Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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Festival Beat: Doclisboa and CPH:DOX
Doclisboa by Pamela Cohn “I can’t trust my own memories, and neither should the audience.” — filmmaker Naeem Mohaiemen, The Young Man Was trilogy A robust and wide-ranging sidebar program at a festival draws on the conventions of the multivolume novel, or the cantos of a long poem, varied portraits refracting off a narrative throughline. Stories both epic and quotidian dovetail and, as a result, iconoclastic interventions and disruptions atomise historical temporality. What’s left behind when the so-called terrorist no longer identifies, or is identified, as such? Or is dead? Or never existed in the first place? Traces of a progression […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2016 -
Reality, Boxed and “The New China”
Dropkick.sh Our lives are becoming a game of measures and countermeasures, our daily journeys an assortment of micro-decisions as we alternately dispense and protect our most private information. But while some of us may consent to Internet tracking in order to improve our “advertising experience,” none of us wants to be recorded taking a shower or having sex in an Airbnb. Linux and Mac users can download Dropkick.sh, a script that disables the webcams some hosts have installed to keep tabs on their apartment renters. (https://julianoliver.com/output/log_2015-12-18_14-39) Google Cardboard With Oculus Rift slower to take hold in the consumer world and […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2016 -
Killers in Italy and the Forest
Wake Up and Kill A seminal crime movie from one of Italy’s most important and underrated directors of the 1960s, Wake Up and Kill represents a fascinating intersection between the neorealist films that preceded it and the explosion of Italian genre fare to follow. Directly inspired by then-recent headlines, the picture tells the story of Luciano Lutring (Robert Hoffmann), an armed robber known as the “machine gun soloist,” who committed over a hundred heists in Italy and France. In real life, Lutring became a sort of folk hero, but in director Carlo Lizzani’s riff on events that had taken place […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2016 -
Finding The Right Music for Your Film Just Got Personal (Sponsored Post)
Over the years, Musicbed has become a go-to source for licensable tracks for two simple reasons: they carry nothing but great music, and their library is easy to navigate. With new updates out today, Musicbed has capitalized on their strengths and added a few key conveniences that make them the best and most intuitive music licensing service out there right now. For readers of Filmmaker, they’re offering a 20% discount on your first music license. Use the code FM50 at checkout. Here are a few Musicbed features, new and old, that set the site apart: Rapidly Growing Curated Library It’s pretty […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 11, 2016 -
Watch: Quentin Tarantino’s Visual References
Jacob T. Swinney scratches the surface of Quentin Tarantino’s copious visual allusions/steals (depending on how you feel about his work) in this neatly split-screened video. Scenes, characters, costumes and even title cards all have their precedents.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 7, 2016 -
Watch: Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg Talk about Bridge of Spies
Sitting down for an hour-long chat about Bridge of Spies a few months ago, Martin Scorsese noted that he’s already watched the film twice. In the subsequent hour, a lot of ground is covered: sharing memories of growing up during the Cold War, the role of the Coen brothers in the screenwriting process, the movie’s allegorical applicability regarding Guantanamo Bay. There is, of course, mutual admiration: Scorsese’s for this film, Spielberg’s for Raging Bull.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 6, 2016 -
“Too Much Coverage is Exhausting, Especially for the Actors”: Tony Zhou on Ensemble Staging
Tony Zhou’s latest begins with a few stern words from Samuel L. Jackson about his intense dislike for having to repeat his performance over and over for multiple angles of coverage. Given that The Hateful Eight is nothing if not an exercise in ensemble staging, it’s timely that that’s the intro for Zhou’s examination of how this technique works in Bong Joon-ho’s masterful Memories of Murder. Much to chew on here, as ever.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 5, 2016 -
Watch: “The 25 Best Films of 2015: A Video Countdown”
Every year David Ehrlich does a bang-up job editing his personal top 25 into a finely-assembled supercut. This year is no different, regardless of how you feel about his commendably-wide-ranging picks. As he notes: this may contain Phoenix spoilers.
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 7, 2015 -
Sundance Announces U.S. Competition, World Competition and NEXT Slates
Following on the previously announced Midnight slate, Sundance has announced the 65 titles comprising its competition and NEXT slates. More films to be announced soon, but the 65 to sort through here are more than enough to investigate in the meantime. Some quickly noted highlights: Actress documentarian Robert Greene graduates to Sundance with his fourth feature Kate Plays Christine, and two films from recent 25 New Faces, Anna Rose Holmer and Bernardo Britto. U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION As You Are / U.S.A. (Director: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Screenwriters: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Madison Harrison) — As You Are is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 2, 2015 -
Watch: Todd Haynes, Helen Mirren, Robert Redford and Steve Golin at the Gothams
Last night’s Gotham Independent Film Awards were highlighted by a series of tributes to luminaries of the film world. We’ve posted both the intros and acceptance speeches. Let’s start with Robert De Niro’s tribute to Helen Mirren: And the wonderful Helen Mirren, taking De Niro’s lusty testimonial in stride: Next up we have Dan Rather, who quotes Archibald MacLeish (!) while paying tribute to Robert Redford… But not until this part of the ceremony, which includes Redford’s speech, a probing look back at his career. Julianne Moore understandably gushed when introducing Todd Haynes: And Haynes followed up with a speech […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 1, 2015
