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film essay

How The Neon Demon’s “Failure” Reveals a Major Problem in Indie Film

Alex Ross Perry on Nicolas Winding Refn's masterpiece, and what it bombing at the box office says about the state of independent film.

December 30, 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."

December 27, 2016

How I Wrote Lion, or Breaking the Rules By Finding the Poetry in Screenwriting

Screenwriter Luke Davies on how his past as a novelist and poet informed the way he approached telling the heartwarming true story of Saroo Brierley.

December 13, 2016

What Andrzej Żuławski Taught Me About Filmmaking

Nicolas Boukhrief, director of Made in France, shares the advice given to him by the late auteur when he worked with him in the '80s.

December 12, 2016

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