The following letter, drafted from materials provided by Donaldson and Callif, is an update on an amicus brief filed in support of filmmaker Joe Berlinger. If you’re not familiar with the situation regarding his film Crude and Chevron, please read the below and then this editorial by Robert Redford detailing the importance of this case. On June 23, 2010, the IFP joined thirteen other organizations and nine individuals in signing an amicus brief in support of filmmaker Joe Berlinger, who was ordered to turn over 600 hours of outtakes from his documentary Crude to petrochemical company Chevron Corporation. Chevron, threatened […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 6, 2010A STILL FROM DIRECTOR JOE BERLINGER’S CRUDE. COURTESY FIRST RUN FEATURES. Joe Berlinger is a filmmaker who makes documentaries that tell important stories with integrity, while still always entertaining his audiences. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1961, Berlinger studied English and German at Colgate University, and got his first taste of the movie business while working on TV commercials at an advertising agency in Frankfurt. After deciding he wanted to make films, he moved to New York City, where he got a job working for the Maysles brothers. Berlinger’s first foray into directing was the documentary short Outrageous Taxi Stories […]
by Nick Dawson on Sep 9, 2009[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 18, 6:00 pm — Temple Theatre, Park City] As someone who believes in making non-fiction feature films for the big screen, Crude is in many ways a reaction against some of the forces affecting cinema today. From a craft standpoint, Crude is steeped in the traditions of cinema vérité filmmaking that I have embraced throughout my career — it’s a film with a great deal of complexity and nuance, requiring a viewer’s full attention in order to appreciate all that I hope it has to offer. While new forms of distribution are important for independent filmmakers […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 18, 2009