Ross McElwee
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Charleen Swansea, 1932-2018
I read about Charleen Swansea’s death nearly four months after she passed, and it was somewhat of a surprise that the news had taken so long to reach me. After she died in August 2018, I noticed few, if any, attempts at eulogizing her filmic legacy or reevaluating the complexities that made her one of the great documentary subjects. A sort of Southern Renaissance woman, Swansea became a compelling character in the films of Ross McElwee, to whom she was a mentor and former teacher. Starting with Charleen in 1977 and up through Bright Leaves in 2003, she was a […]
by Daniel Christian on Mar 14, 2019 -
Projecting the IFP: IFP Week’s Original Technical Director David Leitner on His Celluloid Nailbiters
I was technical director of the Independent Feature Film Market from 1986 to 1993, and a member of the Independent Feature Film Market Committee from 1989 to 1993. I attended all prior IFP markets too, starting with the first one, a sidebar to the New York Film Festival. Those early IFFMs were a DIY affair, as scrappy, often broke indie filmmakers maneuvered to squeeze every advantage out of this novel new showcase, navigating its opportunities and inventing new ones. Nothing like it had existed before on the American indie scene. Two memories in particular are dear to me. The first […]
by David Leitner on Sep 14, 2018 -
Five Questions with Photographic Memory Director Ross McElwee
When Ross McElwee heeded the call to become a filmmaker in the mid 1970s, he enrolled in M.I.T.’s film program and studied with pioneering cinéma vérité documentarians Richard Leacock and Ed Pincus. Lighter, smaller cameras and advancements in sync-sound made it possible for one man to do what a film crew did not too many years before. McElwee would synthesize the lessons learned and use the new technology to create a distinctive kind of cinema. McElwee’s films are often filed in the “personal documentary” category. Like many labels, personal documentary seems inadequate, if not downright misleading. Yes, his family, friends, […]
by David Licata on Oct 10, 2012 -
CINEKINK 2011: NOTES ON KINK
“We love the filmmakers because without them we’d all just be here drinking.” So noted CineKink Film Festival founder Lisa Vandever after calling for a round of applause at this year’s midtown kickoff at the Taj Lounge, which saw burlesque performances — by Leta Le Noir, Sweet Lorraine and “N — “The ONLY Letter in Burlesque” followed by a small shorts program. With films containing a slick music video/Calvin Klein commercial aesthetic (Roy Raz’s The Lady Is Dead from Israel), to scenes of anatomical pottery (Debi Oulu’s My Erotic Video Art, another flick from Israel — what’s up with the […]
by Lauren Wissot on Mar 7, 2011 -
FILMMAKER FLASHBACK: SUMMER, 1993
Leading up to our 18th birthday, I’ll be revisiting on the blog one issue of Filmmaker a day. Today’s is Summer, 1993. Summer, 1993 is another issue whose content didn’t make it over to WordPress. Our cover story was Alison Maclean’s Crush. Sande Zeig interviewed Sally Potter about her Orlando, which was just reissued by Sony Pictures Classics. John Woo, John Greyson, and Ross McElwee were all in the book along with an article tracking the development status of several beloved cult novels’ film adaptations. We also ran a great how-to by Strand Releasing’s Marcus Hu on guerilla marketing your […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 5, 2010
