Sundance Responses
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“We Must Continually Declare What Our Film Is About”: Directors Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross | My Happy Family
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? As filmmakers we must continually declare what our film is about, and explain the process in which we intend to achieve it. It begins in the funding phase and concludes with the distribution of the film, when you must devise ways to communicate the story to a potential audience. For an artist and filmmaker this process is not necessarily positive, because it can kill your artistic intuition. […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2017 -
DPs Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau on Big Game Hunting Doc Trophy
Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau are the cofounders of Reel Peak Media, a production company that prides itself on documentary work of both “journalistic integrity and cinematic quality.” Both filmmakers began as photojournalists before making the move to documentary cinema. On Trophy, Schwarz and Clusiau served as DPs with Schwarz acting as director. Their film explores the worlds of big game hunting, breeding, and wildlife conservation. Below, the two discuss these issues ahead of Trophy‘s premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? Schwarz and Clusiau: Since we are directors who started as photojournalists, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2017 -
“A Show about a Family Going Through a Transformation”: Co-creators/Co-Writers Giles Andrew & Dan Marshall | Playdates
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? We originally got the idea for Playdates through conversations with our friend and co-creator Alex Bourne — a stay-at-home dad who would complain about the playdates he was forced to take his two daughters on while his wife held down a steady job. So, we based our main character, Bennett, on Alex’s personality, his experiences with parenting, and his reaction within certain situations. We thus had a […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2017 -
“I Found that Less Was a Lot More”: Director Brett Haley | The Hero
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? I love dream sequences. While writing The Hero I was inspired by films like 8 1/2 and TV shows like The Sopranos for their use of dreams in their narratives. Those sequences work so well because they communicate the subconscious fears and hopes of their main characters in truly unique and engaging ways. But dream sequences are tough to get right, not least because they’ve already been […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2017 -
“Simple, Effortless and Full of Hope”: Director Lone Scherfig | Their Finest
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? The script for Their Finest was unusually dense and complex, but the film itself should seem simple, effortless and full of hope. We wanted to pack it with detail, but in so subtle a way that the many layers felt light, shifting between humorous and much more emotional scenes. There’s a wide range of great technical challenges built into the story: a gorgeous Technicolor film within the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2017 -
“A Story about the Very Challenge of Communication”: Director Christine Turner | Hold On
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? In Hold On, a short film about a young man who is left to care for his grandmother, I tell a story about the very challenge of communication. Living under the same roof, but separated by more than 50 years, the two characters are worlds apart. On the one hand there is Troy, a multi-tasking teenager, who speaks the language of Twitter, Tinder, Instagram. On the other […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2017 -
“I Knew it Would Cause Problems”: Director Justin Chon | Gook
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? The biggest challenge of communication my film Gook will have is the actual title. It was a problem when we were trying to get financing for the film, when we were trying to cast the film and will be a problem when we take the film out into the world because of judgment without understanding. It will be our job to communicate and open up dialogue on how […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2017 -
“Every Work of Art Is Political”: Director Cory Finley | Thoroughbred
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? I spent a lot of time thinking, at every stage of making the film, about how it works as social critique. That’s not the story’s primary mode: it’s a psychological thriller, and it’s a study of two characters and their evolving relationship. But a playwriting professor once told me that every work of art is political, whether its creator wants it to be or not. I’m aiming […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2017 -
“Film Is Such a Universal Language”: Director Tarik Saleh | The Nile Hilton Incident
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? The Nile Hilton Incident was shot in Casablanca as a stand in for Cairo, in both Arabic and Dinka languages. We had a French DP, a German focus puller and a Swedish first AD, so one might think that language would be the biggest challenge. However, film is such a universal language and it worked out fine. I think the biggest communication challenge always is making sure […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2017 -
“We’re All to Blame if We Don’t Do Anything”: Director Michelle Latimer | RISE
During its development, production or eventual distribution, what specific challenge of communication did, or will your film, face? How did you deal with it, or how are you planning to deal with it? While I was at Standing Rock I had the privilege to stay in the Oceti Sakowin camp and be part of a community aligned to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. And through it all there seemed to be an overarching narrative that the media hooked into. It usurped everything else. Wherever you turned you would hear about the violence and the chaos of state-led oppression against “protestors.” […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2017
