Documentary
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A MESSAGE FROM BLACKSBURG
There’s been so much in the mainstream media in the last week about the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech — much of it rather soul deadening in its own right — that I hate to direct you to one more story. But if you’ve been following the MSM coverage you’ve probably come across a quote from or reference to Paul Harrill, an independent filmmaker who teaches film at the school. Harrill was the one who discovered a similarity between the images in Park Chan-wook’s Old Boy and the homemade videos of the killer. On his blog, which I’ve linked to […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2007 -
Edgar Wright, Hot Fuzz
Brit Edgar Wright’s film career began when, straight out of college, he wrote and directed his ultra-low budget debut feature, A Fistful of Fingers (1994), an affectionate comedic homage to spaghetti westerns. The film played a few festivals, and was enough of a success to get Wright work directing sitcoms and sketch shows, where he worked with many of the best British comic performers around. His friendship with actors Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson resulted in the trio creating Spaced, a television series about the oddball residents of a house in London which achieved cult status. The show, which playfully […]
by Nick Dawson on Apr 20, 2007 -
YOU DON’T KNOW JACK
In the issue of Filmmaker we just sent to the printer today (which explains the slacking on the blog), Steve Gallagher interviews Mary Jordan, director of Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis. The doc portrait of artist and filmmaker Jack Smith opens in New York tomorrow at the Film Forum, and I highly recommend it. Here’s an excerpt from Steve’s piece: Filmmaker: Were you surprised to discover that Jack Smith’s work is so political? Jordan: I’m a human rights person. I was a social activist myself before I got interested in Jack. So, for me, this documentary is a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 10, 2007 -
BEFORE THE FALL
Over at Alternet, Joshua Holland interviews James Scurlock, director of Maxed Out, a documentary on debt and the debt industry in America. Completed in 2006 when it made the festival rounds and now available on Netflix, the pic is unfortunately all too timely given the current collapse of the sub-prime lending market. Here’s Scurlock from the interview: When I started the project a lot of people didn’t even know what bankruptcy reform was, but most do now. A few weeks ago, nobody knew what “subprime” meant and now because of this whole mortgage fiasco I think everyone knows what that […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 26, 2007 -
WE’RE NOT DRUG DEALERS
At his CinemaTech blog, Scott Kirsner reports on the speakers at yesterday’s Future of Film Conference in L.A. Along with various business types discussing new media platforms like Joost, the speakers included a director, Jason Kohn, who discussed his Sundance hit, Manda Bala: He wants to shoot movies on film, and have them seen in theaters. With his documentary, which focuses on corruption and kidnapping in Brazil, “I was reacting against the future of film. The future of film at the time was video, and I thought the future sucked. So I decided to change the future.” He said he […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 23, 2007 -
OH, CANADA!
Canadian Front 2007 begins tonight with the New York premiere of Sarah Polley‘s Away From Her at MoMA. The next four days include eight films made in Canada by a diverse group of filmmakers including four women making their feature debuts (Polley being one of them). Film description and screening times are below. Remembering Arthur. 2006. Canada. Directed by Martin Lavut. Arthur Lipsett was a leading Canadian experimental filmmaker whose 1961 short Very Nice, Very Nice remains a seminal work of the avant-garde. A troubled man, Lipsett committed suicide in 1986. Martin Lavut, who knew Lipsett and many of his […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Mar 14, 2007 -
TRIBECA ANNOUNCES COMPETITION AND SPOTLIGHT SELECTIONS
The Tribeca Film Festival announced its World Narrative and World Documentary Feature Film Competitions as well as its selections in the Spotlight category today. The fest’s sixth edition will take place April 25-May 6. See below for the complete list of films. World Narrative CompetitionBorn and Bred (Nacido y Criado), directed by Pablo Trapero, written by Pablo Trapero and Mario Rulloni. (Argentina) – U.S. Premiere. When his life is shattered by a terrifying accident, a successful interior designer winds up in the desolate extremes of Patagonia, trying to find himself among other lost, disaffected men. Pablo Trapero’s haunting film demonstrates […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Mar 12, 2007 -
FILM INDEPENDENT 2007 SPIRIT AWARDS
The Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out yesterday in Santa Monica, California. Here are the winners. Best Feature: Little Miss Sunshine, Producers: Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa Best Director: Jonathon Dayton & Valerie Faris, Little Miss Sunshine Best Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Thank You For Smoking Best First Feature: Sweet Land. Director: Ali Selim. Producers: Alan Cumming, James Bigham, Ali Selim Best First Screenplay: Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine John Cassavetes Award (For the Best Feature made for under $500,000):Quinceañera. Writer/Directors: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland. Producer: Anne Clements Best Supporting Female: Frances […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 25, 2007 -
FIGHTING FOR FAIR USE
Kirby Dick‘s This Film Is Not Yet Rated didn’t just expose the inconsistencies in the MPAA ratings system but helped in the battle documentary filmmakers fight every time they make a movie and must determine what is in the realm of fair use and what isn’t. In Dick’s film over 100 clips are used to show how violent films are deemed acceptable by the MPAA while films with sexual scenes aren’t. Defining the clips as fair use, Dick didn’t pay licensing fees, which would have ranged between $10,000-$15,000 a clip. Inspired by the film, Kansas City-based Media/Professional Insurance has started […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Feb 23, 2007 -
A WALK IN THE SEA WINS THE TEDDY
Congrats to Esther Robinson (pictured), one of Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces, for winning this year’s Berlin Film Festival Teddy Award with her A Walk in the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory. For more on the film check out Brian Brooks at Indiewire, who has a feature up on Robinson’s doc along with two others: Steven Kijak’s Scott Walker documentary and Rodolphe Marconi’s Lagerfeld Confidential. Check out the Teddy link above for the other awards, which include the Best Narrative Feature Prize to Zero Chou’s Spider Lillies.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 17, 2007
