Sundance Film Festival 2012
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PHOTO STREAM: DAY 1 AT SUNDANCE ’12
Filly Brown director Youssef Delara and his wife agreed to have their photo taken by me in the shuttle from Salt Lake to Park City…even after they had been traveling for the last 24-hours. They were complete champs and Youssef didn’t even seem all that tired. He kept up with all my annoying questions, and was excited and eager for Filly Brown‘s premiere today. Friday morning was the perfect mix of snowy but not too cold, and still quiet before the masses arrived in Park City for the 2012 festival. Sundance Channel Headquarters promotes tagging your message. Welcome to the New […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 21, 2012 -
13 FILMS PREMIERE DIGITALLY VIA SUNDANCE ARTIST SERVICES
Conflict-of-interest note: As most of you know, I produce films in addition to editing Filmmaker. Others on our team do as well. “By filmmakers, for filmmakers,” our marketing tagline has long been, and I like to think that our experience gives the magazine insight as well as strong bullshit detector. Being aware of my multiple hats, however, I generally exclude projects I produce from the magazine and site. That’s why you’ve never read about films like Off the Black, Saving Face and Raising Victor Vargas in Filmmaker. (Sorry, directors!) But when it comes to the following story of interest to […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 20, 2012 -
Five Questions with Simon Killer Director Antonio Campos
Indie sweetheart Antonio Campos debuts his newest feature film, Simon Killer, today at Sundance. After he and his partners made waves in Park City last year with Martha Marcy May Marlene (which won Sean Durkin the Best Director award, and introduced Lizzy Olsen to the world), critics and audiences have placed Borderline’s newest on their must-see list. But that hasn’t changed things for Campos. He comes to Park City as a director this year, prepared to experience the festival from a new perspective. — Filmmaker: You and your partners at Borderline Films are no strangers to Sundance and the festival marketplace. With three […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 20, 2012 -
Five Questions with Beasts of the Southern Wild Director Behn Zeitlin
Pushing the boundaries of traditional filmmaking, Behn Zeitlin stands by his decision to make movies involving children, animals, and somewhat fantastical locations and environments. Lauded for his short, Glory at Sea, Zeitlin attends Sundance this year with his first feature-length film, Beasts of the Southern Wild. Like Zeitlin’s short, his feature debut takes place in Louisiana and aims to capture identifiable human emotions through the journey of a young girl. Beasts proves to be a seemingly mysterious narrative, unidentifiable from its abstract synopsis, but its premiere today in U.S. Dramatic Competition will soon shed more understanding on this highly anticipated […]
by Alexandra Byer on Jan 20, 2012 -
“MONSIEUR LAZHAR” WRITER/DIRECTOR PHILIPPE FALARDEAU
With its intensely concentrated industry buzz and high profile bidding wars, Sundance is one of the few places where filmmakers’ careers can be transformed overnight. But writer/director Philippe Falardeau says he’s not looking for a Cinderella moment when his French-language feature Monsieur Lazhar screens out of competition in Park City this week as part of the fest’s Spotlight program. The film — about a mild but mysterious Algerian immigrant to Montreal, Canada, (Mohamed Falleg) hired to replace a school teacher who has committed suicide — has already picked U.S. distribution through Music Box Films, a slot as Canada’s official submission […]
by Todd Longwell on Jan 20, 2012 -
Middle of Nowhere | Writer/Director Ava DuVernay
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, January 20, 2:30 pm –Library Center Theatre, Park City] First film I ever loved was West Side Story. My aunt Denise forced me to watch it one rainy afternoon. I had to be about 9-years-old. I was spellbound. The dancing. The romance. The brown people. I grew up in Compton, right where the city limits hug Lynwood. And for as long as I can remember, my school, my block, was predominately Latino. I remember watching that film and it changing the way I saw my schoolmates and neighbors. Seriously, I recall feeling something very specific about the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2012 -
“PAYBACK” | director, Jennifer Baichwal
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, January 20 6:00 pm –Yarrow Hotel Theatre, Park City] I was on my way to a doctorate in philosophy/comparative religion when I realized that the academic approach was too narrow a form of enquiry for me. So I turned to documentary to explore the same issues that were interesting— identity, epistemology, ethics, etc.– in a more lateral medium. Our films are about questions I don’t have an answer to, and they are all in some way about why there is no simple answer. Film has a unique capacity to convey contingency and complexity, because it is able […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2012 -
“TIM AND ERIC’S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE” | directors, Eric Wareheim & Tim Heidecker
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, January 20, 11:45 pm –Library Center Theater] Eric Wareheim: I am Eric Wareheim the number one filmmaker/artist along with my friend Tim Heidecker who is number two and I prefer the look and compression of an internet viral video but my Mom would be more proud of me if I showed my feature length video in a movie theater so that’s what I did and I’m proud of what I’ve done and please enjoy my expression on the big screen or DVD because that’s my vision as a modern day pioneer thank you.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2012 -
“ESCAPE FIRE” | director, Matthew Heineman
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, January 20, 11:30 am –Library Center Theatre, Park City] I believe that documentary film has the ability to motivate, to inspire, and to help bring clarity to complicated issues in a way that other media cannot. Much of the traditional media attention on healthcare has focused on the partisan politics in our nation’s Capitol—from the contentious passage of the Affordable Care Act to the ongoing polarized debate about its impact. There have been countless articles, news stories, blog posts, and tweets about this topic. And everybody in America, whether they like it or not, has been affected […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2012 -
“FILLY BROWN” | directors, Michael Olmos & Youssef Delara
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, January 20, 5:30 pm –Library Center Theatre, Park City] Michael Olmos: For me, being a filmmaker – an explorer of stories – is about discovery and finding connections. Of recreating that magical life altering feeling you get when something that you where never aware of, suddenly enters your conscious mind, and completely rewires you – it is an all encompassing experience. It can happen on an emotional level or intellectual level, and it often causes a physical response – you cry, laugh, bend over in pain, whatever. Sometimes these discoveries where right in front of you, but […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2012
