Sundance Film Festival 2013
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Five Questions with I Used to be Darker Director Matt Porterfield
Though it only arrived three years ago, Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill, with its unique blend of fiction and documentary and its crisp, patient filmmaking, has already become quite an influential and well-loved piece of the micro-budget cannon. Now Porterfield has returned with I Used to Be Darker, a more formally scripted work that follows a troubled young woman (Deragh Campbell) who moves in with her aunt (Kim Taylor), uncle (Ned Oldham), and cousin (Hannah Gross) in Maryland. The film premieres today in US Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: Tell me a bit about the development process for […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Jan 19, 2013 -
Hell Baby | Directors Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 11:45pm — Library Center Theatre, Park City] We’ve never done an indie before, so the budget and time constraints were much more intense than any we’d experienced. That said, the freedom we gained made that sacrifice absolutely worth it. No committee-think in this movie — every line, every casting decision, everything — it’s all 100% ours (thank you darko). So we sacrificed money and gained autonomy. We will absolutely do it again. It was the most fun we’ve ever had, and probably the thing we’re most proud of. Also, Tom got in a swamp with […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2013 -
This is Martin Bonner | Director Chad Hartigan
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 9:00pm — Egyptian Theatre, Park City] I made one no-budget film in 2008 called Luke and Brie are on a First Date. It was a great experience and had an okay life for itself, but I was adamant that I wouldn’t make a no-budget film again. In order to grow (or be perceived as growing), my next film would need to have a name actor and a budget of $250,000. I was confident This is Martin Bonner was that script and I took 18 months to figure out how to get that money or a […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2013 -
The Outlaw Pleasures of Escape from Tomorrow
Children have no conception of copyright. The words “intellectual property” mean nothing to them. There is just the world, the people and places and things in front of them, and the imprint these things make on their young minds. But as adults, we realize that we don’t own these things that have imprinted themselves on our brains. That’s okay, though. When it comes to the totems of childhood fantasy, we can pay to experience them again — or, more accurately, pay to experience them vicariously through our children. The Walt Disney Corporation has made such a cross-generational feedback loop into […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 19, 2013 -
Citizen Koch | Directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 3:00pm — Temple Theatre, Park City] It’s strange to talk about making a film as a sacrifice. Of course we are always under enormous financial pressures and we’ve given up treasured time with family and friends to create this work. But to us it feels like a privilege — especially in these difficult times — to be able to make art, and even more so to be making it independently. The motto of Wisconsin and the last line of our film is “Forward;” as we head to Sundance, we aren’t looking back. Sundance Responses 2013
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2013 -
C.O.G | Director Kyle Patrick Alvarez
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 8:30pm — Library Center Theatre, Park City] Short of my personal relationships, I sacrificed everything for the film. Years of my life, my personal finances, all of my creative and professional resources. If I wasn’t willing do that, then what would be the point? If you’re not willing to sacrifice for what you love, than you don’t truly love it and if you don’t truly love film, you probably shouldn’t be an independent filmmaker. It’s too much of a challenge. You have to make sure to hold on to that initial spark that got you on to the film so tightly cause, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2013 -
99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film | Co-Director Aaron Aites
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 9:00pm — Temple Theatre, Park City] Our film wasn’t planned. As the events of Occupy Wall Street began to unfold, and Audrey [Ewell] and I decided to make a film around it, we basically went from working on other projects (our own follow-up film to Until The Light Takes Us, as well as the paying freelance work that pays our rent) to instantly being in production on an unbudgeted and risky film project that used an untested methodology to bring it to life, and that relied on the abilities and collaboration of people we’d never […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2013 -
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints | Director David Lowery
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 12:15pm — Eccles Theatre, Park City] Talking about sacrifices when you’ve been given the means to actually make your movie seems a bit glib – but you make them all the same, and perhaps spend an exorbitant amount of time fretting about them late at night, hoping they don’t show up on screen. On this film, there were two forfeitures in particular that went hand in hand. First: for budgetary reasons, we couldn’t shoot our movie in Texas. As a filmmaker from the Lone Star State who enjoys making movies set therein, this was somewhat heartbreaking, and […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2013 -
Fill the Void | Director Rama Burshtein
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, Noon — Temple Theatre, Park City] Being an ultra Orthodox woman is about inner spiritual work, away from spotlights, and inside a “home” where my husband is the king. It is the only way for me to stay in love and feel safe. Making Fill the Void meant scarifying the right order of things I truly believe in. Looking back, what made making the film possible, and also surprisingly rewarding, was going to my imaginary “island” where there are no people, titles, honor, or fame. Just me and my thoughts, my passions and my creator. […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2013 -
Five Questions with Escape from Tomorrow Director Randy Moore
There’s something the Sundance Film Guide didn’t tell you about Escape from Tomorrow, the first narrative feature from director Randy Moore – the film was shot guerilla style, on location, at Disney World. Seriously. A debut for the ages, Escape from Tomorrow takes viewers on a surreal journey into the mind of family man Jim Walsh on the last day of his vacation at the park. After finding out that he has been unexpectedly laid off from work, Jim’s day derails until he’s bordering on a complete mental break. This is deranged, imaginative, destabilizing filmmaking – a magical film about […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Jan 19, 2013
