Sundance
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“I Knew it Would Cause Problems”: Director Justin Chon | Gook
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? The biggest challenge of communication my film Gook will have is the actual title. It was a problem when we were trying to get financing for the film, when we were trying to cast the film and will be a problem when we take the film out into the world because of judgment without understanding. It will be our job to communicate and open up dialogue on how […]
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“Every Work of Art Is Political”: Director Cory Finley | Thoroughbred
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? I spent a lot of time thinking, at every stage of making the film, about how it works as social critique. That’s not the story’s primary mode: it’s a psychological thriller, and it’s a study of two characters and their evolving relationship. But a playwriting professor once told me that every work of art is political, whether its creator wants it to be or not. I’m aiming […]
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“Film Is Such a Universal Language”: Director Tarik Saleh | The Nile Hilton Incident
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? The Nile Hilton Incident was shot in Casablanca as a stand in for Cairo, in both Arabic and Dinka languages. We had a French DP, a German focus puller and a Swedish first AD, so one might think that language would be the biggest challenge. However, film is such a universal language and it worked out fine. I think the biggest communication challenge always is making sure […]
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“We’re All to Blame if We Don’t Do Anything”: Director Michelle Latimer | RISE
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? While I was at Standing Rock I had the privilege to stay in the Oceti Sakowin camp and be part of a community aligned to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. And through it all there seemed to be an overarching narrative that the media hooked into. It usurped everything else. Wherever you turned you would hear about the violence and the chaos of state-led oppression against “protestors.” […]
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“Bad Taste Done with Good Taste”: Director Teemu Niukkanen | Fucking Bunnies
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? The development of Fucking Bunnies took almost two years. In every step of the way we needed to assure the funders (Finnish Film Foundation and Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE) again and again that we’re doing something really worth doing and seeing. The theme of xenophobia had been there right from the start, but in the beginning the script had more emphasis on the sexual stuff – which […]
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“Might There Be a Desire to Cross Party Lines?”: Director Laura Dunn | Look and See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? For the past several years, while I worked to raise money for this film, it seemed like most folks in the documentary film world, the gatekeepers as they are, were not particularly interested in a sympathetic, even loving portrait of white male tobacco farmers from the rural south. I found a few lone advocates, and for those people, I am very grateful as they encouraged me more […]
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Is Sundance Worth It for Film Crew Members? Veteran Festival Goers Offer their Advice
Over the next ten days, the Sundance Film Festival will screen 113 feature films, and tens of thousands of people descend on the small town of Park City, Utah. Included in those crowds are the crewmembers from all over the world that made those 113 movies possible. While directors with projects premiering at Sundance are flown out to Utah by distributors or financiers, many crewmembers who worked tirelessly and often for very little money wind up paying their own way to the festival in order to support their own films. It’s an expensive trip, and they may wind up without […]
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“A Nuanced Understanding of War”: Director Greg Barker | Legion of Brothers
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? Green Berets refer to themselves as “The Quiet Professionals,” and see themselves as a breed apart from more boastful units of the Special Forces, like SEAL Team Six, with their lucrative book deals and pumped-up war stories. So the biggest challenge on this production was simply convincing these guys that now was the time to finally open and reveal themselves – and not as stereotypical super-human war […]
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The Sundance Question: What Specific Challenge of Communication Has Your Film Faced?
Each year Filmmaker asks all the incoming feature directors at Sundance one question. (To see past years’ questions and responses, click here.) This year, our question involves an issue cutting across all the political drama of the last year: communication. How do we really communicate to one another, to converse despite our differences? How do we step outside of our echo chambers so we’re not just trading slogans among our friends? On a filmmaking level, how do we make sure that problems of communication don’t cripple our visions or limit their reach? This year’s question: During its development, production or eventual distribution, what […]
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“It’s about Populism and the Reactions of Europeans toward Asylum Seekers”: Director Tonislav Hristov | The Good Postman
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? The original challenge of communicating in the development of the film was making the financiers understand what I was actually doing. There was a lot of talk about “refugee films” which my film is not. It seems that people, financiers and producers do have a tendency to “label” projects, and this can be challenging in the financing phase of a film. At least sometimes it slows things […]
