| Filmmaker Magazine

David Kaplan, Year of the Fish

YEAR OF THE FISH. This article is part of Filmmaker’s Sundance 2007 Special Coverage. A veteran of Sundance with his short films — including the cryptic, menacing fairy tales, Little Red Riding Hood (starring Christina Ricci and Quentin Crisp!), Little Suck-A-Thumb, and The Frog King — which are regularly shown to film students as examples of exemplary short-form filmmaking, David Kaplan returns to the festival with his first feature, Year of the Fish. At once a singular New York immigrant story, as well as a re-imagining of the fairy tale (Kaplan’s real-world, adult conception of children’s stories can bring to […]

by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 24, 2007

Dan Bush, David Bruckner, and Jacob Gentry, The Signal

THE SIGNAL. This article is part of Filmmaker’s Sundance 2007 Special Coverage. Making a feature film, independent or otherwise, isn’t easy (understatement of the century). The seemingly impossible hurdle of gaining financing — not to mention the tiny details of actually executing the film and then seeking distribution — seem Herculean enough to scare off most would-be filmmakers. Now imagine directing a feature film with two other directors. Suicidal, right? Well, that’s exactly what three of Atlanta’s finest — Dan Bush, David Bruckner, and Jacob Gentry — did. The ballsy trio arrives at Sundance with their terrifying horror film, The […]

by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 24, 2007

MESSAGE RECEIVED

If you’re only checking out this blog, make sure to click over to James Ponsoldt’s interviews with the three directors of the American indie horror pic The Signal, which was bought here at Sundance by Magnolia Pictures.

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 24, 2007

"AN INSANE FEEDING FRENZY"

Ann Thompson at her Risky Business blog has been detailing what she calls “an unexpectedly insane feeding frenzy” at the Sundance Film Festival. Midway through the first weekend people were saying that this seemed to be a weak year at Sundance and that sales would be slow. Then, all of a sudden, a number of unexpected titles caught the fancy of audiences and distributors. There has been one big sale (Son of Rambow to Paramount Vantage for $7 million), several medium sized ones (Grace is Gone and Dedication, both to the Weinstein’s for $4 million or so), and heartening pickups […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 24, 2007

PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE

Now that both public and the politicians are denouncing the war in Iraq, documentaries like Charles Ferguson’s No End in Sight, premiering in Sundance’s Documentary Competition, are simply essential. The inevitable withdrawal of U.S. troops is sure to prompt attacks by the real “bitter enders” –- administration officials and neo-cons who will pin the war’s failures on an American lack of resolve – and Ferguson’s sober and straightforward documentary is the necessary rebuttal. Recalling that old piece of screenplay advice, “There are no third act problems,” Ferguson takes us back to the run-up to the war and the months following […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 24, 2007

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

After ten years of trying to get in on screen and months of controversy (Peter Bowen blogs about the latest hubbub) leading up to its Sundance premiere, Deborah Kempmeier’s southern tale Hounddog was unveiled last night. I guess I should first get out of the way the infamous rape scene that everyone (even if they haven’t seen it yet) wants to talk about. The scene – though in the context of the movie is appalling – is quite tame. Created in the editing room with shots of Dakota Fanning’s face, reactions of the young boy Buddy (Cody Hanford) watching, and […]

by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 23, 2007

NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET

There are many impressive documentaries at Sundance this year but my favorite so far is Jason Kohn’s Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) in the Documentary Competition. Examining the violence, political corruption and rampant kidnappings in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this doc — with a brisk running time of 85 minutes — never lets you catch your breath as it weaves through numerous stories that are sometimes humorous but often excruciating to watch. First-time filmmaker Kohn uses many traits of his mentor Errol Morris (piercing questions, amazing cinematography, powerful score) to tell his story. The film covers three equally compelling topics that […]

by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 22, 2007

GRACE NOTES

Anne Thompson at her Risky Business blog is reporting that the Weinstein Company has bought James Strouse’s Grace is Gone here at Sundance, beating out Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics. The price was not announced, but it’s rumored to be around $4 million. I’ll write more in detail about the film, which I saw at last night’s press screening, later, but here’s my quick take. In general, I found Richard Corliss’s Time mag broadside, “Sundance Movies are Bad for You,” unsupported and churlish, but if there’s one film that some of his criticisms might apply to, it’s this one. […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 21, 2007

MARRIAGE TAX

What are the odds that 2007 would see not one but two documentaries about people whose lives and relationships are transformed when they are blinded by acid thrown in their faces? Gary Tarn’s brilliant Black Sun, which Peter Bowen has written about for the current issue of Filmmaker, uses the attack on writer Hugues de Montalembert as an opportunity to consider the subject of sight in all its dimensions – practical, philosophical and even ethical. Dan Klores’s Crazy Love (produced and co-directed by Fisher Stevens) takes a different approach. Such issues of sight and seeing are almost afterthoughts in what […]

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 20, 2007

LOVE BITES

I’ll write more about it later, but I liked Mitchell Lichtenstein’s Dramatic Competition entry, Teeth, a very clever and deftly handled horror comedy that literalizes the myth of the vagina dentata. One can summon up a lot of filmic references — Cronenberg, Stuart Gordon, and the recent Saved — but Lichtenstein has taken an outrageous concept and realized it with his own blend of campy humor, splatter gore, and emotional realism. Props to lead actress Jess Weixler too.

by Scott Macaulay on Jan 20, 2007

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