Sundance Film Festival 2023
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“It Was a Blessing in Disguise To Have More Time” | Thembi Banks, Young. Wild. Free.
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? On March 11, 2020, we shot and completed our first day of principal photography of Young. Wild. Free. On March 12…well, you know what happened that day. Our entire industry and the rest of the world shut down because of COVID. I, along with the rest of the producers who had worked so hard to get to the point of […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 25, 2023 -
“I Wanted To Face History So That I Could Understand It” | Milisuthando Bongela, Milisuthando
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Our film has a lot of rare, never-before-seen propaganda footage of apartheid that we were given, kind of in secret, by people who had access to it and wanted to share it with “the right people.” The footage itself was emotionally very challenging, as this was hours of footage of the planning and execution of apartheid by its masterminds. What […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 25, 2023 -
“I Had No Idea How Filmmakers Actually Raise Huge Amounts of Money”: Alison O’Daniel on The Tuba Thieves
In visual artist Alison O’Daniel’s debut feature The Tuba Thieves, a local news story serves as the impetus for an abstract investigation into the cultural significance of sound, music, communication and the act of hearing itself. From 2011 through 2013, schools in Southern California experienced a common (and confounding) crime—tubas were stolen en masse, leaving marching bands without their lowest-pitched instrument. When O’Daniel—who is d/Deaf/Hard of Hearing—first listened to the developing news story via car radio, she was immediately intrigued. Yet she wasn’t interested in the conventional questions pertinent to such a crime (e.g. who is stealing these instruments and why?), […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jan 25, 2023 -
Sundance 2023: Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV, Sorcery
In celebrating a radical artist via conservative formal means, Amanda Kim’s Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV represents a familiar contradiction. Paik’s legacy as a video artist and sculptor of television towers hasn’t yet gotten the full-length doc treatment; as a textbook talking-heads-plus-archival assemblage, Kim’s movie is easy to envision becoming a PBS staple. The film is fueled by a genuine desire to introduce his work to a wider audience, and it may well serve that commendable purpose; as an example of the current biodoc form, it’s slow going. Like many such works, it opens with a montage that’s essentially a […]
by Vadim Rizov on Jan 24, 2023 -
“I Had Always Wanted To Cast Someone Who Had No Filming Experience” | Charlotte Regan, Scrapper
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Our lead character is 12 years old and I had always wanted to cast someone who had no filming experience. Lola, who played Georgie, was the most incredible human I’d ever met. But I think going down this route meant totally catering our filmmaking process to her and Alin. I think filmmaking is intimidating enough without it being your first time […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2023 -
“When We Lost Those Two Weeks, We Came up With an Alternative Solution” | Danny and Michael Philippou, Talk To Me
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Initially we thought we might have seven weeks for production, but that quickly turned into five. So, we had to be more strategic about sequences, shots and coverage. For example, we originally planned an elaborate effects sequence that was going to take days to shoot. But when we lost those two weeks, we came up with an alternative solution using […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2023 -
“I Wanted the Atmosphere To Feel as if the Light Was Slipping Away” | Sing J. Lee, The Accidental Getaway Driver
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? For the most part, this film was a good portion of night shoots. When we shot exteriors in daylight, we were aiming for early mornings or late afternoons, in some cases, gearing towards either of the twilights and the minutes proceeding or preceding it. The importance of the light at these times holds meaning for the moments they appear in […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2023 -
“Augusto Was No Longer Communicating as Before” | Maite Alberdi, The Eternal Memory
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? The most unexpected—or the most difficult—part of the film was the uncertainty of when to finish filming it. Of course, it’s always very difficult to end the recording of a documentary. But this was a film that when we started, we didn’t know when it would be [finished], and that was the main question. When the day came, and Augusto […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2023 -
“Our Equipment Partner Pulled Out of the Project With No Explanation” | C.J. Obasi, Mami Wata
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? The biggest challenge we faced came at the very beginning of our shoot. The cast and crew had all arrived at the camp, and we were smack in the middle of rehearsals, building sets, finalizing costumes, etc. Then our equipment partner pulled out of the project with no explanation. So here we are, in a remote community in the Republic […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2023 -
“It’s a Good Thing We Didn’t Shoot in New Zealand”: Writer-Director Laurel Parmet and Producer Kara Durrett on The Starling Girl
The following interview first ran as part of our Sundance 2023 coverage. The Starling Girl releases in theaters today in NYC and LA via Bleecker Street, with more cities to follow. — Editor Telling the story of Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen), a 17-year-old living in a Christian fundamentalist community in rural Kentucky, Laurel Parmet’s debut feature, The Starling Girl, has been years in the making, Parmet first began writing the screenplay in 2017, soon after the premiere of one of her shorts and the wrap of another. Like her previous work, The Starling Girl positions the viewer within the complex […]
by Erik Luers on Jan 23, 2023
