ARE YOU OBJECTIFIED?

Scott Macaulay
2ND UPDATE: We have our winners. Thanks, all! UPDATE: To win a digital copy of Objectified, answer the question below and email editor.filmmakermagazine AT gmail.com. Almost three years ago I decided to check out what seemed to be an obscure little documentary about graphic design at SXSW and was surprised to find the line to get in stretching all the way down the length of the convention [continue]

FILMMAKER/APPLE PRESENTS MEET THE FILMMAKER: JASON REITMAN

Jason Guerrasio
Tonight at 7pm head over to the NYC Apple Store in SoHo (103 Prince Street) for what's sure to be a lively and entertaining conversation with director Jason Reitman. He'll be talking about his latest film Up in the Air starring George Clooney as a corporate downsizer whose life of collecting frequent flyer miles, perks and no-strings-attached hookups is in jeopardy. Interviewing Reitman for the [continue]

THE FONT OF ANGER

Scott Macaulay
Aaron Leming, who works as a specialist at the Southlake Town Square Apple Store in Dallas, created this resonant typographic rendition of Paddy Chayefsky's famous Howard Beale "Mad as Hell" speech from Network. Mad As Hell! Kinetic Typography from Aaron Leming on Vimeo.

A CHANGING OF THE GUARD AT OUR DIRECTOR INTERVIEWS COLUMN

Scott Macaulay
Back in March, 2007, with his talk with Color Me Kubrick's Brian Cook, Nick Dawson inaugurated a new column here at Filmmakermagazine.com: the Director Interviews. Over the course of two-and-a-half years, he infallibly spun out thoughtful and provocative discussions with directors ranging from emerging American indies to big-name international auteurs to everyone in between. Viewing the bulk of [continue]

SCHOOL'S OUT: ASTRA TAYLOR ON THE UNSCHOOLED LIFE

Scott Macaulay
Filmmaker Astra Taylor (Examined Life) gave the debut Artist Talk for the Walker Art Center's "Raising Creative Kids" series. The series is described as an initiative "designed to make the Walker a destination and resource for families and parents wanting to creatively engage their children." Here's their description of the talk: Raised by independent-thinking bohemian parents, Taylor was [continue]

SUNDANCE BRINGS 2010 FESTIVAL TO A CITY NEAR YOU

Jason Guerrasio
The Sundance Institute announced today the creation of Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. where direct-from-festival films from the upcoming 2010 festival will be screened nationwide in theaters in eight cities on the Thursday of the festival (Jan. 28). This will conincide with events and premiere screenings back at the festival, including the North American premiere of the socio-political documentary The Shock Doctrine [continue]

CARA MERTES

Filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Stevie) speaks to the Director of the Sundance Institute Documentar Program about her plans in her new position at Sundance.

MICHELLE SATTER

Scott Macaulay speaks with the Founding Director of the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program about, among other things, the rhythms, rituals and successes of the Sundance Filmmaker Labs.

KEN BRECHER

Scott Macaulay speaks with the Executive Director of the Sundance Institute about Sundance the institution, its programs, and the future of its audience.

GEOFF GILMORE

Holly Willis speaks to the Director of the Sundance Film Festival about the Festival, the future, and the press’s “scorecard mentality.”

JOHN COOPER

Sundance’s Director of Festival Programming tells us what to expect at this year’s fest. By Holly Willis. From the Winter 2007 issue.

Click here for a digital version of our special section on Sundance’s 25th Anniversary. Featuring essays on Sundance from key figures in the industry, a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of the Sundance Labs, and profiles/interviews with many of the top people in the independent film community. This special section was made possible with the support of Hewlett-Packard.

WHITE PLASTIC FLOWER

1/29/07
Jamie Stuart takes on the Sundance Film Festival in his latest short. Click above to watch. Click here to download.

SNAKE EYES

Visualizing the world of Black Snake Moan.
By Bob Fisher
1/25/07
In Black Snake Moan Christina Ricci plays Rae, a nymphomaniac wracked by vivid memories and dreams of being sexually abused during her childhood. Also in Craig Brewer’s follow-up to his Sundance-hit Hustle and Flow is Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Lazarus, a God-fearing farmer who picks at his guitar, sings blues songs about sin, and, after a chance encounter, attempts to oversee Rae’s salvation. [continue]

CHRISTOPHER ZALLA

writer/directors: PADRE NUESTRO.
By James Ponsoldt
1/25/07
Padre Nuestro exemplifies the modern, international face of American independent cinema: the first-time director, Christopher Zalla, was born in Kenya, raised overseas (and is fluent in Spanish), schooled at Columbia, and created a stylish thriller that begins in Mexico and winds up in New York City. A smart film that — one could argue — uses its border-hopping protagonist’s stolen identity as a metaphor for globalization, Padre Nuestro will certainly spark debate at Sundance. [continue]

DAVID KAPLAN

writer/directors: YEAR OF THE FISH.
By James Ponsoldt
1/24/07
A veteran of Sundance with his short films — including the cryptic, menacing fairy tales, Little Red Riding Hood (starring Christina Ricci and Quentin Crisp!), Little Suck-A-Thumb, and The Frog King — which are regularly shown to film students as examples of exemplary short-form filmmaking, David Kaplan returns to the festival with his first feature, Year of the Fish. [continue]

DAN BUSH/DAVID BRUCKNER/JACOB GENTRY

writer/directors: THE SIGNAL.
By James Ponsoldt
1/24/07
Making a feature film, independent or otherwise, isn’t easy (understatement of the century). The seemingly impossible hurdle of gaining financing — not to mention the tiny details of actually executing the film and then seeking distribution — seem Herculean enough to scare off most would-be filmmakers.
Now imagine directing a feature film with two other directors. [continue]

ANOCHA SUWICHAKORNPONG

writer/director: GRACELAND.
By James Ponsoldt
1/24/07
Anocha Suwichakornpong, known by her friends as Mai, is at home on a film set. Case in point: while most filmmakers would kill to watch their film screen in front of a Sundance audience, Mai is on the other side of the world, shooting her next short film, Days and Days and Days and Days. [continue]

JAMES C. STROUSE

writer/director: GRACE IS GONE.
By James Ponsoldt
1/20/07
Certain films arrive at Sundance with a special type of anticipation, whether it’s due to star presence, subject matter, timeliness, or some ineffable quality that is the stuff of buzz. At Sundance 2007, Grace is Gone is one of those films. The directorial debut of James C. Strouse, who wrote Lonesome Jim (the Steve Buscemi-directed film screened at Sundance in 2005), the film tells the heart-wrenching story of a father, played by John Cusack, who must find a way to tell his children that their mother has been killed in Iraq. [continue]

CHERIEN DABIS

writer/director: MAKE A WISH.
By James Ponsoldt
1/20/07
Supported by numerous prestigious grants — including the Jerome Foundation’s New York City Media Arts Grant, the New York State Council on the Art’s Electronic Media and Film Distribution Grant, and National Geographic’s All Roads Film Project Seed Grant — Itmanna (Make a Wish), the most recent short film by writer/director, Cherien Dabis, will quickly follow its Sundance bow with screenings at Berlin and the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. [continue]

FELLIPE BARBOSA

writer/director: SALT KISS.
By James Ponsoldt
1/19/07
Salt Kiss, the second short film by writer/director Fellipe Barbosa to screen at Sundance (following last year’s La Muerte Es Pequena), has none of the tropes commonly associated—by Americans—with “Latin American” cinema. That means no knife-fights, gambling, gang violence, or overt poverty. Yet Salt Kiss is absolutely a Latin American film—Brazilian, to be exact—because its creator told a film straight from his heart, and yes, he happens to be from Brazil. [continue]

NANOBAH BECKER

writer/director: CONVERSION.
By James Ponsoldt
1/19/07
Conversion, the ambitious second short film by Nanobah Becker, clocks in at only nine minutes, and is described simply tantalizingly as: “Christian missionaries make a catastrophic visit to a Navajo family.” Becker’s first short, Flat, has screened in festivals internationally, and she is a recipient of a 2005 Sundance Institute Ford Fellowship and a 2006 Media Arts Fellowship for her feature screenplay, Full. [continue]

HOPE DICKSON LEACH

writer/director: THE DAWN CHORUS.
By James Ponsoldt
1/19/07
Hope Dickson Leach’s short film, The Dawn Chorus, tells the story of two siblings who annually reenact—with other survivors—the plane crash that killed their parents. An MFA thesis film for Columbia University’s Film program (where Hope graduated with honors), The Dawn Chorus explores the process of grieving and, hopefully healing. [continue]

IAN OLDS

writer/director: BOMB.
By James Ponsoldt
1/19/07
It isn’t easy to glean a sense of Ian Olds’ identity from his films — they’re too diverse, too global. From Occupation: Dreamland (short-listed for an Academy Award), a breathtaking documentary that avoids simple political interpretation by opting to tell the story of the Iraq War from the perspective of the entire city of Fallujah — including both native Iraqis and U.S. troops — to Bomb, his most recent film, which explores teenage heartache against the backdrop of a decrepit bombing range and junkie malaise, Olds seems to be imbued with an unusual sense of humanism and empathy for individuals stuck in agonizing situations. [continue]

LILAH VANDERBURGH

writer/director: BITCH.
By James Ponsoldt
1/19/07
Bitch, the kinetic, black-and-white, Harold Lloyd-meets-Jello Biafra love story, is one of the most visually sophisticated and stylized films to emerge from that Sundance short film-factory, Columbia University’s MFA Film Program (eight shorts screening at the festival this year!). The film’s director, Lilah Vanderburgh, is obsessed with skater culture, punk-rock, underground comics, and displays the hip film literacy of another director with an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture.[continue]