sundance film festival-related stories
John Cooper Named New Sundance Film Festival Director
Filed under: Sundance », Executive shifts », Newsstand »
After almost a month in limbo that left the film community eagerly awaiting the news of a replacement for Geoff Gilmore, Sundance Institute announced in a press release late last night that they are appointing John Cooper as the director of the Sundance Film Festival. According to a story in indieWIRE, Gilmore announced, much to the surprise of many industry professionals, last month that he would be leaving the fest after 19 years to take the position of Chief Creative Officer for Tribeca Enterprises. Cooper, the former Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival and Director of Creative Development for the Sundance Institute, has pioneered several new initiatives for Sundance over the past few years including New Frontier on Main, Sundance at BAM, The Sundance Institute Art House Project and the distribution of Sundance shorts through various digital platforms like iTunes and XBOX.
In the press release, Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford is quoted as saying, "When we established the Festival, it was always with two goals in mind: supporting new artists and inspiring new audiences. Cooper has never lost sight of these goals. He brings to the position an infectious enthusiasm as well as a deep understanding of the Sundance brand and culture. Forward thinking, he is a natural choice of succession to lead the Festival into the 21st century."
Sundance Chief Gilmore Heads to Tribeca
Filed under: Sundance », Tribeca », Cinematical Indie »
In a move that has shaken the foundations of the independent film world (italics and exaggeration added), Geoff Gilmore has left the Sundance Film Festival and accepted a position with Tribeca Enterprises. indieWIRE has the complete story, which has sparked widespread reactions in the blogosphere, ranging from "What?!" to "Woah."
Gilmore has been named Chief Creative Officer with Tribeca Enterprises and will be responsible for "Tribeca's global content strategy, lead creative development initiatives and expand the Tribeca brand." (Into what -- shoes?) Gilmore spent 19 years at Sundance and has overseen the festival's rise to prominence as the premiere showcase in the world for American independent cinema. He has become synonymous with the fest, and the idea that he would leave, much less for the company behind the Tribeca Film Festival, which has a reputation for being "too rich and too big" (Variety, reporting on grumblings from a film fest summit) and for increasing 'premiere status pressure' among fests and filmmakers (A.J. Schnack provided an overview), has caught many by surprise.
"Woah," is what Karina Longworth said at Spout, before noting the "very different identities" of the two fests. "I am not 100% sure what to make of [it]," David Poland wrote at The Hot Blog. Tribeca faces the same problem as "any film festival with Top Tier fest ambitions faces ... they are not needed ... Is this really a big step or is it Mr. Gilmore leveraging his brand to get a contract that pays him double what Sundance was paying"? Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere echoes the latter thought: "He must have been offered a pretty rich deal to leave the top berth at Sundance." Wells also points to recent financial problems at Tribeca.
Sundance Favorite 'Sin Nombre' Gets a Trailer
Filed under: Drama », Sundance », Home Entertainment », Trailers and Clips »
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I left this year's Sundance Film Festival with two films I promised myself to champion as much as I could throughout the year: Sin Nombre and The Cove. I've already shared with you the trailer for The Cove, and now it's time to throw a little more love at Sin Nombre, which not only took home an award for Best Cinematography at Sundance, but our friend Cary Joji Fukunaga also won Best Director for his gritty romantic thriller about three teenagers whose lives intersect on top of a train traveling through Mexico and heading for the border.
Gang warfare, romance, heartbreak, redemption -- all of it mixed with the harsh ghettos and stunning landscapes of Mexico, featuring gut-wrenching performances from a group of newcomers; some of whom had never acted in a film before. To quote my own Sundance review: "With Sin Nombre, Fukunaga has crafted the sort of too-real-it-hurts story that you simply must enjoy on the big screen in order to feel the film's beautiful loneliness and share its brilliance with those you care most about."
So do yourself a favor and go watch this flick when it hits theaters on March 20th. Check out the trailer below ...
The 20 Hottest of Sundance 2009
Filed under: Sundance », Fandom », Lists »
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We came, we saw, it kicked our ass. The 25th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival brought us many memorable moments, buzzed-about films and a really lame fist fight between a film critic and, um, The Dude? Counting down the 20 hottest of Sundance 2009 for Cinematical are our fantastic festival contributors: James Rocchi, Scott Weinberg, Eric D. Snider and Erik Davis. Check it out below and let us know what we missed ...
Hottest of Sundance 2009
1. The Recession
From the downsized parties to the sparser crowds, from the depopulated press corps to the presence of B-list soda Shasta as a sponsor, the economic recession was visible all over Park City this year. The big studios weren't buying as many films, either. What if the next "Napoleon Dynamite" got overlooked?? EDS
Wes Clark
2. 500 Days of Summer
I love, love, love this movie. Those who trash it shall feel my wrath. And my wrath doesn't feel good. Pitch-perfect humor, honest romance, two great performances, solid tunes, and a delivery that reminds me of good ol' Annie Hall. [Read our review] SW
Fox Searchlight
3. The Girlfriend Experience
The Tuesday "Sneak Preview" on the schedule at the Eccles Theater at Sundance this year turned out to be Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience -- the director's new shot-on-video look at work and sex and sex work in 2008 New York on the eve of the election. The preview wasn't just a nice way for the Festival to look back to its past (Soderbergh's 1989 sex, lies and videotape was brought up during the 2008 Festival the same way Reagan comes up at Republican conventions, and for the same reasons; it represents the shiny, never-was yesterday that today has to compare itself with) but also as a nod to the future. [Read our review] JR
Sasha Grey
4. Twitter
New technology always influences the way Sundance is covered, and this year's hot new toy was Twitter. For the first time, bloggers gave their followers updates every step of the way: What movie they were in line for, and what they thought of it when it was over. Because no one should have to wait until tomorrow to hear The Informers sucked. EDS
5. Film Critic Fist Fight
The event with the most buzz wasn't some fancy film premiere or hoppin' after party – it was, instead, an actual fist fight between Variety reporter John Anderson and Jeff "The Dude" Dowd, a producer's rep on the film Dirt! And all of it was over ... a bad review? [Read more about it here] ED
Lebowski Opinion
6. Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire
Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire had the makings of an exploitative trainwreck: an obese, illiterate Harlem teenager who's pregnant. For the second time. By her father. But director Lee Daniels handles the material sensitively, and the raw lead performance by new-comer Gabourey Sidibe makes it an unforgettable story about rising above adversity. [Read our review] EDS
Sundance Film Festival
7. Humpday
Lynn Shelton's improvised, shot-on-DV comedy about two old friends who slide back into each other's life -- one a married, stable homebody (Mark Duplass), the other continuing a constant set of global travels that never seem to go anywhere (Joshua Leonard) -- and, out of a weird mix of inarticulate affection, sexual gamesmanship and friendly foolishness agree to have sex on film for an art project. The setup sounds wacky-with-a-capital-W, but Shelton and her cast aren't interested in big, fake jokes; they're interested in small-scale, real humanity. [Read our review] JR
Sundance Film Festival
8. Carey Mulligan
Though you may not know her name now, Carey Mulligan swept into Sundance with two films (The Greatest, An Education) and left not only with new representation, but also with the words "Star in the Making" tattooed across her forehead. A brilliant British version of Katie Holmes, Mulligan will definitely "arrive" in 2009. Watch for her. ED
Sundance Film Festival
9. Trashing The Informers
The press folks WANTED to dig this one, but man it was funny hearing them hate it so loudly. Aside from Amber Heard's nakedness, there's nothing about this "bored, hateful rich kids" tale we haven't yawned through before. [Read our review] SW
Sundance Film Festival
10. Pregnancies
Pregnancies and parenthood were major themes this year. Grace showed a mother who would literally do anything for her baby; Push was the harrowing story of a teenage mother; Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan mourned their dead son in The Greatest; and so did Robin Williams in World's Greatest Dad. Family values, folks. EDS
The Greatest, Sundance
Sundance Review: Adam
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports »
If I told you that Adam was about a man with Asperger syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism, you would instantly lose all interest in seeing it, right? Yeah, that's what I thought. If Fox Searchlight's marketers are smart, they'll keep a lid on that aspect of the film, because it's actually a humorously bittersweet story buoyed by likable performances, and not an oh-geez-here-comes-another-film-about-a-saintly-disabled-person movie.
The Adam in question, played by Hugh Dancy, is an electronic engineer whose current job has him working on a toy company's new talking doll. Adam's father has just died, leaving him alone in the spacious Manhattan apartment they once shared, with Harlan (Frankie Faison), a family friend, to keep an eye on him
Adam can mostly take care of himself, though. People with Asperger -- Aspies, as Adam calls them -- take things literally and have trouble knowing what other people are thinking, and they tend to misread facial expressions. Aside from that, they do OK. Adam is happiest when following a routine, and he gets particularly excited by astronomy. He doesn't seem much different from your average nerd.
The new tenant in his building is Beth (Rose Byrne), an elementary school teacher who is immediately fascinated by Adam's quirky personality, not realizing it's an actual mental disorder -- and after all, where is the line between "interesting" and "diagnosable"? Adam and Beth begin a tentative friendship and eventually a romance, though both are aware that such an arrangement will be difficult at best. Beth's father (Peter Gallagher), a corporate accountant who's just been indicted for shady bookkeeping, is adamantly anti-Adam for that reason.
Sundance Review: Dead Snow
Filed under: Comedy », Foreign Language », Horror », Independent », New Releases », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports »
The main thing Dead Snow wants you to know is that it's a splatter film about Nazi zombies. You like zombies, and Nazis add kitsch value, so you're sold. But once you get past the relative novelty of it (they're ZOMBIES, but they're also NAZIS!!), Dead Snow is only so-so. The only thing that separates it from the zombie movies you've already seen is that it's in Norwegian.
It's from director Tommy Wirkola, who, with co-writer Stig Frode Henriksen, had a huge hit in Norway with the 2007 Tarantino parody Kill Buljo. Dead Snow offers more proof of Wirkola's fondness for Tarantino, and you get the feeling he's seen plenty of Sam Raimi and George Romero, too. Those are all good ingredients, but without some kind of new spice all you're doing is serving leftovers.
Hungry now? Good. Let's talk about flesh-eating zombies. These ones are Nazi officers and soldiers whose frozen bodies, long hidden beneath the snow of Norway's hinterlands, have now been reanimated for reasons that Wirkola barely bothers to explain. Their victims are a group of college students who have trekked to a remote cabin for a weekend of wintertime merriment.
Watch This: 'The Cove' Trailer
Filed under: Documentary », Sundance », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Trailers and Clips »
Every year I leave Park City, Utah with a couple films I'm more than willing to champion the hell out of so that more folks pay attention and try to watch them when they finally become available. For me, one of those films this year was The Cove. I've been explaining it to people as the Dear Zachary of nature documentaries, and I wasn't the only one blown away by this flick as it took home the audience award at Sundance in the U.S. Documentary Competition section.
You can read Scott's review over here, but essentially The Cove follows a group of people who travel to this remote part of Japan where they're supposedly slaughtering 23,000 dolphins each year. And while the Japanese law enforcement does all they can to keep folks away from the truth, this rag-tag group of scientists, swimmers and adventurers risk their lives to uncover an atrocity the world needs to know more about. No word on when The Cove will hit theaters (I spoke with one of the guys last night and he said they're still negotiating a deal), but you can check out the trailer below ... and you bet your ass I'll be back to remind you about this flick later in the year.
Sundance Review: Sin Nombre
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Independent », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews », Focus Features », Sundance Reviews 2009 »
One of the more fascinating and gut-wrenching films at this year's festival, Sin Nombre managed to snag a couple of awards (Best Director and Best Cinematography in U.S. Dramatic Competition) before skipping town with a writer-director who's sure to become Hollywood's next great filmmaker. The film, while frequently heartbreaking to watch, also comes with its own unbelievable story. Focus Features became involved early on based solely on its script, and then proceeded to provide financing to a first-time feature director for a film that was entirely in Spanish and featured some main actors that had never been in a movie before. The good news for Focus is their gamble paid off, and Sin Nombre is easily one of the best films of 2009 so far.
Essentially a road trip thriller with a love story mixed in, Sin Nombre tracks the fate of three teenagers traveling through Mexico on their way toward the U.S. border. Sayla (Paulina Gaitan) is living a hard life in Honduras when her father and uncle decide it's time for the three of them to attempt to cross over into the United States and meet up with dad's "other family" in New Jersey -- full of brothers and sisters her pop fathered before he was caught and deported. But the journey is a tough one: First the trio must cross a river into Mexico, and then hop a train -- by riding on its roof -- for a three-week journey to the border. Before the train arrives, Sayla's father tells her that half the people traveling with them (100-200) will either die or be caught by border police and sent back home. Nevertheless, the promise of a better life on the other side is too appetizing to ignore.
Sundance in Pictures
Filed under: Sundance », Fandom », Images »
We here at Cinematical usually dive head first into movies when we take on Sundance, but there's so much else going on here -- like panels, concerts, parties and ridiculous film critic fist fights. So while we finish up our coverage of this year's festival, feel free to scroll through the giant photo gallery below and catch up on all the action that was the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Live from Sundance 2009
Designer LisaBeth Weber smiles following the oath of office by President Barack Obama during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Katy Winn)
AP
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: Writer/director Paul Saltzman of the film "Prom Night In Mississippi" pose for a portrait at the Film Lounge Media Center during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2009 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Paul Saltzman
Getty Images
Daniel (L) and Taline Dinenberg of San Francisco, California, watch the inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama on Main Street during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, January 20, 2009. REUTERS/Ramin Rahimian (UNITED STATES)
Reuters
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: Producer Patricia Aquino and writer/director Paul Saltzman of the film "Prom Night In Mississippi" pose for a portrait at the Film Lounge Media Center during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2009 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Patricia Aquino;Paul Saltzman
Getty Images
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: Thuli Sibiya and Mildred Nycabo of the film "Rough Aunties" poses for a portrait at the Film Lounge Media Center during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2009 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Thuli Sibiya;Mildred Nycabo
Getty Images
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: Thuli Sibiya, director Kim Longinotto and Mildred Nycabo of the film "Rough Aunties" poses for a portrait at the Film Lounge Media Center during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2009 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Thuli Sibiya;Kim Longinotto;Mildred Nycabo
Getty Images
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: (L-R) Director Jeff Lipsky, actor Donny Chiappetta, actress Maria Tucci, actor Chris Beetem and actor Chazz Palminteri of the film "Once More With Feeling" pose for a portrait at the Film Lounge Media Center during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2009 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Lipsky;Donny Chiappetta;Maria Tucci;Chris Beetem;Chazz Palminteri
Getty Images
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: (L-R) Director Jeff Lipsky, actor Donny Chiappetta, actress Maria Tucci, actor Chris Beetem and actor Chazz Palminteri of the film "Once More With Feeling" pose for a portrait at the Film Lounge Media Center during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2009 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Lipsky;Donny Chiappetta;Maria Tucci;Chris Beetem;Chazz Palminteri
Getty Images
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: Actress Maria Tucci of the film "Once More With Feeling" poses for a portrait at the Film Lounge Media Center during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2009 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Maria Tucci
Getty Images
PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 20: Actress Maria Tucci of the film "Once More With Feeling" poses for a portrait at the Film Lounge Media Center during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2009 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Maria Tucci
Getty Images
Sundance Review: Paper Heart
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », New Releases », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », Sundance Reviews 2009 »
There are documentaries, and there are comedies made to look like documentaries, and Paper Heart is both. Conceived by comedian Charlyne Yi and filmmaker Nicholas Jasenovec, it combines elements of reality and fiction in an amusing, meta-referential way, though one's enjoyment of it may ultimately come down to one's enjoyment of Yi as a performer.
It is set up as a documentary about Charlyne's search to determine whether true love really exists. She doesn't think it does -- or, at the very least, she thinks she's not capable of feeling it. (I can't imagine anything sadder than being unable to experience romantic love, but that's beside the point.) To investigate, Charlyne travels the country to interview biologists, old married couples, and Las Vegas wedding chapel officiators who dress as Elvis. Those segments are real, like you'd find in any documentary.
But in the process of making the documentary, Charlyne meets actor Michael Cera at a party, and they start tentatively dating. The documentary director (played by actor Jake Johnson), knowing a good thing when he sees one, insists on following Charlyne and Michael around. It's a no-brainer, really: She's making a movie about love, and in the meantime starts dating someone? Perfect!
Those segments are loosely scripted, of course; while Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi have been romantically linked, the film is not a real chronicle of their relationship. But the film plays it straight, shooting all the scenes, real and non-real, in the same way, as if they were part of the same documentary. Savvy viewers are meant to understand where the line is, but I wouldn't be surprised if some audience members come away thinking the whole thing was a straightforward documentary. A lot of people thought The Blair Witch Project was real, too.
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