Sion Sono
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Instant History: Fukushima and Tahrir Square On-screen
The 24-hour news culture of immediate reaction, Internet-enabled connectivity (from emails to Twitter) and the so-called “now generation” have impacted the way the filmmaking community reacts to real-life disasters, not always positively. After 9/11, the question was asked: How much time must pass before filmmakers can deal with such a destructive event? Films featuring terrorist activity, such as Collateral Damage, had their releases postponed to avoid offending sensibilities, while Sam Raimi deleted a Spider-Man shot of the Twin Towers. But other filmmakers raced to include, not exclude, 9/11. Spike Lee altered David Benioff’s script for 25th Hour to include a […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Apr 28, 2014 -
Venice International Film Festival 2013
To get to the Lido — the strip of beachy land upon which the Venice Film Festival is held every year — one must take the vaporetto (or water taxi) from the Marco Polo Airport. While waiting for the transport to arrive, one is stuffed into a rectangular holding pen that sways and jerks with the current, provoking a mild but unmistakable seasickness in the more sensitive among us. Little did I know I was to experience almost exactly the same feeling the following morning while watching festival opener Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón’s first since 2006’s Children of Men. It’s an […]
by Ashley Clark on Oct 21, 2013
