“With the passing of the years, each neighborhood, each street in a city evokes a memory, a meeting, a regret, a moment of happiness for those who were born there and have lived there. Often the same street is tied up with successive memories, to the extent that the topography of a city becomes your whole life,” said French novelist Patrick Modiano in his 2014 Nobel Prize speech. Modiano was speaking of Paris, the setting of most of his novels, but his words resonate with the work of Norwegian director Joachim Trier—specifically, his loose “Oslo trilogy,” which culminates with the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2022We last covered Exquisite Shorts, the shorts film program launched by Canadian filmmaker Sophy Romvari, when the platform announced that submissions were now open. Now Exquisite Shorts has premiered its first short, as curated by filmmaker Isabel Sandoval (Lingua Franca). From the platform: After several months of research and feedback from other filmmakers, a website was built from scratch and submissions opened for just $5 per film on an independent platform (avoiding FilmFreeway). The first film in the program is Pablo Hernando’s Solar Noise. This selection was made by filmmaker Isabel Sandoval, who was asked to make the inaugural pick for the program. You can […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 1, 2021The Gotham Film & Media Institute, Filmmaker’s parent organization, announced today that poet, playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, civil rights activist, and educator Kathleen Collins will receive the inaugural Icon Tribute posthumously during the 2021 Gotham Awards Ceremony. Her daughter, Nina Lorez Collins, will accept the inaugural Gotham Icon Tribute on behalf of her mother. The Gotham Icon Tribute was conceived by the Gotham Awards Advisory Committee this year on its thirty-first anniversary to serve as an elevated moment during the awards ceremony to call attention to the boldness, artistry, and impact of a filmmaker from a marginalized community whose work […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 10, 2021Jane Campion, whose The Power of the Dog is one of the major fall releases, will receive the Director’s Tribute at the 2021 Gotham Awards, The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced today. The first female director to win a Palme d’Or, for her third feature, The Piano, Campion’s films include Sweetie, An Angel at My Table, The Portrait of a Lady, Holy Smoke, In the Cut and Bright Star. She also co-wrote, co-directed and executive produced the two season television mini-series Top of the Lake. Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute, said in a […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 20, 2021Starting in 2012, the saga of mother/daughter scammers Justina and Ana Belén was low-key Spanish news fodder. Their scheme followed a buy-first, pay-never model, using a variety of excuses to dodge their bills. They came to legal attention when they attempted to dodge a hotel bill in Gijón, Spain, by threatening to accuse the proprietor of sexual harassment; a year later, in 2013, they were again arrested in the same city for racking up thousands of euros in unpaid dinners. In 2017, Argentinian-born artist Amalia Ulman received a photo of the Beléns from her mother, Ale, who still lives in […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 11, 2021Click here to read this year’s edition of the 25 New Faces of Film.
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 11, 2021We profiled writer-director Brad Bischoff back in 2018 as part of that year’s 25 New Faces of Film. At the time, Vadim Rizov described his feature screenplay as “A bleakly funny Before Sunrise for mutually destructive alcoholics, it follows unstable couple Ray and Lisa over one increasingly sodden day and night, roaming through neighborhood streets, bars, open houses and many places they’re increasingly unwelcome.” Three years later, the film is making its world premiere as part of this year’s BendFilm Festival. We’re happy to share the premiere of the film’s trailer, whose visual control grounds performances by Saleh Bakri (The […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 4, 2021Sentient.Art.Film, which describes itself as a “creative distribution initiative,” is in the middle of its second online repertory series, “My Sight is Lined with Visions” (online through January 22 of next year). Now, Sentient.Art.Film has announced the five artists and filmmakers chosen for its inaugural Line of Sight fellowship. From the press release: Unlike the project-based artist development programs that dominate the indie film landscape, the Line of Sight Fellowship provides intergenerational mentorship and community-building discussion space for participants to develop a collective understanding of historical radical filmmaking (particularly the practices of marginalized communities) and shared future imaginaries outside of […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Sep 30, 2021Here’s the first teaser trailer from IFC Films for Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven’s long-awaited “lesbian nun” movie. Verhoeven’s characteristically provocative drama about a 17th-century nun who claimed to experience visions of Jesus premiered at this year’s Cannes (where Blake Williams reviewed it). The movie’s in theaters and on demand on December 3.
by Filmmaker Staff on Sep 24, 2021The Camden International Film Festival announced today the features and shorts comprising its 2021 edition. The festival’s in-person component will take place September 16 – 19 at venues in Camden and Rockland, Maine while an online edition will stream for North American audiences from September 16 – 26. Thirty-seven features and 33 shorts from 30 countries will be presented, with just over half — 52% — directed or co-directed by POC directors. Women directed or co-directed 57% of the titles. Liz Garbus’s National Geographic Documentary Films production Becoming Cousteau will open the festival while Flee, a NEON release that won […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Aug 23, 2021