Authors — Nick Dawson
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2013 Gotham Awards to Add Best Actor and Actress Categories
IFP, Filmmaker’s publisher, announced this morning details of this year’s edition of its annual awards show, the Gotham Awards. The 2013 event will take place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on December 2, and will feature a number of changes. The most significant change is the addition of Best Actor and Actress categories, which are now in addition to awards for Breakthrough Actor and Best Ensemble. (The latter award, according to the press release, will now “be presented on occasion as a special award.”) Additionally, the Breakthrough Director award has this year be renamed in honor of Bingham […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 31, 2013 -
Trailer Watch: Hannah Fidell’s A Teacher
Just released is this fine trailer for the debut feature of 2o12 “25 New Face” Hannah Fidell, A Teacher. (It was also produced by another 2012 alum, Kim Sherman, and shot by Andrew Droz Palermo, who was just selected for our 2013 “25 New Faces” list.) I first saw the film in rough cut over a year ago, and I’m excited to see it go out into the world when O’scope release it in September.
by Nick Dawson on Jul 30, 2013 -
TIFF Announces Docs, Midnight and Vanguard Slates
It’s the time for fall festival announcements, and in the last 24 hours TIFF has now unveiled its second wave of programming, including the documentary section, Midnight Madness and Vanguard. A lot of these films have (or will have) played elsewhere, but there are still a number of notable world premieres. Among the doc strand, Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story, a film about the head of the Penthouse empire, seems certain to be entertaining, and Jehane Noujaim’s excellent doc on the Egyptian uprising, The Square, will have its first official screening after playing in rough-cut form at Sundance. (I […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 30, 2013 -
Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips to Open 2013 New York Film Festival
One of the most anticipated awards films of the year, Paul Greengrass’ Somali pirate movie Captain Phillips, was missing from both the Venice and Toronto lineups announced last week, and the reason why is that, as it was just announced today, it is on September 27 to open the 51st New York Film Festival, where it will have its world premiere. Telling the gripping real-life story of the 2009 hijacking of the American vessel Maersk Alabama, Greengrass’ film centers on the actions of container ship’s captain, played by Tom Hanks. (Captain Phillips will be released theatrically by Sony Pictures on […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 29, 2013 -
U.S. Titles Headline Venice 2013 Slate
Toronto unveiled its initial slate a few days ago, and it’s now Venice’s turn to reveal a ridiculously stacked program of auteur cinema for its 2013 edition. Among a very strong Competition lineup, U.S. cinema is strongly represented by John Curran’s outback epic Tracks, James Franco’s Cormac McCarthy adaptation Child of God, Terry Gilliam’s surreal futuristic drama The Zero Theorem, David Gordon Green’s Southern-set drama Joe, Errol Morris’ enticing The Unknown Known: the Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld, Kelly Reichardt’s environmental activist drama Night Moves and Peter Landesman’s JFK assassination drama Parkland. Elsewhere in that section there are also new offerings from Xavier Dolan, Philippe Garrel, Stephen […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 25, 2013 -
The Canyons Star James Deen Tests Google Glass [NSFW]
It’s often been said that the porn industry pioneers practices that independent film later adopts, so it’s not too surprising that adult film star James Deen, who stars opposite Lindsay Lohan next month in Paul Schrader’s The Canyons, has taken part in “The 1st Porn Shot on Google Glass.” (I shouldn’t have to tell you that this video is NSFW.) How soon before indie filmmakers follow suit?
by Nick Dawson on Jul 25, 2013 -
Indie Game: The Movie Filmmakers Announce New Special Edition
Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, directors of Indie Game: The Movie, are not only skilled filmmakers but also very savvy businesspeople. They chose to self-distribute their film rather than sell themselves short by giving it away to a distributor, and did a brilliant job of connecting with their audience and maximizing the potential of their product. (You can read their evolved thinking on self-distribution in a Filmmaker article they penned earlier this year.) Now the pair say they have reached “the end of a life-changing, 3-year odyssey” of Indie Game with the just-announced the release of a Special Edition, which […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 24, 2013 -
Trailer Watch: Lana Wilson and Martha Shane’s After Tiller
Lana Wilson and Martha Shane’s After Tiller is one of my favorite films of the year, a profoundly moving, compassionate portrait of late-term abortion providers. It’s a film that is incredibly difficult to encapsulate in a trailer, so even if the above doesn’t grab you I’d strongly suggest you see it anyway. Subscribers can read my interview with Wilson and Shane from the Summer issue of Filmmaker here.
by Nick Dawson on Jul 24, 2013 -
TIFF Announces Bumper Initial Slate
The first sections of the 2013 slate at the Toronto International Film Festival were announced today, and there’s a lot to dig into here. Just skimming the surface, the major points to note are that the fest will open with Bill Condon’s WikiLeaks movie, The Fifth Estate (starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange), and close with Dan Schechter’s Elmore Leonard adaptation Life of Crime, which I have heard some strong buzz about already. In the Galas section, the standouts are world premieres of awards hopefuls Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and August: Osage Count, but it’s the Special Presentations section […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 23, 2013 -
Do No Harm: Lana Wilson and Martha Shane on After Tiller
While making After Tiller, Lana Wilson and Martha Shane struggled to get support from granting agencies cautious about supporting a film about such a hot-button topic as third-trimester abortion. In response to the pair’s bid for support, one major film grant organization said, “We’re waiting to see where this movie comes down.” Or, in other words, “We can’t support the film unless we support the way you depict this contentious issue.” The genius of After Tiller is that it doesn’t “come down” anywhere. It doesn’t make a case or take sides. At a time when documentaries about major political and […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 18, 2013
