Tower
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Using Interviews and Animation to Bring the Sniper Documentary Tower to Life
The documentary Tower recounts the day in 1966 that a sniper on the University of Texas Tower killed 14 people and wounded dozens more. The film includes archival footage, interviews with those who were present and animated recreations of the event. In this interview, director/producer Keith Maitland and DP Sarah Wilson talk about the making of the film which receives its broadcast premiere on PBS on Tuesday, February 14th. Filmmaker: How did you become filmmakers? Maitland: I started off in narrative filmmaking, working on other people’s movies, and right around the time I met Sarah — we’ve been together 13 years […]
by Michael Murie on Feb 13, 2017 -
From AD to UT: Keith Maitland on Tower
Racking up three prizes upon its premiere at SXSW 2016 (Best Documentary Feature, the Louis Black “Lone Star” Award, and an audience award), Keith Maitland’s Tower debuted on home turf — which doesn’t mean that audiences knew the tragic details. A breathtaking retelling of the horrific 1966 University of Texas campus shooting that left 16 dead, Tower tirelessly recreates, through modern day interviews, archival footage, and meticulously crafted rotoscope animation, the life-or-death situation many found themselves unexpectedly thrust into. By having the viewer live through the experience while simultaneously listening to the stories of those affected by it, Maitland’s film emphasizes memory and shared experience. Impressively incorporating animation, Tower is […]
by Erik Luers on Oct 14, 2016 -
Recommended on a Friday: Little Sister, Christine, Tower, Certain Women and More
If you look at the long list of movies opening every weekend, not just in theaters but on digital platforms too, you probably feel like you can’t keep up. We feel the same way here at Filmmaker, with usually more films entering the marketplace then we’re able to devote meaningful editorial to. Invariably, some films slip through the cracks, while others may have been covered by us at their festival premieres months ago, with our coverage now buried in the depths of our CMS. So, we’re starting this “Recommended on a Friday” series of picks designed to help you navigate […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 14, 2016 -
Trailer Watch: TOWER
With campus shootings occurring at a frightening frequency, TOWER, the new documentary about the 1966 campus shooting at the University of Texas, is, sadly, timelier than ever. The SXSW Grand Jury and Audience Award winner combines archival footage with rotoscope animation of first-person testimonials to retell the tragedy where a sniper took the lives of 16 people. Directed by Keith Maitland and executive produced by Meredith Vieira and Luke Wilson, TOWER will get a limited theatrical release in October via Kino Lorber. Check out the film’s new trailer above and read an interview with Maitland out of SXSW here.
by Paula Bernstein on Sep 22, 2016 -
Locarno Critic’s Notebook #3
Leviathan. You may have heard the title by now. By the time it screened to press, the film had already gained some momentous hype, and I’m pleased to report it does not disappoint. Often exhilarating, Véréna Peraval and Lucien Castaing-Taylor‘s creation is a unique viewing experience—loud, disorienting, frightening, exciting and visually awesome. The best film from the main competition, at the very least, Leviathan (above) offers the sort of sensory adventure that cinema can but rarely does offer. Using cheap GoPro digital cameras, the filmmakers show us images and perspectives we’ve never seen before. Apparently, Apichatpong Weerasethakul did not like […]
by Adam Cook on Aug 13, 2012
