There are few subcultures more niche than that of “the color guard.” The vast majority of people may know them only as those performers working alongside high school marching bands during football games each fall. Young men and women taking to the field to perform routines heavily centered around the use of flags, rifles and sabers, these routines are more often than not overlooked by people waiting for the next play of whatever game they’re partaking in.
However, not in the eyes of iconic musician David Byrne.
In the summer of 2015, Byrne took to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, along with a collection of some of today’s greatest artists and color guard teams to shine a light on the real beauty, importance and power of this artform. And filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross were there to capture it.
The film born from this event is called Contemporary Color and is a breathlessly beautiful,...
However, not in the eyes of iconic musician David Byrne.
In the summer of 2015, Byrne took to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, along with a collection of some of today’s greatest artists and color guard teams to shine a light on the real beauty, importance and power of this artform. And filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross were there to capture it.
The film born from this event is called Contemporary Color and is a breathlessly beautiful,...
- 3/10/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
David Byrne leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling of his charmingly cluttered Soho office: “I like to keep trying new things — it keeps me on my toes.”
Um, yeah. In the last decade alone, the 64-year-old art-rock legend has authored two books, released a pair of collaborative albums (one with Brian Eno, the other with Annie Clark), written a musical about Joan of Arc, turned a building into an instrument, scored a Shia Labeouf movie, and teamed up with Fatboy Slim to create a disco opera about the life and times of Imelda Marcos, the former First Lady of the Philippines.
For Byrne, a restless iconoclast who founded Talking Heads with some Risd chums in 1975 and has been expanding his horizons ever since, such unbridled creativity is just par for the course. He’s completely at the mercy of his muse — no matter where it...
Um, yeah. In the last decade alone, the 64-year-old art-rock legend has authored two books, released a pair of collaborative albums (one with Brian Eno, the other with Annie Clark), written a musical about Joan of Arc, turned a building into an instrument, scored a Shia Labeouf movie, and teamed up with Fatboy Slim to create a disco opera about the life and times of Imelda Marcos, the former First Lady of the Philippines.
For Byrne, a restless iconoclast who founded Talking Heads with some Risd chums in 1975 and has been expanding his horizons ever since, such unbridled creativity is just par for the course. He’s completely at the mercy of his muse — no matter where it...
- 3/3/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
In April 2015, documentarian brothers Turner and Bill Ross went to Dayton, Ohio, with David Byrne to witness the Color Guard World Championships, an annual competition that finds costumed teams blending interpretive dance with an acrobatic use of flags, sabers and rifles. Byrne had been fascinated by the event – equal parts balletic art and rigorous sport – ever since a team asked to license one of his instrumentals and sent him a DVD of their performance. But for the Rosses, who grew up 30 minutes from Dayton, the event might as well have been on Jupiter.
- 3/3/2017
- Rollingstone.com
You'd normally be hard-pressed to find a link between color guards – those tween-to-teen troupes who do military-style dance routines involving waving flags and spinning rifles – hipster rock/Edm bands and micro-indie regional documentarians; a microscope used to be required to view the Venn diagram overlap. Enter David Byrne, an artist who's never found a bunch of disparate elements he couldn't turn into a creative goulash, and who became a fan of the Middle-America past time after a group asked to use his music for a routine. The former Talking Head...
- 3/1/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Cinema Eye has named 10 filmmakers and 20 films that have been voted as the top achievements in documentary filmmaking during the past 10 years. Founded in 2007 to “recognize and honor exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film,” Cinema Eye polled 110 members of the documentary community to determine the winning films and filmmakers just as the organization kicks off its tenth year.
Read More: Behind the Scenes of Cinema Eye’s Secret Field Trip for Nominees
Among the films chosen are Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing,” Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning “Citizenfour” and Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” Poitras and Oppenheimer were both also named to the list of the top documentary filmmakers, joining Alex Gibney, Werner Herzog and Frederick Wiseman, who recently won an honorary Oscar and will be saluted at the annual Governors Awards on November 12.
“It’s fantastic that he is being recognized by the Academy for a...
Read More: Behind the Scenes of Cinema Eye’s Secret Field Trip for Nominees
Among the films chosen are Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing,” Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning “Citizenfour” and Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” Poitras and Oppenheimer were both also named to the list of the top documentary filmmakers, joining Alex Gibney, Werner Herzog and Frederick Wiseman, who recently won an honorary Oscar and will be saluted at the annual Governors Awards on November 12.
“It’s fantastic that he is being recognized by the Academy for a...
- 9/21/2016
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Oscilloscope Laboratories has announced that it has acquired North American rights to Bill Ross and Turner Ross’s latest documentary featuring and produced by David Byrne, “Contemporary Color.” The film premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won awards for Best Documentary Cinematography and Best Documentary Editing.
The film’s camera operators included many well-known documentary directors and cinematographers, including Jarred Alterman, Sean Price Williams, Robert Greene, Amanda Rose Wilder, Jessica Oreck, Wyatt Garfield and Michael Palmieri. Oscilloscope will release the film in theaters in 2017 followed by a release across all ancillary platforms.
– Abramorama has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to Kim A. Snyder’s powerful documentary “Newtown,” which was produced by Itvs, while The Orchard will handle TV,...
– Oscilloscope Laboratories has announced that it has acquired North American rights to Bill Ross and Turner Ross’s latest documentary featuring and produced by David Byrne, “Contemporary Color.” The film premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won awards for Best Documentary Cinematography and Best Documentary Editing.
The film’s camera operators included many well-known documentary directors and cinematographers, including Jarred Alterman, Sean Price Williams, Robert Greene, Amanda Rose Wilder, Jessica Oreck, Wyatt Garfield and Michael Palmieri. Oscilloscope will release the film in theaters in 2017 followed by a release across all ancillary platforms.
– Abramorama has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to Kim A. Snyder’s powerful documentary “Newtown,” which was produced by Itvs, while The Orchard will handle TV,...
- 7/1/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Team Experience is at the Tribeca Film Festival. Here's Jason on Contemporary Color.
I vaguely remember Color Guard being a thing we had at my high school -- I know it might shock and awe you that this particular film nerd writing at you today wasn't all that into sports back then (besides the occasional loitering around a wrestling match now and then, ahem) so I don't recall ever seeing them at work though, flinging their prop guns like ballistic missiles through the air. They seemed like a sub-set within a sub-set, not quite band and not quite the cheer-leading squad. Something in between, but also outside of.
Contemporary Color, which documents the recent shows in Brooklyn that Talking Heads' legend David Byrne organized in an effort to toss this sport under a great big spotlight, pairing ten different teams with ten different modern musician-composers (people like St Vincent...
I vaguely remember Color Guard being a thing we had at my high school -- I know it might shock and awe you that this particular film nerd writing at you today wasn't all that into sports back then (besides the occasional loitering around a wrestling match now and then, ahem) so I don't recall ever seeing them at work though, flinging their prop guns like ballistic missiles through the air. They seemed like a sub-set within a sub-set, not quite band and not quite the cheer-leading squad. Something in between, but also outside of.
Contemporary Color, which documents the recent shows in Brooklyn that Talking Heads' legend David Byrne organized in an effort to toss this sport under a great big spotlight, pairing ten different teams with ten different modern musician-composers (people like St Vincent...
- 4/17/2016
- by JA
- FilmExperience
Robert De Niro's Tribeca Film Festival, originally cobbled together as a way of helping New York City get back on its feet after 9/11, has slowly grown into one of the film world's most diverse and expansive annual events. On Thursday, the fest revealed 51 of the 101 features that will ultimately play at the 2016 edition, and the lineup is already poised to be Tribeca's best to date.
One-third of the films selected for this year's fest, running from April 13th - 24th, are directed by women, and their contributions represent some...
One-third of the films selected for this year's fest, running from April 13th - 24th, are directed by women, and their contributions represent some...
- 3/2/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Naturally the post production process can be a lengthier one when latticeworking critical sci-fi elements with technical aspects. As is the nature with our set of predictions, sometimes we jump the gun. No updates have been made in the interim, but Mark Elijah Rosenberg‘s debut should logically be ready to dock in 2016. Starring Mark Strong, Sanaa Lathan, Charles Baker and Bettina Skye, Ad Inexplorata received support from Indian Paintbrush Fellowship (2011), Creative Producing Summit (2011), Creative Producing Feature Film Lab (2011), 2011 June Screenwriters Lab (2011), 2012 Screenplay Reading Series (2012) and coin from the San Francisco Film Society and it received the Sundance Nhk Filmmaker Award (2014).
Gist: Captain William D. Stanaforth (Strong), is a Nasa pilot alone on a one-way mission toward the unknown. Faced with mechanical problems, physical suffering from long distance space travel, and the mental obstacles of a journey into the unknown, the trip begins to take its toll on the ship…...
Gist: Captain William D. Stanaforth (Strong), is a Nasa pilot alone on a one-way mission toward the unknown. Faced with mechanical problems, physical suffering from long distance space travel, and the mental obstacles of a journey into the unknown, the trip begins to take its toll on the ship…...
- 11/23/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Fractured Frontier: Ross Bros. Witness Bordertowns Running Afoul Under Threat of Storm Clouds & Cartels
The brothers Ross, Bill and Turner, have been rightly hailed as the new forerunners in the documentation of true blue Americana, picking up where their late idol Les Blank left off with poetic insta-vérité classics like 45365 and Tchoupitoulas. But it should be noted that since their humble beginnings the Ross brothers, though fascinated with the same kind southern small town culture that lines Blank’s oeuvre, have swapped out a Blank staple in culinary celebration for a shadowy focal point the allows the darker recesses of their subjects to seep into the frame.
Case in point: Tchoupitoulas revolves solely on a nighttime excursion into the illusory annals of New Orleans, while their deceptively rich web series River sees the filmmakers themselves travelling down the Mississippi from Cincinnati to New Orleans by ramshackle pontoon, stopping by night...
The brothers Ross, Bill and Turner, have been rightly hailed as the new forerunners in the documentation of true blue Americana, picking up where their late idol Les Blank left off with poetic insta-vérité classics like 45365 and Tchoupitoulas. But it should be noted that since their humble beginnings the Ross brothers, though fascinated with the same kind southern small town culture that lines Blank’s oeuvre, have swapped out a Blank staple in culinary celebration for a shadowy focal point the allows the darker recesses of their subjects to seep into the frame.
Case in point: Tchoupitoulas revolves solely on a nighttime excursion into the illusory annals of New Orleans, while their deceptively rich web series River sees the filmmakers themselves travelling down the Mississippi from Cincinnati to New Orleans by ramshackle pontoon, stopping by night...
- 9/23/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
This year the Festival awarded nearly $40,000 in prizes to emerging and established filmmakers. Golden Gate New Directors Prize The Golden Gate Awards New Directors jury was composed of producer and BFI Senior Production Executive Lizzie Franke, writer and filmmaker Ryan Fleck and producer Laura Wagner. Winner: "Sworn Virgin," Laura Bispuri (Italy/Switzerland/Germany/Albania/Kosovo) Golden Gate Awards For Documentary Features The Gga Documentary feature competitions jury was comprised of filmmakers Kristine Samuelson and Robert Greene, and journalist Susan Gerhard. Documentary Feature Winner: "Western," Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross (USA) Special Jury recognition: "Of Men and War," Laurent Bécue-Renard (France/Switzerland) Bay Area Documentary Winner: "Very Semi-Serious," Leah Wolchok (USA) • Receives $5,000 cash prize Special Jury recognition: "T-Rex," Drea Cooper, Zackary...
- 5/7/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
The San Francisco Film Society announced the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival winners at the Golden Gate Awards party on Wednesday evening.
Laura Bispuri was awarded the New Directors Prize of $10,000 for her film Sworn Virgin (pictured) and was praised for the way she addressed “the contemporary female struggle.”
Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross received $10,000 for their film Western, which earned top honours in the documentary category.
Leah Wolchok took home the Bay Area Documentary Award for Very Semi-Serious, which explores the journeys of those trying to make it in the world of comedy.
Winners in the short film category included Una Gunjak’s The Chicken, Rosie Reed Hillman’s Cailleach and animated short A Single Life from Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins and Job Roggeveen.
The Sfiff also awarded the festival’s top honour in the Youth Works category to high school student Joshua Ovalle for his short film Two And A Quarter Minutes.
This...
Laura Bispuri was awarded the New Directors Prize of $10,000 for her film Sworn Virgin (pictured) and was praised for the way she addressed “the contemporary female struggle.”
Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross received $10,000 for their film Western, which earned top honours in the documentary category.
Leah Wolchok took home the Bay Area Documentary Award for Very Semi-Serious, which explores the journeys of those trying to make it in the world of comedy.
Winners in the short film category included Una Gunjak’s The Chicken, Rosie Reed Hillman’s Cailleach and animated short A Single Life from Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins and Job Roggeveen.
The Sfiff also awarded the festival’s top honour in the Youth Works category to high school student Joshua Ovalle for his short film Two And A Quarter Minutes.
This...
- 5/7/2015
- ScreenDaily
San Francisco-based ro*co films has secured international rights to a slate of films including three Sundance selections that will launch at Mipdoc/Miptv.
“We’re bringing a collection of films that are very timely and entertaining stories, they either reveal a new voice or remind us of a powerful voice from the past,” said ro*co films ro*co films international managing director Cristine Platt Dewey.
The Park City trio are: Kirby Dick’s The Hunting Ground (pictured) about rape culture on Us college campuses; Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV’s Mexican drug cartel story Western; and Lyric R Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s Us counterterrorism film (T)Error.
David Holbrooke’s The Diplomat chronicles the work of the director’s father Us Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and his work on the Dayton Peace Accords that ended conflict in Bosnia 20 years ago.
Paula Fouce’s No Asylum uncovers a new chapter in the Anne Frank...
“We’re bringing a collection of films that are very timely and entertaining stories, they either reveal a new voice or remind us of a powerful voice from the past,” said ro*co films ro*co films international managing director Cristine Platt Dewey.
The Park City trio are: Kirby Dick’s The Hunting Ground (pictured) about rape culture on Us college campuses; Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV’s Mexican drug cartel story Western; and Lyric R Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s Us counterterrorism film (T)Error.
David Holbrooke’s The Diplomat chronicles the work of the director’s father Us Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and his work on the Dayton Peace Accords that ended conflict in Bosnia 20 years ago.
Paula Fouce’s No Asylum uncovers a new chapter in the Anne Frank...
- 4/15/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The winners of this year’s jury and special awards were revealed tonight [March 17] at the ceremony hosted by Vanessa Bayer.
SXSW has announced the winners of this year’s Jury and Special Awards.
Trey Edward Shults’ Krisha, expanded from his award-winning short of the same name, was named the Grand Jury winner of the Narrative Feature Competition, with Special Jury Recognition for Visual Excellence going to Creative Control director Benjamin Dickinson.
Grand Jury winner of the Documentary Feature Competition went to Scott Christopherson & Brad Barber’s Peace Officer, with Special Jury Recognition for Directing going to A Woman Like Me directors Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti.
Twinsters directors Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto were awarded Special Jury Recognition for Editing.
Kyle Buchanan, Wesley Morris and Krista Smith made up the Narrative Feature Competition jury, while the Documentary Feature Competition jury consisted of Tabitha Jackson, Jason Spingarn-Koff and Alison Willmore.
Short Film Jury Awards went to the likes...
SXSW has announced the winners of this year’s Jury and Special Awards.
Trey Edward Shults’ Krisha, expanded from his award-winning short of the same name, was named the Grand Jury winner of the Narrative Feature Competition, with Special Jury Recognition for Visual Excellence going to Creative Control director Benjamin Dickinson.
Grand Jury winner of the Documentary Feature Competition went to Scott Christopherson & Brad Barber’s Peace Officer, with Special Jury Recognition for Directing going to A Woman Like Me directors Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti.
Twinsters directors Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto were awarded Special Jury Recognition for Editing.
Kyle Buchanan, Wesley Morris and Krista Smith made up the Narrative Feature Competition jury, while the Documentary Feature Competition jury consisted of Tabitha Jackson, Jason Spingarn-Koff and Alison Willmore.
Short Film Jury Awards went to the likes...
- 3/18/2015
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Though SXSW will carry on screening films through Saturday, the awards were presented tonight. Trey Edward Shults's Krisha wins the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Award, while Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber's Peace Officer takes the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Award. Among the other winners: Benjamin Dickinson's Creative Control, editor Jeff Consiglio for Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto's Twinsters, Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti for A Woman Like Me, Yvonne Kerékgyártó's Free Entry and Bill Ross and Turner Ross for Western. » - David Hudson...
- 3/18/2015
- Keyframe
Though SXSW will carry on screening films through Saturday, the awards were presented tonight. Trey Edward Shults's Krisha wins the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Award, while Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber's Peace Officer takes the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Award. Among the other winners: Benjamin Dickinson's Creative Control, editor Jeff Consiglio for Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto's Twinsters, Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti for A Woman Like Me, Yvonne Kerékgyártó's Free Entry and Bill Ross and Turner Ross for Western. » - David Hudson...
- 3/18/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Though SXSW will carry on screening films through Saturday, the awards were presented tonight. Trey Edward Shults's Krisha wins the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Award, while Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber's Peace Officer takes the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Award. Among the other winners: Benjamin Dickinson's Creative Control, editor Jeff Consiglio for Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto's Twinsters, Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti for A Woman Like Me, Yvonne Kerékgyártó's Free Entry and Bill Ross and Turner Ross for Western. » - David Hudson...
- 3/18/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Though SXSW will carry on screening films through Saturday, the awards were presented tonight. Trey Edward Shults's Krisha wins the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Award, while Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber's Peace Officer takes the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Award. Among the other winners: Benjamin Dickinson's Creative Control, editor Jeff Consiglio for Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto's Twinsters, Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti for A Woman Like Me, Yvonne Kerékgyártó's Free Entry and Bill Ross and Turner Ross for Western. » - David Hudson...
- 3/18/2015
- Keyframe
This is turning out to be a very different year for SXSW, as though last year's tragedy marked a turning point where the city and the SXSW staff realized that things had gotten out of hand with too much going on at once with too little control. The result has been in my own observation that downtown seemed practically dead when I arrived Friday to pick up my badge. Strictly limited permitting for outside events and venues in addition to much of the interactive events being relocated away from the convention center have thinned the crowd to manageable levels, though we will see if that persists as the music portion of the fest kicks into gear.
Movies I've seen:
Western
This documentary by brothers Bill and Turner Ross (who premiered Tchoupitoulas at SXSW 2012) covers 13 months in the border city of Eagle Pass during Chad Foster's last term as mayor.
Movies I've seen:
Western
This documentary by brothers Bill and Turner Ross (who premiered Tchoupitoulas at SXSW 2012) covers 13 months in the border city of Eagle Pass during Chad Foster's last term as mayor.
- 3/17/2015
- by Mike Saulters
- Slackerwood
Alexander Skarsgård and Kristen Wiig in Marielle Heller's The Diary Of A Teenage Girl
Stevan Riley's Listen To Me Marlon, Simone Rapisarda Casanova's The Creation Of Meaning (La Creazione Di Significato), Lukas Valenta Rinner's Parabellum, and Goodnight Mommy directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz are films to look out for.
Bas Devos (Violet); Stéphane Lafleur (Tu Dors Nicole); Shim Sung-bo (Haemoo); Kornél Mundruczó (White God); Britni West (Tired Moonlight); Darhad Erdenibulag (K); Naji Abu Nowar (Theeb); Bill Ross and Turner Ross (Western); Yohei Suzuki (Ow); Nadav Lapid (The Kindergarten Teacher); Benjamin Crotty (Fort Buchanan); Laura Citarella and Verónica Llinás (Dog Lady); Salomé Alexi (Line Of Credit); Chaitanya Tamhane (Court); Sarah Leonor (The Great Man); Charles Poekel (Christmas, Again); Oscar Ruiz Navia (Los Hongos) are filmmakers scheduled to participate in post-screening Q&As.
The Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 44th...
Stevan Riley's Listen To Me Marlon, Simone Rapisarda Casanova's The Creation Of Meaning (La Creazione Di Significato), Lukas Valenta Rinner's Parabellum, and Goodnight Mommy directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz are films to look out for.
Bas Devos (Violet); Stéphane Lafleur (Tu Dors Nicole); Shim Sung-bo (Haemoo); Kornél Mundruczó (White God); Britni West (Tired Moonlight); Darhad Erdenibulag (K); Naji Abu Nowar (Theeb); Bill Ross and Turner Ross (Western); Yohei Suzuki (Ow); Nadav Lapid (The Kindergarten Teacher); Benjamin Crotty (Fort Buchanan); Laura Citarella and Verónica Llinás (Dog Lady); Salomé Alexi (Line Of Credit); Chaitanya Tamhane (Court); Sarah Leonor (The Great Man); Charles Poekel (Christmas, Again); Oscar Ruiz Navia (Los Hongos) are filmmakers scheduled to participate in post-screening Q&As.
The Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 44th...
- 3/15/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Our overview of the previews of this year's SXSW includes links to the Austin Chronicle's profile of Jason Schwartzman, who stars in Bob Byington's 7 Chinese Brothers and Patrick Brice's The Overnight; Raoul Hernandez on Joe Nick Patoski's documentary Sir Doug and the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove; Indiewire's interviews with Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti (A Woman Like Me) and Alison Bagnall (Funny Bunny); the Hollywood Reporter's chat with Amy Schumer about Trainwreck and her director and producer, Judd Apatow; the Guardian's talk with Julien Temple about The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson; and Sam Fragoso's conversation with Bill Ross and Turner Ross about Western. » - David Hudson...
- 3/13/2015
- Keyframe
Our overview of the previews of this year's SXSW includes links to the Austin Chronicle's profile of Jason Schwartzman, who stars in Bob Byington's 7 Chinese Brothers and Patrick Brice's The Overnight; Raoul Hernandez on Joe Nick Patoski's documentary Sir Doug and the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove; Indiewire's interviews with Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti (A Woman Like Me) and Alison Bagnall (Funny Bunny); the Hollywood Reporter's chat with Amy Schumer about Trainwreck and her director and producer, Judd Apatow; the Guardian's talk with Julien Temple about The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson; and Sam Fragoso's conversation with Bill Ross and Turner Ross about Western. » - David Hudson...
- 3/13/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Our overview of the previews of this year's SXSW includes links to the Austin Chronicle's profile of Jason Schwartzman, who stars in Bob Byington's 7 Chinese Brothers and Patrick Brice's The Overnight; Raoul Hernandez on Joe Nick Patoski's documentary Sir Doug and the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove; Indiewire's interviews with Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti (A Woman Like Me) and Alison Bagnall (Funny Bunny); the Hollywood Reporter's chat with Amy Schumer about Trainwreck and her director and producer, Judd Apatow; the Guardian's talk with Julien Temple about The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson; and Sam Fragoso's conversation with Bill Ross and Turner Ross about Western. » - David Hudson...
- 3/13/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Our overview of the previews of this year's SXSW includes links to the Austin Chronicle's profile of Jason Schwartzman, who stars in Bob Byington's 7 Chinese Brothers and Patrick Brice's The Overnight; Raoul Hernandez on Joe Nick Patoski's documentary Sir Doug and the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove; Indiewire's interviews with Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti (A Woman Like Me) and Alison Bagnall (Funny Bunny); the Hollywood Reporter's chat with Amy Schumer about Trainwreck and her director and producer, Judd Apatow; the Guardian's talk with Julien Temple about The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson; and Sam Fragoso's conversation with Bill Ross and Turner Ross about Western. » - David Hudson...
- 3/13/2015
- Keyframe
The True/False Film Festival, now in its 11th year, opens today in Columbia, Missouri and runs through the weekend. Among the titles Filmmaker's Vadim Rizov looking forward to catching are Adirley Queirós’s White Out, Black In, "the French training-for-job-interviews documentary Rules of the Game and adopted-Roma-kids portrait Spartacus & Cassandra, both from Cannes sidebars" and "the Egyptian Revolution report I Am The People… Curatorial winnowing of international cinema is a thing the festival’s reliable at." The Columbia Daily Tribune's Amy Wilder talks with Brett Morgen about Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Aarik Danielsen talks with Bill Ross and Turner Ross about Western and argues that if "any one person could embody the spirit of True/False, it would probably be Robert Greene." » - David Hudson...
- 3/5/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The True/False Film Festival, now in its 11th year, opens today in Columbia, Missouri and runs through the weekend. Among the titles Filmmaker's Vadim Rizov looking forward to catching are Adirley Queirós’s White Out, Black In, "the French training-for-job-interviews documentary Rules of the Game and adopted-Roma-kids portrait Spartacus & Cassandra, both from Cannes sidebars" and "the Egyptian Revolution report I Am The People… Curatorial winnowing of international cinema is a thing the festival’s reliable at." The Columbia Daily Tribune's Amy Wilder talks with Brett Morgen about Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Aarik Danielsen talks with Bill Ross and Turner Ross about Western and argues that if "any one person could embody the spirit of True/False, it would probably be Robert Greene." » - David Hudson...
- 3/5/2015
- Keyframe
The first of the “new” modifiers in Fslc and MoMA’s always solid showcase New Directors/New Films has taken on a somewhat amorphous application as of late. A handful of this year’s standouts, for instance, are the fourth (Rick Alverson’s Entertainment) or third (Stephane Lafleur’s Tu Dors Nicole; Bill and Turner Ross’ Western) films from their respective directors, while Nadav Lapid, whose Policeman bowed at Nyff in 2011, seems to be making a reverse trip down the Fslc ladder with his third film, The Kindergarten Teacher, which premiered last May in Cannes. Nevertheless, there’s much to look forward to here, especially the inclusion of Britni West’s Tired Moonlight — a...
- 2/23/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The first of the “new” modifiers in Fslc and MoMA’s always solid showcase New Directors/New Films has taken on a somewhat amorphous application as of late. A handful of this year’s standouts, for instance, are the fourth (Rick Alverson’s Entertainment) or third (Stephane Lafleur’s Tu Dors Nicole; Bill and Turner Ross’ Western) films from their respective directors, while Nadav Lapid, whose Policeman bowed at Nyff in 2011, seems to be making a reverse trip down the Fslc ladder with his third film, The Kindergarten Teacher, which premiered last May in Cannes. Nevertheless, there’s much to look forward to here, especially the inclusion of Britni West’s Tired Moonlight — a micro-budget, Montana-set film that […]...
- 2/23/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Jordan M. Smith: Name me three of your favorite “2014 discoveries”…
Turner Ross: Zipolite, Oaxaca. Dorothy Jean’s first word (Dada). Letters of John Steinbeck.
Smith: Western was part of the Music and Sound Design Labs at Sundance — was wondering if you phished through the film history vault/have any preconceived ideas with regards to the soundtrack prior to shooting and did you change your approach during filming?
T. Ross: The music and sound design of ‘Western’, came about as an organic, in-the-moment process, whose sound design and music came about through the editing process, where layers were slowly built upon other layers, eventually creating a film where we feel the sound and music play as strong a role as the imagery. We have a great pal in new Orleans who does our scores. We usually meet in dark bars and we’ll say something like “I hear violins in...
Turner Ross: Zipolite, Oaxaca. Dorothy Jean’s first word (Dada). Letters of John Steinbeck.
Smith: Western was part of the Music and Sound Design Labs at Sundance — was wondering if you phished through the film history vault/have any preconceived ideas with regards to the soundtrack prior to shooting and did you change your approach during filming?
T. Ross: The music and sound design of ‘Western’, came about as an organic, in-the-moment process, whose sound design and music came about through the editing process, where layers were slowly built upon other layers, eventually creating a film where we feel the sound and music play as strong a role as the imagery. We have a great pal in new Orleans who does our scores. We usually meet in dark bars and we’ll say something like “I hear violins in...
- 2/6/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in TrainwreckPhoto: Universal Pictures With Sundance just wrapping up and Berlin starting up in a few days, we are now immersed in the year-long barrage of film festivals. One such festival in South By Southwest. A few weeks back they announced the first seven films of their program, including the opening night film Brand: A Second Coming. Today, they have revealed the rest of the features to be shown in March (except for the midnight program), and some of it has me very excited. The bigger titles announced do not do much for me. Paul Feig's Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, and the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart starrer Get Hard leave a lot to be desired in terms of anticipation, as does a work in progress cut of Judd Apatow's latest film Trainwreck. I'm guessing an Apatow work in progress is probably around three and a half hours.
- 2/3/2015
- by Mike Shutt
- Rope of Silicon
Hao Zhou and Qi Zhao's The Chinese Mayor (China), which won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Unparalleled Access, followed the Mayor of China’s forgotten city Datong as he single-handedly attempted to reconstruct it. Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV's Western (U.S.), which won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Verité Filmmaking is the perfect counterpoint as it follows the Mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas, a border town of Piedras Negras, Mexico, as he attempts to forge an understanding between both nations in the midst of modern-day frontier fighting. And lastly, Kim Longinotto's Dreamcatcher (U.K.), which won the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award, follows a survivor of twenty-five years of drug-addicted prostitution, who now "works the streets" day and night, in the attempt to help the women of today (from condoms to safe-houses) who are stuck in their own situations.
- 2/3/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Hao Zhou and Qi Zhao's The Chinese Mayor (China), which won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Unparalleled Access, followed the Mayor of China’s forgotten city Datong as he single-handedly attempted to reconstruct it. Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV's Western (U.S.), which won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Verité Filmmaking is the perfect counterpoint as it follows the Mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas, a border town of Piedras Negras, Mexico, as he attempts to forge an understanding between both nations in the midst of modern-day frontier fighting. And lastly, Kim Longinotto's Dreamcatcher (U.K.), which won the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award, follows a survivor of twenty-five years of drug-addicted prostitution, who now "works the streets" day and night, in the attempt to help the women of today (from condoms to safe-houses) who are stuck in their own situations.
- 2/3/2015
- Keyframe
U.S Dramatic
Grand Jury Prize
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon)
Audience Award
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon)
Directing Award
The Witch (Robert Eggers, U.S./Canada)
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
The Stanford Prison Experiment (Tim Talbott)
Special Jury Award – Excellence in Cinematography
Diary of a Teenage Girl (Brandon Trost)
Special Jury Award – Excellence in Editing
Dope (Lee Haugen)
Special Jury Award – Collaborative Vision
Advantageous (Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang)
U.S. Documentary
Grand Jury Prize
The Wolfpack (Crystal Moselle)
Audience Award
Meru (Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi)
Directing Award
Cartel Land (Matthew Heineman, U.S./Mexico)
Special Jury Award — Social Impact
3 1/2 Minutes (Marc Silver)
Special Jury Award – Verite Filmmaking
Western (Bill Ross, Turner Ross)
Special Jury Award – Break Out First Feature
(T)error (Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe)
Special Jury Award – Cinematography
Cartel Land (Matthew Heineman, Matt Porwoll)
World Cinema Dramatic...
Grand Jury Prize
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon)
Audience Award
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon)
Directing Award
The Witch (Robert Eggers, U.S./Canada)
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
The Stanford Prison Experiment (Tim Talbott)
Special Jury Award – Excellence in Cinematography
Diary of a Teenage Girl (Brandon Trost)
Special Jury Award – Excellence in Editing
Dope (Lee Haugen)
Special Jury Award – Collaborative Vision
Advantageous (Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang)
U.S. Documentary
Grand Jury Prize
The Wolfpack (Crystal Moselle)
Audience Award
Meru (Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi)
Directing Award
Cartel Land (Matthew Heineman, U.S./Mexico)
Special Jury Award — Social Impact
3 1/2 Minutes (Marc Silver)
Special Jury Award – Verite Filmmaking
Western (Bill Ross, Turner Ross)
Special Jury Award – Break Out First Feature
(T)error (Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe)
Special Jury Award – Cinematography
Cartel Land (Matthew Heineman, Matt Porwoll)
World Cinema Dramatic...
- 2/1/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Following in the footsteps of Fruitvale Station and Whiplash before it, the most talked about title in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl claimed both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. Crystal Moselle’s audience favorite might not have claimed the Audience Award (Meru), but the family featured in The Wolfpack landed a much coveted U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize. Matthew Heineman’s unfathomably constructed Cartel Land landed to Jury Prizes in Best Director and Excellence in Cinematography. In stellar Next, the unique prize went to Josh Mond’s brilliant directorial debut James White. Here is the press release and all the winners.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Gordon Quinn to:
The Wolfpack / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle)
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Edgar Wright to:
Me...
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Gordon Quinn to:
The Wolfpack / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle)
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Edgar Wright to:
Me...
- 2/1/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The 2015 Sundance Film Festival concluded on Saturday (January 31) night with a Tig Notaro-hosted award ceremony in which it seemed like nearly everything was given an award by one of the Festival's juries. "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, won both the Us Dramatic Jury Prize and Audience Prize, an increasingly less rare double. On the Us Documentary side, Crystal Moselle's "The Wolfpack" won the Grand Jury Prize, but "Meru" won the Audience Award. John Maclean's "Slow West" won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, while Chad Garcia's "Russian Woodpecker" was the World Cinema Documentary Grand Prize winner. While "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" was one of the most buzzed-about titles in the Us Dramatic Competition, several other rave-winners picked up key prizes on Saturday night, including the Grand Jury Directing Award to Robert Eggers for "The Witch," the Waldo Salt...
- 2/1/2015
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
Updated with details and quotes: The Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony tonight in Park City saw a dramatic dual decision and strong political voices to put a cap on a hot-deals festival. Like last year, when Whiplash took both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award on its way to an Best Picture Oscar nomination, the much-sought Me And Earl And The Dying Girl took both this year.
“I want to dedicate this to all the young filmmakers in my hometown of Laredo, Texas,” said director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon onstage. Fox Searchlight and Indian Paintbrush teamed to land the pic earlier this week after frenzied bidding, with a 2015 release planned. The Jesse Andrews script follows Greg, who is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But...
“I want to dedicate this to all the young filmmakers in my hometown of Laredo, Texas,” said director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon onstage. Fox Searchlight and Indian Paintbrush teamed to land the pic earlier this week after frenzied bidding, with a 2015 release planned. The Jesse Andrews script follows Greg, who is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But...
- 2/1/2015
- by Dominic Patten and Patrick Hipes
- Deadline
Sundance: The 2015 festival approached the end on Saturday (January 31) as Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me And Earl And The Dying Girl capped a sensational 10 days by scooping both the Us grand jury prize and audience awards.Scroll down for full list of winners
Earlier in the week Fox Searchlight and Indian Paintbrush partnered on the acquisition of world rights.
Crystal Moselle’s The Wolfpack won the Us grand jury documentary award days after Magnolia Pictures moved for world rights.
In the World Cinema categories, John Maclean’s UK-New Zealand entry Slow West prevailed in the dramatic strand while there was joy for UK documentary winner The Russian Woodpecker by Chad Gracia.
Meru by Jimmy Chin and E Chai Vasarhelyi triumphed in the Us dramatic audience award. Robert Eggers was a highlight of the directing honours with the Us dramatic prize for The Witch while Kim Longinotto won World Cinema documentary for Dreamcatcher
The festival runs from January 22-February...
Earlier in the week Fox Searchlight and Indian Paintbrush partnered on the acquisition of world rights.
Crystal Moselle’s The Wolfpack won the Us grand jury documentary award days after Magnolia Pictures moved for world rights.
In the World Cinema categories, John Maclean’s UK-New Zealand entry Slow West prevailed in the dramatic strand while there was joy for UK documentary winner The Russian Woodpecker by Chad Gracia.
Meru by Jimmy Chin and E Chai Vasarhelyi triumphed in the Us dramatic audience award. Robert Eggers was a highlight of the directing honours with the Us dramatic prize for The Witch while Kim Longinotto won World Cinema documentary for Dreamcatcher
The festival runs from January 22-February...
- 1/31/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Sundance: The 2015 festival approached the end on Saturday (January 31) as Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me And Earl And The Dying Girl capped a sensational 10 days by scooping both the Us grand jury prize and audience awards.
Earlier in the week Fox Searchlight and Indian Paintbrush partnered on the acquisition of world rights.
Crystal Moselle’s The Wolfpack won the Us grand jury documentary award days after Magnolia Pictures moved for world rights.
In the World Cinema categories, John Maclean’s UK-New Zealand entry Slow West prevailed in the dramatic strand while there was joy for UK documentary winner The Russian Woodpecker by Chad Gracia.
Meru by Jimmy Chin and E Chai Vasarhelyi triumphed in the Us dramatic audience award. Robert Eggers was a highlight of the directing honours with the Us dramatic prize for The Witch while Kim Longinotto won World Cinema documentary for Dreamcatcher
The festival runs from January 22-February 1 and screened 123 feature-length and 60 short films selected...
Earlier in the week Fox Searchlight and Indian Paintbrush partnered on the acquisition of world rights.
Crystal Moselle’s The Wolfpack won the Us grand jury documentary award days after Magnolia Pictures moved for world rights.
In the World Cinema categories, John Maclean’s UK-New Zealand entry Slow West prevailed in the dramatic strand while there was joy for UK documentary winner The Russian Woodpecker by Chad Gracia.
Meru by Jimmy Chin and E Chai Vasarhelyi triumphed in the Us dramatic audience award. Robert Eggers was a highlight of the directing honours with the Us dramatic prize for The Witch while Kim Longinotto won World Cinema documentary for Dreamcatcher
The festival runs from January 22-February 1 and screened 123 feature-length and 60 short films selected...
- 1/31/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
From Robert Eggers's surprise breakout on the U.S. Dramatic Competition, The Witch, to Bill Ross and Turner Ross's poetic Western in the Documentary Competition, from Sean Baker's Tangerine, shot on a set of iPhones, in the Next program, to Alex Gibney's bombshell Documentary Premiere, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, we've been gathering overviews, film by film, of this year's Sundance Film Festival. And now, for your convenience, we've posted an index to the coverage of the coverage. » - David Hudson...
- 1/29/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
From Robert Eggers's surprise breakout on the U.S. Dramatic Competition, The Witch, to Bill Ross and Turner Ross's poetic Western in the Documentary Competition, from Sean Baker's Tangerine, shot on a set of iPhones, in the Next program, to Alex Gibney's bombshell Documentary Premiere, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, we've been gathering overviews, film by film, of this year's Sundance Film Festival. And now, for your convenience, we've posted an index to the coverage of the coverage. » - David Hudson...
- 1/29/2015
- Keyframe
"Brothers Bill Ross and Turner Ross return to the quick-paced, collage style documentary storytelling we’ve seen previously in Tchoupitoulas and 45365" with Western, "a tale of two cities," writes Monica Castillo at Movie Mezzanine. "One, Eagle Pass, lies north of the Rio Grande, a small Texan town with a big Latino population that specializes in the cattle industry. Her sister city south of the border, Piedras Negras, is similarly reliant on the cow trade—and just as sweet and sleepy when the movie begins. The two cities celebrate their mutual bond annually on the bridge that connects them. That is until the recent spike in Mexican cartel violence shows up on their doorstep." We're collecting more reviews. » - David Hudson...
- 1/29/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
"Brothers Bill Ross and Turner Ross return to the quick-paced, collage style documentary storytelling we’ve seen previously in Tchoupitoulas and 45365" with Western, "a tale of two cities," writes Monica Castillo at Movie Mezzanine. "One, Eagle Pass, lies north of the Rio Grande, a small Texan town with a big Latino population that specializes in the cattle industry. Her sister city south of the border, Piedras Negras, is similarly reliant on the cow trade—and just as sweet and sleepy when the movie begins. The two cities celebrate their mutual bond annually on the bridge that connects them. That is until the recent spike in Mexican cartel violence shows up on their doorstep." We're collecting more reviews. » - David Hudson...
- 1/29/2015
- Keyframe
Title: Western Directors: Bill Ross and Turner Ross This film’s title is misleading in a few ways. It is not a Western with cowboys riding through the Old West trying to reclaim land or love, as another Sundance selection, Slow West, is. Nor is it set in any true West Coast state. Instead, this documentary is all about Texas and the culture of one border town, Eagle Pass, which shares a close history and relationship with its Mexican sister city, Piedras Negras. The title refers to the Western sensibility present in Texas that defines it as a distinctly American place with a complicated connection to somewhere close by with a [ Read More ]
The post Western Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Western Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 1/28/2015
- by abe
- ShockYa
“Ravishing cinema verite” is how the Sundance catalog describes the work of Bill and Turner Ross, whose elegiac American portraits crackle with a lovely lo-fi buzz. Following their New Orleans-set music travelogue Tchoupitoulas, the brothers immerse themselves here in Western within a world considerably tougher — two towns on either side of the Mexican border grappling with the sudden onslaught of cartel violence. Below, we ask them about incorporating that criminal storyline into their film and sticking with the same camera for three pictures. Western premieres today in the Documentary Competition of the Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: Your documentaries have […]...
- 1/25/2015
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“Ravishing cinema verite” is how the Sundance catalog describes the work of Bill and Turner Ross, whose elegiac American portraits crackle with a lovely lo-fi buzz. Following their New Orleans-set music travelogue Tchoupitoulas, the brothers immerse themselves here in Western within a world considerably tougher — two towns on either side of the Mexican border grappling with the sudden onslaught of cartel violence. Below, we ask them about incorporating that criminal storyline into their film and sticking with the same camera for three pictures. Western premieres today in the Documentary Competition of the Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: Your documentaries have […]...
- 1/25/2015
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Representing Latin American, U.S. Latino, and non-Latino artists who explore multicultural relationships from singular perspectives, the films at this year's Sundance Film Festival include an array of stories that showcase the diverse creative voices that exist within the Latino filmmaking community.
This list includes both films that have been created fully or partially by Latin American or U.S. Latino filmmakers, as well as those that deal with themes and ideas relevant to the Latino experience in or outside the Unites States, even if these were not created by Latino artists. The increasing interest in these stories testifies to how rapidly Latinos are becoming constant and strong voices in all areas of the film industry.
In order to highlight as many of these talented creators and films as possible, we’ve created a list that includes all the films at the festival that are helmed by or that incorporate Latino talent and those that focus on a specific aspect pertinent to the Latino community. Some are obvious standouts like Argentina's acclaimed dark comedy "Wild Tales" or Colombia's "Liveforever" from Carlos Moreno.
Then there are those who at first sight might not fit the parameters of what one could think is a Latino film. This is the case of films like Eli Roth's "Knock Knock," which is an English-language horror film whose co-writers, producers, and part of the cast are originally from Chile. There is also " Aloft," a drama in the Spotlight section, which is set between Canada and Minnesota and stars Jennifer Connelly. It was written and directed by Academy Award nominated Peruvian filmmaker Claudia Llosa.
The third case includes those films that deal with subjects that have Latino elements or that explore diversity in the U.S in some way. Examples of these are "The Strongest Man" from Kenny Riches, a film narrated in Spanish by its protagonist "Beef," a charming, yet lost Cuban-American man in Miami; or "Cartel Land" by Matthew Heineman, which focuses on the violence shared between Mexico and U.S due to the drug-fueled chaos that afflicts the region. On a lighter note, there are films like “City of Gold” by Laura Gabbert, in which Los Angeles is seen through its ethnic food and local idiosyncrasies.
In an effort to give exposure to those films in the program that don’t get as much attention, the list below starts with the Shorts Programs and ends with the Dramatic Premieres. Each title is linked to its page on the Sundance website where screening times and locations can be found. Regardless of what films you watch at the festival, it is likely that your eyes will be expose to the work of some amazingly talented Latino filmmaker, writer or actor, or those who appreciate our stories as much as we do.
Shorts
"Spring" (Primavera) - Shorts Program 2
Latino Talent: Dir. Tania Claudia Castillo
Latino Theme: The short was created theough Mexico's renowned Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica (Ccc), and it focuses on
Elba, an introverted, lonely 14-year-old, who wants to bond with her sister Fernanda before she leaves home.
"Papa Machete" - Shorts Program 3
Latino Theme: Two hundred years ago, Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon's armies with the same tool used to work the land: the machete. "Papa Machete" explores a martial art evolved from this victory through the practice of one of its few remaining masters.
"Making it in America" - Shorts Program 4
Latino Theme: A Salvadoran immigrant who fled to the United States as a teenager is now a single mother striving to build a future for her family in Los Angeles.
"Stop" - Shorts Program 5
Latino Talent: Dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green, Producer Rashaad Ernesto Green, Cinematographer Federico Cesca, Actors J.W. Cortes and Joshua Rivera.
Latino Theme: A young man's livelihood is put to the test when he is stopped by the police on his way home. Although not specific the Latino experience, the subject matter speaks to recent events involving minority groups and the use of excessive force by police
"Palm Rot" - Animation Spotlight
Latino Talent: Dir. Ryan Gillis Lizama
Latino Theme: An old Florida fumigator discovers a mysterious crate in the Everglades that ruins his day.
"The Sun Like a Big Dark Animal" (El Sol Como un Gran Animal Oscuro) - Animation Spotlight
Latino Talent: Directors Ronnie Rivera and Christina Felisgrau, Screenwriter Bernardo Britto, Producer Lucas Leyva
Latino Theme: This is Spanish-language short about a computer and a woman fall in love, only to be torn apart because of their inappropriate feelings for each other.
"{The And} Marcela & Rock" - Documentary Shorts Program 1
Latino Talent: Dir. Topaz Adizes, Assistant Directors Armando Croda and Sebastian Diaz
Latino Theme: Exploring the intimate spaces of modern-day relationships, this is the best couples therapy session you'll ever witness.
Special Events
Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge
Latino Talent: Directors Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Marialy Rivas
Latino Theme: Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge presents five winning narrative and documentary short films selected from 1,387 submissions representing 69 different countries.The project was designed to use the transformative power of storytelling to generate discussion, shift perceptions around extreme hunger and poverty, and harness the power of independent film to create a global conversation about these issues.
Sundance Kids
"The Game Maker" (El Inventor de Juegos)
Latino Talent: Dir. Juan Pablo Buscarini
New Frontier
"Liveforever" (Que Viva la Musica)
Latino Talent: Dir. Carlos Moreno, Screenwriters Alberto Ferreras and Alonso Torres, alongside the crew and cast.
Latino Theme: Hovering over the river that segregates Cali, Colombia, into haves and have-nots, a haunting presence identifies a perilous willingness among the populace to do anything that is asked of it. A blonde teenage girl, knowing she must change her life, leaves her well-appointed house and flagrantly gives herself over to this tolerant city, saying "yes" to everything provocative it offers her. Only the music tethers her body and spirit together, even as she reaches for redemption through a bold, delicious, and resplendent self-destruction. Inspired by the 1977 best-selling cult novel by Andres Caicedo.
Park City Midnight
"Knock Knock"
Latino Talent: Screenwriters Guillermo Amoedo & Nicolás López, Producers Miguel Asensio and Nicolás López, Cinematographer Antonio Quercia, Actresses Lorenza Izzo and Ana de Armas
"Reversal"
Latino Talent: Dir. José Manuel Cravioto, Producers Alex Garcia, Rodolfo Marquez and Daniel Posada, Editor Jorge Macaya, Actress Bianca Malinowski
Spotlight
"Aloft"
Latino Talent: Dir. Claudia Llosa
"Wild Tales" (Relatos Salvajes)
Latino Talent: Dir. Damián Szifrón, as well as most of the cast and crew.
Latino Theme: Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Academy Award, this Argentine marvel is conformed of 6 stories about people giving in to their most savage instincts. Forgiveness is out o the question because revenge has never been so deranged and insanely comedic.
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"H."
Latino Talent: Dir. Daniel Garcia
"Nasty Baby"
Latino Talent: Dir. Sebastián Silva, Producers David Hinojosa, Juan de Dios Larraín and Pablo Larraín
Latino Theme: Brooklyn artist Freddy (Sebastian Silva) is baby obsessed. His new project centers around newborns, and he and his boyfriend, Mo, have recruited their best friend, Polly (Kristen Wiig), to help them have a baby. On top of dealing with the stress of opening an art installation and the complications of conceiving a child via artificial insemination, the three begin to be harassed by The Bishop, a mentally ill neighborhood man. An escalating series of incidents threaten to derail the comfortable lives these people have built for themselves.
"Tangerine"
Latino Talent: Actress Kiki Kitana Rodriguez
Latino Theme: It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown, and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.
"The Strongest Man"
Latino Talent: Actor Robert Lorie
Latino Theme: Beef is a beefy Cuban man who believes that he is The Strongest Man in the World. He doesn’t want children, but he wants to tell his grandchildren about his life as The Strongest Man in the World. His best friend is a slight Korean man named Conan. Conan makes him think about things he normally doesn’t think, like the fact that Beef thinks in Spanish, rather than English. Illy, the adopted daughter of a rich art collector, brings out an anxious side in Beef. But it is when his prized possession—a solid gold BMX bicycle—is stolen from him that Beef finds and loses so much more than he thought he could.
World Dramatic Competition
"The Second Mother"
Latino Talent: Dir. Anna Muylaert and her cast and crew
Latino Theme: Val is the kind of live-in housekeeper who takes her work seriously. She wears a crisp maid's uniform while serving perfect canapés; she serves her wealthy São Paulo employers day in and day out while lovingly nannying their teenage son whom she's raised since toddlerhood. Everyone and everything in the elegant house has its place until one day, Val’s ambitious, clever daughter Jessica arrives from Val’s hometown to take the college entrance exams. Jessica’s confident, youthful presence upsets the unspoken yet strict balance of power in the household; Val must decide where her allegiances lie and what she's willing to sacrifice.
U.S. Documentary Competition
"Cartel Land"
Latino Theme: In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," shepherds a citizen uprising against the Knights Templar, the violent drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley—a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley—Tim "Nailer" Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to halt Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border.
"City of Gold"
Latino Theme: As the unabashed cradle of Hollywood superficiality and smoggy urban sprawl, Los Angeles has long been condemned as a cultural wasteland. In the richly penetrating documentary odyssey City of Gold, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold shows us another Los Angeles, where ethnic cooking is a kaleidoscopic portal to the mysteries of an unwieldy city and the soul of America.
"Western"
Latino Theme: In his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens famously wrote "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." That line sums up the story ofWestern, the latest film from Bill and Turner Ross, a documentary destined to become a classic itself. Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico, two towns on opposite sides of the border have shared a harmonious history until the specter of cartel violence threatens to divide them.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"
Latino Talent: Dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
"Dope"
Latino Talent: Actors Tony Revolori, Michael Flores, Allen Maldonado, Lidia Porto, and Sergio Garcia
Latino Theme: Malcolm is a high school geek with a high-top fade, carefully navigating life in The Bottoms, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Inglewood, California. He and his fellow outcasts share a voracious appreciation for all things '90s hip-hop, opting to sport Cross-Colours and Z. Cavariccis at the risk of being clowned at school. He dreams of attending Harvard, but first he has to make it home every day. When a drug dealer takes a shine to Malcolm and invites him to his birthday party, Malcolm’s crew is swirled into a hilarious blender of offbeat characters and bad choices where redemption can only be found in Bitcoin.
"The Stanford Prison Experiment"
Latino Talent: Dir. Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Actors Moises Arias and Armand Vasquez
Documentary Premieres
"Fresh Dressed"
Latino Theme: With funky, fat-laced Adidas, Kangol hats, and Cazal shades, a totally original look was born—Fresh—and it came from the black and brown side of town where another cultural force was revving up in the streets to take the world by storm. Hip-hop, and its aspirational relationship to fashion, would become such a force on the market that Tommy Hilfiger, in an effort to associate their brand with the cultural swell, would drive through the streets and hand out free clothing to kids on the corner.
Dramatic Premieres
"Experimenter"
Latino Talent: Dir. Michael Almereyda and Actor John Leguizamo
"Last Days in the Desert"
Latino Talent: Dir. Rodrigo García and Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki
"Lila & Eve"
Latino Talent: Producers Tanya Lopez and Priscilla Porianda, Actors Jennifer Lopez, Andre Royo, Marisela Zumbado and Rey Hernandez
Latino Theme: When teenage Stephon is killed in a drive-by shooting, his mother, Lila, slips into a paralyzing grief. She joins a support group for women who have lost children to crime and meets Eve, a woman whose little girl was killed the same night as Stephon. Lila and Eve form a friendship, and Lila begins to crawl out of her depression. She develops a burning desire to find justice for her son, and she presses the authorities for answers, but they are slow-moving and ineffective. It’s Eve who has the idea first—join together, find the drug dealers who shot Stephon dead, and bring them to justice themselves.
This list includes both films that have been created fully or partially by Latin American or U.S. Latino filmmakers, as well as those that deal with themes and ideas relevant to the Latino experience in or outside the Unites States, even if these were not created by Latino artists. The increasing interest in these stories testifies to how rapidly Latinos are becoming constant and strong voices in all areas of the film industry.
In order to highlight as many of these talented creators and films as possible, we’ve created a list that includes all the films at the festival that are helmed by or that incorporate Latino talent and those that focus on a specific aspect pertinent to the Latino community. Some are obvious standouts like Argentina's acclaimed dark comedy "Wild Tales" or Colombia's "Liveforever" from Carlos Moreno.
Then there are those who at first sight might not fit the parameters of what one could think is a Latino film. This is the case of films like Eli Roth's "Knock Knock," which is an English-language horror film whose co-writers, producers, and part of the cast are originally from Chile. There is also " Aloft," a drama in the Spotlight section, which is set between Canada and Minnesota and stars Jennifer Connelly. It was written and directed by Academy Award nominated Peruvian filmmaker Claudia Llosa.
The third case includes those films that deal with subjects that have Latino elements or that explore diversity in the U.S in some way. Examples of these are "The Strongest Man" from Kenny Riches, a film narrated in Spanish by its protagonist "Beef," a charming, yet lost Cuban-American man in Miami; or "Cartel Land" by Matthew Heineman, which focuses on the violence shared between Mexico and U.S due to the drug-fueled chaos that afflicts the region. On a lighter note, there are films like “City of Gold” by Laura Gabbert, in which Los Angeles is seen through its ethnic food and local idiosyncrasies.
In an effort to give exposure to those films in the program that don’t get as much attention, the list below starts with the Shorts Programs and ends with the Dramatic Premieres. Each title is linked to its page on the Sundance website where screening times and locations can be found. Regardless of what films you watch at the festival, it is likely that your eyes will be expose to the work of some amazingly talented Latino filmmaker, writer or actor, or those who appreciate our stories as much as we do.
Shorts
"Spring" (Primavera) - Shorts Program 2
Latino Talent: Dir. Tania Claudia Castillo
Latino Theme: The short was created theough Mexico's renowned Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica (Ccc), and it focuses on
Elba, an introverted, lonely 14-year-old, who wants to bond with her sister Fernanda before she leaves home.
"Papa Machete" - Shorts Program 3
Latino Theme: Two hundred years ago, Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon's armies with the same tool used to work the land: the machete. "Papa Machete" explores a martial art evolved from this victory through the practice of one of its few remaining masters.
"Making it in America" - Shorts Program 4
Latino Theme: A Salvadoran immigrant who fled to the United States as a teenager is now a single mother striving to build a future for her family in Los Angeles.
"Stop" - Shorts Program 5
Latino Talent: Dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green, Producer Rashaad Ernesto Green, Cinematographer Federico Cesca, Actors J.W. Cortes and Joshua Rivera.
Latino Theme: A young man's livelihood is put to the test when he is stopped by the police on his way home. Although not specific the Latino experience, the subject matter speaks to recent events involving minority groups and the use of excessive force by police
"Palm Rot" - Animation Spotlight
Latino Talent: Dir. Ryan Gillis Lizama
Latino Theme: An old Florida fumigator discovers a mysterious crate in the Everglades that ruins his day.
"The Sun Like a Big Dark Animal" (El Sol Como un Gran Animal Oscuro) - Animation Spotlight
Latino Talent: Directors Ronnie Rivera and Christina Felisgrau, Screenwriter Bernardo Britto, Producer Lucas Leyva
Latino Theme: This is Spanish-language short about a computer and a woman fall in love, only to be torn apart because of their inappropriate feelings for each other.
"{The And} Marcela & Rock" - Documentary Shorts Program 1
Latino Talent: Dir. Topaz Adizes, Assistant Directors Armando Croda and Sebastian Diaz
Latino Theme: Exploring the intimate spaces of modern-day relationships, this is the best couples therapy session you'll ever witness.
Special Events
Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge
Latino Talent: Directors Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Marialy Rivas
Latino Theme: Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge presents five winning narrative and documentary short films selected from 1,387 submissions representing 69 different countries.The project was designed to use the transformative power of storytelling to generate discussion, shift perceptions around extreme hunger and poverty, and harness the power of independent film to create a global conversation about these issues.
Sundance Kids
"The Game Maker" (El Inventor de Juegos)
Latino Talent: Dir. Juan Pablo Buscarini
New Frontier
"Liveforever" (Que Viva la Musica)
Latino Talent: Dir. Carlos Moreno, Screenwriters Alberto Ferreras and Alonso Torres, alongside the crew and cast.
Latino Theme: Hovering over the river that segregates Cali, Colombia, into haves and have-nots, a haunting presence identifies a perilous willingness among the populace to do anything that is asked of it. A blonde teenage girl, knowing she must change her life, leaves her well-appointed house and flagrantly gives herself over to this tolerant city, saying "yes" to everything provocative it offers her. Only the music tethers her body and spirit together, even as she reaches for redemption through a bold, delicious, and resplendent self-destruction. Inspired by the 1977 best-selling cult novel by Andres Caicedo.
Park City Midnight
"Knock Knock"
Latino Talent: Screenwriters Guillermo Amoedo & Nicolás López, Producers Miguel Asensio and Nicolás López, Cinematographer Antonio Quercia, Actresses Lorenza Izzo and Ana de Armas
"Reversal"
Latino Talent: Dir. José Manuel Cravioto, Producers Alex Garcia, Rodolfo Marquez and Daniel Posada, Editor Jorge Macaya, Actress Bianca Malinowski
Spotlight
"Aloft"
Latino Talent: Dir. Claudia Llosa
"Wild Tales" (Relatos Salvajes)
Latino Talent: Dir. Damián Szifrón, as well as most of the cast and crew.
Latino Theme: Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Academy Award, this Argentine marvel is conformed of 6 stories about people giving in to their most savage instincts. Forgiveness is out o the question because revenge has never been so deranged and insanely comedic.
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"H."
Latino Talent: Dir. Daniel Garcia
"Nasty Baby"
Latino Talent: Dir. Sebastián Silva, Producers David Hinojosa, Juan de Dios Larraín and Pablo Larraín
Latino Theme: Brooklyn artist Freddy (Sebastian Silva) is baby obsessed. His new project centers around newborns, and he and his boyfriend, Mo, have recruited their best friend, Polly (Kristen Wiig), to help them have a baby. On top of dealing with the stress of opening an art installation and the complications of conceiving a child via artificial insemination, the three begin to be harassed by The Bishop, a mentally ill neighborhood man. An escalating series of incidents threaten to derail the comfortable lives these people have built for themselves.
"Tangerine"
Latino Talent: Actress Kiki Kitana Rodriguez
Latino Theme: It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown, and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.
"The Strongest Man"
Latino Talent: Actor Robert Lorie
Latino Theme: Beef is a beefy Cuban man who believes that he is The Strongest Man in the World. He doesn’t want children, but he wants to tell his grandchildren about his life as The Strongest Man in the World. His best friend is a slight Korean man named Conan. Conan makes him think about things he normally doesn’t think, like the fact that Beef thinks in Spanish, rather than English. Illy, the adopted daughter of a rich art collector, brings out an anxious side in Beef. But it is when his prized possession—a solid gold BMX bicycle—is stolen from him that Beef finds and loses so much more than he thought he could.
World Dramatic Competition
"The Second Mother"
Latino Talent: Dir. Anna Muylaert and her cast and crew
Latino Theme: Val is the kind of live-in housekeeper who takes her work seriously. She wears a crisp maid's uniform while serving perfect canapés; she serves her wealthy São Paulo employers day in and day out while lovingly nannying their teenage son whom she's raised since toddlerhood. Everyone and everything in the elegant house has its place until one day, Val’s ambitious, clever daughter Jessica arrives from Val’s hometown to take the college entrance exams. Jessica’s confident, youthful presence upsets the unspoken yet strict balance of power in the household; Val must decide where her allegiances lie and what she's willing to sacrifice.
U.S. Documentary Competition
"Cartel Land"
Latino Theme: In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," shepherds a citizen uprising against the Knights Templar, the violent drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley—a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley—Tim "Nailer" Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to halt Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border.
"City of Gold"
Latino Theme: As the unabashed cradle of Hollywood superficiality and smoggy urban sprawl, Los Angeles has long been condemned as a cultural wasteland. In the richly penetrating documentary odyssey City of Gold, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold shows us another Los Angeles, where ethnic cooking is a kaleidoscopic portal to the mysteries of an unwieldy city and the soul of America.
"Western"
Latino Theme: In his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens famously wrote "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." That line sums up the story ofWestern, the latest film from Bill and Turner Ross, a documentary destined to become a classic itself. Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico, two towns on opposite sides of the border have shared a harmonious history until the specter of cartel violence threatens to divide them.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"
Latino Talent: Dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
"Dope"
Latino Talent: Actors Tony Revolori, Michael Flores, Allen Maldonado, Lidia Porto, and Sergio Garcia
Latino Theme: Malcolm is a high school geek with a high-top fade, carefully navigating life in The Bottoms, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Inglewood, California. He and his fellow outcasts share a voracious appreciation for all things '90s hip-hop, opting to sport Cross-Colours and Z. Cavariccis at the risk of being clowned at school. He dreams of attending Harvard, but first he has to make it home every day. When a drug dealer takes a shine to Malcolm and invites him to his birthday party, Malcolm’s crew is swirled into a hilarious blender of offbeat characters and bad choices where redemption can only be found in Bitcoin.
"The Stanford Prison Experiment"
Latino Talent: Dir. Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Actors Moises Arias and Armand Vasquez
Documentary Premieres
"Fresh Dressed"
Latino Theme: With funky, fat-laced Adidas, Kangol hats, and Cazal shades, a totally original look was born—Fresh—and it came from the black and brown side of town where another cultural force was revving up in the streets to take the world by storm. Hip-hop, and its aspirational relationship to fashion, would become such a force on the market that Tommy Hilfiger, in an effort to associate their brand with the cultural swell, would drive through the streets and hand out free clothing to kids on the corner.
Dramatic Premieres
"Experimenter"
Latino Talent: Dir. Michael Almereyda and Actor John Leguizamo
"Last Days in the Desert"
Latino Talent: Dir. Rodrigo García and Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki
"Lila & Eve"
Latino Talent: Producers Tanya Lopez and Priscilla Porianda, Actors Jennifer Lopez, Andre Royo, Marisela Zumbado and Rey Hernandez
Latino Theme: When teenage Stephon is killed in a drive-by shooting, his mother, Lila, slips into a paralyzing grief. She joins a support group for women who have lost children to crime and meets Eve, a woman whose little girl was killed the same night as Stephon. Lila and Eve form a friendship, and Lila begins to crawl out of her depression. She develops a burning desire to find justice for her son, and she presses the authorities for answers, but they are slow-moving and ineffective. It’s Eve who has the idea first—join together, find the drug dealers who shot Stephon dead, and bring them to justice themselves.
- 1/21/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The unique cinematic perspective of Bill and Turner Ross specializes in lyrical and dreamy portraits that redefine what is conventionally understood as "documentary." Thus far, they’ve created two visually stimulating, aurally immersive feature-length docs in “45365” and the SXSW breakout “Tchoupitoulas,” the latter of which portrayed one night in the life of three boys soaking up the vibrant atmosphere of New Orleans. Their latest film, debuting at Sundance Film Festival this weekend, is “Western,” an exploration of life on the American frontier in the present day. “At the forefront, what are the archetypes and images that create this idea?” the Ross brothers said in a “Meet The Artists” Sundance clip which you can see below. “The archetypes of the cowboy and the lawman and the dusty frontier —if you can find John Wayne, what does he look like? What is he doing?” Here’s official Sundance synopsis: For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass,...
- 1/21/2015
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
This year there are 127 feature-length films, representing 29 countries and 45 first-time filmmakers, including 19 in competition. 103 are world premieres.
You can gather these figures and look up contact information as it pertains to your job in this industry, or you can buy the Sundance by Numbers Report from SydneysBuzz and import an excel sheet of all relevant data with contact names, into your own database. If you are about to go to Sundance and need to know the publicist or if in the future, you are going to need a good publicist, or a producer rep, or a festival oriented international sales agents or U.S. distributor who will surely be on the festival circuit, you need this report now.
All titles are linked to contacts you will need for your particular line of work if you are a professional in the business.
There are 26 women directors ( ♀ ).
‧ U.S. Dramatic Competition: 5 of 16 are directed by women (36%).
‧ U.S. Documentary Competition: 7 of 16 are directed by women.
‧ World Cinema Dramatic Competition: 5 of 12 are directed by women.
‧ World Cinema Documentary Competition: 6 of 12 are directed by women.
‧ Next: 1 of 10 is directed by a woman.
‧ New Frontiers has Jenni Olson's "The Royal Road"
48% (62) of the films have international sales agents.
Ryan Kempe's Visit Films and Andrew Hurewitz' Film Sales Company both have 5 films.
3 films are being sold by Im Global, HanWay and Protagonist.
2 by Dogwoof, Epic, Films Distribution, The Match Factory, Trust Nordisk and Xyz and Annapurna.
1 film each are represented by the other sales agents:
Alpha Violet, Altitude Film Sales, Autlook, Cargo ,Content, Dreamcatchers, Film Factory Entertainment,Fortitude, Funny Balloons, Hyde Park International, K5 International, Kaleidoscope, Lotus Entertainment, Memento, Studiocanal, The Exchange, The Match Factory, The Solution, Voltage, Wild Bunch
14% (18) have U.S. distribution. Titles and links are in the report.
3 are with HBO
2 are with Roadside Attractions: "’71" and "Z for Zachariah"
The rest are each with:
Entertainment in Motion (airline)
Radius-twc
Universal Pictures
A&E/ Lifetime
Broad Green Pictures
Drafthouse Films
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Magnolia
Netflix
Sony Pictures Classics – "Wild Tales"
Strand Releasing – "Girlhood"
53% (68) have producer reps
Cinetic - 14
Submarine - 13
ICM - 10
Preferred Content - 8
Wme - 9
UTA -8
CAA - 7
Cassian Elwes - 2
Paradigm - 1
Publicists
Brigade - 9
Stategy - 7
Ryan Werner - 6
Prodigy - 6
David Magdael - 4
Acme - 4
Susan Norget - 4
Steven Rafael, Mj Pakos - 2
Bigtime - 2
Group 2050 - 2
Katleen McGinnis - 2 + 2 shorts
Jazo - 1
Dda - 1
Dish - 1
Sophie Gluck - 1
mPRm - 1
Sundance selected 7 films from Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico). Four are in official competitions - two for American cinema and two for international cinema - divided between fiction and documentary. Two coproductions with Mexico are in the U.S. Documentary Competition, "Cartel Land" by Matthew Heineman, and "Western" by Bill Ross and Turner Ross, two views on life and struggle in the border.
In the International Fiction Competition of 12 films, Brazil's "The Second Mother" ("Que hours ela volta?") by Anna Muylaert, a story about everyday relations between the employees and employers in a home upset by the visit of the nanny's daughter. Anna Muylawert participated in the Carte Blanche at Locarno dedicated to Brazilian cinema. In the Next secton, dedicated to innovative film is "H." a coproduction between the U.S. and Argentina directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia. The film is a reinterpretation of Greek mythology, following two women named Helen whose lives are altered in the small town of Troy, New York. New Frontier Films will premier Colombia-Mexico coproduction "Liveforever", the adaptation of Carlos Moreno("Dog Eat Dog") of the cult novel by Andres Caicedo.
And finally, in the new Sundance Kids section, "The Games Maker", a coproduction between Argentina, Canada and Italy, will premiere.
To purchase the report visit Here...
You can gather these figures and look up contact information as it pertains to your job in this industry, or you can buy the Sundance by Numbers Report from SydneysBuzz and import an excel sheet of all relevant data with contact names, into your own database. If you are about to go to Sundance and need to know the publicist or if in the future, you are going to need a good publicist, or a producer rep, or a festival oriented international sales agents or U.S. distributor who will surely be on the festival circuit, you need this report now.
All titles are linked to contacts you will need for your particular line of work if you are a professional in the business.
There are 26 women directors ( ♀ ).
‧ U.S. Dramatic Competition: 5 of 16 are directed by women (36%).
‧ U.S. Documentary Competition: 7 of 16 are directed by women.
‧ World Cinema Dramatic Competition: 5 of 12 are directed by women.
‧ World Cinema Documentary Competition: 6 of 12 are directed by women.
‧ Next: 1 of 10 is directed by a woman.
‧ New Frontiers has Jenni Olson's "The Royal Road"
48% (62) of the films have international sales agents.
Ryan Kempe's Visit Films and Andrew Hurewitz' Film Sales Company both have 5 films.
3 films are being sold by Im Global, HanWay and Protagonist.
2 by Dogwoof, Epic, Films Distribution, The Match Factory, Trust Nordisk and Xyz and Annapurna.
1 film each are represented by the other sales agents:
Alpha Violet, Altitude Film Sales, Autlook, Cargo ,Content, Dreamcatchers, Film Factory Entertainment,Fortitude, Funny Balloons, Hyde Park International, K5 International, Kaleidoscope, Lotus Entertainment, Memento, Studiocanal, The Exchange, The Match Factory, The Solution, Voltage, Wild Bunch
14% (18) have U.S. distribution. Titles and links are in the report.
3 are with HBO
2 are with Roadside Attractions: "’71" and "Z for Zachariah"
The rest are each with:
Entertainment in Motion (airline)
Radius-twc
Universal Pictures
A&E/ Lifetime
Broad Green Pictures
Drafthouse Films
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Magnolia
Netflix
Sony Pictures Classics – "Wild Tales"
Strand Releasing – "Girlhood"
53% (68) have producer reps
Cinetic - 14
Submarine - 13
ICM - 10
Preferred Content - 8
Wme - 9
UTA -8
CAA - 7
Cassian Elwes - 2
Paradigm - 1
Publicists
Brigade - 9
Stategy - 7
Ryan Werner - 6
Prodigy - 6
David Magdael - 4
Acme - 4
Susan Norget - 4
Steven Rafael, Mj Pakos - 2
Bigtime - 2
Group 2050 - 2
Katleen McGinnis - 2 + 2 shorts
Jazo - 1
Dda - 1
Dish - 1
Sophie Gluck - 1
mPRm - 1
Sundance selected 7 films from Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico). Four are in official competitions - two for American cinema and two for international cinema - divided between fiction and documentary. Two coproductions with Mexico are in the U.S. Documentary Competition, "Cartel Land" by Matthew Heineman, and "Western" by Bill Ross and Turner Ross, two views on life and struggle in the border.
In the International Fiction Competition of 12 films, Brazil's "The Second Mother" ("Que hours ela volta?") by Anna Muylaert, a story about everyday relations between the employees and employers in a home upset by the visit of the nanny's daughter. Anna Muylawert participated in the Carte Blanche at Locarno dedicated to Brazilian cinema. In the Next secton, dedicated to innovative film is "H." a coproduction between the U.S. and Argentina directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia. The film is a reinterpretation of Greek mythology, following two women named Helen whose lives are altered in the small town of Troy, New York. New Frontier Films will premier Colombia-Mexico coproduction "Liveforever", the adaptation of Carlos Moreno("Dog Eat Dog") of the cult novel by Andres Caicedo.
And finally, in the new Sundance Kids section, "The Games Maker", a coproduction between Argentina, Canada and Italy, will premiere.
To purchase the report visit Here...
- 1/20/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Academy Awards
On December 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they’d whittled down the 134 eligible documentary submissions to a 15 film shortlist. The chosen films include:
Art and Craft – Purple Parrot Films
The Case Against 8 – Day in Court
Citizen Koch – Elsewhere Films
Citizenfour – Praxis Films
Finding Vivian Maier – Ravine Pictures
The Internet’s Own Boy – Luminant Media
Jodorowsky’s Dune – City Film
Keep on Keepin’ On – Absolute Clay Productions
The Kill Team – f/8 filmworks
Last Days in Vietnam – Moxie Firecracker Films
Life Itself – Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
The Overnighters – Mile End Films West
The Salt of the Earth – Decia Films
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Lafayette Film
Virunga – Grain Media
EntreVues Belfort International Film Festival - France - November 22nd – November 30th
The 29th edition of the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival jury members announced the 2014 Awards, giving Anna Roussillon’s Je suis le peuple,...
On December 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they’d whittled down the 134 eligible documentary submissions to a 15 film shortlist. The chosen films include:
Art and Craft – Purple Parrot Films
The Case Against 8 – Day in Court
Citizen Koch – Elsewhere Films
Citizenfour – Praxis Films
Finding Vivian Maier – Ravine Pictures
The Internet’s Own Boy – Luminant Media
Jodorowsky’s Dune – City Film
Keep on Keepin’ On – Absolute Clay Productions
The Kill Team – f/8 filmworks
Last Days in Vietnam – Moxie Firecracker Films
Life Itself – Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
The Overnighters – Mile End Films West
The Salt of the Earth – Decia Films
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Lafayette Film
Virunga – Grain Media
EntreVues Belfort International Film Festival - France - November 22nd – November 30th
The 29th edition of the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival jury members announced the 2014 Awards, giving Anna Roussillon’s Je suis le peuple,...
- 12/31/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
The holidays are winding down and that means we at Ioncinema.com are gearing up for our annual pilgrimage to Park City where an A-list of documentaries is now set to premiere. Earlier this month Tabitha Jackson and the Sundance doc programming team let the cats out of the bag, unsurprisingly announcing much anticipated Us Doc Competition titles such as the Ross Brothers’ Western, Louie Psihoyos’ Racing Extinction, Marc Silver’s 3 1/2 Minutes and Lyric Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s (T)Error, along with some surprises like Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel’s bizarro Kickstarted doc Finders Keepers (see trailer below). Having been produced by the fine folks behind The King of Kong and Undefeated, the film bears all the markings of its well regarded pedigree, yet appears to be of even odder ilk, following the story that unfolded when a severed human foot was discovered in a grill bought at a North Carolina auction.
- 12/30/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
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