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ReelPolitik
A blog about film and politics, and the politics of filmmaking.
Anthony Kaufman is a film journalist and critic, who has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Village Voice and Slate, and contributes regularly to Variety, indieWIRE, the Wall Street Journal Online and the Utne Reader.
[Email Me]
Articles
- "Piracy May Be an Indie Filmmaker's Best Friend" (Indiewire, October 2011
- "The Decline of Indies on Netflix" (indieWIRE, Sept, 2011)
- "Secretariat" Isn't Hollywood's Only Secretly Conservative Blockbuster" (IFC News, October 2010)
- "Absurdistan: The New Iraq War Cinema" (Village Voice, April 2008)
- "Is Foreign Film The New Endangered Species?" (New York Times, January 2006)
ReelPolitik
"The Island President" Forced Out of Office at Gunpoint; Doc Filmmakers Respond to Unrest in Maldives
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- February 8, 2012 8:03 PM
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- 0 Comments
The star of upcoming documentary favorite "The Island President," charismatic Maldives president and climate change crusaser Mohammed Nasheed, was forced to resign from office at gunpoint on Tuesday, according to an Op-Ed written by Nasheed that was published by the New York Times today. I spoke with Nasheed for the WSJ.com last year and found him to be an eloquent spokesperson for his people.
"Iron Sky" Space Nazis Land in Berlin; Crowd-Funding Giant Could Impact Indies
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- February 8, 2012 11:56 AM
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- 0 Comments
"Iron Sky," a Finnish sci-fi epic about Nazis who have been hiding out in the moon since WWII, is finally having its world premiere, at the Berlin Film Festival this Saturday, and according to the The Guardian newspaper, it's the second most popular selling film at the festival. While researching an article on crowdfunding a couple of years ago, I first stumbled upon "Iron Sky," and its successful efforts to generate fans and funders pre-release. So far, according to their website, they have received nearly 45,000 screening requests--lead by cities like Helsinki (913), Berlin (523) and Moscow (374), with the biggest U.S. interest expressed in Brooklyn (182).
From Sundance to Eastwood, Detroit as Emblem of America's Collapse (and Recovery?)
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- February 6, 2012 7:54 PM
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- 2 Comments
Once you start looking, it's amazing how much media you can find being made these days about America's most beleagured city: Detroit. As a microcosm for the country's economic depression and collapsed manufacturing sector, it seems there's no better example than the Motor City. At Sundance, there were two films: "Detropia," Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing's impressionist look at the state as some kind of near-extinct relic of bygone prosperity, and "Searching for Sugar Man," a portrait of a forgotten musician, which includes glimpses of the city's industrial vistas and poverty-stricken areas. Together with Clint Eastwood's much ballyhooed Chrysler Superbowl ad (“They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together, now Motor City is fighting again"), Detroit is back on the media's map.
Will "A Separation" Oscar Win Hurt or Help Iranian Cinema?
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- February 6, 2012 9:47 AM
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- 3 Comments
It's practically a forgone conclusion that "A Separation," Asghar Farhadi's incisive examination of domestic and class struggle in Iran, will win the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the forthcoming Oscars. As I've mentioned before, the film reveals universal truths about fidelity and concealing it that transcends borders, and as of last weekend, I believe the movie became the top-grossing Iranian film in the U.S. ever (CORRECTION: Not yet, it's still got half-a-million to go to beat Majid Majidi's 2000 release "Color of Paradise"). It's a strong film, worthy of its screenplay nomination, as well, and by all measures, such success and accolades should be cause for celebration in the Iranian film industry. But it's not.
America's Dubious War on Drugs: Pot Busts and Eugene Jarecki's Sundance Winner "The House I Live In"
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- February 3, 2012 12:53 PM
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- 0 Comments
Yesterday, news broke that New York City police had arrested more than 50,000 people on low-level marijuana charges last year despite being told dubious tactics--such as "stop-and-frisks"--should not be used. According to reports, marijuana-possession arrests account for about 1 in every 7 cases in the city's courts, and not surprisingly, the vast majority of those stopped are black or Hispanic (about 87% vs. only 10% white, despite the fact that "young whites use marijuana at higher rates than young blacks and Latinos,” according to sociologist Dr. Harry Levine. If you saw Eugene Jarecki's new documentary "The House I Live In," which continues to be a talking point for me with family and friends, this latest data continues to prove several of the film's theses:
New Doc "Windfall" Takes Sails out of Wind Power
- By Anthony Kaufman
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- February 2, 2012 2:33 PM
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- 0 Comments
If you're like me, you probably thought wind turbines offered one of the best possible solutions for our global energy crisis. Turns out they're not the green panacea we've all been waiting for. In the tradition of past important social-issue docs ("Food, Inc," etc), “Windfall," which opens theatrically in New York on Friday, could make an important difference in how we think about sustainability issues.
Recent Comments
Just stumbled on your article. As an Iranian and a filmmaker, I appreciate your insight into
Of course, because don't we want all our movies to be politically correct and focus-group
That's a fascinating take on the subject, Harry Harrison. And thank you for pointing out that
Ah, Harry, it's funny how certain internet types reduce everything to "moron",
FACTOID: "Similarly, what qualifies Gibney to tackle wikileaks?" Um, mr. factoid, using
Documentary filmmaking, particularly of the type likely to turn up at major festivals and be
The music industry renders your argument moot: the other 86% of the population is overwhelmingly
A close friend of mine works at ITVS. I can tell you that it is a secretive place where the managers
I knew this would be more political oriented. And that's why Pitt signed onto the project. So
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I did see Moulin Rouge. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but not