Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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IFP Stands with Black Lives Matter
Independent Filmmaker Project, which is Filmmaker‘s publisher, issued yesterday the following statement: IFP stands with Black Lives Matter and we believe Black Lives Matter. As a collective team, we recognize that we can play an even greater role in supporting and amplifying the voices of Black storytellers in film and media arts. We are taking actionable steps towards developing internal leadership, staffing, outreach and programming as part of our commitment. This will be accomplished by strengthening our present partnerships and seeking new partnerships with a focus on collaborations, mentorship and education for Black storytellers. With leadership comes accountability and we […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jun 4, 2020 -
Sentient.Art.Film’s ’90s Asian American Cinema Series “My Sight is Lined with Visions” Continues
Sentient.Art.Film’s series “My Sight is Lined with Visions,” which began on May 29 and continues through June 7, highlights 1990s Asian American independent cinema. As the series continues, the second of two Q&As will take place tonight at 7 EST. From Sentient.Art.Film: Each of the films invites audiences to encounter the diversity, formal experimentation, and personally political tradition of Asian American cinematic visions. My Sight is Lined with Visions will feature a series of live online Q&As with the directors. All programs are accompanied by newly commissioned short essays by a new generation of Asian American writers and curators, with […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jun 3, 2020 -
IFP Announces 26 Projects Selected for 2020 Documentary, Narrative and Episodic Labs
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) announced today twenty-six feature projects and series selected to participate across three labs over the next month: The IFP Filmmaker Labs’ Documentary Lab (currently running through May 22) and Narrative Lab (running June 15 – 19) for feature films by directors currently in post-production on their debut features; and the IFP Episodic Lab (running June 1 – 5), for outstanding series projects in development for TV and digital platforms from breakthrough creators. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, all labs will take place virtually. The IFP Filmmaker Labs support first-time feature filmmakers through the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on May 21, 2020 -
Hot Docs 2020 Festival Trailer Premiere: Anthony Banua-Simon’s Cane Fire
We’ve highlighted the work of nonfiction filmmaker Anthony Banua-Simon before, notably 2018’s compilation documentary short Pure Flix and Chill: The David A.R. White Story. Banua-Simon’s debut feature, Cane Fire, was set to make its world premiere at this year’s Hot Docs, and still will in its online edition. A mixture of personal and archival material, refracted through both personal and national history, informs Cane Fire. From the press kit: The Hawaiian island of Kauai is seen as a paradise of leisure and pristine natural beauty, but these escapist fantasies obscure the colonial displacement, hyper-exploitation of workers, and destructive environmental extraction that have […]
by Filmmaker Staff on May 5, 2020 -
THIS LONG CENTURY Screening 30 Experimental Shorts Online, April 9-30, Including Work From Carlos Reygadas, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and David Lowery
Today through April 30, the website THIS LONG CENTURY, which describes itself as “an ever-evolving collection of personal insights from artists, authors, filmmakers, musicians and cultural icons the world over,” is hosting two programs of experimental short work, with 30 shorts in total. The OUTSIDE program includes Lucile Hadžihalilović’s 2017 De Natura, Carlos Reygadas’s 2011 Este es mi Reino, and Deborah Stratman’s 1997 medium-length From Hetty to Nancy. The equally strong INSIDE program includes Jodie Mack’s 2012 Blanket Statement #1: Home is Where the Heart is, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2018 Blue, Peter Tscherkassky’s legendary 1999 Outer Space and David Lowery’s 2011 Pioneer. Streaming is free, though THIS LONG […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Apr 9, 2020 -
Watch: Agnès Varda’s Rare 2008 Los Angeles Short The Little Story of Gwen from French Brittany
The American Cinematheque has shared a rare 2008 Agnès Varda. A brisk five minutes with lots of nice Los Angeles footage, The Little Story of Gwen from French Brittany gives a biographical sketch of Gwen Deglise, now the American Cinematheque’s head programer. Varda tells her story, with stops along the way to remember Jacques Demy, Chris Marker and Patricia Mazuy’s early LA days.
by Filmmaker Staff on Apr 8, 2020 -
DAFilms, DocAlliance’s Streaming Service for Seven European Nonfiction Festivals, Launches in the US
DAFilms is a VOD platform run by the DocAlliance, which (per their press release) is “a creative partnership between seven of the major European documentary festivals.” Those seven are CPH:DOX, Doclisboa, Millennium Docs Against Gravity FF, DOK Leipzig, FIDMarseille, Ji.hlava IDFF and Visions du Réel. As of March 30, America-based streamers can start streaming for the site for $6.99/month (or $4.99/month with an annual subscription, with individual rental fees for certain titles). While the exact catalogue has yet to be determined, the plan is to showcase some of the best titles from these festivals, both old and new, with future […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Apr 2, 2020 -
Considering Microbudget: Six Filmmakers on The Reasons Behind Their Cinema Povera
During its early years in the mid-1990s, Filmmaker was noteworthy for its coverage of microbudget, or “no budget,” production. In articles by Peter Broderick, we printed the budgets of films like Clerks, El Mariachi and Clean, Shaven, as well as—later in a cover story I wrote—Pi. Microbudget filmmaking has continued as a Filmmaker focus, although the degree to which our articles have focused on budget numbers has varied. To accompany Mike S. Ryan’s article on microbudget productions, we asked several filmmakers whose work has been made in ultra-low-budget conditions to articulate for us their reasons for working in this model […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 17, 2020 -
“I Was Taken by the Capriciousness and Boldness of his Flirtation”: Heidi Ewing | I Carry You With Me
Whether capturing or creating a world, the objects onscreen tell as much of a story as the people within it. Whether sourced or accidental, insert shot or background detail, what prop or piece of set decoration do you find particularly integral to your film? What story does it tell? It’s 1995 in conservative Puebla, Mexico and we’re inside Bar Franco, a clandestine gay watering hole located in an old mansion. Gerardo, a regular, spots a man at the bar (Iván) whom he’s not seen before. He’s intrigued. There is a quick but promising glance between them. But how to be […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 17, 2020 -
“It is An Object That Should Not Belong to that World”: The Mole Agent‘s Maite Alberdi
Whether capturing or creating a world, the objects onscreen tell as much of a story as the people within it. Whether sourced or accidental, insert shot or background detail, what prop or piece of set decoration do you find particularly integral to your film? What story does it tell? In the detective’s office there is a poster of Al Pacino in Scarface on a dollar bill. The detective likes Tony Montana, but Scarface has nothing to do with him, nor with the subject of the documentary, and the mafia is not related to the references of cine noir which The Mole Agent addresses. Therefore, it is […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 4, 2020
