Documentary
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Far From Afghanistan: U.S. Filmmakers Agitate on 10th Anniversary of the War
“Though I don’t have any children,” says John Gianvito, “I imagined a child someday saying to me, ‘You regard yourself as a political filmmaker, did you do anything during the longest war in U.S. history?’” Gianvito, the Boston-based director of the acclaimed feature The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein, recalls this thought coming to him earlier this year as the 10th anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan approached. On Thursday, October 6, in honor of that day of infamy, Gianvito and a team of filmmakers will unveil an ambitious omnibus project to raise awareness about the enduring conflict. […]
by Anthony Kaufman on Sep 27, 2011 -
THE 12th WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL
Looking @ Docs Bookended by two of the world’s most prestigious film festivals, the super-gala in Toronto and the cinephile delight in New York, the Woodstock Film Festival is set in a tiny village on the edge of the Catskill Mountains, and for a dozen years it has been garnering a different kind of prestige. With a quality film program that’s not humongous, filmgoers experience fewer film scheduling conflicts — a frequent irritant for film buffs. With plenty of film industry people in attendance, looking and enjoying instead of working and stressing, they’re approachable, even friendly. People have always come […]
by Stewart Nusbaumer on Sep 27, 2011 -
DOCS AT THE 2011 URBAN WORLD FESTIVAL
When historical documentaries spotlight the dynamic past, they also reveal, if one is prone to see, an uncomfortable present. This can fuel nostalgia and a yearning to return to that great by-gone era just witnessed on the screen. While making you feel good about the past, docs can make you feel lousy about today. After watching the premier Brooklyn Boheme, and listening to the Q&A afterwards, a lot of us felt lousy about today. For some 15 years in the 1980s and 1990s, Fort Green and to a lesser extent neighboring Clinton Hill were home to an extraordinary community of […]
by Stewart Nusbaumer on Sep 25, 2011 -
The Cooler Bandits
John Lucas grew up in Ohio. When Lucas decided to volunteer for the Big Brother / Big Sister program in Akron he couldn’t have known how much it would change his life, and the lives of the boys he would meet. His little brother was an eleven-year-old named Charlie. Soon after meeting Charlie he met Charlie’s cousin: Poochie. He also met a number of other kids, and started photographing all of them. After Lucas left Ohio, he would return often to the community in Akron, saddened and angered to find the lives of the children that he had known being […]
by Alix Lambert on Sep 20, 2011 -
TIFF 2011: THE YEAR OF THE DOC?
The buzz word at this year’s TIFF is “doc.” For the first time in its 35-year history, the Toronto International Film Festival opened with a documentary: Davis Guggenheim‘s From The Sky Down, which profiles the world’s most popular rock band, U2. Filmgoers and critics are also buzzing over Crazy Horse, by verite legend Frederick Wiseman; Samsara (by Baraka‘s Ron Fricke); Tony Krawitz‘s The Tall Man,; and Girl Model by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon. The doc vibe was in the air on Monday morning at a breakfast launch for Focus Foward. Sponsored by Cinelan and GE, Focus Forward invites big-name documentarians such as Morgan […]
by Allan Tong on Sep 17, 2011 -
Five Questions with Caprichosos Director Alison Murray
Several years ago director Alison Murray moved to Buenos Aires, where she danced tango competitively, married her tango partner, had two daughters and, now, has completed her fourth feature. Not surprisingly given these life changes, the film, Caprichosos, deals with dance. But instead of tango, Murray has focused on the murga — what she dubs “tango’s poor cousin.” Performed by groups of costumed dancers who rehearse their theatrical presentations for months before premiering them at Carnival, the dance is a local tradition suffused with beauty, drama, and a slight undertone of menace. Writes Murray in a director’s statement, “Unlike its […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 15, 2011 -
Five Questions with The Patron Saints Directors Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky
Photographers-documentarians Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky use dark humor and unconventional storytelling techniques to look at patients living in a nursing home for their debut feature, The Patron Saints. Known for their Hurricane Katrina short God Provides and their photography highlighted on their site, piegonprojects.com (two reasons why we selected them for our 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2007), Cassidy and Shatzky’s unique eye of making the ordinary look extraordinary has us excited in seeing this premiere at TIFF. Filmmaker: Tell us a little about what your film is about? Cassidy/Shatzky: The Patron Saints is a hyperrealistic […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Sep 14, 2011 -
Five Questions with Crazy Horse Director Frederick Wiseman
Legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman heads to the Toronto International Film Festival with his latest film on dance, Crazy Horse. Highlighting the famous cabaret in Paris, Wiseman uses his patented verite style to give an unprecedented look inside the work and lives of the women who makes the Crazy Horse legendary. Filmmaker: Tell us a little about what your film is about? Weisman: I Followed the day to day activities involved in the rehearsing and staging of a new show at the crazy horse, a parisian cabaret famous for its beautiful dancers and erotic dances. Filmmaker: Why a verite look […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Sep 12, 2011 -
Five Questions with Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
In the mid ’90s filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky traveled to West Memphis, Arkansas for a documentary they were making for HBO on the gruesome murders of three boys and the trial of the three teens who were charged. The film, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, gave the trail nationwide interest as Berlinger and Sinofsky revelaed a case that was hardly open and shut. Coerced confessions as well as questionable evidence and testimony made viewers uncertain if the three defendants — Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin — were guilty and the fight to […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Sep 11, 2011 -
Five Questions with Urbanized Director Gary Hustwit
With Urbanized, filmmaker Gary Hustwit brings his celebrated documentary trilogy to a close. Beginning in the world of typography by exploring a single font in Helvetica, the series gained weight by moving to the world of objects in Objectified and now telescopes miles overhead to examine contemporary urban design. We spoke to Hustwit about what’s changed and what’s stayed the same as he has produced — and distributed — these stylish and intellectually engaging films. Filmmaker: Your previous two design oriented docs have wound up dealing with subjects other than the the explicit ones of their titles. For example, Helvetica […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 9, 2011
