We’re very pleased to announce the World Premiere of Matt Porterfield’s new feature film, Putty Hill, at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, February 18th, 2010.

And we’ve launched a new website: puttyhillmovie.com.

In Baltimore, we’ve planned an event to celebrate this great news on Monday, February 1st, at the Charles Theatre, 9PM. The evening will be introduced by Maryland Film Festival Programmer Eric Hatch, and selected clips and behind-the-scenes footage (we can’t show the whole film quite yet!) will be shown by Matt Porterfield, followed by a Q&A. There will be an array of generously donated items as rewards for contributions (books, records, gift certificates, video rentals, posters, more!), and all proceeds will go toward finishing the film and getting it ready for the Berlinale. We’ve also started a Kickstarter page online to help us in this effort. Friends, please spread the word and help bring Putty Hill to a theatre near you.

Putty Hill Teaser from Matt Porterfield on Vimeo.

Directed by Matt Porterfield, edited by Marc Vives. Music: Beach House.

“A film is the relation between two stories. The first one is the film’s plot: the succession of narrative facts more or less dramatic and literary. The second one is the film’s process: the experiences woven between the filmmaker and the people he films, or those with whom he films. Learning to watch film requires recognition of the signs of that other story, which is constituted by the experience rising from the work: more secret and more private, and always more tense and contradictory.”

- Gonzalo de Lucas, re: Pedro Costa

HAMILTON / UNION DOCS from Matt Porterfield on Vimeo.

Scenes were shot on April 26th in and around Raphael Alvarez’ home in Highlandtown on the RED camera. This screening will be part of a panel, hosted by Catherine Batavick and moderated by Kathi Ash, showcasing works-in-progress by three MDFF alum: Matt Porterfield, Ramona Diaz, and Kurt Kolaja. It will take place in the Maryland Film Office panel tent across the street from the Charles Theatre.

We will be holding our next round of auditions for METAL GODS on Saturday, May 2, at the Copycat Building in Baltimore, 11:00AM-4:00PM. The Copycat is located 1511 Guilford Avenue. Auditions will be held on the B-side, 5th Floor. Take the elevator and follow the signs.

For more info email: metalgods2009@gmail.com

All are welcome.

This Saturday:

On April 4th, at 8PM, UnionDocs will be screening a 16mm print of Matthew Porterfield’s debut feature Hamilton.  Richard Brody, editor and writer at the New Yorker and author of Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard, will be present to moderate a post-screening discussion.  Following, Porterfield will provide a preview of his forthcoming feature Metal Gods.  Producer Jordan Mintzer and cinematographer Jeremy Saulnier will also be present.

Hamilton chronicles two summer days in the life of a young family. Lena, 17, and Joe, 20, are two recent and accidental parents residing in a diverse, suburban neighborhood in northeast Baltimore City.  When the picture begins, Lena is looking for Joe. Lena, who lives with Joe’s family, wants to see him before she leaves town for the month of August. He’s rented an apartment from a neighbor and works two jobs, providing her with money, but very little of his time. Through Lena’s search we are introduced to her daughter, her family and friends, her neighborhood, and Joe, her baby’s father.