Documentary

Cherien Dabis, Make a Wish

MAKE A WISH. This article is part of Filmmaker’s Sundance 2007 Special Coverage. Supported by numerous prestigious grants — including the Jerome Foundation’s New York City Media Arts Grant, the New York State Council on the Art’s Electronic Media and Film Distribution Grant, and National Geographic’s All Roads Film Project Seed Grant — Itmanna (Make a Wish), the most recent short film by writer/director, Cherien Dabis, will quickly follow its Sundance bow with screenings at Berlin and the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. A former media activist and public relations specialist in Washington D.C., Dabis is the daughter of Palestinian/Jordanian immigrants, […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 20, 2007
Fellipe Barbosa, Salt Kiss

SALT KISS. This article is part of Filmmaker’s Sundance 2007 Special Coverage. Salt Kiss, the second short film by writer/director Fellipe Barbosa to screen at Sundance (following last year’s La Muerte Es Pequena), has none of the tropes commonly associated—by Americans—with “Latin American” cinema. That means no knife-fights, gambling, gang violence, or overt poverty. Yet Salt Kiss is absolutely a Latin American film—Brazilian, to be exact—because its creator told a film straight from his heart, and yes, he happens to be from Brazil. In truth, Salt Kiss shares much more with two fine American independent films released in recent years—Sideways […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 19, 2007
Ian Olds, Bomb

BOMB. This article is part of Filmmaker’s Sundance 2007 Special Coverage. It isn’t easy to glean a sense of Ian Olds’ identity from his films — they’re too diverse, too global. From Occupation: Dreamland (short-listed for an Academy Award), a breathtaking documentary that avoids simple political interpretation by opting to tell the story of the Iraq War from the perspective of the entire city of Fallujah — including both native Iraqis and U.S. troops — to Bomb, his most recent film, which explores teenage heartache against the backdrop of a decrepit bombing range and junkie malaise, Olds seems to be […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 19, 2007
SCHOOL SHOOTER SHUT DOWN

Boing Boing has been covering this week the controversy surrounding the Slamdance Film Festival’s rejection of a video game, Super Columbine Massacre, from its interactive competition, the Slamdance Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition. Here is Slamdance’s official statement: The Super Columbine Massacre RPG game has been withdrawn from Slamdance ’07. While understanding the different positions people have already taken with the game, we want to express the struggle we had with ours. On one hand, a jury selected a game they believed merited programming, a decision that always leads to our organization supporting the creator’s independent vision and freedom of expression. On […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 9, 2007
GARRETT SCOTT DOCUMENTARY DEVELOPMENT GRANT

Thom Powers emailed the below, an announcement of the Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant, so created in memory of the talented documentary filmmaker and wonderful, passionate and engaged person who passed away this past Spring. What: This grant funds first time documentary makers for travel and accommodations at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, April 12-15, 2007. For four days, grant recipients will be given access to films, participate in master classes and be mentored by experienced filmmakers. TWO filmmakers will be chosen for the grant in its first year. Deadline: Applications must be postmarked by February 5. Applicants will […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 24, 2006
GATHERING THE TRIBES

Screenwriter Annie Nocenti (she wrote Patriotville, directed by Talmage Cooley, which is currently in post-production) just returned from Baluchistan where she shot a documentary with partner Wendelin Johnson. She’s written a piece for The Brooklyn Rail discussing her trip which is a fascinating portrait of a “modern Sitting Bull”: the Khan of Kalat, Mir Suleiman Daud (pictured). A “chief of chiefs” in Baluchistan, one of Pakistan’s tribal provinces which also borders Iran and Afghanistan, Khan Suleiman is a Gucci shade-wearing, Hummer-driving statesman trying to unify the tribes towards an independent Baluchistan so that his people can stave off a “slow-motion […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 14, 2006
IWO JIMA TOPS NBR

With the Gothams passed out last week and the National Board of Review giving their top nods last night, the award season is beginning to blossom. The NBR named Clint Eastwood‘s second film on World War II this year, Letters From Iwo Jima, its Best Film (scroll down for full list). Shot around Southern California in 33 days on a substantially lower budget than Flags of our Fathers, most believed Iwo Jima – which is in Japanese and its only actor familiar to American audiences is Ken Watanabe – was to play second fiddle to its star-studded predecessor. But when […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Dec 7, 2006
SUNDANCE ANNOUNCES PREMIERES, SPECTRUM, MIDNIGHT AND NEW FRONTIERS LINEUPS

In the second day of lineup announcements for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, titles range from the the already announced opening night film, Brett Morgen‘s Chicago 10, to the closing night film Nelson George‘s Life Support. Other notables include, Craig Brewer‘s Black Snake Moan, Sarah Polley‘s Away from Her (which was already praised at Toronto), Mike White‘s Year of the Dog, and Gregg Araki‘s stoner comedy Smiley Face. Premieres AN AMERICAN CRIME/ USA, Director: Tommy O’Haver; Screenwriters: Tommy O’Haver, Irene TurnerA fictionalized account of the true story of a young girl’s torturous ordeal at the hands of a troubled mother […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 30, 2006
IFP GOTHAM AWARDS

The Gotham Awards were handed out Wednesday night in a ceremony at the Chelsea Piers. The big winner was Half Nelson, which took the Best Feature, Breakthrough Director (for Ryan Fleck, pictured at left with producer and co-write Anna Boden) and Breakthrough Actor (Shareeka Epps, an award split with Babel‘s Rinko Kinkuchi). Steve Barron’s Choking Man won the “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Award,” sponsored by Filmmaker and MOMA. D.p. Ellen Kuras was awarded a tribute for her work shooting innumerable great independent films, and other Gothams went to Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner, Kate Winslet, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 30, 2006
FAMILIAR FACES IN ’07 SUNDANCE SLATE

Chris Smith. George Ratliff. Jeffrey Blitz. David Gordon Green. Jessica Yu. Those are some of the names you will recognize while looking over the 64 films below that were announced today for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival International Film and World Cinema Competitions. The festival will be held Jan. 18-28. Documentary Competition BANISHED (Director: Marco Williams)—This story of three U.S. towns which, in the early 20th century, forced their entire African American populations to leave, explores what—if anything—can be done to repair past racial injustice. World Premiere. CHASING GHOSTS (Director: Lincoln Ruchti)—Twin Galaxies Arcade, Iowa, 1982: the birthplace of mankind’s […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 29, 2006

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