Best documentary at the Oscars is, like best foreign language film, the type of category that seems invented to be grumbled over, with selections and winners rarely reflecting the films everyone else in the world finds most worthy of praise. So it's much less frustrating to look to organizations like the International Documentary Association for better indicators of the docs that are the cream of 2010's crop.
The nominees for the 2010 Ida Documentary Awards were announced today, and the contenders for the top prize include Banksy's "Exit Through The Gift Shop," a personal favorite; Laura Poitras' Al-Qaeda saga "The Oath"; Joonas Berghaell and Mika Hotakainen's look at Finnish sauna culture "Steam of Life"; Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor's trailing of Montana sheepherders "Sweetgrass"; and Lucy Walker's tale of making art of trash "Waste Land," opening in New York on Friday. The awards will take place in L.
The nominees for the 2010 Ida Documentary Awards were announced today, and the contenders for the top prize include Banksy's "Exit Through The Gift Shop," a personal favorite; Laura Poitras' Al-Qaeda saga "The Oath"; Joonas Berghaell and Mika Hotakainen's look at Finnish sauna culture "Steam of Life"; Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor's trailing of Montana sheepherders "Sweetgrass"; and Lucy Walker's tale of making art of trash "Waste Land," opening in New York on Friday. The awards will take place in L.
- 10/27/2010
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
Acclaimed Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin has won the Best Experimental Short award at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival for Night Mayor. The film is a fictional documentary about Bosnian inventor Nihad Ademi who, in 1939, built a machine that harnessed the power of the Aurora Borealis to transmit images of Canadians to themselves.
Created as a tribute to the National Film Board of Canada’s 70th anniversary, Night Mayor playfully twists concepts of fact and fiction. Maddin describes the film as a documentary, even though his subject never actually existed, since it was shot documentary style with no planned action or script. Maddin assembled his cast and crew to document Ademi’s story as it may have happened and captured the action in his uncanny style of recreating time periods.
To see the director at work and to hear him describe his process, embedded below is a making-of clip posted on the Nfb’s website.
Created as a tribute to the National Film Board of Canada’s 70th anniversary, Night Mayor playfully twists concepts of fact and fiction. Maddin describes the film as a documentary, even though his subject never actually existed, since it was shot documentary style with no planned action or script. Maddin assembled his cast and crew to document Ademi’s story as it may have happened and captured the action in his uncanny style of recreating time periods.
To see the director at work and to hear him describe his process, embedded below is a making-of clip posted on the Nfb’s website.
- 3/19/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
SXSW Film Announces 2010 Award Winners
Complete Coverage of SXSW 2010
Austin, Texas – March 16, 2010 – The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s closing Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature categories. Films in these categories, as well as the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, Lone Star States and 24 Beats Per Second categories were also eligible for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. Only Narrative and Documentary Feature Audience Awards were announced tonight. Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters Audience Awards will be announced separately on Monday, March 22.
SXSW also announced the Jury Award-winners in Shorts Filmmaking, and Film Design Awards, and Special Awards, including the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award and the SXSW Wholphin Award.
Complete Coverage of SXSW 2010
Austin, Texas – March 16, 2010 – The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s closing Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature categories. Films in these categories, as well as the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, Lone Star States and 24 Beats Per Second categories were also eligible for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. Only Narrative and Documentary Feature Audience Awards were announced tonight. Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters Audience Awards will be announced separately on Monday, March 22.
SXSW also announced the Jury Award-winners in Shorts Filmmaking, and Film Design Awards, and Special Awards, including the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award and the SXSW Wholphin Award.
- 3/18/2010
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Austin, Texas – March 16, 2010 – The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s closing Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature categories. Films in these categories, as well as the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, Lone Star States and 24 Beats Per Second categories were also eligible for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. Only Narrative and Documentary Feature Audience Awards were announced tonight. Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters Audience Awards will be announced separately on Monday, March 22. SXSW also announced the Jury Award-winners in Shorts Filmmaking, and Film Design Awards, and Special Awards, including the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award and the SXSW Wholphin Award. Details can be found at www.
- 3/17/2010
- by Dave Campbell
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced last night at the Festival’s closing Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature categories.
Films in these categories, as well as the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, Lone Star States and 24 Beats Per Second categories were also eligible for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. Only Narrative and Documentary Feature Audience Awards were announced tonight.
Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters Audience Awards will be announced separately on Monday, March 22.
SXSW also announced the Jury Award-winners in Shorts Filmmaking, and Film Design Awards, and Special Awards, including the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award and the SXSW Wholphin Award.
Click through for the complete list of the...
Films in these categories, as well as the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Midnighters, Lone Star States and 24 Beats Per Second categories were also eligible for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. Only Narrative and Documentary Feature Audience Awards were announced tonight.
Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters Audience Awards will be announced separately on Monday, March 22.
SXSW also announced the Jury Award-winners in Shorts Filmmaking, and Film Design Awards, and Special Awards, including the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award and the SXSW Wholphin Award.
Click through for the complete list of the...
- 3/17/2010
- by Joe Gillis
- The Flickcast
Though SXSW 2010 is only at the halfway point, the music portion is about to kick into high gear and many film folks are leaving town. The awards ceremony was held last night, and Jeff Malmberg's Marwencol and Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture won jury awards for best feature-length documentary and narrative, respectively.
Audience awards went to For Once in My Life (documentary) and Brotherhood (narrative). As if often the case, I haven't seen any of the winners, so can't comment further on them, but we do have a review for Marwencol up on the site, which is linked below.
Here's the announcement provided by the festival:
Austin, Texas - March 16, 2010 - The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced tonight at the Festival's closing Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were...
Audience awards went to For Once in My Life (documentary) and Brotherhood (narrative). As if often the case, I haven't seen any of the winners, so can't comment further on them, but we do have a review for Marwencol up on the site, which is linked below.
Here's the announcement provided by the festival:
Austin, Texas - March 16, 2010 - The Jury and Audience Award-winners of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced tonight at the Festival's closing Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were...
- 3/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Filmmaker/actress Lena Dunham must be very happy this evening -- not only did her film Tiny Furniture pick up the Best Narrative Feature award at SXSW this year, but Dunham won the Chicken and Egg Emergent Narrative Women Director award. I saw Tiny Furniture earlier this week and could not agree more with the choice. It's about a young woman fresh out of college trying to get her footing with a job and relationships, including those with her mom and sister, played by Dunham's real life mother and sister. (That's Dunham and her mother pictured at right, at an earlier SXSW screening.)
The Documentary Feature award went to Marwencol, directed by Jeff Malmberg, about someone who builds a small-scale entire town in his backyard, and what happens when it's discovered. War Don Don, Rebecca Richman Cohen's look at a war crimes trial in Sierra Leone, received a runner-up award in the category.
The Documentary Feature award went to Marwencol, directed by Jeff Malmberg, about someone who builds a small-scale entire town in his backyard, and what happens when it's discovered. War Don Don, Rebecca Richman Cohen's look at a war crimes trial in Sierra Leone, received a runner-up award in the category.
- 3/17/2010
- by Jette Kernion
- Cinematical
The winners of the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas were announced tonight. Here is a complete list of the awards: Documentary Feature – Marwencol (Director: Jeff Malmberg) Runner-up: War Don Don (Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen) Narrative Feature – Tiny Furniture (Director: Lena Dunham) Special Jury Award – Best Ensemble: Myth of the American Sleepover (Director: David Robert Mitchell) Special Jury Award – Best Individual Performance: Brian Hasenfus in Phillip the Fossil (Director: Garth Donovan) Feature Film Audience Awards Documentary Feature – For Once in My Life (Directors: Jim Bigham & Mark Moormann) Narrative Feature – Brotherhood (Director: Will Canon) Short Film Jury Awards Narrative Shorts – Cigarette Candy...
- 3/17/2010
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture has won the Narrative Feature award presented by the Feature Film Jury at this year's SXSW Film Festival. Special Jury Awards go to Myth of the American Sleepover, directed by David Robert Mitchell, for Best Ensemble and to Brian Hasenfus for his performance in Garth Donovan's Phillip the Fossil.
Jeff Maimberg's Marwencol wins the Documentary Feature award; runner-up: Rebecca Richman Cohen's War Don Don.
Audience Awards: Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann's For Once in My Life (Documentary) and Will Canon's Brotherhood (Narrative).
For the full list of further awards (shorts, poster and title design and more), turn to indieWIRE.
Jeff Maimberg's Marwencol wins the Documentary Feature award; runner-up: Rebecca Richman Cohen's War Don Don.
Audience Awards: Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann's For Once in My Life (Documentary) and Will Canon's Brotherhood (Narrative).
For the full list of further awards (shorts, poster and title design and more), turn to indieWIRE.
- 3/17/2010
- MUBI
Directors: James Bigham, Javier Pena Led by music director, Javier Pena, The Spirit of Goodwill Band features 29 members of varying mental and physical disabilities (Autism, Down Syndrome, blindness, etc.). For example, there is Terry, the blind lead singer and saxophone player; Christian, the blind and autistic pianist; Nancy is a soprano who takes care of her two older siblings despite her mental disabilities; Sam, the drummer, who did not thrive in his mother's womb; and many other stories...each one different, each one amazing. The Spirit of Goodwill Band members face the challenges shared by anyone who wants to become a musician. They must first learn an instrument and then they must learn how to play together as a band. Most of them never played an instrument before joining The Spirit of Goodwill Band, and those that did play an instrument had never played in a band before. The narrative...
- 3/10/2010
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Editor's Note: This is one interview in a series profiling directors whose films are screening in the Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition and Emerging Visions sections at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. Recipient of the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for best first feature, for his debut film "Sweetland," director Jim Bigham premieres his new intimate documentary "For Once In My Life" at this year's SXSW. "For Once In My Life" is the ...
- 3/3/2010
- indieWIRE - People
Editor's Note: This is one interview in a series profiling directors whose films are screening in the Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition and Emerging Visions sections at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. Recipient of the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for best first feature, for his debut film "Sweetland," director Jim Bigham premieres his new intimate documentary "For Once In My Life" at this year's SXSW. "For Once In My Life" is the ...
- 3/3/2010
- Indiewire
The South by Southwest Film Festival announced its 2010 feature line-up Wednesday night, and I couldn’t be more excited. The nine day event starts March 12, 2010 here in Austin, Texas, and I’ll be covering as much as I can from start to finish. Though, if it’s anything like last year, I’ll be asleep on my feet by the end of it.
The 2010 list includes 119 films (55 world premieres), but here are a few notables: The previously announced Kick-Ass will start the festivities. Elektra Luxx, the sequel to the underseen comedy Women in Trouble, starring Carla Gugino, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and too many more to name. Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass in which Edward Norton plays identical twins. A documentary titled People vs. George Lucas that I will be seeing. Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs. Plus the “SNL” spin-off movie MacGruber in its world premiere, possibly before the MacGyver creator shuts it down.
The 2010 list includes 119 films (55 world premieres), but here are a few notables: The previously announced Kick-Ass will start the festivities. Elektra Luxx, the sequel to the underseen comedy Women in Trouble, starring Carla Gugino, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and too many more to name. Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass in which Edward Norton plays identical twins. A documentary titled People vs. George Lucas that I will be seeing. Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs. Plus the “SNL” spin-off movie MacGruber in its world premiere, possibly before the MacGyver creator shuts it down.
- 2/4/2010
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
Less than a week worth of recovering from the Sundance Film Festival, and we are already looking forward to our next, big film fest coverage. That would be the South by Southwest Film Festival held annually in Austin, Texas. Last year, Scott and I brought you all kinds of coverage from the Lone Star State, and this year doesn’t look to be much different.
With that, the announcement came last night of the feature films that will be playing at the SXSW Film Festival. Previous announcement were already made about films like Cold Weather, Electra Luxx, Hubble 3D, Lemmy, Saturday Night, and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights making their debut. Kick-ass was recently announced as the opening night film, as well.
Among the other films being presented this year are some Sundance darlings, a few, highly anticipated premieres, and MacGruber.
Check out the full list...
With that, the announcement came last night of the feature films that will be playing at the SXSW Film Festival. Previous announcement were already made about films like Cold Weather, Electra Luxx, Hubble 3D, Lemmy, Saturday Night, and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights making their debut. Kick-ass was recently announced as the opening night film, as well.
Among the other films being presented this year are some Sundance darlings, a few, highly anticipated premieres, and MacGruber.
Check out the full list...
- 2/4/2010
- by Kirk
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Late yesterday the SXSW Fim Festival, which runs from March 12-20 in Austin, TX, announced the full lineup of films that will be screening at this year’s event. And baby, it’s quite a list. Mixing big name films with intimate indie gems, the sheer number of films and the vast array of talented filmmakers is sure to be a hit with attendees and critics alike.
This lineup includes premieres of studio films such as Universal’s MacGruber, Lionsgate’s teen superhero actioneer Kick-Ass and smaller films like Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart and Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. With so many films to watch, it will be very difficult to find time to seem them all during the events nine days. But hell, we’re going to try.
For more on...
This lineup includes premieres of studio films such as Universal’s MacGruber, Lionsgate’s teen superhero actioneer Kick-Ass and smaller films like Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart and Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. With so many films to watch, it will be very difficult to find time to seem them all during the events nine days. But hell, we’re going to try.
For more on...
- 2/4/2010
- by Chris Ullrich
- The Flickcast
- It comes as no surprise that leading this year’s pack of nominees are Little Miss Sunshine and Half Nelson, but this year’s mix of contenders are a mixed breed coming from films that were showcased a little everywhere – including this year’s Sundance. And the 2007 Independent Spirit nominees are...Feature (Award given to the Producer)"American Gun," Ted Kroeber, producer"The Dead Girl," Tom Rosenberg, Henry Winterstern, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Eric Karten, Kevin Turen, producers"Half Nelson," Jamie Patricof, Alex Orlovsky, Lynette Howell, Anna Boden, Rosanne Korenberg, producers"Little Miss Sunshine," Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa, producers"Pan's Labyrinth," Bertha Navarro, Alfonso Cuaron, Frida Torresblanco, Alvaro Augustin, Guillermo Del Toro, producersFIRST Feature (Award given to the director and producer)"Day Night Day Night," Julia Loktev, director; Julia Loktev, Melanie Judd, Jessica Levin, producers"Man Push Cart," Ramin Bahrani, director; Ramin Bahrani,
- 11/29/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
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