On a quiet pedestrian street in Kars, is the run-down delapitaded house where Yeghishe Charents, (1897 - 1937) one of the greatest Armenian poets was born and lived.Both his primary and secondary schooling took place in Kars.

His patriotic pleas to unite Armenians against Stalinism ended him in prison, where he died at the age of 40.

Even though the vintage reels shown of Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova spooled three weeks ago in Pordenone, the aura of the dancer, her interminable legs, her precision on tip-toe and her incredible grace and femininity tinged with mystery, linger in the minds of all festival-goers who viewed them.

A PERSONAL GLANCE AT W.C. FIELDS

A Personal glance at W.C.Fields

Although Dr. Harriet FIELDS never got a chance to call the stage, silent film and talkies comic legend 'Grandpa' (he died shortly before she was born), as the only granddaughter of the star, she feels strongly about familiarising the world with the true persona of the artist.

Present at this 2008 edition of the Pordenone Giornate de Cinema Muto, which is showing a complete retro of Field's silent films, Dr. Fields,with a doctorate in Community Health and Nursing, Graduate of Columbia University and residing in Washington D.C., sees her mission in presenting her grandfather's work worldwide as two-fold :

Alright! Back to basics! The basis of our physical life as humans, it seems, is to grow through experience or to just simply die without sensorial pleasures and conversely, discomforts, whether plainly in the mind or purely in the body. All events in one's life are present in the moment to be experienced and it is up to the perceiver to create, learn, and grow from these experiences. We exist as sponges to any and all conscious or unconscious experience through all of our senses; these are things that cannot be denied simply because all the tools we have to detect reality are channeled through our vehicle in this outer world filtered through the mind. We believe things to exist, therefore we experience them as closely as possible, or not. The philosophical flipside to that coin is that we experience things firstly, and then determine their reality. Either way, we must experience something, no?

I made it! We’ve all heard that typically American colloquialism. I know what that saying may mean to actors out there or to those of you hoping to be successful in this nearly impossible career to sustain when not “working”, but maybe you haven’t taken the first few scary steps yet. I’ll try and deflate whatever fears you may have about the outer world of the craft which is all business and not entirely “just” your business. The only business one as an actor should consider is the world we create for our portrayals. When I refer to the outer world, I mean the world the character will live in during our portrayal. Whether in a theatre or in front of the camera, you and your character must become one being, in order to know the outer world of the character, the one that has nothing to do with the business you’re attempting to break into. Let’s say you haven’t even thought about auditioning or let alone gotten your head shots done and printed… what to do as an actor? Study, read, learn, research the history and find the clues that will lead you to the source of it all, the craft of the craft. Look for the masters of acting, directing, and theatre and find their works: Shakespeare, Stanislavsky, Uta Hagen, Strasberg, Meisner, Meyerhold, Grotowski, even the Knight Sir Lawrence Olivier has such books of uncanny first-hand relations of stories in the world of acting. The history of theatre and acting is abound in all its glory, from the contemporary Western world of theatre and film to the dramatic leaps and bounds of the ancient Greeks, it is all still out there. From the many histories we get the many teachers, those who pushed the envelope with new content, new directions, and new destinations for the art.

I am now in LA, my future here much like the economy, is uncertain. But it is Los Angeles, the Mecca for actors on the lam from their respective hometowns forced to work hard to not defer their dreams. But as fate shall have its way, that’s the way it is and I’m not suffering for it. The full knowledge I had of this before I moved out here was the only proverbial brass pair I had to tug on in hopes that it would keep me confident. When I mean that I knew actors out in LA work hard, I mean I know actors who left Tinsel Town penniless and defeated, running back home with their tales so far up their asses they spit fur as they panted gaining speed towards mommy. But the working hard comes from a different place, a place that comes way before we are ever even ready to go meet with agents to one day hopefully book castings. Working hard means something different to everyone but I will attempt to clear the air as to what actually works for me as an actor.

Presented in part at the Turkish Pavilion reception at the Cannes Film Festival, LOST SONGS OF ANATOLIA, on a background of clips of peasant musicians from Eastern Turkey featured a modern rock quartet accompanying beautiful authentic shots taken on the spot.

I suppose an elaboration on the topics of the last few blog entries I've written for the precious few readers I have out there is long overdue and in order. So here it is… Firstly, this blog is aptly titled as such because being a long-winded story-telling human who happens to be an actor, I naturally ramble on just enough of things I've studied, learned, and/or have experienced personally.

Guests clucking over a glass of champagne were bowled over Tuesday night at the Majestic Hotel when to the tune of the national anthem of Thailand, they caught a glimpse of Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya of Thailand gliding into the Salon Croisette in a glamorous fluffy white strapless evening gown and silver pumps, followed by the Ambassador of Thailand in Paris, and dignitaries from the Entertainment sector of that country. Also in attendance at the reception was the Mayor of CANNES, Monsieur Bernard Brochand.

One of the most significant Asian "New Wave" film directors, Hong Kong filmaker, Ann Hui, is present this year, at Udine Far East Festival to talk about her beginnings in the cinema industry of that country. Commissioned by the national broadcaster and ICAC, the anti-corruption entity to create a series of shows on various aspects crime prevalent in the 1970's such as bribery of government officials, kickbacks, corruption of innocents and minors etc..the fledgling filmmaker laid the basis for a rich career as director of author's films which portrayordinary people at throes with the complex issues in life.

Brought to you by the creative minds behind Pencil Fighting: The Life and Times of Team Balderdash, the 20-minute short Inventing Kin is a dramedy about missed opportunities and life's second chances. It's close in spirit to Zach Braff's Garden State, which was also about a lost soul returning home to make peace with the past. This new film lacks the broad characterizations that made Pencil Fighting so memorable, but it displays some of the quirkiness that sets the films of Fro Rojas apart. (Full disclosure: Rojas and I both went to Miami International University of Art & Design, where we made a film together.)

We've all heard our female friends and family members say that famous saying: "A good man is hard to find!" Well how about this take on that saying: "A good Spanish movie is hard to find!!!" Well my dear Cinebloggers, I got news for you: In the process of finding A Good Movie, we found A Good Man (Un Buen Hombre)!

The Hottest Latin Film School: International School of Film and Television San Antonio de los Baños- CUBA

As a filmmaker, deciding what film school to go to is quite a difficult task. You want to pick the best place possible to prepare you for your career, and then several other things go into play, like your budget and your family situation. When I was in the process of choosing an undergrad film school, it all came down to four schools for me: USC, NYU, U of Miami and EICTV. USC was crossed out because California seemed too far from my family in NY and South America. NYU I excluded because I wanted to try living in a new place from where I had grown up, so my last two choices were

University of Miami and EICTV in Cuba.

Twilight. Seems like it's everywhere these days. It's at the store when I go buy groceries, glossy magazines with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson staring hungrily at each other. It's on airplanes, rows and rows of noses stuck in books, the same cover showing one bright-red apple and two snow-white hands. It's on T-shirts, necklaces and billboards. It's at the mall. It seems to have taken over Hot Topic. You know, that store that used to be cool?

This is a genuine phenomenon. I won't attempt to answer why. For one thing, I haven't read the books (Stephanie Meyer has written four of them). Secondly, I think that question has already been answered, by none other than Stephen King (who's not a fan, by the way): "People are attracted by the stories, by the pace, and in the case of Stephenie Meyers, it's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It's exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because it's not overtly sexual."

We're only in the third month of the year, and already we've seen high-profile remakes of three different horror movies: My Bloody Valentine, Friday the 13^th and, most recently, The Last House on the Left. What's surprising about these movies isn't the fact that they're all remakes. Nothing is sacred in Hollywood, not even The Host and Oldboy - easily two of the best films of the decade, both slated to be streamlined and repackaged thanks to Tinseltown's recycling plant. No, what's surprising is that exploitation movies have entered the mainstream at all.

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The show is off to a great start. Hugh Jackman sure is a versatile guy - not only can he grow knives out of his knuckles, but he can sing and dance with the best of ‘em.

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Penelope Cruz wins Best Supporting Actress - hooray! She created the most hilarious portrait of an artist in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which proved once and for all that Scarlett Johansson couldn't act her way out of a paper bag.

The teaser for Quentin Tarantino's long-awaited WWII epic, Inglourious Basterds, comes out today. You can catch it before the new Friday the 13th remake, which is appropriate enough given that Basterds (the misspelling is Tarantino's doing, not mine) looks like it's going to be a splatter-fest.

After Dark Horrorfest sounded like a good idea - take eight independent horror films that deserve to be seen and given them theatrical distribution. Launched in 2006 by the Canadian filmmaker Courtney Solomon (An American Haunting), the annual event has unfortunately devolved into a weeklong shitfest. Every year I go, hoping the festival will build on the promise of its initial run, which showcased some solid fright flicks like The Abandoned and Wicked Little Things. And every year I go home sorely disappointed.

Why did I want to become a filmmaker in the first place? These days I can barely remember, and that makes me kind of sad. When I graduated from film school, I had a director's demo reel ready to go and all the confidence in the world that it was good enough to get me that first directing gig. I must have sent my reel to almost 200 companies, but all anyone ever needed was a PA for a day or two. Money started getting tight and before I knew it, my focus turned from creating to surviving. Fast forward seven years and a bunch of reality TV sets later and here I sit asking myself what happened to all my so-called dreams. Or, more to the point, what happened to my dreams coming true?

BOO-enas Noches, guys and ghouls. Welcome to the first-ever Halloween edition of Jr’s Cineblog, where we will be dissecting the best terror films to watch if you want to get spooked… en Español!!! In this list, we will bring to you the top horror, thriller and suspense films produced in Spanish. So grab your chili con carne popcorn… and cuddle up next to that special Mamasita or Papacito, and grant them the protection and tranquility they need from oh-so-terrifying Spanish celluloid horror.

Networking sites are amazing communication tools. It's easy to keep in contact with your friends and colleagues. You can also promote your ideas or business ventures in a very efficient & fun way. But when you're like me and you have a weird, sordid past that you don't want to relive or in some cases even remember, social networking sites can be a massive pain in the ass. There is a reason I don't currently live in the place I grew up. And the very last thing I need right now is to be contacted by people that I simply don't want to communicate with.

For a lot of people, filming movies and shorts is something they do as a hobby on their time off from "real" work, whenever they can gather enough friends to donate time and efforts into working as crew or actors. But those who have chosen to expand that passion and take on film and video production as a career might find it hard to figure out where to start. There are many paths one can take to making filmmaking an actual paying career. One isn't more adequate than the other. It all depends on what speaks to you the most.

Welcome one, and Bienvenidos Todos(Welcome All) to the most original Spanglish Cine Blog, exclusively on Openfilm.com. This CineBlog is called "Junior's CineBlog", Junior being yours truly, Me!...... and "...CineBlog" meaning "...FilmBlog" in our neighboring tougue, and second official language of the United States, Spanglish! That is right. This unique bilingual film blog is going to bring you the latest scoops on the hottest topics in the Hispanic film industry, bringing you stories on film releases, Latin film personalities as well as film events all over the world, all with the particular thread of the Spanish/Latin/Hispanic inclination.