August 22, 2016 | POV’s daily list of essential reading for the documentary and independent filmmaking community.
How ‘Gleason’ Director Clay Tweel Turned 1,300 Hours of Footage Into an Oscar Contender
In 2010, when New Orleans Saint defensive star Steve Gleason first learned of his ALS diagnosis, his wife Michel was pregnant. Instinctively, he picked up a camera and started talking to his yet-to-be-born son — and so began the documentation of a man’s determination to tackle his disease head-on. By the time director Clay Tweel (“Finders Keepers”) started working on the film in March of 2015, over 1,200 hours of footage had been shot. Tweel’s job: Craft it into a story.
Read more | IndieWire »
Act Naturally: The Real and Unreal of ‘Kate Plays Christine’
Robert Greene’s Kate Plays Christine, which nabbed this year’s Sundance Film Festival US Documentary Special Jury Award for Writing, continues the Actress (2014) director’s exploration of female thespians and their process. Taking the 1974 on-air suicide of TV host Christine Chubbuck as a jumping-off point, Greene casts Kate Lyn Sheil as Christine in his own version of this infamous, yet little known, story.
Read more | IDA »
Sundance Institute New Frontier / Jaunt VR Residency Program Inducts Three New Projects
Sundance Institute and Jaunt Studios have announced their latest class of creatives to join the Sundance Institute New Frontier | Jaunt VR Residency Program. During the program, the artists will experiment with new ways of delivering narrative through cinematic virtual reality.
Read more | Filmmaker Magazine »
Facebook Live: Too Much, Too Soon
It’s been just over four months since The New York Times started producing live video for Facebook, but already the scoreboard is flashing. A few earned gold medals. Several others finished strong. And a lot should never have made the team.
Read more | The New York Times »
Behemoth Review – A Paradise Lost to Profiteers
There is an extraordinary moment about a third of the way through Zhao Liang’s masterly documentary, Behemoth. The screen goes scarlet. It’s not immediately clear what we are looking at. Then, as we watch, the hellish red begins to take on a form – first, we see the flames of a furnace and then, shockingly, the figures of the men who work there, engulfed in the searing heat and noise.
Read more | The Guardian »
Anthony Weiner Says His Wife Never Agreed to That Documentary
Anthony Weiner talking about Weiner, the critically lauded documentary about his disastrous mayoral campaign, he said neither he nor his wife had seen the film and had no plans to. When he agreed to participate, he obviously envisioned a movie that would have a much happier ending, ideally starring Mayor Weiner and First Lady Huma.
Read more | The New York Times »
Upcoming festivals and deadlines
- Deadline: DOK Hackathon & Prototype Jam 8/28
- 73rd Venice International Film Festival 8/31 – 9/10
- Deadline: IDFA Crossmedia Forum 9/1
- Deadline: Fusion Project Earth Documentary Challenge 9/1
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