Thompson on Hollywood

Independent Filmmaker Project Selects Ten Documentaries for 2013 Filmmaker Labs

News

The Independent Filmmaker Project has announced the ten documentaries for its 2013 Independent Filmmaker Labs, IFP's annual year-long fellowship for first-time feature directors. The selected teams will participate in three week-long sessions over the course of 2013, with the first taking place May 13-17 in New York City.

By Beth Hanna
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May 14, 2013 11:32 AM
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Arthouse Audit: 'Stories We Tell' Shows Initial Strength, Sole Successful Opening

Box Office

So far the 2013 indie box office is running far behind last year--nothing comes close to 2012's booming "Best Exotic Marigold" or "Bernie," which were both standout performers far above this weekend's group of small-grossing releases, typical for this time of year. Few recent releases -- even those that had a glimmer of hope initially -- look to do as well as the best of a year ago. Sarah Polley's "Stories We Tell" opened to a promising response, and should appeal to main limited situations as opposed to being rushed out wide as most recent successes have.

By Tom Brueggemann
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May 12, 2013 4:14 PM
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Director Bouzereau Unveils Mogul Zanuck in 'Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking' (Interview)

Interviews

"Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking," a portrait of the life and career of studio chief and producer Richard D. Zanuck, scion of Fox's Darryl F. Zanuck, will premiere on May 8 on Turner Classic Movies. Produced by TCM and Amblin Television, the 90-minute film features interviews with many of the filmmakers Zanuck worked with including Clint Eastwood, William Friedkin, Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton. I talk with writer-director Laurent Bouzereau. (TOH! Zanuck obit here.)

By Cari Beauchamp
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May 10, 2013 2:49 PM
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Docs – Life After Tribeca? These Titles Deserve It

Festivals

A few good docs always emerge from Tribeca. Yet emerging from any film festival with strong reviews and a distribution deal doesn’t mean that anyone will see the film.

By David D'Arcy
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May 5, 2013 6:18 AM
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Hot Docs: Technological Revolution, 'Total Disruption,' Stolen Privacy

Festivals

“Isn’t it ironic that I’m having all these technical problems when I’m supposed to be talking about technology?” director Ondi Timoner asked a very patient (for awhile) Hot Docs audience Monday. Well, yeah, but it’s hardly the only irony that’s been on display here in Toronto.

By John Anderson
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April 29, 2013 2:20 PM
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Hot Docs Wrap: Canadian International Film Festival Celebrates 20th Anniversary, Winnows World's Best Docs

Festivals

Like a lot of people, the Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival (official name) is "trying to figure out who we are," according to program director Charlotte Cook: In other, trying to figure out where they’re going to go, now that the fest has hit its 20th year -- a convenient moment to reassess, if not necessarily change your whole MO. Which the festival certainly is not about to do.

By John Anderson
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April 28, 2013 2:47 PM
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Tribeca Review: 'Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic' Leaves Out Insight

Reviews

It is perplexing to understand how a documentary about someone as funny, alive, honest, edgy, and brilliant as Richard Pryor can fall so flat. Marina Zenovich’s documentary on the comedian, "Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic," premiering at Tribeca, testifies to the comedian's humor and brilliantly dark view of the world around him. But "Omit the Logic" doesn’t show the audience anything new or insightful about him.

By Maggie Lange
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April 25, 2013 1:39 AM
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First Louisiana International Film Festival Opens With 'Twenty Feet From Stardom' and Star Merry Clayton

Festivals

I thought I was the canary in the coal mine, attending the First Louisiana International Film Festival, a first for Baton Rouge and for me: I've never before attended a film festival's inaugural iteration. But it turned out to be a fabulous four days, with more movies, parties, and panel discussions than one girl could humanly attend. Not to mention crawfish.

By Meredith Brody
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April 24, 2013 6:14 PM
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Tribeca: Breakout Director Sean Dunne Talks 'Oxyana' and a Portrait of a Town's Addiction

Reviews

When people describe Oceana of ten years ago, they describe an idealistic small town--"kind of like the 50s," says one man interviewed in Sean Dunne's first feature documentary "Oxyana." People in the town of 1,400 used to keep doors unlocked and let children play freely in the streets. Now, people are afraid to walk alone in a residential neighborhood. Locked doors don't prevent break-ins from people "trying to feed addictions." People have nicknamed the town Oxyana, after oxycontin, the drug that has addicted hundreds and taken countless lives in the West Virginia town.

By Maggie Lange
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April 23, 2013 2:56 AM
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Is Documentary the Most Exciting Kind of Filmmaking? AFI Docs Fest and Cinedigm's Docurama Launch, Watch Greenaway's 'Act of God' (VIDEO)

News

Last week New York Magazine published film critic David Edelstein's assessment of current documentary as the most interesting and dynamic genre of cinema. His piece points to the currently unspooling Tribeca Film Festival, which champions documentaries and selected "Mistaken for Strangers" -- a doc about indie rock band The National -- for its opening night. Meanwhile the American Film Institute announced its Opening Night and Centerpiece films for the upcoming AFI Docs festival (June 19-23 in Silver Springs, MD), and Cinedigm is launching Docurama, a seven-week theatrical film series on April 22 in 15 national markets.