Documentary Short Film on Rising NYC Fashion Designer Niiamar Felder

Short Documentary Film Shares Challenges Faced By Young NYC Designer Poised to Break Through in the Fashion Industry

***

NIIAMAR…It Is What It Is, a documentary short, takes viewers on an emotional journey with an ascending talent determined to make his mark in the highly competitive world of fashion. The film is a cinematic look into the creative mind and an insider’s view of what it takes to create a capsule collection, from concept to reality. 

The 26–minute film can be seen at: http://www.niiamar.com/documentary/ 

Whether dealing with finances, fabric choices or wardrobe malfunctions, NIIAMAR…It Is What It Is shows that meeting challenges, paired with vision and focus, are parts of the process in making a great designer.  “There are many obstacles to overcome whenever you aspire to do great things, and this is the case with each collection that I design,” says the designer.  Tasked with producing seasonal collections, and the rising costs associated with each, Niiamar sees this film as an opportunity to highlight the details of what the process entails while helping to educate others interested in working in the fashion industry.  The familiar saying ‘it is what it is’ may sound like a cliché, but it is a very true mantra that the designer lives by. 

Niiamar, his line of women’s ready-to-wear, avoids trends in favor of a focus on elegance and enduring style.  His designs have been worn by Hollywood personalities to red carpet events, including the Academy Awards.  As a contestant on Lifetime Channel’s “24 Hour Catwalk,” he impressed the panel of celebrity judges with his attention to detail and exceptional design aesthetic.  An AUDELCO Award nominee for Best Costume Design in theatre, he has served as Principal Costume Designer for the off-Broadway productions of August Wilson’s acclaimed Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Cheaters Club, Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate, and The Doll Confessions, directed by Tony Award winner Trezana Beverley, among others.

A Florida native, Niiamar resides in New York City, where he is the resident Fashion Design Specialist at the prestigious Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy, instructing and inspiring students with a recognized aptitude in fashion design.  Prior to joining the Academy, he served as Assistant Costume Director for five years at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, America’s first acting conservatory.

NIIAMAR…It Is What It Is will strike a chord with its entertaining yet realistic depiction of what designer hopefuls should expect from the world of fashion. The film’s creative team is comprised of Executive Producers Niiamar Felder and Marlynn Snyder; Producer Lisa Chance; Director Austin J. Henderson; and Editor Erin Marie Davis. 

***

NIIAMAR FELDER – BIO 
Inspired by the brilliance of legendary style icon Valentino, rising young fashion designer NIIAMAR avoids trends in favor of a more enduring style that has become a signature of his coveted designs.  Those designs have been featured in several publications, fashion shows, theatre productions, marketing campaigns and on national television.
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Niiamar (Sudanese for ‘King’) Felder discovered his love for artistry at an early age.  While attending Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, he realized a true talent and passion for fashion design.  He draws inspiration from paintings, architecture and nostalgic glamour to construct timeless designs.  He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in design from Florida A&M University (FAMU) in 2007.  During his undergraduate studies, he worked as a design assistant to renowned designer, Kevan Hall.  He was nominated for the Marvin Sims Design Fellowship in Costume Design, awarded by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  A sought after instructor in fashion design, Niiamar conducts various workshops at schools and colleges on the east coast, including a 2013 Summer Intensive Workshop at his alma mater. 
In addition to designing stylish and wearable collections each season, Niiamar’s designs have been worn by Hollywood personalities on nationally syndicated television shows and to red carpet events, including the Academy Awards; featured in Ebony magazine; and impressed judges with his exceptional design aesthetic as a contestant on Lifetime Channel’s “24 Hour Catwalk.”  His list of accomplishments includes nominations for his work in the theatre and on the runway.  Most notable was his 2012 AUDELCO Award nomination for Best Costume Design for the off-Broadway production of August Wilson’s acclaimed Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.  The theatrical community has continued to take note of his impressive skills via principal costume design work in Sowa’s Red Gravy, The Cheaters Club, Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate andThe Doll Confessions, directed by Tony Award winner Trezana Beverly.
Niiamar currently resides in New York City.

For more information, please visit: http://www.niiamar.com/

#nyaff15 | THE 14th NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL- Initial details announced!

THE 14th NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
June 26 – July 11, 2015

***

Director Ringo Lam will be presented with the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award, superstar Aaron Kwok with the 2015 Star Asia Award, and Japanese actor Shota Sometani with the 2015 Screen International Rising Star Award 
***
Film lineup to include the North American premieres of Nobuhiro Yamashita's La La La at Rock Bottom and Yim Soon-rye's The Whistleblower and the international premiere of Namewee’s Banglasia, which was banned in Malaysia
***
 A spotlight on Myung Films and Korean women filmmakers and a joint film tribute to Japanese legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara are among the notable sidebars

***

The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), North America’s leading festival of popular Asian Cinema, is back for its 14th edition. Co-presented with Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema, the festival will run from June 26 to July 11. The festival takes place from June 26 to July 8 at the Film Society and July 9 to 11 at SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd Street). Initial details include notable awards to be presented to director Ringo Lam, superstar Aaron Kwok, and actor Shota Sometani. The festival will also host a slew of North American film premieres, as well as spotlight the works of Korean female directors and honor the memory of Japanese legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara with a joint tribute.

Hong Kong’s legendary director Ringo Lam (City on Fire) will receive the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award. One of Hong Kong’s most influential directors, Lam was directing comedies when City on Fire was released in 1987, fusing the social-protest movie with kinetic action filmmaking. It was followed by the massive hit Prison on Fire later that year, and then School on Fire, a movie so unblinking that nervous Hong Kong censors sliced it to ribbons. Lam became one of the city’s best action filmmakers, and one of the few local directors to be so deeply concerned with the price of progress, the corrosive influence of money on human relationships, and the lives of the little people crushed beneath the wheels of change. In 2003, he directed what was to be his final feature and went into semi-retirement, only to be lured out again in 2015 with Wild City, in which Lam’s tooth-and-claw vision of modern urban living remains untamed.

Hong Kong’s superstar actor-singer Aaron Kwok (Divergence, After This Our Exile, Cold War) will receive the festival’s 2015 Star Asia Award on June 26. One of Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop, Kwok has won dozens of awards for his chart-topping albums. For over 30 years, he has performed steadily both on television and in movies and is respected for his box-office star power as well as his outstanding acting chops. Kwok has worked with some of Hong Kong’s finest directors, like Johnnie To, Jacob Cheung, Andrew Lau, and Patrick Tam. His self-described Method acting was rewarded in 2005 and 2006 when he won back-to-back Golden Horse awards for Best Actor, a feat previously achieved only by Jackie Chan. Kwok was awarded his first Best Actor prize was for his performance in 2005’sDivergence, but it was his work in the 2006 After This Our Exile, for which he won his second award, that blew audiences away. In that film, Kwok’s fearless portrayal of a gambling addict exhibited a serious commitment to his craft as well as a complete lack of vanity. He then went on to give a series of startling performances in films like Yim Ho’s Floating City, the blockbuster Cold War, as well as his upcoming tour de force, Port of Call.

Japanese actor Shota Sometani will attend the festival on July 4, on the occasion of the New York premiere of Kabukicho Love Hotel, to receive the Screen International Rising Star Award. Director Ryuichi Hiroki will also be in attendance. This marks the second year of a partnership with Screen International, with whom the NYAFF will honor an emerging talent in the East Asian film world each year. At age 22, Sometani is already a leading man in both blockbusters and indie gems and has earned critical acclaim on the international film festival circuit. In 2011, he received the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Himizu, along with his co-star Fumi Nikaido (last year’s recipient of the Screen International Rising Star Award).

Notable NYAFF titles this year will include the North American premieres of Nobuhiro Yamashita's La La La at Rock Bottom and Yim Soon-rye's The Whistleblower and the international premiere of Namewee’s Banglasia, which was banned in Malaysia, its home country.
The festival will also feature a section on Korea’s production company Myung Films, highlighting a few of their major works—Cart, The President’s Last Bang, The Isle, and Waikiki Brothers—as part of a greater focus on women who work behind the camera. Producer Shim Jae-myung and directors Yim Soon-rye (The Whistleblower) and Boo Ji-young (Cart) will be in attendance.

Japanese film legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara, both of whom passed away last November, will be the subject of the first joint tribute outside of Japan, which will feature the brand-new digital remaster of the 1973 classic Battles Without Honor and Humanity—screened for the time in North America—among others.

Tickets: 

  • Tickets will go on sale on June 9 for Film Society Members and June 11 for general public, both at the box office and online.
  • Discounts are available for Film Society members. Read more about the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
  • Screenings will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th Street, between Amsterdam and Broadway), and SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues).

For more information, please visit:

Panorama Europe Film Festival Starts Next Week!

Panorama Europe Film Festival Returns for its Seventh Year,

with a Slate of Sixteen Outstanding New Movies

FESTIVAL to Run from May 29 – June 14, 2015 at Museum of the Moving Image and Bohemian National Hall

Festival Kick-Off Event and Party at Tribeca Cinemas on Thursday, May 28

Panorama Europe 2015, the seventh edition of this vital festival of new European cinema (formerly known as Disappearing Act), presented by Museum of the Moving Image and the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), returns to the Museum and the Bohemian National Hall with a slate of sixteen new features from May 29 through June 14.

The opening weekend includes special screenings of GODS (Poland, 2014), with director Lukasz Palkowski in person on Friday, May 29, and BOTA(THE WORLD) (Albania, 2014), with co-director Iris Elezi in person, on Sunday, May 31. Both screenings will be followed by conversations with the filmmakers, and receptions. Other festival titles include films from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain.

The festival informally kicks off on Thursday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. with a screening of short European films at Tribeca Cinemas, followed by a party, as part of the NY Portuguese Short Film Festival (NYPSFF). 

The Closing Night film is Bas Devos’s award-winning VIOLET (Belgium, 2014), which screened as part of this year’s New Directors/New Films series. The screening will be preceded by live musc by the Flemish band St. Grandson in the Museum’s courtyard and followed by a reception.
The festival continues its mission of showcasing the best in European filmmaking by introducing a wide-ranging selection of contemporary cinema in varying genres that cover many current social and cultural themes. Panorama Europe offers New York audiences what may be their only chance to see these acclaimed films on the big screen. Some of the highlights of this year’s edition include Petr Václav’s 2015 Czech Lion best film THE WAY OUT, Panos H. Koutras’s multiple award-winning XENIA (Greece), Virág Zomborácz’s AFTERLIFE (Hungary), Ignas Jonynas’s THE GAMBLER (Lithuania), with star Oona Mekas attending, and BREATHE (RESPIRE) (France), the sophomore feature directed by the actress Mélanie Laurent (INGLORIOUSBASTERDS , BEGINNERS).

The full lineup of Panorama Europe 2015:

  • Bota (The World), Albania, Dir. Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci / Opening Weekend Film & Reception
  • Gods, Poland, Dir. Lukasz Palkowski / Opening Weekend Film & Reception
  • Violet, Belgium, Dir. Bas Devos / Closing Night Film & Reception
  • Afterlife, Hungary, Dir. Virág Zomborácz
  • Age of Cannibals, Germany, Dir. Johannes Naber
  • Breathe, France, Dir. Mélanie Laurent
  • Cowboys, Croatia, Dir. Tomislav Mrsic
  • The Gambler, Lithuania, Dir. Ignas Jonynas
  • I Can Quit Whenever I Want, Italy, Dir. Sydney Sibilia
  • In the Basement, Austria. Dir. Ulrich Seidel and the short film Exterior Extended
  • In the Crosswind, Estonia, Dir. Martti Helde
  • Magical Girl, Spain, Dir. Carlos Vermut
  • The Tree, Slovenia, Dir. Sonja Prosenc
  • The Unexpected Life, Spain, Dir. Jorge Torregrossa
  • The Way Out, Czech Republic, Dir. Petr Václav
  • Xenia, Greece, Dir. Panos H. Koutras

OPENING WEEKEND FILM

  • Gods

With Lukasz Palkowski in person, followed by reception
FRIDAY, MAY 29, 7:00 P.M.
Poland. Dir. Lukasz Palkowski. 2014, 120 mins. With Tomasz Kot, Piotr Glowacki, Szymon Piotr Warszawski. This enormously entertaining biopic chronicles the groundbreaking work of Zbigniew Religa, the pioneering Polish surgeon who defied the Communist bureaucracy of the 1980s to perform the country’s first heart transplant. Told with wit, verve, and a fastidious attention to period detail, Gods is an engrossing portrait of a larger-than-life personality.

  • Afterlife

SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2:00 P.M.
Also showing: Thursday, June 4, 7:00 p.m. at Bohemian National Hall
Hungary. Dir. Virág Zomborácz. 2014, 93 mins. With Márton Kristóf, László Gálffi, Eszter Csákányi. A pastor and son with a strained relationship get a shot at reconciliation—after the older man’s unexpected death. Part tender coming-of-age tale, part darkly comic ghost story, Afterlife is a surprising, poignant fable from one of the most distinctive new voices in Hungarian cinema.

  • The Tree

SATURDAY, MAY 30, 4:00 P.M.
Slovenia. Dir. Sonja Prosenc. 2014, 90 mins. With Katarina Stegnar, Jernej Kogovsek, Lukas Matija. A mother and her two sons live as prisoners in their own home. But what is it about the outside world they fear? Told from three points of view, a riveting family tragedy gradually reveals itself in this acclaimed Slovenian chamber drama, which masterfully maintains an air of steadily mounting tension. 

  • I Can Quit Whenever I Want

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2:00 P.M.
Italy. Dir. Sydney Sibilia. 2014, 100 mins. With Edoardo Leo, Valeria Solarino, Valerio Aprea. A group of underemployed academics hope to earn quick cash by entering the drug racket. But when their new designer drug turns out to be all the rage, can they handle the success? One of the funniest Italian comedies in years, this ultra-entertaining box office smash plays like Breaking Bad meets Reservoir Dogs.

  • Xenia

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 4:00 P.M.
Greece. Dir. Panos H. Koutras. 2014, 128 mins. With Kostas Nikouli, Nikos Gelia, Aggelos Papadimitriou. A gay teen and his older brother journey across Greece in search of their estranged father in this alternately surreal and stirring road movie. Juxtaposing the realities of present-day Greece with imaginative slips into dream logic, this bold coming-of-age saga swept this year’s Hellenic Film Academy Awards, winning Best Picture and six other awards.

OPENING WEEKEND FILM 

  • Bota (The World)

With co-director Iris Elezi in person; followed by reception
SUNDAY, MAY 31, 7:00 P.M. 
Albania. Dir. Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci. 2014, 104 mins. With Flonja Kodheli, Artur Gorishti, Fioralba Kryemadhi. The intersecting lives of three people working at an offbeat café in a small village form a captivating portrait of modern day Albania in this poetic drama, which confronts a particularly troubling chapter of the country’s Communist past.

  • The Way Out

FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 7:00 P.M.
Also showing: Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 p.m. at Bohemian National Hall 
Czech Republic/France. Dir. Petr Václav. 2014, 102 mins. With Klaudia Dudová, David Ištok, Sára Makulová. The Way Out follows a young Romany woman who perseveres in the face of anti-gypsy racism to find steady employment. This heartrending drama, shown in competition at Cannes, is rendered with admirable understatement and an almost documentary-like realism. The Way Out, winner of the Czech Film Critics Award,
was named Best Film at the Czech Lion awards.  New York Premiere.

  • Cowboys

SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2:00 P.M.
Croatia. Dir. Tomislav Mrsic. 2013, 107 mins. With Sasa Anocic, Zivko Anocic, Matija Antolic. The Wild West and Eastern Europe collide in this infectious Croatian comedy, in which a prominent theater director mounts a hilariously bizarre cowboy musical in a bleak industrial town. Croatia’s Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Language Film “is a nifty blend of social drama and absurdist comedy” (Variety).

  • In the Crosswind

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2:00 P.M.
Estonia. Dir. Martti Helde. 2014, 87 mins. With Ingrid Isotamm, Laura Peterson, Mirt Preegel, Einar Hillep, Tarmo Song. This startlingly original “landmark film” (The Hollywood Reporter) recounts one woman’s harrowing, true-life tale of survival in the midst of Stalin’s ethnic cleansing of the Baltic region. Told via stunning, monochrome tableaux vivants that freeze characters in time and space, In the Crosswind is both a visually and emotionally overwhelming experience.

  • The Gambler

With actress Oona Mekas in person
SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 4:00 P.M.
Lithuania. Dir. Ignas Jonynas. 2013, 109 mins. With Vytautas Kaniusonis, Oona Mekas, Rimas Blockis. This twisted, ultra-stylish thriller serves up a shocking premise: Vincentas, a paramedic with a gambling addiction, collects big time when he starts taking bets on whether his patients live or die. As the scheme spreads throughout the hospital, Vincentas begins raking in the money—but has he sold his soul? The Gambler is a noirish plunge into the darkest depths of amorality, and was Lithuania’s Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language film.

  • In the Basement

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 7:00 P.M.
Austria. Dir. Ulrich Seidl. 2014, 85 mins. With Fritz Lang, Alfreda Klebinger, Manfred Ellinger. Best known for his “Paradise” narrative trilogy, Seidl returns to the documentary form by visiting the basements of middle-class Austrians to share the odd, disturbing, and touching findings in these intimate private spaces. Preceded by Exterior Extended (Austria. Dir. Siegfried A. Fruhauf. 2013, 8 mins. 35mm).

  • Breathe (Respire)

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2:00 P.M.
France. Dir. Mélanie Laurent. 2014, 91 mins. With Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge, Isabelle Carré. Two teenage girls’ seemingly perfect friendship turns toxic in this gripping sophomore feature from actress-turned-director Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds, Beginners). Boasting standout, César Award-nominated performances from its lead actresses, Respire captures the turbulence of the adolescent years with raw emotional honesty.

  • The Unexpected Life

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 4:00 P.M.
Spain. Dir. Jorge Torregrossa. 2014, 107 mins. With Javier Cámara, Raúl Arévalo, Tammy Blanchard. An actor and Spanish ex-pat living in Manhattan bonds with his more conventional cousin in this bittersweet comedy. A charming valentine to New York City, The Unexpected Life offers wise and witty insights into what it means to be a foreigner in a new country.

  • Magical Girl

SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 12:00 P.M.
Spain. Dir. Carlos Vermut, 2014, 127 mins. With Marina Andruix, Julio Arrojo, Luis Bermejo. This mind-bending neo-noir begins as a tale of a father desperate to fulfill his dying daughter's last wish: to own an extravagantly expensive dress from her favorite Japanese anime. The lengths to which he goes to secure the garment lead him down a rabbit hole of depravity. The film won the Golden Shell award for Best Film and the Silver Shell for Best Director at the 62nd International Film Festival in San Sebastian, Spain. 

  • Age of Cannibals

SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 3:00 P.M.
Also showing: Tuesday, June 9, 7:00 p.m. at Bohemian National Hall
Germany. Dir. Johannes Naber. 2014, 93 mins. With Sebastian Blomberg, Devid Striesow, Katharina Schüttler. Passed over for a promotion, two slimy international business consultants head for a breakdown of epic proportions in this scorching satire of capitalism at its dirtiest. Propelled by tour-de-force performances, Age of Cannibals goes to extremes to expose the dehumanizing effects of the corporate rat race. The film won multiple German Film Critics Awards, including Best Feature Film, among others.

CLOSING NIGHT FILM

  • Violet

Preceded by live music by the Flemish band St. Grandson in the Museum Courtyard (5.45 – 6:45 pm ) 
Followed by reception offered by The General Representation of the Government of Flanders to the U.S.
SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 7:00 P.M.
Belgium. Dir. Bas Devos. 2014, 82 mins. With César De Sutter, Raf Walschaerts, Mira Helmer. This “intensely stylized, highly original and utterly mesmerizing” (Variety) film viscerally evokes the disorientation of grief as a troubled teen deals with the emotional fallout of witnessing his friend’s murder. Stunningly shot partly in 65mm, Violet favorably recalls Gus Van Sant’s portraits of teenage angst as it builds towards a heart-stopping climax.

For more information and to order tickets, visit http://www.movingimage.us/panorama-europe

@CW_TheFlash: Fast Enough (4/4)

The season finale of The Flash was really "Fast Enough". It also was awesome enough and cool enough. It was more than enough. It was great! 

***spoilers***

There were some interesting unexpected turns. Although Barry not changing the past, not so much. That was expected. And it would have been too complicated to define the timeline if Barry changed the past. Is that why future Flash told him not to change the past? This is definitely easier too. But Eddie killing himself to save the day, that was the BIG unexpected but pretty cool. And that too after Eddie gets his self confidence back and happily gets back with Iris (and I felt good about it this time, Barry is too much of cry baby sometimes and Eddie's been cool). So is Reverse Flash really dead? Or Eddie Thawne will become the Reverse Flash as he goes into the wormhole? The open and unresolved wormhole at the end is quite a cliffhanger too. Although most certainly Barry will win. Let's see what else interesting angles they add to it. The interaction between Dr Wells and Cisco was again fun, and now we know (more & better) that he'll be the Vibe, thanks to Wells. Interestingly enough Ronnie got married to Caitlin and is going to stay. So what happens to Firestorm? And when does Caitlin becomes Killer Frost?

***spoilers end***

Everything happens for a reason. Don't miss the season finale of ‪The Flash‬ Tuesday at 8/7c! SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/TheCWSubscribe About The Flash After a particle accelerator causes a freak storm, CSI Investigator Barry Allen is struck by lightning and falls into a coma.

The performances were quite good too. Grant Gustin adds a lot of humanity to the character (although quite a cry baby) and does justice to both Barry and Flash. This episode was another landmark for him. His dilemma was quite well played, although kinda stretched. Tom Cavanagh always brings lot of interesting shades to the Reverse Flash and Dr Wells, if he's really gone, he'll be truly missed. Rick Cosnett had a good episode as Eddie Thawne, finally became truly lovable (at least for me). And it's a joy to see Victor Garber as Martin Stein. I hear we'll see him as regular in 'Legends of Tomorrow', which I can't wait for.

So all in all, it was a great ending to first season of a wonderful show. Can't wait for Season 2 already and see what more is cooking!

P.S. DC is doing great with there TV shows, no wonder it's expanding all over the place, But I don't get why they want to keep movie universe separate from TV universe. And also recast all these wonderful actors for movies. Why?!?!

Note: These ratings and review are personal opinion of the author.