Festivals & Events
Festivals & Events
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Leiden International Film Festival Announces New US Indie Competition
The Leiden International Film Festival, the fastest growing film festival in the Netherlands, is today exclusively announcing via Filmmaker the inaugural year of its American Indie Competition, which features an incredibly robust slate of U.S. independent fare from the past 12 months. The lineup includes a number of films from “25 New Faces” alumni including David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station, Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess and Destin Cretton’s Short Term 12. In a press release, the festival stated, “Leiden functioning as a gateway to Europe is fortified by its historical connection with the United States. Before sailing off to the promised land, the […]
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“25 New Faces” Screening Next Wednesday at NYC’s IFC Center
Last year, Filmmaker organized a nationwide tour of “25 New Faces” screenings that included a very enjoyable, sold-out screening at IFC Center in Manhattan. This year, there is another tour (now sponsored by Sony Creative Software and ARRI) and we are very happy to be having another event at IFC Center, which will take place next Wednesday, October 2, at 8pm. Tickets are available here, and I will be there moderating a Q&A with a group of filmmakers who are showing a really excellent slate of shorts that night, while also joining in will be other 2013 alums plus some special guests. (Last year, Blue Valentine director […]
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Critics Notebook: 2013 Urbanworld Film Festival
Among the winners at last weekend’s Urbanworld Film Festival, Yoruba Richen’s The New Black, which took home the competition prize for best documentary, was the standout of the festival’s largest slate in its 17-year history. A probing look in the mirror, it confronts homophobia in the black community and its most important institutions (the church) through the prism of Maryland’s landmark passage of gay marriage during last year’s election. Richen talks to black Marylanders from all walks of life and activists on both sides of the ballot issue, from Conservative clergyman to LGBT volunteers, coaxing incredible candor from most of […]
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NYFF Critics Notebook: Manakamana, What Now? Remind Me, Norte, The End Of History
As the last stop on the fall festival circuit affecting awards season hysteria and odds, the New York Film Festival tends to draw most of its coverage for already-in-discussion main slate titles. This year there were a record 36 films in that section, with the expanded number seemingly designed to include more crowdpleasing filler (Richard Curtis’ About Time) and Hollywood titles that can serve as reliable draws (Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis). That’s not to say the festival’s 51st installment doesn’t still serve as a festival-of-festivals cross-section of notable recent titles of the hard sell type, but more of them than […]
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These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: New York Film Festival I
I have both good and bad news about the New York Film Festival (September 27-October 13). First, the good news: For the most part, the films in this impressive, carefully balanced program are very good. And the bad: The fest has become so expansive that quantity just may overshadow quality. A bright, high-energy, and well-regarded expert in all things cinema, Kent Jones debuts as head of the NYFF. For the first time in its 51 years, the composition of the selection committee has been, wisely, revised. Traditionally it was guided by the fest director, always a professional programmer, but rounded […]
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Seed&Spark’s WestFest: Streaming to Theaters
Both a selective crowdfunding site and curated streaming platform, Seed&Spark has proven itself a unique enclave for filmmakers and viewers since its inception in 2012. From October 1-3, the hybrid will fully realize its “Cinema” component with a three-part film program at The HUB LA. Screening a total of six films from the recently launched Conversation series, the festival calls upon S&S founder Emily Best, Sundance programmer Christine Davila, and Twitch Film editor Ben Umstead to bring their selections to a live format. Filmmaker spoke with Seed&Spark’s director of content, Amanda Trokan, about the unprecedented event, and bridging the gap between online and […]
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Independent Film Week Photo Diary
One of the great things about working with filmmakers is often copious documentation of events. Which is great, because IFP’s 35th annual Independent Film Week went by in a blur for most of us staff. I’ve had a lot of fun digging through our archives and Instagram finding some gems from last week to share with you, to try and convey the incredible and hard-working week that it was. Photos by (in order): Rose Vincelli Gustine; Charlotte McClure (IFP Conference Assistant); Tenzin […]
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Jean-Pierre Jeunet on his 3D Movie, The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
When he was eight, Jean-Pierre Jeunet would marvel at 3D pictures on his View-Master. It was a popular toy where someone could see a sequence of stereoscopic images printed on a cardboard disc inserted into a handheld viewer. “It my first step into cinema,” the director of Amelie fondly recalled, “because I would adjust the frame in the viewer to change the order, and I’d imagine a new kind of film.” Little did Jeunet know that his beloved View-Master would lead to him to direct an entire film in 3D 52 years later. Jeunet was speaking about the pleasures — […]
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San Sebastian Critics Notebook: The Perils of Human Relationships
At almost the midway point of the 61st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, relationships have been high on the agenda in the competitive Official Selection, from the pushmi-pullyu problems of a middle-aged marriage in Le Week-End to an unhinged battle between the sexes in Álex de la Iglesia’s Witching and Bitching (Las Brujas de Zugarramundi) and the neat and sweet triumvirate of friendship that crops up in David Trueba’s Living is Easy with Eyes Closed (Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados). Relationships are also crucial to the festival itself and many others as they fight for films […]
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“What’s Your Story?” Collaborative Media-Making at the Made in NY Media Center’ by IFP
I’ve been really eager to hear more about IFP’s newest venture, the Made in NY Media Center by IFP, which is a collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the NYC Economic Development Corporation and General Assembly (an organization offering immersive classes in web development, media and business management). I was all ears for Thursday’s Filmmaker Conference profile panel where representatives from each of those organizations spoke a little more about the Media Center and what it will offer for NYC-area filmmakers. Opening in two weeks in a beautiful 20,000 square foot ground-floor DUMBO location (22 John Street), the Media Center aims […]
