Sundance always drops an announcement or two following their initial burst in early December, and today the Sundance Institute has done just that, releasing the titles of films and programs that cross the festival’s various programming categories. Honestly, when the first list came out without Tamara Jenkins’s latest, Private Life, I was expecting to see it slide into the schedule at a later date, which it has done today. The Slums of Beverly Hills/The Savages director’s new film stars Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti in a tale of a couple exploring assisted reproduction and domestic adoption as they try to […]

Here are my favorite film experiences of the year: 10. Loving Vincent (2017; dir. Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman; Lincoln Plaza Cinema) 9. The Red Turtle (2016; dir. Michaël Dudok de Wit; Lincoln Plaza Cinema) 8. Metropolis (1927; dir. Fritz Lang; Marble Collegiate Church) 7. La Belle et la Bête (1946; dir. Jean Cocteau; Tribeca Film Festival at Town Hall) 6. The Last Animals (2017; dir. Kate Brooks; Tribeca Film Festival at Cinépolis Chelsea) 5. City Lights (1931; dir. Charlie Chaplin; United Palace) 4. Harmony of Difference (2017; dir. Kamasi Washington; Whitney Biennial) 3. Romeo + Juliet (1996; dir. Baz Luhrmann; Little Cinema at House of Yes) 2. Imponderable (2015-16; […]

Discussing the Other, race, and privilege in documentaries is no straightforward task. Who can tell whose story to whom using whose story-telling techniques have been questions since before 1922’s Nanook of the North, and when we toss in why, and whose paying for it, it doesn’t get simpler. At a panel on perspective and point of view in storytelling at DOC NYC PRO, filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña deftly moderated as five award-winning filmmakers who present as non-white grappled with some of the issues around representation, the white gaze, and what we as individuals can do to support each other, act authentically […]

Slamdance’s Beyond category — for emerging filmmakers working beyond their first features — was announced yesterday along with its two shorts competitions, with five world premieres gracing the first category. The 2018 Slamdance Film Festival runs January 19-25 in Park City, Utah. Check out the announcement below. BEYOND PROGRAM Back at the Staircase (USA) World Premiere Director: Drew Britton Five distinctive people, each with a flimsy coping strategy, find themselves stuck together after an accident. Cast: Jennifer Lafleur, Stephen Plunkett, Leonora Pitts, Mickey O’Hagan, Logan Lark, Heather LaVine Funny Story (USA) World Premiere Director: Michael Gallagher After years of being […]

Sundance’s technology-focused New Frontier section spreads out to three venues this year as its lineup incorporates film, live performance, VR and mixed reality, and even AI. Of the latter, in Frankenstein AI: A Monster Made by Many, audiences “interact with” artificial intelligence to create a shared narrative, and in TendAR AI mixes with biometrics and facial recognition to humorously ponder the social issues surrounding this new tech. Regarding the venues and the program, from the press release: The New Frontier Exhibition at Kimball Art Center will host immersive dance and cutting edge VR & MR works as well as works […]

Following on last week’s announcement of its feature slate for the 2018 edition, the Sundance Film Festival has announced the selections for its indie episodic, shorts and special events selections. In that middle category Filmmaker readers will spot two of this year’s 25 New Faces of film, Robin Comisar and Alexa Lim Haas. INDIE EPISODIC America To Me / U.S.A. (Director: Steve James, Segment Directors: Bing Liu, Rebecca Parrish, Kevin Shaw) — This limited series captures a year-long look at one of Chicago’s most progressive and diverse public schools, located in suburban Oak Park. Unprecedented in scope, the series is both […]

At the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, the tenebrous artistry of medieval Czech architecture was a fitting backdrop for a program of creatively-rendered non-fiction films, many engaging bleak contemporary realities. Set in the historic (and very walkable) downtown of the 50,000-person city of Jihlava, an hour-and-a-half drive from Prague, the 21st edition of the fest had an exciting mix of experimental films, single-director retrospectives, provocative television docs, international festival fodder and engaging forum discussions. Rising white supremacy and conservatism as well as European perspectives on Middle Eastern conflicts were recurring themes. Passes were affordable and theaters were packed with locals […]

Though it’s been half a decade since I’ve covered Amsterdam’s International Documentary Film Festival, this year’s 30th edition was a welcome reminder as to why IDFA is often heralded as the crème de la crème of doc fests. First there’s its sheer size and scope — this year, a whopping 319 documentaries were presented over the festival’s 12 days. Fortunately, these nonfiction projects of every stripe were helpfully divided into a surprisingly navigable 20 sections — everything from your standard competitions (and not-so-standard, as IDFA DocLab has both a Competition for Digital Storytelling and a Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction) to […]

In years past, Sundance has unveiled its feature film lineup a few slates at a time; this year, we get all of the features scheduled to date in one fell swoop. The lineup — 110 strong over 10 categories — includes no less than 15 projects that are alumni of IFP, Filmmaker‘s parent magazine, including 306 Hollywood, the debut feature from Elan and Jonathan Bogarín, profiled in this year’s 25 New Faces of Film. It’s a heady line-up; dive in. The festival runs from January 18 through 28; look for our coverage starting then. U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION American Animals / U.S.A. (Director and […]

Sixteen premieres — including 10 world premieres — are part of the 2017 Slamdance Film Festival, whose Narrative and Documentary Competition films were announced today. A punk rock romance, surrogacy drama, documentary about the Polaroid age and a non-fiction tale of a woman who withdraws from the fashion world to become a hermit are just four of the films to be presented January 19 – 25, 2018, in Park City, Utah. Notably, Slamdance submissions are selected from blind submissions by festival alumni and “are programmed democratically.” In addition to the films, Slamdance also announced a new prize. From the press […]