From attention-grabbing promos to thoughtful documentaries, a new crop of directors is creating innovative and daring pictures that are cheap to make, easy to share, and finding an audience as never before. Here, we speak to those responsible for some of the best
Are we in the middle of a short‑film revolution? Not long ago, if you wanted to catch short work by exciting new film-makers, you had to travel to a festival, hunt down a compilation on DVD, catch a charitable showing on TV or, if you were uncommonly lucky, before the main feature at the cinema. Now all you have to do, assuming you have internet access and a passing familiarity with video-hosting websites, is switch on your computer.
The curious thing about short films is that, regardless of audience and financial incentive, people have continued to make them with great enthusiasm. This is in part because...
Are we in the middle of a short‑film revolution? Not long ago, if you wanted to catch short work by exciting new film-makers, you had to travel to a festival, hunt down a compilation on DVD, catch a charitable showing on TV or, if you were uncommonly lucky, before the main feature at the cinema. Now all you have to do, assuming you have internet access and a passing familiarity with video-hosting websites, is switch on your computer.
The curious thing about short films is that, regardless of audience and financial incentive, people have continued to make them with great enthusiasm. This is in part because...
- 12/19/2010
- by Killian Fox
- The Guardian - Film News
Sunday ended up being a very short one at Cine Las Americas for me, but not for lack of good films to watch. I did catch Looking for Palladin, starring Ben Gazzara as a former actor working as a cook in small-town Guatemala when a slick Hollywood agent Josh (David Moscow) comes to town to sign him on to a new film. A "locals vs city slicker" premise is just the backdrop for complex relationships and backstories. Moscow deserves recognition for playing to a bluetooth prop for the first half of the film, while usually in crowded scenes. Yeah, he plays That Guy.
I stuck around to re-watch some of the great shorts in the narrative competition. I said it on Twitter and I'll say it again; that's a reel worthy of a Fantastic Fest program, with provocative and genre stories, including Austinite Miguel Alvarez's Mnemosyne Rising and Joaquin Baldwin's short,...
I stuck around to re-watch some of the great shorts in the narrative competition. I said it on Twitter and I'll say it again; that's a reel worthy of a Fantastic Fest program, with provocative and genre stories, including Austinite Miguel Alvarez's Mnemosyne Rising and Joaquin Baldwin's short,...
- 4/26/2010
- by Jenn Brown
- Slackerwood
by Amy Monaghan
[A reminder to Academy Awards watchers worldwide: please join GreenCine and a quick-witted panel of critics and bloggers for our Oscars Live Chat on Sunday night, beginning at 7:30pm Est.]
An astonishing number of cartoons are nominated for Academy Awards this year—Up, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Avatar, Meryl Streep's mawkish turn as Julia Child—but only five are in contention for Best Animated Short Film.
Oscar's recognition of animated shorts dates all the way back to 1932, when Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees took home the statuette in what was known for nearly 40 years as the "Short Subjects, Cartoon" category. The Seventies heralded two name changes, first to "Short Films (Animated Films)" and then its current moniker. That era also saw Disney et al.'s dominance challenged by the likes of the Hubleys, Will Vinton, and various works created under the auspices of the National Film Board of Canada and its Francophone sibling, Société Radio-Canada.
Continued reading Shorts? Sweet!...
Comments (1)
Comments on this Entry:
(Libby on Mar 6, 2010 10:19 Am) La Dama y la Muerte was by far my favorite,...
[A reminder to Academy Awards watchers worldwide: please join GreenCine and a quick-witted panel of critics and bloggers for our Oscars Live Chat on Sunday night, beginning at 7:30pm Est.]
An astonishing number of cartoons are nominated for Academy Awards this year—Up, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Avatar, Meryl Streep's mawkish turn as Julia Child—but only five are in contention for Best Animated Short Film.
Oscar's recognition of animated shorts dates all the way back to 1932, when Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees took home the statuette in what was known for nearly 40 years as the "Short Subjects, Cartoon" category. The Seventies heralded two name changes, first to "Short Films (Animated Films)" and then its current moniker. That era also saw Disney et al.'s dominance challenged by the likes of the Hubleys, Will Vinton, and various works created under the auspices of the National Film Board of Canada and its Francophone sibling, Société Radio-Canada.
Continued reading Shorts? Sweet!...
Comments (1)
Comments on this Entry:
(Libby on Mar 6, 2010 10:19 Am) La Dama y la Muerte was by far my favorite,...
- 3/6/2010
- GreenCine Daily
Thirteen students from nine colleges and universities were honored Saturday night at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 36th annual Student Academy Awards.
Gary Oldman, director John Landis, animator Andreas Deja and Academy first vp Robert Rehme presented the awards at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Winners in the alternative category are: gold medal, "Alice's Attic," Robyn Yannoukos, UCLA; and silver, "Matter, in a Quiescent State, Prepares Itself to Be Transformed," Kwibum Chung, School of Visual Arts, New York.
The animation winners are: gold, "Pajama Gladiator," Glenn Harmon, Brigham Young University; silver, "Sebastian's Voodoo," Joaquin Baldwin, UCLA; and bronze, "Kites," Jed Henry, Brigham Young.
Documentary winners are: gold, "The Last Mermaids," Liz Chae, Columbia University; silver, "The Wait," Cassandra Lizaire and Kelly Asmuth, Columbia; and bronze, "A Place to Land," Lauren DeAngelis, American University, Washington, D.C.
Narrative winners are: gold, "Kavi," Gregg Helvey, USC; silver, "The Bronx Balletomane,...
Gary Oldman, director John Landis, animator Andreas Deja and Academy first vp Robert Rehme presented the awards at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Winners in the alternative category are: gold medal, "Alice's Attic," Robyn Yannoukos, UCLA; and silver, "Matter, in a Quiescent State, Prepares Itself to Be Transformed," Kwibum Chung, School of Visual Arts, New York.
The animation winners are: gold, "Pajama Gladiator," Glenn Harmon, Brigham Young University; silver, "Sebastian's Voodoo," Joaquin Baldwin, UCLA; and bronze, "Kites," Jed Henry, Brigham Young.
Documentary winners are: gold, "The Last Mermaids," Liz Chae, Columbia University; silver, "The Wait," Cassandra Lizaire and Kelly Asmuth, Columbia; and bronze, "A Place to Land," Lauren DeAngelis, American University, Washington, D.C.
Narrative winners are: gold, "Kavi," Gregg Helvey, USC; silver, "The Bronx Balletomane,...
- 6/14/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film director and UCLA alumna Gina Prince-Bythewood will be honored as UCLA Filmmaker of the Year on Thursday at the Mann Bruin Theater in Westwood when UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television screens the work of nine students who are winners in its annual Directors Spotlight competition.
Directors Spotlight is part of "UCLA Festival 2009: New Creative Work," a nine-day celebration of the newest work by students from the School of Theater, Film and Television.
The highlighted films were selected by a panel of industry professionals that included director Charles Burnett, director Catherine Hardwicke, producer Michael London, Sundance Institute general manager John Nein and director Alexander Payne.
This year's Directors Spotlight winners are:
Amy Adrion: "Shoegazer
Joaquin Baldwin: "Sebastian's Voodoo"
Nathan Chitayat: "Subbing 4 Julia"
Sharon Hill: "Shades of Gray"
Edward Kim: "To Wander in Pandemonium"
Sijia Luo: "Kidnap"
Puja Maewal: "Sidekick"
Jessica McMunn: "Soleil"
David Martin-Porras...
Directors Spotlight is part of "UCLA Festival 2009: New Creative Work," a nine-day celebration of the newest work by students from the School of Theater, Film and Television.
The highlighted films were selected by a panel of industry professionals that included director Charles Burnett, director Catherine Hardwicke, producer Michael London, Sundance Institute general manager John Nein and director Alexander Payne.
This year's Directors Spotlight winners are:
Amy Adrion: "Shoegazer
Joaquin Baldwin: "Sebastian's Voodoo"
Nathan Chitayat: "Subbing 4 Julia"
Sharon Hill: "Shades of Gray"
Edward Kim: "To Wander in Pandemonium"
Sijia Luo: "Kidnap"
Puja Maewal: "Sidekick"
Jessica McMunn: "Soleil"
David Martin-Porras...
- 6/10/2009
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Photo: DreamWorks Animation The International Animated Film Society announced the nominees for the 2008 Annie Awards and Kung Fu Panda is leading the way with 17 nominations followed by Disney's Bolt with 9 and the Disney/Pixar feature Wall-e earning 8. Panda picked up a healthy amount of noms in categories such as Character Animation, Character Design, Music, Production Design, Storyboarding, Voice Acting and Writing. In each of those categories it was either nominated while Bolt and Wall-e were not or secured multiple nominations giving it the outright nomination lead by 8. Could this be a sign of a Panda-over-wall-e Oscar upset? The nominees are listed below and you can check out the official award site here. Best Animated Feature Bolt (Walt Disney Animation Studios) Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks Animation) $9.99 (Sherman Pictures/Lama Films) Wall-e (Pixar Animation Studios) Waltz With Bashir (Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D'ici, Razor Films) Best Animated Home Entertainment...
- 12/1/2008
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda" fought off stiff competition to earn 16 nominations -- the most for a feature -- for the International Animated Film Society's 36th Annual Annie Awards.
That includes a nomination for best-animated feature, a category that includes Pixar Animation Studios "Wall-e"-considered the frontrunner for the Oscar-which earned seven nominations. "Panda" and "Wall-e" also earned one additional nomination each in the best video game competition.
The top category is rounded out by nominations for Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Bolt," a 3-D release that earned five nominations; Sony Pictures Classics' "Waltz With Bashir," Israel's award-winning documentary, which took four nominations; and Sherman Pictures/Lama Films "$9.99," a stop-motion title that earned two nominations.
Blue Sky Studios' "Dr. Suess' Horton Hear as Who," a Fox release, also had a strong showing with five nominations.
All of these features are short listed by AMPAS for this season's animated feature competition.
Dwa earned a total of 27 nominations.
That includes a nomination for best-animated feature, a category that includes Pixar Animation Studios "Wall-e"-considered the frontrunner for the Oscar-which earned seven nominations. "Panda" and "Wall-e" also earned one additional nomination each in the best video game competition.
The top category is rounded out by nominations for Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Bolt," a 3-D release that earned five nominations; Sony Pictures Classics' "Waltz With Bashir," Israel's award-winning documentary, which took four nominations; and Sherman Pictures/Lama Films "$9.99," a stop-motion title that earned two nominations.
Blue Sky Studios' "Dr. Suess' Horton Hear as Who," a Fox release, also had a strong showing with five nominations.
All of these features are short listed by AMPAS for this season's animated feature competition.
Dwa earned a total of 27 nominations.
- 12/1/2008
- by By Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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