sisters
Shizue
Posted July 19th, 2007 by GretjenDirected by Emiko Tonooka, Edited by Nadine Patterson
Emiko Tonooka, a Nisei American woman, traveled to Japan in 1986 to find her unknown half-sister, Shizue. Through storytelling, photography and carefully choreographed video work, a powerful portrait of family emerges when Tonooka's narrative crosses the chasm of time, culture and continents to bear witness as the two siblings attempt to recover their lost histories.
Emiko Tonooka, a Nisei (second generation) Japanese-American woman, is a former teacher longtime community activist who lives in Philadelphia. After Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1942, Emiko was one of the 110,000 Americans who were forced from their homes into internment camps, where they were incarcerated for the war's duration. Her renowned 1978 video, Emi, documents her effort to reclaim another part of her past as she makes a pilgrimage to the place of her wartime internment -- Manzanar, California.
Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY) [details not found]
The Mommy Track
Posted July 19th, 2007 by GretjenWritten and directed by Donna Dudick, Up and Over Productions
"The Mommy Track" is a comedic drama about three sisters coming together for their mother's funeral. After the will is read, it becomes clear that one of the sisters has been disinherited, and the sisters try to uncover the reason as they deal with the grieving process, uncover hidden truths about one another and handle their respective midlife crisis situations. Dudick stars in the film as Midge, the sister who works as a family law attorney and is so over-burdened that she fantasizes about marrying the local newspaper man and becoming a professional BASE jumper.
Donna Dudick is a filmmaker, wife and mother of three. She attended Temple University ’s graduate program for Acting (Professional Actor's Training Program) in the early 1980’s, after which she earned a J.D. from the California Western Law School in San Diego , and an M. Ed. from Arcadia University in Glenside , PA. Dudick practiced law in the Philadelphia area until 1995. During this time, she maintained her interest in film and theater by exercising her burgeoning skills as a dogmatic armchair critic.
The Mommy Track is the Warrington, PA resident's first film. In 2003, she directed her second feature film, this time shooting parts of it in Bethany, WV, the Poconos, and suburban Philadelphia. THE MIDDLE VOICE is a "noir narrative" about the residents of a fictional, blue-collar town who are threatened with a doctor walk-out in the midst of a looming health care crisis.
Dudick shot and edited 2 short films in 2005: "The Trick," and "Virgilio," a short film about the American haiku poet, NickVirgilio. She also directs the Algonquin Independent Film Festival of Bucks County.
June 26, 2001 - Feature film to be shot in Warrington in July, The Doylestown Patriot
July 18, 2001 - Lights...Camera...Action!, The Doylestown Patriot
February 12, 2003 - The Mommy Track (review), Film Threat Magazine
May 10, 2002 - DeSales University (Center Valley, PA)
June 22, 2002 - Sedgwick Cultural Center's "Digital Divas" women-in-video program (Philadelphia, PA)
October 20, 2002 - Mike Lemon Casting Workshop series (Philadelphia, PA)
