Authors — Sarah Salovaara
-
Trailer Watch: Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery
Wiseman’s At Berkeley was a favorite of mine last year, and I’m just as eager for his follow-up, a three hour rumination on London’s National Gallery. Here’s our first look at the documentary, en route to TIFF and likely NYFF after its Cannes premiere, which covers the visiting public, the curators, the staff and, of course, the art, with Wiseman’s characteristic brand of watchful analysis. It’s all faintly reminiscent of the Bruegel room conversation in Museum Hours, in the best possible way. Watch above.
by Sarah Salovaara on Aug 8, 2014 -
Watch: Robert Greene on “The Art of Nonfiction”
Last week, Sight & Sound released their poll of the top 50 documentaries of all time, sourced from 340 critics, programmers and filmmakers. The list includes seminal films such as Nanook of the North, Sans Soleil, Man With a Movie Camera, and Salesman, as well as recent, form-pushing works in The Act of Killing and Leviathan. Robert Greene took time out of his impressively hectic schedule to craft a video essay that is a send up to said titles and more, examining documentary for its inimitable, observational approach, and noting that “the art of nonfiction lies in the tension between chaos and structure.” Head over to Sight&Sound to view it.
by Sarah Salovaara on Aug 7, 2014 -
Short Film: Sam Green’s Lot 63, Grave C
Thanks to The Seventh Art for flagging this haunting 2006 short documentary from Sam Green, a belated inquiry into the murder of Meredith Hunter at the 1969 Rolling Stones concert in Altamont. Green’s presentation of the bizarre silence surrounding Hunter’s identity at the time of his death is relayed through archival newspapers, footage from Gimme Shelter, and a tour of his unmarked gravesite in California (a proper headstone was purchased in 2008). Despite its brevity, Lot 63, Grave C is a fascinating look inside the metaphorical end of an era.
by Sarah Salovaara on Aug 6, 2014 -
Not So Fast: A Short Film With G&E Equipment Sourced From Ikea
In his short film Not So Fast, filmmaker David Sandberg managed to achieve a dramatic tunnel effect with no more than a few Ikea products and the free 3D modeling app, Blender. The very embodiment of DIY ethos, Sandberg fashioned a portable light — enclosed in a trashcan — to his dolly — a bit of shelving — and orchestrated the action atop his PVC pipe track. Granted, his battery pack and Black Magic Cinema Camera don’t exactly run cheap, but the homemade equipment used to relay his protagonist’s sleepwalking probably rounded out to no more than $30. Watch Sandberg break down his […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Aug 5, 2014 -
Watch: Richard Linklater’s Perception of Time
Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles Times ran a piece entitled “Kenneth Turan Takes A Critic’s Lonely Stand On Boyhood,” in which the film critic relays his alienation at finding Linklater’s latest short of a masterpiece. The article is less concerned with flushing out his exact grievances with the film, but he does say that he finds the “12 years, one cast,” aspect to be “a bit like a gimmick,” failing to achieve the breadth of Apted’s Up series. In my opinion, the viewing experience of watching the actors age is what makes the film special, overshadowing the more prosaic events in each of Mason Jr.’s 12 years. […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Aug 4, 2014 -
Sexploitation and the Bechdel Test
As a woman/feminist, I put little stock in the Bechdel Test. Yes, it’s a quick means of exposing the macho-centric ways of Hollywood, but the picture grows hazier in independent and experimental film. Kevin B. Lee addressed this in a recent video essay, where he makes the case that Jem Cohen’s Museum Hours contains a richly drawn female character, despite the fact she confides in a gay man and not another woman. In a follow-up of sorts, Lee considers sexploitation films in the context of the Bechdel Test, noting that questionable motives can nonetheless earn a passing grade. While Doris Wishman’s bold melange of genres frequently downplays […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Aug 1, 2014 -
Breaking Down the DIY Visual Effects in A Truncated Story of Infinity
Paul Trillo’s A Truncated Story of Infinity considers the limitless schema of possibilities that unfold over the course of a series of moments. The eight minute film — recently featured on Short of the Week — also boasts some pretty impressive practical effects for a budget of $10,000. I asked Paul to break down the means behind each technique, which he notes may not “the correct way” to render an effect, even if they look pretty fine to me. Hall of Mirrors at :00 “Our ‘mirror’ was just a framed piece of green on a wall. We did a simple dolly into the green so it […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jul 31, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar
Fresh from Comic-Con is a new trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, which appears to be sitting out on the fall festival circuit. The circumstances aren’t exactly discernible from the footage, but Matthew McConaughey is summoned away from his simple Texas life and family to take to the solar system, for a long enough duration that his pre-pubescent daughter turns into Jessica Chastain while he’s away. The dialogue and thematic tendencies point towards the topical, diminishing sources of life on earth as a possible cause for his intergalactic adventure, and the visual effects look to be on point. The film is set to open from Warner Brothers […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jul 30, 2014 -
Kevin Smith, Joshua Oppenheimer and Other Additions to 2014 TIFF Lineup
Following the announcement of its Special Presentation and Gala selections last week, this morning TIFF released the Documentaries, Masters, Midnight Madness and Vanguard programs for the upcoming festival. That just leaves Mavericks, Discovery, Wavelengths, Contemporary World and several others to go. 17 world premieres have been added, along with Cannes (Godard, Sissako, Zvyagintsev, Polsky, Wiseman, Mitchell) and Venice (Andersson, Oppenheimer, Hong Sang-soo) holdovers. You’ll note that the ‘Canadian Premiere’ asterisk likely indicates a Telluride bow. Artistic Director Cameron Bailey spoke to the LA Times about the new ruling on premiere statuses, as a result of the immediate media narratives that take shape on Twitter moments after credits […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jul 29, 2014 -
Kickstart Ian Clark’s Extraterrestrial Sci-Fi A Morning Light
Earlier this year, we released an exclusive stream to former “25 New Face” Ian Clark’s MMXIII, which functioned as an experimental self-portrait, partially related through Clark’s Oregon environs. From the celestial-driven imagery of said film, Clark devised a sci-fi alien abduction follow-up, A Morning Light, that’s now sourcing funds on Kickstarter. Produced by fellow 25 New Faces Jim Cummings and Ben Wiessner of ornana, and starring filmmakers Zach Weintraub and Celia Rowlson-Hall, the film looks at a pair of estranged exes who experience inexplicable phenomena. For those interested in lush and aesthetic low-budget genre, it’s not a bad bet. Below, copied from […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jul 28, 2014
