TOON OF NEW YORK (IN PROGRESS)
RT: 86min
Animation Documentary
Toon of New York is a documentary that takes you up close with the New York faces of animation.
Featuring interviews and work by Emili Hubely, Don Duga , Jimmy Picker , Robert Lyons, Aaron Augenblick, Howard Beckerman, Signe Baumane Michael Sullivan, Alex Budovskiy, Bill Plympton, Peter Wallach, and more.
SUNDAY WITH BILL (1999)
Animation Documentary
RT:20min
Sunday with Bill is a moving portrait of my friend Bill Plympton who is considered the King of Indie Animation the only person to hand draw an entire animated feature film. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he moved to New York City in 1968. He began his career creating cartoons for publications such as New York Times, National Lampoon, Playboy and Screw.
In 1987 he was nominated for an Oscar® for his animated short "Your Face". In 2005, Bill received another Oscar® nomination, this time for a short film "Guard Dog". "Push Comes to Shove" another short film, won the prestigious Cannes 1991 Palme d'Or.
After producing many shorts that appeared on MTV and Spike and Mike's, he turned his talent to feature films. Since 1991 he's made 9 feature films, 6 of them, "The Tune", "Mondo Plympton", "I Married A Strange Person", "Mutant Aliens", "Hair High" and "Idiots and Angels" are all animated features.
TRAIN OF FREEDOM
RT: 50 Min
Human Rights Documentary
USA-KOSOVO (2008)
Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream.
-Kahlil Gibran
Train of Freedom is a documentary shot entirely on the railway system of Kosovo, following the regular journey of the Freedom of Movement Train, a program first instated by the UN which offers subsidize transportation for villagers of various etnic groups. This is one of the very few places in Kosovo where Albanians, Serbs, Gypsie Romas and Ashkalis share a common place. The history of the train goes back to the 1800, when it transported passengers in luxury cabins in trips that stretched from Greece to Germany. During the war, dark times made their mark when nearly one million Albanians were driven away by Serbian forces who ran a campaign of ethnic cleansing, many of which were forced into packed train cars and taken to the border with Macedonia. Today, the train aims to reconcile and integrate the different ethnic groups that were affected by the war.
Meet the people, hear their stories and learn first hand the hopes and challenges of this new nation.
TOLERANCE IS FREEDOM (2007)
RT: 10 Min
Human Rights Documentary
USA-KOSOVO
Tolerance is Freedom presents an inside view on Kosovo and the ethnic tensions that have plagued the region for decades.
It discusses the issues leading up to the countries' independence and It focuses on the way Kosovars are working together to build a brighter future.
In a country where 90% of the population is Albanian and 50% under 30 years old, there has been a long struggle and history of oppression and ethnic cleansing against them especially during the regime of Milosevic who has been named as the Hitler of the Balkans.
In this documentary I feature archival footage where a 10 year old boy tells his tragic story of how him and three friends were run to a river by a group of Serbs resulting in the death of the three children and mass violent riots.
I also juxtapose the events by interviewing some very influential personalities such as Veton Surroi former Head of the reformist party ORA and senior member of the negotiating team of Kosovo; Albin Kurti -Activist of Vetevendosje, "Self Determination Movement" who as a young student was sentenced to imprisonment for 15 years on charges of criminal acts against the so called territorial integrity of the former Yugoslavia; Jelena Bjelica-A Serbian journalist based in Prishtina, capital of Kosovo who runs a newspaper which targets Serbian minorities. Adus Rramadani-Director Urban FM a non traditional radio station which aims at creating a positive ground for multi-ethnicity, co-habitation and the right to free movement for all citizens of Kosovo; and Xhevat Ramosaj-Director of Kosovo Railways which runs a program called "Freedom of Movement Train" where citizens can travel for 50 cents throughout Kosovo and serves for the integration of minorities. At present the future status of Kosovo is being decided. At the time a big part of the negotiations were based on tolerance between the majority Albanian population and Serb minorities.