15 years later: HOOP DREAMS visits STF

• by Raphaela Neihausen, November 10, 2009

“How many people here have never seen HOOP DREAMS?” asked STF host Thom Powers to the crowd gathered for the 15th anniversary screening at the IFC Center. About half the room raised their hands. Among the other half included several people with close connections to the film, starting with cinematographer Peter Gilbert who flew in from Chicago to present the film.  He paid tribute to three key figures in the audience:

1) Ira Deutchman, who was a key member of the team that released the film at Fine Line. Deutchman has written his own reminiscence on his blog at www.iradeutchman.com

2) Barbara Kopple, who had previously used Gilbert as a cameraman on her Academy Award winning film AMERICAN DREAM.  In the Q&A, Gilbert said it was partly the longitudinal experience of working on AMERICAN DREAM that inspired his team to consider following the characters in HOOP DREAMS for four years.

3) Gilbert’s son Leo, who was born during the production of HOOP DREAMS and is now in the midst of his freshman year at NYU studying - what else? - film.

For more on HOOP DREAMS, read the recent 15th anniversary reflections of Roger Ebert who calls it “the great American documentary.”

(photos courtesy of Joshua Z Weinstein, above L to R: Barbara Kopple, Peter Gilbert, Ira Deutchman and Thom Powers. )

Per the usual drill, after the film we headed over to 99 Below for drinks and more conversation.

Filmmakers David Redmon (Carnivalesque Films) and Adam Zucker (GREENSBORO: CLOSER TO THE TRUTH).

Filmmakers David Soll and Hannah Rosenzweig.

Filmmaker Shilpi Gupta (WHEN THE STORM CAME) with STF passholder DeWitt Davis (Kodak).

STF curator Thom Powers with STF passholder and filmmaker Marshall Leaman.

Lea Hjort, a New School student studying documentary.

Filmmaker and STF regular Hemal Trivedi who just returned from shooting in Islamabad, Pakistan for a month.  Welcome home, Hemal!

Related Film/Screening:
HOOP DREAMS by Steve James

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STF abuzz with COLONY

• by Raphaela Neihausen, November 06, 2009

New York City was a swarm with different kinds of bees on Tuesday night, as COLONY co-director Carter Gunn poses here at the Sixth Avenue newsstand outside the IFC Center. Inside the theater, it was a packed hive of activity for the film’s first sneak preview since its acclaimed world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The New York Times Urban Eye gave the following plug:

You’ve probably heard about the mass death of the world’s honeybees. Scientists are still debating how much to worry about it; filmmakers, though, are acting. The documentary “Colony” tackles the subject, shifting “seamlessly from macroimages of the swarming bees to close-ups of their fretting keepers who are struggling with the devastation,” Manohla Dargis writes. With its “attention to beauty, interview style and even pacing,” she compares the film to the works of Errol Morris.

In the Q&A, Gunn talked about the hazards of making the film, including 35 bee stings in one day. The screening attracted many STF newcomers, several of whom joined for the regular post-film celebration at the bar 99 Below.

Visitin gfrom out of town, Camden International Film Festival‘s producer Leah Hurley with founder/director Ben Fowlie.

Tatiana McCabe with filmmaker Ashley Sabine of Carnivalesque Films.

A farmer from Norway who discovered Stranger Than Fiction on Facebook - Baard Haus Sylling.

Dieter Cartwright and Sarah Luhtala discovered STF accidentally when they picked up a postcard at the IFC Center last week after seeing ANTI-CHRIST (hopefully they enjoyed COLONY more!).

Also first-time STF attendees: documentary enthusiasts Leigh Johnson and Barry O’Flanagan.

Amie Segal of EyePop Productions with filmmaker Paul Devlin (BLAST)

STF passholders who are both editors: Cheree Dillon and Carla Ruff.

Filmmakers Hilla Medalia (AFTER THE STORM - which won the audience award at this year’s Woodstock Film Festival) and Yoni Brook (BRONX PRINCESS).  They are also two recent guest speakers at Thom’s NYU documentary class.

STF Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen reuniting with Angela Tseng, an old colleague from her former life as a management consultant.  Angela is now floor manager at Spice Market - yum!

Related Film/Screening:
COLONY by Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell

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LOOT wins while the Yankees lose

• by Raphaela Neihausen, November 03, 2009

LOOT made a sensational debut last night at Stranger Than Fiction with director Darius Marder in attendance. Not even the World Series stopped the theater from filling up. Winner of the jury prize at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival, the film was introduced at STF by one of those jurors, Esther Robinson who praised the film for being full of surprises. Indeed, the most frequent comment heard after the show is that audience members didn’t think the film’s synopsis does justice to its splendors. Rather than dwell on the plot-line about World War II veterans going in search of buried wartime treasure, perhaps it’s better to take Sam Shepard’s word that it’s “a powerful evocation of fathers, sons, war and time, that sneaks up on you like a thief in the night.”  Or as Michael Tully wrote yesterday in HAMMER TO NAIL: “Darius Marder’s LOOT isn’t just proof that truth is stranger than fiction; in this case, it is infinitely richer than the very best of fiction.”  LOOT will open later this month at the IFC Center.

(Q&A photo courtesy of Tequila Minsky)

After the film, we headed to 99 Below for drinks and the remainder of the Yankees game (ouch!).

Filmmakers Margaret Brown (ORDER OF MYTHS) and Astra Taylor (EXAMINED LIFE).

Filmmaker Esther Robinson (WALK INTO THE SEA) and director of LOOT Darius Marder.

Former students from Thom’s NYU class: Evan Schlossberg and Terry Greenberg.

 

Filmmaker Jonathan Goodman Levitt (SUNNY INTERVALS AND SHOWERS) and Jesse Moss (FULL BATTLE RATTLE).

IFC General Manager John Vanco with STF curator Thom Powers.

Maria with filmmakers Ruth Somalo (her recent film TILL YOU’RE TOLD TO STOP won 3 awards at last week’s Tenerife Film Festival: Best Director, Best Documentary and Best Picture - go Ruth!) and Cathryne Czubek (GIRL AND A GUN).

Filmmaker Lee Hirsch (AMANDALA) demonstrates what happens when your iPod gets jammed into the back of a theater seat…

Related Film/Screening:
LOOT by Darius Marder

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STF celebrates the 25th anniversary of THE GOOD FIGHT

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 30, 2009

Matti Mattson, the 93-year-old veteran who fought with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, took the stage on Tuesday to a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Stranger Than Fiction (pictured). The occasion was the 25th anniversary screening of THE GOOD FIGHT, co-presented by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Mattson praised the filmmakers for capturing the spirit of the times when over 3,000 American soldiers volunteered to fight against the fascist forces in Spain. The filmmaking trio of Noel Buckner, Mary Dore, and Sam Sills were joined by the film’s consulting historian David Paskin in a Q&A to discuss the making of the film. They noted that the film was among the last round of projects to be funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities under the administration of President Carter. It took over five years to complete and entailed over 100 interviews. Twenty-five years later that investment of energy is still paying dividends as a historical record. Among the STF audience were filmmakers who have previously presented their own work in the series including George Stoney, Ngawang Choephel, and David Leitner.

After the screening, Matti Mattson and the filmmakers braved the rain to join fans for drinks at the bar 99 Below, where a descendant of another Brigade fighter hushed everyone to raise a toast.  (Photos courtesy of Joshua Z Weinstein)

THE GOOD FIGHT directors (L to R): Noel Buckner, Sam Sills and Mary Dore.

L to R: Directors Noel Buckner, Mary Dore, Sam Sills and project historian David Paskin.  Seated in front is 93-year-old veteran Matti Mattson.

Matti enjoying some wine at 99 Below.

Director Ngawang Choephel (TIBET IN SONG) and film editor Jean Tsien (PLEASE VOTE FOR ME).

A toast to the directors.

Related Film/Screening:
THE GOOD FIGHT by Noel Buckner, Mary Dore & Sam Sills

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New film in STF fall line-up: HOOP DREAMS

• by Raphaela Neihausen, October 26, 2009

This year marks the 15th anniversary since HOOP DREAMS premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the audience award for Best Documentary.  Roger Ebert described this film as “one of the great moviegoing experiences of my lifetime.”

To celebrate this special anniversary, STF will screen HOOP DREAMS on Monday November 9th.  Due to the length of the film - the screening will commence at 7pm.  Filmmaker Peter Gilbert will be in attendance.  Tickets now on sale here.