Independent

I’ve been working on a television pilot that involves 3D cartoon characters interacting with live action. It’s been a while since I shot with real people as opposed to computer animated creatures.

So on the first day I felt compelled to initiate two new superstitions for myself. I've always found such rituals amusing (as long as they don’t take up a lot of time or effort).

First, I wanted to find a way to fool the great god Murphy...

» continue reading "Filmmaker's Perspective: Take 3: The Superstitious Stunt Man"

Ladd Ehlinger Jr. produced and directed the 2007 animated cult film Flatland, now available on GreenCine.com here. The first feature film to be completely CGI animated by one person in Lightwave 3D, it received rave reviews. Phil Hall of Film Threat stated that "Flatland is a work of genius, and animation has a new force of power in Ehlinger," and Paul Di Filippo of Scifi.com called it a "glorious mathematical mystery tour."

In this, his second article for GreenCine.com, Ladd prognosticates for us on the future of the film industry.

» continue reading "Filmmaker's Blog: The Future of Filmmaking"

By Cathleen Rountree

"A compelling cross-cultural love story that sneakily blends elements of Lifetime-style domestic melodrama and ambiguous art-house cinema, Gina Kim's Never Forever is one of the spring season's unlikeliest and most delectable surprises," writes Salon's Andrew O'Hehir.

Cathleen Rountree sat down with the vivacious and sophisticated Gina Kim to talk about the history of recent Korean Cinema, her stint at Harvard, where she finds herself in her characters and her upcoming documentary. Never Forever is opening in New York and San Francisco before rolling out in May.

» continue reading "Gina Kim: "A Dilemma Every Woman Feels""

By Ladd Ehlinger Jr.

Ladd Ehlinger Jr. produced and directed the 2007 animated cult film Flatland [dvd]. The first feature film to be completely CGI animated by one person in Lightwave 3D, it received rave reviews. Phil Hall of Film Threat stated that "Flatland is a work of genius, and animation has a new force of power in Ehlinger," and Paul Di Phillipo of Scifi.com called it a "glorious mathematical mystery tour."

When Green Cine picked up Flatland for inclusion in our library, we thought it would be cool for Ladd to write a series of articles providing a filmmaker's perspective to the world of independent and classic film.

» continue reading "Filmmaker's Perspective, Take 1: On Orson Welles"

But for all the bitching, a quick scan of the films ultimately honored speak very well indeed for the integrity of the festival that, contrary to popular myth, Robert Redford did not actually found. The Utah/United States Film Festival was founded in 1978, took place in Salt Lake City, moved to Park City in 1981, and in 1985, Redford's Sundance Institute took over administration. Which is where our chronicle of the winners begins. As DVD versions of the most recent winners become available, we'll let you know right here.

» continue reading "Sundance Winners"

By James Van Maanen

Available Men: This series of gay-themed shorts is way better than most compilations (only one of the bunch sucks--it's in claymation and thankfully brief). The title short is terrific, and those that follow are each quite different as they explore various facets of "love"--in unique and clever ways. Give this one a try.

Broken Sky: A Mexican art film by Julián Hernández that is indeed art, this is a long one (2 hours and 20 minutes) but if it manages to pull you in to its story of a young university man and his "lost" love, you'll be hooked. It's that beautiful, strange and hypnotic. There is little dialog but the visuals are so unusual that I think you'll pay attention.

» continue reading "Best of 2007: Best Gay DVDs"

By Sean Axmaker

Adrienne Shelly blossomed onto the indie film scene with her 1989 screen debut in Hal Hartley's debut feature The Unbelievable Truth. In the succeeding years, the diminutive, red-headed actress proved to be very picky about her screen roles, appearing largely in idiosyncratic indie films and guest-starring in East Coast-based TV shows like Homicide and Law and Order. She had come from the stage and continued writing, directing, and performing numerous stage productions in the independent theater scene in New York, and she was making a name for herself as a film director.

(Note: Her final film as director, Waitress, is now out on DVD.)

» continue reading "A Conversation with Adrienne Shelly"

By John Esther

Considering the films he has written, directed and/or produced, it's not easy to see why Luc Besson and his film, Angela-A, were invited to this year's Sundance Film Festival. This is the festival, after all, that's supposed to be about finding great new voices outside of - and, ideally, who challenge - the mainstream entertainment apparatus.

Besson's newest feature, Angela-A, is now available on DVD.

» continue reading "In the Skies with Luc Besson and Rie Rasmussen"

Though its film stock had nearly turned to vinegar by the time UCLA stepped in with a timely restoration, Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep is of a vintage that only gets better with age. Its neorealist approach to the life of a neighborhood is rich, but the surprise is that it's also as fresh as the day it was made 30 years ago. Milestone Film and Video - the company that secured the music rights for the film (with the help of Steven Soderbergh) and encouraged the UCLA restoration of the work, is releasing it theatrically this spring and on DVD along with My Brother's Wedding (1983) this fall.

Susan Gerhard spoke with Burnett over the phone from Los Angeles, a few weeks before Killer of Sheep itself celebrated a milestone with the help of a film company that goes by the same name. 

Killer of Sheep is now available on DVD, at long last.

» continue reading "Charles Burnett Celebrates a Milestone"

By Sean Axmaker

In Christopher Boe's Allegro [official site], a world acclaimed concert pianist (played by Ulrich Thomsen) is formally invited to reclaim his lost past. You see, it's preserved in an impenetrable and inexplicable bubble in the center of Copenhagen. Imagine a cross between Andrei Tarkovksy and The Matrix, with a whimsical flair and a mischievous narrator (Henning Moritzen) who may be a guardian angel, an ironic devil, or simply an existential master of ceremonies.

Boe's latest feature Allegro is now on DVD.

» continue reading "Catching Up with Christoffer Boe"