monroe discuss the Monroe Gallery's collection of film-related photography, including stills and publicity photography from Hollywood's classic movies; and Brian Hamill's photographs of Raging Bull, Annie Hall, and Manhattan, and John Lennon.

Listen live here.

The much-talked about  film "LENNONYC" will be shown on Saturday, October 23 at the festival.

LENNONYC


"In 1971, John Lennon arrived in New York City and felt reborn: at last living in the country that had dominated his artistic imagination, Lennon and his new bride Yoko Ono found in the city the perfect blend of music, politics, culture, and lifestyle. But those heady first years eventually gave way to a dark period in which both Lennon’s musical career and his personal life almost ran aground—until once again New York City came to his rescue. Using remarkable, rarely seen footage and interviews with many who were close to John, filmmaker Michael Epstein has created a moving, revealing portrait of the music legend’s New York years, detailing not only his triumphs but also some hard times over which he so beautifully recovered in the final years of his tragically curtailed life."

Monroe Gallery will welcome Brian Hamill with a special reception and exhibition on Friday, October 22, 5 - 7 PM. On exhibit will be a selection of Hamill's photographs from the sets of movies, including Raging Bull, Annie Hall, and Manhattan. Additionally, an exclusive series of intimate photographs of John Lennon will be on exhibit, coinciding with the anniversary of what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday and the screening of LENNONNYC at the Santa Fe Film Festival October 23. (Brian Hamill will introduce the film.)


Related: Making Movies

Hollywood USA

OCTOBER IN SANTA FE

Ernst Haas: New Mexico, 1952  vintage chromogenic print  10 x 8 inches

Autumn has almost officially arrived and so will cooler weather. October arrives in full golden glory as aspen trees display their glowing fall colors, usually through the middle of the month. The Santa Fe Ski Basin offers a wonderful Fall Scenic Chairlift that is an ideal way to take in the foliage. With highs averaging 67 degrees and lows dipping to 37 degrees, October's crisp, cool weather is ideal for hiking, biking and other outdoor activities.

Monroe Gallery of Photography starts the month with a timely and significant exhibition: "Carl Mydans: The Early Years". There is an opening reception on Friday, October 1, from 5 - 7 PM.

Cafe in Pikesville, Tennessee, 1936 (for the Farm Security Administration) ©Time Inc

Born in Massachusetts, near Boston, in 1907, Carl Mydans’ keen sensitivity and honesty compelled him toward a lifetime of social and historical documentary photography. After working for the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald, he joined the photographic staff of the Farm Security Administration in 1936. The FSA, as it was familiarly known, was a New Deal agency established during the Great Depression by Franklin Roosevelt designed to combat rural poverty during a period when the agricultural climate and national economy were causing great dislocations in rural life. The photographers who worked under the name of the FSA were hired on for public relations; they were supposed to provide visual evidence that there was need, and that the FSA programs were meeting that need. Roy Stryker, who Mydans described as one of the most important influences in his life, headed the FSA. Stryker hired Mydans, along with several other photographers who were also later to become legendary, such as Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, and Arthur Rothstein, to document the conditions of people and their surroundings most affected by the Depression.

Carl Mydans: Demonstrators in a Works Progress Administration (WPA) Strike, 1937 (©Time Inc)

Featured in the exhibition is a rare and distinct collection of  prints from the FSA archives, specially selected by Mydans in 1993 from a large body of his work that is owned by the United States government; as well as rare early vintage prints from the archives of LIFE magazine - the actual prints used for LIFE magazine stories. (Watch this blog for more information shortly.)

Mark Edward Harris will also join us that evening to sign copies of the second edition of his book, The Way of The Japanese Bath. A selection of prints from the book, specially printed with rich charcoal tones on washi paper, will be on exhibit.

Mark Edward Harris: the Way of the Japanese Bath

The annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta takes place October 2 - 10. Each day, it fills the skies south of Santa Fe with hundreds of colorful hot air balloons that dazzle the crowds during morning and evening Balloon Glows, Mass Ascensions and an array of contests. It is the largest ballooning event on earth, the most photographed event on earth, and the largest annual international event held in the United States.

For 10 years, the Santa Fe Film Festival took place in early December. In 2010, it moves to October 20 - 24, continuing to feature innovative programing. The festival showcases films made in the Southwest as well as independent American-made narrative films, films made outside the U.S., documentaries and art films celebrating the creative spirit. With a full schedule of workshops, panels, parties, awards and more, the Santa Fe Film Festival has become an exciting and popular film event that appeals to professionals and fans alike. on Friday, October 22, Monroe Gallery is very pleased to welcome acclaimed photographer Brian Hamill for a special reception and exhibition. In the late 1960s, Hamill began a career as a photojournalist and also worked as an assistant to several top fashion photographers. Hamill has worked as a unit still photographer on over seventy-five movies including twenty-six Woody Allen films, resulting in the much acclaimed coffee table photo book entitled “Woody Allen At Work: The Photographs of Brian Hamill” (Harry N. Abrams, 1995). Please join us on October 22, from 5 - 7 PM, to welcome Brian and enjoy his photographs from the movies.

Brian Hamill: Diane Keaton and Woody Allen, 59th Street Bridge, New York, 1978, "Manhattan"

For a full calendar of October events, visit the official Santa Fe Convention and Visitors web site here.