Documentary

GOTHAM AWARDS WINNERS

IFP‘s 17th annual Gotham Awards were handed out last night at Brooklyn’s Steiner Studios with Sean Penn‘s Into The Wild winning the Best Feature prize. The other winners include Michael Moore‘s Sicko for Best Doc; Best Ensemble Cast went to two films, Sidney Lumet‘s Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, and Kasi Lemmons‘s Talk To Me; director Craig Zobel walked away with the Breakthough Director prize, his debut film The Great World of Sound received three Gotham Award nominations; Juno‘s Ellen Page won Breakthrough Actor and Ronald Bronstein‘s Frownland won The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 28, 2007
SPIRIT AWARDS ANNOUNCED

2008 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards were announced this morning with I’m Not There, Juno, The Savages and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly leading the way with four nominations including Best Feature. The full list of nominees are below. Awards will be handed out the day before the Oscars, Feb. 23. BEST FEATURE The Diving Bell and the ButterflyI’m Not ThereJunoA Mighty HeartParanoid Park BEST DIRECTORTodd Haynes, I’m Not ThereTamara Jenkins, The SavagesJason Reitman, JunoJulian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the ButterflyGus Van Sant, Paranoid Park BEST MALE LEADPedro Castaneda, August EveningDon Cheadle, Talk To MePhilip Seymour Hoffman, The SavagesFrank […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 27, 2007
WEEKEND LINK CATCH-UP

Here’s a collection of links to some things I’ve found interesting in the last week but which, because of the holiday, I wasn’t able to post here as their own separate entries. Filmmaker AJ Schnack has written an excellent post on the yearly disappointment that is the Academy Award doc shortlist. (For the complete list, click here). Typically, the Academy overlooked the most artistically risk-taking films, movies like Manda Bala and Billy the Kid, and went, mostly, for worthy films dealing with serious subjects that also happened to subscribe to long accepted methods of documentary practice. (Nominees included such strong […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 25, 2007
ANOTHER WORLD

Because it’s laid out at the bottom of the home page, you may have missed Rak Razam’s interview with French director Jan Kounen. Razam’s was a fascinating over-the-transom submission that explains what the talented Gallic director has been up to the last few years. I first came across Kounen’s filmmaking many years ago when I saw his short Vibraboy. A friend and aesthetic colleague of directors like Gaspar Noe and Marc Caro, Kounen attracted international buzz with the film and then went on to make a hyperviolent and stylish crime movie, Dobermann, that starred Vincent Cassell and Monica Bellucci. The […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 12, 2007
Julien Temple, Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

THE LATE, GREAT JOE STRUMMER IN JULIEN TEMPLE’S JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN. COURTESY IFC FIRST TAKE. For 30 years, Brit Julien Temple has combined his dual passions of film and music, and worked with greats in both fields along the way. He first came to prominence with The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle (1979), the Sex Pistols’ madcap cinematic offering, and from there went on to become an important figure in the fledgling pop video medium as well as pioneering the feature-length promo with the Human League’s spy-themed Mantrap (1983) and Mick Jagger’s Running Out of Luck (1987). […]
by Nick Dawson on Nov 2, 2007
Director Jan Kounen on 99 Francs

Jan Kounen is a French music video and feature film director who has specialized in bringing the spiritual world to the screen. On locations in Peru and Mexico to film the psychedelic spaghetti western, Renegade (2004, released as Blueberry outside the U.S.), an adaptation of the French comic book by renowned visionary artist Moebius, he discovered Shamanism, fell in love with the indigenous Shipibo-Conibos culture and later spent several months learning the ways of their plant medicine, ayahuasca. He even filmed a documentary about it, Other Worlds, which will be re-released as a DVD box set in October. His latest […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 26, 2007
blackANDwhite, LYNCH

DAVID LYNCH IN DIRECTOR blackANDwhite’S LYNCH. COURTESY ABSURDA. Contrary to popular belief, many directors are genuinely modest and can honestly maintain that they make movies for the love of cinema (rather than the money, stardom, hedonistic lifestyle, etc.), but it is still surprising to find one who is unwilling to reveal their identity. This is the case with the director of LYNCH, the new documentary about David Lynch, who is choosing to remain anonymous behind the pseudonym blackANDwhite. He (for blackANDwhite is a he) initially drew attention to himself with this refusal to stand in the limelight, and prompted the […]
by Nick Dawson on Oct 26, 2007
WHO IS PABLO?

The appealingly designed, crisply minimal Motion Design site describes itself as “a research blog on the subject of Motion Design. It serves as a means to discuss, share and develop ideas that will be used for a feature length documentary film.” I came across the site because it just posted an article about Pablo, director Richard Goldgewicht and producer Jeremy Goldscheider’s animated documentary on title designer Pablo Ferro. (You may remember this film and these filmmakers — they were featured in our 25 New Faces this year.) From the piece: Back in March of this year, a short teaser popped […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 25, 2007
2007 GOTHAM AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

IFP‘s 17th annual Gotham Awards nominees were announced this morning. Among the hopefuls are some of the most talked about films of the year, many of which are certain to find more recognition as awards season builds. Highlights include Craig Zobel (one of our “25 New Faces of Independent Film” this year) receiving three nominations for his debut Great World of Sound (Best Feature, Breakthrough Director and Breakthrough Actor for Kene Holliday); a strong list of noms for Best Doc that includes The Devil Came on Horseback and Sicko; and some worthy performances are vying for the Best Ensemble Cast, […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 22, 2007
NYFF.45 #4

In Jamie Stuart’s final episode of his shorts series from the New York Film Festival, things have gotten a little out of hand for our video reporter. But he manages to get an interview with John Landis, whose documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project premiered at the fest. Approximate running time: 4:01. Download the short here by right clicking and choosing Save Target or Save Link. (26M) Please visit Jamie’s site at www.mutinycompany.com.
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 22, 2007

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