ITVS indie roundup
The ITVS Indies Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Sadly, film festivals are wrapping up this week. Hot Docs in Toronto, the largest North American documentary festival, closes this weekend. The event brimmed with films about edgy artists, such as Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.
At Hot Docs today, filmmakers are protesting the Canadian government’s cuts to CBC, NBF, and Telefilm Canada. The industry has lost 1,500 full-time documentary jobs in the past two years, according to the Documentary Organization of Canada. (via Realscreen)
To succeed as a documentary filmmaker in such dire economic times, read advice from first-time filmmakers who are screening their work at Hot Docs. › Continue reading
The ITVS Indies Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
‘Tis the season for film festivals: Both the Tribeca Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival kicked off this week.
Read an enlightening interview of three Tribeca staffers to get a sense of how they winnowed down their film festival choices. “We don’t respect the idea of, ‘I like this, I don’t like this,’” Genna Terranova, director of programming, told The New York Times. “You have to explain why, almost as if you’re looking at it as an academic evaluation. But at the same time, you have to add that human observation: Were you moved? Were you scared?”
Frédéric Boyer, artistic director at Tribeca, was also interviewed by The Awl. The man watches movies like no other: “It was impossible to have children or any love affair because my priority was to watch films,” Boyer said about his early career. “It was a wonderful period because it was a crazy period. I was watching five, six, seven films each day and reading books about cinema. Fortunately, I escaped from this beautiful prison because of music, women, wine, food, life.”
Are you wondering how the JOBS Act might affect you as a filmmaker? This handy guide from Filmmaker Magazine explains how the act will transform indie film funding. › Continue reading
The ITVS Indies Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Happy poetry month! Read about the “greatest poetry documentary of all time,” according to the Poetry Foundation: Ron Mann’s 1982 Poetry in Motion.
A new interactive documentary called Barcode is a carnival funhouse of films. Thirty filmmakers produced 100 docs about the objects that surround us, from brooms to lipstick. My favorite short follows subway riders engrossed in books with a voiceover of the lines they’re reading.
YouTube added a pay-per-view option for live streaming of events, which adds another funding platform to your arsenal. › Continue reading
The ITVS Indies Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Look, up in the sky! Here comes trouble. When a movie character gawks into the ether, you know something bad is on its way. If you want to avoid this cliche, or simply have a Friday laugh, watch this montage from Devour. (via Open Culture)
If you’re at a loss of what to watch this weekend, check out this list of documentaries opening in April. › Continue reading
The ITVS Indies Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
The director of the classic Some Like It Hot, Billy Wilder, gave Cameron Crowe some thoughtful filmmaking advice in the 1990s. Though Wilder was talking about screenwriting, his list applies to documentary filmmaking as well, including such gems as “Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go.”
You probably know that recently released documentaries are being taught in classrooms today. But did you know that a free school essay for The Interrupters is already available online? (via Kartemquin)
› Continue reading
The ITVS Indie Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Have you ever wondered what makes YouTube videos go viral? Get the answer and “why that even matters” in this insightful TED Talk that references such classics as Double Rainbow and the world-traveling Nyan Cat.
This year’s Oscars boded well for filmmakers outside the Hollywood bubble. Pakistan received its first Academy Award for Saving Face, a short documentary about the victims of acid attacks.
Even self-proclaimed “swamp rats” from Shreveport, Louisiana, at Moonbot Studios, won for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. You can watch their 15-minute literary animation for free.
Talk about transmedia. Washington D.C.’s Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will feature the first-ever 360-degree cinema presented in a continuous format around its cylindrical exterior. Eleven high-definition projectors will broadcast the pop song “I Only Have Eyes for You” sung by 15 artists from Beck to The Flamingos.
› Continue reading
The ITVS Indie Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Will YouTube’s new branded channels kill cable TV? We’re betting not, but here’s how filmmakers can stay ahead of the curve.
Get ready! The first PBS Online Film Festival starts this Monday Feb. 27 and runs until March 30.
As violence erupted in Syria this week, the promising 28-year-old French photojournalist Rémi Ochlik was killed by government forces in Homs. Browse the haunting conflict photography he captured before his untimely death.
South by Southwest is just around the corner. Here’s a peak at eye-grabbing film title designs that will appear in the festival.
Legendary filmmaker Errol Morris has worked as a private eye, traveled to Crimea based on two sentences by Susan Sontag, and dodged an ashtray thrown at his head by philosopher Thomas Kuhn. The man is fascinating. Read about Morris’s latest projects in Smithsonian Magazine.
The ITVS Indie Roundup
Before The Interrupters premiered on Frontline Valentine’s Day, the bold star Ameena Matthews and co-producer Alex Kotlowitz made a fierce appearance on WNYC’s Takeaway.
Stumped by your office’s Academy Awards poll? B.J. Novak to the rescue. The Office‘s co-executive producer/writer/actor told The New York Times a few of his Oscar picks.
In other Academy news, Indiewire interviewed all seven Best Documentary nominees.
If you’re wondering why the list of nominees lacks women, look no further than GOOD’s analysis of why the media is male and getting maler.
Happy Presidents’ Day weekend! Start your fun with this charming short animation from POV.
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