Authors — Nick Dawson
-
“I’ve Just Made Two-Lane Blacktop as a Film about a Filmmaker — It’s the Same Story”: Director Monte Hellman on Road to Nowhere
On the sad occasion of Monte Hellman’s passing, we’re republishing this interview of the director that originally ran here in March, 2011, by Nick Dawson. Focused on his “comeback” film, Road to Nowhere, the interview also deals with Hellman’s career in general, his philosophy towards filmmaking, and mentions a tantalizing unmade project based on Alain Robbe-Grillet’s La Maison de Rendezvous. — Editor There’s little better at restoring one’s faith in cinema then when a great director returns from the wilderness. Terrence Malick was MIA for 20 years between Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, but Monte Hellman’s time […]
by Nick Dawson on Apr 21, 2021 -
“How Could the Film be Interesting if the Director Doesn’t Put Himself or Herself at Risk?”: Agnès Varda, The Beaches Of Agnes
On the sad occasion of Agnes Varda’s passing at the age of 90 today, we’re reposting this spirited and typically inspiring 2009 interview done by Nick Dawson in the lobby of Film Forum when her autobiographical essay film, The Beaches of Agnes, was released here in the States. R.I.P. to one one of the great pioneers of modern cinema. A member of the Nouvelle Vague as well as the Rive Gauche, iconic filmmaker Agnès Varda has built a 50-year career on her refusal to repeat herself or to be pigeon-holed. Born in 1928 of Greek and French parents in Brussels, […]
by Nick Dawson on Mar 29, 2019 -
“Filmmaker Summer Camp:” 25 New Faces Converge at the Tacoma Film Festival
With the Tacoma Film Festival kicking off tonight, Filmmaker former managing editor Nick Dawson writes about what’s become one of its signature events: a screening series organized around our 25 New Faces list, with the majority of each year’s filmmakers in attendance. — Editor Since I first worked at Filmmaker 10 years ago, I have been passionate about the 25 New Faces list, its importance and its ability to transform the career of filmmakers who truly deserve it. The list has also spawned an event that is an antidote to the big festivals — no distractions, no competitive vibe, no […]
by Nick Dawson on Oct 6, 2017 -
Errol Morris on Stephen Hawking and A Brief History of Time (and Yo Yo Ma and Cello Playing)
The pairing of the finest scientific mind of his generation with one of America’s best documentarians and the preeminent composer of his time should, one would think, have made more of a lasting impression on the cinematic landscape. However, 20-odd years after its release, Errol Morris’ 1992 A Brief History of Time – a (liberal) adaptation of Stephen Hawking’s all-time bestseller, with a score by Philip Glass – is a title receiving a much-needed revival thanks to its release on DVD and Blu ray through Criterion. Morris’ movie, which cannily interweaves Hawking’s own compelling history with the astrophysicist’s theories of the […]
by Nick Dawson on Mar 19, 2014 -
Win a Signed Poster and DVD of Jamesy Boy
Jamesy Boy, a gritty crime drama starring newcomer Spencer LoFranco plus Ving Rhames, Mary-Louise Parker and James Woods, comes out today on DVD and Blu-ray. Thanks to the good folks at Phase 4 Films, we have to give away a DVD copy of the movie, plus a poster signed by cast members Taboo (from the Black Eyed Peas) and Ben Rosenfield, Michael Trotter, director Trevor White, writer Lane Shadgett, and James Burns (the real-life Jamesy Boy on whom the film is based). To win, all you have to do is be the first person to email nick AT filmmakermagazine DOT com with the correct answer to the following question: Which film previously […]
by Nick Dawson on Feb 25, 2014 -
Steven Soderbergh Mashes Up the Hitchcock and Gus Van Sant Versions of Psycho
This is kinda brilliant: a mashup by Steven Soderbergh of Hitchcock’s original Psycho and (now rendered in black and white) Gus Van Sant’s shot-for-shot remake from 1998. Soderbergh is retired from feature filmmaking, but his Cinemax miniseries The Knick is coming soon and, well, this is presumably something he just threw together in his spare time to stave off boredom!
by Nick Dawson on Feb 25, 2014 -
Forty Years in Flames
We’re excited to feature this story from our friends at Narratively, a platform devoted to untold human stories. Narratively explores one theme each week and publishes one story a day, and this week is all about “The Movie Life.” In this Narratively video by Emily Kwong, after a barn fire destroys a lifetime of master reels and priceless memories, one documentary filmmaker picks up the pieces of his career’s cruelest plot twist. From the Narratively site, here’s more: Richard Searls is a warrior among documentarians. He has an indent on his forehead from getting bumped with a tripod leg and […]
by Nick Dawson on Feb 25, 2014 -
Exclusively Streaming Here: “25 New Face” Ian Clark’s MMXIII
Filmmaker is delighted to be streaming exclusively Ian Clark’s third feature, MMXIII, on our site until February 27. Clark was one of our “25 New Faces” in 2012, off the back of his gorgeous short Searching for Yellow. A resident of La Grande, Oregon, where he also co-programs the Eastern Oregon Film Festival, Clark beautifully captures, in quiet moments and small details, the essence of small-town life in the Pacific Northwest. Clark previously made the features Pool Room and Country Story, and now with MMXIII has made an expansive third feature that was described as follows on the EOFF website: An experimental self-portrait, […]
by Nick Dawson on Feb 24, 2014 -
Nandan Rao on The Other Men of Dodge City
The following interview took place after 2013 “25 New Face” Nandan Rao had seen for the first time The Other Men of Dodge City, a re-edited version of his own movie The Men of Dodge City cut by fellow 2013 “New Faces” Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson. The film debuts on NoBudge from Wednesday February 19 at 7pm. You can read Ohs and Sisson’s take on the film here. Filmmaker: What was your reaction when Pete and Andrea first got in contact with you? Do you remember what their pitch was in terms of what they wanted to do? Rao: We have a mutual friend who […]
by Nick Dawson on Feb 19, 2014 -
True/False Announces Full 2014 Slate
The True/False Film Fest today announced its full 2014 program, just days after grabbing headlines for its innovative Pay the Artists! program.The festival takes place in Columbia MO, between February 27 and March 2. Among the 43 films unveiled are a number of world premieres, including Robert Greene’s Actress, a portrait of Brandy Burre (best known for The Wire) which seems perfect for the fest’s embrace of the blurring of lines between nonfiction and fiction, and Kitty Green’s Ukraine is Not A Brothel, about the radical feminist nudist group Femen. Also playing for the first time are Amanda Wilder’s film […]
by Nick Dawson on Feb 6, 2014
