In each of his short films, Andrew Ahn explores the dynamics of an Asian American family living in the United States and the very nature of family itself. Now, he makes our 10 Filmmakers to Watch list for his debut feature film, Spa Night, a film that continues to explore these themes and recently premiered at Sundance 2016 in US Dramatic Competition.
Abatemarco, who spent nearly seven years making Kivalina, advises first-time documentarians to recognize that some of the hardest work of making a film is not technical or financial, but interpersonal. “It’s about your relationship with your subjects over time. That is the real work and the real difficulty. Somehow you’ll find the money but the most difficult work is to carry the story for however long you have to carry it, because these are heavy subject matters.”
There was some judgment in some way by the choice of the locations. By the facts we wanted to stress in our narration. None of the locations were there just for fun, they should all tell something for those who want to read between the lines, so there is some criticism of mankind. But besides that it’s true, the audience is very much invited to basically see their own film.
De Pue was nervous about working with so many co-producers. “I was a bit afraid about it, I learned in school about it. When you have all these co-producers they bring in money but they also have their artistic choices and they can get involved at some point.
When De Pue returned by himself to Afghanistan, he realized he “had to rethink the way of filming and the way of working in Afghanistan, to go back to a really low profile way like we did in the preparations.”
The Lost Arcade is the feature documentary debut of director Kurt Vincent and producer Irene Chin. The film captures the…
“Sometimes I’m watching what I’ve shot and I’m like, ‘I could have never written that dialogue.’ People are really good actors in documentary,” said Montreal-based filmmaker Jean-François Lesage about making his doc, A Summer Love. Lesage and four other filmmakers with work screening at the 2015 RIDM Film Festival sat down with The Independent’s Patrick Pearce to talk elements of film style.
Upon the digital restoration and US release of Jane B. by Agnès V. and Kung-Fu Master! the ever-iconic Agnès Varda tells The Independent: “A lot of people love my films but I don’t know if they are commercial. That’s why I always say, ‘I don’t have a career, I just made films.’ I am marginal and I am happy to be marginal because I’m very well known in these marginal circles of cinephiles.”
Director Radu Jude talks to The Independent about how his latest, Aferim!, may seem Shakespearian but actually uses language discovered in archival literary texts and other documents. And if you’re wondering where he’s headed next, it’s into an adaptation of work by novelist Max Blecher, sometimes called Romania’s Kafka.