Documentary

Avi Nesher, The Secret

ANIA BUKSTEIN AND MICHAL SHTAMLER IN DIRECTOR AVI NESHER’S THE SECRETS. COURTESY MONTEREY MEDIA. Avi Nesher seems to have had two careers as a filmmaker rather than just one. Nesher’s dual identity partly stems from the fact that the Israeli writer-director spent most of his childhood and teenage years in New York and only returned to the country of his birth after attending Columbia University. Once back, Nesher wasted little time in establishing himself as one of the brightest young figures in Israeli cinema with hits like The Troupe and Dizengoff 99 (both 1979). In 1985, Rage and Glory, Nesher’s […]
by Nick Dawson on Nov 26, 2008
Ellen Kuras, The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)

THAVISOUK PHRASAVATH AND ORADY PHRASAVATH IN DIRECTOR ELLEN KURAS’ THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON). COURTESY CINEMA GUILD. Since she first came to prominence almost twenty years ago, Ellen Kuras has established herself as one of the most talented directors of photography working today. Film was not Kuras’ primary focus when she was younger; the New Jersey native initially attended Brown to study anthropology but became interested in photography after taking a class at the nearby Rhode Island School of Design. Though she won a Fulbright Scholarship to go to the esteemed Lodz Film Academy, Kuras instead began working in film, taking numerous […]
by Nick Dawson on Nov 21, 2008
TAYLOR GREESON ON MEADOWLARK

Taylor Greeson’s Meadowlark was a happy discovery for me while sitting on this year’s “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” Gotham Award panel. I didn’t know Greeson and hadn’t heard of his film. But I, along with the panel, responded to his formally ambitious mixture of crime-reconstruction film and personal documentary. Here’s the program note. “When I was twelve years old, my brother was murdered, I lost my virginity to a twenty-year-old man, and I was ordained with the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.” So begins Meadowlark, Taylor Greeson’s quietly devastating […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 20, 2008
JAKE MAHAFFY ON WELLNESS

Jake Mahaffy is one of my favorite filmmakers in this week’s “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” series this week at MOMA. We selected him as one of our “25 New Faces” in 2005, and I’ve watched his shorts and his Sundance Lab project with interest since. His second feature, Wellness, won the Grand Prize at SXSW this year, and its emotional, political and spiritual themes only become more relevant by the day. Mike Ryan beautifully wrote about the film at Hammer to Nail. An excerpt: One of our greatest American philosophers, William James, writes about the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 20, 2008
SHORTLIST FOR BEST DOC

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 15 titles on the shortlist for Best Documentary feature for the Academy Awards (airing Feb. 22). They are: At the Death House DoorThe Betrayal (Nerakhoon)Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah SeneshEncounters at the End of the WorldFuelThe GardenGlass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve PartsI.O.U.S.A.In a DreamMade in AmericaMan on WirePray the Devil Back to HellStandard Operating ProcedureThey Killed Sister DorothyTrouble the Water I’m pleasantly surprised to see Ellen Kuras‘s The Betrayal made the cut (I really didn’t think the Academy had it in them) but […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 18, 2008
Josh Koury, We Are Wizards

HOLDEN AND DARIUS WILKINS IN DIRECTOR JOSH KOURY’S WE ARE WIZARDS. COURTESY BROOKLYN UNDERGROUND FILMS. Despite his youth, 31-year-old Josh Koury has already carved out quite a reputation for himself within the world of independent film. Born and raised in upstate New York, Koury studied fine art at Munson Williams Proctor Institute in Utica and then film at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, where he also ran a weekly multimedia event. Following his graduation, Koury made his debut feature, Standing By Yourself, a documentary about problem teens in upstate New York, which premiered in competition at Slamdance in 2002 and was released […]
by Nick Dawson on Nov 14, 2008
GUS VAN SANT ON MAKING MILK

Several articles from Filmmaker‘s Fall issue are online here on the site, but one piece not included in our online offerings has just been posted on the FilmInFocus site. It’s an interview with Gus Van Sant by Peter Bowen that appeared in the special Gotham Award tribute section, and I think it’s an excellent look into Van Sant’s creative process on his latest film, Milk. And, by the way, the IFP is selling individual tickets to the Gothams this year. More info available here. Two excerpts: Filmmaker: How did your story veer from the historical record? Van Sant: Mostly we […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 13, 2008
FILM FINANCING TOWNHALL

The Institute for International Film Financing (IIFF) have announced another of their popular networking events for next Monday, Nov. 17. Information on how to attend and who’s scheduled to speak are below. IIFF New York City Townhall Meeting Monday, November 17, 2008 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM School of Visual Arts (SVA) 209 East 23rd Street Amphitheater – 3rd floor New York, NY 10010 VERY LIMITED CAPACITY. To avoid disappointment, reserve your DISCOUNTED SEAT now at http://nym.filmfinancing.org/111708w Next Monday’s gathering of FILMMAKERS AND FINANCIERS follows IIFF’sproven formula for film financing success. It features a powerful lineup ofLEADING TOPICAL EXPERTS whose […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 11, 2008
“BLESS ME FATHER, FOR I DON’T GET SCORSESE”

Roger Ebert has published on his blog a letter from Jamie Stuart about Martin Scorsese and Stuart’s ambivalence towards him. An excerpt: As well, I tended to prefer filmmakers whom I believed had solved the problems laid out for themselves in making their movies. There was always an unmistakable confidence of execution in the work of Coppola or Spielberg or later the Coens. With Scorsese, however, I always saw insecurity: For all their labor, his movies felt fussy like they were never quite finished. You could see the agonizing conflict of decision-making in his craft (something that many people claim […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 6, 2008
Kurt Kuenne, Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father

DIRECTOR KURT KUENNE WITH ZACHARY BAGBY IN KUENNE’S DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER. COURTESY OSCILLOSCOPE PICTURES & MSNBC FILMS. Since he was a boy, making films has been at the very center of Kurt Kuenne’s life. He fell in love with the movies as a kid growing up in Silicon Valley in Southern California, and already at the age of seven began trying to emulate his heroes by shooting films on Super 8 and then later VHS cameras, using friends and family as actors. Kuenne studied film at USC’s prestigious School of Cinema-Television (where he […]
by Nick Dawson on Oct 31, 2008

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