Encyclopedic in his scope, incisive in his regard to everything from film genres to the history of cinematic editing rhythms, and always with a warmth mixed in with his erudition, Film Studies titan David Bordwell has passed away. RIP. .
With his new film approaching and titles on
@criterionchannl
, we are publishing for the first time online two Pedro Almodovar interviews from our print edition. The first is this 1999 interview by Adam Pincus about “All About My Mother.”
Filmmaker's Winter '24 issue now online and on its way to subscribers. "The Taste of Things"'s Tran Anh Hung on our cover and inside in dialogue with "Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros"s Frederick Wiseman.
James Gray: "At one point I said, '2.40 is okay if we use these very old baltar lenses.' And Darius [Khondji] said, '400 Blows wouldn’t do that ’scope.' I said, '400 Blows is ’scope actually.' He didn’t believe me, so I took out the DVD and it was ’scope."
For independent filmmakers with acquisition titles, the
#sxsw
cancellation is really uncharted territory. It's not like these films are all able to be absorbed by other upcoming festivals.
"How to Blow Up a Pipeline": Thrillingly propulsive eco-thriller w/ none of the obligatory handwringing there'd be in a watered-down studio version of this movie. Fantastic, committed performances all around. This is what independent films should be.
#TIFF
Every day Dr. Craig Smith, Chair of the Dept of Surgery, sends out a
#Covid_19
update. We will be posting them here each evening.
This is the COVID-19 update for today, 3/20/20
Reliably good Paul Schrader interview by
@ErikLuers
about "The Master Gardener," AI, the strike, the scene the film needed he didn't write, and, in a great bit, on Sam Fuller and not having friends your own age.
@thumbelulu
I think a villain in a film is basically an antagonist, whereas an anti-hero can be the subject, protagonist, etc, but one who rejects -- and stands for the rejection of -- heroic qualities.
Timothee Chalamet ends his speech by shouting out NY artists who inspired him, from Mary J. Blige to the Safdies to Scorsese. Super passionate speech that is the counterpoint to his delicate and subtle CMBYN performance.
#GothamAwards
On Fassbinder’s birthday, here’s a 1997 Filmmaker piece with Harmony Korine, Ira Sachs, Tom Kalin and others on the director and their favorite films of his.
Punctuating its lighthearted air with moments of cutting humanity, Mike Leigh's HAPPY-GO-LUCKY offers a winning, irresistibly uplifting consideration of what it means to embrace joy.
I just got a rejection from a program and I can tell that they didn't even view my submission (shoutout to Vimeo analytics).
What do you even do when this happens? It's so frustrating to know that I wasn't even considered and PAID a lot of money for this application 😠😭
Tremendously sad to hear this news. One of the greats with a presence — and voice — like no other. Had the honor of working with her on “Gummo.” R.I.P. Linda Manz.
Each Sundance, Filmmaker speaks with the editors who cut the year's festival films, asking everything from process, their origin stories as editors, hardest thing to cut, progression of the edits and more. Here are those interviews.
With "Blast of Silence" one of
@criterionchannl
's most viewed titles of December, here's the late director Allen Baron's article for us on the making of his ultra-low-budget cult classic.
Barbara Hammer died today. At Filmmaker, we were honored this past Fall to be allowed to publish her recent
@TempleUFMA
discussion w/ Elisabeth Subrin + Sarah Drury. Her intelligence, critical thinking, warmth + empathy are so present here.
With no warning, Amazon Prime Video Direct cut off access to docs and shorts.
@antkaufman
talks to a number of distributors, directors and execs on the negative impact this will have to films and filmmakers.
Filmmaker's Spring, 2020 issue, with the fantastic
@NeverRarelyFilm
on the cover, is on its way to mailboxes and newsstands now. But w/ so many sheltering at home and self-quarantining, we're making the PDF available now, free for all.
Very sad to learn that actor, director and producer Clark Middleton passed away in Los Angeles. He acted in a film I executive produced, “The Good Heart,” among so much other good work, including Twin Peaks S3. R.I.P.
"This is really horrible!" Cate Blanchett on realizing how big she is on screen at the premiere Q&A for Guillermo del Toro's sumptuous ode to noir, "Nightmare Alley."
Shooting 16mm with Cooke S4s to create the ‘70s world of bank robber Forrest Tucker in what may be Robert Redford’s last film, David Lowery’s “The Old Man and the Gun.” DP Joe Anderson talks w/
@DeepFriedMovies
.
For distributors and marketing folks considering
@janeschoenbrun
's "We're All Going to the World's Fair," I will helpfully report that our interview w/ Jane and Alex G and Jane director statement are nos. 1 + 3 in our CMS Google Analytics for Sundance...
Two
#Oscar
nominee interviews, unlocked from the print issue. First, Taylor Hess's interview with "Power of the Dog" producer Tanya Seghatchian. Here, on how she built a foundation w/ Jane Campion for creative risk-taking.
Each Sundance, Filmmaker speaks with the DPs who have shot the festival features, asking everything from how they got hired to camera choice, lighting decisions, the DI and more. Here are those interviews.
#Sundance2022
#cinematography
.
Filmmaker's Summer 2020 issue, our first published as a PDF (for coronavirus-related reasons I detail), is now online for subscribers and also available for single-issue purchase. 1/n
How about we all jump into indies now? Content creators create a film & TV-making system alongside the studio & streaming networks? So there is actual competition. 🧵
“…the U.S. A-list film festival circuit… is now mostly a self-reflexive bourgeois echo chamber of sanctimonious gatekeepers serving corporate interests and neoliberal logics.” Sophia Haid and Keisha Knight of
@ArtSentient
from our print issue.
DP Rachel Morrison gives the best interviews. Here she is talking to Daniel Eagan about why she chooses to be her own operator -- and how that decision intertwines w/ Kristin Stewart's performance in "Seberg."
I'm very happy to announce that after our Summer PDF issue Filmmaker is returning to print in the Fall. To celebrate we're discounting print subs from $18 to just $10. Please consider subscribing to support our content and thank you for reading us.
In his great interview with "The Surrogate" director Jeremy Hersh, "Slave Play" playwright Jeremy O. Harris has thoughts on so-called color-blind casting in independent film.
With the announcement of its 2021 edition, Slamdance has thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to the promise of an accessible festival. Films, panels will be streamable in multiple destinations online, fest passes are free until 12/31. Details and films:
"The hardest thing to get made now in the US is a stand-alone feature that’s not part of the Marvel universe or another "Fast & Furious" sequel..." John Sayles and Maggie Renzi on two films they're hustling, a Western + a '68 Democratic Convention pic.
Generally don't like to highlight simple editorial slip-ups -- glass houses and all -- but this, via an NY Mag newsletter, is a cultural mash-up I'd attend.
"She said, 'You will never ever be good.'" Jane Campion didn't believe that early producer and decided to make three shorts to prove herself. The shorts all went to Cannes, one won Best Short. "Apparently I could direct." Jane Campion at the Gotham Awards.
"Wanting Less and Needing More: Minimalism, Maximalism, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and the Rest of 2021 in Film" -- Mark Asch ties it all together in a characteristically exciting year-end piece. (Also includes Villeneuve, Schrader, Ulman, Trier.)
Wearing my producer hat, I’m tremendously grateful to have received
@Cinereach
’s Producer Award this year along with
@dulynotedinc
+
#filmscience
. Now, filmmakers, this great org's submissions are open for new projects. Learn how and when to apply here.
Unlocked from our print issue, filmmaker Sarah Ema Friedland with "The Carrier Bag of Nonfiction: What Documentarians Can Learn from Ursula K. Le Guin."
There is one Day 1 Sundance ritual I do not miss: hunting around the press office for missing boxes of Filmmaker Magazine. (Couple of years ago, the (old) printer forgot to send.) Advance copy of our Winter '21 issue available at
@sundancefest
Virtual Newsstand now!
After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time.
My print issue interview with the great Lynn Ramsay is now online for all. I loved “You Were Never Really Here” and talking with her about unusual coverage, hot NY summers, and always pushing yourself to do better...
And "The Lost Daughter" director Maggie Gyllenhaal interviewed by Madeleine Molyneaux. So much here, including how styling and props affect character, such as Olivia Colman's bag and Dakota Johnson's black eyeliner.
"The Scary of Sixty-First" director Dasha Nekrasova talks w/ Taylor Hess about hyper-topical horror, hauntology, Kubrick + "Eyes Wide Shut," and the clothing adults wear.
The Southern Documentary Fund has announced its 2021 production grants -- ten projects that include a new feature from "Daughters of the Dust" director Julie Dash.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa talks to
@FCardamenis
about shooting suspense in 8K, creating two separate versions of his film, and teaching Hamaguchi in film school by assigning a new adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's "Solaris."
"After producing for decade, it’s become clear that what producers working in low-budget, indie, feature space are actually doing is helping 1st-time directors make large scale directing samples, which producers rarely benefit from." -- Gabrielle Nadig.
Celluloid lovers — via
@vrizov
, the 31 films shot on 35mm released in 2017, complete with links/quotes from directors, DPs on their choice of that format today.
What boundaries are set and how is consent given when the doc subject has Alzheimer's? "The Eternal Memory" director Maite Alberdi interviewed by Lauren Wissot.
#Sundance2023
Alice Diop's "Saint Omer" is a bracing, astonishing narrative debut (of sorts) and is a must-see. Here, from our current print issue, Isabel Sandoval interviews Diop. The film is out now from
@neonrated
label
@SUPERltdfilm
.
So many of you asked why and here's your answer. Programmers are underpaid, and often underappreciated. This kind of work environment just wasn't worth it for my fellow programmers anymore. Solidarity &❤️
American Head Trip: “Act of Killing” director
@JoshuaOppenheim
interviews
@errolmorris
about his major new work, “Wormwood,” in theaters and on Netflix now.
Here's one I have wanted to get online for a very long time -- my cover story for Filmmaker's second issue -- "Bad Lieutenant," containing interviews with Abel Ferrara and Zoe Lund.
"Nomadland" is the movie we didn't know we needed: tough, wise, quietly righteous while understanding of the pain + sometimes ineffable motivations that shape lives. One perfect moment after another, never over-dramatized. America both full and not enough. A knockout.
#TIFF2020
Movie
#9
: THE INVITATION, directed by Karyn Kusama.
We are looking for a thriller to get us through the early wee hours...
Also: Emayatzy Corinealdi stars in this, who also starred in MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, from about 12 hours back.
#synchronicity
#womeninfilm