Documentary
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NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH: STEVE JAMES’ “THE INTERRUPTERS”
Originally published in our Summer 2011 issue, I sat down with Steve James to talk about his latest documentary, The Interrupters. Nominated for Best Documentary for this year’s Gotham Independent Film Awards, this could be the start of a busy award season for the film and its veteran director. From the interview: Though the film touches on some horrible aspects of Chicago, it also has a lot of hope in it. It is kind of a love letter to your city. We wanted the film to be raw, immersive, and uncompromising, but we also didn’t want it to be one […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 7, 2011 -
HOW — AND WHY — TO OCCUPY
At her Iva Asks blog, Iva Radivojevic looks at how the spreading Occupy Wall Street movement is inspiring a new protest culture at CUNY. “This is a document about the struggle of students and adjunct faculty at Cuny,” she writes. “This local struggle is part of an international student movement against neoliberal dictatorship. This is only the beginning. The time for action is now.” As she often does, Radivojevic writes on her blog the inspirations for her work. For this new video piece, one influence is a film by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin. From the blog: And the latest […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 6, 2011 -
KICKSTARTER: GREGORY BAYNE’S “BLOODSWORTH: AN INNOCENT MAN”
In columns like “Platforms, PMDs and Perpetuating Obscurity” and “When Should You Call Bullsh#*t,” filmmaker Gregory Bayne has been one of our most provocative columnists on the site, incorporating the experience of making and distributing his own films into a larger commentary on the independent film business. Now it is time to help him out in the form of donating to the Kickstarter campaign for his new project, Bloodsworth: An Innocent Man.” It’s about the first man on death row to be released by DNA evidence. Bayne writes: Weaving together archival footage, Kirk Bloodsworth’s own compelling re-telling of his ordeal, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 5, 2011 -
DANFUNG DENNIS: FROM AFGHANISTAN TO SUNDANCE
Originally posted in the Web Exclusives section on February 11, 2011. Hell and Back Again is nominated for Best Documentary. “At first my view of war was boyish and romantic,” Danfung Dennis told me in his Brooklyn loft five years after we initially met in Kabul, “but that view of war was based on video games and Hollywood.” In the spring of 2006, Danfung flew from Beijing to Kabul and was driven to the Le Monde Guest House. I remember when he arrived. His clothes were neat, his hair stylish, he wore an easy smile and had soft brown eyes. […]
by Stewart Nusbaumer on Nov 2, 2011 -
2012 CINEMA EYE HONORS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED
In a ceremony last night at the Sheffield Doc/Fest in London the nominees were announced for the 5th annual Cinema Eye Honors. Complete list of nominees are below. Recognizing the best in nonfiction work, this year marks the first time six films will be vying for the top prize. 33 films from 12 countries are among this year’s nominees, including four nominations for seven films (The Arbor, Dragonslayer, Hell and Back Again, The Interrupters, Nostalgia for the Light, Position Among the Stars and Senna) and four individual nominations for The Interrupters‘ director Steve James. Winners will be announced on January […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 27, 2011 -
BOOTSY COLLINS IS 60
Happy birthday to bass player extraordinaire and cultural icon Bootsy Collins, who turns 60 today. As this tribute in the Cincinnati City Beat notes, the Parliament Funkadelic member (and Bootsy’s Rubber Band leader) is perhaps the most sampled bass player in history. Below is the TV1 documentary on Collins, a performance with James Brown, and a clip with George Clinton and Snoop Dogg.
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 26, 2011 -
CINELAN LOOKING FOR INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKERS FOR ITS FOCUS FORWARD SERIES
Cinelan, the video publisher that syndicates three-minute documentary films, has announced today an open invitation to non-North American filmmakers to contribute to its Focus Forward series. Teaming with GE, it’s an initiative of three-minute docs that focuses on innovation and ideas that change the world. In addition to Oscar and award-winning filmmakers who have signed on to produce the 30 three-minute films such as Joe Berlinger, Lixin Fan, Liz Garbus, Alex Gibney, Steve James, Barbara Kopple, Ross Kauffman, Cinelan co-founded Morgan Spurlock, Jessica Yu and newly announced filmmakers Lucy Walker, Stanley Nelson, Phil Cox and Leslie Iwerks, Cinelan is accepting brief […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Oct 26, 2011 -
Wladimir Klitschko on Klitschko
Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, the 6’6″ Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World subjects of Sebastian Dehnhardt’s Klitschko, are to pugilism what the Williams sisters are to tennis. But unlike Venus and Serena, these chess-playing siblings, who became the first brothers to hold world titles at the same time, also hold PhDs and are fluent in four languages. Coming of age behind the Iron Curtain, the Ukrainian brothers’ psyches were shaped both by black- market Bruce Lee movies and the Chernobyl disaster (their military dad was a first responder). So when I heard that current champ Wladimir (pictured above) was available […]
by Lauren Wissot on Oct 20, 2011 -
AN EVENING AT OCCUPY WALL STREET
Last weekend I posted a great short video by Iva Radivojevic, “No One Can Predict the Moment of Revolution,” about the Occupy Wall Street protests. Radivojevic, along with her collaborator Martyna Starosta, returned to Liberty Plaza at night, and they have just posted “We the People Have Found our Voice,” which again captures the energy and political ambitions of the protestors. Visit the post on her site for her further thoughts, including a beautiful quote from an article about Alain Resnais’ Night and Fog.
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 10, 2011 -
Shooting Occupied Wall Street for 99 Percent: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
I meet-up with documentarians Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites in downtown New York, they introduce me to Joanna Arnow, and Joanna and I are off to Liberty Plaza. Two streets north of Wall Street — in the former shadow of the World Trade Center towers — Liberty Plaza Park was created in 1968, renamed Zuccotti Park in 2006 for a real estate baron, and then renamed back to Liberty Plaza a few weeks ago by the Occupying Wall Street protesters. The park is one long block long and one short block wide, paved in stone with several colorful flower beds, ringed […]
by Stewart Nusbaumer on Oct 10, 2011
