Natalia Almada
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“A Very Sculptural Process”: Editors Natalia Almada and Dave Cerf on Users
Natalia Almada’s Users is an inquisition on technology and its inextricable nature from modern life. Juxtaposed against Californian wildfires and oceans on the rise, the film questions what progress means when we sacrifice so much in the process. Almada, alongside her co-editor Dave Cerf, describes the unique collaborative process used in editing the film. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Almada: Well… I’ve edited all my films. In part I think it is because I need the editing […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2021 -
Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready
On its website, XTR describes itself as “a premium nonfiction film and television studio serving the booming documentary film space.” The company is attached to eight feature titles at this year’s Sundance, all but one of which (Faya Dayi) credit the late Tony Hsieh’s name as an executive producer. The Zappos CEO died in November, nearly two months after investing $17.5 million in XTR; his name unites Ailey, At the Ready, Bring Your Own Brigade, Homeroom, Try Harder!, Rebel Hearts and Natalia Almada’s Users—the last sporting an end credits dedication in Hsieh’s memory. I haven’t seen Almada’s previous work, so can’t speak to how Users’s often enjoyably giganticist […]
by Vadim Rizov on Feb 1, 2021 -
“Technology Hasn’t Taken Away the Longing to Hug”: Director Natalia Almada | Users
How did events of 2020—any of them—change your film, either in the way you approached it, produced it, post-produced it, or are now thinking about it? One of many of the long lasting repercussions of COVID is that it radically and fundamentally changed our relationship to technology. Whether to Zoom with grandma or have business meetings, order groceries or clothes, take an exercise class or attend school. We’ve all become dependent not only on the technology in our homes but on the invisible infrastructure that sustains it—by which I mean everything from the fiber optic cables that carry our digital […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 31, 2021 -
Sundance Announces 2018 Art of Nonfiction Fellows and Grantees
The Sundance Institute today announced the four filmmakers and six grantees who comprise the 2018 Art of Nonfiction program. Launched in 2018, Art of Nonfiction is the Institutes’s program “working at the vanguard of inventive artistic practice in story, craft and form.” This year’s Art of Nonfiction Fellows are Deborah Stratman, Natalia Almada, Sam Green and Sky Hopinka. Grantees are Jem Cohen, Kevin Jerome Everson, Kevin B. Lee and Chloé Galibert-Laîné, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Leilah Weinraub. “This year’s cohort reflects our continuing desire to explore the space in between,” said Tabitha Jackson, Director of the Documentary Film Program, in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 23, 2018 -
POV @ 25: Natalia Almada & Theo Rigby on Technology in Docs
In celebration of the 25th season of PBS’ groundbreaking documentary series POV, Filmmaker is this week running a four-part conversation series between two non-fiction directors with close ties to the show. A few weeks ago, award-winning documentarian Natalia Almada — whose new film, El Velador, airs tonight as part of the 2012 POV season — and Sin País director Theo Rigby, a photographer-turned-filmmaker, sat down to talk about a variety of issues that arise from their work. Through the course of the discussion, Almada and Rigby share where they’ve been, where they are now, and where they’re heading while dissecting different viewpoints of their craft. In this final part, […]
by Nick Dawson on Sep 27, 2012 -
POV @ 25: Natalia Almada & Theo Rigby on the Personal and Political in Docs
In celebration of the 25th season of PBS’ groundbreaking documentary series POV, Filmmaker is this week running a four-part conversation series between two non-fiction directors with close ties to the show. A few weeks ago, award-winning documentarian Natalia Almada — whose new film, El Velador, is being aired as part of the 2012 POV season this Thursday — and Sin País director Theo Rigby, a photographer-turned-filmmaker, sat down to talk about a variety of issues that arise from their work. Through the course of the discussion, Almada and Rigby share where they’ve been, where they are now, and where they’re heading while dissecting different viewpoints of their […]
by Nick Dawson on Sep 26, 2012 -
POV @ 25: Natalia Almada & Theo Rigby on Image and the Roles of a Filmmaker
In celebration of the 25th season of PBS’ groundbreaking documentary series POV, Filmmaker is this week running a four-part conversation series between two non-fiction directors with close ties to the show. A few weeks ago, award-winning documentarian Natalia Almada — whose new film, El Velador, is being aired as part of the 2012 POV season this Thursday — and Sin País (below) director Theo Rigby, a photographer-turned-filmmaker, sat down to talk about a variety of issues that arise from their work. Through the course of the discussion, Almada and Rigby share where they’ve been, where they are now, and where they’re heading while dissecting different viewpoints of […]
by Nick Dawson on Sep 25, 2012 -
POV @ 25: Natalia Almada & Theo Rigby on Documentary Filmmaking and Photography
In celebration of the 25th season of PBS’ groundbreaking documentary series POV, Filmmaker is this week running a four-part conversation series between two non-fiction directors with close ties to the show. A few weeks ago, award-winning documentarian Natalia Almada — whose new film, El Velador, is being aired as part of the 2012 POV season this Thursday — and Sin País director Theo Rigby, a photographer-turned-filmmaker, sat down to talk about a variety of issues that arise from their work. Through the course of the discussion, Almada and Rigby share where they’ve been, where they are now, and where they’re heading while dissecting different viewpoints of their craft. […]
by Nick Dawson on Sep 24, 2012 -
“EL GENERAL” director, Natalia Almada
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 18, 12:00 pm — Temple Theatre, Park City] Perhaps I am a romantic, but I like to imagine El General being watched in a dark packed theater with an expecting audience. It isn’t only a question of scale, but of ritual. I like the ritual of going to the movies and giving oneself completely over to a film for two hours. I like the collective experience of sitting in a theater full of strangers with all eyes on a screen and hearing someone laugh across the room or someone sniffle in the seat behind me. I […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Jan 18, 2009
