6576 Results for “production”
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A Spoiler-Free Review of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi
When The Force Awakens came out, I was totally fine with it; judging by IRL/online post-screening reactions, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi is going to be broadly received as definitely better, possibly great. (That’s the “objective” opinion fanboy types say they’re looking for when angrily commenting on reviews disparaging their favorite properties.) Meanwhile, I had a strange experience, asking myself throughout why I wasn’t having a better time. Making a new Star Wars film is both hard (big production, managing continuity within the greater franchise universe, executing coherent and hopefully exciting action sequences) and not: almost everyone showing up will have some […]
by Vadim Rizov on Dec 12, 2017 -
“My Approach is More Novelistic than Journalistic”: Director Frederick Wiseman on His Oscar-Shortlisted Doc, Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Now 87, Frederick Wiseman is showing no signs of slowing down. His most recent documentary Ex Libris: The New York Public Library, which gives an inside look at the esteemed institution, has been shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Staying true to the filmmaker’s distinctive style of organic, no-fuss lensing, with subtle opinions about his subject matter teased out through his editorial process, Wiseman assuredly conveys in this latest work, via 197 minutes of filmic snapshots, the rich intellectual life offered — and symbolized by — the Library and its offering of community events and talks with figures […]
by Tiffany Pritchard on Dec 12, 2017 -
Tall Trees and Inner Lives: Kate and Laura Mulleavy on their Debut Film, Woodshock
A24 is having a good year. Again. After last year ushering Moonlight to Oscar gold, they are now poised to do the same with Lady Bird, Good Time, The Disaster Artist and The Florida Project. If they were distributing Call Me By Your Name, they’d have a monopoly on hip films of the season. Indeed, the distributor has a knack for creating pop-culture phenomenon out of independent films that might have been buried by other distributors. I’ve really been enjoying the “Lady Bird for President” posters and seeing pink hair trending. But what happens to the films in their packed […]
by Meredith Alloway on Dec 6, 2017 -
“Speaking to a New World”: Addison O’Dea on the Virtual Reality Series Discovery TRVLR
Last month Discovery Communications, Google, and Here Be Dragons released one of the most ambitious virtual reality documentary series yet produced, Discovery TRVLR. Writer-director Addison O’Dea and his team created 38 episodes on all seven continents, going to as remote locations as possible and focusing on the universality of the people who live there. Available on DiscoveryVR.com, the Discovery VR app, and YouTube, the series marks the next step, after works like Felix & Paul Studios’ Nomads series, to push VR into the field of ethnographic nonfiction. But as O’Dea emphasizes in our conversation below, TRVLR is first and foremost a travel show, not an anthropological […]
by Randy Astle on Dec 4, 2017 -
The Year of the Woman: The 30th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Though it’s been half a decade since I’ve covered Amsterdam’s International Documentary Film Festival, this year’s 30th edition was a welcome reminder as to why IDFA is often heralded as the crème de la crème of doc fests. First there’s its sheer size and scope — this year, a whopping 319 documentaries were presented over the festival’s 12 days. Fortunately, these nonfiction projects of every stripe were helpfully divided into a surprisingly navigable 20 sections — everything from your standard competitions (and not-so-standard, as IDFA DocLab has both a Competition for Digital Storytelling and a Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction) to […]
by Lauren Wissot on Dec 1, 2017 -
Lessons Learned: One Podcaster’s Education
Adam Schartoff’s Filmwax Radio is one of the longest-running independent film podcasts as well as one with the deepest roots in the independent community. After dozens of episodes, Schartoff is in the final week of a Kickstarter to raise funds for new equipment and expanded production. He’s written a guest post below about the evolution of the podcast. Please consider supporting him at his Kickstarter page. — SM Years ago when I started hosting the first iteration of Filmwax Radio, back when it was part of the BBox Radio internet radio platform, I got some good advice from the producer […]
by Adam Schartoff on Nov 30, 2017 -
Josh Koury and Myles Kane on Their Controversial Gay Talese Documentary Voyeur
With character driven films such as Journey to Planet X and We are Wizards, duo Josh Koury and Myles Kane have carved out a reputation as observational filmmakers. Their Voyeur — which premiered at NYFF and is now streaming on Netflix — explores the unique relationship between famed writer Gay Talese and former motel owner/self declared voyeur Gerald Foos. Foos, who claims to have secretly watched guests having sex at his Colorado motel for several decades, sent Talese an anonymous handwritten letter detailing his “secret life” back in 1980. Intrigued by the subject matter, the writer agreed to fly up to […]
by Cliff Benfield on Nov 30, 2017 -
Sundance Announces Full 2018 Features Lineup
In years past, Sundance has unveiled its feature film lineup a few slates at a time; this year, we get all of the features scheduled to date in one fell swoop. The lineup — 110 strong over 10 categories — includes no less than 15 projects that are alumni of IFP, Filmmaker‘s parent magazine, including 306 Hollywood, the debut feature from Elan and Jonathan Bogarín, profiled in this year’s 25 New Faces of Film. It’s a heady line-up; dive in. The festival runs from January 18 through 28; look for our coverage starting then. U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION American Animals / U.S.A. (Director and […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 29, 2017 -
What Makes A Great Interview? Filmmakers Share Tips on Securing Great On-Screen Dialogues
At “What Makes a Great Interview,” a November 12 panel at DOC NYC, moderator Sandi DuBowski (Trembling Before G-D) offered his reflections on interviews: “People want to have a cathartic experience, a soul journey… to take a breath out of the everyday rush and really sink into their life. I think interviews are very holy and they are gorgeous and there is something about life in them that is special.” Three filmmakers joined DuBowski on the stage to reflect on their process for conducting great interviews, from their personal theories to little tricks in the tool bag (like dropping a […]
by Lauretta Prevost on Nov 29, 2017 -
“Don’t Judge Your Footage in the Field”: Tips on Doc Verite Shooting From the Camerafolk Behind One of Us, The Judge, and E-Team
Vérité cinema is frequently tossed about as a term, and likely most of us know the broader strokes of the genre: an observational camera whose team aims not to interfere with the subjects or action; a film frequently built on intimate access, shunning sit down interviews or use of archival footage. At a November 12 DOC NYC PRO panel dubbed “Observational Camera,” five respected filmmakers reflected on the specifics of how they go about shooting direct cinema. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s One of Us follows three individuals who leave an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, and on the panel were cinematographers Jenni […]
by Lauretta Prevost on Nov 27, 2017
