The Economist magazine and PBS NewsHour have teamed to create The Economist Film Project, an initiative that will “showcase independent documentary films from around the world,” according to its website. Segments from selected films will air regularly on PBS NewsHour in a national primetime feature through 2011-2012. Thompson on Hollywood spoke to The Economit‘s deputy editor, Gideon Lichfield, who says the project “will bring viewers new perspectives and insights in the form of films they might not otherwise see on the kinds of issues that The Economist itself covers.” The Economist Film Project is currently seeking submissions of completed documentary films […]
The Sundance Institute has announced the short films that will be screening at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The full list of titles are below. See the complete list of competition titles here and out-of-competition titles here. The festival will take place Jan. 20-30, 2011 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. U.S. NARRATIVE SHORTS After You Left (Director: Jef Taylor; Screenwriters: Jef Taylor and Michael Tisdale) – A man in his mid-thirties searches for meaning in the aftermath of a relationship. Andy and Zach (Director and Screenwriter: Nick Paley) – When Zach decides to move out, […]
While it doesn’t have to stretch to come off as a sexy and intoxicating (or from the number of casually inebriated drivers, intoxicated) place, Trinidad and Tobago has a reputation as relatively unassuming. Although it is not reliant on tourism to fuel its economy thanks to its abundance of oil and natural gas, it hasn’t escaped the fate of many struggling Caribbean economies, trying to gain traction in a world increasingly dominated by information technology and increasingly scarce resources. Trinidad and Tobago’s modest prosperity and egalitarian vibe seem to make this largely forgotten southernmost outpost of the Afro-Caribbean world an […]
Before arriving, invitees traveling to this 10th anniversary edition of the Marrakech Film Festival were presented with an eye-popping list of stars — actors and directors both — who would be in attendance. Keanu Reeves, Martin Scorsese, Susan Sarandon, Eva Mendes, Francis Ford Coppola, Harvey Keitel (the subject of a retrospective), the Dardennes Brothers… the list went on and on. Some of these stars showed up to promote their films — Reeves, for example, arrived with James Caan (also the subject of a tribute) to support their opening night picture, Henry’s Crime. Coppola and the Dardennes along with Lee Chang-dong […]
The Filmmaker’s Cooperative is having a benefit screening tonight at the Millennium Film Workshop. As the accompanying graphic states, there are films by Jonas Mekas, Jackie Raynal, Mike Kuchar, Jennifer Reeves and more. Tickets are only $10 and include free pizza and wine courtesy of Two Boots. The event starts at 8:00PM, so come out for good films and a good cause.
Last year I ran the below post, “So You Didn’t Get Into Sundance.” As the Sundance list came out this week, I thought I’d give it a once over and pen a new version for ’11. But after reading it again, I’m not sure what I’d change. Once, more then… So you didn’t get into Sundance…. I’m sorry. Trust me, I feel your pain. As a producer I’ve received both the acceptance calls as well as the rejection ones. (Actually, the rejection call is sometimes not even a call, but a form email or letter.) In some cases, I’ve known […]
The Sundance Institute has released the films screening in the out-of-competition sections of the Sundance Film Festival and have announced that the closing night film will be Dito Montiel‘s The Son of No One (pictured right). The film, set in a post-9/11 New York, follows two men as their lives unravel due to incidents from their past. It stars Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Katie Holmes, Tracy Morgan, Ray Liotta and Juliette Binoche. Other highlights from the list include George Ratliff‘s Salvation Boulevard, Morgan Spurlock‘s The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Joshua Leonard‘s The Lie (which will play in the fest’s NEXT […]
Filmmaker‘s holiday subscription sale is here! From now until December 25 we’re offering a fantastic deal on Filmmaker Magazine subscriptions. One-year print subscriptions are discounted from $18 to $10. Two-year subscriptions are only $18. Digital subscriptions are only $6 for a year, and those include access to all of our back issues through 2007. To sweeten things just a bit more, we’ve very grateful to have a number of gifts to give away from our friends and supporters. The first 100 new one-year print subscribers and 100 new two-year print subscribers will get a free digital copy of Jon Reiss’s […]
Two worthy Kickstarter projects have uploaded new trailers illustrating opposite but effective approaches to fundraising. The first is an irreverent long take for Jocelyn Towne’s I Am I, a first-person address from the director aided by a bed full of guest stars, including Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter and producers Cora Olsen and Jen Dubin. The second is a new trailer for a project I’ve posted about before: Alix Lambert and Jill Peters’s He/She/He. Here, dialogue is withheld, and a beautiful piece of source music juxtaposed with the stunning images conveys the emotional power of the project. He/She/He is in its […]
The following first appeared in Filmmaker‘s Winter 2010 edition. —Editor Although fashion and film have always been closely intertwined, Tom Ford may be the first fashion designer to cross over to the role of filmmaker. To be sure, his debut feature, an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man, reflects his immaculate sense of style. But its story, a melancholy tale of a day in the life of a middle-aged college professor (Colin Firth) who is still mourning the unexpected death of his longtime lover Jim (Matthew Goode), is a far cry from the sex-saturated tableaus that Ford created for […]