Authors — Nick Dawson
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Sundance Announces Next Weekend, New L.A.-based Mini Festival
Today the Sundance Institute announced the full program for Next Weekend, the L.A.-based mini festival spun off from Sundance’s NEXT strand, which spotlights emerging filmmakers. Running August 8 – 11 at the Sundance Sunset Cinemas and other venues throughout the city, Next Weekend’s lineup is mostly culled from the Park City program, but there are also new additions from Tribeca (Stand Clear of the Closing Doors) and SXSW (12 O’Clock Boys). There are also a couple of world premieres: Madeline Olnek’s The Foxy Merkins and Chadd Harbold’s How to be a Man, the directors’ followups to Codependent Lesbian Space Alien […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 16, 2013 -
Dustin Guy Defa’s Declaration of War
I was on brief hiatus after finishing Filmmaker‘s Summer issue on July 3, so I missed Dustin Defa’s inspired new short Declaration of War when it debuted on VICE’s website this Independence Day. More than a week on, though, it’s still timely and relevant — and no doubt will continue to be for a long time after. Below, from a short interview on VICE, Defa talks about the context surrounding his seven-minute film: The edit highlights tons of playful claps, private looks, and secret conversations happening among the dignitaries during what’s supposed to be a serious public address. What’s your […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 12, 2013 -
Sundance Institute Announces 29 Documentary Grant Recipients
Yesterday, the Sundance Institute announced the 29 documentary projects that have been selected to receive in total $550,000 worth of grant money from its Documentary Film Program and Fund. A lot of these are for projects in development by emerging filmmakers, but in there are also some films by more established names such as Jesse Moss (Full Battle Rattle), Lucia Small and Ed Pincus (The Axe in the Attic) and Ashley Sabin and David Redmon, who received audience engagement money for their 2011 doc Girl Model. In a press release, Cara Mertes, the Director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program […]
by Nick Dawson on Jul 12, 2013 -
Trailer Watch: Spike Lee’s Old Boy
So here’s the red band trailer for Spike Lee’s remake of Old Boy, which gives a good insight into the film without being that pushing its red-band status to the extreme. As a fan of Park Chan-wook’s original, I’m not sure this movie is for me — Josh Brolin is a less compelling lead, and as far as I can tell there are few or no discernible deviations from the plot of the 2003 movie. (And that plummy English villain?!) But I’m willing to be convinced otherwise.
by Nick Dawson on Jul 10, 2013 -
Now Online: 25 New Face Ian Clark’s Searching for Yellow
Today Ian Clark posted to Vimeo his wonderful (longish) short Searching for Yellow, which last year got Clark selected for our “25 New Faces” list. We’re working on the 2013 list right now, but this film is still very strong in my memory, a lyrical, poignant piece of filmmaking that features Clark’s gorgeous cinematography. Here’s what I wrote about Searching for Yellow last year in my profile of Clark for the 25: Clark’s gift for image-making is most fully demonstrated in his latest work, the 25-minute short Searching for Yellow. Looking for a modern-day equivalent of the romantic notion of […]
by Nick Dawson on Jun 21, 2013 -
Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall on Call Me Kuchu
In 2009, a bill was proposed in the Ugandan parliament that would outlaw homosexuality, making the offense punishable by death. In response, the newspaper The Rolling Stone began outing members of the LGBT community with the headline “Hang Them.” The LGBT activist David Kato, the first openly gay man in the rapidly anti-gay nation of Uganda, took the publication to court to prevent them from further printing the names and pictures of gay people — and won. Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worral’s remarkable documentary Call Me Kuchu chronicles the brave battles of Kato and his comrades, as they very publicly seek to protect […]
by Nick Dawson on Jun 14, 2013 -
2013 IFP Narrative Lab Projects Unveiled
Today the 2013 IFP Narrative Labs got under way, and the participants in this year’s program have just been announced. All are the films selected are debut features first-time directors and have budgets under $1 million, and the teams behind each project are provided with an immersive mentorship experience that helps them navigate from post-production through to the festival circuit and distribution. Among the films selected for the 2013 Labs include two by former alumni of Filmmaker‘s “25 New Faces”: Gary Huggins, director of Kick Me, appeared on the list in 2006, and Paul Harrill (Something, Anything) featured in in 2001. Other notable participants include Aron […]
by Nick Dawson on Jun 10, 2013 -
Five Questions with I Send You This Place Directors Peter Ohs and Andrea Sisson
The following interview was conducted earlier in the year to coincide with the New York festival premiere of I Send You This Place. It is republished here to mark the start of the film’s theatrical release at the reRun Theater today. The debut film from husband and wife team Peter Ohs and Andrea Sisson (also known collectively as Lauren Edward, a composite of their middle names), I Send You This Place is a very unconventional documentary which tackles themes of mental health, creativity and the natural world through the prism of the couple’s trip to Iceland. Gorgeously shot and made […]
by Nick Dawson on Jun 7, 2013 -
Fitzcardboardaldo
I must admit I wasn’t previously aware of Robin Frohardt’s work, but her ingenious re-envisioning of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo in cardboard certainly has piqued my interest. From her website, it seems that previously she has operated as an artist and puppeteer, but on the basis of Fitzcardboardaldo I certainly hope she makes more films. Oh, and — of course! — there’s also a “making of” doc featuring a cardboard rendering of Herzog, Corrugation of Dreams, which you can view here.
by Nick Dawson on Jun 6, 2013 -
Trailer Watch: AJ Schnack’s Caucus
Though We Always Lie to Strangers — his excellent, SXSW award-winning portrait of the music town of Branson, Missouri co-directed with David Wilson — only hit the fest circuit a few months ago, AJ Schnack already has another film playing the circuit. Caucus, which world premiered at HotDocs just over a month ago, depicts a full field of Republican hopefuls jockeying for early position in the 2012 presidential race as they descend on Iowa, aiming for supremacy in the bellwether state’s inaugural primary. The film doesn’t have distribution as yet, but look out for it at a film festival near you.
by Nick Dawson on Jun 4, 2013
