Josh Fox’s Gasland was a huge hit at Sundance and plays this week on HBO. Here’s a quick piece on Fox and the issues surrounding natural gas explored in his film.
The documentary portrait of legendary civil rights lawyer William Kunstler, William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, has its television premiere tomorrow night, June 22, on POV. The film is directed by Kunstler’s two daughters, Emily and Sarah, and here, a day after Father’s Day, are their thoughts on rediscovering their dad through film: POV: How has your views of your father changed over the years, and what is his legacy to you? Emily: I think that every child has a moment where he or she starts to understand his or her parents as human beings instead of as heroes. For Sarah […]
If you hate the idea of Twitter (which, for the record, I do not as I find it generally positive and useful), this video may not change your mind. Jen Oslislo has just posted the second of her videos in which her friends turn their favorite tweets into short films. (Hat tip: Daring Fireball, aka John Gruber, who contributed one of the better ones to this collection.) Twitter: The Criterion Collection, Vol II from Jen Oslislo on Vimeo.
I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about any of the tilt-shift videos that are all over the web. With this technique, real people, places and things look like they are miniatures. Here’s a cool one featuring a shrunken New York called “The Sandpit” by Sam O’Hare.
I received this email as a response to this week’s edition of the Filmmaker newsletter. (If you don’t get the newsletter, which contains an Editor’s Letter not appearing on this blog, you can subscribe for free here.) Scott, I always love your weekly newsletter editorials and from your last I know you need a quick, humorous distraction. The new model for film distribution occurred to me today. I’m in a creative headstorm with my editor and since our film is about humanity, the universe, and the space program under the Bush Administration, it all synthesized at once. We kidnap potential […]
This July 9-29, Sundance will debut its first Sundance Institute Theatre Lab East Africa on the island of Manda, off the coast of Kenya. This Lab, guided by Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director of Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, will help artists with the creative process and the development of their projects. Much like the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, Sundance Institute East Africa will involve shared training and mentorship. According to Himberg, this East African partnership honors African cultural customs, but also breaks new grounds. Fellows and participants come from all over the region. 2010 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in East […]
The recently concluded IFP Narrative Lab was a dense week of study and mentorship as our participating filmmakers, all with films somewhere between rough and fine cut, were given guidance about picture lock, sound design, scoring and music licensing, festival strategy, distribution deals, and DIY, self and hybrid distribution efforts. Amy Dotson and Rose Vincelli from the IFP did a fantastic job of putting the program together. Susan Stover, Jon Reiss and I were the lab leaders. In addition, an inspiring group of editors, filmmakers, producers and industry vets came in to lend their expertise. At the end of the […]
The Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF) has announced its 2010 winners. The 13th annual BiFF ran from June 4th- 13th at indieScreen in Williamsburg and at Brooklyn Heights Cinema. Winners were selected from over 101 film film premieres. A total of $50,000 in prizes and services were awarded to the winners. Here is the list of awards: GRAND CHAMELEON AWARD THE MINUTEMEN MOVIE by Corey Wascinski Best Narrative Feature GABI ON THE ROOF IN JULY by Lawrence Michael Levine Best Documentary THE MINUTEMEN MOVIE by Corey Wascinski Best Narrative Short NAISSANCES by Anne Émond Best Animation SPUTNIK 5 by Susanna […]
I was shocked and tremendously saddened to read at Indiewire this morning the news that film critic Peter Brunette died today of a heart attack while attending the Taorima Film Festival in Italy. Eugene Hernandez’s obituary recalls Brunette’s many accomplishments, including his books on Michelangelo Antonioni, Wong Kar-wai and, most recently, Michael Haneke, as well as his work as director of film studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. From an excerpt from a Wake Forest publication quoted by Hernandez: “People should watch art films for the same reason they should read Virginia Woolf as well as Tom Clancy,” […]
With Jamaica in the American news again (just barely) due to the ongoing siege and popular counter resistance taking place surrounding the attempted U.S. extradition of alleged Jamaican drug kingpin and folk hero Christopher Coke, perhaps there is something timely about the release of Ben Chace and Sam Fleischner’s Wah Do Dem. A winner at last year’s Los Angeles Film Festival, it stars Sean Bones, a first time actor, as Max, an archetypal Williamsburg Hipster – he’s a skinny, aloof, very pale, self-consciously smug, skateboard riding dufus who attempts to take his girlfriend (Norah Jones) on a cruise to Jamaica. […]