This is a very cursory look at where I spent two weeks in February. It is by no means complete, but it gives you some idea about how I spend so much of my time.
The Berlinale is an A-festival, founded in 1951 at the height of the Cold War. It accredits about 20,000 industry visitors and about 4,000 journalists each year with a total of 130 countries. It is one of the largest public festivals, selling about 300,000 tickets. The actual figure is 303,077 up 1.2% from last year’s 299,362). Aside from the Competition, it has 10 other sections and series, from children’s films to retrospectives. This year The Weimar Touch and also an homage to Claude Lanzmann were especially appealing to me. See more on the Efm website.
The Berlinale, which ran Feb. 7 to 17 includes the Festival, the European Film Market, the second largest market after Cannes, Talent Campus, Meet the Docs, The Co-Production Market and possibly other sections I am missing here. Efm registered a greater number of exhibitors than last year and they saw brisk sales for competition films including Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, Chilean Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria (which won a Silver Bear for actress Paulina Garcia), as well as films from other sections and from the market itself. I am offering a report called Winter Rights Roundup which lists all the buying activity, not only for the Berlinale but also for Sundance. It includes links to the companies.
While around 400 films screened in thefestival (out of about 7,000 applications), 890 films screened in the market (600 were market premieres) to more than 8,000 participants from 95 countries. 1,690 of those were distributors in Berlin to buy rights from 172 international sales agents.
The Efm offered a new introduction to the market, “Shortcuts for First-Timers” on the first day of the Market, It was held in the Mirror Restaurant and 300 or 400 people attended. Thursday February 7 from 3.00 - 4.30 pm. I attended since I participate in the Cannes First-Timers event. The panelists were quite clear but I wished their names were in front of them. And I wondered who was in the audience. There is also possibly a replay of the panel but I don’t know where to find it for reference. There was a back screen which might have been used by showing a map of the market, or the names of those speaking or other graphics to help illustrate their points. They pointed out that red lights served to point out all the paths and venues used by the festival and market. That was very clever and once I knew to look for them, they helped me find new places.
They announced a new Berlinale Residency Program for writers/ directors who will have a four month stay in Berlin to work on their fiction, doc or cross-media project with the help of script consultants and industry experts from September to December. In February the residents return to present their projects at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to find further co-producers and financiers. This year 6 filmmakers were invited.
They didn’t mention the free WiFi for every registrant and the password written on the badges themselves.
I myself gave tours around the Martin Gropius Bau where most of the market takes place to participants at the Talent Campus and Deutsche Welle Akademie where I also taught about the international film business to Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean film festival organizers. The tours are a great way to understand how the market works, who the people are, what company cultures are and how to understand them in order to operate optimally. I do the same thing for first timers in Cannes.
My partner Peter and I also had two clients there; one had his film in the market already and the other was following up with meetings with interested international sales agents. As it was their first time in Berlin, we were very pleased to see them take to it so easily.
It was only in the last two days I could actually see movies. But I caught up on lots of gossip along the way. For instance, I had not realized that Turner Broadcasting had bought a Norwegian sales agent and distributor for Scandinavia until Michael Werner who headed sales for NonStop told me that two years after their buyout they were now letting go of 400 people and Michael Werner and the international sales division were included.
I also heard about a new educational program called Making Waves. Five film schools including including the London Film School under the leadership of Ben Gibson and Columbia Film School under the leadership of Ira Deutchman brought students to Berlin and the students were making business plans for the sales and distribution of films in the market. Making Waves is a new week long distribution and marketing workshop devised by the London Film School in partnership with La fémis, the dffb, l'escac, the Romanian Film and Theatre University and New York's Columbia University of the Arts Film Department. Held in parallel to the Berlinale, 30 participants from the 6 film training institutions are immersed in all areas of the Berlinale: the European Film Market, the Festival and the Talent Campus where they work collaboratively in teams to develop creative campaigns, edit trailers, design posters and plan roll-out packages for actual independent films in the European Film Market. They are joined by experienced industry professionals working in the independent distribution sector who offer in-depth case studies. This hands-on workshop is for graduating students to gain understanding in emerging strategies in independent film distribution.
Venice seems to be working on student initiatives as well with a call for entries to the Biennale College. Unlike festivals that call for finished films, the Biennale College asked for up-and-comers to submit their ideas. The best proposals get 150,000 euros in seed money and the filmmakers are matched with some of the industry's finest practitioners who would help turn their treatments into reality, with a guaranteed screening at Venice in the summer. After narrowing it down to 15 semifinalists out of hundreds of submissions from around the globe, organizers this month announced three winners, each from a different continent. From the United States, director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker have won a spot with their yet-to-be-made film called Memphis, which follows the transformation of Ezra Jack, 'from beloved soul singer to ecstatic contemplator,' said judges in their review. From Thailand, director Nawapol Thanrongratanarit and producer Aditya Assarat won with their submission The Year of June, which follows a year in the life of an anonymous female student in Bangkok through her Twitter status. And from Italy, director Alessio Fava and producer Max Chicco won the last spot with Yuri Esposito, about a documentary film crew who follows a man who lives in a state of perennial sluggishness, whose wife all of a sudden gets pregnant. Buzz around the competition, which has the potential to launch unknowns into stardom, has been mounting for months. “To me the promise of a Venice debut is even a bigger deal than the money, because it's one thing to make a movie and quite another to have a chance for the entire international press to see it,” said San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick Lasalle. “In fact, it's quite a big deal to make a movie, as an unknown, knowing that international exposure is guaranteed. The whole question mark - even if this turns out great, will anybody ever see it? - is eliminated”. Ensuring a fresh batch of talent, competition rules stipulated that the submission must be the applicant's first or second film endeavor. Earlier this month, semifinalists took part in a 10-day workshop with veteran filmmakers and cinema experts in Venice. “The key is that masters in cinema were present here during the workshop to help participants along,” says Paolo Baratta, president of the Biennale, the festival body that oversees the annual film fest. Organizers then narrowed it down to the three winners, who will receive funding thanks in part to Italian luxury fashion designer Gucci. In just 15 days the filmmakers will get a jumpstart on making micro-budget feature films before screening them at Venice August 28 through September 7. The winners will also get online distribution, adding to their much-needed visibility at the dawn of their careers. Organizers of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest in the world, say mixing veteran mentors with young blood is key to sustaining cinema as an art as well as keeping the festival relevant. “It is an initiative whose constant development will be continued for years to come,” Baratta says. See Variety Feb 11 – 17, 2013. You know this is in response and attests to the success of the the Berlinale Talent Campus which just completed its 11th year.
And in France, Cinefondation has brought U.S. director Barney Elliott to its six month residence program in Paris where he wrote the first draft of Oliver's Deal and later developed it at Amsterdam’s Binger Filmlab. It is now set to star Edward Burns and Spain’s Alberto Ammann. Marina Fuentes of Dreamcatches will bring the film to the market. Christine Vachon is exec producing. It will start shooting in May in New York and will travel to Lima, Peru and Huarez in the Anders.
Other notes gathered during this intense 10 day experience were Russian filmmaker Andrey Khvostov made a summer love story called Saint Petersburg which is being sold by Aktis Film International. Of course I want to see this especially because Rosskino hosted a trip last year to St. Petersburg for distributors after holding screenings of current films on offer. St. Peterburg of one of the most beautiful cities in the world; and the film has an original score by Sergei Yetushenko (The Last Station, Russian Ark).
Also Alberto Antonio Dandolo whom I met in Havana, was in his new home town Berlin continuing to sell The Cuban Wives about the wives of the Cuban 5 who are imprisoned in the United States.
Other news of interest includes The Match Factory’s Distribution 2.0 VOD initiative which will release its first film, Postcards from the Zoo. Partnering with Euro VoD platforms in France, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Peccadillo Pictures in U.K. and Eye Film Institute in the Netherlands, The Match Factory will coordinate marketing activities. This exploration of new marketing and distribution avenues for international arthouse features has the support of the EU’s Media Mundus.
BackUp, the Paris based financier is launching a new rights management software Movie Chainer on April 30, two weeks ahead of the Cannes Film Festival. This cloud based app enables Av rights holders to track contracts, generate exploitation and availability reports and calculate revenue splits and repayment schedules in a clear and visual style. The Cannes March’s database and networking platform Cinando will host and support the launch. The first live version of Movie Chainer will be available free to all industry professionals for a maximum of three projects and a demo version and presentation of the software is available here.
Former Arte Cinema chief Michel Reilhac has reactivated his production company Melange with a $6.7 million multi-platform project exploring the world of high endurance sport ultra-trailing. The work will revolve around six blocks or storylines, unfolding on several platforms – the web, the real world, tv. over six months in the second half of 2014.
New international sales agent out of Poland, New Europe, which picked up two Us in Progress films, Now Forager and I Used to be Darker, has also picked up Papusza, the story of the first published Romany Gypsy woman poet, whose work enraged her patriarchal community. Poland is also coming out with films by up and coming female directors two of which are in the official selection: 39 year old Malgorzata Szumowska has In the Name Of about homosexuality within the Polish Catholic Church (picked up for U.S by Film Movement) in the Main Competition, and Baby Blues, a story about teenage parents by Katarzyna Roslaniec in Generation. Izabela Kiszka, head of international relations at the Polish Film Institute, the country’s major public film funder, says both films are “daring, important, modern and up-to-date Eruopean cinema”. Both films are produced by Agnieszka Kurzydlo of Mental Disorder 4 and Szumowska is co-producer of both. Zentropa Poland is also a co-producer.
International sales agent We Pictures of China is producing a $9 million film called American Dreams in China, to be directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan and photographed by Christopher Doyle. One of the protagonists teaches English in a Kentucky Fried Chicken store in China and invites his two other friends to partake in his “New Vision” where thousands of students wanting to go to the U.S. to follow their “American Dream” flock to the class.
David Castellanos formerly of Latido, has found success in his own international sales company, Cinema Republic. Their film The Clown was the Brazilian entry for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and has wracked up 1.5 million admissions in Brazil. At Efm he is premiering Camina o Revienta which features first time director Paco Leon and stars a top Spanish TV actor and his real-life mother. It was the first day & date release in Spain and worked quite well. The Dumbass (Muro Mula) is also by a first time director and was filmed on a low $30K budget. It comes from Guaemala and features great music and is an example of the new wave of Latin American comedy. 18 Meals is the actor Luis Tozar’s first production and is directed by first timer Jorge Coira. It sold to Argentina and Japan, won for Best Director in Taorima Iff, the Audience Award and Jury Special Mention at Ourense Iff, and won Best Film and Audience Award at La Laguna Gastronomic Iff. Yummy: six seemingly unconnected stories in which food is the common demominator make up a romantic comedy set in Santiago de Compostela. It is available for viewing at Cinando as is The Clown and Carmina or Blow Up.
The Berlinale is an A-festival, founded in 1951 at the height of the Cold War. It accredits about 20,000 industry visitors and about 4,000 journalists each year with a total of 130 countries. It is one of the largest public festivals, selling about 300,000 tickets. The actual figure is 303,077 up 1.2% from last year’s 299,362). Aside from the Competition, it has 10 other sections and series, from children’s films to retrospectives. This year The Weimar Touch and also an homage to Claude Lanzmann were especially appealing to me. See more on the Efm website.
The Berlinale, which ran Feb. 7 to 17 includes the Festival, the European Film Market, the second largest market after Cannes, Talent Campus, Meet the Docs, The Co-Production Market and possibly other sections I am missing here. Efm registered a greater number of exhibitors than last year and they saw brisk sales for competition films including Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, Chilean Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria (which won a Silver Bear for actress Paulina Garcia), as well as films from other sections and from the market itself. I am offering a report called Winter Rights Roundup which lists all the buying activity, not only for the Berlinale but also for Sundance. It includes links to the companies.
While around 400 films screened in thefestival (out of about 7,000 applications), 890 films screened in the market (600 were market premieres) to more than 8,000 participants from 95 countries. 1,690 of those were distributors in Berlin to buy rights from 172 international sales agents.
The Efm offered a new introduction to the market, “Shortcuts for First-Timers” on the first day of the Market, It was held in the Mirror Restaurant and 300 or 400 people attended. Thursday February 7 from 3.00 - 4.30 pm. I attended since I participate in the Cannes First-Timers event. The panelists were quite clear but I wished their names were in front of them. And I wondered who was in the audience. There is also possibly a replay of the panel but I don’t know where to find it for reference. There was a back screen which might have been used by showing a map of the market, or the names of those speaking or other graphics to help illustrate their points. They pointed out that red lights served to point out all the paths and venues used by the festival and market. That was very clever and once I knew to look for them, they helped me find new places.
They announced a new Berlinale Residency Program for writers/ directors who will have a four month stay in Berlin to work on their fiction, doc or cross-media project with the help of script consultants and industry experts from September to December. In February the residents return to present their projects at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to find further co-producers and financiers. This year 6 filmmakers were invited.
They didn’t mention the free WiFi for every registrant and the password written on the badges themselves.
I myself gave tours around the Martin Gropius Bau where most of the market takes place to participants at the Talent Campus and Deutsche Welle Akademie where I also taught about the international film business to Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean film festival organizers. The tours are a great way to understand how the market works, who the people are, what company cultures are and how to understand them in order to operate optimally. I do the same thing for first timers in Cannes.
My partner Peter and I also had two clients there; one had his film in the market already and the other was following up with meetings with interested international sales agents. As it was their first time in Berlin, we were very pleased to see them take to it so easily.
It was only in the last two days I could actually see movies. But I caught up on lots of gossip along the way. For instance, I had not realized that Turner Broadcasting had bought a Norwegian sales agent and distributor for Scandinavia until Michael Werner who headed sales for NonStop told me that two years after their buyout they were now letting go of 400 people and Michael Werner and the international sales division were included.
I also heard about a new educational program called Making Waves. Five film schools including including the London Film School under the leadership of Ben Gibson and Columbia Film School under the leadership of Ira Deutchman brought students to Berlin and the students were making business plans for the sales and distribution of films in the market. Making Waves is a new week long distribution and marketing workshop devised by the London Film School in partnership with La fémis, the dffb, l'escac, the Romanian Film and Theatre University and New York's Columbia University of the Arts Film Department. Held in parallel to the Berlinale, 30 participants from the 6 film training institutions are immersed in all areas of the Berlinale: the European Film Market, the Festival and the Talent Campus where they work collaboratively in teams to develop creative campaigns, edit trailers, design posters and plan roll-out packages for actual independent films in the European Film Market. They are joined by experienced industry professionals working in the independent distribution sector who offer in-depth case studies. This hands-on workshop is for graduating students to gain understanding in emerging strategies in independent film distribution.
Venice seems to be working on student initiatives as well with a call for entries to the Biennale College. Unlike festivals that call for finished films, the Biennale College asked for up-and-comers to submit their ideas. The best proposals get 150,000 euros in seed money and the filmmakers are matched with some of the industry's finest practitioners who would help turn their treatments into reality, with a guaranteed screening at Venice in the summer. After narrowing it down to 15 semifinalists out of hundreds of submissions from around the globe, organizers this month announced three winners, each from a different continent. From the United States, director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker have won a spot with their yet-to-be-made film called Memphis, which follows the transformation of Ezra Jack, 'from beloved soul singer to ecstatic contemplator,' said judges in their review. From Thailand, director Nawapol Thanrongratanarit and producer Aditya Assarat won with their submission The Year of June, which follows a year in the life of an anonymous female student in Bangkok through her Twitter status. And from Italy, director Alessio Fava and producer Max Chicco won the last spot with Yuri Esposito, about a documentary film crew who follows a man who lives in a state of perennial sluggishness, whose wife all of a sudden gets pregnant. Buzz around the competition, which has the potential to launch unknowns into stardom, has been mounting for months. “To me the promise of a Venice debut is even a bigger deal than the money, because it's one thing to make a movie and quite another to have a chance for the entire international press to see it,” said San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick Lasalle. “In fact, it's quite a big deal to make a movie, as an unknown, knowing that international exposure is guaranteed. The whole question mark - even if this turns out great, will anybody ever see it? - is eliminated”. Ensuring a fresh batch of talent, competition rules stipulated that the submission must be the applicant's first or second film endeavor. Earlier this month, semifinalists took part in a 10-day workshop with veteran filmmakers and cinema experts in Venice. “The key is that masters in cinema were present here during the workshop to help participants along,” says Paolo Baratta, president of the Biennale, the festival body that oversees the annual film fest. Organizers then narrowed it down to the three winners, who will receive funding thanks in part to Italian luxury fashion designer Gucci. In just 15 days the filmmakers will get a jumpstart on making micro-budget feature films before screening them at Venice August 28 through September 7. The winners will also get online distribution, adding to their much-needed visibility at the dawn of their careers. Organizers of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest in the world, say mixing veteran mentors with young blood is key to sustaining cinema as an art as well as keeping the festival relevant. “It is an initiative whose constant development will be continued for years to come,” Baratta says. See Variety Feb 11 – 17, 2013. You know this is in response and attests to the success of the the Berlinale Talent Campus which just completed its 11th year.
And in France, Cinefondation has brought U.S. director Barney Elliott to its six month residence program in Paris where he wrote the first draft of Oliver's Deal and later developed it at Amsterdam’s Binger Filmlab. It is now set to star Edward Burns and Spain’s Alberto Ammann. Marina Fuentes of Dreamcatches will bring the film to the market. Christine Vachon is exec producing. It will start shooting in May in New York and will travel to Lima, Peru and Huarez in the Anders.
Other notes gathered during this intense 10 day experience were Russian filmmaker Andrey Khvostov made a summer love story called Saint Petersburg which is being sold by Aktis Film International. Of course I want to see this especially because Rosskino hosted a trip last year to St. Petersburg for distributors after holding screenings of current films on offer. St. Peterburg of one of the most beautiful cities in the world; and the film has an original score by Sergei Yetushenko (The Last Station, Russian Ark).
Also Alberto Antonio Dandolo whom I met in Havana, was in his new home town Berlin continuing to sell The Cuban Wives about the wives of the Cuban 5 who are imprisoned in the United States.
Other news of interest includes The Match Factory’s Distribution 2.0 VOD initiative which will release its first film, Postcards from the Zoo. Partnering with Euro VoD platforms in France, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Peccadillo Pictures in U.K. and Eye Film Institute in the Netherlands, The Match Factory will coordinate marketing activities. This exploration of new marketing and distribution avenues for international arthouse features has the support of the EU’s Media Mundus.
BackUp, the Paris based financier is launching a new rights management software Movie Chainer on April 30, two weeks ahead of the Cannes Film Festival. This cloud based app enables Av rights holders to track contracts, generate exploitation and availability reports and calculate revenue splits and repayment schedules in a clear and visual style. The Cannes March’s database and networking platform Cinando will host and support the launch. The first live version of Movie Chainer will be available free to all industry professionals for a maximum of three projects and a demo version and presentation of the software is available here.
Former Arte Cinema chief Michel Reilhac has reactivated his production company Melange with a $6.7 million multi-platform project exploring the world of high endurance sport ultra-trailing. The work will revolve around six blocks or storylines, unfolding on several platforms – the web, the real world, tv. over six months in the second half of 2014.
New international sales agent out of Poland, New Europe, which picked up two Us in Progress films, Now Forager and I Used to be Darker, has also picked up Papusza, the story of the first published Romany Gypsy woman poet, whose work enraged her patriarchal community. Poland is also coming out with films by up and coming female directors two of which are in the official selection: 39 year old Malgorzata Szumowska has In the Name Of about homosexuality within the Polish Catholic Church (picked up for U.S by Film Movement) in the Main Competition, and Baby Blues, a story about teenage parents by Katarzyna Roslaniec in Generation. Izabela Kiszka, head of international relations at the Polish Film Institute, the country’s major public film funder, says both films are “daring, important, modern and up-to-date Eruopean cinema”. Both films are produced by Agnieszka Kurzydlo of Mental Disorder 4 and Szumowska is co-producer of both. Zentropa Poland is also a co-producer.
International sales agent We Pictures of China is producing a $9 million film called American Dreams in China, to be directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan and photographed by Christopher Doyle. One of the protagonists teaches English in a Kentucky Fried Chicken store in China and invites his two other friends to partake in his “New Vision” where thousands of students wanting to go to the U.S. to follow their “American Dream” flock to the class.
David Castellanos formerly of Latido, has found success in his own international sales company, Cinema Republic. Their film The Clown was the Brazilian entry for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and has wracked up 1.5 million admissions in Brazil. At Efm he is premiering Camina o Revienta which features first time director Paco Leon and stars a top Spanish TV actor and his real-life mother. It was the first day & date release in Spain and worked quite well. The Dumbass (Muro Mula) is also by a first time director and was filmed on a low $30K budget. It comes from Guaemala and features great music and is an example of the new wave of Latin American comedy. 18 Meals is the actor Luis Tozar’s first production and is directed by first timer Jorge Coira. It sold to Argentina and Japan, won for Best Director in Taorima Iff, the Audience Award and Jury Special Mention at Ourense Iff, and won Best Film and Audience Award at La Laguna Gastronomic Iff. Yummy: six seemingly unconnected stories in which food is the common demominator make up a romantic comedy set in Santiago de Compostela. It is available for viewing at Cinando as is The Clown and Carmina or Blow Up.
- 3/4/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
From director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker comes a project titled Memphis, which is one of the 3 projects that will proceed to the second phase of the Biennale College – Cinema, which consists of a workshop that will make it possible to actually make a mini-budget film, with funding of 150,000 euro (about 150,000) each. The 3 projects, each being either debut features or sophomore works, are chosen at the end of the first workshop are among the 15 previously selected projects from all over the world (presented by a team of one director and one producer) are. The goal is to present the 3 feature-length films at the upcoming 70th Venice International Film Festival...
- 2/11/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Three projects have advanced to the second round of the Venice Film Festival's Biennale College-Cinema program. This second phase consists of a workshop in which the participants will actually make a mini-budget film; each will get 150,000 euro in funding. The three projects were chosen at the end of a 10-day workshop held in January, in which 15 groups participated, each comprised of a director and producer. The initial group of 15 represented 12 countries from around the world. The goal of the program is to present the three feature-length films at the 70th International Venice Film Festival (August 28 - September 7, 2013). The three projects are: "Memphis" (USA), director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker "The Year of June" (Thailand), director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit and producer Aditya Assarat "Yuri Esposito" (Italy), director Alessio Fava and producer Max Chicco...
- 1/22/2013
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
Black Pond
Directed by Tom Kingsley & Will Sharpe
Black Pond heralds an incredibly original, startlingly mature, and completely inscrutable new film-making duo. It’s unclear what exactly they have made with Black Pond; suffice it to say it is equal parts profound and hilarious while refusing classification… (read the full review)
Cabin In The Woods
Directed by Drew Goddard
If you’re familiar with the writing style and general playfulness of Joss Whedon, you already know whether you will like this film. Not to discredit the game, fantastic cast, but fans of Whedon and co-writer/director Drew Goddard know who the real stars here are, and this movie is fantastic precisely because of its script.
Cabin In The Woods is a horror movie like Buffy The Vampire Slayer was a horror TV show. It is a horror movie, but that doesn’t even begin to describe it. This film is delightful.
Directed by Tom Kingsley & Will Sharpe
Black Pond heralds an incredibly original, startlingly mature, and completely inscrutable new film-making duo. It’s unclear what exactly they have made with Black Pond; suffice it to say it is equal parts profound and hilarious while refusing classification… (read the full review)
Cabin In The Woods
Directed by Drew Goddard
If you’re familiar with the writing style and general playfulness of Joss Whedon, you already know whether you will like this film. Not to discredit the game, fantastic cast, but fans of Whedon and co-writer/director Drew Goddard know who the real stars here are, and this movie is fantastic precisely because of its script.
Cabin In The Woods is a horror movie like Buffy The Vampire Slayer was a horror TV show. It is a horror movie, but that doesn’t even begin to describe it. This film is delightful.
- 3/22/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Pavilion
Directed by Tim Sutton
Written by Tim Sutton
USA, 2012
Pavilion follows faithfully, and proudly, in the tradition of naturalistic film-making that Gus Van Sant operates in when he’s not making Oscar winning dramas. But if director Tim Sutton is a technical descendant of Van Sant, he’s a spiritual disciple of Terrence Malick. According to Sutton, Pavilion is a portrait of children in a landscape and in many ways that is what Tree of Life definitively provided. But Sutton here is steadfast in his quest to archive the experience of childhood, and this film is uncannily successful at capturing the tiniest details of being a youth.
Its plot is a more slippery beast. It follows a couple of characters, as one of them blows in from out of town and tries to makes friends with the locals. You’d be forgiven for not following the overarching story, because...
Directed by Tim Sutton
Written by Tim Sutton
USA, 2012
Pavilion follows faithfully, and proudly, in the tradition of naturalistic film-making that Gus Van Sant operates in when he’s not making Oscar winning dramas. But if director Tim Sutton is a technical descendant of Van Sant, he’s a spiritual disciple of Terrence Malick. According to Sutton, Pavilion is a portrait of children in a landscape and in many ways that is what Tree of Life definitively provided. But Sutton here is steadfast in his quest to archive the experience of childhood, and this film is uncannily successful at capturing the tiniest details of being a youth.
Its plot is a more slippery beast. It follows a couple of characters, as one of them blows in from out of town and tries to makes friends with the locals. You’d be forgiven for not following the overarching story, because...
- 3/19/2012
- by Emmet Duff
- SoundOnSight
I pack quickly the night before leaving for SXSW. Not only do I forget to bring business cards, I don’t even pack my digital camera. I pop into a Cvs once I’ve landed in Austin and pick up a two-pack of disposable cameras. I’m surprised they still sell them.
My five day jaunt across SXSW is a flurry of rain, movies, tacos, friends, panels, and long lines. I watch Purple Rain on VHS. I watch V/H/S in a movie theater. I’m asked by multiple people if I’ve heard what this year’s Tiny Furniture is. I hear a big-four agent tell a filmmaker that he thinks they’re “really talented,” but that he hopes their next movie will be “faster.” I feel agoraphobic on an hourly basis.
I see no homeless people boosting wi-fi signals. I find it refreshing to take pictures and...
My five day jaunt across SXSW is a flurry of rain, movies, tacos, friends, panels, and long lines. I watch Purple Rain on VHS. I watch V/H/S in a movie theater. I’m asked by multiple people if I’ve heard what this year’s Tiny Furniture is. I hear a big-four agent tell a filmmaker that he thinks they’re “really talented,” but that he hopes their next movie will be “faster.” I feel agoraphobic on an hourly basis.
I see no homeless people boosting wi-fi signals. I find it refreshing to take pictures and...
- 3/16/2012
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
SXSW 2012 film review
complete coverage of SXSW Film 2012
Pavilion
Director & Screenwriter: Tim Sutton
Max, a quietly troubled 15-year-old, leaves his lakeside town to live with his father on the sun-blasted fringe of suburban Arizona. What begins in a calm and lush environment ends in a drastic, frayed confusion.
Cast: Max Schaffner, Zach Cali, Cody Hamric, Addie Barlett, Aaron Buyea
(World Premiere)
Film Synopsis (from SXSW.com)
Who’S It For? It’s for those of you who like looking at skateboard or BMX videos for their artful value, or think that there is much to be said by looking at a pure portrayal of the American teenager. This would be a great movie to play in the background of a hip party.
Overall
Even for SXSW, Pavilion is a pretty darn artsy movie that captures general teen activities with a photographer’s eye. With its unflinching camera of real moments done by real kids,...
complete coverage of SXSW Film 2012
Pavilion
Director & Screenwriter: Tim Sutton
Max, a quietly troubled 15-year-old, leaves his lakeside town to live with his father on the sun-blasted fringe of suburban Arizona. What begins in a calm and lush environment ends in a drastic, frayed confusion.
Cast: Max Schaffner, Zach Cali, Cody Hamric, Addie Barlett, Aaron Buyea
(World Premiere)
Film Synopsis (from SXSW.com)
Who’S It For? It’s for those of you who like looking at skateboard or BMX videos for their artful value, or think that there is much to be said by looking at a pure portrayal of the American teenager. This would be a great movie to play in the background of a hip party.
Overall
Even for SXSW, Pavilion is a pretty darn artsy movie that captures general teen activities with a photographer’s eye. With its unflinching camera of real moments done by real kids,...
- 3/16/2012
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
SXSW is barely 24 hours away from starting (catch up with part one and part two of our preview pieces here), and at this point, it's important to be reminded that one of the things that makes the festival unique is a particular focus on the crossover between music and film, something that's been a special interest of ours since the very earliest days of The Playlist. SXSW doesn't just have a whole sidebar dedicated to music documentaries (with this year's batch including films centered on LCD Soundsystem, Paul Simon and Big Star), and a music festival that runs alongside, but the films screened seem to attract a disproportionate number of scores by indie and rock musicians.
And with more and more names who broke out from the pop and rock world -- from veteran composers like Danny Elfman and Clint Mansell to newbies like Trent Reznor and The Chemical Brothers -- moving into composition,...
And with more and more names who broke out from the pop and rock world -- from veteran composers like Danny Elfman and Clint Mansell to newbies like Trent Reznor and The Chemical Brothers -- moving into composition,...
- 3/8/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
As the residents of Austin gird their loins for the influx of humanity attending the film/music/interactive festival starting tomorrow, today we have the poster debut from one of the opening night films, "Pavilion," written and directed by Tim Sutton. The score and soundtrack features Sam Prekop from The Sea & Cake, offering up more of his ethereal, sophisticated pop. You can check out one of the songs, "The Eve," below courtesy of Stereogum, and can plug in your email to receive "Arizona," another tune from the film. The songs seem to conjure the atmospheric sense of longing the film seems to be going for, in the story of a teenager's summer with his father in Arizona. The official synopsis reads:
Max, a quietly troubled 15 year-old, leaves his lakeside town to live with his father on the sun-blasted fringe of suburban Arizona. As the film drifts through endless summer days,...
Max, a quietly troubled 15 year-old, leaves his lakeside town to live with his father on the sun-blasted fringe of suburban Arizona. As the film drifts through endless summer days,...
- 3/8/2012
- by Katie Walsh
- The Playlist
SXSW starts tomorrow, hotels and airfares were sold out long ago, and Austin’s data networks are already trembling. I’ll be there, and here are 20 films and other things that I’m looking forward to catching.
1. Tchoupitoulas. Bill and Turner Ross won Best Documentary at SXSW in 2009 with their doc, 45365. Their new film, Tchoupitoulas (pictured), promises to be a similarly beguiling exploration of time and place. It is about, in the words of the filmmakers, “three kids, New Orleans at night, and Music,” and it’s produced by the founding members of Court 13, whose Beasts of the Southern Wild was Sundance’s most exciting discovery this year.
2. The Sheik and I. Note to politically sensitive Middle Eastern art fairs: you don’t commission a cinematic provocateur like Caveh Zahedi to make a film about “art as a subversive act” if you can’t handle the consequences. One did, and...
1. Tchoupitoulas. Bill and Turner Ross won Best Documentary at SXSW in 2009 with their doc, 45365. Their new film, Tchoupitoulas (pictured), promises to be a similarly beguiling exploration of time and place. It is about, in the words of the filmmakers, “three kids, New Orleans at night, and Music,” and it’s produced by the founding members of Court 13, whose Beasts of the Southern Wild was Sundance’s most exciting discovery this year.
2. The Sheik and I. Note to politically sensitive Middle Eastern art fairs: you don’t commission a cinematic provocateur like Caveh Zahedi to make a film about “art as a subversive act” if you can’t handle the consequences. One did, and...
- 3/8/2012
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Filmmaker has written about Pavilion before, whether to praise its beautiful website or to highlight an interesting merchandising strategy that director Tim Sutton discussed at last year’s Ifp Narrative Labs. But what of the film itself – a meditative, ethereal blend of documentary and narrative, united around the theme of youth in transition. Indeed, Pavilion, which premieres tonight in SXSW’s Emerging Visions section, should speak for itself. The film almost feels like a National Geographic or Planet Earth-style glimpse into the secret lives of teenagers; into those quiet, unseen moments so difficult to capture – or for many of us – to even to remember. For fans of Matthew Porterfield, Lance Hammer, or Gus Van Sant’s Elephant; for filmmakers and film enthusiasts interested in where the line between fiction and reality, memory and imagination, blurs, seek out Pavilion.
Filmmaker: In your director’s statement you discuss your inspiration for...
Filmmaker: In your director’s statement you discuss your inspiration for...
- 3/5/2012
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Next month, Tim Sutton's debut feature Pavilion will premiere at SXSW as one of the festival's opening-night selections. The film features several new songs by Sea And Cake frontman Sam Prekop, including the lovely "Arizona," which is streaming exclusively at The A.V. Club below. Starting tomorrow, the song will be available for free download here, but you can hear it here now.
- 2/28/2012
- avclub.com
I’ve added some new projects to Filmmaker‘s curated Kickstarter page, including two Ifp Narrative Lab projects selected for premieres at SXSW in March. The first is Tim Sutton’s gorgeous Pavilion, an eerie tale of adolescence that is breathtakingly shot and hauntingly directed. (It also has one of the most gorgeous websites around.) The second is Matt Ruskin’s intense character-based thriller Booster. Both films are well on their way to completion but are short the final finishing funds that will allow them to make their premiere dates. And, of course, both have some decent rewards. For $750, Sutton will give a Video Kid Brooklyn master class to your kids and their friends, and for its highest levels Ruskin is offering various signed stills of Seymour Cassel.
Another project I added to the page is Dan Nuxoll and Martha Shane’s The Mystery of Mary Joceylene. I love the...
Another project I added to the page is Dan Nuxoll and Martha Shane’s The Mystery of Mary Joceylene. I love the...
- 2/7/2012
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
When you know little about a production and don't recognize any of the names involved, a trailer can be a huge selling point for would-be fans. Trailers are often deceptive, building up a movie that ends up a complete disappointment but in some instances, the trailers don't do enough to sell a project. That's most definitely the case with the trailer for Tim Sutton's Pavilion which left me really underwhelmed yet something about the collection of images which say nothing about the story nagged enough at me that I went searching for more details.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
- 2/6/2012
- QuietEarth.us
Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
- 2/3/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
- 2/1/2012
- MUBI
With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
- 2/1/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.
- 2/1/2012
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
SXSW has announced their complete 2012 feature film slate. Over 90 films will screen across the festival’s ten categories, including the already announced opening night premiere of Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods and a special preview screening of Lena Dunham’s new HBO series Girls.
New additions include the sixteen films premiering in narrative and documentary competition. The eight films competing on the narrative side include Booster, directed by Matt Ruskin, Eden, directed by Megan Griffiths, Gayby, directed by Jonathan Lisecki, Gimme the Loot, directed by Adam Leon, Los Chidos, directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Pilgrim Song, directed by Martha Stephens, Starlet, directed by Sean Baker, and The Taiwan Oyster, directed by Mark Jarrett.
On the documentary side, the eight competing films include Bay of All Saints, directed by Annie Eastman, Beware of Mr. Baker, directed by Jay Bulger, The Central Park Effect, directed by Jeffrey Kimball, Jeff, directed by Chris James Thompson,...
New additions include the sixteen films premiering in narrative and documentary competition. The eight films competing on the narrative side include Booster, directed by Matt Ruskin, Eden, directed by Megan Griffiths, Gayby, directed by Jonathan Lisecki, Gimme the Loot, directed by Adam Leon, Los Chidos, directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Pilgrim Song, directed by Martha Stephens, Starlet, directed by Sean Baker, and The Taiwan Oyster, directed by Mark Jarrett.
On the documentary side, the eight competing films include Bay of All Saints, directed by Annie Eastman, Beware of Mr. Baker, directed by Jay Bulger, The Central Park Effect, directed by Jeffrey Kimball, Jeff, directed by Chris James Thompson,...
- 2/1/2012
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
#47. Pavilion - Tim Sutton I've pretty much fallen in love with what Tim Sutton's Pavilion might artistically and visually entail (see trailer). A youth portrait running at 70 mins, selected as one of Ifp's 2011 Narrative Lab projects we think this would be a great addition to the Sundance's New Frontier section. Gist: Max, a quietly troubled 15 year old, leaves his lakeside town to live with his father on the sun-blasted fringe of suburban Arizona. As the film drifts through endless summer days, the story is transformed through a succession of interrelated characters and what starts in a calm, lush, safe environment ends in a drastic, frayed and dark confusion. Producers: Tbd(Ioncinema.com Preview Page // IMDb Link) ...
- 11/11/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Tim Sutton’s upcoming Pavilion is a beautiful debut, a collage of subdued, hypnotic moments that combine to capture the aching aimlessness of youth. And now the film has a similarly stunning website. Designed by Caspar Newbolt of Version Industries, the site overlays images and GIFs on each page to bring many of the film’s visually striking moments to life.
This lovely Gif, for instance, loops on the homepage:
Over at the Ifp website , Newbolt blogs about developing the Pavilion website, as well as the film’s posters. He discusses how watching the film inspired and informed his designs:
“For the website we agreed that animated GIFs, living movie stills, or what people are now calling cinemagraphs, were the right direction. There aren’t many truly captivating, art-for-the-sake-of-art websites on the internet, but of the few my favourite is easily if we don’t, remember me. Take a look.
This lovely Gif, for instance, loops on the homepage:
Over at the Ifp website , Newbolt blogs about developing the Pavilion website, as well as the film’s posters. He discusses how watching the film inspired and informed his designs:
“For the website we agreed that animated GIFs, living movie stills, or what people are now calling cinemagraphs, were the right direction. There aren’t many truly captivating, art-for-the-sake-of-art websites on the internet, but of the few my favourite is easily if we don’t, remember me. Take a look.
- 10/17/2011
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Filmmaker Tim Sutton (pictured) attended the Ifp Narrative Lab with his feature Pavilion. Here is his short report about the week.
From The Vacuum To The Abyss
(Or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the Ifp narrative lab)So I’ve spent years in “development hell.” Not the development hell you may be picturing — the round, padded, gymnasium-sized room where young filmmakers with dreams go to take their medication, age in fast motion, and walk zombie-style around the place, bumping into stacks of scripts while, behind a one-way mirror, Hollywood executive types in sharp lab coats laugh wickedly. (Oh, that’s not what you were picturing?) What I mean is that I’ve been thinking about, dreaming about, or actually trying to make a film for a long time — and always in a vacuum. And the vacuum is a tough place. Yes, I was lucky enough to have a crew that cares.
From The Vacuum To The Abyss
(Or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the Ifp narrative lab)So I’ve spent years in “development hell.” Not the development hell you may be picturing — the round, padded, gymnasium-sized room where young filmmakers with dreams go to take their medication, age in fast motion, and walk zombie-style around the place, bumping into stacks of scripts while, behind a one-way mirror, Hollywood executive types in sharp lab coats laugh wickedly. (Oh, that’s not what you were picturing?) What I mean is that I’ve been thinking about, dreaming about, or actually trying to make a film for a long time — and always in a vacuum. And the vacuum is a tough place. Yes, I was lucky enough to have a crew that cares.
- 6/18/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In a press release today Ifp announced the participants of the 2011 Narrative Independent Filmmaker Lab, which kicked off today and will go on in New York City until June 10.
The Narrative Lab Fellows and their features are Matt Ruskin (Booster), Rola Nashef (Detroit Unleaded), Nir Paniry (Extracted), Jenny Deller (Future Weather), Andrew Semans (Nancy, Please), Sara Blecher (Otelo Burning), Tim Sutton (Pavilion), Jaron Henrie-McCrea (Pervertigo), Ryan O’Nan (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best), Mark Harris (The Lost Children) and Keith Miller (Welcome To Pine Hill).
This highly immersive, free mentorship program for first-time feature filmmakers is currently the only film program that supports diverse, low budget, independently produced filmmakers through the completion, marketing and distribution of their first feature film.
The Labs include an initial five days of workshops in June that assist filmmakers with the technical, creative and strategic advice needed to complete their films. In September, a...
The Narrative Lab Fellows and their features are Matt Ruskin (Booster), Rola Nashef (Detroit Unleaded), Nir Paniry (Extracted), Jenny Deller (Future Weather), Andrew Semans (Nancy, Please), Sara Blecher (Otelo Burning), Tim Sutton (Pavilion), Jaron Henrie-McCrea (Pervertigo), Ryan O’Nan (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best), Mark Harris (The Lost Children) and Keith Miller (Welcome To Pine Hill).
This highly immersive, free mentorship program for first-time feature filmmakers is currently the only film program that supports diverse, low budget, independently produced filmmakers through the completion, marketing and distribution of their first feature film.
The Labs include an initial five days of workshops in June that assist filmmakers with the technical, creative and strategic advice needed to complete their films. In September, a...
- 6/6/2011
- by Jason Guerrasio
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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