With Urbanized, filmmaker Gary Hustwit brings his celebrated documentary trilogy to a close. Beginning in the world of typography by exploring a single font in Helvetica, the series gained weight by moving to the world of objects in Objectified and now telescopes miles overhead to examine contemporary urban design. We spoke to Hustwit about what’s changed and what’s stayed the same as he has produced — and distributed — these stylish and intellectually engaging films. Filmmaker: Your previous two design oriented docs have wound up dealing with subjects other than the the explicit ones of their titles. For example, Helvetica […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 9, 2011One of the more sobering and even painful short films of recent years is Bryan Wizemann’s Film Makes Us Happy. In the 12-minute documentary, Wizemann argues with his wife about his obsession with filmmaking, with her challenging him to give up on his dreams in order to focus on his family — including his new baby. Wizemann’s synopsis simply states, “Film Makes Us Happy documents the last fight my wife and I will ever have about making films.” I have no idea the aftermath of that film on Wizemann’s family life, but I am happy to report that the writer/director […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 9, 2011The New York Times series of videos with artists discussing the effects of 9/11 continues with artist and filmmaker Elisabeth Subrin, who discusses her video installation, Lost Tribes and Promised Lands.
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 9, 2011For almost 30 years a passion project of its star, producer and co-screenwriter, Albert Nobbs , directed by Rodrigo Garcia, offers Glenn Close the role of a lifetime. She plays the eponymous heroine, a withdrawn hotel waiter who has concealed her gender in order to live a sheltered, emotionally circumscribed life. Set in turn-of-the-century Dublin, it costars Janet McTeer and Mia Wasikowska, and it is co-written by the Booker Prize-winning novelist John Banville. We asked Garcia five questions about the challenges of directing a cross-dressing period piece. Filmmaker: What was the most important quality for you to express to the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 8, 2011This year in Berlin, seven years after his debut feature, Maria Full of Grace, premiered at Sundance, New York-based writer/director Joshua Marston unveiled his follow-up, The Forgiveness of Blood. Winner of the festival’s Screenplay Award (for Marston and Andamion Murataj’s script), the film sends Marston from the Colombia of Maria to a village in Albania, where local traditions include the protection of family honor through blood feuds. Marston focuses on a teenage boy who is collateral damage in one of these disputes, unable to leave his home for fear of being killed for his father’s dispute. We asked Marston about […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 8, 2011The New York Times is doing a series of videos on artists responding to the decade since 9/11. Here’s filmmaker Laura Poitras, whose documentaries My Country, My Country and The Oath are essential documents of this era.
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 7, 2011I was describing this performance art piece by David Byrne to a friend the other day, but, of course and like everything, it’s on YouTube. It’s from The Kitchen Presents: Two Moon July, a television special produced by the New York performing arts and video center that was my first place of employment. Here, Byrne returns from Los Angeles with a copy of Variety and looks forward to all the upcomings. With Toronto starting this week and the fall festival season in gear, it felt like the right time to post this.
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 6, 2011David Weissman moved to San Francisco in 1976 and has been a fixture of the filmmaking community there, working on films like Crumb and In the Shadow of the Stars before directing his own movie (with Bill Weber), The Cockettes, a documentary chronicle of the legendary Bay Area performance group. With his latest, We Were Here, Weissman again digs into the history of the city, this time capturing the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. The following short conversation was conducted at Sundance before the first screening of his film. We Were Here opens in New York at […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 5, 2011I remember when I was a teenager sitting down with my dad and doing my resume. My father had left a 30-year government job to move into consulting and the corporate sector, and he was sending out a lot of them. I modeled mine after his. There were headings down the left side — a short-term “Goal,” experience, education, and my interests — and all the info was succinct, tabbed, bullet-pointed. It fit on one page. I haven’t done a resume in years. In film, the narrative bio is used more often. Or, an iMDb page suffices. But, after reading […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 3, 2011Macrumors reported today that Apple is now selling again Final Cut Studio, the “old” version of its desktop editing software that was retired upon the launch of its new Final Cut Pro X. The software is not available in stores or even via online sale; customers must call 1-800-MY-APPLE to order the software. As has been reported here and elsewhere, the Final Cut Pro X release has been a controversial one. Although many editors applauded its rethought paradigm and powerful tools, just as many pointed to missing features and declared it not suitable for professional use. Final Cut Pro X […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 2, 2011