Authors — Scott Macaulay
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” I Love Nothing More Than to Kidnap an Entire Cast and Crew, Dragging Them Off to the Wilderness to Make a Movie”: Five Questions with Your Sister’s Sister Director Lynn Shelton
With Your Sister’s Sister, writer/director Lynn Shelton brings a top-flight cast (Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass and Mike Birbiglia) to an isolated island cabin on Puget Sound for a tale of grief, romance, and sibling rivalry. Duplass plays Jack, still reeling over the death of his brother a year earlier. Iris (Blunt), his best friend and dead brother’s ex, suggests he get his bearings at her father’s cabin, and there he’s unexpectedly confronted by Hannah (DeWitt). Needless to say, things get complicated in this latest from one of independent film’s most compelling new auteurs. Via email we asked her […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 11, 2011 -
Five Questions with Bunohan Director Dain Said
It’s tempting to refer to Dain Said’s Bunohan as the Malaysian director’s debut film, but Said rides to Toronto on the tailwinds of notoriety stemming from the banning of his proper debut, Dukun. That film dealt with black magic and murder — the latter word being one meaning of his latest film’s title. (“Bunohan” also refers to a local village.) A violent tale involving three estranged brothers, the film is set within the worlds of kickboxing, murder-for-hire, and real estate, and it weaves brutal realism with elements of mythological fantasy. We talked to Said about Malaysian cinema, fight scenes and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 10, 2011 -
Five Questions with You’re Next Director Adam Wingard
With his features Home Sick, Pop Skull and A Horrible Way to Die, Adam Wingard is carving out a reputation as one of the most imaginative and visually sophisticated directors working in modern horror. His films are mindful of genre conventions, finding ways to subvert them through unexpected characterizations that have real psychological depth. His latest movie reinvents the home invasion thriller. We spoke to Wingard about blood, style and directing other directors. Filmmaker: Your previous film, A Horrible Way to Die, tweaked the serial killer genre by setting it within the world of addiction and recovery, and exploring those […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 10, 2011 -
Five Questions with Urbanized Director Gary Hustwit
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, 2011 -
Five Questions with Think of Me Director Bryan Wizemann
One 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, 2011 -
ELISABETH SUBRIN ON THE 9/11 DECADE
The 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, 2011 -
Five Questions with Albert Nobbs Director Rodrigo Garcia
For 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, 2011 -
Five Questions with The Forgiveness of Blood Director Joshua Marston
This 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, 2011 -
LAURA POITRAS ON THE 9/11 DECADE
The 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, 2011 -
DAVID BYRNE LOOKS FORWARD TO THE MOVIES
I 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, 2011
