Washington, D.C.—This morning, the Embassy of Kenya in the U.S. announced its support for Nairobi Half Life, a Kenyan film screening today as part of the Feature Film Project. As part of The Project, presented by MANHATTAN SHORT and MovieMaker Magazine, Nairobi Half Life will screen in cinemas across the country tonight for one night [...]
Nairobi Half Life, premiering tonight, gets Kenyan Embassy endorsement!
Tags: academy award, academy awards, daniel "tosh" gitonga, feature film project, joseph wairimu, kenya, manhattan short, nairobi half life, one fine day films, tom tykwer, tosh gitonga
Fake Independence and Reel Truth, Pt. 4: Approaching a film set with a truly open mind
Read Part 1 Read Part 2 Read Part 3 My favorite metaphor for thinking about artists is as students and teachers. (Since I’m a teacher, I admit that my occupation probably biases me.) Like students and teachers, above everything else, real artists must be humble and willing to learn. They must open themselves up and [...]
Tags: a woman under the influence, bad review of shindler's list, cassavetes a woman under the influence, cassavetes faces, championing cassavetes, criticism of great 90s film, gena rowlands, gena rowlands a woman under the influence, gena rowlands faces, independent film in the 90s, john cassavetes, Mark Rappaport Ray Carney controversy, peter falkX ray carney, ray carney controversy, rediscovering john cassavetes, who discovered john cassavetes
Love and the Bomb: Sally Potter returns to 1960′s London with Ginger & Rosa
From Orlando, her audacious breakthrough film (based on a Virginia Woolf novel many considered unadaptable) to the stylistically polarizing Yes (in which most of the dialogue was written in rhyming iambic pentameter), Sally Potter has proven to be a consistently innovative moviemaker. Her latest film, Ginger & Rosa, follows two teen girls (played by Elle [...]
Tags: alessandro nivola, alice englert, annette bening, christina hendricks, elle fanning, ginger & rosa, oliver platt, orlando, sally potter, the 1960s, timothy spall, virginia woolf, yes
The American Film Showcase: Harrison Engle shares memories of South Korea
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs launched the American Film Showcase (AFS) in October, 2011, with the goal of introducing people around the world to American culture and values through the global language of film. The Showcase, administered by the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, sent contemporary [...]
Tags: american film showcase, bob fisher, chris pain, cinematography, documentary, filmmaker exchange, harrison engle, international film diplomacy, revenge of the electric car, usc
Top 10 Cities to Be a Moviemaker: 2013
Let’s assume for the moment that this June you’re graduating from film school in, say, New York. You know some moviemakers in Greenpoint who’ll help you work on your projects, and vice versa. But rent, even in the scummier parts of Brooklyn, is exorbitant, and you’re flirting with the idea of leaving town for a [...]
Fake Independence and Reel Truth, Pt. 2: A look back at the criticism of Ray Carney
Read Part 1 We want our knowledge easy. We want experiences that will snap like Legos into place with what we are already familiar with. But that’s what great art never does. It gets us out of our old patterns and into new rhythms. All growth, if it is important growth, is going to hurt [...]
Tags: a woman under the influence, bad review of shindler's list, cassavetes a woman under the influence, cassavetes faces, championing cassavetes, criticism of great 90s film, gena rowlands, gena rowlands a woman under the influence, independent film in the 90s, john cassavetes, Mark Rappaport Ray Carney controversy, martin scorcese john cassavetes, new york film festival, peter falk, ray carney, ray carney controversy, rediscovering john cassavetes, who discovered john cassavetes
85th Academy Awards: They’re a sham, but they’re our sham
Every January when the Academy Awards nominations come out, my reaction follows the same emotional arc. Before I see the list, I start out excited. Last year, for instance, I didn’t expect to find Take Shelter on the Best Picture list (even though it deserved to be immeasurably more than, say, War Horse), but I [...]
Tags: academy awards, amour, awards handicap, awards watch, best picture, michael haneke, oscars 2013, paul thomas anderson, the master
Fake Independence and Reel Truth, Pt. 1: Ray Carney’s incendiary film criticism feels as vital today as it did 15 years ago
As Filmmaker Magazine reported in its latest issue, the seminal expert on John Cassavetes’ oeuvre, Ray Carney, has refused to relinquish control of a cache of experimental film prints belonging to the avant garde filmmaker, Mark Rappaport. In a letter to Boston University, where Mr. Carney teaches, Rappaport wrote: “This is not a legal matter between Carney [...]
Tags: a woman under the influence, bad review of shindler's list, cassavetes a woman under the influence, cassavetes faces, championing cassavetes, criticism of great 90s film, gena rowlands, gena rowlands a woman under the influence, independent film in the 90s, john cassavetes, Mark Rappaport Ray Carney controversy, martin scorcese john cassavetes, new york film festival, peter falk, ray carney, ray carney controversy, rediscovering john cassavetes, who discovered john cassavetes
Play for Mortal Stakes: Four filmmakers in China and Iran face prison for their work
As American filmmakers, we never have to ask ourselves if we’re willing to sacrifice our artistic integrity for fear of imprisonment, or if the political views that underlie our films are worth our liberty. Here in the United States, it’s downright hard to offend people. In a free society, there are fewer consequences for being [...]
Tags: amnesty international, Dhondup Wangchen, filmmakers arrested for their films, filmmakers in prison for their films, filmmakers in prison for their work, filmmakers put in prison for their films, imprisoned chinese filmmakers, imprisoned filmmakers, imprisoned iranian filmmakers, imprisoned moviemakers, Jafar Panahi, Mohammed Rasoulof, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, moviemakers imprisoned for their films, moviemakers imprisoned for their work, play for mortal stakes, this is not a film
Nairobi Half Life wins the Feature Film Project!
New York, NY: MANAHATTAN SHORT and MovieMaker Magazine have selected Nairobi Half Life, Kenya’s first official submission for the Academy Awards® and AFI Fest Audience Award recipient, as the winner of the inaugural Feature Film Project. On the night of March 21, 2013, Nairobi Half Life will screen in 100 theaters around the USA. Audiences at those screenings will be asked to [...]
Tags: 100 cinemas, academy awards, afi audience award, afi fest, david gitonga, david tosh gitonga, durban international film festival, dw akademie, feature film project, ginger ink, international film festival rotterdam, joseph warimu, kenya, manhattan short, moviemaker, moviemaker magazine, nairobbery, nairobi half life, official submission, one fine day films, oscars, portland international film festival, rotterdam 2013, the hollywood reporter, wide release, you decide, zurich international film festival