Festivals & Events
Festivals & Events
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Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 2017 Announces Full Lineup
The 14th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has announced the official selections of the 2017 festival, which takes place February 17-26 in Missoula, Montana. The festival will screen over 200 films from 50 nations as well as retrospectives of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Daniel Junge and Montreal-based film collective EyeSteelFilm. In addition to retrospective programs, planned special events include Healing Blue, a multimedia dance/film performance. Longtime partner HBO Documentary Films will present Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens’ new feature Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds on opening night. Closing night will be presented by Big Sky premiere sponsor Showtime Documentary Films. Other films to be screened during the festival include Leah […]
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2016: A Year of 14 Film Festivals
In 2016 I visited a number of festivals that I haven’t visited before, and many for the first time. In a lot of ways this was a year that festivals finally seem to have come to grips with how the industry shifted/imploded following 2008’s global economic recession, which resulted in the slashing of film industry and media budgets. Also, we now have a firmer idea on how internet streaming and video on demand have changed film industry habits and consumer behaviour. (Remember how Amazon and Netflix ate up Sundance in ’16.) Television has also taken its place as an equal […]
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We Can’t Make The Same Mistake Twice: At the RIDM (Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal)
Is it worth developing a taxonomy of film festivals? Would such an order more resemble a food pyramid or a series of loosely overlapping Venn diagrams? At the peak or center of either we can be assured to find prestige world-class festivals à la TIFF or the NYFF. In the 1990s, Montréal had its own to rival and even challenge these, the Montréal World Film Festival. Technically the festival still exists, though as a shell of its former glory following decades of poor programming and mismanagement by the president Serge Losique. As was widely reported in August, this year the […]
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Under the Radar: The 31st Mar del Plata Film Festival
Situated at the windy seaside of the Argentinian port city and resort destination, the Mar del Plata Film Festival is rare in its aversion to trends and commercially driven programming. Selection is motivated not by industry concerns but rather genuine cinephilia, impressively supported by a devout and adventurous local audience. Programmers give generous, enthusiastic introductions, and there’s a vibe of sincerity guiding the proceedings. Taking place in November — springtime in the country — the fest has the luxury of assembling the best films of the year, but it’s hardly an automated “festival of festivals,” featuring plenty of bold, unusual films alongside expected […]
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Do You Need to Premiere at a Major Festival to Qualify your Doc for an Oscar? Roger Ross Williams on the Shortlist Process
One of the most intriguing aspects of this year’s Savannah Film Festival’s Docs to Watch Roundtable, which I wrote about a couple months back, was the lively back-and-forth that occurred when the subject of the Oscar shortlist came up. From all appearances it seems that a documentarian’s chances of making that Holy Grail cut are “predetermined” — i.e., if your film didn’t debut at one of a narrow number of A-list fests, well, forget about it. However, Roger Ross Williams, a member of the Documentary Branch of the AMPAS board of governors, took vigorous issue with that assessment. Which intrigued […]
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Watch Five Great Films this Weekend at our MoMA “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” Series
Filmmaker‘s annual collaboration with the Museum of Modern’s Film Department, the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, series returns this weekend for its 11th edition. Curated by MoMA’s Sophie Cavoulacos the IFP’s Milton Tabbot and Zachary Mandinach, and, from Filmmaker, Vadim Rizov and myself, the series is our pick of five great films that, in this download, streaming, pay per view era, deserve most especially to be seen on the big screen. Each year we think we’re going to struggle to find five films that meet our exacting standards — five pictures that both haven’t gotten distribution […]
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Filming During Malaria Season: Kelly Daniela Norris and T.W. Pittman on Nakom
Nakom is the first ever feature film in the Kusaal language and the first Ghanaian narrative film to have screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. Following the world premiere in Berlin, the film made its U.S. debut at the New Directors/New Films festival in New York. Last month, Nakom was nominated for the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for films budgeted less than $500,000. On the eve of their Berlin premiere, co-directors Kelly Daniela Norris and T.W. (Trav) Pittman said they were most excited to screen in Nakom, the rural village in northern Ghana where they lived for four […]
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Sundance Film Festival 2017 Announces Short Film Lineup
Following the announcement of its competition, NEXT, New Frontier, premieres, midnight, kids, spotlight and special events slates, Sundance rounds out its slate with a list of the shorts to be shown during the festival. Some quick highlights: Come Swim, Kristen Stewart’s first narrative short; Fish Story, the new short by documentary filmmaker Charlie Lyne (Beyond Clueless), who’s also been a contributor to Filmmaker; and a new film from Jim Cummings, winner of last year’s Short Film Grand Jury Prize for Thunder Road. He returns with The Robbery, whose one-line synopsis is unimprovable: “Crystal robs a liquor store—it goes pretty OK.” U.S. NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS American Paradise / […]
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Sundance Announces 2017 Premieres, Midnight, Kids, Spotlight and Special Events Slates
Last week Sundance released its competition, NEXT and New Frontier slates; today, we have the premieres, midnight, kids, spotlight and special events slates. Highlights of what’s below include new films from Miguel Arteta, Andrew Dosunmu, Ry Russo-Young, Luca Guadagnino, Michael Almereyda and Dee Rees, as well the directorial debut of Sicario/Hell or High Water screenwriter Taylor Sheridan. PREMIERES Beatriz at Dinner / U.S.A. (Director: Miguel Arteta, Screenwriter: Mike White) — Beatriz, an immigrant from a poor town in Mexico, has drawn on her innate kindness to build a career as a health practitioner. Doug Strutt is a cutthroat, self-satisfied billionaire. When these […]
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Sundance Film Festival Announces the 2017 New Frontier Slate
On the heels of yesterday’s announcement of the competition and NEXT slates, today Sundance has unveiled its New Frontier slate. Now in its 10th year, the section is devoted primarily to AR, VR and a variety of installations. Highlights from this announcement include new films from Travis Wilkerson and Jem Cohen, a performance by Terence Nash, plus the latest from VR veteran Nonny de la Peña and a new VR project from Rose Troche. FILMS AND PERFORMANCE 18 Black Girls / Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines: $X in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion […]
