IN PROGRESS:

ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT (Crossover Productions), a documentary film which I am co-producing, is presently in production.

ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT follows the poignant journey of circus producer David Balding as he tries to find a nurturing and permanent home for Flora, the 18-year-old African elephant that he rescued as an infant, raised as his "daughter" and made the star of his circus. David's love for Flora is put to the ultimate test when he realizes he made a terrible mistake keeping her as a solo elephant, and decides to retire her from the circus after 17 years of performing. Knowing Flora will outlive him, and with his health and finances becoming an issue, David sets off on a quest to find a home for Flora where she can live freely with other elephants.

RECENTLY COMPLETED:

THANK YOU, MISTER PRESIDENT: HELEN THOMAS AT THE WHITE HOUSE (Moxie Firecracker/HBO) Filmmaker Rory Kennedy profiles iconic journalist Helen Thomas, a tour de force in political reporting who has covered the White House and every president since John F. Kennedy. Premiers on HBO August 18, 2008.

CHRIS & DON - A LOVE STORY (Asphalt Stars Productions) A feature length documentary on artist Don Bachardy and his life-long relationship with writer Christopher Isherwood. Premiered 2007 Telluride Film Festival and 2007 AFI Film Festival. Will open in various theaters nationwide starting in June, 2008.
Distributed by Zeitgeist Films.

"Guido Santi and Tina Mascara are superb filmmakers, fully alive in their terrific film CHRIS & DON: A LOVE STORY to all the undercurrents of art, social class, sexual orientation, challenging relationships and, most especially, the touching love story at the heart of their film." -- Kirk Honeycutt, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER (read whole review)

"Moving and marvelously eccentric, the film chronicles one the great modern love stories -- a 30-plus-year romance between British writer Christopher Isherwood and L.A. portrait painter Don Bachardy. In addition to their own important works, the pair were immortalized in David Hockney's famous 1968 double-portrait." -- LA Times, Critic's Choice

"A fusion of art and love that’s deeply moving… A genuine love story grounded in the artistic inspiration the two men found in each other.” -- Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly, Critic's Pick

"Guido Santi and Tina Mascara’s tender, extremely touching documentary, Chris & Don: A Love Story, examines the history of this complicated and passionate relationship, which ended with Mr. Isherwood’s death in 1986." -- New York Times, Critic's Pick (read whole review)

BLOODLINE (1224 Films) One man's journey into the world of the so-called 'Bloodline' conspiracy, at the heart of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, where a secret society, the Priory of Sion, claims to have guarded evidence of the marriage of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ, their children and their descendants down through the centuries. Distributed by Cinema Libre. Currently in theaters.

"If the Catholic Church fumed over the 'The Da Vinci Code' wait until it gets a load of 'Bloodline', an ambitious, sharply intriguing documentary..." Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

“INTRIGUING and FASCINATING…it’s the kind of picture you will be talking about long after you leave the theater.” Sandy Kenyon, WABC, New York

"A discovery that could prove to be one of the most EXPLOSIVE and CONTROVERSIAL of the century." Elizabeth Snead, LA Times

"UNPARALLELED REVELATIONS...a GEM that unpretentiously swings for the fences and lands in the alleyways the next town over...pulling the curtain wide-open forcing some to question their faith and dosing a bad case of insomnia upon the Pope. " Mathew Nestel, Boxoffice.com

A POWERFUL NOISE (Sheila Johnson/Unify Films/Crazy Legs Productions) A Powerful Noise weaves the inspiring stories of three ordinary women who have overcome gender barriers to spark unprecedented and remarkable changes in their societies. World Premiere - Tribeca Film Festival, 2008. Next up– Silver Docs 2008.

ONE BAD CAT: THE REVEREND ALBERT WAGNER STORY (Tesserac Films) ONE BAD CAT is the story of Reverend Albert Wagner and his continuous journey for self-redemption from his past exploits. Through the use of intimate verite scenes and candid interviews of Albert, his family members, and art patrons, the documentary explores whether a driving passion coupled with a divine intervention can really redeem a man with many past indiscretions. Further, the film explores Albert's past of growing up in a segregated south and how those experiences shape his often controversial messages and "lessons" on race and religion. Won best documentary Santa Barbara Film Festival, and 32nd Cleveland International Film Festival/The Cleveland Magazine Roxanne T. Mueller Award for Best Film. Next up, the film is set to screen at Ann Arbor and Nashville Film Festivals.

GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB – Facing the Darkness Within (Moxie Firecracker/HBO) Wielding startlingly candid interviews with perpetrators, witnesses, and victims, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib provides an inside look at the abuses that occurred at the Iraqi prison in the fall of 2003. Award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy explores how, given the right circumstances, typical boys and girls next door can commit atrocious acts of violence. Premiered in competition at Sundance 2007, and airs on HBO starting in February 2007.

Emmy award winner for Outstanding Non Fiction Special.

VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE: STORIES OF KOSOVO (Sirena Films) In 1999, before Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States went to war in Kosovo to end ethnic violence. Six years after the bombs stop falling, the filmmakers returned Kosovo to see how a society, once torn apart by ethnic division, can build a lasting peace. Featured at the 2007 IFP Market. Premiered at Slamdance, and will screen at the Cleveland Film Festival.

Geoffrey Kleinman of Air America Radio called View from the Bridge a "phenomenal, must-see documentary" that's a "clear look at a complex issue" and that "stands shoulder to shoulder with any film at Sundance this year."

ABSOLUTE WILSON (Film Manufacturers Inc.) An in depth look at the life and work of global theater artist Robert Wilson. Premiered Berlin Film Festival 2006. Germany's Kino Welt acquired worldwide rights, the film was picked up in the U.S. by New Yorker Films for theatrical release, and HBO/Cinemax broadcast in 2007.

"Not to be missed! Enthralling. Full of astonishing beauty, wit, and such dazzling disorienting strangeness that it leaves even his most passionate fans wondering where (Robert Wilson's) ideas come from." -- Elle Magazine

See some great video clips

THIN (HBO/Actual Reality) An amazingly intimate portrait of eating disorders among young women. This feature-length doc about the treatment of eating disorders is the first film by Lauren Greenfield (author/photographer of Girl Culture). The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival, 2006 and continues to win praise from critics and audiences around the country as the film makes its rounds through the festival circuit. THIN won the 2006 Award for Best Documentary Film at the Jackson Hole Film Festival, the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Boston Independent Film Festival, and the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Newport International Film Festival. THIN premiered on HBO 11/14/06, and is still airing on HBO.

Watch clips and read more about THIN on the Actual Reality Pictures website. http://www.arp.tv/production.html?production=thin

Watch a video clip on People.com, from when they did a feature article on the film.

NOMINATED FOR AN EMMY AWARD!

CHINA BLUE (Teddy Bear Films/ITVS) Explores globalization labor issues in a very personal way by following village girls as they find work in a jeans factory in the big city, and their boss as he maneuvers himself into the global market place. China Blue had its world premier at the Toronto Film Festival, September 2005.

Winner of the Amensty International Human Rights award at IDFA, Europe's premier documentary film festival. The award includes a cash prize and screenings in 25 art house cinemas in the Netherlands supported by Amnesty. Also winner of Amnesty International-DOEN Award at IDFA 2005. Chosen as best documentary on human rights at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2005. They awarded the Amnesty International-DOEN Award to director Micha Peled. The film will also be shown at the 8th Amnesty International Film Festival in March 2006.

Winner of the CINE GOLDEN EAGLE AWARD. Also the world's leading documentary film festival, IDFA, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a box set of 20 award-winning films, with China Blue in the line-up. The set was released at the 2007 festival.

THE LONGING: FORGOTTEN JEWS OF SOUTH AMERICA (Bohm Productions) Connecting with ancestors, reclaiming faith. Against all odds. A small group of South Americans long to affirm their faith. Isolated in Catholic countries, rejected by local Jewish Communities, they battle to become Jews regardless of the consequences. World Premier – NY Jewish film festival, January 2007.

Check out the website for more info and to view the trailer.

OUT OF FAITH (Eliezer Production Films) a feature-length documentary follows three generations of a family torn apart by conflicts over interfaith marriage. The family's matriarch, Leah Welbel, and her husband Eliezer, both survived nearly three years in Auschwitz; however, in their minds, their grandchildren marrying non-Jews represents a posthumous victory for Hitler. OUT OF FAITH will be nationally broadcast on PBS in 2008.

ABSOLUTELY SAFE (Amaranth Productions) At a time when more women than ever are getting breast implants, fewer voices than ever seem to be asking “Why?” And fewer still are asking “Are they safe?” ABSOLUTELY SAFE takes an open-minded, personal approach to the controversy over breast implant safety. Ultimately, ABSOLUTELY SAFE is the story of everyday women who find themselves and their breasts in the tangled and confusing intersection of health, money, science, and beauty.

CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM (PBS Series) This 4 part documentary series explores the dynamics of culture, racial diversity and identity within California, the most multiethnic state in America. As America's cultural center slides westward and so-called minorities become majorities in state after state, life in the Golden State offers Americans a glimpse into the future. Beyond the Dream takes viewers on a journey through the state's diverse experience and the complex fabric of life in the twenty-first century. I scored the New Los Angeles and The Price of Renewal episodes. Airs Spring 2006.

THE NEW LOS ANGELES is a powerful portrait of a city transformed by immigration, race and labor. The film takes the viewer on a journey from the bitterly fought, racially driven election that brought Mayor Tom Bradley to power in 1973, to the historic election of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Along the way, it profiles the political empowerment of Latinos and immigrants working in multi-ethnic coalitions to transform their lives. Includes interviews with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Maria Elena Durazo, and the late Miguel Contreras.

THE NEW LOS ANGELES has received a Cine Gold Eagle Award, an Imagen Award nomination, and a Gold Plaque for Public Broadcasting in Public Places (an interactive kiosk featuring content from the CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM Series).

THE NEW LOS ANGELES has also been featured at: Monterrey International Film Festival, San Diego Latino Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Big Muddy Film Festival, Nosotros American Latino Film Festival, Women's International Film and Arts Festival, San Fernando Valley International Film Festival, Other Venice Film Festival, Paramount Pictures, and First A.M.E. Church

POSITIVELY NAKED (Juntos Films/HBO) Photographer Spencer Tunick continues his quest to expose the globe by photographing the 10th anniversary cover for POZ Magazine – an artistic and spiritual look at living long term with HIV and AIDS. Nominated by the INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION for IDA DISTINGUISHED SHORT FILM AWARD; won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, and won Best Documentary Short at SILVERDOCS/AFI DISCOVERY FILM FESTIVAL,NEW YORK AIDS FILM FESTIVAL, and DALLAS OUT TAKES FILM FESTIVAL. Shortlisted by the Motion Picture Academy for Best Short Documentary in 2005. WINNER of HUGO AWARDS for EXCELLENCE IN TELEVISION BEST ARTS/HUMANITIES DOCUMENTARY.

STOLEN CHILDHOODS (Galen Films/Narrated by Meryl Streep) STOLEN CHILDHOODS, a feature documentary on global child labor,was recently featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and the subject of a special report on ABC's Nightline, and on CNN NewsNight with Aaron Brown. Narrated by Meryl Streep, STOLEN CHILDHOODS was made over seven years by Producer-Director, Len Morris, and co-director-cinematographer, Robin Romano. The film was shot in eight countries and tells the stories of laboring children in their own words. Worldwide, the UN estimates that 246 million children work full time rather than attend school. STOLEN CHILDHOODS is being distributed theatrically by Balcony Releasing and opened nationwide in selected theatres. It opened theatrically at the Quad Cinema in New York City, and has been playing around the country in LA, Chicago, Boston, and other cities.

** NEW VIDEO! A blast from the past on YouTube: Miriam singing "White Girls Can't Sing the Blues" with the New Miss Alice Stone Ladies Society Orchestra

** Another blast from the past: YouTube video of Miriam playing with the infamous Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo -- on the original Gong Show!