Sundance Film Festival

SHORTS AND TO THE POINT: Emily Wilson’s DANNY’S GIRL amps up the WTF as an online couple meet for the first time

By John Wildman 6 years ago

“Since the world of the film is heightened and the premise is a bit wacky, we needed to make sure that the character’s motivations and behaviors were rooted in sincere emotion. So we rehearsed a lot before shooting in order to make sure that we understood their decisions, cared deeply for them, and ultimately were rooting for them. Since that was the foundation, it freed us up to embrace and experiment with the darker, zanier stuff.”

SHORTS AND TO THE POINT: Jay Dockendorf’s THREE DEATHS Tolstoy adaptation is a classic short film as cinematic short story

By John Wildman 6 years ago

“Shooting on film felt like a straightforward way to connect with the past. I think film evokes the “old world” origins of Tolstoy’s story as well as a sense of film history that I wanted to tap into. 35mm also has a deeper, more emotional feeling, I find, and I wanted to soak up the sadness of the story and performances.”

SHORTS AND TO THE POINT: Alexandre Dostie’s I’LL END UP IN JAIL gives us a woman discovering her inner badass

By John Wildman 6 years ago

Writing this film, my dream was to build that character from hopeless mom to kickass take-no-prisoner woman. The model was based on my mother with hints of Geena Davis’s ‘Thelma’ from THELMA AND LOUISE. It felt right on paper, but you never know how it will translate to screen. Maureen really came alive with Martine Francke’s performance. She is Maureen. She is a genuine badass.

Lee Isaac Chung MINARI and Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine for Boys State’ BOYS STATE lead the way at The 2020 Sundance Film Festival Awards

By John Wildman 6 years ago

“At Sundance, we believe art can break through noise and polarization. In volatile times like these, democracy and storytelling aren’t separate – they’re inextricably linked,” said Keri Putnam, Sundance Institute’s Executive Director. “Congratulations to each and every one of tonight’s winners, and to all the extraordinary artists who joined us at the Festival.

SUNDANCE 2019 REVIEW: Sacha Polak’s DIRTY GOD offers a redemption story that doesn’t come wrapped with a pretty bow

By John Wildman 7 years ago

DIRTY GOD purposefully takes a long, winding and jagged road toward Jade’s efforts to heal and find her own way to a new life she never asked for. This is not an easy redemption story that can take us comfortably across the finish line without the barest of emotional investments. Jade was assuredly not an angle cast down from the heavens, but rather, a working class beauty that is forced to overcome a fate she didn’t deserve.

SUNDANCE 2018 REVIEWS: Tolga Karaçelik’s BUTTERFLIES is an exceedingly black comedy masterfully disguised as just a kind-of black comedy

By Miguel Cima 8 years ago

Anyone looking for a nice, neat, family comedy experience with a few difficulties, a la Ron Howard or perhaps Billy Wilder, need not apply to the ticket booth. Neither is the morose punishment junkie seeking a Tolstoy experience via an Ingmar Bergman lens. What unfolds instead is a high-wire act that maintains all the high stakes of a misstep’s fall yet remains superficially entertaining.

FILM FESTIVAL NEWS: Frances Lee ‘s GOD’S OWN COUNTRY Opens The Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival celebrates it’s 30th Anniversary with style and nods to the past

By admin 9 years ago

aGLIFF Program Director Jim Brunzell, said, “Working non-stop for the past eight months, attending various film festivals, doing endless research and watching countless films, celebrating this year’s aGLIFF’s anniversary, we’ve worked extremely hard in making sure we’re delivering something a little extra for our dedicated members, patrons, and film fans. This being our 30th year, this has made us happily dig a little deeper to create some special moments for everyone – whether they have come to aGLIFF for years now, or they are just discovering us after all this time.