Sundance
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Sundance Recommendations: Jonas Carpignano
At the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Filmmaker magazine asked a series of directors to talk about the films they were excited about at this year’s event. Here Jonas Carpignano, writer/director of the forthcoming feature A Chjàna, offers his recommendations.
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Muscle Shoals | Director Greg “Freddy” Camalier
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Saturday, Jan. 26, 3:30pm — Eccles Theatre, Park City] What I had to sacrifice to make Muscle Shoal was being there for my children. I am a single father of two awesome boys. They need me and I need them. They are my most precious blessing and they make my life rich. They miss me when I’m gone and I miss them. Gone for them isn’t just me being away on a shoot, it’s being at the office late at night trying to make a deadline or trying to press ahead hard when the inspiration is flowing. It’s having to […]
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The Faces and Places of the Sundance Film Festival, Part One
“Sundance is our annual tradeshow,” a friend remarked to me at one of the very crowded parties this year. Indeed, it is a place to catch up, even if that short conversation is in line at a theater or at Starbucks instead of the kind of proper sit-down you’d have at Cannes or Berlin. Here are a few of the folks I bumped into at Sundance, beginning with, above, director Jehane Noujain, snapped on Heber Street just hours before the premiere of her latest documentary, The Square. I was knocked out by the film, which is a vivid and expertly […]
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A Young Producer’s Sundance Photo Diary, Day Five
I’m looking out my window right now and I don’t see mountains or snow. Miraculously, after 12 hours of traveling and functioning on about 15 hours of sleep over the last five days, I’m back in New York. Between packing up all my sweaters and saying goodbye to friends, I was still able to have a productive last day at Sundance though. I photographed a brunch the IFP and Sundance Institute hosted for film festival organizers, saw The Spectacular Now and Shane Carruth’s incredible Upstream Color, and made it up to Main Street only to be denied that free latte I […]
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Sweetwater | Directors Logan & Noah Miller
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Thursday, Jan. 24, 9:45pm — Eccles Theatre, Park City] It all depends on who you ask. The producers would probably say they sacrificed an ungodly amount of money. Which is true. Good on them. The actors might say they sacrificed a larger paycheck on a bigger movie. To be sure. It’s an indie. The narcissist, which by definition every filmmaker qualifies, says EVERYTHING: grooming, pond-gazing, moonlight sonatas, vengeance against enemies, meditative bowel movements, a drastic reduction in sexual activity (if not a total loss), etc. But we’re twins. So we sacrificed each other. You see, we share everything. […]
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Sundance Shorts Winners Announced
Tonight the winners of the short film awards for the Sundance Film Festival were announced. The Grand Jury Prize went to Polish director Grzegorz Zariczny’s The Whistle, while two directors known for their feature-length work — Damien Chazelle and Michael Almereyda — also picked up awards. The full list of winners is below: The Short Film Grand Jury Prize was awarded to: The Whistle / Poland (Director: Grzegorz Zariczny) — Marcin, a lowest-leagues football referee who lives in a small town near Krakow, dreams of better times. At his mother’s urging, he decides to change his life and find himself a girlfriend and a better job. […]
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The Other Side of Sundance
I’m not in the Sundance rhythm yet. I’m still trying to work out out how to fit in enough writing, food and sleep into my jam-packed schedule. Before arriving, I’d decided I wouldn’t go to too many parties, but on a whim I RSVP’d to a “celebrity poker tournament,” which was to be held at the Everest Mansion, a big house up in the mountains above Park City. My rationale was that I would get to experience “the other side” of Sundance, and could maybe relax and play a little poker. The list of confirmed guests included some famous names, […]
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Big Sur | Director Michael Polish
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Wednesday, Jan. 23, 9:45pm — Eccles Theatre, Park City] I believe with every independent movie the sacrifice is always time versus money. We never have enough of either. However, you find creative solutions when faced with these constraints. As for Big Sur, the location itself sacrificed our crew on a daily basis. It’s basically cliffs, canyons and sea shore. It’s heaven, so there’s some death involved…well, let’s say redemption. Overall it was a religious experience and the author of our bible was Jack Kerouac – a testament to survival.” Sundance Responses 2013
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A Young Producer’s Sundance Photo Diary, Day Four
Day Four. Things began to slow down as it felt like a lot of Sundance goers boarded flights back to their real lives and work. It was a bit more manageable to walk down Main Street and restaurants didn’t all have 45-minute waits – though I still couldn’t get a free coffee at the Sundance Channel HQ. Sadly, it was a slower day for movies, but I was able to catch up with a lot of filmmakers and friends at the IFP’s Sundance party, which was a total success. Only one more day in Park City! I’ll be sad to […]
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A.C.O.D. | Director Stu Zicherman
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Wednesday, Jan. 23, 6:30pm — Eccles Theatre] In order to get A.C.O.D. made, I sacrificed a year of television work. I usually write at least one network or cable pilot per year, which is the one stream of income I can always rely on. But with A.C.O.D. close to getting made, I took a gamble and passed on pilot season in hopes of getting a green light. Then pilot season came and went without the film getting off the ground. Just as I began a phase of real self-loathing over my newfound unemployment, my producer called to say […]
