Documentary

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
“AN IMPRESSIVE DEPTH OF FIELD”

Ann Hornaday has a long overdue mainstream media piece on the aesthetic virtues of short-form web video in The Washington Post. It’s a must read as she quite thoughtfully provides some words of wisdom — “Your limitions are your strength,” “You’ve made us laugh, you’ve made us link, now make us think” are two examples — for aspiring web filmmakers. And, among her examples, Jamie Stuart’s White Plastic Flower, his impressionistic reportage from this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Here’s what she had to say about his podcast: But a foreshortened, small-box format doesn’t have to limit cinematographic ambition. In White […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 4, 2007
SUNDANCE WRAPS

Following a Saturday evening awards ceremony, Sundance wrapped its 10-day run today with a series of award-winner screenings on Sunday. At the Saturday event, the drama Padre Nuestro, directed by Christopher Zalla, was announced winner of the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize. The Documentary Grand Jury Prize went to Jason Kohn‘s Brazil-set corruption saga Manda Bala (Send a Bullet). Audience prizewinners included James C. Straus‘s John Cusack-starrer Grace Is Gone for the Dramatic Audience Award and Documentary Audience Award recipient Hear and Now from Irene Taylor Brodsky. The complete list of awards is available on the festival website. After the awards […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 29, 2007
David Kaplan, Year of the Fish

YEAR OF THE FISH. This article is part of Filmmaker’s Sundance 2007 Special Coverage. A veteran of Sundance with his short films — including the cryptic, menacing fairy tales, Little Red Riding Hood (starring Christina Ricci and Quentin Crisp!), Little Suck-A-Thumb, and The Frog King — which are regularly shown to film students as examples of exemplary short-form filmmaking, David Kaplan returns to the festival with his first feature, Year of the Fish. At once a singular New York immigrant story, as well as a re-imagining of the fairy tale (Kaplan’s real-world, adult conception of children’s stories can bring to […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 24, 2007
PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE

Now that both public and the politicians are denouncing the war in Iraq, documentaries like Charles Ferguson’s No End in Sight, premiering in Sundance’s Documentary Competition, are simply essential. The inevitable withdrawal of U.S. troops is sure to prompt attacks by the real “bitter enders” –- administration officials and neo-cons who will pin the war’s failures on an American lack of resolve – and Ferguson’s sober and straightforward documentary is the necessary rebuttal. Recalling that old piece of screenplay advice, “There are no third act problems,” Ferguson takes us back to the run-up to the war and the months following […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 24, 2007
NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET

There are many impressive documentaries at Sundance this year but my favorite so far is Jason Kohn’s Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) in the Documentary Competition. Examining the violence, political corruption and rampant kidnappings in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this doc — with a brisk running time of 85 minutes — never lets you catch your breath as it weaves through numerous stories that are sometimes humorous but often excruciating to watch. First-time filmmaker Kohn uses many traits of his mentor Errol Morris (piercing questions, amazing cinematography, powerful score) to tell his story. The film covers three equally compelling topics that […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 22, 2007

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