Sundance Channel

Coming soon…The Sundance Channel film newsletter

Michelle Byrnes-Carney — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:49:23 +0000

Enough of this passive internet browsing! We're bringing our latest, greatest, indie cinema stuff directly to your inbox. Starting right now Sundance Channel will commit to making sure you don't miss:

Now playing on Sundance Channel: From naughty films to brutal ends

Michelle Byrnes-Carney — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:00:11 +0000

Ah, lovely, fragile February. While the groundhogs can't seem to make up their minds on just how much winter we've got left, those of us on the East Coast are still waiting for that alleged season to start. But, regardless of what the mercury tells us, it's still hibernating season (and, well, fighting off the flu season), so we've got some killer indie movies lined up to get you through the next week:

How to park your lawn mower for good: the Meadow Project

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:40:37 +0000

Got a lawn? Ever stopped to consider the amount of time, money, and natural resources you put into keeping that grass green? The watering, fertilizing (whether through organic or conventional means), mowing, and weeding? No doubt that lawn grass is the most high-maintenance plant on the planet (as the expert in the video above observes)! Even if you're not a greenie, is that really how you want to spend your time, energy, and money?

Tales of a NYC location scout

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:00:37 +0000

One of my favorite, little joys of living in New York City is having my way blocked by a film shoot. Sarcasm aside, there's something pretty wonderful about walking down a random street only to suddenly remember a scene from a movie that was shot in that exact location. It's a sensation that makes living in a somewhat difficult city (but one which has had an iconic role in countless films) worthwhile. And after living here awhile you occasionally come across an interesting street or building and you start thinking "This would be an awesome location for my theoretical rom-com about the pedicab driver who falls in love with an uptown girl" - in other words, pretending to be a location scout.

Richard Sandling’s 200 VHS movie covers

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:52:46 +0000

Comedian and self-declared VHS enthusiast Richard Sandling owns over 3,000 movies on VHS, and he scanned 200 of their covers for this project. His collection seems to lean heavily on pulp, but this might also be a reflection of the era in which VHS was most prevalent. And as much as I laughed at many of the covers...

Most expensive scene in silent film history

Matthew Rodriguez — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:58:09 +0000

The above cinemagraph is from the 1926 silent film, THE GENERAL, starring and co-directed by Buster Keaton. And this climatic shot is believed to the single most expensive scene in silent film history, at a cost of $400,000. Considered "one of the greatest of all silent comedies (and Keaton's own favorite) - and undoubtedly the best train film ever made," this epic scene, filmed near the town of Cottage Grove, Oregon, used a real train (with a "dummy" conductor) and was shot in a single take.

Now playing on Sundance Channel: NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS

Em and Lo — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:00:51 +0000

Any movie with full frontal male nudity in the first five minutes is automatically a winner in our book. And that's what you get with 2008's NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS, the last in September's "Lover's Lounge" series on the Sundance Channel (airing Saturday night/Sunday morn, September 25th at 12:45am and again at Tue night/Wed morn at 2:30am - set your Tivos).

Best of Kickstarter, 9/19

Perrin Drumm — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:06:02 +0000

We scoured the pages of Kickstarter to bring you this week's best projects. Have a great Kickstarter project of your own or see one you think deserves some extra attention? Let us know about it the comments and we may just feature it in our weekly roundup. TECH Teagueduino: Don't know how to solder to embed code? Meet Teagueduino, "an open source electronic board and interface" that shows you "the ropes of programming and embedded development (like arduino). Teagueduino is designed to help you discover your inner techno-geek and embrace the awesomeness of making things in realtime - even if you've only ever programmed your VCR."

What’s on Sundance Channel next?

Perrin Drumm — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:30:03 +0000

The last day of August means two things: the official end of Summer (boo) and the beginning of Fall (yay) - and with it, a whole month chockfull of specially chosen films on Sundance Channel (double yay!). We've got blocks of sexy films, environmental films, foreign films, independent films and festival premiers. You're bound to see some old favorites, some big screen hits and plenty of new classics just waiting to make their way onto your Best Films of All Time list.

HAPPY, HAPPY: Crazy couple swapping on a snowy Norweigan hillside

Blair Pfander — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:23:53 +0000

Set on a snowy, Norwegian mountainside, HAPPY, HAPPY - a World Cinema Jury Prize winner at this year's festival - tells the story of Kaja, a wife and mother who eagerly seeks friendship in Elisabeth and Sigve, the exciting (they adopted an Ethiopian boy!) and precariously tall couple coming to live in their guest house. Kaja's obvious longing for affection is due in large part to the negligence of her husband, a latent homosexual whose "hunting excursions" and weird, outdoor Tee-Pee of Solitude - called a "lavoo" in Norwegian - ain't fooling nobody. Soon, Kaja's need to please bumps up (literally) against Sigve's desire to be taken seriously by his wife, whose dalliances back in the city instigated their move to the mountain in the first place. A few sweaty rolls on the floor later and a couple-swap has taken place. Oh, and there's some really messed up stuff going on with the kids, one of whom tries to "enslave" the other by beating him with a wet dish towel.

Woody Allen’s SHADOWS AND FOG turns 20

Perrin Drumm — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:38:52 +0000

2011 marks the 20th anniversary of Woody Allen's SHADOWS AND FOG, meaning, among other things, that the prolific filmmaker has made 20 films since (actually, he's made 21, but who's counting?). In 1989 Allen made the much-loved CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, followed by the slightly less loved ALICE, and then SHADOWS AND FOG, which was, unfortunately, even less of a hit amongst audiences. The early 90s New York Times film critic Vincent Canby actually ended his review with a ridiculous "note of caution: SHADOWS AND FOG operates on its own wavelength. It is different. It should not be anticipated in the manner of other Allen films."

New fiction (and music and film): “Lola, California” by Edie Meidav

Em and Lo — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:00:36 +0000

The amazing writer Edie Meidav (who also happens to be our friend and neighbor) is out today with a new novel: "Lola, California", called "brilliant" and "awesome" by Publisher's Weekly. Meidav is such a force of inspiration that art practically gets spontaneously generated in her wake: above is a beautifully haunting short film created by Snapdragon that's inspired by "Lola" along with Meidav's narration; and here is music inspired by the book from Kevin Salem, who calls it "part soundtrack for the reader, part songs inspired by the text ... and part music inspired by the cultural identity of the novel." Below is one of two excerpts from "Lola, California" that Meidav is generously allowing us to publish here -- this one about a rape on a Greek island. Stay tuned next week for the second excerpt about two friends go-go dancing. Both are compelling creepy and deeply moving, even without the context of the full novel:

Manic pixie dream girl

Em and Lo — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:30:09 +0000

Now evil has a name: Manic pixie dream girl. Actually, the name was coined back in 2007 by the AV Club's Nathan Rabin, but somehow we only just learned about it the other day. Back then, Rabin was panning Elizabethtown and used the term to describe Kirsten Dunst's character, second in annoyingness only to Natalie Portman's character in Garden State:

A baby video on YouTube that’s actually art

Em and Lo — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:00:49 +0000

This doesn’t have much to do with love and sex, except that we love this trailer which features an adorable product of sex. The teaser is from the short film LAS PALMAS by Johannes Nyholm, which just won the Short Film Award and the Audience Award at the Gothenburg Int’l Film Festival, Startsladden. (The jury [...]

Sundance documentaries get no love

Nicole LaPorte — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:44:58 +0000

An image from Andrew Rossi’s Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times

One thing that has been nagging us as we consider this year’s Sundance, now that we have time to gather a bit of perspective, is this: for all the talk of movie deals; and all the hooplah made over more commercial-minded films like My Idiot Brother, which, though a very good film, and a very fun film, is not by no measure a great film; why was there so little discussion about the documentary entries at the festival? A category, which in our humble estimation, was exceedingly superior to the feature film category.

Meet The Black Spark

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 23:09:18 +0000

I don’t quite know what to make of the Black Spark. His website, and videos (which have gone missing, most likely to reappear on his new site), are creating much buzz in the gay world. He makes films. Beautifully shot, artistic films. That also include graphic sexual scenes. Anal sex. Cum shots. Some nasty stuff. [...]

Andy Warhol’s motion pictures

Bradford Shellhammer — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:42:30 +0000

With so many soup cans and Monroe images out there its easy to forget that Andy Warhol was not a one trick pony. The artist was also a prolific filmmaker and a new exhibit at NYC’s MoMA spotlights those films. From MoMA: Among Warhol’s cinematic oeuvre, the black-and-white silent films are the most daring and [...]

Searching for sustainable community… by bike

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:37:29 +0000

It might be tempting to label the "journey across America in search of ______" motif a cliché... except it still resonates powerfully. From 19th-century travelogues to Kerouac's On the Road to Albert Brooks' Lost in America, the idea of traveling the US as a quest for meaning captures out imaginations, and gives us space for a bit of introspection. Ryan Mlynarczyk and Mandy Creighton went beyond the dreaming about such adventures most of us do, and decided to set out on their own quest across the country... this time in search of sustainable community. In 2008, they ditched almost everything, and set off across the US on bikes to explore ecovillages, communes, collectives... every form of simpler, more sustainable communities they could find. They've visited over 100 communities across the country, and are now pulling footage of their journey into a feature-length film titled WITHIN REACH.

Woody Allen Meets A Tall Dark Stranger

Kultur Kritik — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:58:11 +0000

Woody Allen Talks About His Latest Film Photo Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics Woody Allen’s latest film “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” starring an ensemble that includes Gemma Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, and Josh Brolin, opens in U.S. theaters tomorrow, September 22nd. On September 8th, Kultur Kritic excitedly attended a press screening [...]

Dating advice for the Giving Tree’s abusive relationship

Em and Lo — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:00:39 +0000

How did we manage to miss this totally awesome quote from Ryan Gosling? In an interview with New York magazine about his upcoming movie BLUE VALENTINE (opening later this year, it's a portrait of a marriage, co-starring Michelle Williams), he's asked about his character's tattoo of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree on his arm, and replies: "That book is so fucked up; that story’s the worst. I mean, at the end the tree is a stump and the old guy just sitting on him -- he’s just used him to death, and you’re supposed to want to be the tree? Fuck you. You be the tree. I don’t want to be the tree." Now we can't decide which we love more -- Silverstein's book or Gosling's quote about it.

The Bechdel Test*

Em and Lo — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:00:22 +0000

Thanks in large part to a video made last December by Anita Sarkeesian of FeministFrequency.com that’s been making the rounds recently on the Internet, more of the world knows about the Bechdel Test.* Back in 1985, Alison Bechdel’s comic “Dykes to Watch Out For” mentioned “The Rule,” one character’s three simple requirements for whether or [...]

Green tech finds (5/20/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:54:21 +0000

Poop, planes, and bikes... it's green tech finds time.

Poop-powered data centers: Want to run a data center more sustainably? Start shoveling! Scientists from HP's sustainable IT ecosystem lab presented the idea of powering these energy hogs by farm wastes at the ASME International Conference on Energy Sustainability. (via GreenTech Pastures... how appropriate!)
The low-emission airplane? A research team at MIT has presented an airplane concept to NASA that "...is likely to use 70 percent less fuel than existing ones while slashing noise and emission of nitrogen oxides."

FULL FRONTAL FASHION highlights

Sundance Channel — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:34:55 +0000

Think of this as your FULL FRONTAL FASHION cliff notes. FULL FRONTAL FASHION sat down with Isabella Rossellini for the latest installment of WHO_WHAT_WHERE?.Find out where she’s been spending her time lately — we think you’ll love it! You saw all the Red Carpet action, but have you seen Leslie Jordan’s ‘Trip Down the Pink [...]

Earth Week insight: Robert Redford interview in On Earth

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:50:14 +0000

While the list of Hollywood environmentalists continues to grow, few have been involved in the movement longer or more consistently than Sundance founder Robert Redford. As such, NRDC's On Earth chose to publish an interview with Redford late last week in which he reflects on the first Earth Day forty years ago, his own environmental awakenings, and how the movement to protect and conserve our natural resources has developed, changed, and even taken some detours since 1970.

What lessons can we take away from Sundance?

Amy Reiter — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:12:41 +0000

WINTER'S BONE, Grand Jury Prize Winner at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Now that Sundance is over, it's time for a little perspective. And critics and industry watchers are only too happy to provide it. Sure, since the awards were handed out on Saturday night and the festival wrapped on Sunday, there have been the requisite stories about which movies to watch out for and the reports on last-minute acquisitions. (Ten movies were acquired at the festival; in the past few days, Weinstein Co. snagged Derek Cianfrance's BLUE VALENTINE, starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling; IFC Films scored the rights to Michael Winterbottom's THE KILLER INSIDE ME; and Roadside scooped up Debra Granik's WINTER'S BONE, which won the festival's grand jury prize.) But what lessons can we take away from Sundance 2010?

2010 Sundance Award Winners!

Sundance Channel — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:00:58 +0000

Without any adieu the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners. Also, be sure to check out the rest of our coverage including exclusive interviews and news and gossip from this year's Festival. The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to RESTREPO, directed by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington. Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's year dug in with the Second Platoon in one of Afghanistan's most strategically crucial valleys reveals extraordinary insight into the surreal combination of back breaking labor, deadly firefights, and camaraderie as the soldiers painfully push back the Taliban. The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to WINTER'S BONE, directed by Debra Granik; written by Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini. An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her missing father while trying to keep her family intact. The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to THE RED CHAPEL (Det Røde Kapel) directed by Mads Brügger. A journalist with no scruples, a self-proclaimed spastic, and a comedian travel to North Korea under the guise of a cultural exchange visit to challenge one of the world’s most notorious regimes. Denmark The World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to ANIMAL KINGDOM, written and directed by David Michôd. After the death of his mother, a seventeen year-old boy is thrust precariously between an explosive criminal family and a detective who thinks he can save him.

Snap! An infamous lensman gets his close-up

Amy Reiter — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:25:31 +0000

SMASH HIS CAMERS, directed by Leon Gast, Oscar-winning director of WHEN WE WERE KINGS

I suppose it's a mark of where celebrity journalism and gossip are today that paparazzo Ron Galella is finally getting the star treatment. For decades, Galella lurked in bushes and staked out buildings, hunkered down in taxis and emerged seemingly out of nowhere to get his shot of celebrities like Sinatra and Warhol, Sophia and Bianca, Michael Jackson, Elvis, and Sundance founder Robert Redford himself. Jackie O, whom he considered his "Mona Lisa," took out a restraining order against him. Brando broke his jaw. Now, Leon Gast, the Oscar-winning director of WHEN WE WERE KINGS, has focused his own cameras on the infamous lensman in his new documentary, SMASH HIS CAMERA, currently showing at the Sundance Film Festival.

A flurry of deals in Sundance’s final days

Amy Reiter — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:25:42 +0000

Until Thursday, Sundance Film Festival watchers from afar could have been forgiven for concluding that the increased emphasis on art, rather than on commerce, in the festival offerings this year may have worked all too well. Many of the films making their debuts were wowing critics, but the money people appeared to be unimpressed, or at least not impressed enough to open their wallets. Or at least opening them too often.

Will Mormons a see gay-marriage doc?

Amy Reiter — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:03:22 +0000

In his review of 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION, a documentary about the Mormon Church's campaign to pass Prop. 8, the ballot initiative outlawing gay marriage in California, Variety's Peter Debruge writes that the film is "mostly preaching to the converted." "Although controversy could spur interest, the pic hasn't been as incendiary as one might expect playing just north of LDS HQ at the Sundance Film Festival," Debruge asserts. He may have spoken too soon.

Punk saviors? Crazed cars? Spotting Sundance trends

Amy Reiter — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:51:33 +0000

What are the top trends emerging from the Sundance Film Festival this year? That really depends on whom you ask. Los Angeles Times Film critic Betsy Sharkey thinks it's punk saviors. "If there is a collective vision emerging out of the films in the Sundance dramatic competition it is this: The punks will save you," she writes, citing WELCOME TO THE RILEYS, the debut film of director Jake Scott (son of Ridley); actor Mark Ruffalo's directing debut SYMPATHY FOR DELICIOUS, in which he also stars; and Spencer Susser's HESHER.

Talking about art at Sundance

Amy Reiter — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:58:24 +0000

Sundance Film Festival attendees who are looking to unglue their eyes from screens and emerge from darkened movie theaters now and again just got a little added incentive. The Festival has announced a series of panels, roundtables and special events examining the powerfully transformative role of art and culture in society

What are people saying about HOWL?

Amy Reiter — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 19:37:53 +0000

Seems like James Franco has been all over the place in the last few days, talking about, among other things, HOWL, the new film by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman in which the actor stars as Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Here he is discussing his love of poetry with Vanity Fair. There he is explaining his love of soap operas to New York magazine. Here he is defending his tendency to play roles based on himself on screen in Movieline. And there he is getting rapped for his shabby grad-school duds by old-school gossipist Cindy Adams: "His black coat was littered with light brown hair," she sniffed in her New York Post column on Wednesday.

Will Sundance 2010 chart indie film’s future?

Amy Reiter — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:13:37 +0000

Talk about pressure. Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper may have the entire independent film industry riding on him. So says New York Times writer Brooks Barnes, positing on Thursday, hours before the Festival kicked off, that "this might very well be the most important Sundance in years."

Making music at Sundance

Amy Reiter — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:16:20 +0000

Still from ODDSAC. Music is surely a strong theme at this year's Sundance Film Festival: In Sam Taylor Wood's NOWHERE BOY, a teenage, pre-Beatles John Lennon finds an escape from his dysfunctional family through music (watch a clip here). The band Animal Collective will debut the film it has spent years collaborating on with Danny Perez, ODDSAC, a psychedelic mix of abstract music and visuals. TWILIGHT's Kristen Stewart stars as rocker Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning plays Jett's bandmate Cherie Currie in Floria Sigismondi's rock-and-roll biopic THE RUNAWAYS. And that's just for example.

How you can help in Haiti

Amy Reiter — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:46:18 +0000

Cine Institute Students Effort from Ciné Institute on Vimeo.

One of the issues the Sundance Film Festival has set out to explore this year is the role of the arts today -- how filmmaking and other art forms can not just stay relevant, but can actually be an agent for positive change in a world that surely needs all the help it can get. It's hard to think of a better example of the transformative power of art than the efforts of the students at Cine Institute, Haiti's only film school, located in the country's cultural capital, a seaside city called Jacmel.

Sundance films coming soon to YouTube

Amy Reiter — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:43:19 +0000

Those of us feeling sad about being stuck at home during the Sundance Film Festival yet again this year will be relieved to hear that our distance from Park City is a diminishing disadvantage. Today's news? Audiences across the United States can view three Sundance feature films on their very own computers even before they screen for Festival audiences, thanks to a deal Sundance has forged with YouTube.

FROM PARIS TO PRECIOUS (aka PUSH): Sundance switches gears

Paula Froelich — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:53:18 +0000

Main Street in Park City, UT during the Sundance Film Festival. I have two words for you: Lyle Lovett. My Mason-Dixon reared soul is all a flutter over this year’s Sundance Film Festival. I will be honest: I haven’t gone to Sundance in four years. I used to cover it when I was the deputy editor for Page Six at the New York Post. For a gossip columnist, it was like shooting ducks in a barrel. Celebrities abounded, bad behavior - thanks to alcohol consumption, high altitudes and a distinct lack of spousal companionship - was everywhere, and I was in heaven. I would see some great movies, interview some actors, and then go to premiere and agency parties, collecting information all along the way. It was fun and I got some good work done. Until 2006.

And the Sundance Film Festival judges are…

Amy Reiter — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:15:33 +0000

Actor David Hyde Pierce will be announcing the awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival has announced the names of the jurors who will determine which films competing in five different categories will take home awards from Park City this year. The awards will be announced at a ceremony hosted by actor David Hyde Pierce on January 30. The winners in the Short Film category will also be announced earlier, at a separate event on January 26.

HBO nabs Sundance film in early deal

Amy Reiter — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:05:25 +0000

Although the shimmering wave of industry bigwigs and cinematic glitterati won't roll into Park City for a few more days, the Sundance Film Festival business deals have already begun. Last week, HBO announced that it had acquired the U.S. television rights to New York-based Argentinean filmmaker Nicolas Entel's feature documentary SINS OF MY FATHER.

Sundance Films Top 10 Sexy-FAIL Moments

Em and Lo — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:00:54 +0000

To count down to the Sundance Film Festival, we’re blogging about some of our favorite movie moments in the festival’s history. We've covered the Top 10 Lessons in Love, Top 10 Lessons in Young Love and the Top 10 Oddest Couples. This week, we're featuring the movie moments that make you feel funny in a bad way, make you squirm in your seat, give you second-hand embarrassment or leave you holding your knees rocking back and forth saying "No" over and over.

The best of “best of” movie lists for 2009

Amy Reiter — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:15:38 +0000

Some people vow to lose weight and start exercising in the New Year. I resolve to whip my Netflix queue in shape, trimming out last year's worthy crap and replacing it with this year's best offerings, which I have 12 months to get through before they turn into last year's worthy crap. Aiding me in this task are the nation's critics, who dutifully spend all year watching movies and the last few weeks in December compiling "best of" lists. Many of these lists tend to look more or less the same, but some offer the occasional surprise. These critical taste quirks are the spice of list reading. So here, in the spirit of 10 best lists, are the 10 best "10 best movie" lists of 2009. I must warn you that, as a parent of two small children who only rarely leaves the house to sit in the dark with cinematically minded strangers, I have seen very few of the movies on these lists. (Thus the great importance of proper Netflix queue maintenance.) Then again, given how many kid-friendly movies made it onto the lists this year, that excuse may be a bit flimsy. Too bad. It's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. On to the list of lists!

Hollywood 2010: slimmer and healthier?

Amy Reiter — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:15:54 +0000

Was 2009 the best of times or the worst of times for Hollywood? That probably depends on whom you ask: the scads of people who lost their jobs at studios, networks and production companies over the last year or the audiences who hightailed it to the movies in increasing number, looking for a fantasy escape from bleak economic realities.

What does it mean to be an artist today?

Amy Reiter — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:00:19 +0000

What does it mean to be an artist today -- and what can artists look forward to in the next decade? Will we be overwhelmed with information, stymied by Tweets and status updates, emails and IMs and an ever-faster news cycle? Will we throw up our hands (and put down our paintbrushes and mouses) in the face of economic woes? Or will we find inspiration in it all, a renewed sense of art's importance and role in our lives -- as well as distribution opportunities we never thought possible?

Sundance welcomes women directors

Amy Reiter — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:44:06 +0000

Responding to the last-minute addition of three films to the Sundance Film Festival lineup this week, New York Times' Carpetbagger blogger Melena Ryzik noticed something that, I confess, I overlooked: All three of the newly added films -- Gurinder Chadha's "It's a Wonderful Afterlife," Lisa Cholodenko's "The Kids are Alright" and Galt Niederhoffer's "The Romantics" -- are from young female directors. In fact, there are several other women directors who will be presenting films in the festival's Premieres category: Sam Taylor Wood, Nicole Holofcener, Floria Sigismondi and Shari Springer Berman among them.

Up close and fantastical: An interview with director Terry Gilliam on THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Sundance Channel — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:13:12 +0000

For 35 years, critically acclaimed director Terry Gilliam has introduced audiences to the fantastic and the bizarre with films such as BRAZIL, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, THE FISHER KING, and 12 MONKEYS. His latest film, THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, follows its characters through a new world of dreams and desire, but was not [...]

Catching up with the “Crude” court case

Amy Reiter — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:26:14 +0000

When it premiered in January 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival, Joe Berlinger's documentary CRUDE opened many filmgoers' eyes to the plight of 30,000 people from five indigenous tribes in Ecuador. These residents of what had been a beautiful, biodiverse rain forest were suffering the effects of what has become known as the "Amazon Chernobyl," in which, they and others contend, 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste had been dumped in their rivers and on their land. The water they drank, bathed and played in had been poisoned, and their children, siblings and parents were sick and dying in alarming numbers.

Sundance films get SAG, Golden Globe nods

Amy Reiter — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:22:23 +0000

In the days between the announcements of the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations this week and the handing out of the awards themselves next month, much time will be spent parsing who’s gotten a nod, who’s been overlooked, what it says about the state of cinema today and what it portends for [...]

Sundance competition films: juicy, mopey, risky, arty?

Amy Reiter — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:48:05 +0000

The 2010 Sundance Film Festival won't kick off for a few weeks, but the press is already dusting off its snow boots and readying for action. ("Should the Bagger rent a car in Sundance, or are the shuttles where all the good gossip is?" wonders The New York Times' Melena Ryzik, the new Carpetbagger blogger and a festival first-timer. One reader suggests a Norwegian kicksled.)

Is screen direction overrated?

Annie and Lisa — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:03:08 +0000

Screen direction – one amongst many rules in visual storytelling. This one dictates the direction in which people look at each other, or the direction in which they walk, implying that on the two- dimensional screen, the characters are engaged by their looks, or walk away or toward one another.

I’m editing a film right now, and okay, some mistakes were made on the set. Not many, granted, but a few. In other words, we thought an actor should have been walking or looking right to left and as it turns out, when we cut it together, there’s a jump where we’ve crossed the 180 degree “line” – the actor should have been looking or walking the other way. In the last week, I’ve asked myself, in this age of very sophisticated film viewing, does it even matter anymore? Should we just sort of, get over it?

Broadway Legend Chita Rivera Launches New Album

Sundance Channel — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:38:00 +0000

Chita Rivera onstage at New York City's Birdland Jazz Club - October 13, 2009. Saxophone giant Charlie "Bird" Parker called it the "crossroads of the world." New York City's famed jazz club, Birdland, was just that on Tuesday for the launch of beloved Broadway star Chita Rivera's new album, And Now I Swing.