Sundance
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Interview with To Be Takei Director Jennifer M. Kroot
Filmmaker: Why this movie? Why did you decide to do it? Kroot: I was compelled to do it! I have always been a big fan of the original Star Trek, which I loved for its mix of campy aesthetics and also its thinly veiled exploration of the serious social and political issues of the 1960’s. George Takei’s sexual orientation never occurred to me but I was very impressed when he “came out” at age 68 in 2005 to become a voice for LGBT civil rights and then marry his long time partner, Brad Altman. I noticed how George’s philosophy was […]
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Sundance Days Four and Five: Reflection
I think I incorrectly titled my last post. Compared to the rate I am moving at now, my pace on Day Three seems utterly turbo. I am combining the last two days because there is a bit less to report. A good number of our crew members had flights cancelled due to a snow storm in New York City, which allowed for a bit more time to reflect all together. Memphis screened at the Sundance Resort on Tuesday evening. While the movie played for a different audience than we had interacted with over last four days, our crew sat in […]
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Interview with Viktoria Director Maya Vitkova
Filmmaker: Why this movie? Why did you decide to do it? Vitkova: I’d been working on a project as a 1st AD. At the end of the last shooting day, after almost 10 years of hard work as a 1st and 2nd AD, I promised myself I’d never do this thankless job again. The same evening I sat down and wrote an 18-page treatment, a story that had never really crossed my mind. Viktoria’s plot came easily, made me laugh while putting it into words, and then cry at the end. Viktoria has been very obsessive ever since, didn’t leave me until I completed […]
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Park City Critic’s Notes #4: European Road Trips, Higher Learning, Black Iconoclasts and More
It thins out, Park City, usually starting on Monday, but dramatically so by Tuesday. The big premiere parties have come and gone. The agents and sales reps and industry professionals are mostly headed to whatever coast they call home. So too is the sponsored corporate food; if you’re looking for a free Morning Star veggie burger at what is usually a quaint restaurant called The Eating Establishment, you’re out of luck by Day 7 of the Sundance Film Festival. As the sales continue to trickle down, terms almost never disclosed anymore, all that continues is the movies, of course, the […]
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Interview with Lock Charmer (El Cerrajero) Director Natalia Smirnoff
Filmmaker: Why this movie? Why did you decide to do it? Smirnoff: Puzzle was a story about a woman. So after that, I was really interested in making a film about a man, putting [myself] in his skin. I know a lot of people, maybe me included, with emotional obstacles. And I think writing is a marvelous possibility to habit different human beings. All these things are related to the story of Lock Charmer. Exploring Sebastian, the main character from the film, was a wonderful exercise; I learned more about life. Always not judging but living with him. When you manage […]
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Interview with Watchers of the Sky D.P. Mai Iskander
Filmmaker: Why this movie? Why did you decide to do it? Iskander: Edet Belzberg’s film Children Underground was one of my favorite docs. When I went to meet her for the first time to talk about potentially working on her new film, I was simply excited to meet her and hear about her experiences as a documentary filmmaker. So I was thrilled to be have the opportunity to work with her on Watchers of the Sky. The prospect of traveling to Chad and working closely with Edet was very exciting. Filmmaker: Why do you think you were the right choice to D.P. each film? Iskander: […]
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Interview with Web Junkie Director Hilla Medalia
Filmmaker: Why this movie? Why did you decide to do it? Medalia: As boundaries between reality and the virtual become increasingly blurred, we are beginning to see how reality is compromised and people are losing their footing. When Shosh [Shlam, the other director of Web Junkie] told me about this story of China’s attempt to stem internet addiction among its youth, I was immediately captivated and felt that this it expressed a current and increasingly global dilemma. I began to wonder if I myself was an addict? Had I become overly dependent on technology? And would these techniques to break the addiction among […]
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Interview with Laggies Writer Andrea Seigel
Filmmaker: Why this movie? Why did you decide to do it? Seigel: I guess I first started thinking about writing this movie after a year of attending a bunch of wedding and baby showers and just feeling really confused by them, like, “Are people actually enjoying this?” Filmmaker: Do you think a male director might have handled the making of this film differently? How did being a female filmmaker effect how this film got made do you think? Seigel: I think it would depend on the person. But I do know it was a little tougher on Lynn, being a female filmmaker directing […]
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Sterlin Harjo on This May Be the Last Time
Though Sterlin Harjo is a familiar name in Park City – having premiered his narrative features Four Sheets to the Wind and Barking Water at Sundance in 2007 and 2008, and his short Goodnight, Irene in 2005 – this year’s visit marks the director’s documentary feature debut. This May Be the Last Time traces the events behind the never fully explained disappearance of the filmmaker’s grandfather in 1962, alongside the history of the Muscogee (Creek) hymns the Seminole community sang as it set out to find him. Filmmaker spoke with the Sundance vet about his very personal take on ethnomusicology […]
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Interview with Web Junkie Director Shosh Shlam
Filmmaker: Why this movie? Shlam: Internet addiction is both a personal and social phenomenon. It is a universal issue that is becoming progressively all encompassing as the boundaries between the real and the virtual become increasingly blurred. Through this process, we could not help but feel that something is lost in the physical, “real,” everyday lives of those living in the western world. This phenomenon, these feelings are what inspired us to take this journey. Filmmaker: How much of your crew was female? Was hiring women a consideration for you? Shlam: We were four women: two directors, one producer and one editor. Hiring […]
