Beaune’s Blog

Actors in photo (left to right): Jia Lin Chen, Hank Yu, Anna Tian, Dora Lo, Manav Mehta, Aaron Don Don on location at Star Steak, Taipei City We are delighted to learn that Melodia is an official selection of the Jane Austen International Film Festival! JAIFF takes place in the Georgian town of Bath, famous for Roman landmarks and literary excellence. Festival planners ‘seek the most exhilarating and innovative storytelling, films that not only entertain but also push boundaries, leaving audiences both challenged and inspired.’ Do join us to celebrate this annual gem on the festival calendar. Guests are invited to wear something fun and elegant (Regency attire encouraged). Many thanks to our friends in England for the kind recognition, and congratulations to all our colleagues who helped to bring Melodia to cinematic life! Jane Austen International Film Festival 2024 September 20-21 The Little Theatre, St Michael’s Place & The Francis Hotel Bath, Queen Square Bath, England, Unite...

Actor in photo: Yi-An Chen Wow. We are delighted, humbled, and honoured to announce that Melodia has been named the Best International Short Film in the inaugural Montréal Shorts Film Festival on August 21. Congratulations and thanks to all! Organisers describe the mission of the new Montshortsfest this way: ‘What is cinema?... The essence of cinema remains deeply rooted in its ability to depict the facets of existence, the world, the cosmos, and the human environment, along with all the beliefs, nightmares, dreams, and thoughts that shape our being. Cinema possesses a unique power to compel individuals to confront themselves, making it a profound tool for self-reflection and understanding. ‘Montréal Shorts Film Festival endeavours to enlighten the world with fresh perspectives and narratives... Ultimately, we want films that entertain, educate, push the boundaries of filmmaking and introduce us to new voices, new faces and new points of view.’ Michael Landrum, Festival Executive Dire...

Actor in photo: Dora Lo Shoe Story steps off this month to its Italian première! The short comedy is an official selection of the Venice Film Week, an annual event showcasing independent films with an edge. The Venice Film Week runs during but is independent from the Venice Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica). In the words of planners, the Venice Film Week ‘focuses on the unconventional, the unusual, the underground, the intuitive, the innovative, and the minimalistic,’ seeking to spotlight ‘the true artists of our time.’ Screenings take place at La Casa del Cinema and on Campo San Polo in Venice. All selections receive The Tarkovski Grant, a film festival submission fee-waiver package that enables wider distribution for the work. A Cannes Film Week© qualifying festival, the Venice Film Week is generously supported by the Città di Venezia and Circuito Cinema, and by media partners such as Evenice, VeneziaToday, Venezia360, La Voce Di Venezia, and Il Gazzettino...

We’re seeing much discussion today about how to improve news. Bad international actors now flood our information spaces with falsehoods. Interviewers ask naïve questions of their subjects rather than risk losing access. News organisations have reduced staff to the point that ‘journalism’ increasingly refers to pundits who comment on news rather reporters who seek it out.  What can we do to improve things? What follows is one suggestion. Let’s do some curation—and, in the process, shift the reward system. Why not have an international, independent accreditation network for news sources? It would work much as accrediting organisations now do for universities. Information sources would be periodically evaluated by research and journalism professionals using objective standards.  These services would then be assigned tiered ratings. AP, for example might earn a designation of Gold Medal News Source at the end of the day; Discovery Channel might be a Bronze Medal source. Sensatio...

Five Vignettes from 1001 Nights and Other Short Stories by A T Beaune    ©   2014   All rights reserved. We do not remember days. We remember moments. – Cesare Pavese 1 Cocoa Beach, 1969 The launch of a Saturn V sends a bead of sun into the sky. You squint. The sky darkens around that bead of fire pushing its pale dart. Neighbours stand on their lawns around you, gazing skyward. Only after the glowing bead clears the rooftops does the sound arrive. You feel the rumble as much as hear it. It rolls toward you, takes over your ribs. Windows rattle, birds flee. Over the rumble now sprouts a burning crackle. The crackle and the rumble merge into a single growl of power. On my portable radio a tenor  voice speaks through static. ‘We’ve got us a roll program.’ The climbing fireball sprouts a trailing cloud. It lengthens into a snaking white spiral. ‘Roll complete and pitch is programming.’ Crackle. ‘Copy that,’ says another voice. ‘Stand by for Mode ...

Actors in photo (left to right): Jia Lin Chen, Hank Yu, Anna Tian, Dora Lo, Manav Mehta, Aaron Don Don Shot on location at Star Steak, Taipei City   Mediterraneo Festival Corto XIV Edizione 2024 Piazza Spinelli • Scalea, Calabria 87029 Italia Luglio • July 3–7 Artistic Director: Francesco Presta Technical Director: Ferdinando Romito https://www.mediterraneofestivalcorto.it Official Selection: ‘Melodia: a short film in rondo form’ 梅樂蒂 : 本短片採迴旋曲式結構 A T Beaune Creations with f/Lash Productions linktr.ee/melodia.shortfilm 陳羿安 Yi-An Chen as Mel 翁重華 Chung Hua Weng, piano with 艾倫咚 Aaron Don Don 哆啦囉 Dora Lo 田雨璇 Anna Tian 阿曼 Manav Mehta 余宗翰 Hank Yu 陳佳琳 Jia Lin Chen 故事和方向 story and direction 唐博訥 A T Beaune 攝影師 director of photography 范樂怡 Laticia Fan 本片攝於台灣 filmed in Taiwan © A T Beaune Creations MMXXII #shortfilm #artfilm #melodia #music #piano #festivals #meditarraneofestivalcorto #scalea #calabria #italia #yianchen #chunghuaweng #aarondondon #doralo #annatian #manavmehta ...

  This pre-production photo for the set team of Melodia  shows two framed prints. The photographer has dropped keys on the floor to indicate scale. The details are from Beethoven Frieze  by Gustav Klimt, designed in 1902 for the Secession Building in Vienna. One print shows an angelic chorus singing ‘Ode to Joy.’ Another shows the composer embracing a female figure; a representation the world, she returns the embrace. In the short film the prints appear mounted on the wall of the title character’s apartment. It is characteristic that Mel surrounds herself with creature comforts but that nothing—except perhaps the piano itself—is extravagant in price. She has plants and books and framed prints. We see her enjoy a good bath, a cup of oolong, candlelight, and a goblet of wine. Her window looks out on Metro rail line; though above the ground floor, she hardly lives in a penthouse. Her taste in music is eclectic. Mel, a Taiwanese pianist, is played by Ms Yi-An Chen; the music ...