“Columbus” director Kogonada is the latest director to share his 10 favorite movies of the last 10 years on Grasshopper Film’s Transmissions. Sean Baker, Andrew Rossi, and Benjamin Crotty have all done likewise in the past; like theirs, Kogonada’s 10/10 is heavy on auteur favorites. Here’s the list in alphabetical order:
Read More:‘Columbus’ Review: Kogonada’s Directorial Debut Is a Feast for the Eyes and the Heart “35 Shots of Rum” (Claire Denis, 2008) “Amour” (Michael Haneke, 2012) “The Arbor” (Clio Barnard, 2010) “Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo” (Jessica Oreck, 2009) “Before Midnight” (Richard Linklater, 2013) “Clouds of Sils Maria” (Olivier Assayas, 2014) “Flight of the Red Balloon” (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2007) “I Wish” (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2011) “Nostalgia For the Light” (Patricio Guzmán, 2010) “The Wind Rises” (Hayao Miyazaki, 2013) Read More:Supercut Guru Kogonada: How He Leapt from Small Screens to Sundance Next with the Mysterious ‘Columbus’
Kogonada also included a list of the five directors whom he feels “ruled this era”: Olivier Assayas,...
Read More:‘Columbus’ Review: Kogonada’s Directorial Debut Is a Feast for the Eyes and the Heart “35 Shots of Rum” (Claire Denis, 2008) “Amour” (Michael Haneke, 2012) “The Arbor” (Clio Barnard, 2010) “Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo” (Jessica Oreck, 2009) “Before Midnight” (Richard Linklater, 2013) “Clouds of Sils Maria” (Olivier Assayas, 2014) “Flight of the Red Balloon” (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2007) “I Wish” (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2011) “Nostalgia For the Light” (Patricio Guzmán, 2010) “The Wind Rises” (Hayao Miyazaki, 2013) Read More:Supercut Guru Kogonada: How He Leapt from Small Screens to Sundance Next with the Mysterious ‘Columbus’
Kogonada also included a list of the five directors whom he feels “ruled this era”: Olivier Assayas,...
- 8/10/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Filmmaker Jessica Oreck (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga) has created a new series for Ted-Ed, “In a Moment of Vision,” dubbed “an all-new, all-fun animated micro-series about the history of common objects.” The first episode tells the story of the invention of the bra, which you may be surprised wasn’t invented until the early 1900s.
- 7/13/2016
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Of Forest and Folklore: Oreck Lenses Extraordinary Essay on Eastern European Relationship with Land and Myth
Recently, Jessica Oreck has been settling into a more time sensitive short form with her ambitious etymology web series Mysteries of Vernacular, in which she unearths the surprising origins of the English language in two minute snippets. It’s understandable when you consider her densely layered latest feature, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, has been over five years in the making. The project began as an ethnographic exploration of Eastern European mushroom foragers in line with her beetle hunting debut Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, but it’s since transformed into something much more mysteriously enigmatic. Oreck’s dreamy tale unfurls as a poetic travelogue of a timeless Slavic territory, its inhabitants still following long held traditions and bearing all the scars of the region’s tumultuous history. The abiding antiquity of her...
Recently, Jessica Oreck has been settling into a more time sensitive short form with her ambitious etymology web series Mysteries of Vernacular, in which she unearths the surprising origins of the English language in two minute snippets. It’s understandable when you consider her densely layered latest feature, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, has been over five years in the making. The project began as an ethnographic exploration of Eastern European mushroom foragers in line with her beetle hunting debut Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, but it’s since transformed into something much more mysteriously enigmatic. Oreck’s dreamy tale unfurls as a poetic travelogue of a timeless Slavic territory, its inhabitants still following long held traditions and bearing all the scars of the region’s tumultuous history. The abiding antiquity of her...
- 5/12/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
As a lover of old, rustic folktales and being married to a descendant of an eastern European Jew, Baba Yaga holds a special place in my heart. Creepier and more twisted than the Grimm Bros' tales, Baba Yaga tells a story of a witch who lives in a hut that stands on giant chicken legs and eats children who get lost in the forest. In its many variations, the witch is often perceived as both venerable and monstrous.Jessica Oreck's ravishing new film is not a mere anthropological documentary on Eastern Europe. As with her first two beautiful films, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo and Aatsinki: The Arctic Cowboy, Baba Yaga also falls neatly into region specific ethnographic study at first, this time, of the Slavic world....
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 3/17/2014
- Screen Anarchy
The uncompromising yet lovely vérité doc Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys takes an unadorned, soulful look at a year in the lives of a pair of brothers who are among a collective of reindeer herders in rural Finland. A departure in many ways from the zany Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, Jessica Oreck’s new film is bloody and ice bound, showcasing a world of rustic north European life rarely glimpsed on screen. The grim slaughter of reindeer and the daily tribulations of running such an operation doesn’t escape the director’s eye; neither does the tenderness and decency of the people doing such work. […]...
- 2/3/2014
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The uncompromising yet lovely vérité doc Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys takes an unadorned, soulful look at a year in the lives of a pair of brothers who are among a collective of reindeer herders in rural Finland. A departure in many ways from the zany Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, Jessica Oreck’s new film is bloody and ice bound, showcasing a world of rustic north European life rarely glimpsed on screen. The grim slaughter of reindeer and the daily tribulations of running such an operation doesn’t escape the director’s eye; neither does the tenderness and decency of the people doing such work. […]...
- 2/3/2014
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
UK distributor November Films has revealed further details of its release plans for The Moo Man, Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier’s feature doc about Sussex dairy farmer Steve Hook.
The film, which premiered in Sundance in January, is out in British cinemas on Friday.
November is handling the The Moo Man on behalf of the producers, Trufflepig Films. As has been widely reported, the produced raised funds for the film’s release through a Kickstarter campaign.
James Collie of November Films (which has been distributing in the UK since 2011) has now booked the doc into over 45 cinemas. The Moo Man will open initially in three cinemas and will then gradually expand across the country.
A red carpet gala premiere was held at the Hailsham Pavilion in Sussex earlier this week with one of the bovine stars of the movie in attendance [pictured].
At screenings throughout the country, cinemagoers will have the opportunity to buy fresh dairy milk from...
The film, which premiered in Sundance in January, is out in British cinemas on Friday.
November is handling the The Moo Man on behalf of the producers, Trufflepig Films. As has been widely reported, the produced raised funds for the film’s release through a Kickstarter campaign.
James Collie of November Films (which has been distributing in the UK since 2011) has now booked the doc into over 45 cinemas. The Moo Man will open initially in three cinemas and will then gradually expand across the country.
A red carpet gala premiere was held at the Hailsham Pavilion in Sussex earlier this week with one of the bovine stars of the movie in attendance [pictured].
At screenings throughout the country, cinemagoers will have the opportunity to buy fresh dairy milk from...
- 7/10/2013
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Jessica Oreck waited four years to release the follow-up to her SXSW premiering documentary film "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo," which traced the cultural ties between insects and Japan's fascination with them. While set far from her previous film's Japanese setting, "Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys" continues her fascination humanities relationship with the animal world, this time focuses on a group of Finish reindeer herders and their relationship with each other. What it's about: "Aatsinki is a year in the life of this incredible family of reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland. It’s about labor and leisure and being connected to the land." What else should audiences know: "I hope the film speaks for itself. But I tend to misname my films. Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo wasn’t a B horror movie and Arctic Cowboys is no Western. It’s just a really pure, atmospheric experience. Or so I hope.
- 4/3/2013
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
Easily the most out-there film I saw at last year’s Cph:dox was one touted by the programmers as “the discovery of the festival”: Maiko Endo’s Kuichisan, receiving its New York debut tomorrow as part of the LADIDa Festival. Previously, Endo was a vocalist in the band Battles and co-produced Jessica Oreck’s documentary Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo. Now, Oreck has produced Endo’s debut picture, with Beetle Queen d.p. Sean Price Williams behind the camera. Stunningly shot in both black-and-white and color, Kuichisan is a tumbling collection of images, organized as much by feeling, sensation and the rhythms of its experimental soundtrack as by narrative logic. At first blush the film is an imagistic portrait of its location, Okinawa, the Japanese islands controlled by the United States until the early 1970s and still the site of U.S. military bases. Endo follows a 10-year-old boy as he wanders the streets,...
- 9/13/2012
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
With her debut documentary, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, Jessica Oreck reinvented the nature doc. Oreck, an entomologist who worked as a docent at the American Museum of Natural History, made a film about an insect that was as much about man’s fascination with that creature as it was the creature itself. To top it off, she made her poetic and allusive picture in Japan, exploring the country’s endemic beetle-mania through evocative cinematography and haunting voiceover.
When so many documentary filmmakers make their artistic choices based on the desires of their funders, Oreck chooses the harder path. Her latest film, Aatsinki, promises to be just as innovative even as it focuses on the more human subject of arctic cowboys. Oreck is in the final days of a Kickstarter campaign to fund post-production. Below, she discusses her new film, shooting in the extreme cold, and why she’s back at...
When so many documentary filmmakers make their artistic choices based on the desires of their funders, Oreck chooses the harder path. Her latest film, Aatsinki, promises to be just as innovative even as it focuses on the more human subject of arctic cowboys. Oreck is in the final days of a Kickstarter campaign to fund post-production. Below, she discusses her new film, shooting in the extreme cold, and why she’s back at...
- 5/1/2012
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
InFEST Underground Screening Series
InFEST Underground is a new monthly screening series that takes place in Brooklyn, NY at the Spectacle Theater microcinema at 124 S. 3rd St. near Bedford Avenue. It’s being organized by filmmaker Greg Hanson of Greth Productions, which has produced such underground hits as Thy Kill Be Done.
Specifically, InFEST says it is looking for “underground oddities that are insane, psychotronic, transgressive, subversive, oddball, weirdo, gonzo, mondo, mind-bending, or boundless.” And, since this is a regular screening series, there are no entry fees, nor are there any restrictions on length, year, region or anything. If it’s underground, then Hanson wants to take a look at it.
To submit, please write directly to Greg Hanson at “Grethproductions (at) gmail dot com.” Include, if you can, a link to your online video, either public or private. Or, ask how to mail in your submission.
Dallas Video Fest...
InFEST Underground is a new monthly screening series that takes place in Brooklyn, NY at the Spectacle Theater microcinema at 124 S. 3rd St. near Bedford Avenue. It’s being organized by filmmaker Greg Hanson of Greth Productions, which has produced such underground hits as Thy Kill Be Done.
Specifically, InFEST says it is looking for “underground oddities that are insane, psychotronic, transgressive, subversive, oddball, weirdo, gonzo, mondo, mind-bending, or boundless.” And, since this is a regular screening series, there are no entry fees, nor are there any restrictions on length, year, region or anything. If it’s underground, then Hanson wants to take a look at it.
To submit, please write directly to Greg Hanson at “Grethproductions (at) gmail dot com.” Include, if you can, a link to your online video, either public or private. Or, ask how to mail in your submission.
Dallas Video Fest...
- 4/23/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
#72. The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga - Jessica Oreck Jessica Oreck was at last year's festival with her short film, Venus - but she broke onto the docu scene with Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo. She continues in the format but leaves the bugs at home with the fresh Cinereach funded docu with a unique title, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga (which she discussed in our interview with her). This could either fit in the World Docu Comp or Spotlight Doc section. Gist: This examines man’s interaction with the mythic woodlands of Eastern Europe, detailing the bloody history and complex psychologies that transformed the forest from a conceptually sinister space into a realm of precious security. Mushroom hunting provides a passageway into the history of the region and helps reveal the roles that woodlands play in the psychology and sociology of fear, imagination, and survival. For generations of Slavic peoples,...
- 11/14/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
If you’ve taken a ride in the back of a New York City taxi cab these last two weeks, you may have heard the stories of seven of New York’s most distinctive independent filmmakers of the moment. In partnership with Royal Bank of Canada and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the Ifp has produced six spots that are playing not only in cabs but on NYC Life. Jamie Stuart directed, T. Griffin scored and I produced these pieces, and each one, in addition to profiling a person, highlights a different aspect of the independent filmmaker’s current creative, production or marketing brief. All the filmmakers were veterans of the Ifp Labs and also selected for Filmmaker’s 25 New Faces.
This week I’ll post them all on the blog, starting with Jessica Oreck, director of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
This week I’ll post them all on the blog, starting with Jessica Oreck, director of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
- 10/9/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The Ifp announced today the slate for this year’s Project Forum, which will take place during the 33rd edition of Independent Film Week on Sept. 18-22 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center.
The centerpiece of Independent Film Week, Project Forum is designed specifically as a place for industry to meet with new talent, as well as discover fresh projects from emerging and veteran filmmakers.
Read the complete press release and full list of titles in this year’s Project Forum.
All 150 projects showcased in the Project Forum this year are narrative and documentary features ranging from films in development, or the early stages of production, to those nearing completion.
Some of the notable directors in this year’s Project Forum include: Bruce La Bruce (Otto: Or, Up With Dead People), Alrick Brown (Kinyrwanda), Adam Bowers (New Low), David Lowery (St. Nick), David Robert Mitchell...
The centerpiece of Independent Film Week, Project Forum is designed specifically as a place for industry to meet with new talent, as well as discover fresh projects from emerging and veteran filmmakers.
Read the complete press release and full list of titles in this year’s Project Forum.
All 150 projects showcased in the Project Forum this year are narrative and documentary features ranging from films in development, or the early stages of production, to those nearing completion.
Some of the notable directors in this year’s Project Forum include: Bruce La Bruce (Otto: Or, Up With Dead People), Alrick Brown (Kinyrwanda), Adam Bowers (New Low), David Lowery (St. Nick), David Robert Mitchell...
- 8/11/2011
- by Jason Guerrasio
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Tom Hanks's later-life rom-com flops as Transformers clanks home and Bridesmaids lives happily ever after
The winner
The biggest film in the market by a huge margin, and the second-biggest opener of 2011, is Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Opening with £10.73m including Wednesday/Thursday previews of £4.23m, the metal-bashing actioner is this year second only to the debut of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which began its run in May with £11.63m, including previews of £3.07m. Next comes The Hangover Part II, which opened with £10.41m, including previews of £2.03m.
At first glance, UK grosses across the Transformers franchise seem to have taken a small leap forward: the original film debuted in 2007 with £8.72m, and Revenge of the Fallen followed two years later with £8.35m. However, the latter achieved its opening salvo without any previews. Strip out the previews from Dark of the Moon's tally, and it...
The winner
The biggest film in the market by a huge margin, and the second-biggest opener of 2011, is Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Opening with £10.73m including Wednesday/Thursday previews of £4.23m, the metal-bashing actioner is this year second only to the debut of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which began its run in May with £11.63m, including previews of £3.07m. Next comes The Hangover Part II, which opened with £10.41m, including previews of £2.03m.
At first glance, UK grosses across the Transformers franchise seem to have taken a small leap forward: the original film debuted in 2007 with £8.72m, and Revenge of the Fallen followed two years later with £8.35m. However, the latter achieved its opening salvo without any previews. Strip out the previews from Dark of the Moon's tally, and it...
- 7/5/2011
- by Charles Gant
- The Guardian - Film News
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (12A)
(Michael Bay, 2011, Us) Shia Labeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Frances McDormand, John Turturro, Josh Dempsey, John Malkovich. 155 mins
Despite the bombastic patriotism, drooling machine porn, all-round political dodginess, atrocious comedy, antiquated alien-invasion plot, etc, there's something oddly compelling about metropolitan destruction and high-tech combat rendered on this scale. If only there weren't those irritating humans getting in the way. It's an improvement on the last one, but this is so defiantly crass, it's almost admirable. Best watched with a 10-year-old boy, a hangover, or a cultural historian by your side to tell you how wrong it all is.
A Separation (PG)
(Asghar Farhadi, 2011, Iran) Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami. 123 mins
The complete opposite of Transformers: a complex, intricate and deeply satisfying study of Iranian society. Built around a divorcing couple, but ranging far wider, it's a web of social taboos, domestic clashes and building tension.
(Michael Bay, 2011, Us) Shia Labeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Frances McDormand, John Turturro, Josh Dempsey, John Malkovich. 155 mins
Despite the bombastic patriotism, drooling machine porn, all-round political dodginess, atrocious comedy, antiquated alien-invasion plot, etc, there's something oddly compelling about metropolitan destruction and high-tech combat rendered on this scale. If only there weren't those irritating humans getting in the way. It's an improvement on the last one, but this is so defiantly crass, it's almost admirable. Best watched with a 10-year-old boy, a hangover, or a cultural historian by your side to tell you how wrong it all is.
A Separation (PG)
(Asghar Farhadi, 2011, Iran) Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami. 123 mins
The complete opposite of Transformers: a complex, intricate and deeply satisfying study of Iranian society. Built around a divorcing couple, but ranging far wider, it's a web of social taboos, domestic clashes and building tension.
- 7/1/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Bridesmaids (15)
(Paul Feig, 2011, Us) Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, 125 mins.
Having recovered from the shocking revelation that women can be funny, rude, and entertaining in the absence of men, we can at last put the debates and Hangover comparisons this movie has prompted behind us now and just enjoy a satisfying prenuptial comedy. Led by Wiig's anxious maid of honour, it certainly matches male equivalents in the grossness stakes at times, but it also finds deeper, smarter ways to make us laugh.
Incendies (15)
(Denis Villeneuve, 2010, Can/Fra) Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette. 131 mins.
A mother's death sets her two children on an investigation into their personal and political history in this powerful mystery, set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country.
Countdown To Zero (Nc)
(Lucy Walker, 2010, Us) 89 mins.
Not got enough things to worry about? That's because you forgot about the threat of nuclear annihilation that still hangs over us.
(Paul Feig, 2011, Us) Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, 125 mins.
Having recovered from the shocking revelation that women can be funny, rude, and entertaining in the absence of men, we can at last put the debates and Hangover comparisons this movie has prompted behind us now and just enjoy a satisfying prenuptial comedy. Led by Wiig's anxious maid of honour, it certainly matches male equivalents in the grossness stakes at times, but it also finds deeper, smarter ways to make us laugh.
Incendies (15)
(Denis Villeneuve, 2010, Can/Fra) Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette. 131 mins.
A mother's death sets her two children on an investigation into their personal and political history in this powerful mystery, set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country.
Countdown To Zero (Nc)
(Lucy Walker, 2010, Us) 89 mins.
Not got enough things to worry about? That's because you forgot about the threat of nuclear annihilation that still hangs over us.
- 6/24/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film’s Underground Film Distributor index has been seriously updated pretty much for the first time it was launched two years ago.
Previously, the list only included distributors that had released films that were reviewed by Bad Lit. This update now includes films that have screened at underground film festivals, but have not yet been reviewed by this website.
Quite a few distributors already included in the list have added several more underground films to their catalogs, including Breaking Glass Pictures, which has since released Mad World, Brain Dead and Someone’s Knocking at the Door; while Factory 25 recently released Jessica Oreck’s Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
New distributors added to the list include Cinevolve; which released Chusy Haney-Jardine’s Anywhere, USA; and Tla Releasing, which has released Alex Orr’s Blood Car and Seth Meredith’s Dante’s Inferno.
Check out Bad Lit...
Previously, the list only included distributors that had released films that were reviewed by Bad Lit. This update now includes films that have screened at underground film festivals, but have not yet been reviewed by this website.
Quite a few distributors already included in the list have added several more underground films to their catalogs, including Breaking Glass Pictures, which has since released Mad World, Brain Dead and Someone’s Knocking at the Door; while Factory 25 recently released Jessica Oreck’s Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
New distributors added to the list include Cinevolve; which released Chusy Haney-Jardine’s Anywhere, USA; and Tla Releasing, which has released Alex Orr’s Blood Car and Seth Meredith’s Dante’s Inferno.
Check out Bad Lit...
- 6/20/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Two very different, but very worthwhile, films by first-time directors have come out on DVD recently.
First up is Jessica Oreck’s exquisite ode to all things creepy and crawlie: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
Beetles are big business in Japan, but, more importantly, they are creatures to be revered and honored for helping Japanese culture stay in touch with the natural world. Oreck’s portrait of the tiny critters and the larger world that fawns over them is brought to life in a swirling mix of scientific exploration, history lesson and sheer artistry. Can a movie about bugs be beautiful? Oreck shows us that it can.
From Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film’s original review:
It’s difficult to explain an entire culture, but Oreck does a masterful job of immersing us into the science, history and philosophy of Japan. Oreck is especially deft in how she ties...
First up is Jessica Oreck’s exquisite ode to all things creepy and crawlie: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
Beetles are big business in Japan, but, more importantly, they are creatures to be revered and honored for helping Japanese culture stay in touch with the natural world. Oreck’s portrait of the tiny critters and the larger world that fawns over them is brought to life in a swirling mix of scientific exploration, history lesson and sheer artistry. Can a movie about bugs be beautiful? Oreck shows us that it can.
From Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film’s original review:
It’s difficult to explain an entire culture, but Oreck does a masterful job of immersing us into the science, history and philosophy of Japan. Oreck is especially deft in how she ties...
- 5/24/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This week’s Must Browse link is the new Cinemad Presents website for Mike Plante’s distribution arm of his legendary zine and blog. He’s currently representing some amazing films, including perennial Bad Lit hits Heavy Metal Picnic and Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then.Not sure when this happened, but the Video Data Bank completely revamped their website and it looks amazing! They’ve also made it easier to watch lots of clips of videos in their collection, so go browse around.Migrating Forms is happening right now this week in NYC and the fest got a ton of press. First up, for the Brooklyn Rail, Aily Nash interviewed organizers Nellie Killian and Kevin McGarry.For the Village Voice, Nick Pinkerton wrote a nice Migrating Forms fest overview.For The L Magazine, David Phelps considers the notion of what’s “experimental” in the context of Migrating Forms’ offerings.Art...
- 5/22/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
(Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo is now available on DVD through Factory 25. Visit the film’s official website to learn more. Note: This review was first published at Hammer to Nail in conjunction with the film’s theatrical release at Film Forum on May 12, 2010.)
The knowledge that Jessica Oreck is an entomologist at the Museum of Natural History in New York City who has never previously made a film might cause one to worry that Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo will be an unavoidably stiff and grueling piece of video academia. Worry not, skeptic. Oreck’s wildly precocious exploration of Japan’s ongoing fascination with, and connection to, insects just so happens to be one of the more exhilarating new documentaries of 2009. This is a shining example of when a filmmaker’s innocence has resulted in something much more vibrant and alive than it otherwise might have been coming from an experienced veteran.
The knowledge that Jessica Oreck is an entomologist at the Museum of Natural History in New York City who has never previously made a film might cause one to worry that Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo will be an unavoidably stiff and grueling piece of video academia. Worry not, skeptic. Oreck’s wildly precocious exploration of Japan’s ongoing fascination with, and connection to, insects just so happens to be one of the more exhilarating new documentaries of 2009. This is a shining example of when a filmmaker’s innocence has resulted in something much more vibrant and alive than it otherwise might have been coming from an experienced veteran.
- 5/19/2011
- by Michael Tully
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Getty A beetle
Although it was hardly a photo finish this weekend at the box office, “Bridesmaids” proved that well-executed comedies featuring female casts can keep pace with even some of the bigger blockbusters (in this case “Thor,” which also benefited from the boost of 3-D ticket prices). Meanwhile, the last several weeks, leading up to this one, have offered an increasing variety of classic titles that should certainly attract audiences to their home theaters as much as the ones at the local googolplex.
Although it was hardly a photo finish this weekend at the box office, “Bridesmaids” proved that well-executed comedies featuring female casts can keep pace with even some of the bigger blockbusters (in this case “Thor,” which also benefited from the boost of 3-D ticket prices). Meanwhile, the last several weeks, leading up to this one, have offered an increasing variety of classic titles that should certainly attract audiences to their home theaters as much as the ones at the local googolplex.
- 5/18/2011
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
The season finale for "Body of Proof" is on tonight and I mention it only because I've seen that there's something of an informal trend happening on TV right now with Medical Examiners in heels. "Bones" has one in the lovely and somewhat inconsistently written Camille Saroyan, "Rizzoli and Isles" practically writes half the show around that premise, and "Body of Proof" appears to be doing likewise. I'm not saying that one cannot be a whip smart and professional lady in stilettos, I'm saying that as someone who wears them on occasion I definitely wouldn't be wearing them anywhere near decomposing bodies. They like to sink in soft soil and you would run a high risk of getting corpse juice on your feet and I don't care how used to dealing with bodies you are, that's extremely icky. Also I'm pretty sure squatting down to get a better look at...
- 5/17/2011
- by Intern Rusty
I apparently missed out by not seeing "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo" on the big screen, or so I am led to believe because it's one of those rare documentaries that is "gorgeous" and "cinematic." Honestly, though, I think it's mainly a good-looking film because of its locations. Not to slight cinematographer Sean Price Williams ("Kati with an I"), who really does do a wonderful job making beetles and other insects look like stunning little movie stars--he's to bugs what Ernest Haller was to Joan Crawford (yes, I just compared the 'Queen Bee' to insects)--but the rural scenery of Japan looks…...
- 5/17/2011
- Spout
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo's Jessica Oreck, Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)'s Jason Kohn and The Order of Myths/Be Here to Love Me's Margaret Brown are among the filmmakers of thirteen projects in all to receive some serious coin from the Cinereach folks -- indie and doc filmmaker staples such as Matt Wolf, Liza Johnson, Dee Rees, Ramin Bahrani, Alistair Banks Griffin and Maryam Keshavarz have all benefitted from this organization's help. Here are the Winter 2011 grant recipients include two fiction, ten nonfiction and one hybrid works-in-progress of which we'll be keeping a close eye out for at this year's Tiff, Doc Fests and next year's Sundance: The Angola ProjectDir. Jeremy Xido | Angola | Nonfiction | In Research & DevelopmentA post-colonial western-meets-road film about the fevered reconstruction of the Benguela Transcontinental Railway and the African and Chinese lives that are intertwined because of it. Diamond, Silver & GoldDir. Jason Kohn | USA | Nonfiction...
- 4/5/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Factory 25, the uber cool Brooklyn NY label responsible for making sure that Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo and You Wont Miss Me get some love from the movie-going public have picked up one of my favorite films from the 2010 campaign in the Cannes Director's Fortnight selected Two Gates of Sleep. Alistair Banks Griffin's debut film easily puts him in a category apart of budding U.S filmmakers to watch out for (I'd include Lance Hammer, Antonio Campos, Jeff Nichols and more recently Sean Durkin) in that pack of remarkable first time efforts. Tgos will receive a one week release this Friday (April 1st) at the Re-Run Theater. I imagine other markets including Los Angeles (where the film was previously shown in AFI Fest) will follow and for sure we'll get some whacked out DVD release for the film -- I think of Factory 25 as a mix between Criterion and the...
- 3/30/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Out of 6,467 short film submissions — a record for the fest — the Sundance Film Festival has selected to screen 81 of them during its 2011 edition, which will run on Jan. 20-30. Out of those 81 short films, a handful have ties to the underground film world.
First, I want to offer special Bad Lit congratulations to filmmaker Jef Taylor, whose film After You Left — written by Taylor and Michael Tisdale — was one of those short films chosen.
Earlier this year, I reviewed Taylor’s phenomenal, award-winning short film Coverage, so I was thrilled to hear another one of his more recent films got into Sundance. (I also hope to have a review of After You Left up around the time of the fest.)
Some other recognizable names from the underground film world include:
Martha Colburn: Legendary underground animator Martha Colburn is no stranger to Sundance and she has another film in the...
First, I want to offer special Bad Lit congratulations to filmmaker Jef Taylor, whose film After You Left — written by Taylor and Michael Tisdale — was one of those short films chosen.
Earlier this year, I reviewed Taylor’s phenomenal, award-winning short film Coverage, so I was thrilled to hear another one of his more recent films got into Sundance. (I also hope to have a review of After You Left up around the time of the fest.)
Some other recognizable names from the underground film world include:
Martha Colburn: Legendary underground animator Martha Colburn is no stranger to Sundance and she has another film in the...
- 12/10/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Writer/director Michael Bilandic forwarded me this trailer for “a low-budget rave comedy executive produced by Abel Ferrara.” He writes, “It’s about a thirty-something owner of a struggling all-techno music record store who, in a last ditch effort to save his place, attempts to throw an ‘old school’ rave. It stars the comedian Tom McCaffrey and features Matt Pinfield! Cinematography by Sean Williams (Frownland, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo).” Check out the trailer below.
- 8/2/2010
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Self-serving link first again: My latest index-y type project on Bad Lit is the DVD Underground, a list of DVDs and DVD box sets of classic underground films. This is part of my timeline project. So, please check it out. But, more importantly, check these out: Here’s a fantastic interview you have to read: Miss Rosen chats with filmmaker, photographer, exhibitor and general all around underground troublemaker Anton Perich. Plus, the piece is illustraed with Perich’s wonderful B&W pictures of Candy Darling, Robert Mapplethorpe and Andrea Feldman, a.k.a. Andrea Whips. Can you identify the filmmaker in the photo at this groovy ’60s San Francisco Country Joe and the Fish performance? Seriously, the blogger over there wants to know. Making Light of It has some very cool stills from Philippe Grandrieux’s La Vie Nouvelle, that appears to be some sort of homage to Wavelength or something.
- 8/1/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The Miff (Melbourne International Film Festival) proceedings begins today. Even for non-members, all sessions are now open to purchase tickets for as screenings commence the 22nd and conclude August 8th. I thought it a prudent time to post my viewings (Ok not all of them but the highlights) and talk a little about the great line-up this year, which has turned out to be very diverse and a tiny bit disappointing.
Last years program included 'Love Exposure' which at the time I was desperate to see, so it was a relief that it was included and turned out to be the festivals best film, if not, dare I say the best film ever, and also a relief that brilliant distributors Third Window Films released on DVD soon after.
This year my must-see movie is Nakashima's school revenge tale 'Confessions' which was not on the program, nor was the...
Last years program included 'Love Exposure' which at the time I was desperate to see, so it was a relief that it was included and turned out to be the festivals best film, if not, dare I say the best film ever, and also a relief that brilliant distributors Third Window Films released on DVD soon after.
This year my must-see movie is Nakashima's school revenge tale 'Confessions' which was not on the program, nor was the...
- 7/9/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Nothing else really had a chance in last week's Trailer Park poll, as Inception took about 72% of the votes. I guess you guys are looking forward to that one? Coming way behind in second and third places were Machete and The American.
This week a lot of the best and worst looks at movies have come in the form of scenes and viral videos. The scenes are mainly clips from Cannes selections, such as Doug Liman's Valerie Plame movie, Fair Game, and the new works from Stephen Frears and Mike Leigh (thanks to The Playlist for finding those). And the viral was a staged bit from "behind the scenes" of Knight and Day, which doesn't need linking to, as it pretty much eliminates all appeal that movie still had going for it.
As for new trailers, there are two trends this week. One is that a lot are for...
This week a lot of the best and worst looks at movies have come in the form of scenes and viral videos. The scenes are mainly clips from Cannes selections, such as Doug Liman's Valerie Plame movie, Fair Game, and the new works from Stephen Frears and Mike Leigh (thanks to The Playlist for finding those). And the viral was a staged bit from "behind the scenes" of Knight and Day, which doesn't need linking to, as it pretty much eliminates all appeal that movie still had going for it.
As for new trailers, there are two trends this week. One is that a lot are for...
- 5/15/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
We've got three new movies in wide release this weekend, including Ridley Scott's Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe, the romantic comedy Just Wright starring Common and Queen Latifah, and Letters to Juliet starring Amanda Seyfried (which also sneak previewed last weekend). It's probably going to be tough for any of them to take down Iron Man 2, but at least two of them are aimed at a pretty different audience. Elsewhere in limited release, there is the Ken Loach comedy Looking for Eric, the immigrant drama Entre Nos, and Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, a documentary about Japan's obsession with insects. What will you be checking out this weekend? Robin Hood [1] Letters to Juliet [2] Just Wright [3] Looking for Eric [4] (limited) Daddy Longlegs [5] (limited) Princess Kaiulani [6] (limited) Entre Nos [7] (limited) Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo [8] (limited) Deadfall Trail [9] (limited) [1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0955308/ [2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892318/ [3] http://www.
- 5/14/2010
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
More essay than documentary—and by no means a monster movie—Jessica Oreck’s Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo takes a closer look at the Japanese obsession with insect-collecting, and considers it as a partial explanation of the country’s national character. While other cultures find bugs creepy, in Japan, the little critters are sold in special pet stores, and even in vending machines. Oreck argues that Japan’s bug-love is in line with its affection for the economical and efficient, be it haiku poetry or bonsai trees. It’s all part of mono no aware, a philosophy of life and ...
- 5/13/2010
- avclub.com
I just loved insects; I would pick anything up. So I knew that interested me, but I knew I didn’t particularly want to be a scientist. I didn’t want to focus too minutely on one particular thing, which is sort of the way academia works these days. So, when I was 14 I saw David Attenborough’s Private Life Of Plants, and it was a eureka moment for me, and I realized “I’m meant to make movies about this! - Hardcover dictionaries, shoes, paper towels: these objects have no hidden sinister purpose, and yet we in the West have no qualms about using them as our instruments of evil when we come across an innocent insect. Well, writer/director/producer/ Animator/American Museum of Natural History Docent Jessica Oreck has set out to prove to us that this doesn’t have to be the way, that it...
- 5/12/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
"An expansive take on the world in miniature, Jessica Oreck's documentary debut pursues all angles on a novel subject — the Japanese obsession with insects — until it assumes a worldview." Eric Hynes in the Voice: "That such an approach could work for just about any aspect of existence — academia subsists on such blinkered, max-effort specialization — doesn't make its conviction of purpose any less admirable or, in the case of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, anything short of bewitching."...
- 5/12/2010
- MUBI
"An expansive take on the world in miniature, Jessica Oreck's documentary debut pursues all angles on a novel subject — the Japanese obsession with insects — until it assumes a worldview." Eric Hynes in the Voice: "That such an approach could work for just about any aspect of existence — academia subsists on such blinkered, max-effort specialization — doesn't make its conviction of purpose any less admirable or, in the case of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, anything short of bewitching."...
- 5/12/2010
- MUBI
Hardcover dictionaries, shoes, paper towels: these objects have no hidden sinister purpose, and yet we in the West have no qualms about using them as our instruments of evil when we come across an innocent insect. Well, writer/director/producer/ Animator/American Museum of Natural History Docent Jessica Oreck has set out to prove to us that this doesn’t have to be the way, that it is not inevitable we humans must battle insects. Ms. Oreck takes us to Japan in her documentary, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, in order to show a society that has found the beauty in insects and the advantages of living in harmony with these oft misunderstood creatures. So, before you read my interview with Jessica Oreck, forget what you’ve learned from Neil Patrick Harris (Starship Troopers), Jeff Goldblum (The Fly), or Mira Sorvino (Mimic), for those actors starred in anti-insect propaganda films that...
- 5/12/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
According to the new documentary "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo", in Japan, insects are sold live in vending machines/department stores, and are the subject of the No. 1 videogame, "MushiKing: Battle Of The Beatles".
"...Through history and adventure, "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo" travels all the way back in time to stories of the fabled first emperor who named Japan the 'Isle of the Dragonflies'. Interspersed with the philosophies of Japanese best-selling author/anatomist, Dr. Takeshi Yoro, 'Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo' is set to the rhythm of traditional Japanese values in its attention to detail, harmony, and the appreciation of the seemingly mundane.
"It quietly challenges the viewer to observe the world from an uncommon perspective that will shift the familiar to the fantastic and just might change not only the way we think about bugs, but the way we think about life..."...
"...Through history and adventure, "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo" travels all the way back in time to stories of the fabled first emperor who named Japan the 'Isle of the Dragonflies'. Interspersed with the philosophies of Japanese best-selling author/anatomist, Dr. Takeshi Yoro, 'Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo' is set to the rhythm of traditional Japanese values in its attention to detail, harmony, and the appreciation of the seemingly mundane.
"It quietly challenges the viewer to observe the world from an uncommon perspective that will shift the familiar to the fantastic and just might change not only the way we think about bugs, but the way we think about life..."...
- 5/12/2010
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
It’s a crazy, mixed up world and we are thankful for movies that offer proof. Slashfilm’s Weekend Weirdness examines such flicks, whether in the form of a premiere for a provocative indie, a mini review, or...Gah, bugs! When I learned of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, a documentary on the profitable Japanese subculture and love of insect collecting, my inner capitalist gave a high five to my slouching indie purist. A press release for the film highlighted a $57 rainbow beetle, the film's website teased the recent $90,000 sale of a single specimen. Those nuts. I envisioned the film as an educational PBS special. Lots of well narrated close-ups on creepy-crawlies inside plastic containers, stacked high and labeled brightly, in bustling specialty shops. And the film begins like so. At start, we see a young Japanese boy in a shop captivated by a "Kokasasu beetle!" and he shouts "Oh...I want it!
- 5/9/2010
- by Hunter Stephenson
- Slash Film
Sorta weird how this became the globe-trotter episode. I'd seen Babies a few weeks ago and was going to go with it as the sole focus of the show, then late last week I stumbled onto Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo and -- despite the little voice whispering ever so delicately in the back of my head, "You Said You Were Going To Back Off The Workload, M*Th*F***A!" -- I realized I had to cover it as well. Hence, another double-up ep for ya (and just so you're braced, we'll be doing it again the week following next). What changed my mind about Beetle Queen was debuting director Jessica Oreck's approach to the subject of Japan's seemingly nationwide fascination for insects. Oreck, who's also an animal keeper and docent at New York's American Museum of Natural History, lays the motivations out neatly...
- 5/8/2010
- by Dan Persons
- Huffington Post
Official screening dates haven’t been announced yet — although the fest typically runs in early November — the 24th annual AFI Film Festival is now officially looking for submissions. There are two deadlines, one for shorts and one for features:
Shorts Deadline:
July 30
Features Deadline:
August 13
I also don’t have entry fee information, but you can probably find that out once you start the Withoutabox submission process. AFI is usually a fairly diverse festival, ranging from screening major independent films — last year they screened Precious and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus — to very offbeat, quirky films such as Jennifer Oreck’s lovely Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo and short films by Kevin Jerome Anderson and Jim Finn.
The 2009 edition of the festival was the first year much of it was free for audiences. The “See a Film on Us!” promotion proved to be so successful that AFI will be bringing it...
Shorts Deadline:
July 30
Features Deadline:
August 13
I also don’t have entry fee information, but you can probably find that out once you start the Withoutabox submission process. AFI is usually a fairly diverse festival, ranging from screening major independent films — last year they screened Precious and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus — to very offbeat, quirky films such as Jennifer Oreck’s lovely Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo and short films by Kevin Jerome Anderson and Jim Finn.
The 2009 edition of the festival was the first year much of it was free for audiences. The “See a Film on Us!” promotion proved to be so successful that AFI will be bringing it...
- 4/6/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, New York's Film Forum has announced its summer 2010 slate, which includes Dover Kosashvili's "Anton Chekov's The Duel," Jessica Oreck's "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo," Emmanuel Laurent's "Two In The Wave," Johan Grimonprez's "Double Take," Kate Davis & David Heilbroner's "Stonewall Uprising," Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio's "Alamar," Vikram Jayanti's "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector," Tamra Davis's "Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child," Marco Amenta's "The Sicilian Girl," and ...
- 3/11/2010
- Indiewire
Last night the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards at La Live's panoramic event deck in downtown Los Angeles and talk about predictable as I nailed 12 of the 13 winners in the categories I predicted, with Precious being the night's biggest winner taking home Best Feature, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress and First Screenplay. The only category I missed was Best First Feature, which I predicted Oren Moverman's The Messenger would take home the award, but instead it went to Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart, which also won for Best Actor, awarding Jeff Bridges on his way to an Oscar win this Sunday.
I have listed all the winners below, see you Sunday for the Oscars.
Best Feature Amreeka (500) Days of Summer The Last Station Precious Sin Nombre Best Director Michael Hoffman, The Last Station Lee Daniels, Precious Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man Cary Fukunaga, Sin Nombre James Gray, Two Lovers Best Actor Jeff Bridges,...
I have listed all the winners below, see you Sunday for the Oscars.
Best Feature Amreeka (500) Days of Summer The Last Station Precious Sin Nombre Best Director Michael Hoffman, The Last Station Lee Daniels, Precious Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man Cary Fukunaga, Sin Nombre James Gray, Two Lovers Best Actor Jeff Bridges,...
- 3/6/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
"Precious" took home five major honors at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards including Gabourey Sidibe's first Best Actress win.
"Precious" won awards for Best Feature, Lee Daniels for Best Director, Geoffrey Fletcher for Best First Screenplay and Sidibe and Mo'Nique took home Best Actress and Best Supporting, respectively.
Best Feature
500 Days of Summer, Producers Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Mason Novick, Steven J. Wolfe
Amreeka, Producers Christina Piovesan, Paul Barkin
Precious, Producers Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
Sin Nombre, Producer Amy Kaufman
The Last Station, Producers Chris Curling, Jens Meurer, Boonie Arnold
Best Director
The Coen Brothers for A Serious Man
Lee Daniels for Precious
Cary Fukunaga for Sin Nombre
James Grey for Two Lovers
Michael Hoffman for The Last Station
Best First Feature
A Single Man
Crazy Heart
Easier With Practice
The Messenger
Paranormal Activity
John Cassavetes Award
Big Fan
Humpday
The New Year Parade
Treeless Mountain
Zero Bridge
Best Screenplay
Alessandro Camon,...
"Precious" won awards for Best Feature, Lee Daniels for Best Director, Geoffrey Fletcher for Best First Screenplay and Sidibe and Mo'Nique took home Best Actress and Best Supporting, respectively.
Best Feature
500 Days of Summer, Producers Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Mason Novick, Steven J. Wolfe
Amreeka, Producers Christina Piovesan, Paul Barkin
Precious, Producers Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
Sin Nombre, Producer Amy Kaufman
The Last Station, Producers Chris Curling, Jens Meurer, Boonie Arnold
Best Director
The Coen Brothers for A Serious Man
Lee Daniels for Precious
Cary Fukunaga for Sin Nombre
James Grey for Two Lovers
Michael Hoffman for The Last Station
Best First Feature
A Single Man
Crazy Heart
Easier With Practice
The Messenger
Paranormal Activity
John Cassavetes Award
Big Fan
Humpday
The New Year Parade
Treeless Mountain
Zero Bridge
Best Screenplay
Alessandro Camon,...
- 3/6/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
The 16th annual Bradford International Film Festival, which will run March 18-28, is a total celebration of all forms of cinema, from classic films to modern world cinema to a tribute to Cinerama and more. But, most excitingly, is a bombastic collection of some of the best, most exciting underground films being made today.
From Bad Lit’s perspective, the most thrilling screening of the entire 10-day affair is the new film by British filmmaker Peter Whitehead, Terrorism Considered as One of the Fine Arts. In the U.S., Whitehead is a “lost” filmmaker from the underground’s heyday in the ’60s, being left out of most histories of the underground movement. Whitehead directed several influential films, including Wholly Communion and The Fall, before dropping out of filmmaking in the mid-’70s.
Film historian Jack Sargeant wrote extensively about and interviewed Whitehead for his wonderful book on Beat cinema, Naked Lens.
From Bad Lit’s perspective, the most thrilling screening of the entire 10-day affair is the new film by British filmmaker Peter Whitehead, Terrorism Considered as One of the Fine Arts. In the U.S., Whitehead is a “lost” filmmaker from the underground’s heyday in the ’60s, being left out of most histories of the underground movement. Whitehead directed several influential films, including Wholly Communion and The Fall, before dropping out of filmmaking in the mid-’70s.
Film historian Jack Sargeant wrote extensively about and interviewed Whitehead for his wonderful book on Beat cinema, Naked Lens.
- 3/5/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Film Independent's Spirit Awards marked their 25th anniversary this year and shook things up by trading their afternoon beachside luncheon for a nighttime party downtown. The show was hosted by comedian Eddie Izzard and a handful of the actors who attended and presented were Jeremy Renner ("The Hurt Locker"), Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Crazy Heart"), Carey Mulligan ("An Education") and Vera Farmiga ("Up in the Air"). Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges performed a song from his film "Crazy Heart" with Oscar-nominated songwriters T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham. The rock band Anvil whose career was chronicled in the independent film "Anvil: The Story of Anvil" also performed live and took home Best Documentary.
The Spirit Awards have supported and rewarded independent films throughout the years and MakingOf is proud to have interviewed many of this year's nominees and winners. I've included the full list of nominated films and talent below along with links to our exclusive interviews.
The Spirit Awards have supported and rewarded independent films throughout the years and MakingOf is proud to have interviewed many of this year's nominees and winners. I've included the full list of nominated films and talent below along with links to our exclusive interviews.
- 3/5/2010
- Makingof.com
Documentarians carve stories out of the ebb and flow of real life, making the struggles of a Canadian metal band into a rousing tale of standing by your dreams, or finding echoes of "A Chorus Line" in the backstage process of putting together a Broadway revival of the show. So it's no surprise that the 2010 Cinema Eye Honors, which took place on Friday in New York, were filled with their own anecdotes about nonfiction films and the process of making them.
The venerable Albert Maysles, in a salute to influential Canadian filmmaker Allan King, who passed away earlier this year, told the crowd how his first date with his wife was to see King's 1967 doc "Warrendale." Editor Sloane Klevin, presenting the award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing, in turn recounted how the back of her apartment faces that of Maysles, and how she often sees him at night, washing dishes,...
The venerable Albert Maysles, in a salute to influential Canadian filmmaker Allan King, who passed away earlier this year, told the crowd how his first date with his wife was to see King's 1967 doc "Warrendale." Editor Sloane Klevin, presenting the award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing, in turn recounted how the back of her apartment faces that of Maysles, and how she often sees him at night, washing dishes,...
- 1/19/2010
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" has come out as one of the nominations leaders at 2010 Independent Spirit Awards. The drama film, which sees Mariah Carey as a social worker, was on Tuesday, December 1 announced to be collecting five nods from the awards honoring independent filmmakers, and thus shared similar number with another drama "The Last Station".
The movie about an abused teen mother nabbed nominations for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Female Lead, Best First Screenplay and Best Supporting Female. It will battle against "Last Station" in the first three categories. For the Best Feature title, it is also up against "500 Days of Summer" "Amreeka" and "Sin Nombre".
"Precious" fails to bring recognition to Carey, but it does land two of its other major cast Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique. Sidibe is listed against Maria Bello, Nisreen Faour, Gwyneth Paltrow and Helen Mirren for Best Female Lead, while...
The movie about an abused teen mother nabbed nominations for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Female Lead, Best First Screenplay and Best Supporting Female. It will battle against "Last Station" in the first three categories. For the Best Feature title, it is also up against "500 Days of Summer" "Amreeka" and "Sin Nombre".
"Precious" fails to bring recognition to Carey, but it does land two of its other major cast Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique. Sidibe is listed against Maria Bello, Nisreen Faour, Gwyneth Paltrow and Helen Mirren for Best Female Lead, while...
- 12/2/2009
- by celebrity-mania.com
- Celebrity Mania
The Independent Spirit Awards announced their nominees earlier today. Listed below is the complete list of this year's nominated films, cast and crew members. MakingOf would like to congratulate the nominees and applaud the diverse roster of talented filmmakers. Please scroll down for links to exclusive interviews we've conducted with some of the nominated directors and writers.
The Independent Spirit Awards eligibility requirements for consideration are that the feature film must be 70 minutes in length and the total cost must be below $20 million. A film also must have screened at a major film festival or had a one-week engagement at a commercial theater.
The awards' ceremony has taken place the past 24 years the Saturday afternoon before the Academy Awards in Santa Monica. The ceremony is moving this year to downtown L.A. and will be held in the evening on Friday, March 5th.
This year's Independent Spirit Awards Nominees:
Best...
The Independent Spirit Awards eligibility requirements for consideration are that the feature film must be 70 minutes in length and the total cost must be below $20 million. A film also must have screened at a major film festival or had a one-week engagement at a commercial theater.
The awards' ceremony has taken place the past 24 years the Saturday afternoon before the Academy Awards in Santa Monica. The ceremony is moving this year to downtown L.A. and will be held in the evening on Friday, March 5th.
This year's Independent Spirit Awards Nominees:
Best...
- 12/2/2009
- Makingof.com
Although the nominees for the Academy Awards won't be announced until sometime next year, a few of the other award ceremonies are already in full swing including the Independent Spirit Awards, which recognize the best films shot for $20 million or less. This year's Spirit Award nominees were announced earlier today, and I think there are definitely some interesting choices. First off, the big one that everyone is picking up on is the fact that Paranormal Activity was nominated for Best First Feature. And why shouldn't it be? The Blair Witch Project won the exact same award back in 2000. Anvil! The Story of Anvil has been redeemed somewhat for the Oscar snub by getting a nod here for Best Documentary, and surprisingly, Jemaine Clement picked up a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Gentlemen Broncos. Other than that, some of the movies that scored multiple nominations include Precious, (500) Days of Summer,...
- 12/1/2009
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
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