Manakamana is the first feature collaboration between Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez, where they placed a fixed 16mm camera in a cable-car that takes passengers to and from the Manakamana Temple in Nepal. Born out of Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Laboratory (Leviathan, Sweetgrass), the eleven portraits in the film are at once a look at the… Continue reading Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez Interview (Manakamana)
Tag: American Independent Cinema
The Ross Brothers (The River)
Bill and Turner Ross are documentary filmmakers who intriguingly blur the line between standard conventions of documentary and narrative feature techniques. Their first feature, 45365, won the Best Documentary Prize at SXSW and was followed by the New Orleans set film, Tchoupitoulas. The space between their hometown of Sidney, Ohio (45365) and New Orleans (Tchoupitoulas) was… Continue reading The Ross Brothers (The River)
Tracy Droz Tragos & Andrew Droz Palermo (Rich Hill)
Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo are American filmmakers whose first collaborative feature, Rich Hill, won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2014. Tracy had previously directed the 2004 Emmy Award-winning documentary, Be Good, Smile Pretty, while Andrew had been the cinematographer on several films, including Adam Wingard’s You’re Next. The duo were in… Continue reading Tracy Droz Tragos & Andrew Droz Palermo (Rich Hill)
Destin Cretton Interview (Short Term 12)
Destin Cretton is an American writer and director whose latest feature film, Short Term 12, explores the staff and community members at a foster care facility. The film won four awards at the Locarno International Film Festival and is currently nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. Short Term 12 was selected as the opening film for… Continue reading Destin Cretton Interview (Short Term 12)
Recap: Andrew Bujalski – The Seventh Art Live Directors Series
The Seventh Art Live Directors Series with Andrew Bujalski Presented by CINSSU took place on February 3rd and February 4th 2014 in Toronto. It was our tremendous pleasure to host Andrew in Toronto for his first time in the city. He is a true talent of American independent film who has played architect – however… Continue reading Recap: Andrew Bujalski – The Seventh Art Live Directors Series
Matt Wolf Interview (Teenage)
Matt Wolf is an American filmmaker whose documentaries Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard and Teenage each draw upon a multitude of media sources (including archival, recreations, recitations, etc.), culminating in a unique style that he calls a ‘living collage’. Matt was in Toronto for Hot Docs… Continue reading Matt Wolf Interview (Teenage)
Joe Swanberg Interview (Drinking Buddies)
Joe Swanberg is a Chicago-based filmmaker who is commonly associated with the so-called ‘mumblecore’ mode of filmmaking – a term assigned to low-budget American films made in the 2000s that were singled out for their naturalism. For Swanberg, this is often achieved through improvisational performances, digital photography, and frank depictions of sex. Following his 2005 debut,… Continue reading Joe Swanberg Interview (Drinking Buddies)