Open | Filmmaker Magazine

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR KEN BRECHER DEPARTS SUNDANCE

The Sundance Institute has just announced that its executive director, Ken Brecher, has resigned but will continue to play a role with the organization as a strategic advisor. The press release: LOS ANGELES, CA — Wally Weisman, Chair of the Board of the Sundance Institute, today announced the resignation of Ken Brecher, Executive Director of the Institute, effective April 30, 2009. Weisman stated that Ken Brecher had led the Institute for nearly 14 years through a period of significant growth, productivity and global impact. Brecher will assume the role of Strategic Advisor for the Institute for the next two years. […]

by Scott Macaulay on Apr 9, 2009

Sergey Dvortsevoy, Tulpan

ASKHAT KUCHINCHIREKOV AND FRIEND IN DIRECTOR SERGEY DVORTSEVOY’S TULPAN. COURTESY ZEITGEIST FILMS. The image of Kazakhstan and its cinema took a hit recently with the unwanted attention of a certain Borat Sagdiyev, however the rise to prominence of the highly talented writer-director Sergey Dvortsevoy should help redress that national image problem. Dvortsevoy was born in the Kazakh city of Chimkent in 1962 and initially had no particular interest in film. After high school, he attended aviation college in the Ukraine and the Radiotechnical-Institut in Novosibirsk, Russia, in order to become a radio engineer for Aeroflot, the Russian aviation company, a […]

by Nick Dawson on Apr 1, 2009

IFP NARRATIVE LAB DEADLINE APPROACHING

Just a quick note to let the filmmakers in our readership know that the IFP Narrative Lab, which I am leading along with Gretchen McGowan, has a deadline of April 17. The lab is a five-day intensive series of workshops, roundtables and presentations for filmmakers whose works are at the rough cut stage and who are seeking guidance about editing and reaching picture lock, sound design, festival strategy, distribution and legal issues, and DIY releasing strategies. It takes place in New York June 8 – 12. A number of past participants have blogged about their experience over at The Workbook […]

by Scott Macaulay on Mar 28, 2009

THE SKOLL WORLD FORUM ON SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, DAY ONE

Here’s the second of our guest blogs from Sundance Lab-supported filmmaker Gayle Ferraro, who is blogging from the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Day 1The first day was amazing. Our opening Sundance filmmaker Meet and Greet session, which was more like a panel presentation, went very well; it was a great opportunity to learn about my fellow filmmakers and find out where their game is at. Sundance really picked a seasoned group of wonderful people with Joe Berlinger, who talked about Crude; Robert Kenner, who just premiered Food, Inc.; Greg Barker, who talked about his latest, Sergio; and Jon […]

by Scott Macaulay on Mar 26, 2009

BLOGGING FROM THE 2009 SKOLL WORLD FORUM

Today at the Said Business School at Oxford University, England, the 2009 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship kicked off, and with this year’s edition comes a partnership between the Skoll Foundation and the Sundance Institute that sends four doc filmmakers to the forum. As the Skoll Foundation describes the conference, “Each year nearly 800 delegates from more than 60 countries convene for this premier gathering of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. Prominent figures from the social, academic, finance, corporate and policy sectors engage for three days and nights in a series of debates, discussions and work sessions focused on […]

by Scott Macaulay on Mar 25, 2009

MADE IN CHINA & 45365 TOP SXSW AWARD WINNERS

The winners of the SXSW jury and audience awards were just announced and Judi Krant‘s Made In China (pictured right) was awarded Best Narrative Feature while Bill Ross‘s 45365 took home Best Documentary. Another standout is Scott Teems‘s That Evening Sun which won a Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast and the Narrative Audience Award. The complete list of winners are below. Feature Jury Awards DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Winner – 45365Director: Bill RossAn inquiring look at everyday life in Middle America, the film explores the congruities of daily life in an American town Sidney, Ohio. Honorable Mention – The Way […]

by Jason Guerrasio on Mar 17, 2009

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The goal in any festival director transition: to maintain the quality of a festival and begin to put one’s personal stamp on it while not slowing its momentum or dampening its good will. Mid-way through SXSW, I’d say that for new director Janet Pierson, pictured here at the BMI dinner, that mission has been handily accomplished. Attendance is up; audience reaction to a good number of films is positive; the panels are informational and packed; there’s the requisite fanboy buzz from the opening night I Love You, Man plus today’s sneak of some of the Bruno footage; and there are […]

by Scott Macaulay on Mar 16, 2009

@SXSW: FOR THE LOVE OF FAIR USE

Sub-theme for me at SXSW this year: Fair Use. A day after posting my article on Tommy Pallotta about his American Prince, which employs a Fair Use strategy to include film clips illustrating doc subject Steven Prince’s life in the movies and relationship with Martin Scorsese, I run into Gerard Peary, who is here in Austin with his doc For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. His film includes interviews with critics like Andrew Sarris, Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert, Harry Knowles, Karina Longworth and Elvis Mitchell, and it also includes clips from the films they talk […]

by Scott Macaulay on Mar 15, 2009

“THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF LITTLE DIZZLE'”S DAVID RUSSO By Alicia Van Couvering

David Russo’s The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle is not your average Seattle-based, night-shift janitors eating self-heating cookies as unwitting test subjects male pregnancy special effects-peppered butt fish movie. The film’s official synopsis is: “When Dory’s life seems like it’s going down the drain, a strange ‘new life’ takes shape inside him and he learns that sometimes you don’t have to find meaning; it grows in you.” But this is a film that defies description and transcends its bizarre title and bizarre-er premise to take you into a strange and beautiful place you never knew you wanted to explore (but […]

by Jason Guerrasio on Mar 15, 2009

“ST. NICK’”S DAVID LOWERY By Alicia Van Couvering

There is almost no dialogue in the first half of David Lowery’s feature debut, St. Nick. A young boy and a girl enter an abandoned house, clean it up, build a fire, forget to open a window and fill the house with smoke, figure out a chimney and watch the embers turn into flames. They sleep, they forage for food; somehow they survive, until reality starts bearing down on them. It’s not clear why they ran away, or if anyone is looking for them. The film is stark and the house feels haunted, but you can’t stop thinking: this was […]

by Jason Guerrasio on Mar 15, 2009

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