Shall I? (2010)
Where is your home? Seems like a simple question, but the answer is not always that obvious, each individual comes from somewhere, goes places, and sooner or later he has to make a decision – where to stay?

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker
• Us Now – Ivo Gormley
• Trusted Computing – Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel
• Tovarisch I Am Not Dead – Stuart Urban

Penguins aside, it’s rare to see a documentary that solely focuses on the experiences of non-human protagonists. In her feature Horses, Liz Mermin spent a year documenting the lives of three Irish racehorses, with the potential to be stars of the National Hunt racing circuit. Liz joins us to discuss the challenges of creating a documentary where the humans are mere bit players.

There’s a patience about sitting and waiting and watching I think that you need to have in this kind of film in order to get something.

Showlinks
Mermin Film
BBC Storyville
Irish Film Board
Sony PMW-EX1

• Horses – Liz Mermin
• Strummerville: A Don Letts Film
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN169: Men Who Swim – Dylan Williams
• DN SXSW2010: World’s Largest – Amy C. Elliott & Elizabeth Donius

Horses (2009)
A beautifully detailed and exciting documentary film following a year in the lives of three Irish racehorses, keeping as close to the horses as possible.

• DN180: Horses – Liz Mermin
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker
• Us Now – Ivo Gormley
• Tokyo Cowboys – Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson

Garth Davis directed Burn Ignite’s latest film Ride with Mexican skaters Jesus Gonzalez, Eder Martinez, Mario Saenz, Angel Santiago and American Luis Tolentino. A nice combo of skate skills, location and SFX – Yes they actually set them on fire!

Burn Ignite :: Ride :: feat Steve Berra (OFFICIAL HD) from Burn Ignite on Vimeo.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

Leviathan from Richard Mosse on Vimeo.

Leviathan was made in two discrete locations: off the coast of Phuket in Thailand and in the Hudson River off the island of Manhattan. The buckled fuselage of the US Airways disaster is hoisted by cranes from the ice floes surrounding New York in winter. Meanwhile, at the other side of the world, the wreck of an old U.S. bomber is lowered beneathe the tropical waves. These remnants of the Vietnam War are being sunk onto the seabed in order to restimulate Phuket’s lucrative dive tourism industry affected by the recent Tsunami’s destruction of the indigenous coral reef environment.

Theatre of War from Richard Mosse on Vimeo.

Theatre of War was shot from one of Saddam Hussein’s hilltop palaces situated in the mountains overlooking the River Tigris in central Iraq. It is a slow, virtually static video piece redolent of classical history painting. Audio was recorded at the official US military hand-over ceremony at the nearby city of Saniya. A mullah’s prayer for unity among Arabs is spoken, after which the pan-Arab national anthem, Mawtini (My Homeland) is played, emphasizing Arab national solidarity and a pan-Arab territory. March 2009.

Untitled (Iraq) 2009 from Richard Mosse on Vimeo.

Bullet scored paraphernalia lie scattered in these dangerous wastes, evoking sculpture by Giacometti, Moore, Serra. Live and spent fire litter the surrounding landscape, creating an indelible image of the playfulness of destruction. The soundtrack invokes a roll of Iraqi place names, some of which are immediately recognizable to us through countless news dispatches from Iraqi wars.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

via redazril

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

Moments from Everynone on Vimeo.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker
• Walking On Eggshells: Borrowing Culture in the Remix Age

Life in a Day is a historic global experiment to create user-generated feature film, shot in a single day, by you. On July 24 2010, people all around the world had 24 hours to capture a glimpse of their life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into an experimental fiction, produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald. The film will premiere at the Sundance film festival 2011 and will be available on youTube.

Just a shame I found out about this too late to shoot something!

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Worth waiting for
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs

So with that in mind let me point you at the NEW BREED L.A. series, a recently completed collaboration between Filmmaker and the Workbook Project. Directed and produced by Sabi Pictures, NEW BREED L.A. features filmmakers at the L.A. Film Festival discussing their creative processes.

Watch Episode 1 “Nothing you Have to Have” below, then complete the series after the jump.

NEW BREED LOS ANGELES – Episode 1 from Sabi Pictures on Vimeo.

• DN EP 079: Menomena: Evil Bee – Stefan Nadelman
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

Filmmaker for The Guardian, Sean Smith’s short documentary Endgame In Afghanistan, is closer to reality. He spent five weeks in Afghanistan documenting and reporting and the result is available to watch on the Guardian website. It’s searing stuff.

There’s an accompanying frontline diary

• The Vice Guide to Liberia
• LYNCHthree Wants You!
• Lynch ‘em all
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments

There are only 9 Lego professionals around the world… until now. This is a documentary film that will take you on a journey to explore the art of Lego, through the personal mission of ‘Brit Brick Builder’ Duncan Titmarsh to become…

We’ve structured a number of different donation levels to encourage your generosity, and would be extremely grateful to have you on board our journey with us. We aim to create a truly inclusive, crowdsourced adventure that celebrates people power, and offer you rewards and incentives along the way to get involved. If you could spare us anything at all, we’d be chuffed to bits.

A truly independent feature documentary about Lego Masters, what’s more deserving of your help than that? Jump over to The 10th Lego Master Indiegogo page and show some love.

The 10th Lego Master (teaser) from Buzz Films on Vimeo.

• What are words worth?
• Welcome to Portable.tv
• We’ve been ‘P.A.P. Smeared’
• We join the Pikapika party
• We have a look

There was a time when you really had to search out a short documentary film, a time when the fiction film was most definitely the alpha male in the world of the short. However, over the last decade, with the ready availability of cheaper production equipment and the Internet providing an arena to screen, the documentary short definitely seems to be a format in ascension in current times. A quick browse through Vimeo or YouTube will bring forth an abundance of short docs and a wealth of competition for filmmakers operating within this field. This means that if you want your doc to stand out, it has to be engaging, entertaining and well made, under this criteria, Sean Dunne’s The Bowler is definitely a stand out film.

Meet Rocky Salemmo. He’s a ramblin’ gamblin’ man. For the majority of his adult life Rocky has hustled bowling for a living.

Check out the rest of my review on Short of the Week

• The Bowler
• The Archive
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?

• Terminal Bar: Pimps and Prostitutes
• DN EP 079: Menomena: Evil Bee – Stefan Nadelman
• Trusted Computing – Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel
• How to Feed the World?
• DN EP 051: What We’ve Found Out About Stem Cells – Richard Fenwick

In Isolation, the new feature documentary from the Institute For Eyes, Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull look at the cost of war on those we send to fight. Instead of a cold look at the statics – 1 in 8 veterans returning from Iraq are reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder – interspersed with interviews, social photographer Stuart Griffiths guides us through the post-war struggles of the service people he meets, giving his informed personal account of the struggle to reach a level of normalcy. Griffiths, whose work has long documented British Soldiers (Homeless Ex-Service, Back from War, Final Journey), is himself an ex-soldier who was made homeless after leaving the military, before rebuilding his life. This makes his on camera discussions with fellow ex-service personnel all the more moving, as they despair at the lack of resources and support for the challenges, physical and mental, that cause so many of them to self-medicate.

Isolation is currently on a UK Picturehouse screening tour, accompanied by a live score performed by director Luke Seomore with musicians Michael Garrad and David Stephens.

Picturehouse Cinemas Present Isolation from Institute For Eyes on Vimeo.

• Overnight
• DN LFF09: We Live in Public – Ondi Timoner
• DN LFF09: Starsuckers – Chris Atkins
• DN LFF09: 45365 – Bill and Turner Ross
• Dig! – Ondi Timoner

Jux-Tage episode # 2.1 from Logan Triplett on Vimeo.

• Ore-Kream Two
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs

via The Curious Brain

How to feed the world ? from Denis van Waerebeke on Vimeo.

• Trusted Computing – Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel
• Terminal Bar: Porters, Bouncers, and Bartenders
• Terminal Bar: Pimps and Prostitutes
• DN EP 051: What We’ve Found Out About Stem Cells – Richard Fenwick
• DN Ep 029: Trusted Computing – Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel

When Stefan joined us to chat about Menomena’s Evil Bee promo, we touched on the vast goldmine that was his father’s (Sheldon Nadelman) huge archive of photos and stories, and how Terminal Bar had only scratched the surface of the infamous Times Square watering hole.

It been a long time coming, (Stefan was working on the sequel when we spoke in early ‘08) but Stefan has once again thrown open the bar doors. This time we get to hang with the Terminal Bar’s Pimps and Prostitutes. Instead of a full on sequel to the 23 minutes original Stefan has decided to, instead do little vignettes from time to time until I’ve exhausted all the wonderful assets. Hopefully that means we wont have to wait too long for the next installment.

And here’s an excerpt from the original Terminal Bar.

• Terminal Bar: Porters, Bouncers, and Bartenders
• DN EP 079: Menomena: Evil Bee – Stefan Nadelman
• Trusted Computing – Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel
• How to Feed the World?
• DN EP 051: What We’ve Found Out About Stem Cells – Richard Fenwick

As the title suggests, it’s NSFW.

Brynn – nsfw from Michael Schmidt on Vimeo.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

Jack Cardiff was one of the legendary cinematographers. He was an innovator, a magician, an artist. McCall’s film spends time with him over the last 13 or so years of his life. The film features Cardiff talking about his career and features tributes from some of cinema’s greatest names.

A few years ago Jack Cardiff was opening the Yarmouth film festival. He was a native of the East Anglian seaside town. Stephen Fry was interviewing him and I had a ticket. Setting out in the afternoon full of excitement, my excitement and trip were curtailed as I got snared just behind a bad accident on an A road. I sat for ages and watched the window of opportunity to make it out to the coast dwindle.

Watching this film brought that sadness back, because Cardiff is truly one of the greatest artists cinema has ever produced. The film follows a linear thread, starting with his early work as a camera operator through his work as cinematographer and director. His stories of working with Marlene Dietrich as a young man are a highlight of the film for me. His insights make you realise that just like Cardiff, we don’t have performers like Dietrich anymore either.

Spending time with Cardiff inevitably left me lamenting the way cinema has changed at the highest level. He was a worker. He was on set making films well into his 90s and yet directors and producers rarely used him as he deserved following his mid century heyday. It’s heartbreaking to know that people said to him “don’t worry, special effects will deal with that”. This is a man who painted filters by hand for his lenses, he created innovative glass reflectors, he would breathe on the lens to create the right effect and his work on Black Narcissus, where Pinewood stood in for the Himalayas is one of the finest technical achievements in cinema history. He was a visionary. Watching it, you can’t believe that not a single frame was shot outside Buckinghamshire. It’s a miracle. How could you want Jack Cardiff to shoot your film and then not use him? It’s a crime that I as a filmmaker resent. People clearly just wanted his name on the credits without giving him the courtesy of the freedom to work to his potential.

Most famous for his work with Powell & Pressburger on their masterpieces Black Narcissus, A Matter of Life and Death and The Red Shoes amongst others, he also worked for and shot cinema’s greatest. I think only a list can do it justice:

Ingrid Bergman, Wayne, Flynn, Hitchcock, Hathaway, Loren, Curtis, Bogart, Huston, Welles, Monroe, Olivier, Mason, Gardner, Hepburn (K&A) and Janet Leigh to name a few.

McCall’s film not only includes the man himself talking modestly at length but features contributions from the likes of Martin Scorsese, Charlton Heston, Lauren Bacall and an ill, but willing and gracious Kirk Douglas.

There is a lot of time and valid connection of Cardiff’s work to the art forms of painting and photography. He was a painter and photographer (his collection of portraits of actresses he worked with is magnificent) and knew how to create moving masterpieces through his unique blend of lighting, composition, movement and colour. His use of colour is exemplary.

He was a good director, never a great one. His one great film Sons & Lovers is deservedly lauded here, but he never matched his unique work as a cinematographer. But then, look at his work as a cinematographer. Anybody would have struggled. Scorsese says in the film that cinema is never considered a true ‘art form’ because of how populist it is. A truth somewhat, but I defy someone to watch this film, and immerse themselves in the work of Jack Cardiff and tell me that it is not art, and that this man was not an artist.

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff is released on DVD by Optimum on July 26th.

• Overnight
• Isolation
• DN LFF09: We Live in Public – Ondi Timoner
• DN LFF09: Starsuckers – Chris Atkins
• DN LFF09: 45365 – Bill and Turner Ross

California is loaded. From Disneyland to farmland, we’ve got Scientology and superstars, Silicon and silicone, crips and bloods. The border. Krumpin’ Clownin’ Jerkin’. The surf and the turf. The boom and the bust. California is humanity run amok and then packaged, branded and sold. California Cuisine, California Love, California Casual, California Gold, California Girls, and of course, California Dreams. If it exists in the world, it exists here and it does so with pizzaz.
Obviously, we love this stuff. That’s why we’re doing this project. Simply put, California is sensational. And the closer we look the better it gets: words and images, stories and songs, opinions and ideas. This project is ongoing. We hope you like what you see and say so. We plan to post often. So until that day, when we finally float off into the Pacific, California is a place.

Cannonball

Some of them are full of black water. Others have become graveyards for old lawn furniture and rodent carcasses. They are shaped like jelly beans and manufactured by companies named Sunny Side and Champagne. Once upon a time, Fresno was the California Dream. Own a car. Own a house. Own a pool. Everyone wanted it and the wonderful world of credit made it all possible. But now, with the foreclosure monster running wild, the dream is dry. Thousands of pools are festering in the hot Central Valley sun. For most people this is tragic. But for some, it’s an opportunity.

Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

Big Vinny

Once upon a time, he was a local celebrity. He earned his nickname after doing a tv commercial for a Round Table pizza named The Big Vinny. For over twenty years, he was the face and voice of a successful used car business in small town Alameda. He sold and he sold and he sold and Californians drove away happy. Today, everything has changed. The business is dead. The lots sit empty. Big Vinny is out of work. But he still remembers the good times.

Big Vinny from California is a place. on Vimeo.

Borderland

Dick is right. “Every American should see this.” It is real and it is striking. In some places it stands 18 feet tall and looks like the gates of Mordor. In other places, it is barely 10 feet tall and looks like it was put together with a stapler. It runs from the Colorado River directly into the Pacific. It is big, intense and intimidating. And it is unfinished. Gaping holes are everywhere. Physically it’s confusing. Politically it’s puzzling. Ideologically it’s complicated. But for Dick and Ron, who both live within a few miles of the border, defending it is simply a matter of protecting themselves and preserving their own beliefs. Drug smugglers don’t come to the United States to make an honest living. As the recent killing of Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas shows, the border is more than a moral line in the sand. The fence is real. We recommend a visit.

Borderland from California is a place. on Vimeo.

Scrapertown

“In order to become a member of the Original Scraper Bike Team, you must: Be a resident of Oakland, CA. Be at least 7y/o or older. Retain A 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA), Create your own Scraper Bike…(It Has To Be Amazing, Or Else You Can’t Ride.) A single-file line when riding. After 10 rides The Scraper Bike King and his Captains will decide if your bike is up to standards and if you can follow simple guidelines. After your evaluation we will consider you a member and honor you with an Original Scraper Bike Team Shirt. Only worn when Mobbin’ Stay posted to our website for all upcoming Scraper Bike Rides…” — The Scraper Bike King

Scrapertown from California is a place. on Vimeo.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

Seems the team behind the first two documentaries on everyone’s favourite weather reporting, cult director David Lynch thought that was the way to go too for their third and final installment, LYNCHthree. From the site:

As truly independent filmmakers, we know first-hand that raising money is always a challenge, so we’ve decided to fund this documentary through an innovative crowdfunding campaign…David has created a cool limited edition self-portrait exclusively for this project. If you donate $50 towards the production of the film through this website, you will become a member of the LYNCHthree project, gain access to exclusive footage and receive your choice of either a limited edition collectible print, t-shirt or tote bag.

I can think of few better ways to drop 50 bucks. Hmm, would a donation of £150 get you the set…?

• Lynch ‘em all
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Why David Lynch Turned Down Return of the Jedi
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker
• Us Now – Ivo Gormley

La Rochelle station

Entrance to conference centre

The conference centre

Party on a boat

Sunnyside in La Rochelle is not quite like any other film event I have ever been to. It’s a market aimed at producers and commissioners from all over the world. (think Clothes show live for documentary companies) It has stands, panel discussions, a handful of screenings and the reason why I attended: LE BIPS (best international project selection).

BIPS poster

Orion was one of six international projects selected for the Arts and Culture BIP. In the same format as EIFF I had 7 minutes to tell the story of my film to an audience of commissioners, producers and delegates. Although there are no winners or losers, in the traditional sense, a good pitch can move your project forward and get your face and name known on the international circuit.

I was up against filmmakers from Latvia, India, Brazil, France, Canada and China including the team from EyeSteelFilm and Up the Yangzee headed up by the mighty Peter Wintonick.

Peter Wintonick pitching

Pitch audience.

After the usual technical shambles – checked my clip three times day before and it still didn’t work till third try come the day – the pitch went well. Brilliant feedback from USA, the Netherlands and (surprisingly) France. My ‘pop culture’ interests are usually not a good fit for French commissioners.

View from the ferry

Filmmaker Kate McNaughton and Charlie Phillips from Sheff Doc Fest

All this hard work is offset by an evening of rose wine and ridiculous cocktails served up in elephant/cactus/giraffe glass holders ornamented with a selection of novelty key rings. We eschewed the seafood restaurant that most of the commissioners flocked to partly as Charlie (Sheff doc fest) is a vegan but also the €50 a head price tag. All this traveling to raise finance is a very expensive business.

Crazy Cocktails at Via Brazil

Getting that follow up meeting the next day is an art in itself and takes a good deal of hanging around, copious coffee drinking and gentle pouncing! Unlike EIFF where there is a structured day of follow up meetings Sunnyside is much more free-form with no guarantee of attendees at your pitch or any follow up at all. I have to put my British reserve to one side which is not easy.

UK Village

Glimmer table

I met some great people and had ‘real’ meetings (not just send me a rough cut meetings) that certainly made it worth the trip. I’m not so sure the market set up is an ideal fit for me though, even though I had a table with Glimmer Films (my company) on.

It will be interesting what happens in 2011 – Sheffield announced last week that they are moving to June instead of their usual November dates, two weeks before Sunnyside. Some financiers will be forced to make a choice between the two.

Watching the Italy game on the Orange France stand.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

narrabeen dawn from Jason Wingrove on Vimeo.

mona vale from Jason Wingrove on Vimeo.

• Sea Pool
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs

Following on from his stunning documentary The Bowler, which I posted on Directors Notes yesterday, comes Sean Dunne’s earlier Sundance selected short The Archive. Again, Dunne’s film is overflowing with luscious visuals and a fascinating subject and for all true music fans this short really is a must.

Paul Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world’s largest record collection. Due to health issues and a struggling record industry Paul is being forced to sell his collection.

This is the story of a man and his records.

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

• The Bowler
• SotW: The Bowler
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?

If you ever thought Bill Murray’s performance as Ernie McCracken in Kingpin was over the top and unbelievable, you’ve obviously never met Rocky Salemmo!

He’s a ramblin’ gamblin’ man. For the majority of his adult life Rocky has hustled bowling for a living.

Here is his story. A short documentary about booze, broads and bowling.

Dunne’s documentary is a slick and stylish short filled with beautiful cinematography, rich colours and snappy editing.

Rocky Salemmo is one of the most fascinating characters you’ll ever see in short film, he eats up the screen like Joe Pesci on speed and it feels like he was born to be on screen. It’s impossible to take your eyes off him for one second, blink and you might miss something.

The Bowler from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

• SotW: The Bowler
• The Archive
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?

Steven Soderbergh’s body of work has always presented something of a problem for critics, its sheer eclecticism eschewing any easy pigeonholing. Despite this, however, there has always been an identifiable thread – both visual and thematic – running through the films. Yet here, for perhaps the first time, he feels almost entirely absent, a ghostly figure pulling the strings from the shadows. Rather than being a problem, though, this disappearing act may well be one of And Everything Is Going Fine’s best filmmaking coups. For his first documentary, Soderbergh has created a ‘gift’ to the family and fans of the self-described ‘poetic journalist’ Spalding Gray, who died in an assumed suicide in 2004. Very appropriately for a film about someone renowned for their autobiographical monologues, Soderbergh has left all the talking to Gray, assembling archive footage, interviews and photographs into a coherent and captivating document. When asked what he feared most about death, Gray would apparently answer that “I won’t be here to talk about it”. Soderbergh, one feels, has given him the chance.

According to the film’s producer (and Gray’s widow) Kathie Russo, Soderbergh and his editor Susan Littenberg culled the film from over 120 hours of footage, and it is important to recognise the part that Littenberg must have played in making the film what it is. The tight-knit structure created by Soderbergh and Littenberg allows Gray’s words to seemingly form themselves into one last, final monologue, and although And Everything Is Going Fine may be 90 minutes of one person talking about themselves, it is never self-indulgent. As Gray himself puts it: “I’m not a navel-gazer”. He is merely talking about the world as he sees it through his personal experiences.

And the world as Gray sees it is an interesting and humorous place, but one lined with darkness. Soderbergh and Gray first worked together back in 1993, when Soderbergh cast Gray in his early masterpiece King of the Hill, having read his book Impossible Vacation and deciding he was right for the character of Mr Mungo. Perhaps ironically, perhaps disturbingly, Gray was thinking of suicide around this time and accepted the offer of Mr Mungo – a character who kills himself – as a way of exploring these ideas vicariously. Suicide seems to have been something of an inescapable recurring theme for Gray, with his mother dying by her own hand in 1967, his own failed attempt in 2002 and his own untimely death.

Despite this dark undercurrent, Gray’s work was always as funny as it was insightful, and the film stands as a testament to his skill for entertaining and poetic storytelling. Russo has stated that Spalding was an ‘audio guy’ who always felt like something was missing from the film adaptations of his work, but there is nothing that feels missing here – not even Soderbergh.

• EIFF2010: Vacation!
• EIFF2010: Undertow
• EIFF2010: The Days of Desire
• EIFF2010: My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
• EIFF2010: If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle

“Back in the day it was about changing minds not your sneakers. Sound and vision have always been my main mode of communication, inspiration, so I actually see everything I do as part of the same thing. In the 21st century diversity’s the only way to survive for many creative people so I guess I’ve always been ahead of the game in that sense. Having said all that, being broke’s a hell of a motivator.”

I was privileged to talk to Don about his latest film; a documentary following Strummerville: The Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music. To regress slightly:

Strummerville is an organisation I have a lot of love for. Joe Strummer was a hero of mine. His death affected me greatly and I wanted to do something to pay my own tribute and conceived and delivered Charlie Don’t Surf: A Cinematic Tribute To Joe Strummer. It took place at the Curzon Soho in London in 2005 and celebrated the film work of Joe, as actor and composer. The event was staged in association with Strummerville, the charity set up in his name following his death. When I heard that Don Letts had a made of film of the work they were doing, I knew I had to spread the good word.

Trish Whelan, director of the charity explained how the film came about:

“I guess [it] came about when Don saw so much good stuff going on around the charity and he got a real sense of the work we are trying to do here. He was the perfect person to tie it all in. He was so close to Joe for all those years and has such a great handle on good music and I really feel he managed to tap into the essence of Joe and the real essence of how we work here”.

Strummerville helps young, aspiring, struggling musicians get the basics to succeed. They help supply places to rehearse, places to record, exposure, advice and support and as with everything surrounding Joe’s life, the pool of talent to draw from is extensive and special.

The highlight of the film for me, in terms of contributors is Billy Bragg, one of the most eloquent and passionate musicians Britain has ever seen. He cuts through the smoke about the importance of Joe, and the importance of a support network like Strummerville. His project Jail Guitar Doors which helps rehabilitate prisoners through music is a touching segment of the film. The true stars of the film are the young musicians from all backgrounds and corners of Britain fighting to make their voice and sounds heard. Letts cuts in wonderful personal archive footage of Joe so we know, this is his legacy, young people who weren’t alive when London was Calling, who admit to not even knowing who he was, shouting and creating with fire and ire. The preview screening in West London, the heart of Clash country, was raucous and celebratory, with the Strummerville musicians in attendance and loving seeing their voices capture by Letts’ camera.

Don claims he was “intrigued to make the film to see how the spirit, energy and attitude of Joe Strummer was inspiring and helping a whole new generation who for the most part weren’t even born when The Clash were doing there thing”. He has always been ruthlessly honest about Joe, celebrating his goodness but ensuring awareness of his faults, which is something I admire, that he has never just paid lip service. His film is relentlessly positive. I asked him why?

“Well call me naive but I’d like to think that for the most part we can agree on what’s wrong but what we need is positive answers. Its easy to moan about what’s wrong, we got to concentrate on how to make it right!”

It’s in answers like this, that the inspiration of Don Letts lies. An underrated filmmaker and a quiet force behind some of the most culturally important music of the past 30 or so years, his is a voice that deserves a wider ear. I ask if he considers himself a filmmaker?

“I’m a bit old for labels and would rather not tie myself down. If you give yourself a label that’s all you can be. I’d like to remain open to all challenges and ideas.”

Is there someone he would like to make a film about?

“There’s always interesting things happening you just got to look in new places and like Joe Strummer said “everybody has a story to tell.”

One of my favourite films of Don’s is a short BBC film about Gil Scott Heron made a few years back. I asked for his thoughts on his return to the world stage?

“Considering he’s one of the god-fathers of rap his return is timely. Hip-hop has become hip-pop and needs a kick up the arse.”

I get excited by a new Don Letts film because I know I’ll get close to his subject, right up close and I’ll know that love and creativity will jump off the screen and I love that he just creates and then moves on to the next thing. Tireless, always searching. In truth, the film, and the charity suffers from not having that massive success story but the people who work to ensure Joe’s legacy survives, Don as a filmmaker and us as the audience come out of the film feeling that it’s just around the corner because it’s all good energy working towards a better world.

The film is available from the Strummerville website and is a fascinating insight into a worthy foundation. It also screens on SkyArts in August but you should buy it. Support a good cause. Support a great filmmaker.

Thanks to Don Letts and Trish Whelan.

Strummerville a film by Don Letts from Strummerville on Vimeo.

• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN180: Horses – Liz Mermin
• DN169: Men Who Swim – Dylan Williams
• DN SXSW2010: World’s Largest – Amy C. Elliott & Elizabeth Donius
• DN SXSW2010: The People vs. George Lucas – Alexandre O. Philippe

The term ‘midlife crisis’ conjures images of needless purchases of flash cars, dating people half your age and of course, synchronised swimming? Well perhaps not the last one, but that’s what director Dylan Williams and the Stockholm Arts Swim Gents turned to on the cusp of 40. Dylan joins us to discuss the careful navigation necessary when creating a documentary about your closest friends.

There’s another problem in that when you do a film about your friends, I felt the burden of their trust on me very heavily.

Showlinks
Amp Film
Met Film
Video Nation
Esther Williams
Documentary Campus
BBC StoryVille
Red Camera

• Men Who Swim – Dylan Williams
• Strummerville: A Don Letts Film
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin’ Convention Screening
• DN180: Horses – Liz Mermin
• DN SXSW2010: World’s Largest – Amy C. Elliott & Elizabeth Donius

Men Who Swim (2010)
Men Who Swim is a humorous and poignant look at a group of middle aged men who have found unlikely success as members of Sweden’s all male synchronised swimming team.

• DN169: Men Who Swim – Dylan Williams
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker
• Us Now – Ivo Gormley
• Tokyo Cowboys – Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson

The images are gorgeous, the destruction they show not so much so.

via nofatclips

Mourning Glory from The Human Eye Corporation on Vimeo.

The apocalyptic counter-strike and mayhem of the consequent meltdown of Wednesday, May the 19th has left a still-weeping, iconic wound that will fester for years to come.

Sadder still though, the coupling of the the glorious state-claimed victory over terrorism with the mass, material mourning of this city infrastructure leaves little room for the individual lives lost in the final flourishes of the crackdown.

Written and directed by Rupert James
Music by Stars of the Lid

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

Few people are as qualified to make a judgment call as to a film’s quality as a fellow filmmaker; so when Jeanie Finlay suggested I take a look at Emily Branham’s Doc Challenge winning documentary Legend: a film about Greg Garing, I knew my time would be well rewarded. I spoke to Emily about the sometimes serendipitous nature of filmmaking and the balance of storytelling and respect for your participants.

I definitely wanted to do justice to the truth of this story and preserve his dignity. Those are forefront in my mind as I’m putting an edit together and there were moments I left out to make that happen.

Showlinks
Emily Branham
Work and Serve Productions
Greg Garing
Donate to Greg’s Treatment Fund
BeBe
Documentary Challenge
Hot Docs

• Legend: a film about Greg Garing – Emily Branham
• Time Piece – Kat Mansoor
• Strummerville: A Don Letts Film
• Miss D 2007 Top Ten
• Keepintime: Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl – B+

Legend: a film about Greg Garing (2010)
In his early 20s, the extraordinary musician Greg Garing played with every country and bluegrass legend on the Nashville Opry scene. Now, at 43, his doctors have given him a year to live and he’s forced to come to terms with a secret he’s kept all his life.

Watch to the complete film and vote.

• DN168: Legend: a film about Greg Garing – Emily Branham
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker
• Us Now – Ivo Gormley
• Trusted Computing – Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel

via Kuriositas

Hayaku: A Time Lapse Journey Through Japan from Brad Kremer on Vimeo.

• ZOMBIE ZOMBIE: Driving Clip – Simon Gesrel & Xavier Ehretsmann
• Trusted Computing – Benjamin Stephan & Lutz Vogel
• The PEN Story & PEN Giant
• T-SHIRT WAR 2
• T-Shirt War

Sea Pool. from Jason Wingrove on Vimeo.

• More Sea Pool
• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs

Filmed over 18 months, the film will give an insight into today’s vinyl addict and today’s Teesside, offering a window into the North East. We will meet an eclectic stream of visitors to the shop and accompany them home to witness them listening to their new purchase, or played out as part of a DJ set.

Basically, think of the film as a real life High Fidelity, but with a Northern accent.

Sound it Out has its own IndieGoGo page, where you can pledge your support towards its $3,000 goal in exchange for some coveted rewards including DVDs, private screenings, tours and pretty pretty vinyl.

Here’s the trailer:

Sound it Out from Jeanie Finlay on Vimeo.

• Who’s who and who are you?
• Teenland: In Teenagers’ Bedrooms – Jeanie Finlay
• Stitch, pitch and the a to z of Britdoc
• So near, yet so far
• SheffDocFest minus one and counting

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

Through its series of interviews with young black women, A Girl Like Me highlights the perception that black features fall short of society’s standards of beauty, even amongst the black community itself. Davis’ restaging of Kenneth Clark’s black doll/white doll experiment is a particularly troubling example of why this is an issue still in need of positive action.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

With the Immersion project Robbie Cooper and his collaborators have filmed people “through the screen” as they play games, use the internet and watch TV. For the Wallpaper* commissioned Porn incarnation of Immersion, Cooper combines an Erol Morris interview style with Beautiful Agony’s straight to camera orgasms, to strip away the smut and reveal what makes his porn enthusiast subjects tick.

*Whilst there’s no flesh on display, there are people talking candidly about sex and of course cumming on camera, so perhaps pop on the headphones before hitting play if you’re in the office.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

THE VIDEO

The above video is an early glimpse of Indie Game: The Movie. This teaser segment features Edmund McMillen of ‘Team Meat’ discussing his childhood, his games and the connections between. ( http://supermeatboy.com/ )

*Although this video only features Edmund, the film will include several indie developers and experts. A list of confirmed indies is coming soon!

THE FILM

Indie Game: The Movie is a feature documentary about video games, their creators and the craft. It examines independent game developers as a way to understand the medium and the theory behind video games. Throughout, the film focuses on the human side of the creative process, and the connections between game and game-maker.

Indie Game: The Movie will be released Spring 2011.
http://www.indiegamethemovie.com.

THE INSPIRATION

We were inspired to make this documentary by a short film we made on Alec Holowka of Infinite Ammo in Fall 2009 ( see video here:http://vimeo.com/7956342 ), coupled with our experience covering the Game Developers Conference in Spring 2009.

In producing the short film and attending the conference, we found the individual stories and entire culture of independent developers exceptionally fascinating and compelling. From the perspective of storytelling, game play and development process, it seems that some of the most interesting things going on in video games are happening in the indie space.

That initial fascination stuck with us, and in early 2010, we explored the idea of a feature length documentary with an initial wave of shooting. We gathered footage at GDC 2010 in San Francisco as well as in Phoenix, AZ, in Santa Cruz, CA and in Winnipeg, MB, Canada (with the indie teams from Flashbang Studios, Enemy Airship, Polytron, Team Meat and Infinite Ammo).

The results have been extremely encouraging and validating; and has set the stage for the feature documentary.

THE PLAN

In Fall 2010, we plan to travel across North America filming independent game developers and experts on the medium/industry. We’re looking for funds to cover our travel & production hard costs. We’re currently planning to film in Montreal, QB, Toronto, ON, San Francisco, CA, San Jose, CA, Santa Monica, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Austin, TX and Charlotte, NC.

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker

In keeping with its perspective, Walking On Eggshells has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license, which leaves me completely free to post the three parts for you below:

• ZOOMER – Sam Huntley
• Words & Moments
• Who’s who and who are you?
• What volcano? Next stop Hot Docs
• We Dreamed America – Alex Walker