Authors — Billy Brennan
-
The Film Society of Lincoln Center Announces Lineup for 13th Edition of Film Comment Selects
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the lineup for the upcoming 13th edition of Film Comment Selects (February 18-28), Film Comment magazine’s eclectic film festival. The roster is hand-picked by the magazine’s editors and contributors from their travels around the international festival circuit. Highlights include 104-year-old Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira’s Gebo and the Shadow, Antonio Campos’s engrossing portrait of a serial killer-in-the-making Simon Killer, Marco Bellocchio’s compelling drama Dormant Beauty starring Isabelle Huppert, Sergei Loznitsa’s gritty World War II drama In the Fog and James Benning’s Stemple Pass, which contemplates the life of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. Exciting new […]
by Billy Brennan on Jan 25, 2013 -
Five Questions with My Brooklyn Director Kelly Anderson
When she graduated from college in 1988, Kelly Anderson (director of My Brooklyn) had her heart set on moving to New York City and immersing herself in the independent documentary world. Working with the Association for Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) provided a great springboard for contacts, but not much in terms of paying the bills. Pairing the practical obligations of a recent NYC transplant with a draw towards the progressive and activist attitudes that permeated neighborhoods like Park Slope at the time, Anderson moved to Brooklyn and immediately embraced the diverse lifestyle of its communities. What would become My […]
by Billy Brennan on Jan 25, 2013 -
Five Questions with Our School Director/Producer Mona Nicoara
The Roma, more commonly known by the derogatory term “Gypsies,” are Europe’s largest and most oppressed ethic minority. Despite being enslaved in some regions into the 19th century, Western literature, art and culture has long masked the ugly truths with the romanticized notion of the Roma as a free-spirited, nomadic people. Unfortunately these people are subjected to much crueler stereotypes in their day-to-day lives: that they are lazy, dirty, diseased and violent, uninterested in education or holding a job. Far from the truth, the Roma hope for betterment and claw desperately to break free from the cycle of poverty and […]
by Billy Brennan on Jan 18, 2013 -
Sundance Institute Artist Services Program Expands Self-Distribution Opportunities
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, announced today that the Institute’s Artist Services program – which provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work –has expanded to include selected films supported by one foundation and five nonprofit organizations. Additionally, these organizations will join with Sundance Institute in continuing to shape the program and the services it offers. The Bertha Foundation, BRITDOC, Cinereach, Film Independent, the Independent Filmmaker Project and the San Francisco Film Society will each select films that they have supported to receive access to best-in-class digital distribution arrangements that […]
by Billy Brennan on Jan 18, 2013 -
Cinereach Announces 2012 Grant Recipients
Cinereach announced today that it has awarded over $500,000 in grants to 22 feature-length film projects that applied for support in 2012. More than 2,000 applications were submitted, from filmmakers based in upwards of 100 countries. The 22 grantees in this round are comprised of twelve non-fiction films, seven fiction films, and three hybrids. The fourteen new grantees range from the early development stages to late post-production. The renewed support went primarily towards the completion of prior grantees’ films, including Cutie and the Boxer, God Loves Uganda and Narco Cultura, which will premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and […]
by Billy Brennan on Jan 16, 2013 -
Sun Don’t Shine Acquired by Factory 25 for World Distribution
Factory 25 announced today that it has acquired world rights to Indiewire’s number one undistributed film of 2012 and SXSW award-winning film Sun Don’t Shine. Written and directed by acclaimed actress/filmmaker Amy Seimetz (Tiny Furniture and Sundance Film Festival 2013 films Upstream Color and Pit Stop), Sun Don’t Shine was nominated for the “Best Film Not Playing” category at IFP’s Gotham Independent Film Awards in 2012 and was produced by Kim Sherman, a member of last year’s edition of “25 New Faces” here at Filmmaker. Sun Don’t Shine follows Crystal (Kate Lyn Sheil) and her boyfriend Leo (Kentucker Audley) on a tense and mysterious road trip […]
by Billy Brennan on Jan 16, 2013 -
SXSW Announces Opening Night & More
Earlier today, SXSW announced their Opening Night lineup. Set on kicking off the fest with a healthy dose of pizzazz, SXSW first night will host the world premiere of the upcoming Steve Carrell/Steve Buscemi comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. In the film, Carrell and Buscemi play former best friends/magic show partners Burt and Anton. When Anton is injured and leaves the act, Burt is left vulnerable to the opportunistic street performer Steve Gray (Jim Carrey). Also starring in the film are James Gandolfini, Olivia Wilde and Alan Arkin. Joining Wonderstone on opening are six films that are a testament to […]
by Billy Brennan on Jan 15, 2013 -
2013 Oscar Nominees Announced
Oscars show host Seth MacFarlane and actress Emma Stone announced the nominees for the 85th annual Academy Awards this morning at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The award show telecast will air on Sunday, February 24 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT on ABC. Not surprisingly following the buzz this year, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is the nomination frontrunner, earning 12 nods including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), Best Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones) and Best Supporting Actress (Sally Field). Life of Pi edged out Zero Dark Thirty […]
by Billy Brennan on Jan 10, 2013 -
Five Questions with Aquí y Allá Director Antonio Méndez Esparza
Aquí y Allá (“Here and There”) is a film about home and separation; of returning to where you left and trying to reintegrate with a life that has, for all intents and purposes, gone on without you. Dreams and opportunities; responsibility and consequence; hope and fear–these are all central not only to the film, but to the day-to-day life of every human being around the world. As such, Aquí y Allá exceeds the admittedly weighty (and very touching) premise of Mexican emigration to the U.S.–and all the tensions and the void that can come of it–to strike a relatable chord regardless of […]
by Billy Brennan on Dec 21, 2012 -
Director Matthew Lillard on Fat Kid Rules the World
Matthew Lillard has been in the movie business for a long time, racking up a sizable resume as an actor in films from SLC Punk and Scream to The Descendants and Trouble with the Curve, but with this , year’s Fat Kid Rules the World, Lillard makes his directorial debut. Fat Kid Rules the World tells the story of Troy Billings, a lonely, overweight teen, and Marcus, the magnetic-yet-troubled local musician/high school dropout as they fight to save each other from their inner demons (depression/attempted suicide and drug addiciton respectively). After a serendipitous offer out of the blue and feeling […]
by Billy Brennan on Oct 25, 2012
