Keith Miller
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Tribeca Film Festival XIII #1: Street Dreams
No one gets confused anymore that going to the Tribeca Film Festival can mean being on the Upper West Side to watch a rapper perform. What’s to be confused about? The festival outgrew Tribeca. In the “Tribeca” of the mind — at least for those living outside New York — the Triangle Beneath Canal is synonymous with the festival started by Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal in the wake of 9/11. But festival venues aren’t down there: global brands don’t trade in symbolism unless it makes economic sense. Why shouldn’t the Big Ten have twelve teams? Nobody cares. Certainly not […]
by Brandon Harris on Apr 21, 2014 -
Five Questions with Five Star Director Keith Miller
A generational meditation on masculinity, Keith Miller’s sophomore film Five Star explores the relationship between Primo — a Blood since puberty — and his would-be protégé, John. Set against sun-scorched Brooklyn projects, the film folds a casual shooting style into heavier thematic territory. Maintaining an alternately protective and imposing arm, Primo struggles to reconcile his history with his paternal instincts as John is pulled deeper into the gang’s underbelly. Filmmaker spoke to Miller about the film’s non-fictional foundations and his collaboration with the leading “non-actors.” Five Star world premieres today in the World Narrative Competition at the Tribeca Film Festival. Filmmaker: This is a world […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Apr 17, 2014 -
“The Line Blurs:” Morals of Filmmaking
“Anything that happens in front of the camera is some kind of performance,” said experimental filmmaker Lynne Sachs at the top of Tuesday’s “The Line Blurs: Shifting Narratives in Filmmaking” panel. Sachs, along with Caveh Zahedi, Josephine Decker, Keith Miller and moderator Nathan Silver, spent an hour debating the division between narrative and documentary forms at DCTV. The evening was chockfull of quotable quotes as the participants reflected on their own work with equal doses of humor and candor. Zahedi, for starters, admitted that he initially considered documentaries to be “the autistic younger brother of cinema,” and only labels his […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 12, 2013 -
“The Line Blurs” at DCTV
Tomorrow evening at 7:30 pm, DCTV will be hosting “The Line Blurs: Shifting Narratives in Filmmaking,” a panel on the increasingly ambiguous division between fiction and nonfiction in filmmaking. It is a timely discussion, one that will probe questions as to whether or not a delineation between the two forms has ever existed, and why viewers and critics alike are bent on categorization. The panel will feature filmmakers Josephine Decker, Keith Miller, Lynne Sachs and Caveh Zahedi, with Nathan Silver in the moderator’s chair. Silver, director of Soft In The Head and Exit Elena, shoots without a script, mining the people […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 9, 2013 -
Rooftop Grants Past and Present
As the summer draws to a close, another year of Rooftop Films grants is upon us. The New York-based nonprofit, though perhaps best known for its alfresco screenings across the four major boroughs, also functions as a dedicated support system to independent filmmakers in various stages of the production process. Beyond the traditional cash grants, Rooftop offers assistance in the form of equipment, workshops and post-production services. Those who have previously screened at the festival are exclusively eligible for grants through the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund, ensuring a continued, symbiotic partnership between exhibitor and artist. As such, this year’s recipients feature […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Aug 19, 2013 -
Director Keith Miller on Welcome to Pine Hill
Keith Miller readily admits that when he first tried to make a film he didn’t really know how to talk to actors. He wasn’t quite sure of himself. He thought he was doing a feature; he ended up with a film that was a half-hour long. But over the next few years he kept writing, kept shooting. After a time, he gained his footing, thanks in no small measure to the fellowship he found amongst the directors, writers and actors of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective. These days he’s confident enough in his vision — and his collaborators — that he […]
by Kevin Canfield on Feb 27, 2013 -
DIRECTOR KEITH MILLER ON “WELCOME TO PINE HILL”
Keith Miller’s Welcome to Pine Hill is a totally original mixture of gritty, semi-improvised urban drama and freefloating spiritual journey. When I first saw it, I flashed back to J. Hoberman’s take on Carlos Reygadas’s Japon: “handheld Tarkovsky.” The films are very different, but I sensed a similar impulse in Miller’s story of a drug dealer (played here by a revelatory Shannon Harper) attempting to go straight while receiving catastrophic health news. The film plays tomorrow night at BAMcinemaFest. Here’s an interview I did with Miller, previously posted for the film’s Slamdance premiere.
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 22, 2012 -
“WELCOME TO PINE HILL,” “NO ASHES NO PHOENIX” TAKE HOME TOP HONORS AT SLAMDANCE AWARDS
During a ceremony held tonight at Park City’s Treasure Mountain Inn, prize winners were announced for the 18th annual Slamdance Film Festival. Taking home the Narrative Grand Jury Prize was Welcome to Pine Hill, Keith Miller’s vérité portrait of a reformed Brooklyn drug dealer undergoing a crisis of mortality. Meanwhile, Jens Pfeifer’s basketball documentary No Ashes, No Phoenix was awarded the Documentary Grand Jury Prize, while Caskey Ebeling’s Getting Up and Andrew Edison’s Bindlestiffs took home the Audience Awards for documentary and narrative, respectively. The full list of winners, per The Hollywood Reporter: AUDIENCE AWARDS Audience Award for Feature Documentary: […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Jan 27, 2012 -
PHOTO STREAM: SUNDANCE DIRECTORS, CAST, AND CREW
Celeste and Jesse Forever‘s Question & Answer Portion: Andy Samberg joked that it was finally nice to be acting in something where he “wasn’t rapping or wearing a bird suit.” Director Lee Toland Krieger. Elijah Wood’s co-stars cleared the stage, leaving him alone to answer a question regarding his influences for his gay character. Wood answered that most of the inspiration came from costume designer Julia Caston’s impeccable wardrobe choices. The End of Love‘s Question & Answer Portion: Director Mark Webber spoke about the process of making a film with his own son as the protagonist. The End of Love‘s […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 25, 2012 -
SLAMDANCE VIDEO: KEITH MILLER ON “WELCOME TO PINE HILL”
I was riveted by Keith Miller’s Welcome to Pine Hill when I first encountered it last year in the IFP’s Narrative Lab. The story of former drug dealer attempting to go straight while battling health challenges, it features a scene that is among the most gripping I’ve seen in any film recently. A man, played by Miller, walks his dog late at night and… well, I’ll let Miller explain. Here, Miller discusses the origins of that scene, working with the man he met that night, Shannon Harper, and the influences on the film, who include Andrei Tarkovsky. (I’d also throw […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2012
