Filmmaker Videos
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David Lowery Talks Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
David Lowery made our “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2011 on the basis of his fantastic short film, Pioneer. Now he’s got the most buzzed-about film at Sundance this year with Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck. Here he talks about that film and the journey it took to get there.
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Sundance Trailer Watch: Kink
James Franco presents Kink, a documentary about the San Francisco BDSM film studio, Kink.com. Director Christina Voros is one of our 25 New Faces and James Franco is… well, he’s James Franco. From the production notes: If porn were high school, they’d be the goth table. Director Christina Voros and producer James Franco pull back the curtain on the fetish empire of Kink.com, the Internet’s largest producer of BDSM content. In a particularly obscure corner of an industry that operates largely out of public view, Kink.com’s directors and models strive for authenticity. In an enterprise often known for exploitative practices, […]
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Trailer Watch: Lost Rockers
American Hardcore directors Paul Rachman and Steven Blush are back with Lost Rockers, a documentary on great rock ‘n roll performers who have been buried beneath the sands of time. They include Chris Robison, Gloria Jones, David Peel, Bobby Jameson, Evie Sands, Cherry Vanilla, and Gass Wild and Johnny Hodge of the Lightning Raiders. Rachman and Blush have just released this new teaser, and you can read more about the film at its website.
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Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva Explore the Singularity with “MegaMega Upload”
Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva screen their latest short, #PostModem, at the Sundance Film Festival this week, but today they’ve dropped “MegaMega Upload,” the music video that takes over the movie at one point. The filmmakers say of #PostModem, “[it’s] a comedic satirical sci-fi pop-musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists. It’s the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with the technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets.” I saw the short at Borscht 8 this year; Mayer and Leyva’s lo-fi riff on uploaded consciousness is super smart. Indeed, you […]
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David Bowie Returns with a New Single and a Tony Oursler Video
After the pleasant shock of learning that there’s a new David Bowie single — a beautiful, Berlin-referencing melancholic ballad reminiscent of his Thin White Duke days — I was even more thrilled to see that the accompanying video is directed by one of my favorite artists, Tony Oursler. Check out the song and the video above.
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Josh and Benny Safdie Take On the Illegal Wildlife Trade
Directors Josh and Benny Safdie (Daddy Longlegs) take on the illegal wildlife trade in The Trophy Hunter, a PSA made for the Turtle Conservancy and supporting Traffic.org. Here’s how the group describes the video: This year we are sending out a video whose content may be difficult for some viewers. However, the video highlights an important issue: the illegal wildlife trade and its role in the global extinction crisis. This holiday we are supporting TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade-monitoring network (traffic.org). The illegal wildlife trade is the third largest illicit trade after drugs and arms and is responsible for the extinction […]
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Walter Murch Discusses the “Rule of” and the Perfect Cut
Is it emotional? Does it advance the story? Those are two of six questions editor Walter Murch argues that editors must ask themselves for every cut. The other four? That’s the deep stuff. Watch the video to find out. (Hat tip: Cinephilia and Beyond.)
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Zach Wigon’s Someone Else’s Heart Wins Hammer to Nail Short Film Contest
Congratulations to Filmmaker contributor Zach Wigon, who won this month’s Hammer to Nail Short Film Contest with his cyber-age paranoid romance, Someone Else’s Heart. From Michael Tully’s post: Is our increasing dependence on virtual communication deforming the way we interact with others in our real, everyday lives? Isn’t there something inherently strange about all this “how many friends and followers do you have” business of late? While the internet is without question an incredibly useful contribution to our modern world, on the other side of that coin, take a few steps back and watch someone “interacting” with their computer. Whether […]
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Fariha Roisin’s 10 Best of 2012
Leading up to Filmmaker‘s own 2012 Ten Best we are publishing individual lists from some our contributors. Fariha Roisin took part in the Indiewire Critic’s Academy and wrote coverage for us out of the New York Film Festival this year. Here is her 2012 Ten Best, some of which are festival entries not being released until 2013. – SM 1. Beasts of the Southern Wild Undeniably one of the most visceral films I have ever seen. Visually breathtaking and so moving, Hushpuppy’s insight into the world evokes so much imagination and rawness that I couldn’t help but cry and laugh […]
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Holiday Top Ten of 2012…With Eggnog
Tis the season for egg nog, friends, good conversations, video games, and top ten lists. So we put all of it into one post. Ghosts of SWJ past and future get together in this first episode of season two to give us their top tens from 2012. But first a few friends drop by for a drink and to talk about creativity in today’s climate. Check out Bryan’s sites: Bryanbruner.com Loveandrobots.tumblr.com Eric’s Film: American Bomber Movie Happy Holidays! John Top 10 of 2012: Frank Mosley 1. The Comedy 2. Compliance 3. The Master 4. Killing Them Softly 5. Bad Fever […]
