Declare Your Independents: Volume 5
GITS development assistant Wendy Cohen here, and welcome to another edition of Declare Your Independents, our new series highlighting the latest developments in the world of independent film.
This week…
What Does One Learn with the David Lynch MA in Film?
“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” Duo Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck on Sundance, Cannes and Those Terrence Malick Comparisons
Lee Daniels Talks Over “The Butler”
Why Don’t LGBT Movies Make Money At The Box Office Anymore?
Spike Lee Reaches $1 Million Mark On Kickstarter Campaign
10 Strong Directorial Debuts From Actors-Turned-Directors
The Top Grossing Indie Films of Summer 2013 (A Running List)
Again, a reminder from last week’s post:
- Scott and I encourage any of you who go to see an independent movie to post your reactions to the film in these posts. Good, bad, indifferent, whatever. If there’s a film you want to recommend, do it. Use your words to inspire readers to transport themselves into a local cinema.
- When you go to the theater, why not whip out your cellphone and snap a shot of something that demonstrates you were there? A photo of the movie poster in the lobby. A shot of your ticket stubs. An image of the movie theater itself. You and your iconoclastic indie film freaks.
- For any conversations on Twitter re: this initiative, let’s use these two hashtags: #independents and #declareyourindependents
- While we’re at it, why not add our photos to CydM’s fantastic Pintrest page for everyone to enjoy?
- And if we come up with a nifty Declaration of Independents, we could try to make it go viral. If you were going to write a Declaration of Independents, what would you include? What if we made it a video manifesto?
We can’t make this work without your participation. Share your experiences with the community so we can open up readers to the fantastically diverse, exciting and evolving world of independent film. We’ll all be extremely grateful that you did!
INDIE SPOTLIGHT: MOVIES TO SEE IN THEATERS THIS WEEK
OPENING FRIDAY (8/16)
LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER tells the story of a White House butler who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man’s life and family. Forest Whitaker stars as the butler with Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, James Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, and many more. Academy Award® nominated Lee Daniels (PRECIOUS) directs and co-wrote the script with Emmy®-award winning Danny Strong (GAME CHANGE).
Read Word and Film’s interview with screenwriter Danny Strong here.
Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matthew Whiteley, shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter and produced by Mark Hulme, JOBS details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2001. JOBS plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs’ life.
Go to our previous post for coverage of the Q&A with director Joshua Michael Stern.
Watch an interview with screenwriter Matt Whiteley:
Socially awkward Jane Hayes (Keri Russell) is obsessed with the works of Jane Austen and fantasizes about the character of Mr. Darcy. She scrapes together as much money as she can and takes off for Austenland, a British theme resort where guests immerse themselves in a romantic fantasy worthy of Austen herself. However, because Jane’s limited funds do not allow as many privileges as other guests, her chance at a fling with her very own Mr. Darcy may be limited as well.
Read Indiewire’s Q&A with screenwriter Jerusha Hess here.
Writer/director David Lowery weaves this poetic drama centered on the journey of a notorious outlaw who breaks out of prison to reunite with his beloved wife and the daughter he’s never met. Bob Muldoon and Ruth Guthrie were two outlaws on the run when their crime spree came to a sudden end deep in the Texas hills. When the gunsmoke cleared following a shootout with police, a local officer lay critically wounded by deadeye Ruth. Determined to save his love from getting thrown behind bars, however, Bob claims responsibility for the shot, and receives a stiff prison sentence. A few years later, when Bob learns that Ruth has given birth to their daughter, he makes a daring escape, and flees to be with them at any cost. Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster co-star.
Audio of a special Q&A with director David Lowery to come.
Once a rising star in the 70s New York art scene, 80-year-old “boxing” painter Ushio Shinohara is prepping for his latest show, hoping to reinvigorate his career. His wife and de facto assistant, Noriko, seeks her own recognition through her “Cutie” illustrations, which depict their chaotic 40-year marriage. CUTIE AND THE BOXER captures two lives united by a dedication to art-making for a touching meditation on the eternal themes of love and sacrifice.
Read Indiewire’s interview with director Zachary Heinzerling here.
Somewhere, in Afghanistan or elsewhere, in a country torn apart by a war… A beautiful woman in her thirties watches over her husband who has fallen into a coma. After ten years of living under his control, with no voice of her own, she finally has the upper hand. And with that, the safety to reveal to him her deepest desires, pains and secrets, stories she could never share with anyone for fear of retribution. And it is an extraordinary confession, without restraint, about love and her anger against a man who never understood her, who mistreated her, who never showed her any respect or kindness. This paralyzed man unconsciously becomes syngué sabour (the patience stone), a magical black stone that, according to Persian mythology, absorbs the plight of those who confide in it. It is believed that the day it explodes, after having received too much hardship and pain, will be the day of the Apocalypse.
Watch the Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s interview with director Atiq Rahimi:
Deep in the dusty expanse of the Nevada desert, over 60,000 people from around the world join together in a weeklong bacchanalia of art, self-expression and music. The once forsaken landscape is transformed into a temporary Shangri-La that doesn’t end until a towering effigy is set alight and burned to the ground in a ritual frenzy. This is Burning Man. Originally imagined as an experiment in creating a utopia where the restrictions of modern life — the nine-to-five rat race, laws and confining societal norms — vanish, the event’s popularity and scope has now exceeded even the creators’ wildest dreams. SPARK: A BURNING MAN STORY brings audiences behind-the-scenes of the legendary celebration, shining a light on the triumphs and challenges of the artists fighting harsh realities to keep their ideals of unbridled freedom and community alive.
Seven friends from Sacramento, California head out on a documented road trip to Las Vegas. Their trip takes a very unexpected turn for the worse when their back tires mysteriously blow out. A couple miles down the road, they find a little gas station Diner/Motel, run by the most friendly, polite and “helpful” people. It appears that their problems are solved, but boy are they wrong! When convinced by “The Helpers” to stay overnight, the friends all wake up in their rooms to a new kind of gruesome and bloody terror!
Chloe (Evelyne Brochu) is a young Canadian obstetrician working in a makeshift clinic in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, where she treats pregnant women under the supervision of Michael (Carlo Brandt), a French doctor. Facing daily checkpoints and the separation barrier, Chloe is confronted with the conflict and the people it affects: Rand (Sabrina Ouazani), a patient for whom Chloe develops a deep affection; Faysal (Yousef Sweid), Rand’s older brother, a fervent resister; Safi (Hammoudeh Alkarmi), their younger brother, a child shattered by war who dreams of flying across borders; and Ava (Sivan Levy), a young soldier who lives next door to Chloe in her apartment in Israel. Her encounter with the war draws Chloe into an adventure that’s both deeply personal and as large as the land. She loses her bearings, is uprooted, and goes into freefall. There are trips that shake us and transform us. There are trips that shatter all of our certainties.
Herblock — The Black & The White
Herbert Block’s career at The Washington Post spanned fifty-five years and thirteen presidents, a timeframe in which he claimed three Pulitzer Prizes, the Medal of Freedom and a significant role in President Nixon’s resignation. Ben Bradlee, Tom Brokaw, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Jules Feiffer, Ted Koppel and Jon Stewart are among the witnesses to Block’s life, work and indelible contribution to American satire in this inviting documentary.
Infected through the respiratory system, there is a new kind of disease that kills in 36 hours once infected. The people of the city struggle to survive this.
Paul de Marseul (Niels Aretrup) is the passionate, demanding proprietor of his prestigious family wine estate. But he has no faith in his son, Martin (Loran Deutsch), who works at the vineyard. Paul dreams of a harder-working, successful son-a dream that one day seemingly materializes when he meets Philip (Nicolas Bridet), the son of his dying estate manager (Patrick Chesnais). Can Paul turn against his own blood and turn Philip into the rightful heir of his family estate?
Watch SOHK.TV’s interview with writer/director Gilles Legrand
NOW IN THEATERS
Three years past his divorce, veteran novelist Bill Borgens (Academy Award® nominee Greg Kinnear) can’t stop obsessing over, let alone spying on, his ex-wife Erica (Academy Award® winner Jennifer Connelly), who ignominiously left him for another man. Even as his neighbor-with-benefits, Tricia (Kristen Bell) tries to push him back into the dating pool, he remains blind to anyone else’s charms. Meanwhile, his fiercely independent collegiate daughter Samantha (Lily Collins) is publishing her first novel while recoiling at the very thought of first love with a diehard romantic (Logan Lerman); and his teen son Rusty (Nat Wolff) is trying to find his voice, both as a fantasy writer and as the unexpected boyfriend of a dream girl with unsettlingly real problems. As each of these situations mounts into a tangled trio of romantic holiday crises, it brings the Borgens to surprising revelations about how endings become beginnings.
An odd couple of sorts, meditative and stern Alvin and his girlfriend’s brother, Lance, dopey and insecure, leave the city behind to spend the summer in solitude repainting traffic lines down the center of a country highway ravaged by wildfire. As they sink into their job in the remarkable landscape, they learn more than they want to about each other and their own limitations. An unlikely friendship develops through humor and nasty exchanges, leading to surprising affection.
Read Indiewire’s interview with David Gordon Green here.
Audio of a special Q&A with director David Gordon Green and star Emile Hirsch to come.
A sculptor living in German-occupied France forges an unlikely friendship with a young refugee who is fleeing Franco’s army in this tender drama from writer/director Fernando Trueba (The Miracle of Candeal, Chico & Rita). The year is 1943. Eighty-year-old artist Marc Cros (Jean Rochefort) has survived two wars, and bore witness to far more horrors than he wishes to recall. Marc has long given up sculpting, but when his wife (Claudia Cardinale) happens across a desperate fugitive named Merce (Aida Folch), the pair agree to shelter her in his studio. Meanwhile, long after Marc thought possible, inspiration strikes. Now as Merce poses for Marc’s final sculpture, a powerful bond forms between them.
Einstein once said: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live.” In the past five years, billions of honeybees simply vanished for reasons still obscure. If the bees keep dying, there will be drastic effects for humans as well: more than one third of our food production depends on pollination by honeybees and their lives and deaths are linked to ours.
Read an interview with director Markus Imhoof here.
Armed with roses and art, Stan brunches with his girlfriend Annie, a schoolteacher, only to discover that she wants to take a break. Aaron confronts his boyfriend Marcus about their open relationship. The lives of these two couples become intertwined when Stan and Marcus meet online and hook up. Apparently, Stan has a bi-side, and Aaron walks in on the aftermath of Marcus and Stan’s afternoon tryst. Meanwhile, Annie goes on a blind date with an older man David who makes his living writing scripts for reality TV shows, which feels more “real” than Stan’s afternoons spent in the rehearsal space with his band. Annie confides in her fellow teacher Mandy about her relationship troubles. Mandy and Annie engage in some flirtation and decide to try a lesbian relationship, which, in turn, reminds Annie that perhaps she was in love with Stan all along. Eventually all of these characters must face the consequences of their choices and decide what matters to them most.
Read Filmmaker Magazine’s interview with director Rodney Evans here.
Thanks, Wendy! This weekend, Declare Your Independents by checking out one of these movies in a theater near you!
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