3 Backyards at Canadian TV

Super Chanel will air 3 Backyards several times in late February and early March.

Schedule

Feb 20 @ 7:45am on Super Channel 1
Feb 20 @ 7:45am on Super Channel HD1
Feb 20 @ 12:45pm on Super Channel HD2
Feb 20 @ 12:45pm on Super Channel 4
Feb 20 @ 8:00pm on Super Channel 3
Feb 25 @ 6:00am on Super Channel HD1
Feb 25 @ 6:00am on Super Channel 1
Feb 25 @ 5:30pm on Super Channel HD2
Feb 25 @ 5:30pm on Super Channel 3
Feb 25 @ 11:00pm on Super Channel 4
Mar 1 @ 1:15pm on Super Channel 1
Mar 1 @ 1:15pm on Super Channel HD1
Mar 1 @ 6:30pm on Super Channel 3
Mar 1 @ 6:30pm on Super Channel HD2
Mar 2 @ 4:30am on Super Channel HD2
Mar 2 @ 4:30am on Super Channel 4
Mar 6 @ 6:00am on Super Channel HD1
Mar 6 @ 6:00am on Super Channel 1
Mar 6 @ 11:15am on Super Channel 3
Mar 6 @ 4:30pm on Super Channel HD2
Mar 6 @ 4:45pm on Super Channel 4
Mar 11 @ 8:15am on Super Channel 3
Mar 11 @ 3:00pm on Super Channel 1
Mar 11 @ 3:00pm on Super Channel HD1
Mar 11 @ 8:00pm on Super Channel 3

3 Backyards in Norway

The 22nd Tromsǿ International Film Festival running from 17th to 22nd January and will air Eric Mendelsohn's 3 Backyards three times.

Dag	Tid	Place	Kalender	Tickets
Wednesday 18.Jan	20:00	Fokus 2/3	Add show	Fokus 2, Fokus 3
Thursday 19.Jan	13:30	Fokus 1/5	Add show	Fokus 1, Fokus 5
Sunday 22.Jan	09:00	Fokus 1/5	Add show	Fokus 1, Fokus 5

Ticket prices: 85 Kr = 11 € = $14

Yesterday I also stumbled in one of the many Kathryn tumblrs over a page where you can download the movie. I can't tell you how legal this option is, but you need to register to get 3 Backyards this way.

3 Backyards on Showtime

3 Backyards

A suburban Long Island neighborhood is the setting for this ensemble drama about the intersecting lives of an unhappy husband (Elias Koteas), a bored housewife (Edie Falco) thrilled that a famous actress has moved in next door, and an eight-year-old girl (Rachel Resheff) who has just stolen some of her mother's jewelry. Embeth Davidtz costars in this film written and directed by Eric Mendelsohn.

Rating: R
Genres: Drama
Duration: 89 Mins
Audio Format: Stereo / CC
Showtime Advisories: Adult Content

Ways to Watch
Watch On Demand

Available from 12/17/11 to 01/03/12
Next Airings All Times ET/PT

Date	Time	Channel
Fri 12/16	8:00 PM	SHOWTIME
Sat 12/17	8:30 PM	SHOWTIME SHOWCASE
Sun 12/18	8:30 PM	SHO 2
Tue 12/20	12:30 AM	SHOWTIME
Thu 12/22	10:00 PM	SHO 2
Sat 12/24	2:45 AM	SHOWTIME
Sun 12/25	11:00 PM	SHOWTIME SHOWCASE
Mon 12/26	2:15 AM	SHO 2
Wed 12/28	1:00 AM	SHOWTIME SHOWCASE
Thu 12/29	12:00 AM	SHOWTIME

The 2011 Mid-Year Reckoning

by Armond White
It may give cinephiles hope for movie culture.

Mr. White picked also up 3 Backyards:

Eric Mendelsohn’s revisionist melodrama 3 Backyards explored suburban isolation, bringing disparate miseries together in montages that probe our emotional community.

I remembered the short interview Kathryn gave at the Teachers Making A Difference Luncheon during the 2010 Sundance.

Hochgeladen von mantellg am 28.01.2010

Actress Kathryn Erbe from "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" at Sundance 2010, where her film "3 Backyards" premiered. At the Creative Coalition's "Teachers Making a Difference" Luncheon.

Plus three additional pictures [found at Getty Images - Clayton Chase]:

Enjoy!

I hope we'll hear very soon about Kathryn's new projects.

Movie Updates

3 Backyards:

The DVD release is only five days away. So the producers are giving away a 3 Backyards DVD signed by director Eric Mendelsohn and star Edie Falco! Just leave a comment on their facebook page telling them about one of your earliest movie theater experiences. they'll randomly select a winner.

Mother's House:

Little film: big love! Check out what viewers have to say at IMDb and add your own comment and vote.


No news about Worst Frineds and Sunny Side Up and also no hint on another new project of Kathryn. Please let me know, when you hear something or get an interesting link via google allerts, or see a tweet.

Film Festival Marathon

Today you can watch three of Kathryn’s current movie projects at three film festivals. Maybe you’re able to arrange all together and use a beamer to switch from Mississippi, to Colorado to Staten Island.

• 3 Backyards at Mississippi Film Inst, Jackson MS
• Mother's House at Breckenridge Festival of Film screens at the Speakeasy Movie House at 9 pm
• The Vanishing City at the 10 Staten Island Film Festival at the St. George's Theater at 6 pm

If you have a little bit more time then join the big Criminal Intent set sale at Chelsea Piers from 8 am to noon.

CHELSEA PIERS—TV memorabilia fans and thrifty bargain hunters unite! From 8am to noon tomorrow, the canceled Law & Order: Criminal Intent will be cleaning house with a massive set sale. All you have to do is bring a box and fill it with whatever you want for just $5. A tipster tells us to look out for mint condition items, such as framed art work and photos, furniture, sinks, womenswear, menswear (no confirmed reports of any leather trench coats worn by Chris "Det. Mike Logan" Noth, though), shoes and...medical equipment. The items you can't fit in a box are priced separately. (We're assuming that includes the x-ray machines). Just follow the paper signs along the East Roadway of Chelsea Piers between Piers 60 and 61. Cue the "doink-doink." [Racked Wire]

On the one hand I want to be there to stroll only one time through the so familiar but fare away set but on the other hand. USA Network couldn’t say more clear that Criminal Intent is over and that there is no chance to renew it again or bring it back in another form like a mini series (4 or 6 or 8 together belonging episodes) or a tv movie.

That’s it. Until now I was happy. Season 10 was so great and Kathryn and Vincent looked so happy to be back, played their two amazing characters fresh and with much joy. I knew it is the end and I was okay with it, but it hurts, yes it hurts to see it black on white.

Worst Friends++ Update

Because we hadn't heard something about Worst Friends in the last couple of weeks and there are also no new articles about Richard Tanne's project, I wrote him an email to ask about the state of the Worst Friends affairs.

Here is his answer:

Hi Antje,

Thank you very much for checking in and for your continued interest in our film. The film is coming along great! Post-production is going smoothly but taking a tad longer than we anticipated. We are holding off on entering film festivals and trying to secure distribution until we are convinced we have the best possible version of the movie. We're very close, but I'm hesitant to give you an ETA because these things are hard to predict.

Thanks again for checking in and I promise to update you as soon as there is anything concrete!

Sincerely,
Richard

In this whole process I also tried to contact the producers of Sunny Side Up. They still ignore my emails. I only hear from Chris of TheReel who had contact to Erica Hampson: Sunny Side Up is just finishing up its post production, and she [Erica Hampson] is not sure what will happen with it yet.

So maybe we'll get an exciting film festival autumn 2011 with a lot of Kathryn movies or maybe a very busy 2012.

P.S. Today the 3 Backyards facebook page claimed their attendance at the Sedona International Film Festival.
When you're in Arizona and have time at May, 24th get your ticket for one of the two screenings. Read more here.

3 Backyards on DVD and more theater screenings

Pre-order the 3 Backyards now on amazon [$24.98]. The DVD will be released on June 28, 2011.

Actors: Edie Falco, Elias Koteas, Embeth Davidtz, Katheryn Erbe
Directors: Eric Mendelsohn
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Number of discs: 1
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Screen Media
DVD Release Date: June 28, 2011
Run Time: 88 minutes


But maybe you’ll get the chance to watch Kathryn in your home town. Check the spring/summer theater list of 3 Backyard’s screenings.

May:

• 17 opening at Riviera Theatre, Three Rivers MI (5/17, 5/19 – 5/21)
• 18 opening at Munson Cinema, Utica NY (5/18 + 5/19)
• 20 Athens Theatre, Deland FL (one night showing)
• 21 opening at Miami Beach Cinematheque, Miami Beach FL (5/21 – 5/24)
• 25 opening at Hamilton Theatre Hamilton NY (5/25 – 5/29 )
• 27 Nantucket Antheneum, Nantucket (one night showing EC)

June:

• 03 opening at Mississippi Film Inst, Jackson MS (6/3 + 6/4, 6/10 + 6/11)
• 20 opening at Proctor’s Theatre, Schenectady NY (6/20 – 6/22)

July:

• 17 Bama Theatre, Tuscaloosa AL (one night showing)

Movie Updates

The Vanishing City

Domestic DVD Sales

All sales are through PayPal [address to come]

"The Vanishing City"
(for orders under 50 dvds)................$49.95

"The Vanishing City"
(for orders of 50 or more dvds).........$44.95 (10% discount)

For more information on dvd sales contact Paul Dames. Business checks accepted too.

"The Vanishing City" also offers Screenings and Q&A:
The directors are available to come to your school (elementary, junior or high school), university, organization or library for a Screening and Q&A.
For more information contact Paul Dames.

For foreign sales contact Peter Guzzardo at Blairwood Entertainment.

Mother’s House

Their facebook page announced the first film festival participation. They will enter the Davis Film Festival in Davis California.

MH got a"yes!" from the first festival we entered. How 'bout that! We're in the 2012 line up. Our 2011 entry got lost. When they found it, we got a personal note from the Festival director inviting us for 2012. Hey, whatever! Should be fun.

3 Backyards

Spring Release Schedule

They are coming to a city near you. Or a city near someone you know.

Statement Necklaces and Sailor Stripes Celebrity Looks of the Week

Plus three more pictures of Kathryn at the Atlantic Theater Company's Annual Spring Gala.

Stylelist.com by Sarah St. Lifer
Posted Mar 11th 2011 at 9:30AM

Donning the same dress she wore to the 2010 Academy Awards Kathryn Erbe walked the red carpet at "Can You Spare A Dime?" presented by Atlantic Theater Company's Annual Spring Gala at in NYC on March 7. The "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" actress added a statement choker with glittering beads.

3 Backyards twittered that Kathryn wanted to join the Friday screening and the q+a with Eric Mendelsohn and Edie Falcon. They also posted a few pictures of the night on their facebook page, but Kathryn wasn't visible. Maybe the Criminal Intent filming on Friday went longer that expected.




Nevertheless, indieWIRE presented the first numbers:

On one screen, Screen Media saw Eric Mendelsohn’s “3 Backyards” take in a decent $11,000. Starring Embeth Davidtz, Edie Falco and Elias Koteas, the film had debuted at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.

There are so many new articles around 3 Backyards. Go to their facebook page for the links or follow them on twitter to be updated. What a success. I'm so happy for the whole team.

3 Backyards in the theaters

Friday will start the airing of 3 Backyards in the NY cinemas.

Go to the IFC Center and get your tickets.

• Fri, Mar 11 at: 10:50 AM, 12:35 PM, 2:20 PM, 4:05 PM, 6:05 PM, 8:10 PM, 10:10 PM
• Sat, Mar 12 at: 12:35 PM, 2:20 PM, 4:05 PM, 6:05 PM, 8:10 PM, 10:10 PM
• Sun, Mar 13 at: 12:35 PM, 2:40 PM, 4:20 PM, 6:05 PM, 8:10 PM, 10:10 PM
• Mon, Mar 14 at: 10:50 AM, 12:35 PM, 2:20 PM, 4:05 PM, 6:05 PM, 8:10 PM, 10:10 PM
• Tue, Mar 15 at: 10:50 AM, 12:35 PM, 2:20 PM, 4:05 PM, 6:05 PM, 8:10 PM, 10:10 PM
• Wed, Mar 16 at: 10:50 AM, 12:35 PM, 2:20 PM, 4:05 PM, 6:05 PM, 8:10 PM, 10:10 PM
• Thu, Mar 17 at: 10:50 AM, 12:35 PM, 2:20 PM, 4:05 PM, 6:05 PM, 8:10 PM, 10:10 PM

3 Backyards got a lot of press in the last couple of days.

Here is one article as example of a lot of more:

3 Backyards: Falco Film Shot Locally Premieres
Posted by Kelly Campbell

• Where: 423 Park Ave, Huntington, NY 11743 (Cinema Arts Centre)
• Date: March 18, 2011
• Time: 7:15pm

Shot partly at John and Judy Ross's Asharoken waterfront home in 2008, the film "3 Backyards" starring Northport native Edie Falco has opened to rave reviews and accolades at film festivals nationwide including Sundance.

In fact, at Sundance, Eric Mendelsohn won the best dramatic director prize for the second time, the first director to do so. His first win was for "Judy Berlin" in 1999 which also starred Falco. (Video interviews with both Falco and Mendelsohn are attached to this article.)

"3 Backyards" is the story of three residents of the same Long Island town over the course of one seemingly perfect autumn day.

Kathryn Erbe, perhaps best known for playing Detective Eames television's on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, also appears in the film.

Mendehlson has gone on the record repeatedly praising Northport and its residents for their generosity, cooperation, good humor and more and said he does not know how he would have made the film without them (us?).

"In general, I am not a big fan of films that require back-stories. I always feel put upon when I know that a film was financed with the sale of the director's internal organs," he said in a release in the film's press kit. "In the case of 3 Backyards, however, it is a sense of indebtedness that compels me to acknowledge the wonderful army of strangers and townspeople who came together in as weird, desperate and ludicrous a manner as any low-budget film that has ever been attempted."

He recounted how, short on funds, they decided to announce our intention to make a film in the town of Northport in the local Pennysaver, and ask for the residents' assistance in doing so.

"The ads stated that we needed everything from production offices, cars and trucks, homes to use as locations, volunteers, actors and extras, right down to a rusty garden shed, nautical-themed knickknacks and a frog in a terrarium," he said.

The first person to call was Artie [Berke], the owner of [Nina's Pizza] on Main Street. He didn't exactly have an office, but if we wanted to use one of his booths "for meetings," we'd be welcome. And so, we had our first production office," Mendelsohn recalled.

Sometimes, he said, the producers made good-natured deals: in exchange for one gentleman's extensive computer and office supplies, we gave him a speaking part in the film.

"More than a few times the offers were generous but absurd. An older man asked if we needed the engine from an outboard motor boat. When we explained it wasn't something required by the script, he yelled "What do I care, I just need someone to fix it!"

But soon the ads became more generous and more serious, he said. "Upscale stores and antique dealers heard about our troubles and began to contribute props and home furnishings. A woman with a thriving medical practice asked if we would like to see some spare offices she had. When we saw the endless warren of rooms, the copier machine, the loading docks and the huge garage space she was offering, we thought she might have mistaken us for a real movie company. Instead, she invited us to stay there rent-free for months. Families opened up their homes to us to do extensive shooting. They smiled and offered plates of dried fruit and Mallomars as we covered their floors in brown paper, shrouded their belongings with plastic drop cloths, and completely ruined their social lives for weeks at a time. An art supply company donated the water colors and brushes that Edie Falco's character uses in the film, a local artist donated the actual artwork she is supposed to be painting, and Edie herself donated her personal car to be used as the location scouting vehicle in pre-production, the prop van during production, and finally as her character's car in the actual movie."

I was lucky enough to have a community —a community noted for its support of the arts — provide them for me. I had no idea when I first placed those ads that what I would be getting back was the involvement of an entire town in the making of a film, a lesson in generosity, and an obligation to repeat that lesson elsewhere in my life."

A local opening night celebration will take place at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington Friday, March 18, with Falco and Mendelsohn.

In Manhattan, the movie will open March 11 at the IFC Center theater.

USA, 2010, 88 min.

Director/Writer: Eric Mendelsohn

Cast: Edie Falco, Elias Koteas, Embeth Davidtz, Kathryn Erbe.

I badly need to read and watch all of these interviews and articles.

• Video-Interview: 3 Backyards Writer-Director Eric Mendelsohn on cinemablend.com
• Short abstract in New York Movies
• Marshall Fine film critic at Huffington Post
• A Director Digs into 3 Backyards at Sundance.org
• O Suburbia, With a Touch of the Cosmic in The New York Times
• Long Island Native Debuts Film at Long Island Pennysaver
• The Suburbs (Continued): An Interview with Eric Mendelsohn in the L Magazine.

3 Backyards Update + Finally the first CI promo clip

In the last couple of days there popped up several 3 Backyards information.

• First, Edie Falco will be joining the screening at IFC Center on 3/11 and 3/12 and doing a q+a with Eric Mendelsohn. She also will be visiting the evening screening on Friday 3/18 at Cinema Arts Centre. I still have no information about Kathryn’s participation.
• Second, there is a short interview with Eric Mendelsohn in the new OUT Magazine.
• Third, 3 Backyards will have a sneak preview screening at the Jacob Burns Film Center on March 3. After the 7:30 pm screening in Pleasantville, NY will be a q+a with Eric Mendelsohn and host Jonathan Demme.
• Last for today, here you can find a short article in the Spring, 2011 issue, PAPERMAG about 3BY. Dennis Dermody calls the movie a "moody, elegant tone poem." Click for a scan of the page.

And here it comes: the first Criminal Intent Season 10 promo clip. I really like the combination of old clips and the new promotion with Kathryn and Vincent. Both are looking amazing and there is it, that chemistry (even in a short look)…

3 Backyards review

by Dustin Putman

Visit his hompage and read even more detailed movie reviews of Kathryn movies.

3,5/4 stars

Directed by Eric Mendelsohn.
Cast: Edie Falco, Elias Koteas, Rachel Resheff, Embeth Davidtz, Kathryn Erbe, Danai Gurira, Pam La Testa, Sandor Tecsy, Wesley Broulik, Peyton List.
2011 – 88 minutes
Rated: Rated R (for sexual content).
Reviewed by Dustin Putman, February 14, 2011.

A trio of strangers living in the same Long Island neighborhood are forced to reevaluate the decisions they've made in their lives over a single sleepy autumn day in "3 Backyards," an exquisitely observed slice-of-life with a genuinely transporting feel for its setting. Written and directed by Eric Mendelsohn (1999's "Judy Berlin"), who won the Directing Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, the film is a stirring minimalist portrait of man's war with his or her own nature and the fences that their suburban lifestyles have placed them behind. As creatures big and small, predatory and harmless, surround the main characters and the fields, forests and underbrush present a curious, ever-changing sense of discovery to the paths they take, "3 Backyards" plays like a mischievously foreboding fairy tale. It's an unsuspectingly normal day like any other, but that doesn't make it less potentially dangerous. Anything can happen.

John (Elias Koteas) and his quietly distraught wife (Kathryn Erbe) are at a crossroads in their marriage, but before they can figure out the next step he must leave for a business trip. When his flight is delayed by a day, he suddenly finds himself free of both responsibility and a specific place to be. As he drifts around his own hometown, unseen by his family and everyday acquaintances, he is given a newfound glimpse at a town he comes to find he doesn't know as well as he thought. For 10-year-old Christina (Rachel Resheff), a stolen bracelet intended as her father's birthday gift to her mom causes her to miss her bus. On her walk to school, she happens upon the deviant source responsible for the rash of dogs who have recently gone missing. Finally, living a few houses down from Christina, is stay-at-home wife and mother Peggy (Edie Falco), who excitedly agrees to drive a movie star (Embeth Davidtz) renting the house across the street to the ferry, then is shattered when her expectations of who this woman really is are not met.

Sumptuously dreamlike and compellingly elusive, "3 Backyards" stands as a cinematic testament to how much can be accomplished with few resources and a heap of artistry and ambition. Shot with the RED Digital Camera on a budget of just $300,000, the film is leisurely and attentive to the small details and moments between people, whether it be a loved one or a complete stranger, that oftentimes make the greatest lasting impact. Simultaneously, writer-director Eric Mendelsohn builds a rhythmic, ever-rising urgency to, respectively, the personal journeys of John, Peggy and Christina—three protagonists set upon a reality shimmering with foreboding undercurrents and mysterious passersby. As the wistful sun peaks through the trees, arachnids spin their webs, felines prowl, caterpillars slink beneath the grass, and bees pollinate the flowers, there arises both the feeling of a routine to the world's order and the possibility, at once thrilling and threatening, of unforeseen curves to one's course. With Michael Nicholas' haunting music score of flutes and harps teasing the viewer to look closer and Kasper Anderson's entrancing cinematography painting its Long Island locale with the texture of a fable and the authenticity of knowing the land and being a longtime resident, the picture takes on the aura of a storybook transplanted into the here and now.

The tri-thread of narratives are fairly straightforward, but their purposes are deliciously ambiguous. Mendelsohn does not spell out his messages or present a biased plot, but observes his characters as they are. What one takes from the film is limitless, based on each individual viewer's perspective and what they bring to it. Peggy is beside herself at the thought of escorting a big-time actor to the ferry, imagining how they might bond on the trip through conversation and shared interests. On the drive, Peggy tosses out info she thinks she'll like, as when she discusses the art house movie theater in town and how she likes a mixture of Hollywood productions and smaller indies, but the actress is respectfully curt. She's got something else on her mind and, really, just wants a ride. Peggy expects more from her, and when she doesn't get it turns to gradual passive-aggressiveness. The portrait of fame as seen from both sides—a housewife awe-struck over a movie star, wanting something from her without knowing what, and a famous person going through a tough time who can't seem to escape the outside expectation of always being "on"—rings with resounding truth. It's not that Peggy or the actress is selfish, but that there's a sort of wall that separates who they are and why they can't completely see eye-to-eye. This is no more evident than when the actress has a brief emotional breakdown and Peggy, astonished over what she's just witnessed, responds by marveling at how "real" she is. Even seeing her as a person and not a screen character, there is an inability to disconnect the two. In a film where each performance is indelible, it is Edie Falco's (2006's "Freedomland") transformative work as Peggy, a woman who can't quite grasp or understand the sorrow inside her, that is especially poignant.

When John's plane is canceled and he finds himself with twenty-four hours to kill, he takes the airport up on a complimentary hotel room, then realizes that no one knows he is still in town. Like an invisible man, he calls his wife and young daughter (Peyton List), eavesdropping on them from outside their home while claiming to be on the flight. Back at the hotel, he has an encounter with a friendly-looking woman in a blue dress (Danai Gurira) trying without success to get a job. He sees her again at a nearby diner, watching as a spectator at the rotten way she is treated by the impatient waitress (Pam La Testa) and manager (Sandor Tecsy) when she arrives for an interview. The woman shares a smile with John, enough to break his heart, and he can't believe it when he spots her nonetheless leaving a tip on the table after having been more or less humiliated. What occurs next is achingly moving and wise in the way it is left open-ended. What stirs in the memory afterwards are the exchanges John and this good-hearted woman have, traded with facial expressions and nods without a single spoken word passed between them. Maybe things would have ended differently had he said something to her, or tried to help. He'll never know, but it does serve as the wake-up call he needs to confront his troubled marriage and make some important decisions for the future.

And then there's Christina—or "Chrissy," as the loving note her mom left in her lunchbox reads—who is plagued with guilt over trying on her jewelry and then not being able to get it off her wrist before she left her house. This feeling of unease only escalates when she realizes she lost the bracelet somewhere along her trek to school and may have to return to the dognapper's—and very possibly pedophile's—yard as she retraces her steps. Looking out during recess over her deceptively idyllic hometown from behind the fence set up around the school grounds, she is at once safe from outside harm and quite aware that no one will be watching out for her during her afternoon walk home. What does occur after school—indeed, what she does in her pursuit of getting back the bracelet—is not at all what is expected, a turn of the screws that suggests Christina is a little wiser and more cunning than we, as viewers, have taken her for. It's safe to say she won't again take what doesn't belong to her.

A tonal poem about the desires, mistakes, serendipitous encounters, and ultimate disappointments that a single day can have in store for any one of us, "3 Backyards" is a motion picture small of means, yet incalculably immense in its exploration of nothing less than the human condition. It stirs and marinates in the mind long after it has ended, growing almost more vivid by memory with the passage of time and recollection. In addition to his mesmerizing eye for setting and symbolism, director Eric Mendelsohn shows that the value of imagery and the impact of simple looks and silences over pages upon pages of non-stop dialogue and bombast is sometimes a vital, invaluable asset. There could be the argument made that the amount of lens flares used might have been lessened, but their contribution in all the more elevating the film's one-of-a-kind illusory qualities should not be discounted. Peggy, John and Christina wake up in their own beds and will go to sleep in them, too, but what they experience in between resembles a vision through the looking glass. It's a life that somehow seems both altered and exactly the same, unforgiving yet miraculous. They recognize it because it's their own.
© 2011 by Dustin Putman

3 Backyards and a new Captain is found

In the end of January I asked the 3 Backyards producer Rocco Caruso about the event on March 11th and if there will be a big red carped with all the cast and crew at IFC Center.

He answered me a few days ago.

Hi Antje-
Yes we are gearing up for the NY release of the film on March 11th. Big Red carpet premieres cost a lot of money so I don't think we'll be doing anything like that. We have invited the cast to join us for the evening screenings on March 11 and 12 to do "Question and Answers" afterwords. I haven't spoken to Ms. Erbe in a few months so I don't know if she will be in town. I will let you know if she will be able to attend.
best,
Rocco

Mh? I hope Kathryn will join the screening. But I think she'll be very busy in the next weeks, when they start filming CI at Monday.

I also caught that facebook q&a.

Is there a DVD release date for the future?

3 Backyards: Look for the DVD to be out in June of this year. Thanks for your interest!


And it’s out now: Jay O. Sanders will be the new Major Case Captain. In my eyes a very good choice. I can't wait to see Kathryn act with two big guys. Also that Bobby's old friend storyline is very plausible with Mr. Sanders. I'm really excited about the new season.

Sources:
Deadline.com
Daringminds.com
SpoilerTV.com
tvsquad.com

3 Backyards release

Three hours ago: 3Backyards twittered:

It's official: 3 Backyards will open 3/11 at NYC's IFC Center http://t.co/sj5UFpu via @AddThis

Discover the IFC Center
The IFC Center, the ultimate entertainment space for New Yorkers seeking out the best in independent film, opened in June 2005 in the historic Waverly theater. After a four-year renovation, the new complex features:

• Five state-of-the-art cinemas with luxurious seating, and High-Def digital and 35mm projection
• New independent foreign, and documentary features
• Weekend Classics – Fridays-Sundays at 11AM
• Waverly Midnights – cult movies Fridays and Saturdays at midnight
• Short Attention Span Cinema – short films screening before every feature
• Posteritati Gallery at IFC Center – exhibitions of vintage movie posters from around the globe
• Organic popcorn with real, natural butter at our concession stand.

I hope there will be a long red carpet at Friday 11th March and Kathryn has time to join the first schedule in a 'normal' theater.

I also want to show you the first article I ever read about 3 Backyards. It was published from TheReel back in November 2008.

Kate Erbe's new film, "Three Backyards"

Award-winning writer/director Eric Mendelsohn has just completed a new film titled “Three Backyards”. Originally titled “Four Backyards”, the film was produced by Mendelsohn’s partner, Rocco Caruso and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” producer Fred Berner. Edie Falco and Eric Mendelsohn are pictured at left. Fred Berner pictured below.

"Four Backyards" is about real people and real circumstances, Mendelsohn said, and described the story as one where "odd occurrences, seemingly trivial," change characters' perspective about who they are. The setting is an anonymous harbor village and the action takes place in the course of one day.

"I tend to write Long Island stories," Mendelsohn, an Old Bethpage NY native, said. "Four Backyards" would portray life in the suburbs in a way not seen in most mainstream movies".

Now titled “Three Backyards” - it is the story of four inhabitants of the same suburban town over the course of one curious autumn day. The film stars Mendelsohn’s good friend, “The Soprano’s” Edie Falco, Elias Koteas and Embeth Davidtz, and Kathryn Erbe.

The low-budget independent film was produced by Mendelsohn’s film production company, Caruso Mendelsohn Films. Mendelsohn teaches Directing at Columbia University School of the Arts Graduate Film Division.

“Three Backyards” was filmed in Northport and Sag Harbor (Long Island, NY) and Queens NY, August through October 2008. Currently in post production, release expected in 2009.

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Kate Erbe appears as “John’s Wife” opposite Elias Koteas and mother to Emily, played by Peyton Roi (pictured below)

Kate’s role -- [JOHN’S WIFE] Late 40’s. She is attractive, slim, long-suffering, and down-to-earth. Though usually able to bear great strain with aplomb, she is at a breaking point in her marriage; she is no longer willing to kowtow to her husband’s brooding silence and has decided to push back to bring things to a head.

3 Backyards release in March

Yesterday untapdtreasure found the trailer to 3 Backyards, here and added it to her unofficially Kathryn YT channel.

I was curious about the next steps of the 3 Backyards film project. They had a busy film festival year 2010. So I wrote an email to the contact of their homepage.

Surprisingly I got a very quick answer.

Hey,

your busy film festival year is over and I asked myself, will The Three Backyards be watch able in all theaters [also German theaters] this year. Do you plan a DVD release of your movie?

Please let me know. I hadn't had a chance watch the movie yet, but would love to.

Best wishes from Berlin
Antje

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Hi Antje-
Thank you for the email.
The film will be released in the U.S in March and will be available shortly after that on DVD.
We have sold the international rights to the film to IFC who'll be releasing the film in Germany - probably not theatrically - just TV and VOD. Once the film is released in America, we will post international updates on our website so keep checking staring in May.

Many thanks.
Rocco Caruso
Producer

Amazing, there will be the US theater release in March and I cross my fingers for any variation of schedule in Germany.

3 Backyards at 37th Film Festival Ghent

The long and busy festival screening time for 3 Backyards ends now. At least there are no more new festival announcements at their official homepage.

There will be three screenings in Belgium.

The first one is today at 22:30.

13/10 at 22:30 in Kinepolis 01
(Still free seats!)

16/10 at 14:30 in Kinepolis 04
(Still free seats!)

20/10 at 22:30 in Kinepolis 10
(Still free seats!)


Ticketprices:

Normal price … € 8,50
Anders Validen … € 7,00
Young people -26 ans … € 7,00
Werkzoekenden … € 7,00
55+ … € 7,00
Knack/FNAC clubkaart … € 7,00
Voucher … € 0,00
eRit … € 0,00
Delhaize Pluskaart … € 7,00
Lerarenkaart … € 7,00

My night in 'The Vanishing City'

Rosier/News
Jen Senko and Fiore Derosa, directors of the new documentary called Vanishing City, pose outside of Katz's Deli on Houston Street.

Ten days are over…what ten days. I don’t know where to start telling you from my New York City trip? But let’s start with the Harlem International Film Festival and the screening of ‘The Vanishing City’ – the New York City documentary Kathryn narrated.

There had been that immense popping up of film screenings in late August and early September. So much little festivals had/will show Kathryn’s projects. I added every new screening in my sidebar (today the screening of 3 Backyards @ Hamptons Film Festival
[Sun, Oct 10, 3:15PM UA East Hampton Theater 5 $20
Mon, Oct 11, 7:00PM UA East Hampton Theater 3 $27]…thanks to Nantz for the finding.)

I lost a little the overview. So I realized just a few days before the start of my New York vacations that two screenings (Harlem + Williamsburg) would be while my 10 days in the city. Because at the WILLiFEST you just could get a day pass, I decided to organize tickets for Harlem. Unfortunately the tickets were available Monday 20th September. But I hit the buy button, knowing that I would meet Susan at Tuesday and she could bring me the print out. [My meeting with Susan…I call it the CI day and will tell you later what happened…there was also a Gary Sinise day…snicker. The vacations were so amazing.]

The whole Thursday my mom and I spent in Prospect Park for geocaching but in the night, we dressed a little nicer and headed off with the subway to Harlem. Driving with the New York subway is another big chapter. Dear, you don`t need a sauna subscription, just stay a few minutes in Fulton/ Nassau-Broadway and then for the ice bath/cooling in one of the MTA trains.

I hoped a tiny bit that Kathryn would join the festival [and I could ask her about the CI news]. Unfortunately she didn`t but Fiore Derosa was there. Now I kick my ass, why not asking about the publish date of the Daily News article…see below. I was Friday in the city and had loved to read it in the newspaper and get my own copy.

The Maysles Institute in 343 Lennox Avenue was a very small independent cinema…just 50 places. There were so many people who wanted to watch the New York City section [beside the screening of The Vanishing City there were three more amazing movies] that they had to open another room and sent the movies via beamer to the other half.

There were a few problems with the technique at the beginning so they had to start the screening five times. I loved the movie about the Picasso from Harlem who drew wonderful pictures at the rolling gates. The movie about the blind man was great too. Both performers were in the screening. Movie number three was a five minute animation…nice, but the other two movies were better and then Kathryn’s movie started. I didn’t get everything but you could feel the annoying about the Bloomberg administration and there tax policy in the theater.

Yes cities changed, Berlin did so much in the last 20 years and I’m angry. I can feel so well that the New York people are worried, too about the changing of their neighborhoods. People who lived 20 or more years in their apartments have to go because the landlord wanted something fancier and then the financial crash destroyed everything and left building lots and lost town houses.

It was amazing to hear Kathryn`s nice voice. First I thought, what just one line and then not more, but in the second half of the movie she is hearable more often. Interesting was that Kathryn was announced in the opening credits, but not in the end titles. But there I could spot Vincent D’Onofrio’s name under special thanks to…

Here you can find the Daily news Article.

…The directors have experienced several sides of New York since each moved here separately from New Jersey in the late 1970s and early '80s. DeRosa has supported himself as a construction worker while pursuing acting and directing in off-Broadway theater; Senko has worked as a presentation artist with financial companies. "The Vanishing City," exec-produced by Oscar-winner Ericka Hampson and narrated by actress Kathryn Erbe ("Law & Order; Criminal Intent"), reflects a love of the entire city and their mutual concern about local government's unspoken policy of what the film terms "luxurification."…

Congratulation to Jen Senko and Fiore Derosa. The Vanishing City won Best feature Documentary at the Williamsburg International Film Festival and Best Short Documentary at the Harlem International Film and was Honorable Mention in The Los Angeles International Film Festival.

It’s a very interesting and informative movie you should try to watch.

The Vanishing City - Screening

Today I got an email and I visited finally the facebook page of The Vanishing City. They have very good news.

Facebook: "The Vanishing City" has been accepted as an Official Selection of the Williamsburg International Film Festival (WILLiFEST) - a film and music festival featuring film screenings, musical events, Q&A’s and panels.

Email: We are psyched to announce that we will be in the Williamsburg Film Festival, taking place Sept. 23 - 26. We have not yet been given an exact screening day / time yet. As soon as we hear, we'll announce it.

In addition there will be an article about the documentation in the Daily News in the next days.

Facebook: Watch for an article about us in the Daily News! Fiore and Jen were interviewed by film critic Joe Neumaier, and there was a photoshoot with Jen, Fiore, Erika Hampson (Oscar winner, and exec producer) and Kathryn Erbe (ex-Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and narrator). Not sure of when it'll appear, but most likely it'll be in the New York Events section.

Email: Also, watch for an article about us in the Daily News. Don't know exactly when that will be either. Fiore and Jen were interviewed by Joe Neumaier and photographs of Jen and Fiore and Erika Hampson (exec producer) and Kathryn Erbe (narrator) were taken for the article just yesterday [07th September]. It will most likely appear in the New York Events section.


I think we'll see the pictures in web [I hope soon] but maybe you're able to buy your own exemplar of the newspaper with the Kathryn pictures and the article.


P.S. I also got an answer from Ghent [3 Backyards Screening].

Dear Antje,

Thank you for your message.
The film will indeed be part of our festival.
At this stage we have no confirmation of talent (director or cast). But we are working on it.
The complete line-up and all screening dates will be available on our website from September 29th onwards.
All the best,

Wim

3 Backyards - Festival Fall

Because I read on Nantz Vinnie Vidi Vici Blog that 3 Backyards will be shown on Woodstock Film Festival. I visited the officially page of this movie again. There I found three more Festival Screenings this fall. Maybe you have the chance to visit one of the screenings.


3 BACKYARDS

by Eric Mendelsohn

SYNOPSIS:
The story of three residents of the same suburban town over the course of one seemingly perfect autumn day. A businessman with marital troubles wanders around his hometown while waiting for a delayed flight. A little girl steals her mother’s jewellery in the morning and finds herself in an unexpected adult realm. A well-meaning housewife offers her neighbour a lift and the trip detours into unsettling territory.

2010. Hdcam. Couleurs. 1,85. Dolby Sr. 88 Minutes.

CREDITS:
Director: Eric Mendelsohn
Producer: Rocco Caruso, Amy Durning, Eric Mendelsohn
Screenwriter: Eric Mendelsohn
Cinematographer: Kasper Tuxen
Editor: Morgan Kasper, Jeffrey K. Miller
Composer: Michael Nicholas

MAIN CAST:
Embeth Davidtz (L’actrice)
Edie Falco (Peggy)
Elias Koteas (John)
Rachel Resheff (Christina)
Wesley Broulik (Big Man)
Kathryn Erbe (La Femme De John)
Danai Gurira (La Femme En Robe Bleue)

• Deauville 36th American Film Festival: 03rd – 12th September

Screenings schedule

Tuesday, 07th September 17:30 at C.I.D.
Wednesday, 08th September 21:00 at Casino

• 15th Milano Film Festival: 10th – 19th September

After switching back and forth many times I couldn’t find the screening dates. Why all these festival pages have no search function? 3 Backyards in Milano

• 11th Woodstock Film Festival: 29th September – 03rd October

Tuesday, 30th September 7:30 PM Upstate Films RHINEBECK
Sauturday, 2nd October 7:00 PM Upstate Films WOODSTOCK

These dates I read on Nantz blog. After torturing google I couldn’t find them for myself.

• 37th Film Festival Ghent: 12th-23rd October