Pan Left is also putting out a call for entries for their semi-annual Feature This! Video Festival. The theme is deconstructing borders, and the categories are documentary, narrative, animation and experimental. The formats are VHS, DVD and mini-DVD. Deadlines are quickly approaching in August; entry forms and guidelines can be found at http://www.panleft.org/featurethis/. Feature This! runs Oct. 14-16 in Tucson.
· Local filmmakers are encouraged to start making three-minute films for a contest sponsored by IFASA. Screenings will be held at the Loft on Oct. 29. Check out http://www.aivtucson.org for rules and more details.
· Timothy Gassen, director and producer for local Purple Cactus Media Productions, is set to sign distribution deals for his widescreen sci-fi film Another Trip to the Moon as well as his short film The Bombardier. And the DVD that he directed for long-running local psychedelic rockers Marshmallow Overcoat is also set for release this week.
· Another of Gassen's new films, Hammerhead, will be part of the monthly Micro Cinema Tucson program at The Keys restaurant on July 31. Each month features several short films; show up and see what screens at 6:30 p.m. at 445 W. Wetmore Road. It's free.
· Local filmmaker Dick Fisher is in Long Island shooting the final footage for his film Why, George, which is already in post-production. Why, George is a romantic comedy set in Manhattan and East Hampton. Fisher will also be in California this fall to direct the black comedy Amateurs, and his script for Lucky Dog (which he is set to direct) is currently in development.
· The Tucson Film Office has partnered up with the Loft Cinema as a new co-sponsor for the monthly Local Film Contest. The contests are held at 9 p.m. the first Friday of each month, making the next one Aug. 5. Matthew Reel won the July contest with this film October March, securing the $100 prize. Cartoonist Max Cannon of "Red Meat" fame returns as guest host.
· The Loft has several Tucson premieres in August, including Rise on Aug. 5, Last Days on Aug. 12, A League of Ordinary Gentlemen on Aug. 19, and both Saraband and Man With the Screaming Brain on Aug. 26. Also at the Loft, the Late Night Films series presents another excellent lineup of films through August, starting with Clerks on July 29-30. August brings Batman on Aug. 5-6, Rock and Roll High School on Aug. 12-13, Office Space on Aug. 19-20 and Trainspotting on Aug. 26-27.
· UA's weekly film program sponsored by the International Arts Society starts its fall series Aug. 26 with Lee Tamahori's Once Were Warriors. Screenings are every Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Integrated Learning Center, room 120. Screenings are free and open to the public.
· Finally, the Cinema La Placita program of outdoor films for August has been set: The Princess Bride on July 28; Holiday on Aug. 4; From Here to Eternity on Aug. 11; The Way We Were on Aug. 18; Talk of the Town on Aug. 25. Screenings are held outdoors at La Placita Village on the corner of Broadway and Church Avenue at 7:30 pm every Thursday and are free.