Donald Trump
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Catching Bullets in the Rye
Hitler believed that movies were much better for propaganda than books or newspapers. He thought a pictorial presentation of an idea could reach more people, faster, with no effort needed on the viewer’s part. His minister of Nazi propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, emphasized the escapism aspect of film. Goebbels wanted movies that were big and loud and glamorous, and that would be distracting to the population, with dark subliminal messages wrapped inside the pizzazz. Researchers recently reported that the rate of gun violence in American PG-13 motion pictures is now higher than that of R-rated films. When we see these gun […]
by Noah Buschel on Feb 20, 2017 -
Anti-Art Criticism, “In the Age of Trump”
The joke between me and my Sundance roommate/colleague was that every review and write-up would contain the phrase “In the age of Trump.” Another phrase to watch out for is “now more than ever,” spoken verbatim twice during this year’s Sundance acceptance speeches. The proposition that independent film will “lead the resistance” against Our 45th President is a dubious one: I don’t remember The Lucky Ones or In the Valley of Elah helping anything in particular. The repeated invocation of certain dead phrases to summon up a spell against the darkness inevitably and a bit boringly brings to mind Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language,” […]
by Vadim Rizov on Feb 2, 2017 -
Trumpian Images
“Baby, there’s no storm outside.” —from Take Shelter In his now classic book From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film, Siegfried Kracauer looked for cinematic hints, clues and warnings about the rise of Naziism and Hitler in pre-War Germany. Published by Princeton University Press in 1947 — just two years after the end of the war — his book was among the first to interrogate the deep architecture of film as a psychological state, one that does not directly mirror but rather reflects in a distorted way the “secret history” of mass psychology that, in his […]
by Nicholas Rombes on Jan 18, 2017 -
Dispatches from Thessaloniki, Macao and Cucalorus
Thessaloniki International Film Festival By Ray Pride What everyone in Greece has known since 2008 is — well, no one knows. In late December, the eurozone lenders again withdrew short-term relief measures for the demolished Greek economy, partially prompted by a one-time relief payment to impoverished pensioners for Christmas. A local observer said the current goal in Greek politics is to see “who can be less hated than all the others. Trust in political parties is rock bottom.” Greece is still in crisis, still reeling and contracting, although there are hopeful signs at street level, in cafes and tavernas, in this centuries-old, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2017 -
Is Section 181, Film Federal Tax Incentive, “Dead” in a New Trump Administration?
Section 181, the Federal tax incentive spurring the production of film and television in the United States is about to suffer, reports David Robb at Deadline, “a quiet death” — at least for the time being. Filmmaker has covered Section 181 extensively, with Daniel J. Coplan’s article from last summer explaining in detail how the incentive benefits independent film producers and investors. In brief, it allows investors to deduct 100% of their investment against their Federal taxes in the year of the investment. That’s opposed to depreciating that investment over multiple years. For a high net work individual, that could […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 30, 2016 -
Notes on Truth (Or, Documentary in the Post-Truth Era)
Since Election Day, many in the documentary community have been asking the question, “What do we do now?” The most common response is, “We need to make great politically-engaged films.” I hope a lot of people do exactly that; I might even do it myself. Okay, I probably won’t. My answer is a lot more basic: we need to love, seek and defend truth. I’m not fucking around, you guys: the truth might be hard to find sometimes, but it exists, and it is crucially important to the survival of our species. As plainly stated by the great moral philosopher […]
by Penny Lane on Dec 13, 2016 -
Entertaining Violence (Or, The Walking Dead and the Future of America)
Warning: This post contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead and the future of America In case you’re behind on your DVR, allow me to catch you up on the much-talked about cliffhanger ending from last season’s Walking Dead finale. After a ton of build-up, the show finally introduced Negan, a well-known villain from the comic source material infamous for bludgeoning his victims to death with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. His weapon of choice. In the final moments of the finale, Negan overpowered the show’s main characters, lined them up in a circle, and wielded his iconic […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Dec 5, 2016 -
Controversial Film Financier Steven Mnuchin Joins Trump Campaign as National Finance Chairman
Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs veteran and hedge fund manager who has executive produced a number of studio films, has joined the presidential campaign of Donald Trump as its National Finance Chairman. Through his Dune Capital, and later through a partnership between Dune and Ryan Kavanaugh’s now bankrupt Relativity Media, Mnuchin was involved with the financing of such films as Mad Max: Fury Road, Black Mass, Our Brand is Crisis and American Sniper. A partner in RatPac Dune Entertainment along with Brett Ratner and James Packer, Mnuchin has also been involved with the financing of many Fox and Warner films […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 5, 2016 -
Watch: Trump Rally, St. Louis, 3/11/16
With Donald Trump’s path to the Republican presidential nomination cleared, it’s a good time to take a look at this short documentary of a Trump rally. The place is St. Louis, MO, the date was March 11, and everybody on the ground got profane and (rhetorically) punchy very fast; it’s bracingly bleak stuff. Director Alexandra Watkins is one of Robert Greene’s students at the University of Missouri’s documentary journalism program.
by Vadim Rizov on May 4, 2016 -
Watch: Martha Colburn’s Donald Trump Animation, Drumpf and Bass
In this very short video, experimental filmmaker Martha Colburn processes the madness of our current presidential election by vivisecting the applause lines of the current Republican frontrunner and setting them to a skeezy electro beat. Oh, and there are toads — “probably from the Middle East!”
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 4, 2016
