Authors — Natalia Keogan
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NYC’s Metrograph Theater Highlights Indie Cinema Innovators in Series “The Process: A Tribute to Robert and Irwin Young”
New York’s Metrograph Theater will pay homage to the “unsung” innovators of New York City’s independent film landscape in their repertory series The Process: A Tribute to Robert and Irwin Young. Running from August 12 through 21, the series highlights the directorial work of Robert M. Young as well as a slew of renowned titles that were processed at the now-defunct DuArt Film Laboratories, where his brother Irwin Young acted as owner and chairman until his death earlier this year at the age of 94. Series curator Nellie Killian was originally approached by Caught screenwriter Edward Pomerantz to program that […]
by Natalia Keogan on Aug 12, 2022 -
“It Came Out of Me Almost Fully Born”: Writer/Director Lena Dunham on Her New Feature, Sharp Stick
It’s been 13 years since Lena Dunham emerged: first with 2009’s web series, Delusional Downtown Divas and the feature Creative Nonfiction, then, a year later, with breakthrough Tiny Furniture, an intensely personal, incredibly low-budget film that follows a recent college grad named Aura (Dunham) struggling to find her place in her hometown of New York City post-Oberlin. Supported by a cast of Dunham’s real-life friends and family, Tiny Furniture was a critical success that directly sprouted the quintessential Girls, the HBO series that depicts millennial mania, malaise and, at times, loathsome mediocrity. Five years after Girls’s final season, Dunham’s work is less focused on self-reflection […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 29, 2022 -
“Our Culture…Rarely Celebrates Older Women”: Silas Howard and Naz Riahi on Madelynn Von Ritz is Almost Famous
Filmmakers Silas Howard and Naz Riahi focus on an under-appreciated local musician in their documentary short Madelynn Von Ritz Is Almost Famous, which they co-directed. The titular subject, who performs under the unassuming moniker Lynn Castle, once had a single chart on the U.S. Top 100 in 1967. The psychedelic-twinged song, “Lady Barber,” detailed the exploits of the singer/songwriter’s day job working as a hairdresser for some of Los Angeles’ most celebrated musicians of the era (yes, Jim Morrison among them). Now 83, Von Ritz still has plenty of creative kick left in her, even if the critical recognition for her […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 22, 2022 -
“Our Plan for Financial Security is, We’ll Become Famous Hollywood Filmmakers”: Silas Howard and Harry Dodge on By Hook or by Crook
Silas Howard and Harry Dodge, the intrepid duo that wrote, directed and starred in By Hook or by Crook, still possess a collaborative spark that has outlived their ability to make art together. After their groundbreaking, ultra low-budget queer film premiered at Sundance 20 years ago, Howard immediately enrolled in film school at UCLA; Dodge, on the other hand, found the festival landscape far too overwhelming for his taste and decided to focus on sculpture, video art and writing. While they both followed their respective paths after By Hook or by Crook, they remain very close friends and respected colleagues. […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 19, 2022 -
Art School Hangover: Director Martine Syms on The African Desperate
LA-based digital artist and filmmaker Martine Syms makes her feature debut with The African Desperate, a deeply funny and unflinching survey of the embedded racism within what the artist classifies as “elite spaces.” Syms previously made 2017’s Incense, Sweaters & Ice, a 69-minute art installation that depicts three generations of Black women and the nature of their surveillance. With The African Desperate, Syms vies for a more personal angle by centering her film on Palace (frequent collaborator Diamond Stingily), a Black MFA student who’s finishing her degree at Bard College, where the director received her MFA in 2017. While the […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 14, 2022 -
Film Streams See Change Fundraiser Spotlights Women Documentary Filmmakers
On July 16, the Omaha, Nebraska based non-profit Film Streams is hosting a local celebration for See Change, the organization’s initiative that strives for gender parity in their programming. The fundraiser will spotlight four women documentary filmmakers, featuring a discussion moderated by Film Streams’ artistic director, Dr. Diana Martinez. The four visiting filmmakers are Ramona Díaz (A Thousand Cuts), Grace Lee (American Revolutionary), Yoruba Richen (The New Black) and Lucy Walker (Waste Land). The event will be held at Film Streams’ Dundee Theater, the longest-surviving cinema in Omaha. Film Streams Executive Director Deirdre Haj, who took on the title last […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 13, 2022 -
Watch: Matt Wolf’s 2012 Short I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard
Filmmaker Matt Wolf has made his 2012 documentary short I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard available to watch on Vimeo. The film utilizes archival recordings of Brainard reading his seminal 1970 memoir-poem I Remember, as well as videos and photos from the artist’s childhood and NYC exploits. Brainard’s artistic legacy is expansive and multi-disciplinary, encompassing collages, assemblages, paintings and drawings, among other art forms. He was also a prolific writer, often using hand-drawn comics to accompany his poetry and prose. Brainard died in 1994 of AIDS-related complications. Wolf, who was one of Filmmaker’s 25 New Faces of Film in […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 13, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Jeff Baena’s Spin Me Round
With a cast featuring an array of director Jeff Baena’s frequent collaborators, Spin Me Round is likely to fit right in with the filmmaker’s established quirky canon. The trailer shows Alison Brie (who co-wrote Baena’s previous directorial effort, 2020’s Horse Girl) as a woman who wins a company retreat to a so-called “institute” on the outskirts of Florence, Italy—and eventually falls for the extremely Italian CEO. Of course, this idyllic Mediterranean romance quickly gives way to a web of secrets and illusions. Also starring are Aubrey Plaza (Baena’s wife and collaborator since 2014’s Life After Beth), Alessandro Nivola, Molly Shannon, […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 12, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: A24’s Bodies, Bodies, Bodes
A new trailer has been released for A24’s forthcoming slasher comedy Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, which is set to hit theaters later this summer. Directed by Dutch actor/filmmaker Halina Reijn with a script by playwright Sarah DeLappe (and based off a story by “Cat Person” writer Kristen Roupenian), the film follows a “nihilistic” friend group that decides to play the titular murder-mystery game on a stormy night in one of their lavish mansions. What starts as a drug-fueled party game soon morphs into a real-life witch hunt when one of the friends is viciously murdered. Frantic to find the killer and […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 12, 2022 -
Apply for the Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant
The Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant is now accepting applications. The unrestricted $25,000 cash grant will be offered to a woman, non-binary or trans filmmaker 39 years or older who has not yet helmed a narrative feature. The grant was established by Northwest Film Forum alongside Duplass Brothers Productions in 2020 after Lynn Shelton’s untimely passing. Some of the late, Seattle-based director’s films include We Go Way Back (her 2006 debut feature), Humpday (2009), Laggies (2014) and Sword of Trust (2019). Shelton was inspired to make her first film at age 39 after learning that French auteur Claire […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jul 12, 2022
