Andrew James is one of the co-directors of Cleanflix (review), an interesting exploration of copyright issues in the context of Mormon culture. I had the good fortune of meeting Andrew and co-director Josh Ligairi at TIFF last year and conducted what I think was a pretty good interview.
Since then, I’ve kept track of their separate projects, and was excited to learn that not only was Andrew working on a new film, but that he was using Kickstarter to help fund it. The brainchild of internet brainiac Andy Baio, Kickstarter is an amazing way for creative professionals to raise funds for their projects by reaching out to their audiences before or during the production process, rather than figuring out a way to reach them afterward. And you’re not donating; rather, you’re pre-buying something, whether it’s just a thank-you note or a DVD of the finished film. It’s beautiful in its simplicity and it’s a joy for me to browse the site regularly, looking for interesting projects to support. Andrew’s is definitely worthy.
Street Fighting Man is a documentary premise that sounds like fiction. In the economically-ravaged landscape of Detroit, a retired cop feels the need to take the law into his own hands after local police abandon his community. Even in the research phase, I think you’ll agree that Andrew has captured some great footage and found a really interesting subject. Check out the teaser trailer and then click on the nifty widget to lend your support.
Tagged as:
kickstarter
Shadow Play: The Making of Anton Corbijn (Director: Josh Whiteman): “Having your picture taken is like intimacy, it’s like having sex…I’ve been having sex with Anton for nearly 20 years now, since I was a boy.”
That provocative line comes courtesy of Bono, who has worked with famed Dutch visualist Anton Corbijn numerous times over the years and is featured prominently in Shadow Play: The Making Of Anton Corbijn. Aside from providing some voiceovers, the U2 vocalist also gives several interviews and is featured in a clever riff on Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” video. The documentary flips the camera around 180 degrees to present a portrait of the photographer/film director/music video director and his work, motivation, inspiration, and background. Director Josh Whiteman has assembled an impressive roster of celebrities to sing Corbijn’s praises — along with Bono, we also get testimonials from Michael Stipe, Kurt Cobain, Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Brandon Flowers (The Killers), Chris Martin (Coldplay), writer William Gibson, actress Samantha Morton, and model Helena Christensen. These names represent only a fraction of the talent Corbijn has collaborated with over his career, though. Others include Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Miles Davis, Metallica, Stephen Hawking, Robert De Niro, and The Rolling Stones.
Much of the acclaim in Shadow Play from Corbijn’s subjects centres on his ability to “go to that dark area that most other lensers can’t reach”, or that “he truly captures one’s soul” with his work, to paraphrase their words. Such platitudes get repetitive and overstated if, like me, you feel Corbijn’s still photography work is highly overrated. I’ve seen more than enough of it over the years, especially as a devout U2 fan, and the accolades and critical reinforcement he receives have always eluded me. The common criticism, with which I concur, is a propensity for dark, murky shots that succeed in alienating the viewer as much as captivating them. Flowers talks about this very issue, in an interesting anecdote about his record company’s reluctance to have Corbijn work with the band. Stipe mentions the fact that Metallica employed Corbijn to assist in their image rebranding after a lengthy hiatus (in 1996 to shoot the CD and promotional photos for their Load album). What Stipe fails to mention is that the rebranding was not received well at all by the media and, especially, by their fans.
Corbijn’s work, expectedly, gets the bulk of the screen time in Shadow Play; what Whiteman fails to uncover, however, are the layers to him that exist outside of that work. Several interviews with him reveal little about his upbringing and make virtually no mention of his private life. Corbijn isn’t exactly a dynamic interview subject, either. Whiteman also errs in spending so much time focusing on Corbijn’s feature film debut Control (review), a biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. Control distractingly becomes a running narrative throughout Shadow Play, with seemingly little rhyme or reason as to why we’re getting yet another look at an interview with the cast, behind-the-scenes footage, or coverage of the Cannes film festival premiere, none of which would even stand out as noteworthy DVD extras.
If Corbijn’s supposed stock-in-trade is visually getting to the soul of his subjects then this film, ironically, fails to do just that.
Official site of the film
(6/10)
Tagged as:
#hotdocs10,
music,
photography
My first film at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival was Cleanflix (review), a documentary which explored the issues surrounding the sale and rental of edited versions of R-rated movies to observant Mormons in Utah. I knew that after seeing the film, I wanted to ask the creators many more questions than they could have fielded during the post-screening Q&A. So, thanks to David Magdael and Margot Hardy from TC:DM Associates, I was able to sit down for half an hour with the creators of the film during what must have been a very hectic week for them. In addition to co-directors Andrew James (on the left in the picture above) and Joshua Ligairi (on the right), we were also joined by producer Amber Bollinger.
Since the interview deals with some plot points in the film, it really makes sense to read my review first.
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Tagged as:
censorship,
mormonism,
religion
Sorry for the short notice, but just found out about this today (hat tip to my friend Judy Gombita). The University of Toronto is holding a weeklong series of events entitled, “Confession and the Cinema of Uninhibition” featuring films, lectures and a roundtable discussion of the work of Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin, who will be in attendance at all events. Here’s the schedule:
- Tuesday 12 January, 7:00pm, Innis College Town Hall — “May I Blow my Bugle Now? My Life in Clips” (Illustrated lecture by Guy Maddin on his major influences and favourite films)
- Wednesday 13 January, 7:00pm, Innis College Town Hall — “Machine Gun Lullabies and Short Sleep” (Guy Maddin illuminates the short film as an artistic form)
- Thursday 14 January, 7:00pm, Innis College Town Hall — My Winnipeg (Film screening with live narration by Guy Maddin)
- Friday 15 January, 3:00pm, Jackman Humanities Building Room 100 — Roundtable Discussion of Guy Maddin’s films, chaired by Kay Armatage (Cinema Studies Institute)
- Friday 15 January, 7:00pm, Innis College Town Hall — Brand Upon the Brain (Film screening with Guy Maddin in person)
All events are free and open to the public. The series is sponsored in part by U of T’s excellent Cinema Studies Student Union (CINSSU)
Tagged as:
canada,
guymaddin,
winnipeg
The National Film Board recently released Filmmaker-in-Residence, a DVD box set of Katerina (Kat) Cizek’s pioneering work with St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Cizek was “embedded” as a filmmaker working at the hospital for a period of several years and was free to pursue any story she found interesting. The resulting work included several films, a photo exhibit, and one of the earliest and best uses of the web to tell documentary stories. And quite apart from the innovative use of technology, the project has had an enduring positive effect on the community the hospital serves. To describe her work as life-changing would be no exaggeration.
In yet another connection from my time at the Summer Institute of Film and Television this spring, Kat was teaching a workshop and because she and Peter Wintonick (my workshop teacher) had worked together on a film (Seeing Is Believing), they swapped classes for a day. I knew immediately that Kat was someone who was very in tune with potential of new technologies, especially the web, and so I was eager to see her work with St. Mike’s. I’m still working my way through this generously-packed box set, but I had the chance to ask her some questions about the project via email. Special thanks to the NFB’s Jennifer Mair for facilitating the interview.
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Tagged as:
nfb
