Archive for January, 2010
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
To climb on a plane again to Europe after only twenty-four hours home in New York was a combination of exciting and somehow inconceivable. The mere six days I spent at Sundance felt like a month, practically, for all that happened. And in departing on Friday evening, I was not leaving for another six days. No, when I return on 02/13, I will have been here for over two weeks.
But it’s all very exciting — just a matter of keeping the basics on target (water, food, sleep).
My first Rotterdam experience occurred not in the city itself but on the shuttle on the way from Amsterdam. I was fortunate enough to share a cab with Pippilotti Rist. I didn’t know it at the time, but she is a prolific and amazingly imaginative video and installation artist, based in Switzerland, who not only had her feature, PEPPERMINTA playing at Sundance, but had also an installation piece in New Frontiers. I missed it there, but after a swift and exciting conversation with Pippilotti on the shuttle, I was determined not to miss it here in Rotterdam.
And see it I did tonight, in a sold-out house. Prior to the screening she had an amusing conversation with a famous museum curator (so famous I forgot his name, I’m afraid), at the conclusion of which she led the audience in a rousing battle cry: “I am not alone!”
It makes sense when you see the film, which is about, as Rist puts it, the exploration (and I would add explosion) of “unnecessary fears.” Hang-ups. Social conventions. Fear of failure. “I want to show how caged we are even though we live in a free culture,” she said.
And the film bears out this radical philosophy on the level not only of content (which recalls A HARD DAY’S NIGHT in its meandering silliness), but also and most emphatically form. Reminiscent of V?ra Chytilová‘s DAISIES, which Rist cites as an inspiration, PEPPERMINTA exhibits a seemingly inexhaustible vocabulary of formal conceits, jokes and tricks, combined with an almost alarmingly free camera and pungent … Read the rest
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Greetings from the Rotterdam Film Festival where I am representing the United States (along with Thomas Woodrow) at the 10th anniversary edition of the Rotterdam Lab.
There are 65 other producers here, from all over the world, and over the next four days we will (to quote the official catalogue) be “…offered a varied programme of case studies, panels and speed dating sessions.” And tons of alcohol, of course, this being a film festival. If my wife is reading this, please note: “speed dating” is not some kind of official festival-sanctioned casual encounters mixer. No, it is actually the Lab’s cheeky term for the one-on-one networking sessions that make up the heart of both the Rotterdam Lab and CineMart , the international co-production event also occurring alongside the festival.
I would like to thank my sponsor here — IFP. What a great opportunity – i really appreciate it!
I arrived yesterday and was immediately pulled into one of these speed dating sessions. Imagine two big circles of chairs, one circle inside of the other, filled with 67 international film producers all facing each other. I am sure many directors have imagined such a scenario, and I am sure the results were far more grisly and violent than what actually occurred. Every two minutes a buzzer buzzed and the outer circle moved over one chair, like a human Rube Goldberg networking cog. It was great fun, but I am sure I can speak for my fellow producers when I say: by the fifteenth producer in 30 minutes, a certain confusion of names, facts and stories sets in, like trying to remember the plots of old James Bond movies.
After that was drinks, of course, and the luxury of more time to get to know the other producers who came here from such far flung countries as New Zealand (who “won” with 30 hours of flight and layover time), Zambia, India, Chile, Korea… And I thought I was jet lagged!
The next day (Sunday the 31st) began with a terrific lecture/participation exercise about pitching led by Ido Abram of the Binger Filmlab … Read the rest
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
As my time in Park City draws to a close, I thought it would be appropriate to consider some suggestions for the festival as its staff looks ahead to next year:
Tighten Programming Standards and Defy the Brand
If the movie blatantly sucks, don’t bother. That’s what I kept thinking while watching one empty-headed road trip movie that made it into Sundance’s dramatic competition against all odds. Just because people expect the festival to contain movies with certain quirky story components doesn’t mean it needs to conform. The programmers ought to remember that shaking things up should be motive number one. That said…
Quit Fighting the Establishment
…and just show good movies. If nothing else, this year’s combative slogans (“This is the rebirth of the battle for brave new ideas,” etc.) essentially implied a slight to former festival director Geoff Gilmore, as if to suggest that the tyrant had left the building. No need to prove your worth in grand declarations, Sundance — just let the program speak for itself.
Drop Next and Bring Back Spectrum
Sundance’s Spectrum section, which it abolished this year in favor of the low budget “Next,” once offered a safe haven for daring artists like Cory McAbee. Now, those filmmakers must either find a way into the bigger sections of the festival or simply sit on the sidelines; neither one of those possibilities sounds too appealing.
The Temple Theater is an Abomination
Well, not really. But this decently-sized screening space is so horribly distant from the other screening venues in Park City that you have to take a special bus to access it. I pity the films that premiered there this year and had to deal with last-minute arrivals — or, worse, no shows. And while we’re contemplating pragmatic matters, why the hell do they serve food in the lobby of the Eccles if you can’t bring it into the theater?
Take the New Media to Bigger Movies
The YouTube experiment was a noble failure. But why not give it another shot with higher profile films in addition to smaller ones? Get some … Read the rest
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
Announced moments ago, the Sundance Film Festival awards were given out in Park City. The dramatic Grand Jury prize went to Debra Granik‘s Winter’s Bone (pictured), which was picked up by Roadside Attractions earlier in the day. Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington‘s look at a platoon stationed in Afghanistan, Restrepo, won the Grand Jury doc prize.
Josh Radnor‘s relationship dramedy happythankyoumoreplease took the dramatic audience award, and Davis Guggenheim‘s Waiting For Superman, which was the first big acquisition of the fest, won the documentary audience award.
And winning the first ever best of the NEXT films was Todd Barnes & Brad Barnes‘s Homewrecker.
The full list of winners are below.
Read our full coverage from this year fest.
Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Winter’s Bone, director by Debra Granik
Grand Jury Prize, Documentary:
Restrepo, co-directors Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington
Dramatic Audience Award:
happythankyoumoreplease, writer-director Josh Radnor
Documentary Audience Award:
Waiting for Superman, director Davis Guggenheim
Directing Award, Dramatic:
3 Backyards, writer-director Eric Mendelsohn
Directing Award, Documentary:
Smash His Camera, director by Leon Gast
The Best of NEXT:
Homewrecker, co-directors Todd Barnes & Brad Barnes
World Cinema Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Animal Kingdom, writer-director David Michôd
World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary:
The Red Chapel, director Mads Brugger
World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award:
Contracorriente (Undertow), writer-director Javier Fuentes-Leon
World Cinema Documentary Audience Award:
Wasteland, director Lucy Walker
World Cinema Directing Award, Dramatic:
Southern District, writer-director Juan Carlos Valdivia
World Cinema Directing Award, Documentary:
Space Tourists, director Christian Frei
World Cinema Screenwriting Award:
Southern District, writer-director Juan Carlos Valdivia
World Cinema Documentary Editing Award:
A Film Unfinished, Joelle Alexis
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award:
Winter’s Bone, Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini.
Documentary Editing Award:
Joan Rivers—A Piece Of Work, Penelope Falk
Excellence in Cinematography Award, Dramatic:
Obselidia, Zak Mulligan
Excellence in Cinematography Award, Documentary:
The Oath, Kirsten Johnson & Laura Poitras
World Cinema Cinematography Award, Dramatic:
The Man Next Door, Mariano Cohn & Gaston Duprat
World … Read the rest
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
There are good movies and bad movies at the Sundance Film Festival, but neither group tells you anything about the quality of individual entries. You may hear that this year restored faith in the state of independent cinema. Or you may hear that it destroyed hope for its sustainability. Both perceptions are equally valid, because nobody in Park City has seen all of Sundance’s 200-odd movies; as a result, the diversity allows for a wide variety of individual viewing experiences. Still, when the media frenzy dies down and life continues, the movies that retain a lasting presence do so on the basis of buzz and little else.
The buzz coming out of Sundance generally falls into one of two categories: Discoveries and breakouts. While these movies come from newbie and experienced veterans alike, they are often collectively placed on a pedestal as the saving grace of independent film. It’s a disingenuous proposition, but also unfair to the many movies left out the equation. While I’m glad that Sundance discoveries like Winter’s Bone, Catfish, Buried and Blue Valentine will make it out to the larger public, I worry that the chatter sustaining these movies overwhelms the opportunity for other noteworthy festival entries to gain much attention at all.
Consider the revelatory drama The Imperialists Are Still Alive! Like a 1990s-era Amerindie upgraded to post-9/11 concerns, this insightful low key account of a young Islamic photographer living in Manhattan addresses global concerns with an engagingly human touch. Directed by Zeina Durra, whose emphasis on playfully philosophical dialogue recalls Whit Stillman, the narrative patiently navigates a credible series of conflicts while simultaneously developing an intimate portrait of the characters’ lives. Our creative heroine, Asya (Elodie Bouchez), learns that her good friend has been abducted by the CIA, leading to an increased sense of paranoia. But her fears are allayed by the blossoming of a relationship with her new lover, a gentle Mexican with the wits to deflate her fears. As a result, Imperialists develops into a plea for cross-cultural lovemaking that evades sentimentalism in favor of … Read the rest
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
Buyers are still hard at work in Park City as we close in on the Sundance awards ceremony later tonight.
Variety reports that Roadside Attractions has acquired Debra Granik‘s Winter’s Bone. Deal is for low to mid six figures. Roadside plans for a summer release. Sony Classics, Apparition, Samuel Goldwyn Films, among others, were also vying for the film.
Winter’s Bone follows a young mother who goes in search for her father, a meth dealer who jumped bail.… Read the rest
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
According to Variety, Michael Winterbottom‘s adaptation of Jim Thompson‘s novel, The Killer Inside Me sold to IFC in the early hours this morning for $1.5 million.
The film, which had mixed reviews at Sundance for it’s controversial scenes of violence and sexual content, stars Casey Affleck as small town psychotic sheriff Lou Ford. Films also stars Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and Bill Pullman.
The film will be released in the late summer theatrically and through VOD.
Read how Winterbottom adapted Thompson’s novel to the screen.… Read the rest
Friday, January 29th, 2010
Taking place April 27 at the Tribeca Film Festival, The Good Pitch, in collaboration with the Britdoc Foundation, is a one-day innovative forum where eight filmmakers pitch their films and associated outreach campaigns to expert participants from charities, foundations, brands and media. The aim is to create a unique coalition around each film in order to accelerate its impact and influence.
Championed by doc heavyweights like Cara Metes and socially conscious companies like Whole Foods, Puma Vision, Ben and Jerry’s Foundation, Asda Walmart Foundation, McKinsey & Co, Freud Communications, Edelman PR, and Saatchi & Saatchi in the past, the event is a useful tool for doc filmmakers.
Deadline for submissions is February 8. Find out more here.… Read the rest
Friday, January 29th, 2010
This is the fifth of our posts from guest blogger Ron Simons, who produced Tanya Hamilton’s Sundance Competition film Night Catches Us. Scroll back through the blog for his earlier entries.
I’ve finally transitioned into the cooler, calmer phase of the festival. The weather is warmer and the snow is starting to melt (including the gargantuan stalactites hanging from the roof edges of about town).
No more press interviews in backrooms of galleries, TV studios or revamped office spaces. Gone are the paparazzi blocking traffic to get the best shot of Ben Affleck, Ryan Gosling or Paris Hilton. Exit the 20-something, mini-mini-skirt wearing, three-inch-heel-sporting painted vixens who had to be carried across two foot banks of snow and slush by their escorts.
Sundance has now eased into a calmer, quieter and saner pace akin to the Seattle International Film Festival. The streets are far less congested and you can actually walk into a restaurant at any time and, with no wait, sit down and enjoy a meal. I’ve also noticed that the demographics on the shuttles have changed dramatically. Most everyone around me is an average Joe/Jane who’s here just for the love of film. Based on my conversations with random fellow passengers, San Francisco seems to be best represented of those who remain to populate the theaters. It seems a good number of them actually arrived after the hubbub of the initial weekend knowing the madness and mayhem that accompanies the first 5 days of the festival. Whenever they got here, and for whatever their motivations, they are a chatty bunch who are eager to exchange their best and worst picks of the festival.
I should mention that while the daytime pacing of the festival has slowed down considerably, the nighttime festivities have not cooled one bit. The parties, the parties, the parties…
My favorite by far was the Sundance Filmmaker’s Reception. It was there that we were able to chill with our fellow filmmakers in a relaxed, beautifully appointed (lighting, seating, furniture) space. It took place at the Yoga Studio (ironically owned by the same man who … Read the rest
Friday, January 29th, 2010
As the Sundance Film Festival comes to a close The Weinstein Company has acquired Derek Cianfrance‘s Blue Valentine in a low seven figure deal.
Starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, Cianfrance’s (named to our “25 New Faces” list this past summer) look at a marriage crumbling received positive reviews when it screened at the fest.
Numerous outlets are also reporting that TWC is close to nabbing another hot commodity from the fest: Amir Bar-Lev‘s powerful doc, The Tillman Story.… Read the rest
