PLAYER’S BALL

Scott Macaulay speaks with filmmaker Craig Brewer, who won the Audience Award at Sundance with Hustle & Flow, a gritty love song to the Memphis rap scene and the creative spirit. Plus: Lisa Y. Garibay speaks with star Terrence Dashon Howard and producer Stephanie Allain.

25 NEW FACES OF INDEPENDENT FILM

Filmmaker’s annual survey of new talent.

IRON MEN

Jason Guerrasio speaks with directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro, who capture the violent heart of quad rugby in Murderball.

SINS OF THE FATHER

Writer-director Ira Sachs puts a new spin on Southern melodrama with his Sundance Grand Jury Prize–winning Forty Shades of Blue. By Caveh Zahedi.

MANSION ON THE HILL

Gus Van Sant concludes his trilogy of long-take meditations on mortality with the Kurt Cobain–inspired Last Days. Plus: master sound designer Leslie Shatz. By Peter Bowen.

THE ROAD HOME

Phil Morrison’s Junebug has been piling up accolades on the international film festival circuit since its Sundance premiere. By Howard Feinstein.

FRAMED

A hard, wonderful look at the movies in Manny Farber’s legendary film class, as told by former student Barbara Schock.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The Los Angeles Film Festival and Filmmaker’s 2005 Fast Track program. By Tamara Krinsky.

PACKAGING YOUR PROJECT

Nine things you need to know. By Robert Woods.

NIGHT VISIONS

Ten directors test Sony’s HD CineAlta camera. By Kerrie Mitchell.

ORPHAN WORKS

Michael C. Donaldson on tracking down the owners of all that stuff you want to use in your film.

Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man; Scott Frankel, Michael Korie and Doug Wright’s Grey Gardens: A New Musical; Death Cab for Cutie; the Rooftop Film Festival; Timur Bek-mambetov’s Nightwatch; Eric Egan’s The Films of Makhmalbaf; Josell Ramos’s Maestro; Microcinema at 10 Years; podcasting for movie geeks; Bernie Worrell; Michael Shamberg and New Order; Patryk Rebisz’s Between You and Me; Craig Chester’s Adam & Steve.