January 18, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Eat, For This Is My Body" Director Michelange Quay

Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND.

by indieWIRE (January 19, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Screening in the New Frontier program at Sundance '08, Michelange Quay's first feature uniquely discusses the evolution of power and the relationship between black boys and white women in the director's native Haiti. As Sundance's Shari Frilot explains, "Eat" "seductively begs the viewer to abandon the rules of traditional storytelling and instead embrace a poetic, cinematic language." Frilot finds a "muscular confidence and inspired dreamlike quality to Quay's filmmaking." He "evocatively blends gorgeous imagery with an infectious musical energy to create a story that is largely free of dialogue and entirely visceral in effect."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City, World Cinema ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Diminished Capacity" Director Terry Kinney

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by indieWIRE (January 18, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Actor and theatre director Terry Kinney makes his feature film debut with "Diminished Capacity," which will premiere at Sundance '08. "Capacity" follows Chicago newspaper editor Cooper (Matthew Broderick), who goes home to Missouri to visit his uncle Rollie (Alan Alda), who is showing signs of mental deterioration. Their relationship evolves when Rollie shows Cooper a rare baseball card, leading to the two of them, as well as Cooper's high school sweetheart Charlotte (Virginia Madsen) on a trip back to Chicago to sell it. Sundance's John Nein calls "Capacity" a "delightful, bittersweet comedy about people coming together and memory falling apart."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Smart People" Director Noam Murro

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by indieWIRE (January 18, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Premiering at Sundance '08, director Noam Murro makes his feature film debut with "Smart People," a dark comedy starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page. Previously an award-winning commercial director, Murro's first feature is the story of a widowed literature professor, Lawrence Wetherhold (Quaid), who falls for Janet (Parker), one of his past pupils. Sundance's John Cooper finds that "People" "surely signals the beginning of an accomplished new career in feature filmmaking. Mixing comedy genres, including just a hint of slapstick, Murro proves he has an assured grasp on what any good adult comedy needs - an expert balance of pace and pathos."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story, Park City ]

January 17, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Phoebe in Wonderland" Director Daniel Barnz

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by indieWIRE (January 18, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Screening in the Dramatic Competition program at Sundance '08, Daniel Barnz's feature directorial debut, "Phoebe in Wonderland" is a rich investigation of the complexities of growing up. "Phoebe" details Phoebe (Elle Fanning), a young girl, her mother (Felicity Huffman), a woman who desperately seeks success in an academic career at the expense of her parenting, and a drama teacher (Patricia Clarkson), who is directing a school production of "Alice in Wonderland" in which Phoebe seeks a role. Sundance's Geoffrey Gilmore calls "Phoebe" an "honest and thoughtful work that is not to be missed." He explains that "as an examination of normalcy and madness, this is realistic and cerebral storytelling, but it is also extravagantly magical, a metaphorical fable that examines childhood, our attempts to understand it, and the way we, as parents and teachers, navigate its treacherous shoals."
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January 16, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "North Starr" Director Matthew Stanton

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by indieWIRE (January 16, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Screening in the Dramatic Competition program at Sundance '08, Matthew Stanton's "North Starr" follows an aspiring rap star, Demetrious, that witnesses the murder of his best friend. After this event, he decides to escape inner-city Houston for rural Texas. Sundance's Shari Frilot calls "North Starr" a "poignant and heartfelt urban redemption story about healing wounds born of racism and the kind of trust that binds people together."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Timecrimes" Director Nacho Vigalondo

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by indieWIRE (January 16, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Screening as part of Sundance '08's Park City at Midnight program, Nacho Vigalondo's "Timecrimes" is the director's feature length debut after the Academy Award nominated shot, "7:35 in the Morning." "Timecrimes" follows Hector (Karra Elejalde ), a man who is attacked by a figure wrapped in a giant pink head bandage. After escaping, Hector hides in an odd contraption in a science laboratory. When he emerges, things have changed. Sundance's John Nein says Viaglondo "has a great instinct for the aesthetic, moving effortlessly between a tense, disquieting atmosphere and a relentless, driving energy." His story "of an ordinary man flung into circumstances far beyond his comprehension (and perhaps his control) is propelled by a deeper curiosity than genre antics alone will satisfy."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story, Park City ]

January 15, 2008

indieWIRE INTERVIEW | "Trouble the Water" Co-directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

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by indieWIRE (January 15, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's Sundance doc competition film "Trouble the Water" humanizes a voiceless population silenced after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. In the film, the filmmakers (who worked with Michael Moore on "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11") team up with native New Orleans filmmaker and musician Kimberly Rivers and her husband to create an account of the effects of Katrina has had on the city's population. "'Trouble the Water' makes unapologetically clear that Hurricane Katrina rages on as an unnatural disaster of governmental and journalistic failure," writes Sundance's Shari Frilot of the film in the '08 Sundance catalog. "What is also truly amazing is that the levee protecting Kimberly's humanity against this devastating storm remains firmly grounded in her deep-rooted love for New Orleans, her family, and her art, and her enduring faith in her fellow human beings."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Documentary, Interviews, Lead Story, Park City ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "A Raisin in the Sun" Director Kenny Leon

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by indieWIRE (January 15, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Based on the award-winning play by Lorraine Hansberry, "A Raisin in the Sun" is a film adapation of director Kenny Leon's own recent Broadway revival of the play. "Raisin" follows the Younger family as they struggle in 1950s Chicago. When an insurance check changes that, each goes about spending the money differently, and the family balance is but to the test. Sundance's John Cooper says "Raisin" has been elegantly transformed from stage to film by director Kenny Leon's careful guidance and the performances of a talented and insightful cast. In their capable hands, this American classic reveals it is as timely and significant as ever."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City ]

January 14, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "The Last Word" Director Geoff Haley

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by indieWIRE (January 14, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Screening in the Dramatic Competition program at Sundance '08, "The Last Word" is Geoff Haney's feature debut. A dark romantic comedy set in Los Angeles, it follows Evan (Wes Bentley), a writer who makes a living writing other people's suicide notes. When Evan meets Charlotte (Winona Ryder), the free-spirited sister of a client, a romance develops despite secrets, and heading for some complex deception. Sundance's David Courier calls "The Last Word" a "surprisingly touching, quirky, and wickedly intelligent" comedy that "confronts loss, redemption, and our curious need to leave a legacy."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Ballast" Director Lance Hammer

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by indieWIRE (January 14, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Screening in the Dramatic Competition program at Sundance '08, Lance Hammer's "Ballast" follows the effects of one man's suicide on three people in a rural Mississippi Delta township Marlee is a single mother; her son James, who is having drug and violence issues; and Lawrence, a man who Marlee shares property with. Sundance's Caroline Libresco calls "Ballast" "one of those rare films that maximize the medium through an aesthetic of understatement." She finds every frame "deliberately and beautifully composed" and every cut "artfully and economically executed - not only to transmit a quietly gripping story but to reveal characters' layered emotional experiences and the specific textures and sensations of their locales."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story, Park City ]

January 13, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Secrecy" Co-Director Peter Galison

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by indieWIRE (January 12, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Competiting in the Documentary program at Sundance '08, Peter Galison and Robb Moss' "Secrecy" takes on the world of hidden national security policy and analyses the implications of this secrecy, both for government and individuals. It combines animation, installations, music and interviews to, as Sundance's Cara Mertes explains, "take us inside the inverted world of government secrecy as we share the experiences of lawyers, CIA analysts, and the ordinary people for whom secrecy becomes a matter of life and death."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Documentary, Interviews, Park City ]

January 12, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Traces of the Trade" Director Katrina Browne

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by indieWIRE (January 12, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Competiting in the Documentary program at Sundance '08, Katrina Browne's "Traces of the Trade: A Story From The Deep North" is an exploration of the first-time filmmaker's family history. Browne's ancestors, the deWolfs, were the largest slave-trading family in United States history. From 1769 to 1820, three generations of De Wolfs brought over more than 10,000 Africans. Browne wrote to more than 200 family descendents, inviting them to join her in on a journey to trace the family's legacy in a trip from Ghana to Cuba. Nine accepted the invitation. Sundance's Geoffrey Gilmore says of "Trace": "In this bicentennial year of the abolition of the slave trade, "Traces of the Trade" makes a potent statement about privilege and responsibility."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Documentary, Interviews, Park City ]

January 11, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "The Linguists" Directors Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger

Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND.

by indieWIRE (January 12, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Featured in the Spectrum section at Sundance '08, "The Linguists" marks the feature debut of producing-directing team Ironbound Films, made up of Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger. Their film follows two academic, David Harrison and Greg Anderson, as they travel to places around the world in search of "endangered languages." Speaking 25 languages between them, the two men seek to discover the many disappearing languages threatended by "colonialism and economic unrest." As Sundance's Lisa Viola notes, "these humble ethnographers are in a race against time to preserve the increasingly rare words, which are intricately linked to the vanishing traditions and heritage of Indigenous populations. Well-paced and laced with humor, 'The Linguists' serves as an insightful, contemporary adventure film with a strong emphasis on cultural history."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Documentary, Interviews, Park City ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Sleep Dealer" Director Alex Rivera

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by indieWIRE (January 11, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Featured in the Dramatic Competition program at Sundance '08, Alex Rivera's directorial debut, "Sleep Dealer" is set in a near future world full of chaos: "airtight international borders, militarized corporate warriors, and an underground class of node workers who plug their nervous systems into a global computer network that commodifies memory." "Dealer"'s protagonist is Memo Cruz (Luis Fernando Pena), a young man who lives with his family in a small town and dreams of a big city life full of technological wonder, comes across a transmission that could change the future in a way he'd never expected. Sundance's Shari Frilot calls "Sleep Dealer" a fascinating and prescient work of science fiction that is as politically engaged as enjoyable to watch."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City ]

January 10, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Up The Yangtze" Director Yung Chang

Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND.

by indieWIRE (January 11, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Premiering at Sundance '08 in the Documentary Competition program, Yung Chang's "Up The Yangtze" examines the effects of the construction of the massive Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. The dam is to become the largest hydroelectric power station in the world, but with this comes the displacement of millions of residents and the destruction of landmarks. Yang follows two young people effected by the project, and the result provides "a final snapshot of a rapidly disappearing cultural landscape," says Sundance's Rosie Wong. Wong notes that "juxtaposing the Yangtze's stunning panorama with the reality of Yu Shui's poignant story, Chang shows the tenuous balance between China's rich cultural past and its modernized future."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Documentary, Interviews, Lead Story, Park City, World Cinema ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Frozen River" Director Courtney Hunt

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by indieWIRE (January 11, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Premiering at Sundance '08 in the Dramatic Competition program, Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River" follows Rae Eddy (Melissa Leo), a woman who lives in upstate New York whose husband has left her two days before Christmas. In addition to that, he has also gambled way all their savings, forcing Rae to feed her two sons popcorn and Tang. But when Rae meets Lila LIttlewolf (Misty Upham), she discovers a new way to make money: smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States. Sundance's Shari Frilot calls "River" "a wonderfully directed film full of atmosphere, heart, and outstanding performances by Melissa Leo and Misty Upham." that is "ultimately about the strength that resides in family and the way hope in a dire situation can be uncovered by courage and trust."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)" Director Ellen Kuras

Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND.

by indieWIRE (January 10, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. With the rise of a communist government in Laos, lillings and arrests became common among those afflicted with the former govenrment and the Americans. Families were torn apart -- some finally emigrating to the U.S. Spanning 20 years, vet D.P. Ellen Kuras debuts her first directorial effort "Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)"with Laotian co-director Thavisouk Phrasavath, who is the main subject of the film. The Sundance Film Festival's Cara Mertes comments in this year's fest catalog, "'Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)' is an exquisitely crafted tale about a country, a family, and a young man who discovers the power and resilience of the human spirit. The film is screening in SFF's documentary competition.
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City, World Cinema ]

January 9, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Downloading Nancy" Director Johan Renck

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by indieWIRE (January 10, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Featured in the Dramatic Competition program at Sundance 2008 is Johan Renck's feature film directorial debut, "Downloading Nancy." "Nancy" follows the titular character (played by Maria Bello), as she leaves her husband Albert (Rufus Sewell) in search of her online soulmate, Louis (Jason Patric). Sundance's John Cooper calls the film "stunningly executed" and that Renck "forces the viewer to succumb to the darkness these characters face in the world - if not with empathy or sympathy, at least with understanding."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Lead Story, Park City ]

January 8, 2008

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "Quid Pro Quo" Director Carlos Brooks

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by indieWIRE (January 8, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Premiering at Sundance '08 in the Spectrum program, Carlos Brooks' "Quid Pro Quo," details the story of Isaac (Nick Stahl), a popular New York City public-radio reporter who also happens to be a paraplegic. His investigation of a particular story about a man who had requested his leg be amputated for no medical reason leads him to Flora (Vera Farmiga). While developing a relationship with her, Flora introduces Isaac to subculture of paraplegic "wannabes." Sundance's Nazgol Zand finds that "Quid Pro Quo" does not celebrate or sensationalize the subculture it portrays but instead explores the human psyche and allows the audience to ask questions."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City ]

PARK CITY '08 INTERVIEW | "The Guitar" Director Amy Redford

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by indieWIRE (January 8, 2008)

EDITORS NOTE: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling first-time feature directors who have films screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Amy Redford, who has acted in such films as "The Music Inside" as well as Sundance 2008 offering "Sunshine Cleaning," and is also he daughter of Robert Redford, will premiere her first feature film, "The Guitar," at Sundance. What the festival's Geoffrey Gilmore calls a "whimsical fairy tale," "The Guitar" follows Mel (Saffron Borrows), a unfortunate young woman who loses her job and boyfriend and finds out she has terminal cancer all on the same morning. Instead of giving in she embarks on a journey that Gilmore claims has the "kind of self-indulgent wish fulfillment that we have all fantasized about." Based on a true story adapted by Amos Poe, "The Guitar" is "overflowing with an energy and vitality that belie the initial darkness of its narrative."
[ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Interviews, Park City ]