The Librarian's Lounge

The End of My Free Film Subscription

The Film Connection, my favorite way to get free dvd rentals on all kinds of foreign films and documentaries, has shut down. They sent me this letter in June:

Dear Film Connection Member,

We regret that we had to formally suspend the film lending option of Film Connection last week. While we are pursuing a new home for the program, Mercy Corps' support for the project will end on June 30.

Film Connection will continue to be available online for the rest of the month. However, we are no longer shipping out titles, as it will take many weeks to get back the loose inventory. If you have titles, please return them to 3015 SW 1st Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97201.

The idea behind Film Connection is to make independent, cultural, and educational media available to the public for free. But this is a difficult business model to employ. Film Connection did not have institutional, corporate or substantial individual donor support, which is the reason Mercy Corps can no longer provide funding for the program.

We worked on a variety of ways to make Film Connection financially sustainable, including different business models and trying to find foundation support for the project. Unfortunately the clock ran out on both options. We simply did not have the time or resources to devote to either financial model and our current fiscal dynamic precludes projects without a sustainable base of funding.

All of us at Film Connection are truly saddened at losing the program. We thank you for your participation in this unique project and hope you will continue to watch, learn and discuss important social issues using the power of cinema.

Vive la ciné,

Lisa & the Mercy Corps Team

It doesn't sound promising - although they are calling it suspended, that they are "truly saddened at losing the program" sounds pretty final. I am really sorry to see it go. I've borrowed many movies from them over the past few years and got to see some I couldn't get anywhere else. I wish ALA or someone else would take up its cause - it's mission is right in line with any other library. It was such a great service and I told all my friends about it. I sent them money several times to support them. This once again is reminding me to go donate some money to This American Life.

Today's Update

I know, it's been a long time coming.

I just discovered a new artist whose music was featured in the film "Loving Annabelle" - Jake Newton. Wow. I went directly to CDBaby and bought his album online. I love his sound. I hope to hear much more from him.

While I was on CDBaby, I noticed they now have a Film Baby site where you can buy independently released movies. What a great idea! I'm always looking for new interesting documentaries and films, so I'm psyched to have learned about this today.

I've spent the last couple days beefing up my podcast subscriptions and have found some great ones. I usually do most of my podcast listening when I'm weeding books out of my collection and have managed to finally get through the This American Life archives after several years of listening. I really need to donate some money to them. One thing I've really taken notice of while browsing for interesting podcasts is how many of the ones that sound the most appealing have gone defunct for lack of money. Although most of their archives are still available online, it's disturbing to see how many radio shows have been abandoned because of funding issues. One really great site I just found that had led me to many great shows is Public Radio Fan. The coolest thing about that site is that the homepage shows you what's on the radio now around the world and provides links to those that are available online for instant listening, along with links to podcasts and homepages of the shows. I've done extensive searching on that site over the past couple days and have found it to be very up to date and useful. Among my discoveries this weekend are Joe Frank, Outfront, Third Coast Audio International Festival, All in the Mind, and Curious Orange. Suddenly I am struck with the same depressing dilemma I have with books - too many awesome podcasts, too little time before I die to hear it all.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog

It's only free for another day, folks, so get over there and see Joss Whedon's latest project!

This American Life - Live!

I'm going to this on May 1st and can't wait!

Her Name is Sabine

I showed this film in my library tonight as part of our monthly film night and found it very moving. Although I had some comments from patrons that they are hoping for a "happier" movie next time, I think most of us were somewhat speechless from the emotional power of this story about the bond between two sisters - one a famous actress and the other a woman with autism. It's devastating to see the changes that happen to Sabine after her five years of being institutionalized, as compared through film footage of what she was like before. This is the first film I've seen that's criticized medicine in France. But I think its message about the difficulty in finding good care for people who have autism and other disorders is pretty universal. I agreed very much with another of my patrons tonight who said in response to this film that it made her feel so grateful for what she has. This is truly a stunning film and is one of the best I've seen so far from Film Movement. Here's another review of it for you. And this clip with the producer of the film and a psychiatrist who comments on it brings to light the positive effects the filming process has had on Sabine's life afterwards.

Sicko

Michael Moore: always controversial, always fascinating. His new documentary, on the American healthcare system, opens June 29th.

Related articles:

From the LA Times

From the New York Post

From Time Magazine

From Variety

The Trailer:

Librarianship is a Calling

You might want to compare this new documentary clip with the one below. I can't wait to see this.

Have you a real love of books and learning?

I stumbled upon this gem of a film while searching for the new librarian movie coming soon:

At Long Last

Finally, after years of waiting, Twin Peaks Season 2  is arriving on DVD! Perhaps now I can finally part with my complete vhs set.

Here's a story about a local teenager who is collecting books for the homeless.

Have an old set of encyclopedias around the house? Why not turn them into a bookshelf?

Books are becoming increasingly popular with teens. Book-buying that is. Looks like we've got some converting to do. Teens, get thee to a library!

In other news, "Misery Literature" has become the latest top-selling genre in the UK.

The Deadly Art of Kite-flying

This article reminds me of Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner. But who knew just how dangerous a sport kite-flying really is? For a little more background information on kite running/flying, check out the articles here.

By the way, The Kite Runner is being made into a movie. I hope they do it justice.