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Locarno 2023: Circles of Reference
Festivals have a baked-in tension between the works they’re meant to showcase—marginal relative to the marketplace, hence the (sometimes pejorative) descriptor “festival film”—and the sponsorships necessary for them to operate, the larger and more corporate the better. Cracks will inevitably emerge; thus, attending Locarno with his latest, The Old Oak, socialist Ken Loach spent part of his press conference dutifully denouncing sponsors UBS Bank, prompting two Swiss journalists sitting next to an attending friend to draw their breath sharply in protest: “UBS is an ethical bank.” Another tension is between the ideal of a “festival film”—work at the boundaries of what’s […]
by Vadim Rizov on Aug 23, 2023 -
Film at Lincoln Center Reveals Currents Lineup for 2023 New York Film Festival
Film at Lincoln Center announces today the Currents lineup for the 61st New York Film Festival, which will take place at FLC and select theaters across NYC from September 29 through October 15. Comprised of 11 features and 36 shorts, the 2023 Currents lineup—which serves to highlight “filmmakers and artists working at the vanguard of the medium”—will feature films from 23 countries and compliment the NYFF Main Slate. “The filmmakers in this year’s Currents lineup range from well-known veterans to prodigious newcomers, and the films encompass narrative, documentary, and experimental modes, sometimes recombined and redefined,” said Dennis Lim, Artistic Director, […]
by Natalia Keogan on Aug 23, 2023 -
“If I Ever Need to Rob a Bank…”: Melissa Miller Costanzo on Directing the Romantic Comedy The List
I got a call from my agents, and they told me they had a script they wanted me to read. It was called The List, a broad romantic comedy about a woman who finds out her fiancé had slept with someone on his celebrity free pass list, so she decides to go to Los Angeles and try to get with someone from hers. My initial thoughts were, great concept, and why me? When I finished the script my thoughts were, needs some work, and why me? My first film was something I had written and directed called All These Small […]
by Melissa Miller Costanzo on Aug 22, 2023 -
Trailer Watch: Ryan Dickie and Abigail Horton’s Blow Up My Life
Filmmaker is happy to share the official trailer for Blow Up My Life, the debut feature from co-writers, directors and producers Ryan Dickie and Abigail Horton. The duo appeared on our 25 New Faces of Film list in 2016 with their production outfit New Media Ltd. alongside their collaborator Mike Anderson. The film has screened at the Austin Film Festival, Chattanooga Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival and Harlem International Film Festival, where it won Best Film. The film stars Jason Selvig (of the political satire comedy duo The Good Liars) and Kara Young (I’m a Virgo). Co-starring are Davram Stiefler (Selvig’s The Good Liars […]
by Natalia Keogan on Aug 22, 2023 -
Looking Towards 2043: The Worldbuilding Weekend of Experimental Realities
In early July, a cohort of over a dozen filmmakers and artists gathered in the International Documentary Association’s sun-drenched conference room. Some had flown in from as far away as the UK and Serbia, others were local to LA. A number—perhaps most of them—weren’t exactly sure what was in store for them at the weekend-long Experimental Realities event. Or even why exactly they were there. I asked the event organizers how members of the impressive group — who included Greg de Cuir Jr., Alison Nguyen, and Mark Mushiva — were selected. “This is funny because the participants have been asking […]
by Joanne McNeil on Aug 22, 2023 -
“You Are Enough”: Ron Cehpas Jones on Back To One (Expanded Re-Release)
The great actor of the stage and screen, Ron Cephas Jones died on August 19, 2023, at the age of 66. On this episode from 2020, he details the value of a true collaborative relationship with the director, why the script never leaves his side in preproduction, talks about what it was like to slowly build “William” on This Is Us through many seasons of that show, and takes us back to his early days at LAByrinth theater in New York City to explain how Philip Seymour Hoffman forever changed his approach to work, plus much more! This is an expanded version […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Aug 22, 2023 -
Sundance Institute Announces 2023 Documentary Fund Grantees
The Sundance Institute announces today 23 projects that have been selected for the 2023 Documentary Fund, which provides unrestricted grant funding totaling just over $1,000,000 for filmmakers from around the globe. Among this year’s recipients, six projects are in development, 14 are in production and three are in post-production. Grants are made possible by the Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Gucci and the Kendeda Fund. Highlights among 2023 grantees are Looking at Ourselves directed by Oscar and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Lourdes Portillo, Adam’s Apple directed by artist and filmmaker Amy Jenkins, Untitled Uvalde Documentary by Anayansi […]
by Natalia Keogan on Aug 21, 2023 -
“What ‘Motherhood’ Really Means”: Laura Moss on birth/rebirth
The following interview was originally published during our Sundance 2023 coverage and is being republished today ahead of birth/rebirth hitting theaters via IFC Films and Shudder this weekend. — Editor The narrative kernel of birth/rebirth, Laura Moss’s debut feature, was originally planted in the writer-director’s mind 20 years ago. The filmmaker (and former EMT) was creatively stirred after reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and feeling that its interest in unnatural procreation could translate well to an all-female retelling. As the decades passed, Moss began negotiating integral facets of their identity—namely coming out as non-binary and becoming increasingly convinced they would never have […]
by Natalia Keogan on Aug 18, 2023 -
In the Garden: Remembering Independent Film Distributor, Producer and Mentor Ray Price
I have lived longer and better than many others. I have selfishly demanded that I only do what I wanted to do—which isn’t completely true. But it is true that I have often spurned great amounts of money and stature because I believe good work is essential… The last time we spoke, I had you on speaker-phone as I made my way down the backyard garden, holding my baby in the morning sunshine, and as your words came over the cellphone, they wove into the chorus of finches chirping in the trees and the buzzing of the bumblebees joyously coating […]
by Rodrigo Reyes on Aug 18, 2023 -
“This Movie Could Only Happen at This Budget in New York City”: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz on Mutt
A breakout at Sundance, Berlinale and New Directors/New Films this year, Chilean-Serbian writer-director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s debut feature Mutt is as scrappy and charming as its canine title. Following a frenzied 24 hours in the life of New York trans man Feña (Lío Mehiel, the first trans actor to win the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting at Sundance), Mutt explores the constant micro-aggressions that trans people face daily—even in a supposedly hyper-tolerant locale, especially from loved ones—and the connections and community that make these encounters sting a little bit less. Even when Feña faces his capricious ex-boyfriend, moody tween […]
by Natalia Keogan on Aug 18, 2023
