IFASA MEETING/ELECTIONS
The December meeting of the Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona (IFASA) will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, Dec. 3, at Access Tucson, 124 E. Broadway Blvd. The meeting will feature a panel discussion on screenwriting. IFASA will also elect next year's officers and board members. Anyone is welcome; for further information, contact Brian Mulligan at 349-8249 or by e-mail, or check the IFASA Web site.
TAX-INCENTIVE MEETING IN PHOENIX
The Governor's Film and Television Commission has scheduled an open public meeting to hear comments regarding the Arizona Motion Picture Tax Incentive Program and its administration by the Department of Commerce, at 2 p.m., Monday, Dec. 3, in Phoenix. Representatives from the Department of Commerce will present overviews of recent changes to the program. Chairmen Lawrence Moore and Barry Kluger will conduct the meeting at the Capitol Annex, 1700 W. Washington St., third-floor conference room. A future Tucson meeting on the Tax Incentive Program is in the works, with the date to be announced.
CASTING CALL
Tucson's VientoFuego Productions is currently casting for Sexo en Paraiso, an independent feature film that will be shot in Tucson and Mexico. Producers are currently looking for two Spanish-speaking actresses, age 18 to 28. Filming will be here in Tucson and in San Carlos, Mexico, in January and February 2008. Résumés and headshots can be sent by e-mail, or surface mail to VientoFuego Productions, 1371 E. Louisiana Drive, Tucson, AZ 85706. For additional information, e-mail Ben Lopez, or check the VientoFuego Web site.
MEDIA ARTS FILM GOES NATIONAL
The Runners, by current UA Media Arts seniors JorDan Fuller and Justin Mashouf, has been selected for screenings in a couple of national film festivals. It is showing at the Santa Fe Film Festival through Dec. 2, and was part of the Lone Star International Film Festival in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov 11. It also screened locally at the Tucson Film and Music Festival last September. See the film's Web site for more information.
HOLIDAY FILMS AT THE FOX
The Fox Tucson Theatre in downtown Tucson has a full schedule of holiday films in December. The schedule: It's a Wonderful Life, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 7; Miracle on 34th Street at 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 8; A Christmas Story at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 15; Polar Express at 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 16; White Christmas at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 22; and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 29.At 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 20, the Fox will screen the La Scala Opera's performance of Aida (in high-definition video and 5/1 Surround Sound).
All tickets are $8; $6 for students, seniors and active-duty military personnel (with ID), except Aida, which is $22, or $140 for all seven operas in the season. All tickets go on sale Dec. 3 at the Fox box office at 17 W. Congress St. Call 547-3040 or check the Fox Web site for more information.
REEL INSPIRATION
Tucson's Reel Inspiration is looking for films that fit their mandate: "Reel Inspiration is a grassroots, nonreligious, apolitical organization created to encourage and promote the production and success of diverse films that inspire, give hope or raise human consciousness. Filmmakers with distribution or an upcoming screening are invited to submit their inspiring and thought-provoking films to be promoted through Reel Inspiration's grassroots e-mail campaign." Reel Inspiration also sponsors an annual film contest for kids and teenagers. For further information, e-mail Jana Segal, or check Reel's Web site.
EVENTS AT THE LOFT
•All Souls Procession Film Festival: At 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 6, the Loft and Many Mouths One Stomach present the Fifth Annual All Souls Procession Film Festival. The festival screens films shot in and around Tucson's annual procession, as well as submissions from outside Tucson. The festival "serves as a forum for all people, from all cultures, to actively explore the phenomena of death through cinema. This regards themes of ancestry, death, grief and loss, rebirth and global rituals and festivals of death." $8; see the All Souls Web site and the Many Mouths Web site for additional information.•Essential Cinema screens a brand-new print of the French classic Children of Paradise (named "the best French film in history" by the French Film Academy) at 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 9, and 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 10. On Monday at 6:30 p.m., local musicians Marianne Dissard and Matt Mitchell will perform French songs by Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Yves Montand and other artists from the 1940s, the film's era. Essential Cinema screenings are free, but donations are accepted.
•Festivus: At 9 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 22, the Loft will host "Festivus for the Rest of Us." Inspired by Seinfeld, Festivus events include an Airing of Grievances, a Feats of Strength Contest, a Bad Festivus Gift Exchange and a Bad Holiday Sweater Parade, with keepsake photos being taken in the lobby. Clips from bad TV Christmas specials will be aired, and Bill Murray's Scrooged will play at 10 p.m. $7 for Festivus and film; $5 for film only.
•Regular events: First Friday Shorts (Friday, Dec. 7 at 9 p.m., $5), Mondo Mondays (Mondays at 8 p.m., $2) and Cult Classics (Fridays and Saturdays at 10 p.m., $5). Upcoming Cult Classics showings include a special screening of a brand-new 35-millimeter print of Saturday Night Fever on Friday, Nov 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1, as well as a "Sunday Afternoon Hangover" screening at 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 2.
The Loft Cinema is at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Call 795-7777 or check the Loft Web site for a full schedule of films and events, and for further information.
