Akhnaton Films (www.akhnatonfilms.com) announced today that Sherif Sadek took top honors as Best Director of a Short Documentary at the Madrid International Film Festival (July 1 – 6, 2013) for his award-winning documentary, “From Queens to Cairo.”nnNominations, Awards and Screeningsn• Screening at the San Antonio Film Festival, June 2013, in San Antonio, TX (www.safilm.com). n• Official selection and screening in the Egyptian Works program at the 16th annual Ismailia International Film Festival in Ismailia, Egypt, June 2013.n• Winner of Best Feature Documentary at the Queens World Film Festival, in Queens, NY, March 2013.n• Official Selection at the Rainier Independent Film Festival, Mount Rainier, WA, May 2013.n• Featured on Indiewire as Project of the Day.nnThis informative and insightful documentary follows Egyptian-American filmmaker Sherif Sadek as he returns to his native Cairo with his family one year after the start of the Egyptian Revolution. With misinformation rampant in the global media, Sadek is determined to see for himself how Egyptians will navigate the bumpy road to democracy after decades of authoritarianism. His journey takes him from famed Tahrir Square to the inside of taxi cabs to rallies and slums as he searches for perspectives from all walks of life.nn
nnSherif Sadek, Akhnaton FilmsnSadek stated, “The growing interest in this documentary by the global community is incredibly heart warming because as an American Egyptian, making this film is very personal to me. At the same time, I feel guilty for capitalizing on the deaths of our Egyptian martyrs, but I also feel the need to share their story of heroism as they fight for their freedom with the world watching. And now with Mohamed Morsi deposed, the battle continues. In the West, we think of freedom as a theoretical concept, but in Egypt, these citizens — and many are youths — are standing in the streets with their chests open to bullets as they strive to bring freedom to their country. Think about this for a minute.”nnSadek added, “I accepted this award in honor of Assimilate, who supported me while making this film, whether by making the awesome SCRATCH DI software that helped shape the story and preserve the realistic look of day-to-day events, or by morally supporting me in my two trips abroad to attend screenings at festivals.”nnProductionnSadek shot “From Queens to Cairo” with a Nikon D7000 HDSLR. He then used ASSIMILATE’s SCRATCH DI tools to do the conforming and turned to Jason Crump at Metropolis Post (www.metpostny.com) for the color grading in SCRATCH. Sadek was able to do the finishing himself, using the SCRATCH Finishing software. Sadek notes, “I work with SCRATCH every day in a technical support role for ASSIMILATE, but to experience its ease-of-use and powerful tool set as a user, gave me even greater appreciation for the craft and creativity of post-production artists.”nnQuotes from the industrynDon Cato, curator of the Queens World Film Festival 2013, gave hi
Akhnaton Films Sherif Sadek 646-662-4312 Contact Sherif via email
AICP National and Regional Boards Set for 2025
The results of the AICP National and Regional Board elections are in. On the AICP National Board, all four incumbents were re-elected to serve a two-year term. The three General Members Director At Large seats were won by Yvette Cobarrubias of Cosmo Street, Gloria Pitagorsky of Heard City and Frank Scherma of RadicalMedia. Margaret Capossela of NEED Financial was re-elected as an Associate Member Director At Large. At the year-end AICP National Board meeting, Tabitha Mason-Elliott of BARK BARK was re-elected Chairperson of the Board, while Sally Campbell was re-elected Vice Chairperson. Lisa Mehling of Chelsea continues as Immediate Past Chairperson; Robert Fernandez of Moxie Pictures continues as Treasurer. To view the full AICP National Board, click here. AICP Chapters The regional boards of AICP identify, discuss and address issues of concern nationally and to members in the region. In addition, regional boards spearhead educational initiatives and community building. On the East Board, Shelby Ross of Group Thrpy was elected to serve as President, while Lauren Hertzberg of Cut+Run was elected Vice President. Ross succeeds Gloria Pitagorsky of Heard City; he previously served as Vice President of the board. Robert Fernandez of Moxie Pictures continues as Regional Representative to the National Board. Dana Villarreal of Sound Lounge was newly elected as a General Member Director; incumbents Robert Fernandez, Moxie Pictures; Chris Franklin, Big Sky; Mark Kovacs, Bodega; Geoffrey Ollwerther, Station Film; Gloria Pitagorsky, Heard City; and Erica Thompson, Work Editorial were all re-elected. Kim Berzak, Wrapbook; Scott Taylor, Taylor & Taylor; and Richard Stern, Bloom Hochberg... Read More