Courtney Sheehan is a film programmer, writer, and business strategist. Most recently, she served as executive director for Northwest Film Forum, the independent film nonprofit in Seattle. She is a frequent contributor to The Independent.
The Independent’s Courtney Sheehan interviews prolific indie cinematographer Sean Price Williams about dreams, film heroes, and shooting Maiko Endo’s Tokyo Telepath 2020, which played at the 49th Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR).
Courtney Sheehan reports on mobile-only streaming platform Quibi’s keynote address at CES 2020, sharing the content and technology powering its launch.
The 2018 American Film Market just wrapped up in Santa Monica, California. This year saw comparably stronger sales for small, independent films. Courtney Sheehan was at the AFM, and writes about the importance of relationships and risk-taking, key themes that emerged in the conference sessions on production and distribution.
The continued rise of streaming platforms has had reverberating effects in online film communities. Every company, regardless of size and scope, must complete to find, maintain, and build online audiences. Courtney Sheehan shares news of new streaming services after speaking with industry reps at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
Courtney Sheehan reports on digital media pioneer Katerina Cizek, who has brought a new documentary project to the Toronto International Film Festival. Cizek is leading the co-creation of the MIT Open Documentary Lab, a research center for emerging new media technologies. Sheehan discusses Cizek’s newest film project and the exciting innovations in documentary filmmaking that are being explored.
Courtney Sheehan talks with Serbian Director Mila Turajlic at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Turajilic’s new documentary, The Other Side of Everything (Druga strana svega) mines the depths of family history to offer an untold story of Yugoslavia’s past. The filmmaker shares about her process, her family’s fascinating story, and the role of documentary in representing and reflecting upon cultural complexities.
The film industries of the countries of former Yugoslavia continue to evolve and adapt to changing environments, both on the industry level in the broader European landscape, and in the political and economic contexts of their respective countries. At this year’s Berlinale, the region’s continued ability to punch above its weight was proven by Bosnian director Danis Tanović’s Silver Bear win Death in Sarajevo.
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.