Archive for February, 2004
Wednesday, February 18th, 2004
For the past eight years, Jack Lechner, a former Miramax executive now in charge of entertainment development at @radical.media in New York, and his wife Sam Maser, have sent out a greeting card to their friends featuring parodies of many of the films nominated for Academy Awards set to music.
Below are some of this year’s choice selections:
Mystic River (to the tune of “Mr Sandman”)
Mystic River
Dark as can be
The feel-bad movie of Two-Thousand-Three
It proves a man’ll do the things a beast would
If he’s in a picture by Clint Eastwood
Mystic River
Maybe I’m dense
But did that ending even remotely make sense?
Though the critics don’t agree
Mystic River mystified me!
Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World (to the tune of “All of Me”)
Sodomy
Where is the sodomy
That a sea-
Faring voyage was known for?
If a tar
Went below decks then
Chances are
He would have sex then
Peter Weir
Checked all his facts, it’s clear
And they’re here
In meticulous detail
But in the dash
From rum to the lash
Where is the sodomy?
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (excerpt, to the tune of “My Favorite Things”)
…
Give my regards to the riders of Rohan
(Though it’s unlikely they know George M. Cohan)
Pelennor Fields — that’s where Aragom sings –
So many endings in Lord Of The Rings
Now it’s finished
We’re diminished
It was great, but long
I hope Peter Jackson will rest for a while
Before he remakes
King Kong!
And, lest you think Miramax escaped unscathed, Cold Mountain (excerpt, to the tune of “Old Smokey”):
On top of Cold Mountain
All covered with mist
I wait for my lover
A man I once kissed
…
And if he should perish
That would be a shame
Because then I’ll never
Find out his first name!
If you enjoyed these, tune in to the telecast of the IFP Independent Spirit Awards, February 28 on IFC and Bravo, when Lechner and Maser will skewer the indies in five … Read the rest
Sunday, February 15th, 2004
We were sad to receive this note from Ed Halter today about the filmmaker Sarah Jacobson:
“As many of you know, Sarah Jacobson was battling terminal cancer for the past half a year or so. Well, I’m sorry to report that last night she passed away. Because Sarah knew so many film people, I’m helping her family spread the word about two memorial events happening this week in her memory.
On Monday, February 16th, at 3pm, there will be a memorial service for Sarah at the synagogue on 17th Street between 2nd and 3rd street in Manhattan. (Sorry, I don’t know the name of the synagogue, just the location, but all are welcome).
On Wednesday, February 18th, there will be two screenings at the Pioneer Theater in the East Village of films and videos by Sarah. Sarah actually curated this show herself — it was something she was determined to do in the past month or so, and she did it, which is pretty amazing. With the help of her boyfriend Aaron, she even dug out some old pixel tapes she’s never shown. The Two Boots Pioneer Theater is at 155 East 3rd Street at Ave. A. ph 212 254 3300.
At 7pm on Wednesday at the Pioneer, there is a program of shorts by Sarah, and at 9pm, a screening of her feature film Mary Jane’s Not A Virgin Anymore. (I’m pretty sure it will still be going on as a regular ticketed event, but the door profits are going to the Jacobson family in any case).
Also, I just created a quick Web site bulletin board where people can share their memories of Sarah, even if you can’t come to these events. It will be passed on to her family and boyfriend ….”
For those who don’t know Jacobson’s fresh and spirited work, try to attend the screening or at least read more on the filmmaker’s own site which contains excerpts of great reviews from Amy Taubin, Roger Ebert and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon.
… Read the rest
Friday, February 13th, 2004
It’s hard to find original gift ideas.
While searching for a Valentine’s Day present, I remembered a conversation I had with the director Sara Driver in Rotterdam. She told me about Boym Studio’s Buildings of Disaster series. Small postmodern totems, the series consists of bonded nickel sculptures of sites like the Chernobyl nuclear reactors, the Unabomber’s Cabin (pictured, right), the L.A. freeway during the O.J. Simpson chase, the Waco Complex, and, yes, the World Trade Center. Reading about the sculptures, one would imagine them to be pieces of ghoulish kitsch. Seeing them in person, though, they come off as strange and eerie artifacts of our own psychic histories.
Design partners Constantin Boym and Laurene Leon Boym describe the series in a short manifesto that is equal parts Robert Venturi and J.G. Ballard: “Buildings of Disaster are miniature replicas of famous structures where some tragic or terrible events happened to take place. Some of these buildings may have been prized architectural landmarks, others, non-descript anonymous structures. But disaster changes everything. The images of burning or exploded buildings make a different, populist history of architecture, one based on emotional involvement rather than scholarly appreciation. In our media-saturated time, the world disasters stand as people’s measure of history, and the sites of tragic events often become involuntary tourist attractions.”
I bought the Alma Tunnel, where Princess Diana crashed.
Buildings of Disaster are available from Moss in New York City or through Boym’s Web site, which also features a variety of other design objects and three short films depicting the firm’s gallery-installation work.… Read the rest
Tuesday, February 10th, 2004
Of course, with the Academy nominations come and gone, it may seem kind of pointless to hype an un-nominated performance. But given the nods to Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro for their work in 21 Grams, I just wanted to mention my favorite performance in the film which I was surprised to see absent from the various year-end lists. I’m not talking about Melissa Leo, who has her supporters, but rather Charlotte Gainsbourg. Playing Penn’s wife — a Brit transplanted to Memphis who just wants a second chance at a child with Penn — Gainsbourg, in a quiet, unshowy performance, found the emotional truth within Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s melodrama. The daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, Gainsbourg is a major star in Europe, but let’s hope we see her in more Stateside productions.
… Read the rest
Monday, February 9th, 2004
Sundance has awarded its annual Mark Silverman Producer’s Fellowship to L.A.-based producer Gina Kwon. Formerly a V.P. at Myriad Pictures, Kwon has worked with Academy Award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler on his TNT series The Residents and his Fox series American High. She’s most associated, though, with director Miguel Arteta and producer Matthew Greenfield, having production-managed Star Maps, associate produced Chuck and Buck, and co-produced The Good Girl. She is currently producing a Sundance Lab project, Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, aiming for a Summer 2004 shoot. The fellowship, which is a tribute to the late producer of such films as Blood Simple and Raising Arizona, will support Kwon through this process with a cash grant and a group of producing mentors.
I’ve read July’s script, and it’s one of the most unique and compelling scripts out there in the indie scene right now. As the filmmaker describes it, “The film tells a story about children and adults with impossible desires, living at a time when coming of age is a digital process and reality is an aesthetic choice.” The script is full of hilarious deadpan dialogue and strangely funny set-pieces, and, knowing July’s previous video work, which is smart, intimate, and inviting, hers is a sensibility that should successfully leap into the narrative feature realm. For more about July, pictured at right, click here.… Read the rest
Thursday, February 5th, 2004
Following last year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, Simon Field, the fest’s illustrious director, announced that the 2004 edition would be his last. This year’s festival more than lived up to the high standard Field set when he joined Rotterdam eight years ago, and now Field has revealed his next endeavor. He’ll be joining the U.K. production company Illuminations, run by Keith Griffiths and John Wyver, and will be executive producing a series of music, architecture and film pieces commissioned by the City of Vienna on the occasion the Mozart anniversary in 2006. Theatre and opera director Peter Sellars will be artistic director of the project, further details of which will be announced soon.
At Rotterdam, Field has been a real friend to filmmakers around the world and particularly American independents and experimental filmmakers. We wish him the best in his new position and look forward to many new projects from him in the years ahead.
… Read the rest
Wednesday, February 4th, 2004
Lynn Auerbach, the Sundance Institute’s much-loved Associate Director of the Feature Film Program, passed away shortly after this year’s festival following a brief illness.
For her many friends and colleagues — including the dozens of young fellows and industry mentors who have passed through the Sundance labs since her arrival at the Institute 15 years ago — the news came as a sad shock. Passionate, witty, and clearly in love with her job of discovering new filmmaking talent and helping them develop their projects, Auerbach nurtured her fellows with equal amounts emotional support and keen advice. Just a few of the many directors who developed their works at the labs include Chris Eyre, Miguel Arteta, Sherman Alexie, Tamara Jenkins, Rodrigo Garcia, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Darren Aronofsky, Peter Sollett, and John Cameron Mitchell.
Michelle Satter, Director of the Feature Film Program, stated: “Lynn had an extraordinary ability to create a safe place for emerging filmmakers to do the hard work of going inward, to ask the hard questions about themselves and their work. She was smart, fun, inspired, passionate, deeply committed, and always wise. But, most importantly, her humanity, love of storytelling, and extraordinary efforts to find the most unique voices, is a legacy and guiding force for the Sundance Institute”.
Lynn was also a special friend to us here at Filmmaker. As one of the small group of industry colleagues I’d call and solicit ideas for our annual “25 New Faces” feature, Lynn turned us on to many of the new filmmakers who went on to appear in our pages. And after that feature ran each summer, she’d always call again, eager to learn more about the filmmakers she didn’t recognize so that she could invite them to submit their own scripts to the labs. I always enjoyed my conversations with her, both on the phone and sitting out on the grass at the Sundance Institute during the annual producer’s conference, and will miss her humor and counsel in the years ahead.
… Read the rest
Monday, February 2nd, 2004
Following The Corporation‘s successful run at the Sundance Festival, where it won the Documentary Audience Award for World Cinema, Big Picture Media Corporation has signed a U.S. distribution deal with Zeitgeist Flms.
Co-Director/producer Mark Achbar (who co-directed The Corporation with Jennifer Abbott and co-created it with writer Joel Bakan) couldn’t be more pleased with the response the film has generated. “From the feedback we had after our sell-out screening at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, to this amazing reception at Sundance, not to mention the truly incredible numbers so far with our Canadian launch — it’s clear that this film is resonating with audiences around the world. People care deeply about the issues that the film addresses.”
Achbar is equally excited about the deal just signed with Zeitgeist Films. Reflecting on the success of his previous film Manufacturing Consent, (co-directed with Peter Wintonick) which Zeitgeist has been distributing in the U.S. for the past 11 years, Achbar commented, “I couldn’t be happier about working with Zeitgeist again. They are the obvious choice — smart, honest, and highly focused. Together we are going to get The Corporation out to American audiences in a very broad demographic.”
This feature documentary — based on the forthcoming book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power (Simon & Schuster) by Joel Bakan — takes a look at the very nature of the corporation. Considered a “person” under the law, filmmakers Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan ask, “What kind of person is [a corporation]?” And they conclude that it meets all the diagnostic criteria of a psychopath.
The Corporation questions the sanity of granting so much power to institutions with the legal obligation to serve the bottom line and no need to account for “human” values. The film uses dramatic case studies to explore the impact the corporation has on the environment, media, democracy, children, our health and even our genes — and what people are doing in response.
… Read the rest
Sunday, February 1st, 2004
One of the buzz films to emerge at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival has been Teona Strugar Mitevska’s How I Killed a Saint.
The 29-year-old director attended the MFA program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and on one level, her film could easily fit within the American indie “dysfunctional family” tradition. It tells the story of Viola, a young girl who returns home after travelling abroad for three years, having left behind a family secret and returning to tense relationships with her out-of-it parents and alienated, delinquent brother. Except in this case, Viola is returning in 2001 from the U.S. to a NATO-occupied Macedonia at war with Albanian rebels, the brother’s delinquency involves arms smuggling and terrorism, and the film uses its family drama to make broader comments on the confusion of civilian life in times of conflict.
Says Mitevska, “I made How to Kill a Saint in reaction to the corrupt politicians, war profiteers and international organizations everywhere that don’t always end up protecting the interests of the people. The film is also a call for a world free of peacemakers with guns.”
I talked with Mitevska and her sister Labina — who both starred in and produced the film — on a shuttle bus following the Cinemart closing-night party in Rotterdam. The director told me that their shoot was initially financed by a government grant from the Macedonian film board. But just days before shooting, the funding was delayed, so their parents and cousins all mortgaged their houses so the sisters could proceed with the shoot. Later, Labina, who as an actress has appeared in Before the Rain as well as Michael Winterbottom’s Welcome to Sarajevo and I Want You, got the rough cut to the British director, and he helped find a French producer, Paris-based Silkroad Productions, who secured finishing funds. The film is nicely shot by the Belgian Alain Marcoen (La Promesse and Rosetta), Labina’s performance is passionate and involving, and Teona tells her story in a straightforward, efficient style that’s perfect given the chaos of the movie’s … Read the rest
