Screenings

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"

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"

By Jay Kuehner

The latest issue of Sight and Sound is devoted to the state of American independent cinema and the apparent dearth of genuine US indie talent. While a host of usual suspects is nominated to make or break the argument, there is no mention of Julia Loktev, the Russian-born but US-bred filmmaker whose work to date has included audio and video art installation pieces, as well as the prize-winning documentary Moment of Impact (1998), which deals with the quotidian aftermath of her father's debilitating car accident.

Loktev's first feature length film Day Night Day Night, is now out on DVD.

» continue reading "Julia Loktev: Day Night Day Night"

Interview By Andrew Grant

Joe Swanberg follows up his previous efforts, Kissing on the Mouth and LOL, with the clever and endearing Hannah Takes the Stairs; a film about a recent college graduate and aspiring playwright, struggling to find happiness in her life through various relationships. Swanberg's feature is a collaborative work that involved prominent indie filmmakers such as Mark Duplass, Ry Russo-Young, Todd Rohal, Andrew Bujalski and others. The film opened at SXSW and there Andrew Grant had a moment to speak with Swanberg about his films.

LOL is now out on DVD.

» continue reading "Young Americans: Joe Swanberg LOLs"

GreenCine is proud to be a sponsor of an excellent film event in Seattle put together by our friends at The Warren Report: The Act Now series of monthly screenings of stellar, progressive documentaries.

Their first screening was this past Tuesday - the stirring eco-doc The 11th Hour, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio - at the Seattle Art Museum, but there will be a bunch more throughout the fall. If you're a GreenCine member and would like to get on the guest list to see these screenings for free, email us at pr@greencine.com to let us know. Then we can tell The Warren Report who is coming and how many.

The screening schedule:

Let us know which of these you'd like to attend, your name and GreenCine member name, and an email address, and we'll put you on the list!

Interview By Jeffrey M. Anderson

As all screenwriters eventually must, the talented Scott Frank makes his directorial debut with the dramatic thriller The Lookout. Aside from his talent, Frank has enjoyed a very lucky career, seeing his screenplays for the most part produced by the right people at the right time, resulting in films like Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again (1991), Jodie Foster's Little Man Tate (1991), Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty (1995), Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight (1998) and Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002).

The Lookout is now out on DVD. 

» continue reading "Scott Frank, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Matthew Goode Keep their Eyes Peeled"

After finding success in the UK by documenting the lives and work of eccentric artists like Gilbert & George and currency vandal J.S.G. Boggs, director Philip Haas jumped the narrative fence with an adaptation of Paul Auster's Music of Chance, the first in what would become a long line of literary adaptations for the screen. With his next film, Angels and Insects, Haas broke through the arthouse market and received Cannes and Academy Award nominations. His latest film, The Situation, starring Connie Nielsen (Gladiator) as an American journalist caught in a Graham Greene-like situation, takes place in Iraq and marks his first collaboration with noted journalist Wendell Stevenson.

Hannah Eaves talks with Haas about working with artists vs. actors, directing scenes in Arabic and about how journalists and soldiers have reacted to The Situation - which is now out on DVD.

» continue reading "Philip Haas: Understanding the Situation"

GreenCine Members get a special discount on tickets ($6!) for a fun new series Thursdays and Saturdays at SF's Yerba Buena Center in July and August. Get off your couch and away from your computer! Seeing films projected in a theater does not even resemble the experience of watching at home. This series will showcase twelve remarkable films which have not been released on DVD. All will be presented on 35mm film, and many are pristine studio vault prints.

Films include Love Streams, Urgh! A Music War, Boys in the Band, She's Gotta Have It and Unholy Rollers. Don't miss 'em!

Please visit YBCA’s website for more details. 701 Mission Street, San Francisco. Thursdays: July 12, 19, 26 & August 2, 9, 16. Saturdays: July 14, 21, 28 & August 4, 11, 18
$8 regular, $6 seniors, students, & teachers/ $6 YBCA Members

interviewed By Heather Johnson

Twentysomething director Cam Archer doesn’t have much interest in conveying the often self-involved dramas of his own generation. The inner lives of teenagers provides much more interesting filmmaking fodder. In our 20s, we discover more fully who we are; in our teens, we struggle to be like everyone else and for everyone to like us. If that doesn’t happen, the results can be brutal, and lead to years of therapy in our 30s.

His new film, Wild Tigers I Have Known, is now out on DVD.

» continue reading "Wild Tigers I Have Known: Cam Archer's Study of Adolescent Angst"