New This Year! The Detroit Winter Blast Film Festival celebrates Michigan filmmakers, as well as films about Michigan. Warm up, sip a hot drink and take in a flick in the heated tent at Campus Martius Park! A complete schedule of film showings and events will be posted here at the end of January. This event is free.

About the Festival

This new, groundbreaking Film Festival is being held at Campus Martius Park
on Woodward Avenue. The Festival's goal is to provide a venue for Michigan
Filmmakers to showcase their work and to foster a collaborative network that results
in the creation of new motion pictures.

The three-day event spotlights independent filmmakers and welcomes submissions of motion pictures created by Michigan filmmakers or by others provided the subject matter is related to the state of Michigan. Submissions not related to the state of Michigan may also be considered. Some filmmakers may be invited to speak after their work is shown and answer questions from the audience in an informal setting.

ENCORE ON WOODWARD: Detroit's Fox Theatre (1988)
“Encore on Woodward”, a 25-minute documentary, focuses on Detroit’s Historic Fox Theatre. The Fox Theatre in Detroit was built in 1928 and is the world's largest and longest surviving movie palace. The work combines historic footage with new footage of the 1987-88 restoration and nostalgic interviews with ordinary people and past performers Rosemary Clooney, Martha Reeves, Henny Youngman, and Bob Hope. The film celebrates the rich history of the Fox Theatre, and is narrated by Bob Hope. PBS, limited theatrical release, Museum of Modern Art.

Cine: Golden Eagle Award
EMMY Award

About the filmmaker: Sue Marx:
Sue Marx has won many national and international awards including Emmys, CINE "Golden Eagles," and major awards from the American Film and Video Festival and the New York Film and Video Festival. Marx was named one of the top-ten newsmakers of the year by Crain's Detroit Business and was honored with an Arts Foundation of Michigan Award. She was listed as one of the 50 most powerful women in Michigan by Detroit Monthly Magazine, one of the 30 most dynamic women in Detroit by the Women's Economic Club and was named Michiganian of the Year by The Detroit News in 1990. Corp! Magazine lists her as one of the most powerful women in Michigan. She received a Harvard Business School Entrepreneurial Award and a Distinguished Woman's Award from Northwood University. Sue Marx is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Marx received an undergraduate degree from Indiana University and a graduate degree from Wayne State University. She is married and has three daughters.

AN OSPREY HOMECOMING (2005)
"An Osprey Homecoming" is a stunning tribute to the love and determination of people committed to restoring the Osprey, a species that once teetered on the brink of extinction, to southern Michigan. This true and inspiring story centers on "C09", the Reintroduction Program's first Osprey to return to southern Michigan with a mate to nest and successfully raise a family.

"An Osprey Homecoming" features an outstanding soundtrack and includes original music written and performed by acclaimed local folk artist, Neil Woodward. Mr. Woodward is officially "Michigan's Troubadour", so deemed by proclamation of the Michigan Legislature.

About the filmmaker: Christi Vedejs & Jacques Mersereau

Filmmakers Christi Vedejs and Jacques Mersereau are a dynamic husband/ wife team who share a love of the outdoors with a deep concern for the environment. The couple recently won an Emmy Award for Photography in the Program category for their videography work in "An Osprey Homecoming.”

Christi is now working on the couple's next endeavor: a wildlife-focused documentary that explores sensitive current ecological issues in Michigan. Jacques Mersereau currently runs the University of Michigan Digital Media Commons Video Studio, a black box, experimental performance and television art theater. Jacques and Christi are committed to environmental advocacy and education and are active members in several conservation organizations. Their goal is to expose people, using media, to the natural world in the hope that they will be inspired to love and respect Nature and her incredible creations, and to become responsible stewards of our resources. Christi and Jacques reside in the country, nestled in the beautiful Sharon Short Hills near Manchester, Michigan.

TWENTY TO LIFE- THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN SINCLAIR (2007)
Begun in 1991 and completed in 2007, 20 TO LIFE is the real-life story of this legendary poet-provocateur and American cultural warrior whose exploits have reverberated throughout the international underground for 40 years. The story is told by Sinclair, his family, friends and associates through the years and highlighted by a series of electrifying poetry performances by Sinclair’s contemporary blues and jazz ensembles.

The disparate elements of Sinclair’s unique story have been brilliantly assembled and painstakingly delineated by director Steve Gebhardt and editor Tom Hayes in this multi-layered 87-minute feature film from Musicus Media. The soundtrack was supervised by Sinclair himself and features music by the MC-5, John Lennon, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Allen Ginsberg, Sly & the Family Stone, Thelonious Monk, Charles Neville, the Wild Magnolias and the Re-Birth Brass Band.

About the filmmaker: Steve Gebhardt

Filmmaker Steve Gebhardt made films with and for John and Yoko, the Rolling Stones and numerous other famous and well known artists. This documentary is the story of John Sinclair. Steve will be in town and for the first time be the presenter of his film, “Twenty to Life”. Usually John himself comes to present, now for the first time we get the film makers himself to present and talk about his journey to make this extraordinary film.

TURNING WHITE- A MEMOIR OF CHANGE (2005)
Lee Thomas is one of the brightest faces on Detroit television. Thousands of viewers see him every morning; the easy-going Entertainment reporter with a million dollar smile. What goes unseen is Lee&Mac226;s daily struggle with the disease Vitiligo. Lee is black. The disease is literally turning him white.

It's no coincidence that this thought-provoking half-hour documentary opens in the make-up room at Fox 2. It's there that Lee has been concealing his disease, every day, for years; the heavy cosmetics hiding the progressive change in skin color.

About the filmmaker: Lee Thomas

"I told my story two years ago, and the response was overwhelming", says Thomas. "Some great things have happened since that original story aired. I helped to start a support group, plus I have written a book with part of the proceeds going to charity. It is not a very easy task to tell my story and show myself for all to see, but it was an easy decision to make because it's all about helping and sharing your life with others. We are in the business of telling stories and hopefully enhancing people lives. I hope my story does that, and also gives people with vitiligo or anyone facing tough challenges the motivation to live their best life."