Filmmaker Videos
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Watch: One Times One, A Short Film by Christopher Jason Bell
Yesterday we posted a conversation between filmmakers Christopher Jason Bell and Theodore Collatos about their films, practicing their craft, managing expectations and much more. Today we’re premiering Bell’s short film One Times One, which had its origins as excised footage from his feature debut The Winds that Scatter. As he explained: “For Winds, we ended up with a 3.5 hour assembly cut. There were a lot of things that I was very attached to that ultimately needed to go. One of them was a small arc in which Ahmad made friends with a man named Mike — he met this guy while looking […]
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Watch: The Best Films from Cannes This Decade
The Palme d’Or winners are one matter, but what are the best films to premiere at Cannes this decade? Kevin B. Lee unveils a personal canon in this video essay, making the case for Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin, Hong Sang-soo’s The Day He Arrives, Jean Luc-Godard’s Goodbye to Language and more.
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“Is the Remix Method Going Stale?” Watch: Everything is a Remix: The Force Awakens
One of our 25 New Faces in 2011, Kirby Ferguson has, with his Everything is a Remix Project, created a web series that artfully blends cultural criticism with legal and copyright commentary. In the latest edition, Ferguson considers J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens and wonders if blockbuster artistic sampling has run its course. “Is remixing a weak point in The Force Awakens? Is the remix method growing stale? Have we reached the limits of remixing?” For his conclusions, watch the video above.
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Werner Herzog to Teach Online Filmmaking Class
Traditional film school is overrated, according to Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Werner Herzog, who has signed on to teach an online filmmaking class. “You spend way too much time in film school. It costs way too much money. You can learn the essentials of filmmaking on your own within two weeks,” said Herzog in the (above) trailer for his class. The new class, which will focus on the art of both feature and documentary filmmaking, will be offered as part of the online education platform MasterClass. Pre-enrollment is open to everyone and the class will become available this summer. “Werner Herzog vibrantly and charismatically […]
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Watch Errol Morris’ Short Demon in the Freezer
Though smallpox has been eradicated, stocks of the virus remain for research purposes. Should these samples be destroyed in order to prevent them from being used as a biological weapon? Demon in the Freezer, the compelling short documentary from Academy Award-winner Errol Morris (The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara), explores the issue as part of The New York Times Op-Docs series. The film is Morris’ eighth film published by Op-Docs and the 200th Op-Doc video since the series launched in 2011. “It all comes down to the question of how best to protect ourselves against ourselves. […]
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Watch: “Mulholland Drive: How Lynch Manipulates You”
In his latest, The Nerdwriter considers how David Lynch manipulates audience expectations to subvert cliches and mess with your response as a viewer. Central talking points: Betty’s audition and, of course, Club Silencio.
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Watch: Tony Zhou on “How Does an Editor Think and Feel?”
In Tony Zhou’s latest video, the question isn’t how editing is done technically, it’s how it feels. What does it mean to feel an emotion, and how much time does that take to register? Breaking down sequences from Hannah and Her Sisters and The Empire Strikes Back, among others, Zhou dives into the intangibles and instinctual particulars of editorial timing. With interview cameos from, among others, Michael Kahn, Walter Murch and Thelma Schoonmaker.
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Trailer Watch: Adam Wingard’s The Woods
With films such as Home Sick, Pop Skull and A Horrible Way to Die, and more recently, You’re Next and The Guest, Adam Wingard has established a reputation as one of the most inventive filmmakers working in the horror genre today. Wingard’s latest film, The Woods, tackles the found footage sub-genre and we’re bracing ourselves for maximum scares. Written by Simon Barrett (The Guest, You’re Next), The Woods involves a group of college students on a camping trip who discover they are not alone. The trailer (above) reveals little in terms of plot, but surely succeeds at setting the creepy tone. On Twitter, Wingard boasted that The Woods “is my first full on […]
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Watch: “Feminist Film or Exploitation? Takashi Miike’s Audition” (NSFW)
The title pretty much says it all: is Takashi Miike’s indelibly scarring Audition feminist, misogynistic exploitation or both? The answer in Jessica McGoff’s video essay is a mixture of the two, which isn’t too surprising. Caution: contains both graphic violence and also some brief nudity, either of which might be objectionable in your workplace.
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Trailer Watch: The Land, Nas-Produced Sundance Drama
For his debut feature, The Land, Steven Caple Jr. pulled off an impressive feat. He attracted top talent from the music industry, including Nas as executive producer producer and Erykah Badu and Machine Gun Kelly in supporting roles. The Cleveland-set drama, which focuses on four teens living in the projects, premiered earlier this year at The Sundance Film Festival’s Next section. In advance of the film’s premiere at Sundance, the director told Filmmaker Magazine that each of the four boys in the film represents a different aspect of his life. “On surface you see a film about four boys who […]
