Festivals & Events
Festivals & Events
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Rotterdam at 44, Volume #1: State of the Union
What to make of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, now in its 44th year? Here, at a festival known for its wandering and curious ethic, its willingness to parse difficult questions and screen difficult movies, a taking of stock seems to be underway. Diehards, among which I count myself, think of Rotterdam as more vital than ever, a bulwark against the tides that would homogenize and compartmentalize our notions of what moving pictures can do and should be. In other quarters, such as The Hollywood Reporter, for instance, dismay, irrelevance and malaise seems to be the controlling narrative. The festival’s […]
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“The Israeli Public Will Find it Hard to Confront our Misconduct”: Censored Voices | Director Mor Loushy
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? My greatest apprehension centers round the question of how the film will be received by the Israeli public. This is a political film, about disturbing events that took place 46 years ago, during the 6 Days War – things that are not easy to accept, but are still relevant, shocking and painful today. It is a universal film, not just about the 6 Days War, but about war in […]
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“We Didn’t Have the Skill or Experience”: Sembene! | Directors Jason Silverman and Samba Gadjigo
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? When we started making this film, we had relatively small ambitions: we wanted to make a simple biography of a man who I knew and greatly admired. But once we got into the story, we realized that the only way to make this movie was to attempt to match the level of artistic and social commitment and integrity Ousmane Sembene demonstrated in his films. But we knew that we […]
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“Unrealistically High Hopes versus Soul Crushing Fears”: Operation Artic | Director Grethe Bøe-Waal
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? I feel the entire filmmaking process is driven by unrealistically high hopes versus soul crushing fears. Seriously, if you are not terrified, you are not doing it right. There are a million things to fear. For instance, the fear of labouring tirelessly on the script for years and years and never getting it financed. I spent 13 years working to make this film happen. When financed, I fear messing […]
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“As Always, Love Conquers Fear”: Princess | Director Tali Shalom Ezir
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? My biggest fear when making Princess was that I would not be understood, or that I would not be able to communicate my meaning clearly. I think this was actually a manifestation of my fear of being alone. The heroine of Princess is part of a family that has no clear sexual or emotional boundaries. Her reality threatens to destroy her. In order to deal with this, she creates […]
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“Making a Film is All About Balancing your Fears”: Ivy | Director Tolga Karaçelik
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? I can’t name only one fear but can name lots of them, because film making is a long process that changes you slowly in every step. I can say that making a film is all about balancing your fears. In the writing process you have the fear of being true to your first instinct, what made you write this story. In all the writing process, you have to fight […]
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“Dread, Trepidation, Anxiety and Misery”: Meru | Directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Chai: Fear is one of the central themes in Meru. Dread, trepidation, anxiety and misery plague the subjects of the film throughout both 2008 and 2011 climbs; their physical fears of falling, starvation, frostbite or dropping the camera and the more psychological dimensions of fear like failure, risk, and the unknown, often quite literally not being aware of what’s beyond the next pitch. In the film, Jimmy describes the […]
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“We Brought the Fear, He Brought the Loathing”: Best of Enemies | Directors Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? It’s heady air in the worlds of William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal, two esteemed public intellectuals of, mostly, the latter 20th century. Buckley died before we began this film but Gore was alive, if in his declining years. Cantankerous and mean in his prime, he’d commented on his own persona saying, “Beneath my cold exterior, once you break the ice, you find cold water.” Gore not only didn’t […]
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“I’ve Been in Shootouts”: Cartel Land | Director Matt Heineman
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Cartel Land follows two modern-day vigilante groups fighting a shared enemy – the ruthless Mexican drug cartels. When I first heard about the Autodefensas movement in Michoacán, Mexico, and the American paramilitary group Arizona Border Recon, I was immediately drawn to know more about their worlds and their leaders, Dr. Jose Mireles (“El Doctor”) and Tim “Nailer” Foley. It took many months to gain their trust and the access I […]
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“The Director is the Film’s Immune System”: How to Change the World | Director Jerry Rothwell
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Fear is a constant companion when filmmaking, in my experience. I’ve learned to welcome it, as a sign that I‘m pushing my own boundaries a bit, not retreating into the easiest option. The absence of that nagging background anxiety is a sign I may have settled for less than I should have. With How To Change the World the biggest fear was about the narrative: whether the complex story […]
