"You have to call Ruth!" An early teaser trailer has debuted for a documentary titled Calendar Girl, which is world premiering at Doc NYC this month. The festival's film description: "Ruth Finley, a pocket-sized woman of immense determination, has been the queen of the fashion industry since the 1930s. As a young mother, Ruth created the iconic pink Fashion Calendar, a publication that continues to organize and marshal American fashion today. Featuring [appearances by] Bill Cunningham, Carolina Herrera, Nicole Miller, Diane von Furstenberg, and more, this joyous profile is a love letter to fashion and the extraordinary life of one remarkable woman." In 2014, Ruth retired at 95 and sold the Fashion Calendar to the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Described as a quintessential NYC story, this doc examines this transition, and reflects on the life, work, and legacy of this trailblazer and the industry Ruth helped create. Check it out. Here's the...
- 11/10/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Bill Cunningham's last interview is in Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Greg Barker's The Final Year (documenting members of Barack Obama's administration, including Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, Secretary of State John Kerry and speechwriter Ben Rhodes in 2016) opened Doc NYC last night. Tiffany Bartok's Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story (with Paulina Porizkova, Kate Moss, Brooke Shields, Cher, Isabella Rossellini, Naomi Campbell, Isaac Mizrahi, Tori Amos, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Linda Wells); James Crump's Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco (Jessica Lange, Grace Jones, Jerry Hall, Juan Ramos, Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Jordan, Karl Lagerfeld, Grace Coddington, Bob Colacello, Bill Cunningham); Bobbi Jo Hart's Rebels on Pointe, and Samuel D Pollard's Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me are four more of this year's Doc NYC highlights.
Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story
Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story...
Greg Barker's The Final Year (documenting members of Barack Obama's administration, including Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, Secretary of State John Kerry and speechwriter Ben Rhodes in 2016) opened Doc NYC last night. Tiffany Bartok's Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story (with Paulina Porizkova, Kate Moss, Brooke Shields, Cher, Isabella Rossellini, Naomi Campbell, Isaac Mizrahi, Tori Amos, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Linda Wells); James Crump's Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco (Jessica Lange, Grace Jones, Jerry Hall, Juan Ramos, Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Jordan, Karl Lagerfeld, Grace Coddington, Bob Colacello, Bill Cunningham); Bobbi Jo Hart's Rebels on Pointe, and Samuel D Pollard's Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me are four more of this year's Doc NYC highlights.
Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story
Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story...
- 11/10/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
James Crump on Antonio Lopez: "Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Chris von Wangenheim, you know, Avedon, Penn - he's working at the same level, yet he is an illustrator." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Another highlight of this year's Doc NYC is James Crump's Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco screening in the Metropolis competition. The film on the famed fashion illustrator features Jessica Lange, Grace Jones, Jerry Hall, Bill Cunningham, Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Jordan, Pat Cleveland, Jane Forth, Corey Tippin, Grace Coddington, Patti D’Arbanville, Karl Lagerfeld, Joan Juliet Buck, Bob Colacello, Paul Caranicas, Juan Ramos, Tina and Michael Chow with film clips including Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Pierre Thoretton's L'Amour Fou, and Andy Warhol's L'Amour.
Antonio Lopez: "He was embracing this idea of diversity and inclusivity in the mid-Sixties when today people are taking credit for the diversity of the runway."
James Crump (director...
Another highlight of this year's Doc NYC is James Crump's Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco screening in the Metropolis competition. The film on the famed fashion illustrator features Jessica Lange, Grace Jones, Jerry Hall, Bill Cunningham, Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Jordan, Pat Cleveland, Jane Forth, Corey Tippin, Grace Coddington, Patti D’Arbanville, Karl Lagerfeld, Joan Juliet Buck, Bob Colacello, Paul Caranicas, Juan Ramos, Tina and Michael Chow with film clips including Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, Pierre Thoretton's L'Amour Fou, and Andy Warhol's L'Amour.
Antonio Lopez: "He was embracing this idea of diversity and inclusivity in the mid-Sixties when today people are taking credit for the diversity of the runway."
James Crump (director...
- 11/6/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber have always been kindred spirits, but as of this week, the indie distributors are officially strategic partners, a business relationship that has been in works for the past six months. Richard Lorber’s arthouse distribution company has formed a multi-year alliance with Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo’s Zeitgeist that will see the two companies co-acquire four to five theatrical titles per year that will be marketed and released by Zeitgeist Films, starting with the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival audience award-winner “The Divine Order.” Directed by Petra Volpe, the film tells the story of a young housewife in Switzerland in 1971 who stands up to the closed-minded villagers in her town and overthrows the status quo.
Read More: Beyond A24: How Hip New Distributors Are Targeting Millennial Tastemakers With Bold Films
“We were at Tribeca and covered every film that we could get our eyes on, but we totally missed ‘The Divine Order’ for some reason,” Lorber said. “Nancy and Emily said it was great, we committed to doing it, and two days later it won the audience prize at Tribeca.”
Founded in 1988, Zeitgeist film’s is known for having distributed early films by directors including Todd Hayes (“Poison”), Christopher Nolan (“Following”), Laura Poitras (“The Oath”) and Atom Egoyan (“Speaking Parts”), but has struggled in recent years to adapt to the changing landscape for indie distributors.
“There’s no denying the fact that the business has gotten tougher, and I think over the years Zeitgeist has maintained an almost artisanal approach, which has not always kept pace with some of the other opportunities that have been available, such as the expansion of digital and alternative venues that films can play in,” Lorber said. Going forward, Kino Lorber will become the exclusive distributor of all Zeitgeist films for the home video, educational, and digital media markets, adding Zeitgeist’s roughly 130-film library to its collection of 1,600 titles.
“Once home video sort of ended as a possibility for us, we really had to go into the digital realm, and dealing with five or six films a year, it’s difficult to really bulk up your digital [catalog] to be able to do the sort of deals that Kino Lorber is able to do,” Gerstman said. “It’s been very tough, so these are really great resources for us to be able to have.
Read More: Hybrid Distribution: One-Night-Only Screenings Could Make Your Documentary a Theatrical Hit
Kino Lorber will release two of Zeitgeist’s 2016 films, the biographical documentary “Eva Hesse” and “Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt.” Zeitgeist’s 2001 film “Nowhere in Africa” won the Academy Award for best foreign language film, taking more than $6 million at the U.S. box office. Some of the company’s most successful theatrical releases include “Bill Cunningham: New York,” “The Corporation” and “Aimee & Jaguar.”
Stay on top of the latest in gear and filmmaking news! Sign up for the Indiewire Toolkit newsletter here.
Related storiesJulian Assange and WikiLeaks Accused of Censorship by 'Risk' Documentarian Laura Poitras'Pop Aye' Trailer: A Man Finds Himself with the Help of an Elephant in Sundance Drama -- Watch'Wonderstruck' Is Cannes' First Oscar Contender and Other Revelations From Festival Press Conference...
Read More: Beyond A24: How Hip New Distributors Are Targeting Millennial Tastemakers With Bold Films
“We were at Tribeca and covered every film that we could get our eyes on, but we totally missed ‘The Divine Order’ for some reason,” Lorber said. “Nancy and Emily said it was great, we committed to doing it, and two days later it won the audience prize at Tribeca.”
Founded in 1988, Zeitgeist film’s is known for having distributed early films by directors including Todd Hayes (“Poison”), Christopher Nolan (“Following”), Laura Poitras (“The Oath”) and Atom Egoyan (“Speaking Parts”), but has struggled in recent years to adapt to the changing landscape for indie distributors.
“There’s no denying the fact that the business has gotten tougher, and I think over the years Zeitgeist has maintained an almost artisanal approach, which has not always kept pace with some of the other opportunities that have been available, such as the expansion of digital and alternative venues that films can play in,” Lorber said. Going forward, Kino Lorber will become the exclusive distributor of all Zeitgeist films for the home video, educational, and digital media markets, adding Zeitgeist’s roughly 130-film library to its collection of 1,600 titles.
“Once home video sort of ended as a possibility for us, we really had to go into the digital realm, and dealing with five or six films a year, it’s difficult to really bulk up your digital [catalog] to be able to do the sort of deals that Kino Lorber is able to do,” Gerstman said. “It’s been very tough, so these are really great resources for us to be able to have.
Read More: Hybrid Distribution: One-Night-Only Screenings Could Make Your Documentary a Theatrical Hit
Kino Lorber will release two of Zeitgeist’s 2016 films, the biographical documentary “Eva Hesse” and “Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt.” Zeitgeist’s 2001 film “Nowhere in Africa” won the Academy Award for best foreign language film, taking more than $6 million at the U.S. box office. Some of the company’s most successful theatrical releases include “Bill Cunningham: New York,” “The Corporation” and “Aimee & Jaguar.”
Stay on top of the latest in gear and filmmaking news! Sign up for the Indiewire Toolkit newsletter here.
Related storiesJulian Assange and WikiLeaks Accused of Censorship by 'Risk' Documentarian Laura Poitras'Pop Aye' Trailer: A Man Finds Himself with the Help of an Elephant in Sundance Drama -- Watch'Wonderstruck' Is Cannes' First Oscar Contender and Other Revelations From Festival Press Conference...
- 6/23/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
December 28, 2016. R.I.P. Debbie Reynolds, actress and singer. Age 84.There is a nice moment in the documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds where Carrie’s brother Todd is showing the filmmakers a wall in his living room that tells the story of his mother’s life through movie posters. When Debbie Reynolds passed away on December 28—the day after her daughter Carrie in what was certifiably the last straw of 2016— I tried to find a great poster to commemorate her, but I couldn’t find anything really worthy of her (she was rarely the star of her own posters for one thing). I had forgotten, however, about this lovely Italian poster for Singing’ in the Rain which captures her as the burst of sunshine she always was.More often than I would have liked last year I found myself using my Movie Poster of the Day Tumblr as a memorial,...
- 1/14/2017
- MUBI
Last week we looked at a group of films among the mammoth collection of titles playing Doc NYC. The festival continues and so we're looking at a few more films, taking a sort of cinematic road trip from the big city, down the highway to the Rocky Mountains and then back again.
The “chiffon jungle” is what the subject of Otis Mass’ debut film, The Incomparable Rose Hartman, a fashion and pop culture photographer whose images are as iconic as they are striking, labels her home of New York City. A place where fashion is as integral to daily life as breath is to life. Feel to free disagree, but as the first person to understand the appeal of the decadent backstage of celebrity life and master it into something truly artful, Hartman soon built a reputation that put her subjects at ease and made her none synonymous with New...
The “chiffon jungle” is what the subject of Otis Mass’ debut film, The Incomparable Rose Hartman, a fashion and pop culture photographer whose images are as iconic as they are striking, labels her home of New York City. A place where fashion is as integral to daily life as breath is to life. Feel to free disagree, but as the first person to understand the appeal of the decadent backstage of celebrity life and master it into something truly artful, Hartman soon built a reputation that put her subjects at ease and made her none synonymous with New...
- 11/15/2016
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Bill Cunningham, the longtime street-style photographer for The New York Times, died Saturday in New York, NY Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 87. Cunningham, known for his trademark blue jacket and riding a bicycle with a small camera bag strapped to his waist, was hospitalized Thursday after suffering from a stroke; his colleagues were hopeful he would recover. Born William John Cunningham Jr. on March 13, 1929, he moved to New York after dropping out after two short months at Harvard. After serving in the Army, Cunningham wrote fashion pieces for the Chicago
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- 6/25/2016
- by Natalie Stone, the Associated Press
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bob Hawk is the Pierre Rissient of American Independent Films. Pierre was for French cinema what Bob is to American independent cinema. When he discovered a film and told Cannes about it, Cannes programmed it. Those who know Pierre and those who know Bob know that their influence cannot be quantified by the number of films they have fostered in one way or another. Bob’s influence extends in innumerable ways throughout the independent film world. Independent films are Bob Hawk's life, and now his life is an independent film.
After the thrill of watching the documentary “Film Hawk” by Jj Garvine and Tai Parquet whose first, ever-so-shocking film “Keeping the Peace” in 2009 was about the brutal and first such beheading in Iraq, I was whisked off to lunch with Bob and the filmmakers Jj Garvine and Tai Parquet. It seemed as if our lunch were a continuation of the film, so alive and vivid was the film and so full of references and ideas was our conversation.
We immediately began a non-stop talk of passionate love for movies. Bob showed me the tee shirt he wore just for our lunch, a Filmmaker Magazine tee from the early days when Indiewire’s offices were upstairs in the Filmmaker offices. In all the scenes of this film, his tee shirts are remarkable for titles he primarily has worked on or been somehow attached to. He must have hundreds of such mementos of his life.
So how did you make this film? I finally asked, because even if this is “the usual sort of question we get” according to Jj, it is really of interest to me.
Jj and Tai ‘s first film, “Keeping The Peace”, premiered and won the Audience Award at the 2009 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and went on to be selected for the PBS Pov "United States of Documentaries” series. They are often indistinguishable themselves in their simultaneously answering questions or commenting on the talk. “We decided to make this movie on the day before his 74th birthday when we all went to the IFC Center in New York to see the Spalding Gray movie by Steven Soderbergh. We had a three hour dinner and learned so much about Bob. We then met Soderbergh. Going home we thought his life would make a great story. We knew him because he helped us with our film ‘Keeping the Peace’ but we had never talked about anything but the movie at that time. We said to him, ‘What if we made a short about your life?’ He said ‘What?’ And that was it.
“Film Hawk” itself is a broad swatch of a life well-lived with honesty and integrity. Surrounded by loving family and friends – although he and his brother as boys fought hard and often with each other as they grew up in very different ways. Bob veered toward art and his brother toward sports. Bob knew at an early age he was gay but his brother was strictly sports and girls. They were the sons of a minister, a minister who preached love. Their mother was a copy editor and proofreader – initially of insurance documents -- and Bob credits her with his own love for editing and proofreading. He proofread auction catalogs and the Sharper Image catalog at one point in his life.
Bob: “My mother, who lived to be 97, was a proofreader to the end. She edited and proofed the monthly newsletter of the home in which she lived in good health until she died. In fact, she proofread the April edition of the home’s newsletter, the very month she died.”
He did not like having to be the exemplary son of a minister and he had a stutter. At one point, hearing his father’s oratorical voice in the church, he realized there was a thin line between the church and theater and he choose theater as a young child and he credits his father for his love of dramaturgy and theater.
When he acted, his stutter disappeared and so he acted, though he much preferred working behind the scenes.
Our conversation switched between talk of film and talk of Bob the man. For he is incredibly full of love and life, a man whose boundaries include public and private love and film in one full embrace.
Bob grew up loud and proud, working as a techie Off Broadway in New York City. Even as a high school student he often went to New York City and explored both live theater and underground movies like Jean Genet’s “Un Chant d’Amour” and Kenneth Anger’s “Scorpio Rising”. Those were the predecessors to independent movies, he says.
Eventually he moved to stage managing in San Francisco where he met filmmaker Rob Epstein and contributed his thoughts to the seminal gay-themed documentary “Word Is Out”, made by a film collective that included Rob.
Tai: “Bob was an activist and that led him to film. In 1976 ,when the five hour rough cut of “Word is Out” was previewed for the public in a work-in-progress screening, Bob’s notes as a member of the audience were volumes of comments. In 1978 when Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed by another supervisor, he and Rob, with whom he had become friends, both knew a film had to be made, but it took five years of grassroots fundraising.
Bob: “Rob and producer Richard Schmiechen initially went to Kqed, San Francisco’s public television station, but they turned it down, saying the story was too local. So they went to Wnet in New York, who provided funding for a one hour version. Then we realized that ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’ needed to be a feature, so we went again to Wnet and they gave us the additional money. This was the first film I worked on, as print media researcher and archivist.”
Jj: “Bob researched not only Harvey Milk but the whole era.”
Bob: “I had volumes -- over 600 news and magazine articles -- all organized by 20 main topics like Harvey Milk, George Moscone, Trial, Verdict, Riot, Gay Climate, Dan White and they were cross referenced, so when we had to speak about any subject, we had it ready.”
Says Tai , “Bob’s emphasis is always on storytelling. He even has a sense of arc in his copy editing.”
Tai thought he was a great writer, but Bob is not so sure.
Says Jj : “Bob is not good at original copy because he’s such an editor himself.”
Bob: “Yes, when I write, I feel my editor self looking over my shoulder.”
“The weakness of some narrative indies is that the filmmakers are so eager to shoot that they do not fully develop the script beforehand.”
So Bob is the articulate but silent spokesman for indies, always behind the scenes, editing and tightening scripts, reading copy and imperceptibly influencing a vast body of independent film today.
Tai: “He is like a drop of water in a small stream which he knows runs to the sea and which affects the very water of the ocean.
“Bob is not about connections. He’s about connection.”
There was so much research done for Film Hawk, you must have worked very hard.
Jj: We just listened to Bob and followed all the leads he gave us.
Tai: “Bob is not associated as strictly ‘gay’ or for gay films only. You can see that in his long term relationship to ‘Brothers McMullen’ in the film, but homosexuality is as intrinsic to him as is his whole childhood. He is secure in himself as a person”.
Bob Hawk’s keen insights and feedback became the precious wind that provided flight for many filmmakers. This fiery, eccentric fairy Godfather of indie film not only battled depression, but was the first to discover and champion the talents of Kevin Smith (“Clerks”, “Chasing Amy”), Edward Burns (“The Brothers McMullen”, “Purple Violets”), Ira Sachs (“Keep The Lights On”, “Love Is Strange”) and Scott McGehee and David Siegel (“The Deep End”, “What Maisie Knew”).
Here are what a few have to say about him:
"I didn't ever consider myself an artist, I was just a guy who wanted to make ‘Clerks’, until Bob Hawk started talking about it."
- Kevin Smith
"Bob was always there to encourage me. Bob is a friend and a mentor"
- Ed Burns
With his 30+ year Sundance presence - including work as consultant, programmer, moderator, juror, and impassioned viewer - usually seated front-row and often asking the first question (as in the case of the “Sex, Lies and Videotape” world premiere) Bob deserves kudos and honors and yet has never sought the spotlight for himself.
Not only is this a film about film, but about a man who is as intrinsic to indie films as is the drop of water in a stream that goes into the ocean, but this film should also stand up in educational venues – whether about filmmaking or about standing proud as a gay man in the world.
In many ways this film recalls the classic “Bill Cunningham” that Zeitgeist had such success with in that both films are quintessentially New York films about men whose calling is their life-long love; each is a living example of the importance of love for one’s self and for one’s life lived with passion. “Film Hawk” deserves to be seen at the IFC Center, in the center of New York.
Bob grew up in that time in the 50s when to be gay meant very little to society. Gay men married, had children and if they were lucky they did not find their dual role in life unsettling. He was just at the edge and realized he did not have to go the marriage route and have children, and so he went the art route and his children are numerous.
Bob will be speaking at the Berlinale Queer Academy during the 30th Anniversary of the Teddy Awards and a clip of the film will accompany him. He is also receiving a Maverick of the Year Award from Cinequest this month.
After the thrill of watching the documentary “Film Hawk” by Jj Garvine and Tai Parquet whose first, ever-so-shocking film “Keeping the Peace” in 2009 was about the brutal and first such beheading in Iraq, I was whisked off to lunch with Bob and the filmmakers Jj Garvine and Tai Parquet. It seemed as if our lunch were a continuation of the film, so alive and vivid was the film and so full of references and ideas was our conversation.
We immediately began a non-stop talk of passionate love for movies. Bob showed me the tee shirt he wore just for our lunch, a Filmmaker Magazine tee from the early days when Indiewire’s offices were upstairs in the Filmmaker offices. In all the scenes of this film, his tee shirts are remarkable for titles he primarily has worked on or been somehow attached to. He must have hundreds of such mementos of his life.
So how did you make this film? I finally asked, because even if this is “the usual sort of question we get” according to Jj, it is really of interest to me.
Jj and Tai ‘s first film, “Keeping The Peace”, premiered and won the Audience Award at the 2009 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and went on to be selected for the PBS Pov "United States of Documentaries” series. They are often indistinguishable themselves in their simultaneously answering questions or commenting on the talk. “We decided to make this movie on the day before his 74th birthday when we all went to the IFC Center in New York to see the Spalding Gray movie by Steven Soderbergh. We had a three hour dinner and learned so much about Bob. We then met Soderbergh. Going home we thought his life would make a great story. We knew him because he helped us with our film ‘Keeping the Peace’ but we had never talked about anything but the movie at that time. We said to him, ‘What if we made a short about your life?’ He said ‘What?’ And that was it.
“Film Hawk” itself is a broad swatch of a life well-lived with honesty and integrity. Surrounded by loving family and friends – although he and his brother as boys fought hard and often with each other as they grew up in very different ways. Bob veered toward art and his brother toward sports. Bob knew at an early age he was gay but his brother was strictly sports and girls. They were the sons of a minister, a minister who preached love. Their mother was a copy editor and proofreader – initially of insurance documents -- and Bob credits her with his own love for editing and proofreading. He proofread auction catalogs and the Sharper Image catalog at one point in his life.
Bob: “My mother, who lived to be 97, was a proofreader to the end. She edited and proofed the monthly newsletter of the home in which she lived in good health until she died. In fact, she proofread the April edition of the home’s newsletter, the very month she died.”
He did not like having to be the exemplary son of a minister and he had a stutter. At one point, hearing his father’s oratorical voice in the church, he realized there was a thin line between the church and theater and he choose theater as a young child and he credits his father for his love of dramaturgy and theater.
When he acted, his stutter disappeared and so he acted, though he much preferred working behind the scenes.
Our conversation switched between talk of film and talk of Bob the man. For he is incredibly full of love and life, a man whose boundaries include public and private love and film in one full embrace.
Bob grew up loud and proud, working as a techie Off Broadway in New York City. Even as a high school student he often went to New York City and explored both live theater and underground movies like Jean Genet’s “Un Chant d’Amour” and Kenneth Anger’s “Scorpio Rising”. Those were the predecessors to independent movies, he says.
Eventually he moved to stage managing in San Francisco where he met filmmaker Rob Epstein and contributed his thoughts to the seminal gay-themed documentary “Word Is Out”, made by a film collective that included Rob.
Tai: “Bob was an activist and that led him to film. In 1976 ,when the five hour rough cut of “Word is Out” was previewed for the public in a work-in-progress screening, Bob’s notes as a member of the audience were volumes of comments. In 1978 when Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed by another supervisor, he and Rob, with whom he had become friends, both knew a film had to be made, but it took five years of grassroots fundraising.
Bob: “Rob and producer Richard Schmiechen initially went to Kqed, San Francisco’s public television station, but they turned it down, saying the story was too local. So they went to Wnet in New York, who provided funding for a one hour version. Then we realized that ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’ needed to be a feature, so we went again to Wnet and they gave us the additional money. This was the first film I worked on, as print media researcher and archivist.”
Jj: “Bob researched not only Harvey Milk but the whole era.”
Bob: “I had volumes -- over 600 news and magazine articles -- all organized by 20 main topics like Harvey Milk, George Moscone, Trial, Verdict, Riot, Gay Climate, Dan White and they were cross referenced, so when we had to speak about any subject, we had it ready.”
Says Tai , “Bob’s emphasis is always on storytelling. He even has a sense of arc in his copy editing.”
Tai thought he was a great writer, but Bob is not so sure.
Says Jj : “Bob is not good at original copy because he’s such an editor himself.”
Bob: “Yes, when I write, I feel my editor self looking over my shoulder.”
“The weakness of some narrative indies is that the filmmakers are so eager to shoot that they do not fully develop the script beforehand.”
So Bob is the articulate but silent spokesman for indies, always behind the scenes, editing and tightening scripts, reading copy and imperceptibly influencing a vast body of independent film today.
Tai: “He is like a drop of water in a small stream which he knows runs to the sea and which affects the very water of the ocean.
“Bob is not about connections. He’s about connection.”
There was so much research done for Film Hawk, you must have worked very hard.
Jj: We just listened to Bob and followed all the leads he gave us.
Tai: “Bob is not associated as strictly ‘gay’ or for gay films only. You can see that in his long term relationship to ‘Brothers McMullen’ in the film, but homosexuality is as intrinsic to him as is his whole childhood. He is secure in himself as a person”.
Bob Hawk’s keen insights and feedback became the precious wind that provided flight for many filmmakers. This fiery, eccentric fairy Godfather of indie film not only battled depression, but was the first to discover and champion the talents of Kevin Smith (“Clerks”, “Chasing Amy”), Edward Burns (“The Brothers McMullen”, “Purple Violets”), Ira Sachs (“Keep The Lights On”, “Love Is Strange”) and Scott McGehee and David Siegel (“The Deep End”, “What Maisie Knew”).
Here are what a few have to say about him:
"I didn't ever consider myself an artist, I was just a guy who wanted to make ‘Clerks’, until Bob Hawk started talking about it."
- Kevin Smith
"Bob was always there to encourage me. Bob is a friend and a mentor"
- Ed Burns
With his 30+ year Sundance presence - including work as consultant, programmer, moderator, juror, and impassioned viewer - usually seated front-row and often asking the first question (as in the case of the “Sex, Lies and Videotape” world premiere) Bob deserves kudos and honors and yet has never sought the spotlight for himself.
Not only is this a film about film, but about a man who is as intrinsic to indie films as is the drop of water in a stream that goes into the ocean, but this film should also stand up in educational venues – whether about filmmaking or about standing proud as a gay man in the world.
In many ways this film recalls the classic “Bill Cunningham” that Zeitgeist had such success with in that both films are quintessentially New York films about men whose calling is their life-long love; each is a living example of the importance of love for one’s self and for one’s life lived with passion. “Film Hawk” deserves to be seen at the IFC Center, in the center of New York.
Bob grew up in that time in the 50s when to be gay meant very little to society. Gay men married, had children and if they were lucky they did not find their dual role in life unsettling. He was just at the edge and realized he did not have to go the marriage route and have children, and so he went the art route and his children are numerous.
Bob will be speaking at the Berlinale Queer Academy during the 30th Anniversary of the Teddy Awards and a clip of the film will accompany him. He is also receiving a Maverick of the Year Award from Cinequest this month.
- 2/16/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Late Grey Gardens director Albert Maysles turned his lens to one of New York’s darlings of style, resulting in an engaging but minor film
Related: Six lessons in chic from the Iris Apfel documentary
The 93-year-old Iris Apfel is a cult New York figure: the textile designer who became famous in fashion circles for her colossal collection of costume jewellery, and then for being an exotically dressed eccentric, much cherished in a bland world of airkissing and corporate conformity. We last saw her in Richard Press’s 2010 documentary about another NYC icon, fashion photographer Bill Cunningham; now she is the subject of one of the last films completed by the late Albert Maysles, in which Cunningham is also glimpsed briefly.
Continue reading...
Related: Six lessons in chic from the Iris Apfel documentary
The 93-year-old Iris Apfel is a cult New York figure: the textile designer who became famous in fashion circles for her colossal collection of costume jewellery, and then for being an exotically dressed eccentric, much cherished in a bland world of airkissing and corporate conformity. We last saw her in Richard Press’s 2010 documentary about another NYC icon, fashion photographer Bill Cunningham; now she is the subject of one of the last films completed by the late Albert Maysles, in which Cunningham is also glimpsed briefly.
Continue reading...
- 7/30/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
It is not surprising that documentarian Albert Maysles thought that fashion icon Iris Apfel would make a compelling subject for a film. Both artists kept on working late into the twilight of their careers, confounding expectations. Maysles, who died in March at the age of 88, will forever be one of the non-fiction film’s greatest forerunners, responsible for such indelible works as Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens. Apfel, now 93, still works tirelessly and continues to be a no-holds-barred trendsetter of the New York fashion scene. Long beyond their time, both Maysles and Apfel will be immortalized by aspirants of the art form they championed.
With the exception of In Transit, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, Iris marks Maysles’ last film. And while it may have a master both in front of and behind the camera, despite its often-effortless entertainment, this is a minor work. Nevertheless, Apfel is a terrific subject,...
With the exception of In Transit, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, Iris marks Maysles’ last film. And while it may have a master both in front of and behind the camera, despite its often-effortless entertainment, this is a minor work. Nevertheless, Apfel is a terrific subject,...
- 5/15/2015
- by Jordan Adler
- We Got This Covered
The film is dizzying in its portrayal of the man (is he simple-minded or a genius?) whose art equals craft and who has supplied many, many museums of artfully forged paintings by masters across the ages. Is he an artist or just a very talented forger? I think his forging is an art in itself.
It fits into a genre of “art films” dealing with eccentric (and lovable) artists (and their collectors or copiers), such as “Tim’s Vermeer”, “Herb and Dorothy: 50 x 50” or “Cutie and the Boxer” or “Bill Cunningham". What types of people these artists are brings viewers to experience an amazing range of distinctive and odd folk. Not only is art (or the love of art in the case of “Herb and Dorothy”) a tough passion, it is based upon tough eccentric personalities whose passions carry them though tough times in which their survival an issue that they choose to overlook even while knowing it is important. Art is their life, not survival.
Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in Us history. His impressive body of work spans thirty years, covering a wide range of painting styles and periods that includes 15th Century Icons, Picasso, and even Walt Disney. And while the copies could fetch impressive sums on the open market, Landis isn’t in it for money. He poses as a philanthropic donor, a grieving executor of a family member’s will, and most recently as a Jesuit priest. Landis has given away hundreds of works over the years to a staggering list of institutions across the United States. When Matthew Leininger, a tenacious registrar who sets out to expose his career as philanthropic forger, Landis is force to confront his false legacy.
It becomes clear that this story is bigger than its art world foundation when Landis opens up about his past, his family and his struggles with mental illness. Afflicted by schizophrenia and multiple behavioral disorders, Landis had been ostracized his whole life as someone struggling with those conditions. His elaborate thirty-year con had become a means to change all that, allowing him to regain control and finally be given respect. He found purpose in philanthropy, which was nothing short of an addiction.
The film starts out questioning authorship and authenticity, but what emerges is a much more intimate human story of obsession and the universal need for community, appreciation, and purpose.
"Art and Craft" is being distributed in the U.S. by Oscilloscope Pictures, in Canada by Blue Ice Docs. International Sales are being handle by Autlook Film Sales.
Director/Producer/Cinematographer
Sam Cullman co-directed, shot and produced the Oscar®-nominated documentary, "If a Tree Falls"and was a Producer and Director of Photography on the Sundance Grand Jury prize-winning "The House I Live in." Previously, his camerawork appeared in dozens of documentaries including "King Con"and "Why We Fight."
Prior to his work in documentary, Cullman had his own background in the arts as a former printmaker and painter.
Director/Producer
Jennifer Grausman directed and produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, "Pressure Cooker."Grausman also co-produced "3 Backyards," and produced six short films. Previously she was the Manager of Exhibition and Film Funding at The Museum of Modern Art. Grausman grew up in the art world – her uncle is a sculptor and her aunt owned a gallery.
Co-Director/Editor
Mark Becker produced, directed and edited the Independent Spirit-nominated documentary "Romantico," and directed and edited the Emmy-nominated film "Pressure Cooker." He has edited several documentaries including "The Lost Boys of Sudan" and "Circo."
"Art and Craft" opens today at the Landmark’s Nuart Theater in West La, the film is also currently playing in NYC.
It fits into a genre of “art films” dealing with eccentric (and lovable) artists (and their collectors or copiers), such as “Tim’s Vermeer”, “Herb and Dorothy: 50 x 50” or “Cutie and the Boxer” or “Bill Cunningham". What types of people these artists are brings viewers to experience an amazing range of distinctive and odd folk. Not only is art (or the love of art in the case of “Herb and Dorothy”) a tough passion, it is based upon tough eccentric personalities whose passions carry them though tough times in which their survival an issue that they choose to overlook even while knowing it is important. Art is their life, not survival.
Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in Us history. His impressive body of work spans thirty years, covering a wide range of painting styles and periods that includes 15th Century Icons, Picasso, and even Walt Disney. And while the copies could fetch impressive sums on the open market, Landis isn’t in it for money. He poses as a philanthropic donor, a grieving executor of a family member’s will, and most recently as a Jesuit priest. Landis has given away hundreds of works over the years to a staggering list of institutions across the United States. When Matthew Leininger, a tenacious registrar who sets out to expose his career as philanthropic forger, Landis is force to confront his false legacy.
It becomes clear that this story is bigger than its art world foundation when Landis opens up about his past, his family and his struggles with mental illness. Afflicted by schizophrenia and multiple behavioral disorders, Landis had been ostracized his whole life as someone struggling with those conditions. His elaborate thirty-year con had become a means to change all that, allowing him to regain control and finally be given respect. He found purpose in philanthropy, which was nothing short of an addiction.
The film starts out questioning authorship and authenticity, but what emerges is a much more intimate human story of obsession and the universal need for community, appreciation, and purpose.
"Art and Craft" is being distributed in the U.S. by Oscilloscope Pictures, in Canada by Blue Ice Docs. International Sales are being handle by Autlook Film Sales.
Director/Producer/Cinematographer
Sam Cullman co-directed, shot and produced the Oscar®-nominated documentary, "If a Tree Falls"and was a Producer and Director of Photography on the Sundance Grand Jury prize-winning "The House I Live in." Previously, his camerawork appeared in dozens of documentaries including "King Con"and "Why We Fight."
Prior to his work in documentary, Cullman had his own background in the arts as a former printmaker and painter.
Director/Producer
Jennifer Grausman directed and produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, "Pressure Cooker."Grausman also co-produced "3 Backyards," and produced six short films. Previously she was the Manager of Exhibition and Film Funding at The Museum of Modern Art. Grausman grew up in the art world – her uncle is a sculptor and her aunt owned a gallery.
Co-Director/Editor
Mark Becker produced, directed and edited the Independent Spirit-nominated documentary "Romantico," and directed and edited the Emmy-nominated film "Pressure Cooker." He has edited several documentaries including "The Lost Boys of Sudan" and "Circo."
"Art and Craft" opens today at the Landmark’s Nuart Theater in West La, the film is also currently playing in NYC.
- 9/26/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Conservative talk show host, and occasional Hannity guest, Bill Cunningham is reportedly being sued by a Muslim woman who attended one of his tapings wearing a traditional hijab and was asked to move out of the view of cameras. According to TMZ, which obtained a copy of the suit, Nicole Johnson is claiming she suffered "mental anguish and embarrassment" at the hands of the host.
- 5/21/2014
- by Matt Wilstein
- Mediaite - TV
TV talk show host Bill Cunningham doesn't have a shred of common decency -- or a clue about the Constitution -- according to a woman who says he humiliated her over her religion.Nicole Johnson -- a devout Muslim -- says she attended a February taping of "The Bill Cunningham Show" in NYC wearing a traditional head covering -- a hijab -- as her religion requires.Johnson claims in a new lawsuit -- obtained by...
- 5/21/2014
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
This film about the book about the blog celebrates older women who insist on exuberant visibility
Advanced Style is a diverting, if slight piece that doesn't reach too far outside its own world: a New York fashion movie about a New York fashion blog. Ari Seth Cohen is a writer and photographer who began approaching elegant and interestingly dressed older women on the street in 2008 to ask if he could take their picture in the manner of photography legend Bill Cunningham. His blog, Advanced Style, celebrated older women who insist on exuberant visibility. They are defying modern society's tendency to patronise and ignore every female over 50. (One of his stars cheerfully describes her age as "somewhere between 50 and death!") The blog became a book and now this film. It doesn't reflect too deeply on age and ageing,, doesn't dwell on the sadder and complicated side of things, and perhaps gravitates towards self-conscious eccentricity,...
Advanced Style is a diverting, if slight piece that doesn't reach too far outside its own world: a New York fashion movie about a New York fashion blog. Ari Seth Cohen is a writer and photographer who began approaching elegant and interestingly dressed older women on the street in 2008 to ask if he could take their picture in the manner of photography legend Bill Cunningham. His blog, Advanced Style, celebrated older women who insist on exuberant visibility. They are defying modern society's tendency to patronise and ignore every female over 50. (One of his stars cheerfully describes her age as "somewhere between 50 and death!") The blog became a book and now this film. It doesn't reflect too deeply on age and ageing,, doesn't dwell on the sadder and complicated side of things, and perhaps gravitates towards self-conscious eccentricity,...
- 5/8/2014
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Sean Hannity tonight took on a Pew study with statistics on how many Muslims around the world support Sharia law, believe violence is justified, and think women should be subservient to their husbands. Hannity and radio host Bill Cunningham got heated with his Muslim guest, Mike Ghouse, over whether the numbers are an indication that "radical Islam is rising" all over the world, which Hannity also extrapolated to claim that it's only a matter of time before Sharia law comes to the United States.
- 5/2/2013
- by Josh Feldman
- Mediaite - TV
February 10, 2012 (Burbank, CA & New York, NY) — The CW and Tribune Broadcasting today announced a distribution partnership for “The Bill Cunningham Show” which The CW Network will add to their weekday afternoon lineup beginning Fall 2012. “The Bill Cunningham Show” will air Monday through Friday, 3:00-4:00 p.m., on The CW Network stations nationwide beginning in September. The 60-minute program hosted by Bill Cunningham, an attorney and nationally syndicated talk radio host, launched on Tribune Broadcasting stations to great success in Fall 2011. ITV Studios America will continue to produce “The Bill Cunningham Show” with a live studio audience at Nep Penn Studios in Manhattan. “We are very pleased to add “The Bill Cunningham Show” to our weekday afternoon block,” said John Maatta, Chief Operating Officer, The CW. “Bill is a talented host with a fascinating program, and we know he’ll be a terrific asset for The CW and our affiliated stations.
- 2/10/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
As the media rolls into the second straight day of evaluating the offensiveness of Teamsters Union leader James Hoffa calling Tea Party members "son-of-a-bitches," the reaction from the White House has become the focus of the debate. On tonight's Hannity, host Sean Hannity and guest Bill Cunningham argued that the problem was not in the statements, but in the "hypocrisy" that comes from calling for civility and ignoring Hoffa's remarks.
- 9/7/2011
- by Frances Martel
- Mediaite - TV
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