Creative

Footer Legal

Main

NavBar

Sections

Topics

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Talkhouse

David Farrier has been working as a journalist in New Zealand for over 10 years. His feature documentary Tickled premiered at Sundance in 2016, and he made a follow-up, The Tickle King, in 2017. Farrier&#8217;s documentary series Dark Tourist is now streaming on Netflix. Learn more about David at his <a href="https://www.davidfarrier.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official website</a>.

David Farrier

Film

My Manson Adventures Making Dark Tourist

Bobby Miller is a filmmaker and author from New Jersey who lives in Los Angeles. His films have premiered at Sundance, SXSW and Fantasia. His debut novel, Situation Nowhere, is available now. Learn more at: <a href="http://www.SituationNowhere.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SituationNowhere.com</a>.

Bobby Miller

James Gunn and the Problem with Today’s Culture of Outrage

Ian Bonhôte is an award-winning director and producer. In 2004, he co-founded the production company Pulse Films with Thomas Benski and Marisa Clifford. Pulse Films co-produced the The Witch and American Honey (2016 Jury Prize Cannes Winner). In 2016, Bonhôte directed and executive produced his first feature film, Alleycats. Bonhôte’s second feature film, <a href="https://bleeckerstreetmedia.com/mcqueen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">McQueen</a>, a documentary about the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, is released by Bleecker Street in select theaters on July 20.

Ian Bonhôte

The Biggest Problem Facing Filmmakers Today

Hikaru Toda is self-shooting director and editor based in London and Osaka who works in long- and short-format documentaries. Her films have screened on BBC&#8217;s Storyville, France Télévisions, NHK, The Guardian and at major international film festivals including Hot Docs, CPH DOX and the Melbourne International Film Festival. Hikaru moved to Japan for the first time in 22 years to make her latest film, Of Love &amp; Law; the film screens at <a href="https://www.japansociety.org/event/of-love-and-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Japan Cuts</a> in New York City on Friday July 20.

Hikaru Toda

My Awkward Encounters on the Film Festival Circuit

A pioneer in American independent film, Bette Gordon is an award-winning filmmaker known for her bold explorations of themes related to sexuality, violence, and pornography. Gordon is best known for her film Variety (1983), a beautifully seductive film about a woman who takes a job selling tickets at a NYC porn theatre. It plays at the Quad as part of its series &#8220;The New York Woman&#8221; on <a href="https://quadcinema.com/film/variety/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">July 19</a>.  Luminous Motion (2000) was produced by Ted Hope and Anthony Bregman and stars Deborah Kara Unger in a breathtaking performance. Gordon&#8217;s 2010 film, Handsome Harry, features a stellar ensemble cast including Steve Buscemi, Titus Welliver, Aidan Quinn, Campbell Scott, Karen Young, John Savage and Jamey Sheridan. Her current film, The Drowning (2017), is a suspense thriller based on the novel Border Crossing by award winning British author Pat Barker. The film stars Josh Charles, Julia Stiles, and Avan Jogia. Gordon&#8217;s films have been shown theatrically and in international Festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Locarno, Lisbon, Sao Paulo, Palm Springs, and Tribeca.

Bette Gordon

Voyeurism and Half-Lit Streets: Bette Gordon on Variety

Director-producer Rachel Dretzin has been honored with numerous awards for her documentaries, including the Emmy Award, the Peabody, the Du-Pont Columbia and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. For many years she has directed and produced documentaries for Frontline, PBS’ eminent documentary series. With her husband, filmmaker Barak Goodman, Dretzin is co-founder of <a href="http://www.ark-media.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ark Media</a>, a Brooklyn-based production company and a leading producer of nonfiction content. She was the senior producer of four major series for PBS, including The African Americans and Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise. which premiered in 2016. Her latest film, <a href="http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/far-from-the-tree" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Far From the Tree</a>, based on the bestselling book of the same name by Andrew Solomon, is released by Sundance Selects on July 20. (Image by Meredith Zinner Photography.)

Rachel Dretzin

How I Learned the Power of the Documentary Filmmaker (and How to Wield It Responsibly)

Writer, director and producer Leslie Harris&#8216; feature Just Another Girl on the I.R.T released in US theaters and 20 countries worldwide in 1993. The feature won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize, and was an official selection at the Tokyo, Toronto and Deauville film festivals. Just Another Girl on the I.R.T screens at the Quad on <a href="https://quadcinema.com/film/just-another-girl-on-the-i-r-t/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">July 14</a> as part of the &#8220;New York Woman&#8221; screening series. Leslie is the recipient of the IFP Gotham Award Open Palm, AFI Filmmaker Award and National Endowment for the Arts Grant. She wrote, directed and produced the Showtime award-winning short Bessie Coleman: A Dream to Fly; Coleman was the first African American to receive a pilot&#8217;s license, two years before Amelia Earhart. Leslie&#8217;s new feature, I Love Cinema, is a satire about sex, race and the alt-right media, and is still looking for financing.

Leslie Harris

Why a Little Black Girl Wanted to Make a Feature Film

Steve Lippman aka FLIP directed music short films/videos/documentaries for David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Dolly Parton, Rosanne Cash, Esperanza Spalding, Jorge Drexler, Joe Henry,  Carly Simon, Bette Midler, and more. His work screened at film festivals worldwide, including Cannes, London, Berlin, Tribeca, and Denver. Imagery from his music films featured in major concert tours for David Bowie, Rosanne Cash and Dolly Parton. Flip directed Behind the Lid, a feature-length film version of the acclaimed theatrical experience co-created by avant-garde playwright/performer Lee Nagrin and master puppeteer/performer Basil Twist. The film premiered at BAM.

Steve Lippman

Video: Life Saving, a Short Film in 4 Chapters with Joe Henry

Lisa Immordino Vreeland has been immersed in the world of fashion and art for the past 25 years. She made her directorial debut with the documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel (2012), and also wrote the book of the same name. The film had its European premiere at the Venice Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, and went on to win the Silver Hugo at the Chicago Film Festival and the fashion category for the Design of the Year Awards (the Oscars of design) at the Design Museum in London. Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015 and had its European premiere at Art Basel. Her third feature, <a href="https://zeitgeistfilms.com/film/lovececil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Love, Cecil</a>, is on U.S. theatrical release from June 29, and the accompanying book of the same name was published last fall. (Picture by Anne Joyce.)

Lisa Immordino Vreeland

How I Became an Accidental Filmmaker

A prolific film and television director and producer, Andrew Fleming is the director of films such as Hamlet 2 starring Steve Coogan and Nancy Drew with Emma Roberts. He was recently the Executive producer/director on the Netflix series Insatiable, of which he directed the pilot. Additionally, he recently directed episodes of Younger for TV Land, Lady Dynamite for Netflix, and Red Oaks for Amazon. He directed the pilots for Bad Judge at NBC, Odd Mom Out for Bravo, and Difficult People for Hulu, all of which were ordered to series. He has a long career in features, including co-writing and directing the 1988 psychological thriller Bad Dreams, the satirical political comedy Dick, starring Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams and Will Ferrell, and The Craft, a supernatural thriller about teen witchcraft, starring Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell and Rachel True. Fleming&#8217;s latest comedy feature, Ideal Home starring Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan, is out through Brainstorm Media on June 29.

Andrew Fleming

We’re Post-Homophobia, Right? Wrong.

Born in New Jersey, the second son of a chocolatier, Kevin Phillips directed the short film Too Cool for School, which was accepted into the 2015 Cannes Semaine De La Critique. Super Dark Times, his feature debut, premiered at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam and the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017. The film was highly acclaimed and went on to participate in more than a dozen festivals around the world, garnering awards including Best Feature Film at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland. The Orchard acquired worldwide rights to Super Dark Times in 2017, facilitating the domestic theatrical / on-demand release in September of that year. Kevin was nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award in 2018 as &#8220;Someone to Watch.&#8221; He is signed as a director with United Talent Agency and as a cinematographer with WPA.

Kevin Phillips

Shadows of the Past

Eugene Jarecki is an award-winning documentary director and producer. His latest film, <a href="http://www.theking.film/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The King</a>, a fascinating musical road trip in Elvis Presley’s 1963 Rolls Royce that explores how the hell we got here and where we are going, is out June 22 through Oscilloscope Films. Jarecki made his film debut with The Trials of Henry Kissinger in 2002, and won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and a Peabody Award for his 2005 film Why We Fight. In 2010, he created Move Your Money, a viral short encouraging Americans to shift their money from too-big-to-fail banks to community banks and credit unions. His Emmy-award winning 2011 film, Reagan, premiered at Sundance before broadcasting on HBO. The House I Live In, his 2013 film about America&#8217;s War on Drugs, once again won him the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival as well as a second Peabody Award. He executive produced the Sundance award-winning documentary (T)ERROR, as well as Denial, which aired on PBS in 2017. In 2016, Jarecki directed The Cyclist as part of Amazon&#8217;s The New Yorker Presents series.

film essay