Filmmaking
Filmmaking
-
THE BIG SHOT MOVIE CLUB
Via the internets comes news of The Big Shot Movie Club, “a club for movie fans of all kinds.” The Big Shot Movie Club is Sarah Winshall and Julia Bembenek, and they write on their website: We will watch and discuss three movies we love every month relevant to a specific theme. The movies we watch will always be available online or at a your local video store. Hopefully, each month our loyal club members will learn about some lost gems and be reminded of their favorite classics as they watch and read and comment along with us. Coming up […]
-
DEADLINE FOR 2013 KAREN SCHMEER EDITING FELLOWSHIP ANNOUNCED
The Open Call for the 2013 Karen Schmeer Editing Fellowship has been announced. The fellowship, which comes with a cash prize as well as various mentorship activities, is currently accepting applications and has a deadline of September 28, 2012. From the website: The Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship assists emerging documentary editors by supporting and developing their talent, expanding their creative community, and furthering their career aspirations. In conjunction with American Cinema Editors (ACE) and other partners, the Fellowship, in its third year, offers a wide array of opportunities. The Fellowship is targeted at documentary editors; fiction experience is welcome, […]
-
ANG LEE’S “LIFE OF PI” TO OPEN 50TH NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL
The world premiere of Life of Pi, Ang Lee’s epic 3-D adaptation of Yann Martel’s highly acclaimed Booker Prize-winning novel, will open the New York Film Festival, which starts September 28 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Lee is no stranger to the NYFF: this will be the second time one of his movies has opened the fest (The Ice Storm kicked off the 1997 edition), while in 2009 Lee was the subject of a career retrospective at FSLC’s annual celebration of cinema. “Life of Pi is a perfect combination of technological innovation and a strong artistic vision,” said […]
-
The Blue Velvet Project, #150
Second #7050, #117:30 It’s as if the movie has gone back in time; Jeffrey and Sandy look so young. “I don’t see how they could do that,” Aunt Barbara (Frances Bay) says, looking at the robin on the windowsill with the live bug (perhaps one of the black beetles from the beginning of the film) in its beak, “I could never eat a bug.” She speaks these words just before inserting something black into her mouth. In The Plague of Fantasies, Slavoj Žižek suggests that fantasy does not simply realize a desire in a hallucinatory way: rather, its function is […]
-
IN PRODUCTION: “DEVIL’S KNOT,” “UNTITLED NICOLE HOLOFCENER PROJECT,” “CAN A SONG SAVE YOUR LIFE?” AND “ONE SQUARE MILE”
“In Production” is a regular column which focuses on notable independent films that are currently shooting. After four documentaries (three of which were produced by HBO, the other by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh), the story of the West Memphis Three gets the narrative treatment courtesy of director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter). Devil’s Knot focuses on three young men, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. who were wrongfully accused of murdering three children as part of a satanic ritual. Appearing in the lead roles are newcomer James Hamrick (a Wesleyan drama student) as Echols, Seth Meriwether (Trouble with the Curve) as […]
-
Locarno Critic’s Notebook #3
Leviathan. You may have heard the title by now. By the time it screened to press, the film had already gained some momentous hype, and I’m pleased to report it does not disappoint. Often exhilarating, Véréna Peraval and Lucien Castaing-Taylor‘s creation is a unique viewing experience—loud, disorienting, frightening, exciting and visually awesome. The best film from the main competition, at the very least, Leviathan (above) offers the sort of sensory adventure that cinema can but rarely does offer. Using cheap GoPro digital cameras, the filmmakers show us images and perspectives we’ve never seen before. Apparently, Apichatpong Weerasethakul did not like […]
-
PAUL RYAN, CATFISH NOODLER
If you’ve spent the day parsing Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s resume — perhaps glossing over his young fixation on psychopathic killer fan Ayn Rand — you may have stumbled when you encountered the name of one of his hobbies: catfish noodling. If you’re not up on the sport of wrestling these fish with your bare hands, check out Okie Noodling, a doc by Filmmaker 25 New Face Bradley Beesley. It streams free via Snag Films below.
-
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS YOUR CREW
Designer Troy Farmer was hanging out on his Brooklyn block one day recently when he and his friend were approached by a stranger. The stranger wondered, would Farmer like to be part of a film crew? “Our initial reaction was ‘No way, dude, we’ve got no time to do that at all, we’re way too busy, never never never,’” Farmer remembers on his blog. “Though we then realized that’s a tough point to argue when you’re sitting on your stoop drinking wine. So we reluctantly agreed to go to this planning meeting, thinking, at most, we could help out with […]
-
INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING: PASSION OR PROFESSION?
I love being an independent filmmaker. Not for the few and far between accolades I’ve received for the movies I’ve made, but for the opportunities independent film has given me — a chance to have a voice and share that voice with others. I imagine this is why so many choose film as a profession. But independent filmmaking as we know it isn’t what it once was, when stepping behind the camera meant you had arrived at a certain level and achieved a certain distinction in your career. Directing movies was once reserved for those who had made previous achievements […]
-
Filmmaker Partners with Filminute Short Film Contest
Next month, Filmmaker will be partnering with the website Filminute, an annual online short film competition, by hosting five of the 25 one-minute films shortlisted for this year’s contest, which offers both a juried Best Filminute prize and the audience-selected People’s Choice Award. (In previous years, jurors have included District 9 director Neill Blomkamp, writer Michael Ondaatje, Iranian filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf and Crash director Paul Haggis.) The site is currently accepting entries for this year’s competition, with the submission deadline on August 20, and the entry criteria are as follows: Your film must be 60 seconds – no more, no less. Produce […]
