By Alex Ramon. Although I enjoyed the research and writing aspects, I didn’t feel comfortable in the academic environment…Writing independently has not made me wealthy but at least I have maintained a long and productive career, against the odds.” –Stephen Bourne It will be 30 years next year since the […]
The Soderbergh of the Sticks: Mickey Reece and the Prehistory of Every Heavy Thing
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. I don’t particularly believe in the idea of working around a proven formula, so I tend to start where a horror movie would and end up in another direction almost subconsciously.” —Mickey Reece Even in the context of the often radically elastic parameters of independent filmmaking, Mickey […]
Cinema to the Edge: Alireza Khatami on The Things You Kill
By Ali Moosavi. To me this is human nature…. It’s knowing the roots of things, knowing the history of things. It doesn’t erase the pain but that’s how to face the world: with empathy.” —Alireza Khatami Next year’s Oscars mark a unique achievement for Iranian directors. No less than four […]
A Prototype for Future African Works: Producer Mo Abudu on Dust to Dreams
By M. Sellers Johnson. When I approached Idris (Elba to direct), I wanted to tell a story that was embedded in music and had music as a character; as well as, a relatable story that would deal with the dynamics of family, Lagos being a character itself….” –Producer Mo Abudu […]
The Plain Truth – Rick Goldsmith on Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink
By William Blick. The country’s journalists – local or national – are working for all of us. They are our soldiers. And we need to support them.” Rick Goldsmith’s Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink is the third installment in a trilogy of documentaries by Goldsmith about American journalism. It appears […]
Analyzing “on a Forensic Level”: Tim Lucas on the 30th Anniversary of Throat Sprockets
By Jonathan Monovich. When I do commentaries now, I find myself examining films on a more forensic level, responding to individual scenes and shots and taking them apart. My rule with commentaries is that I need to learn something, and I need to know more coming out than I did […]
Starring in His Own Nightmare: Joe Begos on Jimmy and Stiggs
By Anela Henley. I never thought I’d be starring in a movie that I made, but just by nature of the circumstances I had to. I think that elevated me as a filmmaker….” Writer-director Joe Begos broke into the indie film scene in 2019 with his third feature Bliss, incorporating doom […]
Windows to Survival: Veljko Vidak and Emmanuelle Felce on Cinéma Laika
By Jonathan Monovich. I used to spend a lot of time behind windows looking at a nearby river and the people walking by. Little by little, the windows became my screen. At this time, the only way I was able to survive Karkkila was to spend as much time as […]
Embracing Revolution: Daniel Vidal Toche on The Anatomy of the Horses (KVIFF)
By Yun-hua Chen. I began to feel that this revolution is still happening. The possibility of revolution, or the reasons why revolutions begin, are still present. And if that’s the case, then time is not as we try to understand it in Western society.” —Daniel Vidal Toche Walking from the […]
Cinema as Memory: Olivier Assayas on Suspended Time
By Jonathan Monovich. I wanted to bring a cinema crew within this very intimate space, which is something that movies hardly do. I thought it was a way of exposing myself.” —Olivier Assayas Like other filmmakers who began at Cahiers du Cinéma, Olivier Assayas approaches his films with sophistication. Assayas’ […]