White Stag Sign, Old Town Disrict, Portland

Well, we got some more great news for “We Need Rent Money” and its

cast and crew.

We won another film festival!

But this one is special because it’s:

Right here in our own neighborhood;

Right here where we filmed our movie;

Right here where we’re having our Oregon premiere of “We Need Rent Money;”

Yes, we’re going to have one helluva great premiere;

Yes, we’re also having a fabulous Cast and Crew Reunion Party;

Yes, there gonna be sparkling champagne;

Yes, those tiny bubbles gonna tickle your noses;

Yes, we’ll be drinking our champagne out of those long stem, narrow bowl, clear glass flutes;

Yes, we’ll eat tasty hors d’oeuvres which will melt in your mouths;

Yes, we’ll have trays of canapés;

Yes. we’ll have glazed figs topped with mascarpone and wrapped in prosciutto;

Yes, the canapés will be on small toasted bread topped with deviled eggs;

Yes, we loved the email Oregon Independent Film Festival (OIFF) sent us:

CONGRATULATIONS! 

Your Submission to the Oregon Independent Film Festival has been accepted.

Oregon Independent Film Fest is honored to showcase your work at our 2022 event.

Films to be screened at upcoming portions of our multi-city festival in Eugene & Portland, Oregon.

MAIN SCREENING &  EVENT DATES:

Oct 26 – 27, & 29 in Eugene, Oregon at the Broadway Metro & Bijou Cinemas in Downtown Eugene & Oct 28 in Portland, Oregon 

So of course we responded, “Hell yes, we’ll be there with “bells on.” (reference to those brave folks who rode on the Oregon Trail)

So for you guys who are interested, here’s what OIFF is all about:

The 12th Annual Oregon Independent Film Festival© returns
in 2022 to showcase the best independent cinema of the year in our magnificent state of Oregon.

Dedicated to discovering the greatest new filmmakers, the Oregon Independent Film Festival searches the globe to find the most innovative and engaging movies of the year, to screen the best new work, alongside Hollywood premieres, together in the legendary cinema houses of the pacific northwest, as part of our mission to promote the majestic state of Oregon as a global film tourism destination

Well, we’re inviting all of our readers to hook up their horses or mules or oxen to their Conestoga wagons, join a wagon train, head west on the Oregon Trail and join us to see a great film, participate in a excellent film festival, drink champagne, eat hors d’oeuvres and have one helluva great time.

See ya in Oregon.

Good news, our second win in India.

This time the Jaisalmer International Film Festival(JIFF) declared “We Need Rent Money” an award winner.

Here’s what they said:

Dear Blake,

Congratulations!
We are so excited  to notify you that your project We Need Rent Money (WNRM) has become a WINNER in the 10th season of Jaisalmer International Film Festival ( JIFF ).

The public announcement of the full winners’ list is about to be released on our website (https://oaiff.com/results/) and social networks. Please stay tuned!

We will shortly provide you with more details and will email your respective laurel and certificate. 

Thank you once again for your valuable participation and contribution to our film festival by sharing your brilliant amazing work. 
 
Thank you for all. We’ll stay in touch.
All the best!

Best Regards,

Anwesha Sarkar

Jaisalmer International Film Festival(JIFF)

JIFF is in its tenth year.

And it’s a certified international live screening film festival.

So if your in Rajasthan try to watch the movie at the theater.

Well, our film’s karma must be real good because this makes 8 wins.

But, we’re not surprised.

Since we made the movie with good intent and good deeds, we kinda expected good karma.

And we surely got it.

So the WNRM team would like to leave you with some karmic words of wisdom:

“What goes around comes around”.

A pretty good rule to follow.

I watched as the narcissist waved to his crowd of supporters at one of his Midwestern rallies.

I crinkled my eyes, furrowed my brow and thought, “I know, I’ve seen that modified version of a wave or was it a salute before.”

Yes, it was in those 1930’s British Pathé newsreels of Adolf greeting his admirers.

“Hitler bent his right arm at a 90º angle with his elbow facing forward, towards those he greeted and at shoulder height with the face of his palm parallel with the sky.”

His admirers returned Adolf’s modified salute with the full blown Nazi salute.

They greeted him with a Heil, mein Führer! (‘Hail, my leader!)  or a Sieg Heil (‘Hail victory!’) or a “Heil Hitler.”

I can still hear their black leather heels clicking together right before the salute and the greeting.

Hitler’s followers, his cult, performed their responsive salute by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened hand.

Yes, you’ve seen that salute a thousand times.

Yes, you saw it in almost every movie Hollywood ever made about the Nazis.

And now the narcissist was slyly copying a modified Hitler salute.

I wondered, “Had he practiced that salute in front of a mirror?”

Of course, I knew the narcissist had.

And I waited for the news reporter to mention the wave or the salute.

And to my surprise, the reporter never mentioned it.

“Had my eyes played a trick on me?”

So I hit the rewind button on my clicker and watched it again.

Nope, no trick, he had done it.

It was as clear as day.

“And I bet all those folks holding up those “Q” signs saw him do it.”

They watched him like a hawk.

They studied all his words, his gestures and his mannerisms for messages.

And boy, did he give them one.

Herr mini Führer actions spoke loudly and clearly.

They said, “It’s now okay to salute me at rallies.”

He had gifted them dog whistle.

The narcissist  had given his stamp of approval to hailing him.

Yes, the fascist who kept a black leather bound copy of “Mein Kampf “in his nightstand was now stealing Hitler’s Nazi salute.

“How original,” I thought.

“What an f’ing surprise!”

So when I turned on the news a few days later, and watched one of his Ohio rallies.

And I saw a hundred or so of his anti-Semitic, QAnon, MAGA followers greeting him the “Hail Trump” salute.

Yes, it was a hybrid.

Yes, the salute had a slight deviation.

Yes, these clowns pointed their right hand index finger toward their leader when saluting.

Yes, Trump had gotten his message across to his minions; they were running with it.

I wondered, “Would the Republicans pooh pooh the salute, saying that right index finger in the air made all the difference.”

Didn’t they poohpooh his anti-Semitic tropes on his campaign literature, the “sheriff badge,” his praise of Henry Ford, “Good bloodlines,” his dual loyalty rants, his greedy Jews crap, his Charlottesville quote, “There are very fine people on both sides,” and his Jews and money quotes.

And the list goes on and on and on.

Then I thought, “They couldn’t be that stupid,”

But I’ve been wrong many times before.

And from now on, I knew that at everyone of his rallies, we would see that Nazi hybrid salute.

It would be normalized.

It would become part of his dog and pony show.

It would become as American as apple pie—a proudly displayed symbol in Trump world.

And I wondered, “When we see all 20,000 attendees at his rallies saluting him in unison and chanting Sieg Heil.

So don’t try to tell me you didn’t see it coming.

You can’t be as blind as that reporter.

That hybrid Nazi salute at Trump rallies was as predictable as the numbers tattooed on my arm.

Thumbs up.—Marcy