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film essay

The Thing I Love About Documentary Filmmaking (That Took Me 25 Years to Discover)

Lou Pepe, the co-director of Lost in La Mancha, on staring, compassion fatigue and his new documentary, The Bad Kids.

December 9, 2016

Why Now We Must Make Work That Truly Matters

The election and his new film, Burn Country, prompt Ian Olds to grapple with how important art is now, and what is its place in the world.

December 8, 2016

My Wild Lunch with John C. Lilly, the Scientist Who Inspired Arrival

Stuart Gordon flashes back to the time he met with the interspecies linguistic researcher to discuss a sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

December 5, 2016

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and the Case for High-Frame-Rate Cinema

Joe Lynch on Ang Lee's new movie and how 120 fps could be where cinema is headed – if we have the right films to ease us into it.

November 30, 2016

Why Trump’s Victory Made Me Decide to Go Make Movies in Mexico

Filmmaker Jade Porter on why the result of the presidential election prompted her to fulfill a long-held dream to live south of the border.

November 29, 2016

How Volunteering for Hillary Taught Me to Take Action Against Impending Doom

Horror helmer Adam Egypt Mortimer on how directing helped him as a phone bank volunteer, and volunteering helped quiet his director's anxiety.

November 21, 2016

Remembering Robert Vaughn, My Movie Dad

Victoria Negri recalls the close relationship she developed with the late actor on her directorial debut, in which he played her real-life father.

November 14, 2016

Burner Phones and Email Encryption: Protecting Documentary Sources in a Surveillance State

Investigative documentary filmmaker Sonia Kennebeck shares her experiences making National Bird in a post-Edward Snowden world.

November 11, 2016

How I Wrote Arrival (and What I Learned Doing It)

Screenwriter Eric Heisserer shares notes and extracts from early drafts as he breaks down how he adapted Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life."

November 10, 2016

Bluebeard at the Movies

As she prepares her own Bluebeard film, The Love Witch director Anna Biller looks at past cinematic takes on the dark fairy tale.

November 4, 2016

How I Swayed the 2004 Presidential Election with My Pro-Bush 9/11 Movie (Even Though I’m a Leftie)

Veteran director Brian Trenchard-Smith on the story behind him making the propagandist TV movie DC 9/11: Time of Crisis.

November 2, 2016

One of Those Creatures: Remembering Michael Massee

Director Nicholas McCarthy looks back on working with the late Michael Massee, a great actor and complex man, in his film At the Devil's Door.

November 1, 2016