Not Your Average Dinner and a Movie: The Most Magnificent Thing #NaBloPoMo

A few lucky folks who came to see and vote on storyboard artist Arna Selznick’s The Most Magnificent Thing when this STEM themed film screened during the Short Film Slam were in for an extra treat! 

Checking out one of the structures in the gym at CANstruction 2019. Participating teams included USA Architects, JKRP, Turner Construction and more. You had to be there to see it.The Madlab Post studio was in its second year of operation while a design and build contest called CANstruction was happening in the gym at Bok. 

Every year, teams of architects, engineers, contractors and designers get together to build life-size structures made out of canned food.

Following a public exhibit, the cans used for these structures are donated to local hunger relief organization, Philabundance.  

Based on Ashley Spires’ best-selling book of the same name, The Most Magnificent Thing is an animated short starring Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg, Alison Pil (Vice; American Horror Story) and Lilly Barlam (The Handmaid's Tale).

The film is about the perseverance and creativity of an architect’s daughter who receives her very own tool box, and then embarks on a quest to build a masterpiece for her pet pug. 

Have YOU seen The Most Magnificent Thing? 

What’s YOUR CANstruction pick.... Beehive or Butterflies? 

When was the last time YOU built something from the ground up? How did it turn out? 

On Set with ‘Oblivion’ director Fatemeh Mohamadi's Pop Culture Loving Crew #NaBloPoMo

While Fatemeh Mohamadi entertained audiences as a stage actress and teacher long before filming her directorial debut Oblivion, she always knew she wanted to be in the driver’s seat. 

'Oblivion' director Fatemeh Mohamadi During Round III of the 2019 Short Film Slam, she and I spoke briefly about her motivations for making this live action drama about an elderly couple dealing with Alzheimer's disease, her goals with filmmaking and experience in theater. 

As we take a closer look at how this film came together, hear from the director on her need to be seen, ability to improvise and challenge the hearts and minds of the world....

Fatemeh Mohamadi: I was fond of team work from childhood and always liked to play shows for the elders in my father’s family. I gave my family’s children roles and directed them in their roles. It was the best entertainment for me. We also sold symbolic tickets. 

Since I was the only daughter of my father’s family, I had some of the boys wear a woman’s dress. My brother and cousin cried and did not want this role but they had to accept it. 

Once they beat each other hard on the show and the show broke off but I tried to tell the grown-ups that this was part of the show. I later found out this was a technique that I knew instinctively.  

All this made me realize I’m interested in directing and directing the group. I first started with the theater. After a while, I taught in secondary school and middle school. My students won tournaments and I received prizes but after a while I felt that the only thing that satisfies me is the cinema. I just tried to use the good experience that I had in the theater and then I forgot acting and directing in the theater because I lived directing the cinema. 

The first thing any creator needs is for more people to see his creation, as God wants his servants to see his creatures more closely. So festivals are the best opportunity for filmmakers to overcome this need. 

I just want more audiences for my movie around the world. It’s even better for me than the prizes. I love the audience encouragement and this is the best sound that a filmmaker wants to hear because he wants to be sure of his own actions. 

I like to improve the culture of humanity, for humans to be kinder together and to other creatures, and the world to be a better place to live. - Fatemeh Mohamadi

Wordless Wednesday: A Summer Movie Matinee with Kay #NaBloPoMo

Kay came by to visit The Madlab Post headquarters at Bok where she watched, discussed and voted on the latest lineup from the Short Film Slam. We met when I started hosting private screenings and teaching filmmaking workshops.

Tell me, what are some of the best films you've watched this past summer?