Craft & Folk Art Museum Screens HUMBLE BEAUTY

The Craft and Folk Art Museum of Los Angeles will screen HUMBLE BEAUTY on Thursday, June 24th at dark, approximately 8:15 pm, in its courtyard. A Q & A session with the filmmakers and artists follows the screening. There will also be a showcase of paintings by artists featured in the film. This is a FREE EVENT, open to all. CAFAM is at 5814 Wilshire Blvd., (across from the LA County Museum of Art), Los Angeles 90036. We are thrilled to be screening HUMBLE BEAUTY at the museum and hope you will join us for the evening. More info at http://www.cafam.org/.

Hope & Freedom Film Festival Selects HUMBLE BEAUTY

The Hope and Freedom Film Festival has selected HUMBLE BEAUTY to screen on Saturday, May 22nd at 6 pm at the Long Beach Art Theatre in Long Beach, California. A Q&A session with the filmmakers follows the screening. In addition, a group photo of as many HUMBLE BEAUTY participants as possible will be taken on the festival's "red carpet" at 5:45 pm. We hope you will join us there!

The is the inaugural year of the Hope and Freedom Film Festival which is inspired by the work and mission of the NAACP: equal rights for all. The campus chapter of the NAACP at Cal State Long Beach University is one of the festival sponsors. HUMBLE BEAUTY is one of only two features shown at the festival. The other feature is the Oscar-nominated documentary THE GARDEN. Several short films will be shown starting at 1 pm with live musical performances interspersed between the films. This is a free event, open to the public.http://www.hopeandfreedomfilmfestival.org/

Video Librarian Recommends HUMBLE BEAUTY

Video Librarian gave 3 OUT OF 4 STARS to HUMBLE BEAUTY in a very good review in the March/April, 2010 edition. The review, by K. Hennessy, also rated the film as " RECOMMENDED." Video Librarian is the most comprehensive video review magazine in the world. It is highly respected in the library and educational community. We are thrilled to have received this review and hope it will result in further distribution of HUMBLE BEAUTY.

HUMBLE BEAUTY Artist has show in Santa Monica!

Enrique Marquez, one of the very talented artists profiled in HUMBLE BEAUTY, has an exhibition of his paintings at the James Gray Gallery, Bergamot Station, in Santa Monica, California. The Opening Reception is Saturday, February 13 from 6 to 9pm and the show runs through March 14th. Another artist from Skid Row, also with stunning work, Martin Hidalgo, will have his paintings in the show too. This is an exciting opportunity for the artists to debut their artwork at a mainstream gallery far from downtown Los Angeles in the upscale, arts conscious community of Santa Monica. We wish them every success!

HUMBLE BEAUTY IS ON TV

HUMBLE BEAUTY airs on Halogen TV, a new cable network specializing in socially conscious, empowering and entertainment programming. HUMBLE BEAUTY will air on Halogen TV through 2012. Check out their website, http://www.halogentv.com/ and see if it's available in your area. Just type in your zipcode for the answer. Then tune us in!

Santa Fe Film Festival Report

We had a great time at the Santa Fe Film Festival! HUMBLE BEAUTY screened to an enthusiastic audience and we even sold some DVDs afterwards. Got lots of great feedback.

We went to the premiere of Wes Studi's film THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN, which was very good and beautifully shot entirely in the wilds of Kansas (set in 1905 Kansas). Not only did we get to meet Wes Studi [DANCES WITH WOLVES, LAST OF THE MOHICANS, GERONIMO, many others] but he turned out to be a friend of Judy's old friend from Wichita, Ann Garvey, arts supporter, philanthropist, and all around lover of life. Ann attended the festival to see our film and the Wes Studi film and introduced us to Wes. When he heard Judy was a big fan, he kissed her hand. Such fun! We got a photo. He's a wonderful actor, mostly Native American parts and westerns, and is very active in Native American affairs. He and his wife live in Santa Fe where he is definitely the local hero and big man on campus.

Two days later, THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN received the top prize for a dramatic feature at the festival! So everyone can look forward to seeing it in a theatre or on a premium cable channel soon.

The top documentary prize went to MYTHIC JOURNEYS by husband and wife filmmakers Whitney and Steven Boe. The film is a unique fusion of documentary, animation and story starring Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Lance Henriksen. We had a chance to meet the Boes and chat about their film but it screened after we left Santa Fe. Can't wait to see it! More info on their website,
http://www.imaginalcellsinc.com/mythicjourneystrailer.htm

Saw other great films, went to parties at night at various restaurants and clubs around town, networked with other filmmakers and got some distribution tips which we'll follow-up. It was a lot of fun being there and Santa Fe itself is so beautiful with more upscale art galleries and restaurants per square inch than anywhere else.

But it was FREEZING. When we arrived it was 17 degrees and the next day we woke up to snow on the ground and flurries of ice and snow throughout the day. Friday morning it was down to 4 degrees. BRRRR. Our teeth were chattering, not used to those conditions, being California wimps. Even the Santa Feans were cold. But everything inside was cozy and warm and full of noisy conversation and laughter.

Hopefully, being a part of the Santa Fe Film Festival will lead to more good things for HUMBLE BEAUTY. We got lots of local publicity from Press Releases we had sent out and one unexpected inclusion in a "highlights of the festival" article in an online arts & culture magazine (http://www.sfreporter.com/stories/get_your_film_on/5203/)

Another viewer, Maureen E.Doallas, has written a beautiful tribute to HUMBLE BEAUTY on her interesting art-centered blog. Don't miss this wonderful writer's comments.(http://www.facebook.com/l/46d68;writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com )

Thanks for all your continued encouragement and support.

Welcome!

HUMBLE BEAUTY is a one-hour documentary that tells the stories of a group of talented homeless and formerly homeless men and women who create art – fine arts painting – in the worst area of LA known as Skid Row. It’s also about the ubiquity of art in human life. People strive to make art, no matter how humble the circumstances.
For four years, we followed the lives and progress of several artists from LA’s Skid Row, reported to be the largest concentration of homeless people in America. Some artists find their art supplies in garbage cans and dumpsters. They draw on old paper bags. Many have joined Art Workshops led by dedicated and remarkable artist/social workers and are given paint, canvases, frames, easels and the technical, creative and supportive guidance to create stunning, often therapeutic, works of art. Several of these Art Workshop members have shown – and sold – their work in downtown Los Angeles galleries. Their tight-knit Skid Row community nourishes their artistic abilities.
Art changed their lives dramatically. One woman told us that coming to the workshop is the only reason she has for getting up in the morning. A directionless hustler has become a known, respected painter and employed community leader. A shy immigrant who creates, in classic primitive style, riotously colorful scenes from his childhood in a tiny Mexican village has suffered a major setback – he’s been admitted to art school at University of California, Berkeley, and awarded a scholarship but can’t attend due to his immigration status. One artist was a 12-year old runaway from an Indian Reservation in 1941 and has been on the streets of Skid Row ever since. Art has given their lives meaning and a reason for existence.

HUMBLE BEAUTY SCREENS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009 AT 2:45 PM AT THE SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! http://www.santafefilmfestival.com/

Please take a look at some of the HUMBLE BEAUTY video clips and get more info about the film and the artists profiled at our official website, http://www.humblebeauty.com/.