The 50th Annual Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) wrapped up on Sunday and announced the winners of the 2024 Golden Space Needle Audience and Juried Competition Awards.
The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the feature films were created by first or second-time filmmakers; 43% were created by women or nonbinary filmmakers; 35% of filmmakers identify as a Bipoc director; and nearly 60% are currently without U.S. distribution and may not screen commercially in the United States,” according to Siff.
Siff holds two categories of competition: juried and audience based. Juried competitions include five feature subcategories including the Official Competition, New American Cinema Competition, New Directors Competition, Ibero-American Competition and Documentary Competition. Short film categories include live action, animation and documentary.
In addition, over 32,000 ballots were submitted for the Golden Space Needle Awards (Gsna). Films judged through the GSNAs are selected by audience members through post-screening ballots. The categories include best film,...
The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the feature films were created by first or second-time filmmakers; 43% were created by women or nonbinary filmmakers; 35% of filmmakers identify as a Bipoc director; and nearly 60% are currently without U.S. distribution and may not screen commercially in the United States,” according to Siff.
Siff holds two categories of competition: juried and audience based. Juried competitions include five feature subcategories including the Official Competition, New American Cinema Competition, New Directors Competition, Ibero-American Competition and Documentary Competition. Short film categories include live action, animation and documentary.
In addition, over 32,000 ballots were submitted for the Golden Space Needle Awards (Gsna). Films judged through the GSNAs are selected by audience members through post-screening ballots. The categories include best film,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Lexi Carson
- Variety Film + TV
Bina48, the central figure of the documentary “Love Machina,” is among the most terrifying film characters of the year. A disembodied head resembling a middle-aged Black woman and powered by artificial intelligence, Bina48 combines a realistic face, dead emotionless eyes, jerky and mechanical head movements, and speech that resembles a voicemail chatbot more than a living being to create an uncanny valley nightmare. But to basically everyone on screen, Bina48 is a dream, a sign of a world where — to quote the motto of her makers at the Terasem Movement — “Life is purposeful. Death is optional. God is technological. Love is essential.”
Whether “Love Machina” agrees with its subjects’ views about Bina48, and the larger ongoing debates about the ethics of artificial intelligence, is a bit of a mystery even by the time its credits roll. In taking us into the story of the AI, director Peter Sillen opts for...
Whether “Love Machina” agrees with its subjects’ views about Bina48, and the larger ongoing debates about the ethics of artificial intelligence, is a bit of a mystery even by the time its credits roll. In taking us into the story of the AI, director Peter Sillen opts for...
- 1/25/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
As the tradition calls, Sarah Shahat from IndieWire has published the camera survey regarding the Sundance 2024 Film Festival, focusing on documentaries. As usual, we ingested the data into a chart (cameras and manufacturers) to conclude that Sony’s cameras were the most popular among indie-documentaries filmmakers, even more than Canon’s. However, the most dominant camera is the Canon’s Super 35 beast, which is the acclaimed C300 Mark II.
Sundance 2024’s documentaries: Camera Manufacturers Chart Sundance 2024’s documentaries: Cameras and lenses
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival is taking place from January 18 to 28, 2024. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 6, 2023. Sundance 2024 presents a few high-potential films, crafted by top-tier independent filmmakers. This time, we focus on the selected documentaries (as opposed to narratives). Every year, IndieWire reaches out to the cinematographers behind the films premiering at the festival and asks which cameras, lenses, and formats they used — and...
Sundance 2024’s documentaries: Camera Manufacturers Chart Sundance 2024’s documentaries: Cameras and lenses
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival is taking place from January 18 to 28, 2024. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 6, 2023. Sundance 2024 presents a few high-potential films, crafted by top-tier independent filmmakers. This time, we focus on the selected documentaries (as opposed to narratives). Every year, IndieWire reaches out to the cinematographers behind the films premiering at the festival and asks which cameras, lenses, and formats they used — and...
- 1/22/2024
- by Yossy Mendelovich
- YMCinema
If you follow the news, you’d think that AI is going to take over every activity we formerly thought of as “human,” perhaps by the time you finish reading this sentence.
One of the great pleasures of reviewing documentaries, though, is that every few months a new film will pull back the curtain on the latest advancement in artificial intelligence or consciousness-infused robotics. Fairly consistently, the answer is: “Nah. People are safe. For now.”
For now.
The latest documentary to enter this fray is Peter Sillen’s Love Machina, a jumbled and easily distracted meditation on artificial intelligence, robotics, love, immortality, transformation and a form of spirituality that combines all of those things.
This is a subgenre in which any filmmaker will have to confront a series of what look like binaries, but increasingly aren’t: Visionary or crackpot? Science or science fiction? Utopian vision of the future or...
One of the great pleasures of reviewing documentaries, though, is that every few months a new film will pull back the curtain on the latest advancement in artificial intelligence or consciousness-infused robotics. Fairly consistently, the answer is: “Nah. People are safe. For now.”
For now.
The latest documentary to enter this fray is Peter Sillen’s Love Machina, a jumbled and easily distracted meditation on artificial intelligence, robotics, love, immortality, transformation and a form of spirituality that combines all of those things.
This is a subgenre in which any filmmaker will have to confront a series of what look like binaries, but increasingly aren’t: Visionary or crackpot? Science or science fiction? Utopian vision of the future or...
- 1/20/2024
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In some movies, the quest for immortality is about escaping death. But the new Sundance documentary “Love Machina” is a different take. For Dr. Martine and Bina Rothblatt, the couple at the heart of the film, it’s about prolonging love.
“There’s an energy when Martine and Bina walk in a room. You feel it… and it’s kind of electric,” says Peter Sillen, director and producer of “Love Machina.” “With this film, it’s interesting to see people who are very cognizant of their relationship as stronger together than apart and how that forges and solidifies their resolve to accomplish great things.”
Like digital immortality: The documentary focuses on their journey to build Bina48, an AI humanoid robot based on an extensive “mindfile” of human Bina’s memories and thought patterns.
“Martine said the idea of just being born and living and dying is going to be thought...
“There’s an energy when Martine and Bina walk in a room. You feel it… and it’s kind of electric,” says Peter Sillen, director and producer of “Love Machina.” “With this film, it’s interesting to see people who are very cognizant of their relationship as stronger together than apart and how that forges and solidifies their resolve to accomplish great things.”
Like digital immortality: The documentary focuses on their journey to build Bina48, an AI humanoid robot based on an extensive “mindfile” of human Bina’s memories and thought patterns.
“Martine said the idea of just being born and living and dying is going to be thought...
- 1/20/2024
- by Drew Pearce for Dropbox
- Indiewire
A robotic bust with a face modeled on a middle-aged woman who responds to questions using ChatGPT technology, Bina48 is a rather strange concoction. She sounds passably smart but definitely machine-like, looks nothing like a human being and yet the people behind her claim that she is the early prototype for how people could conquer death and live forever. In Sundance doc “Love Machina,” director Peter Sillen tries to find an answer for why Bina48 came to exist, yet ends up revealing the hubris of the people behind her.
The married couple at the center of the narrative, Martine and Bina Rothblatt, talk about meeting and falling in love in an attempt to get at the strength of their connection. Bina48 was developed with the idea that they would transfer their consciousness to the robot, through what they call an “AI mind file.” They started with Bina Rothblatt and based the bust on her likeness,...
The married couple at the center of the narrative, Martine and Bina Rothblatt, talk about meeting and falling in love in an attempt to get at the strength of their connection. Bina48 was developed with the idea that they would transfer their consciousness to the robot, through what they call an “AI mind file.” They started with Bina Rothblatt and based the bust on her likeness,...
- 1/20/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
Love Machina, the latest film by documentarian Peter Sillen (Benjamin Smoke) follows the couple Martine and Bina Rothblatt, who attempt to transfer Bina’s consciousness to a commissioned humanoid artificial intelligence to preserve their love for one another. The film is also the first feature film editor credit for Conor McBride who discusses the timeliness of the film and its subject matter, as well as how he balanced the need for the film to be simultaneously entertaining and touching. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your […]
The post “When You’re Telling a Story About the Future, the Conclusion is Itself Inconclusive”: Editor Conor McBride on Love Machina first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “When You’re Telling a Story About the Future, the Conclusion is Itself Inconclusive”: Editor Conor McBride on Love Machina first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Love Machina, the latest film by documentarian Peter Sillen (Benjamin Smoke) follows the couple Martine and Bina Rothblatt, who attempt to transfer Bina’s consciousness to a commissioned humanoid artificial intelligence to preserve their love for one another. The film is also the first feature film editor credit for Conor McBride who discusses the timeliness of the film and its subject matter, as well as how he balanced the need for the film to be simultaneously entertaining and touching. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your […]
The post “When You’re Telling a Story About the Future, the Conclusion is Itself Inconclusive”: Editor Conor McBride on Love Machina first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “When You’re Telling a Story About the Future, the Conclusion is Itself Inconclusive”: Editor Conor McBride on Love Machina first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Martine Rothblatt and Bina Rothblatt are two futurists attempting to preserve their love forever with BINA48, a robotic face with chatbot capabilities to which the couple hopes to upload Bina’s consciousness. Their story is chronicled in director Peter Sillen’s Love Machina, a 2024 Sundance premiere. For this project, Sillen served as his own cinematographer. Below, he explains why he made that choice for the film and explains the film’s relationship to 1960s America. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors […]
The post “Love Machina Taps into the Lofty Idealism of the 1960s”: Dp Peter Sillen on Love Machina first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Love Machina Taps into the Lofty Idealism of the 1960s”: Dp Peter Sillen on Love Machina first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Martine Rothblatt and Bina Rothblatt are two futurists attempting to preserve their love forever with BINA48, a robotic face with chatbot capabilities to which the couple hopes to upload Bina’s consciousness. Their story is chronicled in director Peter Sillen’s Love Machina, a 2024 Sundance premiere. For this project, Sillen served as his own cinematographer. Below, he explains why he made that choice for the film and explains the film’s relationship to 1960s America. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors […]
The post “Love Machina Taps into the Lofty Idealism of the 1960s”: Dp Peter Sillen on Love Machina first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Love Machina Taps into the Lofty Idealism of the 1960s”: Dp Peter Sillen on Love Machina first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/19/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Exhibiting Forgiveness.The Sundance Institute has announced the films selected for their 2024 Festival, which will take place January 18-28, 2024, in person in Utah. A selection of the films are available online across the U.S. from January 25-28.U.S. Dramatic COMPETITIONBetween the Temples (Nathan Silver): A cantor in a crisis of faith finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher reenters his life as his new adult bat mitzvah student. World Premiere. DìDi (弟弟) (Sean Wang): In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom. World Premiere. Exhibiting Forgiveness (Titus Kaphar): Utilizing his paintings to find freedom from his past, a Black artist on the path to success is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father,...
- 12/13/2023
- MUBI
The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival unveiled the aorta of its lineup which runs from Jan. 18-28 in Park City, Ut, with movies about AI being a running theme in the politically and socially conscious event as well as 80% of movies up for grabs for distribution.
In addition there are movies starring Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg (who is also back directing), Pedro Pascal, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Woody Harrelson, Laura Linney with the return of Sundance darling Aubrey Plaza.
Coming out of a dual strike in which the guilds were adamant about setting guardrails for AI to protect actors and writers, several titles are taking various angles on the technology.
‘Eno’ Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
In the New Frontier section there’s the documentary Eno about the legendary music producer of David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2 and other artists. The movie is billed as a “groundbreaking generative documentary...
In addition there are movies starring Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg (who is also back directing), Pedro Pascal, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Woody Harrelson, Laura Linney with the return of Sundance darling Aubrey Plaza.
Coming out of a dual strike in which the guilds were adamant about setting guardrails for AI to protect actors and writers, several titles are taking various angles on the technology.
‘Eno’ Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
In the New Frontier section there’s the documentary Eno about the legendary music producer of David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2 and other artists. The movie is billed as a “groundbreaking generative documentary...
- 12/6/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
There was much reason for celebration at the 2017 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (April 6-9) down in Durham, North Carolina. The state had just (kinda sorta) repealed the ridiculous bathroom bill — which had had me scrambling to cover all the queer films I could find at the 2016 fest — and this year’s 20th anniversary inspired artistic director Sadie Tillery to create “DoubleTake,” a wide-ranging retro program featuring 19 films, one from each year of the festival’s history. This diverse selection included everything from Jem Cohen and Peter Sillen’s 2001 Benjamin Smoke, to Linda Goode Bryant and Laura […]...
- 4/25/2017
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Peter Sillen’s documentary I Am Secretly An Important Man, a portrait of one of the leading figures of the late 80s and early ’90s “grunge” scene, author and performance artist, Steven Jesse Bernstein. The film, which is being distributed by Mike Plante‘s Cinemad Presents, opens today, July 22, at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland, Oregon. It runs until Thursday, July 28.
Sadly, Bernstein committed suicide in 1991, so now, 20 years later, his cultural legacy isn’t as well-recognized as it should have been had he lived longer. He could have elevated, in a way, to the level of a Charles Bukowski or a Wiliiam S. Burroughs literary figure.
The grunge music scene loved him, having him perform before their live shows and releasing spoken word records. If you were into indie music in the ’90s, you were familiar with his groundbreaking work even if you weren’t into poetry or spoken word.
Sadly, Bernstein committed suicide in 1991, so now, 20 years later, his cultural legacy isn’t as well-recognized as it should have been had he lived longer. He could have elevated, in a way, to the level of a Charles Bukowski or a Wiliiam S. Burroughs literary figure.
The grunge music scene loved him, having him perform before their live shows and releasing spoken word records. If you were into indie music in the ’90s, you were familiar with his groundbreaking work even if you weren’t into poetry or spoken word.
- 7/22/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
If you’re in New York, come out tonight for an evening with Pete Sillen at the IFC Center. Filmmaker is hosting a screening of Pete’s short-form work, and I’m moderating the Q & A. The evening begins at 7:00, and here’s the description:
Tonight at 7:00pm! We’re proud to welcome critically acclaimed director Peter Sillen Tuesday December 14 discussing his works with Filmmaker Magazine Editor-In-Chief Scott Macaulay. Sillen will present screenings of a number of his short films, including Speed Racer: Welcome to the World of Vic Chesnutt, Grand Luncheonette, Branson: Musicland U.S.A., and a short working cut of his upcoming feature length documentary on the Masonic Order in America, Free and Accepted. Sillen’s new feature-length documentary I Am Secretly An Important Man opens on Wednesday, December 15.
Peter Sillen is a New York based documentary filmmaker. Best known for his low-tech approach and...
Tonight at 7:00pm! We’re proud to welcome critically acclaimed director Peter Sillen Tuesday December 14 discussing his works with Filmmaker Magazine Editor-In-Chief Scott Macaulay. Sillen will present screenings of a number of his short films, including Speed Racer: Welcome to the World of Vic Chesnutt, Grand Luncheonette, Branson: Musicland U.S.A., and a short working cut of his upcoming feature length documentary on the Masonic Order in America, Free and Accepted. Sillen’s new feature-length documentary I Am Secretly An Important Man opens on Wednesday, December 15.
Peter Sillen is a New York based documentary filmmaker. Best known for his low-tech approach and...
- 12/14/2010
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Durham - Once more The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is a four day film festival that plays like it should last a week They show so many films that it’s impossible to even come close to seeing them all. Five theaters are going at once and the only repeats are the award winning movies. It’s hard to pick while going through the schedule. I’ve yet to hear anyone complain about the movie they saw so much as wishing they could have seen two or three of the other ones that were showing concurrently. This is the best festival for documentary film viewers. The 2010 edition kept up the lofty standards with films about basketball, pork, pastries, scoundrels, nomads and undiscovered superstars.
Steve James created the greatest film about the dirty business of Chicago high school basketball in Hoop Dreams. Espn gave him a chance to look into...
Steve James created the greatest film about the dirty business of Chicago high school basketball in Hoop Dreams. Espn gave him a chance to look into...
- 5/14/2010
- by UncaScroogeMcD
NEW YORK -- Andy Warhol was wrong. It's not just that everyone is going to have 15 minutes of fame. In the not-so-distant future, every person on the planet is going to have a film made about him or her. It is not a trend to be encouraged, at least until the subject rolls around to film critics.
The subject of this documentary by Jem Cohen and Peter Sillen, playing at the Screening Room, is the late Robert Dickerson. Also known as Benjamin, he was the leader of a band called Smoke, hence the film's title. Dickerson, who died last year of AIDS-related complications, was an Atlanta singer-songwriter -- his style not unlike that of Tom Waits -- with an underground following. He achieved his greatest measure of fame, at least until the release of this film, when his band opened a show for Patti Smith, one of his idols, who makes a brief appearance here.
Dickerson, a gay drag queen and drug addict, was also a colorful, scabrously witty character who is here given the opportunity to expound on various subjects. His often absurdist ruminations are not without interest, but whether you'll want to partake of his company for 80 minutes is another matter.
Using a combination of film stock, video and still photographs, the film, shot over several years, presents an impressionistic and not terribly detailed portrait of Dickerson's musical career and less-than-luxurious life in Cabbagetown, a run-down section of Atlanta. We also see snippets of his performances with his band, but they are not extensive enough to form an opinion of the depths of his talent. In terms of sheer weirdness, however, he certainly qualified for a position in underground rock, even if not necessarily as the subject of a feature film.
BENJAMIN SMOKE
Cowboy Booking International
Directors/screenwriters/directors of photography/
editors: Jem Cohen, Peter Sillen
Executive producer: Noah Cowan
Editor: Nancy Roach
Music: Smoke
Color/stereo
Running time -- 80 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The subject of this documentary by Jem Cohen and Peter Sillen, playing at the Screening Room, is the late Robert Dickerson. Also known as Benjamin, he was the leader of a band called Smoke, hence the film's title. Dickerson, who died last year of AIDS-related complications, was an Atlanta singer-songwriter -- his style not unlike that of Tom Waits -- with an underground following. He achieved his greatest measure of fame, at least until the release of this film, when his band opened a show for Patti Smith, one of his idols, who makes a brief appearance here.
Dickerson, a gay drag queen and drug addict, was also a colorful, scabrously witty character who is here given the opportunity to expound on various subjects. His often absurdist ruminations are not without interest, but whether you'll want to partake of his company for 80 minutes is another matter.
Using a combination of film stock, video and still photographs, the film, shot over several years, presents an impressionistic and not terribly detailed portrait of Dickerson's musical career and less-than-luxurious life in Cabbagetown, a run-down section of Atlanta. We also see snippets of his performances with his band, but they are not extensive enough to form an opinion of the depths of his talent. In terms of sheer weirdness, however, he certainly qualified for a position in underground rock, even if not necessarily as the subject of a feature film.
BENJAMIN SMOKE
Cowboy Booking International
Directors/screenwriters/directors of photography/
editors: Jem Cohen, Peter Sillen
Executive producer: Noah Cowan
Editor: Nancy Roach
Music: Smoke
Color/stereo
Running time -- 80 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/27/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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