May 7, 2008
FINDING KRAFTLAND found another prize when it won the Final Cut Award at the Lake Havasu international Film Festival. The film ran on Sunday, April 6, 2008.
April 22, 2008
FINDING KRAFTLAND won First Prize in the Documentary Film Category at the 13th Annual Twin Rivers Media Festival in Asheville, NC.
April 14, 2008
FINDING KRAFTLAND has hit a sweet spot at the Sweet Auburn International Film Festival in Atlanta GA. The festival celebrates various cultures in motion. The film will screen on Friday, May 9 at 5pm at the Auburn Avenue Library. For more information: www.sweetauburn.bside.com
April 11, 2008
FINDING KRAFTLAND used Google to look up where Tupelo is located because KRAFTLAND has become an Official Selection at the 2008 Tupelo Film Festival. We discovered it is in Mississippi and was the birthplace of Elvis! The festival runs from May 15-17. For more information: www.tupelo.net/filmfest/index
April 7, 2008
Richard and Nicky Kraft were recently interviewed by Josh Armstrong for the Conversational Ball website.
We are very pleased to announce that FINDING KRAFTLAND won Best Documentary at the 2008 Phoenix Film Festival. http://www.phoenixfilmfestival.org/pages/
March 20, 2008
FINDING KRAFTLAND has been nominated for both Best Feature Film and Best Editing (Adam Shell) at the 2008 Sacramento International Film Festival. The film screens on Friday, April 4 at 7pm at the 24th Street Theatre. The awards will be announced April 6, 2008.
FINDING KRAFTLAND will be screening at the 2008 Palm Beach International Film Festival on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 12pm at the Sunrise Cinemas at Mizner Park in Boca Raton, FL. For more details: www.pbifilmfest.org/index.html
KRAFTLAND will be experiencing La Dolce Vita as it unspools as an official selection at the 4th Annual Biografilm Festival - International Celebration of Lives in Bologna, Italy. The festival runs from June 11-15, 2008. This is yet another international stop for KRAFTLAND which has played in Spain, China, Australia, Wales, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Turks & Caicos. For more information: www.biografilm.it/2008/home.php
March 18, 2008
Jason Carney, Festival Director of the Phoenix Film Festival posted a blog regarding KRAFTLAND in which he states:
I'm not going to try to explain to you what the documentary, Finding Kraftland is about, you'll have to check the synopsis on the Phoenix Film Fest site. I'm also not going to write a review, I leave that to the pros like Colin Boyd over at BigPictureRadio.com.
I'll just tell you that I love Finding Kraftland. Why? I can't pinpoint it, but I love it. I don't know if it's the sentimentality of all the great stuff that Richard Kraft has collected, Richard's dynamic personality or the great relationship he has with his son, but this film pulled me right in from the beginning. Watching this film is like a rollercoaster, you have no idea what you're getting into, but it's a zany fun ride. And unlike a roller coaster, it won't make you throw up. It even has a music number smack dab in the middle. Like I said, ZANY.
My advice is to check this one out. Let's be honest, I'm going to tell you to check out all of the films.
KRAFTLAND also received a not-so-glowing review on a blog by Sara Schieron in which she states:
When owning the western world's largest collection of pop-culture relics isn't enough
If you appreciate post-war pop-culture collectibles and you don't mind vanity projects about celebrity agents (featuring their fabulous clientele, of course), then Finding Kraftland will be great fun for you. However, if you're looking for more than a birthday video re-adjusted to feature some sincere family tidbits (stored haphazardly at the end of the film) then you might not like it so much.
Richard Kraft is a fantastically successful composer's agent. More than simply good at his work, he's popular among his clientele, which includes the likes of Danny Elfman, John Ottman and Alan Menken. His success in the field has made it possible for him to indulge every latent desire he's had since childhood. His home is a museum (hence "Kraftland") of post-war consumer memorabilia. TV dinners, vintage boxes of KFC, a people-mover trolley from Disneyland and novelty shampoo bottles line the walls of his home. Tidy as an archive, the density of collectibles in the home is almost overwhelming and I found myself scanning the layout of each room in hopes of finding everyday items like clothing.
Structured around the categories of collectibles in this eBay addict's wet dream, Finding Kraftland is at least well mannered enough to offer us a tour guide. Explaining the racist song printed on the KFC box, and bathing with the novelty shampoos is a pretty, lightweight hostess (Stacey Aswad). With her help Finding Kraftland ends up looking less like a documentary and more like a hollow L.A. morning show. Had the filmmakers chosen to gently restructure the film, presenting the family homage as a frame story as opposed to a touching addendum, perhaps the film would have a clearer sense of purpose. As it stands, we don't even learn the film was made to play at the extravagant birthday party of Richard Kraft and his son Nicky until the last 10 minutes of the film. By that point, you've spent an hour waiting for a purpose and you want something a little more compelling than "it's a birthday movie."
Interesting as a catalogue of one man's collection of pop-culture memorabilia, Finding Kraftland doesn't really stretch to become anything more.
March 15, 2008
FINDING KRAFTLAND left its heart in San Francisco where Richard and Nicky Kraft, Adam Shell and Stacey J. Aswad had the time of their lives at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival followed by a triumphant screening at Pixar. The Pixar folks were beyond amazing. New BFF Adrienne Ranft lead the Pixar gang of genuinely kind, fun and wonderful new buddies. We were treated to an amazing tour of Pixar and got to rattle off a billion geeky questions. For one phenominal day, Kraftland became Pixarland.
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| (For more pictures, visit the Film Festival Gallery) | |
February 26, 2007
FINDING KRAFTLAND got reviewed at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival at http://jasonwatchesmovies.blogspot.com/
February 25, 2007
Oy! Get ready for more hanging chads as KRAFTLAND finds Palm Beach, Florida, home of the butterfly ballot. FINDING KRAFTLAND has been selected for the Palm Beach International Film Festival which takes place April 10 - April 17, 2008. For further information: www.pbifilmfest.org
February 18, 2008
KRAFTLAND and Graceland will find each other at 1pm on Friday, March 28, 2008 at the On Location:Memphis International Film Festival. For further information: www.onlocationmemphis.org
February 6, 2008
KRAFTLAND finds Graceland. FINDING KRAFTLAND has been selected for the Memphis Film Festival March 27-30, 2008. For further information: www.onlocationmemphis.org
KRAFTLAND is has also been selected for the Los Angeles United Film Festival on Sunday, April 20, 2008.
For further information: www.launitedfest.com
FINDING KRAFTLAND was also reviewed by THE EVENING CLASS for the upcoming San Francisco Independent Film Festival.