Filmmaker Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison and is forbidden to make films for twenty years.

The absurdity of that sentence speaks for itself.

An Anecdote from the Premiere

Our DVDs arrived a few days before the screening and the covers looked like shit so we had to get them reprinted locally. The DVDs were shrink wrapped which meant we had to unwrap each one, take out the shitty cover and replace with it with a new one, and do this all on time for the screening.

The way things worked out, Juan (my producing partner and lead actor) and I spent two hours before the screening replacing DVD covers in the lobby of the Portage Theater while they put up their Christmas decorations.

I told Juan that's what self-distribution looks like. And it was fun in a way.

The Screening

The premiere for south loop went very well. We had a good turnout (better than my cynical expectations) and I didn't vomit during the Q&A. And we sold a few DVDs.

The highlight of the night was the two or three times I peeked inside the theater and got to see and hear the movie play on a big screen. After watching it on monitors for two years, it was nice to see it projected. Really nice.

In all seriousness, I know Q&As are important to the process and ours went well. It's important to just be as direct and honest as possible. And avoid too many tangents. Provide the information the audience wants and deserves and move on to the next question.

Anyway, you can buy the DVD at the movie's website for $15 or for $10 in person (at screenings).