Monday Memo: New York Times Changes Film Review Policy


Sending contradictory shocks of nervous awe and critical relief throughout the film industry, the New York Times announced that they can no longer guarantee a film review no matter whether or not a film plays theatrically or not. With the increasing deluge of films being released each year, A.O. Scott, Manohla Dargis and the rest of the film critics on staff can no longer handle the crushing load such a release schedule demands of the writers. Brent Lang broke the news at Variety, while Indiewire’s Sam Adams‘ had an exclusive interview with A.O. Scott about the tough decision and its possible implications. Following the news The Wrap ran a pair of articles, one by Steve Pond, the other by Todd Cunningham, focusing on the potentially catastrophic impact for documentary films come Oscar season. Ben Child of The Guardian also reported on the policy change, while FishbowlNY’s Richard Horgan collected social media responses from the likes of Ira Deutchman and Vadim Rizov who noted that “so many freelancers are gonna get their bottom line messed with, but for the greater good, probably”.

Less remarkable was the end of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which ended controversially, as usual. Most dubious to my mind was the fact that in nearly all coverage of the festival’s awards, mention of the new L’Oeil d’Or documentary award was wholly omitted. Separately, Variety’s John Hopewell wrote that Chilean Marcia Tambutti did in fact win the first ever L’Oeil d’Or with her film BEYOND MY GRANDFATHER ALLENDE, which Deborah Young called “a little too long” in her review of the film in The Hollywood Reporter, saying that “at times it slips away into a sort of psychoanalysis of the filmmaker and her close-mouthed family which can be heavy going”. Back at Variety, Peter Debruge continues to disparage, saying that portions of the film are “the documentary equivalent of a YouTube reaction video”. David Hudson was one of few who did manage to keep tabs on L’Oeil d’Or, collecting commentary on the award for Keyframe.

Much more positively, Stig Bjorkman’s INGRID BERGMAN IN HER OWN WORDS, which received a special mention, received a The Hollywood Reporter’s Deborah Young, calling the film “an inspiring celebrity bio with a happy ending”. Likewise, Luc Jacquet’s ecologically minded Cannes closer ICE AND THE SKY received glowing reviews from The Guardian’s Andrew Pulver, The Hollywood Reporter’s Boyd van Hoeij, and RogerEbert.com’s Barbara Scharres. Kent Jones’ much anticipated HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT also was awash in critical praise. Todd McCarthy called the doc “catnip for film buffs” at The Hollywood Reporter, while Peter Bradshaw dubbed it “a brilliant commentary on the discourse of cinema then, and now” at The Guardian. AV Club’s Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, LA Times’ Kenneth Turan and Indiewire’s Anne Thompson also reviewed the film positively. Lastly, Asif Kapadia, the director of the lavishly praised bio-doc AMY, spoke with Nigel M. Smith over at Indiewire about making his latest film, while filmmakers Rodney Ascher and Lloyd Kaufman told each other Cannes stories at The Talkhouse.

After last week’s successful screening of Marah Strauch’s BASE jumping debut SUNSHINE SUPERMAN here at Stranger Than Fiction, the film hit theaters to positive reviews from the likes of Glenn Kenny at RogerEbert.com and The Dissolve’s Jen Chaney. I also posted my interview with Strauch and the film’s producer Eric Bruggemann from back at its TIFF premiere over at IONCINEMA. The Stranger Than Fiction Q&A with Strauch and Bruggemann can also be found on the STFdocs YouTube channel. This week marks the return of legendary documentarian Barbara Kopple with her latest feature HOT TYPE: 150 YEARS OF THE NATION. The film screens tomorrow at the IFC Center and will follow with a Q&A with the director herself. More details on the event and ticket information can be found here.

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Monday Memo: Cannes Kicks Off, Asif Kapadia’s AMY Leads Charge


Anyone with an interest in cinema and an internet connection surely is aware that the Cannes Film Festival is currently in full swing with a full week of auteurist-driven cinephelia left to go. Swirling around in that first wave whirlwind of festival news is word that SENNA filmmaker Asif Kapadia’s latest archival driven docu-portrait AMY is apparently quite the masterwork. In his review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw calls the film “a tragic masterpiece”, meanwhile Variety’s Guy Lodge writes that it is a “reserved yet profoundly felt film”. Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter, The Independent’s Geoffrey Macnab, Indiewire’s Kaleem Aftab and The Wrap’s Steve Pond all gushed about Kapadia’s raw portrait of the late singer Amy Winehouse. Only Sophie Monks Kaufman of Little White Lies, who called the film “melodramatic” and “opportunistic”, and the singer’s much blamed father Mitch Winehouse, who spoke with Emine Saner at The Guardian about his disdain for the film, had anything truly negative to report.

Nancy Buirski’s autobiographical BY SIDNEY LUMET, which grew out of a never-before-seen interview shot in 2008 produced by the late filmmaker Daniel Anker, also premiered at Cannes over the weekend, alongside Gabriel Clarke and John McKenna’s STEVE MCQUEEN: THE MAN AND LE MANS, which ruminates on McQueen’s involvement with the troubled Lee H. Katzin picture from 1971. At RogerEbert.com, Ben Kenigsberg concludes that Buirski’s film is a bit loose, but remains insightful. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter also favored the film, dubbing it “illuminating”. On Clarke and McKenna’s film, Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter thought their picture “fascinating”, but lacked the punchiness of its decisive star. An in-depth preview of the film was also published at The Independent prior to its premiere.

Most interestingly for the doc community, for the first time in the festival’s history, a new documentary prize dubbed the Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) that comes with a prize of 5,000 euro will be handed out at the festival’s closing ceremony. The prize will be awarded by a jury presided over by Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh, whose own THE MISSING PICTURE premiered at the festival two years ago. Richard Mowe detailed the prize over at Eye For Film. At the same time, Daniel Walber speculated on the inaugural prize winner, debating the potential of the 14 features eligible for the award at Nonfics.

While the cinematic deluge abroad continues, here at Stranger Than Fiction we will be forging ahead with our Spring Season tomorrow with director Marah Strauch’s spectacular debut SUNSHINE SUPERMAN. Rich with stunning 16mm archive footage, well-crafted re-enactments and state-of-the-art aerial photography, the TIFF premiered film tells the story of BASE jumping pioneer Carl Boenish. Both Strauch and producer Eric Bruggeman will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A at tomorrow’s showing at the IFC Center.

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Monday Memo: TIFF Docs Make Waves


The film SUNSHINE SUPERMAN about BASE jumping was picked up by distributors after screening at this year's TIFF.

This week TIFF dominated documentary news. Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter wrote on the screening of THE LOOK OF SILENCE, director Joshua Oppenheimer’s follow up to THE ACT OF KILLING. Manori Ravindran of Realscreen had the news that Cinephil had inked a number of international distro deals for the film. And Variety shared a video interview with Oppenheimer. Director Michael Moore made waves by issuing a documentary filmmaker manifesto in a keynote speech that Indiewire reprinted in its entirety. Sam Adams also interviewed Moore in a piece for Biography. Indiewire’s Paula Bernstein reported that CNN Films and Magnolia Pictures had partnered to acquire SUNSHINE SUPERMAN from director Maria Strauch. The Hot Docs festival also used TIFF as a launching pad for its new report on learning from documentary audiences; Kevin Ritchie of Realscreen reported on its release.

Realscreen provided an astounding amount of coverage of the festival. Adam Benzine reported on Martin Scorsese’s Q&A following the screening of his documentary THE 50 YEAR ARGUMENT at TIFF. Nick Krewen spoke with THE PRICE WE PAY filmmaker Harold Crooks about his new film. Kevin Ritchie talked to Steven Markovitz, uncovering five tips for finding a coproduction partner. Manori Ravindran covered a panel talk from Marc Schiller of Bond Strategy and Influence. Kevin Ritchie covered the screening of the new Nick Broomfield film TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER. Adam Benzine also reported that HBO had purchased U.S. television rights for Broomfield’s film. Manori Ravindran spoke with directors Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan about their film THE WANTED 18. At Indiewire’s Thompson on Hollywood blog, John Anderson listed the best docs at the festival with about three days left.

Stranger Than Fiction announced its lineup this week, with the coming fall season dedicated to the works of filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker. “This is the first time STF has ever devoted a full season to one filmmaking team,” said Artistic Director Thom Powers. “It spans over 50 years of time and traces the history of modern American documentary making.” The season officially kicks off on Sept 23 with TOWN BLOODY HALL (1979), the first collaboration between Pennebaker and Hegedus, about a raucous debate over women’s liberation moderated by Norman Mailer with Germaine Greer. For more information on the season, or to purchase tickets, please go here. Also, a reminder that Stranger Than Fiction will feature a pre-season special screening of the film BRONX OBAMA by filmmaker Ryan Murdock about a Barack Obama impersonator living in the Bronx on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. at the IFC Center in Manhattan. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.

A special note this week that Ameena Matthews, one of the subjects from the film THE INTERRUPTERS, was recently diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. Matthews desperately needs an immediate bone marrow transplant. A community of friends has established a crowdfunding page to help Matthews, who lacks insurance, to pay for her lifesaving treatment. You can find out more about the campaign and donate here.

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