WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? on Tim Hetherington, premiering at Sundance.
Tomorrow the Sundance Film Festival kicks off with over 40 feature documentaries. Here are nine that I’ve seen in various stages of completion and predict will make waves in Park City and beyond.
BLACKFISH (US competition) – What caused an Orca whale to kill its trainer at Sea World? Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite conducts an impressive investigation, demonstrating this wasn’t an isolated incident. If you own stock in an aquatic amusement park, sell now.
THE CRASH REEL (Doc Premieres) – Snow boarding champion Kevin Pearce was favored for Olympic greatness until he had a horrific crash during a practice run in Park City. Two-time Oscar nominee Lucy Walker (Waste Land) follows Pearce in recovery to explore the world of extreme sports and its growing pressures and dangers.
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SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN won the World Audience Prize in 2012.
In the lead-up to Sundance, I got to wondering how its documentary awards correlate to box office success. I looked at winners from the past 10 years in the categories of grand jury prize and audience award for both US and World competitions; and drew theatrical sales data from Box Office Mojo.
My question: how many grossed over $1 million at the box office?
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BLACKFISH, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, premieres at the Sundance Film Festival.
[Note: this post has been updated with a new date & place for Sundance panel on Jan 22]
Home movies normally aren’t intended for wide audiences. But that changes if you happen to record an Orca whale attacking its trainer. In the documentary Blackfish, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite mounts a devastating investigation into the practices of aquatic amusement parks by drawing upon numerous pieces of riveting footage shot with different intentions. Today, documentary makers increasingly employ “found footage” from multiple sources – amateur video, surveillance cameras, training tapes and more. The increased usage raises a number of questions: How do filmmakers track down non-traditional sources? What rights are needed to use found footage? How are archives coping with the exponential growth of material?
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THE CRASH REEL, directed by Lucy Walker, playing at Sundance 2013.
If your film is lucky enough to be invited to Sundance, what do you need to succeed? I reached out to past Sundance directors and industry veterans for their perspectives. While some of this advice is Sundance specific, much of it can be applied to doc makers headed to SXSW, Tribeca, Hot Docs, TIFF or other festivals.
Do you need a publicist?
Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me): The best decision I made going into my first Sundance in 2004 was hiring David Magdael as our publicist. He’s been there before. He knew the lay of the land, and he was a calming presence. He really helped us craft a press strategy and he knew when to offer sound advice. He’s still my publicist. I’m never letting him go.
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Director Roman Paska with actor John Turturro present Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy
STF’s Winter 2013 season kicked off last Tuesday with a sold-out screening of Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy. Director Roman Paska follows actor John Turturro throughout Western Sicily as they research a future film project about traditional Sicilian puppeteering. In addition to his conversations with professional puppeteers, local historians, and young actresses, Turturro traces his maternal roots in the region, exploring the neighborhood where his grandmother lived before immigrating to the United States. Paska and Turturro’s trip coincides with preparations for the Day of the Dead, an annual celebration that, in the context of the film, provides Turturro with the opportunity to remember his recently-deceased mother and the ways in which he still feels their relationship when he visits Italy. Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy explores the connections between death, tradition, and memory, and the ways in which these themes inform one’s relationship to one’s familial and cultural identities. After the screening, Paska and Turturro joined STF’s Artistic Director Thom Powers for a Q&A.
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