Sundance Film Festival
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Hits & Misses: How Seven Films from Sundance 2015 Performed
The health and identity of American independent cinema has always been difficult to gauge and define, but Sundance is our default arbiter and explainer. Of course, indie film exists far beyond the limits of Park City in January, but the festival gives the nebulous American indie sector a test sample — and as any scientist will tell you, that’s the first step in making an accurate hypothesis. So what can the films of Sundance 2015 clarify about the state of American indies, now and in the future? Some trends can be attributed to random cycles and one-time events, but there […]
by Anthony Kaufman on Jan 20, 2016 -
Mike Nichols Documentary and Dazed and Confused Event Added to Sundance 2016 Lineup
With just a little more than a month to go until The Sundance Film Festival, the festival has announced additions to the lineup, including the premiere of Douglas McGrath’s documentary Becoming Mike Nichols and three “From the Collection” archival screenings. Becoming Mike Nichols is slated to air on HBO on Feb. 22. Also on the program is a new Special Event featuring Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused along with live commentary from the filmmaker and his pal Jason Reitman. The archival screenings include John Sayles’ City of Hope, Kelly Reichardt’s River of Grass and Nicole Holofcener’s Walking and Talking. The festival runs January 21-31, 2016. Below are the […]
by Paula Bernstein on Dec 17, 2015 -
Sundance Announces U.S. Competition, World Competition and NEXT Slates
Following on the previously announced Midnight slate, Sundance has announced the 65 titles comprising its competition and NEXT slates. More films to be announced soon, but the 65 to sort through here are more than enough to investigate in the meantime. Some quickly noted highlights: Actress documentarian Robert Greene graduates to Sundance with his fourth feature Kate Plays Christine, and two films from recent 25 New Faces, Anna Rose Holmer and Bernardo Britto. U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION As You Are / U.S.A. (Director: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Screenwriters: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Madison Harrison) — As You Are is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 2, 2015 -
Sundance 2016 Announces Midnight Slate
The first slate of films to be announced for the 2016 edition of the Sundance Film Festival is from the midnight slate. It’s nine films strong, most notably a new Rob Zombie horror film about (as they so often are) “evil clowns.” Also, a new Kevin Smith film. The forthcoming Sundance will be from January 21 to 31. 31 / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rob Zombie) — Five friends are kidnapped on the day before Halloween and are held hostage in a terrifying place named Murder World. While trapped, they must play a violent game called 31, in which the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 23, 2015 -
Click and Release
Back in 2011, around 50 percent of the films that played the Sundance Film Festival went on to receive distribution. “That was an unacceptable violation of our mission as a nonprofit to connect audiences and artists,” recalls Chris Horton, director of Sundance’s Artist Services, which was founded that same January in an effort to help filmmakers navigate the changing landscapes in funding, marketing and distribution. For the subsequent three years, Artist Services partnered with content aggregator New Video to distribute over 100 Sundance pictures, working with the filmmakers to determine the best possible release and windowing strategies. When Sundance’s deal […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 28, 2015 -
Stream or Screen: Are Film Festivals Still Worth It for Short Films?
Before the advent of streaming platforms, the festival circuit was practically the only option for distributing short form content. You’d ship your finished film off to Sundance and pray for that acceptance letter — and maybe even a feature deal made at the festival. But while some of today’s filmmakers still hold tight to that romantic ideal, others are capitalizing on the visibility and fan cultivation teased by the online sphere. They argue against festival submission fees and pricey DCP shipments and for the simplicity of an online premiere on Vimeo, YouTube, NoBudge, Fandor or another platform where audiences are […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Apr 28, 2015 -
Six Women Directors Discuss Filmmaking, Their Countries and Their Sundance Premieres
In and out of movie theaters, buses, cafes, after-parties, and the crowds of Main Street, the conversations at Sundance Film Festival are exclusively about movies. The fact that the cinematographer of the film you are trash-talking is probably standing behind you is negligible. There is an unrestrained and unforgiving buzz of reviews in Park City, Utah. It’s less that everyone is acting like a critic and more that everyone is just obsessed with talking about film. If you’ve been to theater camp, that’s the vibe. It’s not that I wasn’t excited to see movies and flaunt my personal ratings like […]
by Taylor Hess on Feb 6, 2015 -
“That’s a Wrap!” The 414s Director with a Sundance Post-Mortem
Well, that’s a wrap! The Sundance Film Festival came to a close this weekend, and my filmmaking partner, Chris James Thompson and I are already back with our families in Milwaukee. We attended three of the five scheduled screenings for our film, The 414s: The Original Teenage Hackers. The week was sometimes intense, sometimes boring and often enlightening. By our second day it became clear why people love the Sundance Film Festival; the film screening portion of the fest is pure cinema. The hot and sweaty pop-up theaters are always full as volunteers pack in human bodies like Tetris pieces, […]
by Michael Vollman on Feb 5, 2015 -
“I Ripped Up Millions of Sprocket Holes”: George Lucas at Sundance on Building His Empire
“Why should we use all this equipment and all this stuff when we can make it better?” In this excerpt from a recent Sundance panel on “The Power of Story,” George Lucas once again attempts to explain how his loathing for the Hollywood apparatus led to the creation of a special effects empire that enabled a whole new super-strain of Hollywood blockbusters. In his narrative, Lucas had to create a special effects house because none existed, and he had to get into the toy licensing business to prolong the life of his movies inn the market place, and he had to create […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2015 -
Cinematographer Adam Hobbs on Shooting Sundance Competition Doc, Finders Keepers
Premiering this past week at the Sundance Film Festival was Finders Keepers, the tale of an eccentric Southern feud pitting two social outsiders against each other for the possession of a severed foot. Here, cinematographer Adam Hobbs discusses the challenges of mixed camera formats, long days and natural lighting, and choosing to shoot with prime lenses. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Hobbs: In 2010 I was working in commercial production, A close friend told me about […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 2, 2015
