Filmmaking

21st Century Man: Abel Ferrara

In person, Abel Ferrara is a whirlwind of gestures and jokes, of quick smiles and vulgar asides, digressions piled upon digressions, even if he’s much sharper and in control of his staccato New Yorkese vernacular than he lets on. Ferrara, who will turn 60 this year, has had one of American indie cinema’s strangest and most fascinating careers, one which has taken the Bronx native from the old 42nd Street’s row of exploitation and porn cinemas to the Croissette in Cannes. Often we talk of middle-aged artists mellowing, but Ferrara maintains a manic, youthful energy that is both infectious and […]

By Brandon Harris on Jan 11, 2011 Directing
ANTONIONI ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE

Those in London the first week of February can witness the Toneelgroep Amsterdam theater company’s stage adaptation of three films by Michelangelo Antonioni. From the Barbican Theater’s website: Love affairs, isolation, heartache. Internationally renowned theatre director Ivo van Hove leads his powerful ensemble in an exploration of award-winning, Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni’s groundbreaking 1960s film trilogy (L’Avventura, La Notte, L’Eclisse), in this epic adaptation for the stage. Simultaneously performed, filmed and projected onto a giant screen, the show reinvents Antonioni’s portraits of bourgeois relationships in public and private settings. Multiple perspectives provide an intimate and visceral insight into the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 9, 2011 Filmmaking
WHAT’S IN MY INSTAPAPER: SUNDAY MORNING LINKS, 1/9/11

Here are some articles of interest I’ve sent to my Instapaper this week. At Script Shadow, Carson Reeves lists the 10 ways he knows he’s reading an amateur script. All of these are quotable, but here’s one: BORING ON-THE-NOSE DIALOGUE – This is probably the biggest clue that you’re dealing with an amateur. The dialogue is really straightforward and boring. Characters say exactly what they mean: “You make me so angry!’ Characters get way more specific than people in real life would: “I’m going to head over to get a cheeseburger at Portillo’s and then call my mom.” (instead of […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 9, 2011 Filmmaking
A COME-FROM-BEHIND, 9TH INNING KICKSTARTER WIN

It’s 12:01 as I type this, and Lucas McNelly’s Kickstarter project “A Year Without Rent” has just closed out its successful campaign, raising $12,178 from 243 backers — $178 over the project’s goal. What’s absolutely remarkable about the project’s success is that the great majority of its money — over 75% — was raised in the final days and hours of the campaign. Now, come-from-behind Kickstarter successes are not that uncommon as many filmmakers line up backers ready to cinch their campaigns with large, last-minute donations. But I don’t think that’s what McNelly pulled off. In fact, looking at the […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 8, 2011 Filmmaking
CAULEEN SMITH PREMIERES VIDEO INSTALLATION AT THE KITCHEN

Filmmaker and artist Cauleen Smith, one of our “25 New Faces of 1998,” is premiering a new video installation at New York’s The Kitchen this week. Remote Viewing will be on view January 7 – March 5, 2011. Admission is free. There will be an opening reception for the exhibition at The Kitchen on Friday, January 7 from 6:00-8:00pm, and a special screening curated by the artist on Monday, February 28 at 7:00pm. From the catalog: California-based filmmaker, screenwriter, and video installation artist, Cauleen Smith is best known for Afro-futurist cinematic works that weave intimate narratives of love, yearning, and […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 6, 2011 Filmmaking
KATE MOSS: BEHIND THE SCENES, AND WITH SNAKE

The fashion and culture site Nowness has been generating some cool design-oriented videos lately, including this one — “Everglade,” the first of a four-parter based around surveillance camera footage of Kate Moss shot during a recent photo shoot. From a single side angle, Moss is captured while modeling the 2011 Balmain campaign by filmmakers Inex Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. They brought in artist and animator Jo Ratcliffe to work with the footage and set it all to music by Antony and the Johnsons. Said Van Lamsweerde, “Surrealism is always there in our work, whether it’s in camera or through […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 6, 2011 Filmmaking
VIMEO INCREASES UPLOAD LIMITS

All of you budding Bela Tarrs, take note: Vimeo has increased its upload limits to 5 GB. Okay, that won’t you get into Satantango territory, but it will let you stream two-and-a-half hours of HD content from the video sharing site. That’s more than enough for the majority of indie features and docs. The press release is below. LAS VEGAS, Jan. 5, 2011 – Online video sharing site Vimeo(R), an operating business of IAC [NASDAQ: IACI], today announced that it has increased the size of a single file that a Vimeo Plus member can upload from 2GB to 5GB. As […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 5, 2011 Filmmaking
ABEL FERRARA CLIP MONTAGE, ANTHOLOGY SCREENINGS

I have to admit, I find the way ads are served on the Film Annex sites is kind of weird. My browser gets spazzy as the “Pet Fit” commercial affixed to the head of this Abel Ferrara clip montage plays. That said, it’s worth sitting through a chirpy model telling you how to slim down your canine for this collection of prime moments from Abel Ferrara’s career. (How great was Madonna in Dangerous Game?) Ferrara is the subject of a series of mostly new films at the Anthology Film Archives this week, “Abel Ferrara in the 21st Century.” (Note to […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 5, 2011 Filmmaking
FILMMAKER PARTNERS WITH CINEMA EYE ON THE HETERODOX AWARD

I’ll be writing more about this award and the films in the days ahead, but, for the moment, here is a press releasing announcing a new award Filmmaker is very happy to be sponsoring at Cinema Eye this year. New York – The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking announced today the five nominees for the first annual Cinema Eye Heterodox Award, sponsored by Filmmaker Magazine. The Cinema Eye Heterodox Award marks a new award category created to honor a narrative film that imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production. These films illuminate the formal possibilities of nonfiction […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 4, 2011 Filmmaking
DAVID CARSON ANNOUNCES NEW MAGAZINE

Back in the day, designing an issue of Filmmaker meant two or three weeks of long evenings sitting around our office in the DGA building on 57th street with our beloved designer Wayne Van Acker. Wayne passed away a few years ago, but I thought of him today when I saw this notice that designer David Carson is returning to print journalism with a new magazine titled, appropriately, Carson. We were — and still are — closet design geeks, and we always held up certain designers as our heroes. Neville Brody was the one we could all agree on, with […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 4, 2011 Filmmaking

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