Festivals & Events
Festivals & Events
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Sundance Announces 2015 U.S. and World Competitions and NEXT Titles
The Sundance Institute today announced its 2015 Competition Titles as well as the 10 titles comprising its NEXT section. In what is always independent film’s biggest announcement of the year, Sundance revealed films that, says Sundance Film Festival Director John Cooper, “take audiences on a wild ride of emotional extremes.” Submissions for 2015 hit a new high, with 4,105 feature films and 8,061 shorts submitted to the Park City, UT event. Said Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam, “Independent artists are embracing diverse forms of storytelling – from feature film to New Frontier to episodic content. In response to their […]
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Birdman, Citizenfour Top the Gotham Independent Film Awards
One of the more enjoyable aspects of the Gotham Independent Film Awards is that there aren’t really any politics involved. The nominees are selected by critics, and the juries are comprised of filmmakers and actors, resulting in your fair share of wild cards, while the rest of awards season continually awards the pre-ordained “frontrunner.” Last year, it was great to see Inside Llewyn Davis take home the top prize, even if it was scarcely nominated elsewhere. Last evening, at Cipriani Wall Street, there were a few surprises, but I’d wager that Julianne Moore and Michael Keaton are going to continue apace all the way […]
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Top 10 Round-Up: John Waters, Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight and Sound
Year end top 10 lists are, for some reason, an inflammatory exercise. There are those who balk at the notion of reducing 365-ish days of output to tiers, others who seem to pride themselves on plucking unreleased titles from obscurity, along with the underlying question of authority — as though a given arrangement must be the chosen one. In any event, I just think they’re fun, and few, year after year, are as pithy as John Waters’ list for Artforum. Unsurprisingly, Maps to the Stars and Nymphomaniac make the cut, but he also gives a shout-out to the more middle of the road charmer Gloria, […]
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Slamdance Announces its 2015 Narrative and Documentary Slates
The initial lineups for the 21st edition of the Slamdance Film Festival are here via Variety‘s Dave McNary. This year’s edition sports 13 world premieres, two North American premieres and three US premieres; their statuses are noted below. For trailers and links to more information as available, turn to Fandor’s David Hudson. NARRATIVE FEATURES PROGRAM Across the Sea. Directors & Screenwriters: Nisan Dağ, Esra Saydam. (Turkey/USA). North American Premiere. Young, beautiful and pregnant, Damla has to confront her first love in a Turkish summer town before she can fully embrace her new life in New York. Cast: Damla Sönmez, Jacob Fishel, Ahmet Rıfat Şungar, Hakan […]
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Filmmakers Launch #BlackoutBlackFriday Day of Activism, Events and Retail Boycott
In the wake of the decision not to prosecute Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler has joined with Selma director and AFFRM founder Ava DuVernay to launch Blackout for Human Rights, “a network committed to ending human rights violations at the hands of public servants.” The group, which includes a number of directors, actors and others, builds on this week’s nationwide protests with events and actions, including today’s #BlackoutBlackFriday. From the group’s Tumblr: About #BlackoutBlackFriday: We ask those who stand with Ferguson, victims of police brutality and us to refrain […]
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2014 “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” Series Announced
IFP, Filmmaker and the Museum of Modern Art are pleased to present this year’s slate for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, the annual series that spotlights films currently without theatrical distribution. Screening at MoMA from December 12 – 15, this year’s five films are Approaching the Elephant, Evaporating Borders, The Mend, L for Leisure, and Uncertain Terms. Past selections include It Felt Like Love, Frownland, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty and Sun Don’t Shine, all of which eventually secured distribution. Read below for a full description of each of this year’s titles. Approaching the Elephant 2014. USA. Directed by Amanda Rose Wilder. Little Falls, NJ, 2007: the new Teddy […]
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The 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations
The nominations are out for the annual Film Independent Spirit Awards bestowed by Film Independent. As the logo above suggests, the Film Independent Spirit Awards will be celebrating their 30th anniversary with this edition. Leading the nominations count is Birdman with six nominations, followed by five apiece for Selma, Boyhood and Nightcrawler. Note the special awards for Inherent Vice and Foxcatcher, both of whose budgets exceed the $20 million cap for regular award eligibility. The awards are announced February 21, and their official site can be found here. BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive producers are not awarded.) […]
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Five Questions for Sam Green About His Live Documentary, The Measure of All Things
The biggest, the smallest, the most, the more-times-than-anyone-else — filmmaker Sam Green has revisited a common childhood fascination, The Guiness Book of World Records, for his latest “live documentary,” The Measure of All Things, receiving its New York premiere at The Kitchen this week. It’s Green’s third work combining film, music and his own on-stage narration — a hybrid film/theater form that’s proved surprisingly popular in performing arts venues around the world. Indeed, when so many filmmakers are trying to figure out a “new model” for their work, Green has turned himself into a touring artist, finding new, less jaded […]
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ITVFest: Is Independent TV More Than a Bridge to Mainstream TV?
In a small Vermont town on the edge of the Green Mountain National Forest, an hour and a half from Albany NY, the Independent Television and Film Festival (ITVFest) holds its annual get together. Taking place in the fall, ITVFest is very similar to a film festival, with screenings, panels and talks given by content producers. But rather than films, it focuses on TV and web entertainment. ITVFest started in L.A. in 2006, then moved to Vermont in 2013. I attended some of the screenings of web productions in a large tent set up for the event, as well as […]
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Resist, Ye Andalusians!: Seville European Film Festival 2014
The local, national and continental share a happy space at Seville European Film Festival (SEFF). Now 11 editions strong, the Andalusian capital’s chief annual film event boasts a range of movies as healthily varied as southern Spain’s autumnal weather: here a morning shower, there a midday sun, here an established auteur, there an unknown debutant. While diversity is the aspiration of many a film festival, the cost is often quality. Now under artistic director José Luis Cienfuegos for three years, though, SEFF has done well to carve out its current position as the festival calendar’s prime place to discover quality […]
