Urban Vancouver

Whistler Film Festival 2008 Screens the World Premiere of Anand Ramayya's "Mad Cow, Sacred Cow"

By RAW TALENT on November 12, 2008 - 4:22pm

The 2008 edition of Whistler Film Festival kicks off with the world premiere of Anand Ramayya’s feature length documentary, Mad Cow Sacred Cow, on December 4th, 3:00 pm at the Rainbow Theatre in Whistler.

In the wake of the Mad Cow Crisis, terrified of his food, filmmaker Anand Ramayya (Cosmic Current) embarks on a journey from his in-laws’ family farm in Canada all the way back to India, land of the Sacred Cow. His Journey reveals shocking connections between the Mad Cow crisis and Global Food crisis.

Weaving interviews from Dr. Vandana Shiva, Maneka Gandhi, Dr. Murray Waldman, Nettie Wiebe and Swami Agnivesh with stunning visuals of a personal journey that crosses continents, the story of Mad Cow Sacred Cow takes us from the filmmaker’s own happy days of indiscriminate beef consumption to the frightening realities created by globalization.

Congratulations to the crew: Producer/ Writer/ Director Anand Ramayya, Producer Ryan Lockwood (Hulo Films), Cinematographer Thomas Hale, Composer Raj Ramayya, Editor Chris Bizzocchi.

Financing partners of Mad Cow Sacred Cow include Canadian Television Fund, Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, Rogers, SaskFilm and broadcast partners CBC Newsworld, Saskatchewan Communications Network, and Knowledge Network. It will air on CBC Newsworld's The Lens in January 2009.

contact: anand@karmafilm.ca, rawtalentbc@gmail.com

"45 RPM" Screens at Vancouver International Film Festival 2008

By RAW TALENT on October 6, 2008 - 8:31am

A New York disc jockey announces a contest to name 30 songs in 30 seconds. A trip for two to a rock and roll concert in New York City goes to the winner. By some fluke atmospheric condition, the airwaves travel 2000 miles to Goose Bay, Saskatchewan and to the ears of two youth desperate for a better life. For Parry Tender and his side kick Luke, winning the contest is their only hope of getting out of a remote northern Canadian town in 1960.

1960s period piece "45 RPM," written and directed by Saskatoon's Dave Schultz, was shot in Saskatchewan by producing partners Chad Oakes and Michael Frislev of Calgary's Nomadic Pictures, and co-Producer Anand Ramayya of Saskatoon's Karma Film. The picture introduces lead actors Jordan Gavaris and Justine Banszky as Parry and Luke. They deliver an honest portrayal of a trapped youth in small town Saskatchewan with a strong supporting cast including Michael Madsen, Amanda Plummer, Kim Coates, Terry David Mulligan, August Schellenberg and MacKenzie Porter.

Kempton, a blogger and filmmaker, interviewed Director Dave Schultz and got the background story (spoiler alert) of 45 rpm while Schultz described his process of writing and directing the film.