Tim Sutton
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“Life is Artifice”: Willis Earl Beal at the Premiere of Memphis
“I couldn’t figure out if I was acting or telling the truth,” said singer Willis Earl Beal, making his film debut in Tim Sutton’s Memphis, at the movie’s U.S. Sundance Film Festival premiere yesterday. “That’s the way it is with my life. I’m trying to be real but I can’t. Or, if I am being real people don’t recognize it as that.” Beal — not from the film’s eponymous city, but like his character, a mysterious figure whose obliquely impassioned DIY soul soars over crackly, homemade backdrops — inflects Sutton’s film with his own very artful dodgery. Indeed, the spirit […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 18, 2014 -
Giving Good Press: Advice for First-Time Interviewees
For some, it is what they’ve been waiting for, a dream come true, a chance to finally make good on years of lonely work. For others, it is a terrifying minefield of certain humiliation. It is: TALKING ABOUT YOUR FILM. A theoretical dream come true – finally, someone wants to hear me talk about my film! Giving Good Press is a fine art, and, in some cases, a blood sport. The blog machine, the Twittersphere, the critic ratings, the Gray Ladies of print reviews — at a film festival, perhaps for the first time, directors are expected to satisfy their […]
by Alicia Van Couvering on Jan 18, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Tim Sutton’s Memphis
Here’s a look at Memphis, Tim Sutton’s follow-up to Pavilion which has been developed in tandem with the Venice Biennale Film College, as one of the first three projects to emerge from the program’s first year. The film, which shot in the early part of the summer in the city of its title, has its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 31, and via The Dissolve we have a trailer for the film. It looks gorgeous and the story about a Memphis-based musician who is “surrounded by beautiful women, legendary musicians, a stone-cold-hustler, a righteous preacher, and a […]
by Nick Dawson on Aug 22, 2013 -
Tim Sutton’s Pavilion Opens at IFC Center
One of our favorite recent films at Filmmaker and IFP is Tim Sutton’s dreamy and at times disquieting evocation of youth, Pavilion. The film went through the IFP Labs, and its d.p., Chris Dapkins, made our 25 New Faces list last year. And, just this year, Sutton took part in the Venice Biennale College Cinema, which is partnered with IFP, and because of its support, is set to make his new feature, Memphis, this Spring. As Sutton enters pre-production, Pavilion hits the theaters from Factory 25. It opens at IFC Center in New York tomorrow, and is recommended to all […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 28, 2013 -
In Praise of Doubt
It turned out to be incredibly prophetic that my first day in Venice, Italy, as one of the leaders for the Biennale College-Cinema was spent at collector François Pinault‘s incredible Punta della Dogana. This beautiful museum opened in 2009, with its closest neighbor — the Santa Maria della Salute Church — constructed almost four hundred years prior. It was but the first example of old masters sitting side-by-side in conversation with the new I experienced during this magical and inspiring week. Filmmaker and fellow IFP Lab leader Jon Reiss and I entered the exhibition. In Praise of Doubt was based […]
by Amy Dotson on Feb 1, 2013 -
EXCLUSIVE: “PAVILION” TRAILER FEATURING NEW SAM PREKOP TRACK
Prior to its BAMcinemaFest screening on June 28, Tim Sutton’s festival favorite Pavilion has a haunting new trailer — featuring a new song from The Sea and Cake’s Sam Prekop — which we are delighted to be exclusively premiering on the Filmmaker website. In the current issue of the magazine, Scott wrote the following on the film: Tim Sutton’s Pavilion, premiering in the Emerging Visions section, is a beautifully shot and tantalizingly subtle tale of the fragility of adolescent friendships. A teenage boy (Max Schaffner) spends summers with his mother in upstate New York before traveling to stay with his […]
by Nick Dawson on Jun 18, 2012 -
BAMCINEMAFEST FULL SLATE REVEALED
Today the full lineup for BAMCinemafest has been unveiled, including the opening and closing night films. (The initial slate of titles was announced just over a month ago.) The fest will be bookended by comedian Mike Birbiglia’s Sundance charmer Sleepwalk with Me and Rock ‘n’ Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen, the latest doc from British musician and filmmaker Don Letts (Dancehall Queen). The Spotlight screening is Benh Zeitlin’s Sundance Grand Prize winner Beasts of the Southern Wild, and other highlights out of the newly announced titles include the Ross brothers’ Tchoupitoulas, Cory McAbee’s Crazy and Thief and Tim Sutton’s […]
by Nick Dawson on May 3, 2012 -
DISPOSABLE MEMORIES FROM SXSW
I pack quickly the night before leaving for SXSW. Not only do I forget to bring business cards, I don’t even pack my digital camera. I pop into a CVS once I’ve landed in Austin and pick up a two-pack of disposable cameras. I’m surprised they still sell them. My five day jaunt across SXSW is a flurry of rain, movies, tacos, friends, panels, and long lines. I watch Purple Rain on VHS. I watch V/H/S in a movie theater. I’m asked by multiple people if I’ve heard what this year’s Tiny Furniture is. I hear a big-four agent tell […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Mar 16, 2012 -
Five Questions with Pavilion Director Tim Sutton
Filmmaker has written about Pavilion before, whether to praise its beautiful website or to highlight an interesting merchandising strategy that director Tim Sutton discussed at last year’s IFP Narrative Labs. But what of the film itself – a meditative, ethereal blend of documentary and narrative, united around the theme of youth in transition. Indeed, Pavilion, which premieres tonight in SXSW’s Emerging Visions section, should speak for itself. The film almost feels like a National Geographic or Planet Earth-style glimpse into the secret lives of teenagers; into those quiet, unseen moments so difficult to capture – or for many of us […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Mar 9, 2012 -
SXSW REVEALS FULL 2012 FEATURE FILM LINEUP
SXSW has announced their complete 2012 feature film slate. Over 90 films will screen across the festival’s ten categories, including the already announced opening night premiere of Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods and a special preview screening of Lena Dunham’s new HBO series Girls. New additions include the sixteen films premiering in narrative and documentary competition. The eight films competing on the narrative side include Booster, directed by Matt Ruskin, Eden, directed by Megan Griffiths, Gayby, directed by Jonathan Lisecki, Gimme the Loot, directed by Adam Leon, Los Chidos, directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Pilgrim Song, directed by Martha […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Feb 1, 2012
