Category Archives: In Brief

My last post on this year’s SXSW included my brief thoughts on the features I saw in the Documentary Competition and Emerging Visions sections. Today’s wraps up with profiles of eleven additional films from various other fest sections. Once again, I unfortunately wasn’t able to fit in all the titles I wanted to see, including GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, LOST AND SOUND, THE WILL, and DREAMS OF A LIFE. Continue reading →

While the torrential downpours of the first few days made for a much different SXSW than I’ve been used to, Austin needed the rain, so I tried not to complain too much, and it was still a great fest. Despite leaving a day earlier than usual in order to attend the second half of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, I managed to see a nice chunk of the films on my wishlist while in town, enough for a couple of posts. In this one, I’m including my thoughts on the Competition and Emerging Visions titles I was able to catch, while the next post will cover Documentary Spotlight, 24 Beats Per Second, SX Global, and Festival Favorites. Continue reading →

The 24th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam wrapped up this past weekend, announcing awards on Friday. I was fortunate to have a chance to view the winners of the Best Feature-Length (PLANET OF SNAIL) and Best Mid-Length (MONTENEGRO) competitions, and served on the jury for First Appearance (THE VANISHING SPRING LIGHT) (pictured). Jury responsibilities meant that I wasn’t able to catch a number of films in other categories, including winners 5 BROKEN CAMERAS, 900 DAYS, THE BETRAYAL, THE LAST DAYS OF WINTER, and BITTER SEEDS. Beyond these, I would have liked to have seen PUTIN’S KISS and BAD WEATHER in the Feature-Length competition, JEROME JEROME and MEET THE FOKKENS in the Dutch competition, and DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL and THE WILL in Reflecting Images: Panorama – but I’m certain that most of these will be making the festival rounds. This post offers my thoughts on some of the films in my competition, while a follow up tomorrow will include a selection of films from other competitions that I did manage to view. Continue reading →

My Indiewire article on IDFA’s international co-production financing market, the FORUM, is now up here. Beyond spotlighting some notable new projects, it hopefully offers some useful information to filmmakers about the qualities of an effective and engaging pitch.

The Hamptons International Film Festival wrapped up its 19th edition yesterday, with awards announced at a ceremony the previous evening. Because of scheduling issues, it had been quite a few years since I’d been able to attend the festival, but I was happy to make it this year for a couple of nights. The fest has an easy-going feel while still remaining true to its upscale setting, especially with regard to its party locations. Even if the weather in October doesn’t match that of the summer season, just being in East Hampton feels like a welcome getaway from the city. While in town, I managed to see most of the docs I had hoped to, though I sadly had to leave PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY early to catch the jitney back into the city – for that reason, I’ll hold off writing about it until I see the epilogue. That said, my thoughts on seven other films: Continue reading →

A previous post at the end of last week ran down the first half of this year’s Toronto docs I managed to see: INTO THE ABYSS, URBANIZED, THE PATRON SAINTS, DARK GIRLS, and ARIRANG.

The remaining titles include: Continue reading →

I returned from the Toronto International Film Festival on Wednesday after just five nights, and while I didn’t see nearly as many of the fest’s 38 feature docs as I’d hoped to, I saw enough to fill a couple of posts here. I hope to see a few films I missed at the New York Film Festival, including PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY (since it will feature the new ending), CRAZY HORSE (I liked the hour I managed to see, though a conflict meant I couldn’t view the whole film), PINA (which I’ve now missed at multiple fests), and THIS IS NOT A FILM. Others, I hope to catch up at other events like DOC NYC, Stranger Than Fiction, or various other fests over the next several months, especially GIRL MODEL (I’ve seen many cuts, but never the final version), LAST CALL AT THE OASIS, THE ISLAND PRESIDENT, and PINK RIBBONS INC. That said, among the docs I viewed are: Continue reading →