Filmmaker Videos
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Watch: Álvaro, from UnionDocs Living Los Sures Project
Inspired by Diego Echeverria’s 1984 documentary, Los Sures, Living Los Sures is an expansive documentary produced over five years by 60 artists at Brooklyn’s UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art. Premiering online today here at Filmmaker is Álvaro, directed by Alexandra Lazarowich, Elizabeth Dealaune Warren, Daniel J Wilson & Chloe Zimmerman, a short doc about the daily ritual of longtime Southside, Brooklyn resident Álvaro Brandon. Timed to the restoration and Metrograph screening of Echeverria’s cinema verite work, about the largely Puerto Rican and Dominican community of the Southside of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Living Los Sures consists of 40 short films, the interactive […]
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Watch: Stanley Kubrick, Across the Color Spectrum
In 2014 we posted Rishi Kaneria’s supercut on Stanley Kubrick’s love of the color red. Now, inspired by that video, Marc Anthony Figueras has created his own video, this time surveying the director’s use of color all across the color spectrum. Films referenced: 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut. And, for those who’d like to simply skip to their favorite hue, here are the chapter markings: Red- 0:07 Blue- 1:30 Yellow- 2:12 Purple- 2:42 Pink- 2:51 Orange- 2:59 Green- 3:15 Black & White- 3:45
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Watch: Inside the Rooms of No Home Movie, Take 2
Late last week, we published a video essay from Kevin B. Lee, chief video essayist at Fandor, about the spaces in Chantal Akerman’s final documentary, No Home Movie. Lee estimated that about 70% of the film took place within the walls of the filmmaker’s dying mother Natalia’s apartment. To re-orient himself in Natalia’s apartment, Lee reorganized the footage by room. Initially, he edited the video to music, using Schubert’s Impromptu D. 899 Op. 90 No. 3, not coincidentally the same music used in Michael Haneke’s Amour, which also follows an elderly woman’s demise. But after receiving some complaints, including from the distributors of the film, Lee reassessed […]
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Watch: Projecting The Hateful Eight at the Music Box Theatre
When the 70mm roadshow version of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight rolled out in December, the experience was sold on the aesthetic superiority – the scope, the clarity, the subconscious effect of flickering frames of film. At a time when Screening Room may soon allow filmgoers to watch the latest wide releases on their couch, the roadshow offered an unreplicable spectacle. But for me the joy of road-tripping to Chicago to catch The Hateful Eight at the Music Box Theatre during its opening week had nothing to do with film gauge size or grain structure. The bliss came from something that is even more […]
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Watch: Swiss Army Man: The Film That Polarized Sundance
Swiss Army Man, the debut feature from acclaimed music video directing duo The Daniels (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), divided audiences at Sundance 2016 like no other film. Now you can get a peek at the controversial film in its first trailer (above). Following its premiere, Variety declared that the film “could win the festival’s award for the most walk-outs, as a continuous stream of audience members kept standing up and bolting for the door throughout the film.” The premise of the dark comedy is certainly pretty bizarre. Paul Dano plays Hank, a man marooned on an island who is about to commit suicide. […]
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Watch: No Home Movie Room by Room
Chantal Akerman’s final film, No Home Movie, takes on a deeper resonance following the Belgian filmmaker’s death in October 2015. The film is a documentary tribute to her dying mother, Natalia a.k.a. Nelly and an exploration of their relationship. As with all of Akerman’s work, there’s a deeply autobiographical element to the film — even more so now that we know it was to be her last. In the above video essay from Fandor, Kevin B. Lee has reorganized the film’s footage by each room in the apartment to emphasize how Akerman explores each space to reflect her relationship with her dying mother. Beginning April 1, No Home Movie […]
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The Witch Gets a Creepy New Trailer for its Return to Theaters
Whether you missed The Witch in its first time in theaters or you’re ready to return for a second helping of horror, you’ll get a chance to see Robert Eggers’ stunner this weekend. In advance of its return to theaters on Friday, April 1, distributor A24 has released a new trailer (above) for the festival favorite, which initially premiered at Sundance in 2015. Back in February, The Witch gave A24 its biggest weekend opening ever, earning $8.8 million. Having already earned $24 million at the box office, it seems likely to edge out A24’s award-winning Ex Machina, which has grossed $25.4 million. Set in […]
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Watch (and Read): Video Tribute and Interview with D.P. Jeff Cronenweth
With Josh Maczinski’s tribute to Jeff Cronenweth popping up around the interwebs, here’s a good time to post, alongside it, Jamie Stuart’s 2014 interview with the cinematographer. Maczinski’s supercut surveys favorite scenes from films like Gone Girl, The Social Network, Hitchcock and One-Hour Photo. Stuart’s interview gets deep into it regarding digital technology, lens choices and a lot more. Here is Cronenweth on Fincher’s use of digital tools: But it’s part of David’s tenacity in making sure that every image supports the story and nothing ever unsettles an audience member unintentionally. In other words, you see everything you’re supposed to […]
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Watch: How Alfred Hitchcock Blocks a Scene
In this video, The Nerdwriter meticulously breaks down how the blocking and staging of a key expository scene from Vertigo, showing how choreography and camera placement serve as visual language for the themes that’ll dominate the movie. If you haven’t seen Vertigo, a) what’s up with that? b) spoilers galore.
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Trailer Watch: Ewan McGregor Plays Jesus and the Devil in Last Days in the Desert
Written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, Last Days in the Desert premiered way back at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and it’s finally getting its first trailer. The film in which Ewan McGregor plays both Jesus and the Devil is an imagined episode from his 40 days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus (McGregor) struggles with the Devil (also McGregor) over the fate of a family in crisis. Ciarán Hinds, Ayelet Zurer and Tye Sheridan co-star, but the big draw is the cinematography by two-time Academy Award-winning DP Emmanuel Lubezki. Could his work […]
