The footage of white supremacists and neo-Nazis marching through Charlottesville is horrific, although there’s comic value in the absurdity of racist lunatics trooping to home improvement centers so they could wield tiki torches. Still, for late-night talk show hosts and other comedians, the prospects of mining humor from this peacock display of American bigotry was a strict no-fly zone.
Enter “Lemon.” When it premiered at Sundance in January, writer-director Janicza Bravo’s unnerving first feature was a fascinating deconstruction of white male privilege and racist ideology; in the shadow of Charlottesville, her satire echoes the headlines as it arrives in theaters and VOD on August 18.
Read More:‘Whose Streets?’: For the Charlottesville Resistance, this Documentary is Essential Cinema
In the movie, Bravo (a black woman born in Panama and raised in the U.S.) directs her husband, comedian Brett Gelman, who’s white. Gelman plays Isaac, a disgruntled and alienated playwright.
Enter “Lemon.” When it premiered at Sundance in January, writer-director Janicza Bravo’s unnerving first feature was a fascinating deconstruction of white male privilege and racist ideology; in the shadow of Charlottesville, her satire echoes the headlines as it arrives in theaters and VOD on August 18.
Read More:‘Whose Streets?’: For the Charlottesville Resistance, this Documentary is Essential Cinema
In the movie, Bravo (a black woman born in Panama and raised in the U.S.) directs her husband, comedian Brett Gelman, who’s white. Gelman plays Isaac, a disgruntled and alienated playwright.
- 8/17/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
I’ve been a fan of her work since being exposed to her gleefully sardonic award-winning short film Gregory Go Boom at Sundance back in 2014.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
- 8/17/2017
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
I’ve been a fan of her work since being exposed to her gleefully sardonic award-winning short film Gregory Go Boom at Sundance back in 2014.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
- 8/17/2017
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Ahead of its screenings at this week’s SXSW Film Festival, Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to “Lemon,” the feature directorial debut of Janicza Bravo. Bravo also co-wrote the screenplay with actor Brett Gelman (Gelman also stars in the film and is Bravo’s husband). The film bowed back in January at the Sundance Film Festival and then went on to screen at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Read More: ‘Lemon’ Director Janicza Bravo On The Art of Rejection and Why Her Movie’s Not Weird — Sundance 2017
Per the film’s official synopsis, it “follows Isaac Lachman (Gelman), a 40-year-old man immobilized by the mediocrity in his life. His career is going nowhere, his girlfriend of ten years (Greer) is leaving him and his family is overbearing. Isaac once had big dreams, but now just watches his life unravel.”
“Lemon” also stars Judy Greer, Michael Cera and Nia Long.
Read More: ‘Lemon’ Director Janicza Bravo On The Art of Rejection and Why Her Movie’s Not Weird — Sundance 2017
Per the film’s official synopsis, it “follows Isaac Lachman (Gelman), a 40-year-old man immobilized by the mediocrity in his life. His career is going nowhere, his girlfriend of ten years (Greer) is leaving him and his family is overbearing. Isaac once had big dreams, but now just watches his life unravel.”
“Lemon” also stars Judy Greer, Michael Cera and Nia Long.
- 3/10/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Generally speaking, this year’s Sundance Film Festival was a very healthy marketplace that guaranteed many of its highlights will make it to audiences beyond the festival circuit soon. From heavy hitters like “The Big Sick” and “Mudbound” to discoveries like “Thoroughbred,” there was plenty of buyer interest spread throughout the lineup. As usual, though, plenty of worthy titles ended the festival with uncertain futures.
Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
Here are a few memorable ones that deserve distribution.
“Bitch”
There are plenty of stories about domestic housewives who grow tired of their oppressive routines, but none quite like Marianna Palka’s vicious feminist satire “Bitch,” in which the writer-director-star plays a woman who assumes the identity of a wild dog. It’s a blunt metaphor, but Palka transforms the absurd premise into a chilling look at the destruction...
Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
Here are a few memorable ones that deserve distribution.
“Bitch”
There are plenty of stories about domestic housewives who grow tired of their oppressive routines, but none quite like Marianna Palka’s vicious feminist satire “Bitch,” in which the writer-director-star plays a woman who assumes the identity of a wild dog. It’s a blunt metaphor, but Palka transforms the absurd premise into a chilling look at the destruction...
- 1/31/2017
- by David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn and Jude Dry
- Indiewire
‘Lemon’ Director Janicza Bravo On The Art of Rejection and Why Her Movie’s Not Weird — Sundance 2017
Janicza Bravo doesn’t like it when people say that “Lemon,” her feature film debut, is weird. The lauded short filmmaker and playwright co-wrote “Lemon” with her husband Brett Gelman, who also stars in the dark absurdist comedy that follows a perpetual loser whose life is only gets worse as he attempts to get over a bad breakup and an embarrassing career as a commercial actor. Packed with strange jokes, bizarre humor and unfathomable twists of fate, Bravo struggled to bring “Lemon” to the big screen.
She’s earned the opportunity. A theater director and actress by training, Bravo also has nine short films under her belt (including the 2013 Sundance Film Festival selection “Gregory Go Boom”), a host of festival awards, and a bent towards the possibilities of Vr in the entertainment space.
IndieWire sat down with Bravo after the film’s Sundance debut to talk about the feature’s...
She’s earned the opportunity. A theater director and actress by training, Bravo also has nine short films under her belt (including the 2013 Sundance Film Festival selection “Gregory Go Boom”), a host of festival awards, and a bent towards the possibilities of Vr in the entertainment space.
IndieWire sat down with Bravo after the film’s Sundance debut to talk about the feature’s...
- 1/27/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Ever since her 2011 short film “Eat,” filmmaker Janicza Bravo has presented a baffling vision of absurd circumstances that defy simple categorization. Throughout subsequent shorts such as “Gregory Go Boom” and “Man Rots From the Head” (both of which star Michael Cera, in the former as a suicidal paraplegic), Bravo’s peculiar style maintains an unnerving quality that feels like cringe-comedy but often takes a sharp turn into odd and alarming glimpses of angry, pathetic characters.
“Lemon,” her feature-length debut, continues that indelible tendency with its deranged portrait of a self-involved man (Brett Gelman, the director’s husband and co-writer) so ruthlessly unpleasant that everything he does contributes to the destruction of his life. Enhanced by a number of notable comedic actors entering uncharted terrain, it’s the kind of movie that makes you laugh and flinch in equal measures, and despite some messier twists, never ceases to move in surprising directions.
“Lemon,” her feature-length debut, continues that indelible tendency with its deranged portrait of a self-involved man (Brett Gelman, the director’s husband and co-writer) so ruthlessly unpleasant that everything he does contributes to the destruction of his life. Enhanced by a number of notable comedic actors entering uncharted terrain, it’s the kind of movie that makes you laugh and flinch in equal measures, and despite some messier twists, never ceases to move in surprising directions.
- 1/24/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Sundance Film Festival just gave attendees 68 new reasons to look forward to the January event with the announcement of their short films program that features several titles for genre fans to keep an eye on, including the creature short feature Kaiju Bunraku, the suburban satanic cult-centric Fucking Bunnies, and the post-apocalyptic Dawn of the Deaf.
We have the official press release below with full details, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for our upcoming coverage of the festival.
Press Release: Park City, Ut — Sixty-eight short films, announced today, will complement the lineup of longer fare at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The short film slate aligns thematically with other Festival categories, including Midnight and The New Climate, the Festival’s new programming strand highlighting climate change and the environment. The Festival hosts screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort January 19-29.
The Institute’s support for...
We have the official press release below with full details, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for our upcoming coverage of the festival.
Press Release: Park City, Ut — Sixty-eight short films, announced today, will complement the lineup of longer fare at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The short film slate aligns thematically with other Festival categories, including Midnight and The New Climate, the Festival’s new programming strand highlighting climate change and the environment. The Festival hosts screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort January 19-29.
The Institute’s support for...
- 12/6/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Short film lovers, never fear, the Sundance Film Festival has not forgotten about you. After rolling out their various feature categories, the annual winter festival has now announced their full short film lineup, including narratives, documentaries, animated offerings and midnight chillers. The slate is packed with picks from such diverse filmmakers as Laura Poitras (who will screen her latest, “Project X,” co-directed with Henrik Moltke, at the festival) and Kristen Stewart (who will make her directorial debut with “Come Swim”), along with Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Zachary Zezima, E.G. Bailey and many, many more.
If you’re hoping to find the next big thing in independent filmmaking, start here. Among the shorts the festival has shown in recent years are “World of Tomorrow,” “Thunder Road,” “Whiplash,” “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” and “Gregory Go Boom.”
Read More: Sundance 2017 Announces Competition and Next Lineups, Including Returning Favorites and Major Contenders
Mike Plante,...
If you’re hoping to find the next big thing in independent filmmaking, start here. Among the shorts the festival has shown in recent years are “World of Tomorrow,” “Thunder Road,” “Whiplash,” “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” and “Gregory Go Boom.”
Read More: Sundance 2017 Announces Competition and Next Lineups, Including Returning Favorites and Major Contenders
Mike Plante,...
- 12/6/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
2016 is nearly over and most people can’t wait to reach the finish line, so the Sundance Film Festival lineup couldn’t arrive at a better moment to give us something to anticipate for the new year.
Read More: Sundance 2017 Announces Competition and Next Lineups, Including Returning Favorites and Major Contenders
With the announcement of the U.S. and World Competition sections as well as the ever-tantalizing Next category of edgier fare, the first set of Sundance announcements kick off a wave of expectations from new talent and veterans alike. There will be much to dig through, from potential sales titles to breakthrough talent, and more announcements to come (the midnight section, short films, and forward-thinking New Frontiers section are all around the corner). In the meantime, we’ve dug through the initial Sundance blast to unearth a few standouts worthy of anticipation.
David Lowery’s Secret Movie Isn’t...
Read More: Sundance 2017 Announces Competition and Next Lineups, Including Returning Favorites and Major Contenders
With the announcement of the U.S. and World Competition sections as well as the ever-tantalizing Next category of edgier fare, the first set of Sundance announcements kick off a wave of expectations from new talent and veterans alike. There will be much to dig through, from potential sales titles to breakthrough talent, and more announcements to come (the midnight section, short films, and forward-thinking New Frontiers section are all around the corner). In the meantime, we’ve dug through the initial Sundance blast to unearth a few standouts worthy of anticipation.
David Lowery’s Secret Movie Isn’t...
- 11/30/2016
- by Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Women In Film has announced the recipients of its 31st annual Film Finishing Fund grant programme in support of films by, for or about women.
The narrative winners are: Solace by Tchaiko Omawale; Band Aid by Zoe Lister-Jones; Miracle by Egle Vertelyte; and The Darkest Days Of Us by Astrid Rondero.
Documentary recipients are: Amor Puro Y Duro by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi; Canary In A Coal Mine by Jennifer Brea; Farida And Gulnaz
by Clementine Malpas; Mudflow by Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander; Tribe by Jordan Bryon; and When A Girl Is Born by Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra.
Sundance Institute has announced its fifth class of Women at Sundance Fellows to receive mid-career support. Each fellow is paired with a mentor and will receive a stipend to attend the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The fellows are: Elyse Steinberg (Weiner producer) and Elizabeth Wood (White Girl writer-director), Cecilia Aldarondo (Memories Of A Penitent Heart director), [link...
The narrative winners are: Solace by Tchaiko Omawale; Band Aid by Zoe Lister-Jones; Miracle by Egle Vertelyte; and The Darkest Days Of Us by Astrid Rondero.
Documentary recipients are: Amor Puro Y Duro by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi; Canary In A Coal Mine by Jennifer Brea; Farida And Gulnaz
by Clementine Malpas; Mudflow by Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander; Tribe by Jordan Bryon; and When A Girl Is Born by Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra.
Sundance Institute has announced its fifth class of Women at Sundance Fellows to receive mid-career support. Each fellow is paired with a mentor and will receive a stipend to attend the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The fellows are: Elyse Steinberg (Weiner producer) and Elizabeth Wood (White Girl writer-director), Cecilia Aldarondo (Memories Of A Penitent Heart director), [link...
- 11/17/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Last week, we had fun chiming in on how Sundance 2016 might look like with our Sundance predictions list. Our series was exactly one short from the promised 75. We decided to switch things up this year. Our last pick is reserved for what is a next to impossible, needle in the haystack guess at what films might break into the short film sections. Out of the 8000 plus submissions the Sundance Short Film programmers will receive, they’ll end up selecting a little less than a hundred short films. Here are some ideas as to who and what could show up.
The Bulb and The Procedure
No stranger to Park City, Calvin Reeder has supplied the fest with features such as The Oregonian (2011), The Rambler (2013) and could very well bring this Kickstarter pairing to public access television blitz and X-Files love. Production wrapped in August. Actors Linas Phillips and Christian Palmer star.
The Bulb and The Procedure
No stranger to Park City, Calvin Reeder has supplied the fest with features such as The Oregonian (2011), The Rambler (2013) and could very well bring this Kickstarter pairing to public access television blitz and X-Files love. Production wrapped in August. Actors Linas Phillips and Christian Palmer star.
- 12/2/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Two up-and-coming Native talents, Razelle Benally (Navajo/Oglala Lakota) and Randi LeClair (Pawnee) have been selected for the Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab, where the two writers will receive grants for production and targeted support during a residential Lab to prepare for production of their short films.
The Lab takes place in Santa Fe, New Mexico July 10-14. The Lab is a highlight of the Institute’s year-round work with Native American and Indigenous filmmakers and is one of the 24 residential labs the Institute hosts each year to discover and foster the talent of emerging independent artists in film, theater, new media and more recently episodic content.
The Native Filmmakers Lab builds on the Institute’s former NativeLab to include grants to support production of the Fellows’ short films – a first for the Institute’s renowned independent artist Labs. The writers and directors serving as Creative Advisors for this year’s Lab include: Janicza Bravo ("Gregory Go Boom" and "Pauline Alone"), Beck Cole ( "Plains Empty" and "Here I Am" ), Sydney Freeland ("Drunktown's Finest" and "HoverBoard" ), Aurora Guerrero ( "Pura Lengua" and "Mosquita y Mari" ) and Lucas Leyva ( "#PostModem" and "Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke" ).
N. Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache), director of the Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program, said, “Our Native Filmmakers Lab responds to the unique need within our community to support Native American artists with grants and mentorship focusing on the crucial phase of producing their films. I am excited to embark on this creative journey with these two bright female directors as they begin the tactical phase of creating their films.”
The Native Filmmakers Lab will be followed by the inaugural Native Writers Workshop, jointly hosted by Sundance Institute and the Institute of American Indian Arts (Iaia). The Workshop will support six emerging Native storytellers who seek to share their voices in film and television: Gabe Abeyta (Taos Pueblo and Navajo from Santa Fe, Nm), Katie Avery (Iñupiaq from Los Angeles, CA), Kelly D'Angelo (Haudenosaunee from Los Angeles, CA), Felicia Nez (Navajo from Albuquerque, Nm), Blue Tarpalechee (Muscogee from Santa Fe, Nm) and Kaherawaks Thompson (St. Regis Mohawks of Akwesasne from Memphis, Tn).
They will be mentored by: Beck Cole (Writer, "Here I Am" and "Black Comedy" ), Jason Gavin (Writer, "Greek, "Friday Night Lights"), Derek Santos Olson (Writer, "Friday Night Lights" ), Sierra Ornelas (Writer, "Selfie" and "Happy Endings" ), Alex Rivera (Writer/Director, "Sleep Dealer" ) and Joan Tewkesbury (Writer, "Nashville" and "Thieves Like Us" ).
True to founder Robert Redford’s original vision, the Institute maintains a strong commitment to supporting Native and Indigenous filmmakers. The Native program has built and sustained a unique support cycle for Indigenous artists through grants, labs, mentorships, a fellowship program at the Sundance Film Festival, and screenings for Native communities to inspire new generations of storytellers. Currently operating programs in the United States, Canada, and formerly New Zealand and Australia, the Institute has established a rich legacy of work by supporting more than 300 Native and Indigenous filmmakers, including Taika Waititi, Chris Eyre, Sterlin Harjo, Billy Luther, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Aurora Guerrero, Sydney Freeland and Yolanda Cruz.
There are the two artists/projects selected for the 2015 Native Filmmakers Lab:
"I Am Thy Weapon"
Razelle Benally (Navajo/Oglala Lakota)
A young artistic Navajo woman relives memories of her deceased sister, that in turn help her heal and battle against the modern-day adversities of reservation life.
Razelle Benally is of Oglala Lakota and Navajo blood. Benally’s firsthand experience while filming and traveling with renowned skateboard company Apache Skateboards has helped her hone a self-developed style of editing and directing. She most notably gained acclaim for her short documentary "The Humble," and six-minute experimental piece "Love is a Losing Game." Benally is one of five young women featured in the 2011 documentary, "Apache Chronicle."
She has shown in galleries in Long Beach, CA and in Phoenix, Az. Her films have been shown nationally and internationally at select screenings in Portland, Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, and Sweden. She earned a third place award in the 2007 Aihec Film Festival, and is the 2010 Santa Fe Indian Market jury-awarded winner for Best Documentary in Swaia’s Classification X. Benally is an alumna of the 2012 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
"The Other Side of the Bridge"
Randi LeClair (Pawnee)
After two high school football stars are found dead, decade’s long racial tensions sizzle in a small-town diner.
Randi LeClair is an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a BA in English (Creative Writing) and is currently a graduate student in the University of Oklahoma’s Master of Professional Writing program. Recently, Randi and her husband, Todd, signed an option agreement for the screen adaptation of Todd’s book, "60 Feet Six Inches and Other Distances from Home: The (Baseball) Life of Mose YellowHorse," which follows the story of Pittsburg Pirates pitcher Mose YellowHorse, the first full-blood American Indian in the major leagues.
In addition to screenwriting, Randi also engages her love of literary fiction and is currently working on a collection of short stories. As well, she also serves as co-editor for "Out of the Stars: An Anthology of Pawnee Writing, Stories, and Art." Her dream is to help bring Native Cinema to the mainstream. She is an alumna of the 2010 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
The Lab takes place in Santa Fe, New Mexico July 10-14. The Lab is a highlight of the Institute’s year-round work with Native American and Indigenous filmmakers and is one of the 24 residential labs the Institute hosts each year to discover and foster the talent of emerging independent artists in film, theater, new media and more recently episodic content.
The Native Filmmakers Lab builds on the Institute’s former NativeLab to include grants to support production of the Fellows’ short films – a first for the Institute’s renowned independent artist Labs. The writers and directors serving as Creative Advisors for this year’s Lab include: Janicza Bravo ("Gregory Go Boom" and "Pauline Alone"), Beck Cole ( "Plains Empty" and "Here I Am" ), Sydney Freeland ("Drunktown's Finest" and "HoverBoard" ), Aurora Guerrero ( "Pura Lengua" and "Mosquita y Mari" ) and Lucas Leyva ( "#PostModem" and "Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke" ).
N. Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache), director of the Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program, said, “Our Native Filmmakers Lab responds to the unique need within our community to support Native American artists with grants and mentorship focusing on the crucial phase of producing their films. I am excited to embark on this creative journey with these two bright female directors as they begin the tactical phase of creating their films.”
The Native Filmmakers Lab will be followed by the inaugural Native Writers Workshop, jointly hosted by Sundance Institute and the Institute of American Indian Arts (Iaia). The Workshop will support six emerging Native storytellers who seek to share their voices in film and television: Gabe Abeyta (Taos Pueblo and Navajo from Santa Fe, Nm), Katie Avery (Iñupiaq from Los Angeles, CA), Kelly D'Angelo (Haudenosaunee from Los Angeles, CA), Felicia Nez (Navajo from Albuquerque, Nm), Blue Tarpalechee (Muscogee from Santa Fe, Nm) and Kaherawaks Thompson (St. Regis Mohawks of Akwesasne from Memphis, Tn).
They will be mentored by: Beck Cole (Writer, "Here I Am" and "Black Comedy" ), Jason Gavin (Writer, "Greek, "Friday Night Lights"), Derek Santos Olson (Writer, "Friday Night Lights" ), Sierra Ornelas (Writer, "Selfie" and "Happy Endings" ), Alex Rivera (Writer/Director, "Sleep Dealer" ) and Joan Tewkesbury (Writer, "Nashville" and "Thieves Like Us" ).
True to founder Robert Redford’s original vision, the Institute maintains a strong commitment to supporting Native and Indigenous filmmakers. The Native program has built and sustained a unique support cycle for Indigenous artists through grants, labs, mentorships, a fellowship program at the Sundance Film Festival, and screenings for Native communities to inspire new generations of storytellers. Currently operating programs in the United States, Canada, and formerly New Zealand and Australia, the Institute has established a rich legacy of work by supporting more than 300 Native and Indigenous filmmakers, including Taika Waititi, Chris Eyre, Sterlin Harjo, Billy Luther, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Aurora Guerrero, Sydney Freeland and Yolanda Cruz.
There are the two artists/projects selected for the 2015 Native Filmmakers Lab:
"I Am Thy Weapon"
Razelle Benally (Navajo/Oglala Lakota)
A young artistic Navajo woman relives memories of her deceased sister, that in turn help her heal and battle against the modern-day adversities of reservation life.
Razelle Benally is of Oglala Lakota and Navajo blood. Benally’s firsthand experience while filming and traveling with renowned skateboard company Apache Skateboards has helped her hone a self-developed style of editing and directing. She most notably gained acclaim for her short documentary "The Humble," and six-minute experimental piece "Love is a Losing Game." Benally is one of five young women featured in the 2011 documentary, "Apache Chronicle."
She has shown in galleries in Long Beach, CA and in Phoenix, Az. Her films have been shown nationally and internationally at select screenings in Portland, Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, and Sweden. She earned a third place award in the 2007 Aihec Film Festival, and is the 2010 Santa Fe Indian Market jury-awarded winner for Best Documentary in Swaia’s Classification X. Benally is an alumna of the 2012 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
"The Other Side of the Bridge"
Randi LeClair (Pawnee)
After two high school football stars are found dead, decade’s long racial tensions sizzle in a small-town diner.
Randi LeClair is an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a BA in English (Creative Writing) and is currently a graduate student in the University of Oklahoma’s Master of Professional Writing program. Recently, Randi and her husband, Todd, signed an option agreement for the screen adaptation of Todd’s book, "60 Feet Six Inches and Other Distances from Home: The (Baseball) Life of Mose YellowHorse," which follows the story of Pittsburg Pirates pitcher Mose YellowHorse, the first full-blood American Indian in the major leagues.
In addition to screenwriting, Randi also engages her love of literary fiction and is currently working on a collection of short stories. As well, she also serves as co-editor for "Out of the Stars: An Anthology of Pawnee Writing, Stories, and Art." Her dream is to help bring Native Cinema to the mainstream. She is an alumna of the 2010 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab.
- 7/13/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
YouTube’s importance at Sundance grows every year. This year, they held free workshops on how to maximize your use of YouTube. Here is the latest schedule of YouTube on Main Street events and press assets, please visit google site ytsundance2014 or Twitter at #YouTubeSundance.
YouTube offered film fans access to the 2014 Sundance Film Festival both on and offline through several initiatives including:
Youtube On Main Street (596 Main Street, Park City, Ut 84060)
Open January 16-25, 2014 at various times. Warm up at “YouTube on Main Street,” the place for the creative community to convene for must-see panels, happy hours, film receptions, screenings, talks and DJ sets. Free Wi-Fi and drinks are available to badge holders when programs are not in session.
Daily Events at YouTube on Main Street:
“Live @ Sundance” On The Sundance Film Festival Youtube Channel Live daily from January 17-24, 2014 at 11am Mst at www.youtube.com/sff. Whether you’re in Park City or Phuket, you can check out the best of the fest daily with “Live @ Sundance.” The one-hour talk show will air live daily at 11am Mst January 17-24, 2014 from “YouTube on Mainstreet” on the sff (Sundance Film Festival) YouTube channel. The show will feature guest hosts Shira Lazar,Casey Neistat andJimmy Conrad, filmmaker interviews, the latest news from the festival, exclusive sneak peeks and more.Yoga (Jan. 17-24; 7:30-9am Mst) - Breathe and ease into warrior pose at these daily yoga sessions. Cassey Ho, star of the popular blogilates channel on YouTube, will lead these classes on January 17-21 Free and open to the public.
Individual Events:
How and Why to Use YouTube Panel (Jan. 22; 2-3pm Mst) - Hear from independent filmmaker Casey Neistat about how he successfully uses YouTube to distribute his films and build an audience. Free and open to the public.YouTube on Main Street and Paste Afternoon Showcase (Jan. 22; 3- 6pm Mst) Paste Magazine’s Josh Jackson will introduce performances by Sleeping at Last, Matt Scannell of Vertical Horizon, Michael Tolcher, and Carina Round. Press RSVP recommended.YouTube Party (Jan. 22; 9pm-1am Mst) Includes Dj set by Mick By invitation onlyNext and Midnight Cocktails (Jan. 23; 9:30-11pm Mst) By invitation onlyThey Came Together Film Reception (Jan. 24; 6:30-8:30pm Mst) - A reception for the world premiere of the romantic comedy. Includes a live Google+ Hangout with talent from the film including Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd. By invitation only.Film Contact: Shelby Kimlick – skimlick@mprm.com
Youtube Presents The 2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Program As the presenting sponsor of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Program, YouTube will help showcase some of the official shorts in competition on the sff (Sundance Film Festival) YouTube channel. For a complete list of this year’s short films, please visit Sundance.org. Additionally, Sundance audiences will be exposed to some of the best content on YouTube with select videos from popular YouTube channels to run before short film screenings at the festival.
Youtube Audience Award
On Saturday, January 25, 2014, the YouTube Audience Award will be presented at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony to a short film in competition that garners the most amount of views on YouTube between January 16-24, 2014. Check out the films on the sff (Sundance Film Festival) YouTube channel or click here.
The Sundance Institute selected 15 films eligible for this award from this year’s competition that include:
Allergy to Originality
Directed by Drew Christie
4 min, U S A
Animation
A humorous animated 'Op-Doc' explores the rich history of adaptation, plagiarism, and other forms of appropriation in art.
The Big House
Directed by Musa Syeed
5 min, U S A/Yemen
fiction
When a young Yemeni boy ventures out of his cramped apartment and finds a key to the empty mansion down the street, he lets himself and his imagination run wild in the big house.
Burger
Directed by Magnus Mork
11 min, Norway/United Kingdom
fiction
It's late night in a burger bar.
Catherine
Directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp
13 min, U S A
fiction
Catherine returns to work after a hiatus.
Chapel Perilous
Directed by Matthew Lessner
13 min, U S A
fiction
Levi Gold is paid an unexpected visit by Robin, a door-to-door salesman with nothing to sell. The ensuing encounter forces Levi to confront his true mystical calling, and the nature of reality itself. A metaphysical comedy trip-out with Sun Araw.
Crime The Animated Series (Marcus McGhee)
Directed by Alix Lambert and Sam Chou
4 min, U S A/Canada
Animated documentary
From Bank robbers to cops to victims to observers, Crime: The Animated Series explores how crime affects us all. The series is dark, compelling, heartbreaking, and yes - sometimes funny.
Cruising Electric (1980)
Brumby Boylston
1 min, U S A
fiction
The marketing department green-lights a red-light tie-in: 60 lost seconds of modern movie merchandising.
Dig
Directed by Toby Halbrooks
10 min, U S A
fiction
A young girl watches her father dig a hole in their backyard. Mystified about his purpose, the neighborhood comes to watch.
Funnel
Directed by Andre Hyland
7 min, U S A
fiction
A man's car breaks down and sends him on a quest across town that slowly turns into the most fantastically mundane adventure.
Gregory Go Boom
Directed by Janicza Bravo
17 min, U S A
fiction
A paraplegic man leaves home for the first time only to discover that life in the outside world is not the way he had imagined it.
MeTube: August Sings Carmen 'Habanera'
Directed by Daniel Moshel
4 min, Austria
fiction
George Bizet`s "Habanera" from Carmen has been reinterpreted and enhanced with electronic sounds for MeTube, a homage to thousands of ambitious YouTube users and video bloggers, and gifted and less gifted self-promoters on the Internet.
Notes on Blindness
Directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney
13 min, United Kingdom
Documentary
In 1983, writer and theologian John Hull became blind. To help make sense of his loss, he began keeping an audio diary. Encompassing dreams, memories, and his imaginative life, Notes on Blindness immerses the viewer in Hull's experience of blindness.
Passer Passer
Directed by Louis Morton
4 min, U S A
Animation
An animated city symphony celebrates the hidden world of background noise.
Rat Pack Rat
Directed by Todd Rohal
19 min, U S A
fiction
A Sammy Davis, Jr. impersonator, hired to visit with a loyal Rat Pack fan, finds himself delivering last rights at the boy's bedside.
Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns
Directed by Joe Callander
2 min, U S A
Documentary
Love is swapping clips with your spouse...
YouTube offered film fans access to the 2014 Sundance Film Festival both on and offline through several initiatives including:
Youtube On Main Street (596 Main Street, Park City, Ut 84060)
Open January 16-25, 2014 at various times. Warm up at “YouTube on Main Street,” the place for the creative community to convene for must-see panels, happy hours, film receptions, screenings, talks and DJ sets. Free Wi-Fi and drinks are available to badge holders when programs are not in session.
Daily Events at YouTube on Main Street:
“Live @ Sundance” On The Sundance Film Festival Youtube Channel Live daily from January 17-24, 2014 at 11am Mst at www.youtube.com/sff. Whether you’re in Park City or Phuket, you can check out the best of the fest daily with “Live @ Sundance.” The one-hour talk show will air live daily at 11am Mst January 17-24, 2014 from “YouTube on Mainstreet” on the sff (Sundance Film Festival) YouTube channel. The show will feature guest hosts Shira Lazar,Casey Neistat andJimmy Conrad, filmmaker interviews, the latest news from the festival, exclusive sneak peeks and more.Yoga (Jan. 17-24; 7:30-9am Mst) - Breathe and ease into warrior pose at these daily yoga sessions. Cassey Ho, star of the popular blogilates channel on YouTube, will lead these classes on January 17-21 Free and open to the public.
Individual Events:
How and Why to Use YouTube Panel (Jan. 22; 2-3pm Mst) - Hear from independent filmmaker Casey Neistat about how he successfully uses YouTube to distribute his films and build an audience. Free and open to the public.YouTube on Main Street and Paste Afternoon Showcase (Jan. 22; 3- 6pm Mst) Paste Magazine’s Josh Jackson will introduce performances by Sleeping at Last, Matt Scannell of Vertical Horizon, Michael Tolcher, and Carina Round. Press RSVP recommended.YouTube Party (Jan. 22; 9pm-1am Mst) Includes Dj set by Mick By invitation onlyNext and Midnight Cocktails (Jan. 23; 9:30-11pm Mst) By invitation onlyThey Came Together Film Reception (Jan. 24; 6:30-8:30pm Mst) - A reception for the world premiere of the romantic comedy. Includes a live Google+ Hangout with talent from the film including Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd. By invitation only.Film Contact: Shelby Kimlick – skimlick@mprm.com
Youtube Presents The 2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Program As the presenting sponsor of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Program, YouTube will help showcase some of the official shorts in competition on the sff (Sundance Film Festival) YouTube channel. For a complete list of this year’s short films, please visit Sundance.org. Additionally, Sundance audiences will be exposed to some of the best content on YouTube with select videos from popular YouTube channels to run before short film screenings at the festival.
Youtube Audience Award
On Saturday, January 25, 2014, the YouTube Audience Award will be presented at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony to a short film in competition that garners the most amount of views on YouTube between January 16-24, 2014. Check out the films on the sff (Sundance Film Festival) YouTube channel or click here.
The Sundance Institute selected 15 films eligible for this award from this year’s competition that include:
Allergy to Originality
Directed by Drew Christie
4 min, U S A
Animation
A humorous animated 'Op-Doc' explores the rich history of adaptation, plagiarism, and other forms of appropriation in art.
The Big House
Directed by Musa Syeed
5 min, U S A/Yemen
fiction
When a young Yemeni boy ventures out of his cramped apartment and finds a key to the empty mansion down the street, he lets himself and his imagination run wild in the big house.
Burger
Directed by Magnus Mork
11 min, Norway/United Kingdom
fiction
It's late night in a burger bar.
Catherine
Directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp
13 min, U S A
fiction
Catherine returns to work after a hiatus.
Chapel Perilous
Directed by Matthew Lessner
13 min, U S A
fiction
Levi Gold is paid an unexpected visit by Robin, a door-to-door salesman with nothing to sell. The ensuing encounter forces Levi to confront his true mystical calling, and the nature of reality itself. A metaphysical comedy trip-out with Sun Araw.
Crime The Animated Series (Marcus McGhee)
Directed by Alix Lambert and Sam Chou
4 min, U S A/Canada
Animated documentary
From Bank robbers to cops to victims to observers, Crime: The Animated Series explores how crime affects us all. The series is dark, compelling, heartbreaking, and yes - sometimes funny.
Cruising Electric (1980)
Brumby Boylston
1 min, U S A
fiction
The marketing department green-lights a red-light tie-in: 60 lost seconds of modern movie merchandising.
Dig
Directed by Toby Halbrooks
10 min, U S A
fiction
A young girl watches her father dig a hole in their backyard. Mystified about his purpose, the neighborhood comes to watch.
Funnel
Directed by Andre Hyland
7 min, U S A
fiction
A man's car breaks down and sends him on a quest across town that slowly turns into the most fantastically mundane adventure.
Gregory Go Boom
Directed by Janicza Bravo
17 min, U S A
fiction
A paraplegic man leaves home for the first time only to discover that life in the outside world is not the way he had imagined it.
MeTube: August Sings Carmen 'Habanera'
Directed by Daniel Moshel
4 min, Austria
fiction
George Bizet`s "Habanera" from Carmen has been reinterpreted and enhanced with electronic sounds for MeTube, a homage to thousands of ambitious YouTube users and video bloggers, and gifted and less gifted self-promoters on the Internet.
Notes on Blindness
Directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney
13 min, United Kingdom
Documentary
In 1983, writer and theologian John Hull became blind. To help make sense of his loss, he began keeping an audio diary. Encompassing dreams, memories, and his imaginative life, Notes on Blindness immerses the viewer in Hull's experience of blindness.
Passer Passer
Directed by Louis Morton
4 min, U S A
Animation
An animated city symphony celebrates the hidden world of background noise.
Rat Pack Rat
Directed by Todd Rohal
19 min, U S A
fiction
A Sammy Davis, Jr. impersonator, hired to visit with a loyal Rat Pack fan, finds himself delivering last rights at the boy's bedside.
Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns
Directed by Joe Callander
2 min, U S A
Documentary
Love is swapping clips with your spouse...
- 1/29/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
After watching her deeply grim comic short film, Gregory Go Boom, starring Michael Cera as a paraplegic who tries dating for the first time to disastrous result, people seem to have a lot of things to say to writer-director Janicza Bravo. At a Salt Lake City screening, a man stood up to tell her she had a very dark view of the world and ought to be making documentaries. When Bravo explained the film was not a commentary on paraplegics, per se, but about being dismissed and the harshness of that, and related to her experiences of being black and a woman, a woman backstage thanked her: “I’m glad you said that, because I was just thinking you were a bad person.” Way harsh, random lady.At least Cera understood, and loved, what Bravo was trying to do. As did the Sundance grand jury, which awarded Gregory Go Boom...
- 1/24/2014
- by Jada Yuan
- Vulture
Love.Love.Love, a short documentary directed by Ftii student Sandhya Daisy Sundaram, won the Short Film Special Jury award for non-fiction at the ongoing Sundance Film Festival.
Set against the Russian Winter landscape, Love. Love. Love. is a film about a universal Russian woman and her big love. It was made as part of Cinetrain, The Russian Winter Project held in Russia in January 2013.
Read: From Russia to Sundance, With Love.Love.Love.
This year’s Short Film program at Sundance comprises of 66 short films selected from a record 8,161 submissions.
Fifteen short films from the 2014 Festival are featured on the Festival’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/sff.
Complete list of awards:
Short Film Grand Jury Prize: Of God and Dogs (Syria) by the Abounaddara Collective
Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction: Gregory Go Boom by Janicza Bravo
Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction: The Cut (Canada) by...
Set against the Russian Winter landscape, Love. Love. Love. is a film about a universal Russian woman and her big love. It was made as part of Cinetrain, The Russian Winter Project held in Russia in January 2013.
Read: From Russia to Sundance, With Love.Love.Love.
This year’s Short Film program at Sundance comprises of 66 short films selected from a record 8,161 submissions.
Fifteen short films from the 2014 Festival are featured on the Festival’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/sff.
Complete list of awards:
Short Film Grand Jury Prize: Of God and Dogs (Syria) by the Abounaddara Collective
Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction: Gregory Go Boom by Janicza Bravo
Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction: The Cut (Canada) by...
- 1/22/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
With the instant gratification and popularity that can accompany a YouTube upload, filmmakers are questioning whether the internet or the traditionally prestige festival circuit is the ideal forum to premiere a short. As Ryan Koo suggested back at the Ifp/Dctv “Short Takes” panel last summer, why choose? Indeed, while some festivals rule out previously seen shorts, others welcome online buzz with open arms. One of those festivals, it so happens, is Sundance. Three shorts that will screen in Park City within the coming days were all originally available on YouTube, including Janicza Bravo’s Gregory Go Boom, a black comedy starring a […]...
- 1/15/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
With the instant gratification and popularity that can accompany a YouTube upload, filmmakers are questioning whether the internet or the traditionally prestige festival circuit is the ideal forum to premiere a short. As Ryan Koo suggested back at the Ifp/Dctv “Short Takes” panel last summer, why choose? Indeed, while some festivals rule out previously seen shorts, others welcome online buzz with open arms. One of those festivals, it so happens, is Sundance. Three shorts that will screen in Park City within the coming days were all originally available on YouTube, including Janicza Bravo’s Gregory Go Boom, a black comedy starring a […]...
- 1/15/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Chicago – It’s a sad day in modern American distribution when a film as highly praised and perversely intriguing as Sebastián Silva’s “Magic Magic” fails to acquire a theatrical release. The very notion of a Sundance darling co-lensed by Christopher Doyle getting unceremoniously dumped on DVD is too maddening to contemplate. At a time when Disney labels a formulaic misfire like “The Lone Ranger” as a “risk,” it’s depressing to see a company like Sony Pictures follow suit.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
Anyone who’s seen Silva’s 2009 masterpiece, “The Maid,” is well aware that the director operates far outside the cozy constraints of genre, allowing his narratives to evolve as organically and unpredictably as his character do. What starts out as an unsettling dark comedy may end up as an endearingly bittersweet drama or vice versa. Without taking gambles on films that challenge the most obvious of expectations, Hollywood risks boring its audience into oblivion.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
Anyone who’s seen Silva’s 2009 masterpiece, “The Maid,” is well aware that the director operates far outside the cozy constraints of genre, allowing his narratives to evolve as organically and unpredictably as his character do. What starts out as an unsettling dark comedy may end up as an endearingly bittersweet drama or vice versa. Without taking gambles on films that challenge the most obvious of expectations, Hollywood risks boring its audience into oblivion.
- 7/19/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
It seems there's no stopping Michael Cera at the moment. Dude is on a tear with "Arrested Development" now back with a new season (in which he not only acted, but also co-wrote), a hit comedy in theaters ("This Is The End," in which he features in a great cameo) and various web efforts courtesy of Jash including shorts "Gregory Go Boom" and "Failure." And that's not mention his arthouse movies, including the upcoming "Magic Magic" (trailer here) and now "Crystal Fairy" (renamed for some reason to "Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus," as if that will make it more enticing to Joe Average movie dude). Anyway, the trailer has arrived and it promises a sun-kissed, low-key little comedy. The film, directed by Sebastian Silva (who also helmed "Magic Magic"), finds Cera playing an American in Chile, who finds himself attached to the hippie-esque Crystal (Gaby Hoffman, in what many are...
- 6/19/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Today’s film is the 2013 short Gregory Go Boom. The film is written and directed by Janicza Bravo, and stars Brett Gelman, Stephanie Allynne, and Michael Cera. Cera has seen his comedic profile rise over the past decade, beginning with his breakout role in the cult television hit Arrested Development, following it with performances in movies such as Superbad and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Cera reprises his role as George-Michael Bluth in the fourth season of Arrested Development, which makes its premiere on Netflix in its entirety today.
****...
****...
- 5/26/2013
- by Deepayan Sengupta
- SoundOnSight
Want to see Michael Cera troll YouTube’s Comedy Week? I don’t want to say too much about his latest project from Jash, the YouTube comedy channel he co-founded with Reggie Watts, Tim & Eric, and Sarah Silverman, but you can check it out below. Written and directed by Janicza Bravo, "Gregory Go Boom" stars Michael Cera as a paraplegic looking for love, and also features Sarah Burns and Brett Gelman. While the premise might be a bit misleading, keep in mind; this was released specifically for YouTube’s Comedy Week. It has a little awkward comedy to get you started, but things take a pretty wild turn towards the end. I have to believe this whole thing is some kind of ironic statement...right? Check it out and let us know what you think.
- 5/24/2013
- by Jason McDonald
- The Playlist
Jash has taken a leading role during YouTube Comedy Week, so it's no surprise that the channel's stars are out in full force during the event. Sarah Silverman, Reggie Watts, and Tim & Eric all appeared during Sunday's live show, and today, Michael Cera pitched in his effort: Gregory Go Boom, a mostly-serious short film where Cera plays a young man confined to a wheelchair. It's easy to write off Gregory Go Boom as simply "Michael Cera playing his usual role, albeit in a wheelchair," but that's not entirely the case. Sure, Gregory is the same awkward, fumbling young man that Cera has played in several other features. However, this is one of Cera's most mature and dramatic roles, filled with real emotion. As many commenters have noted, Gregory Go Boom probably shouldn't be a part of YouTube Comedy Week, given the fact that it's more of a character study and...
- 5/22/2013
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
It may be a bit weird to launch this short film during YouTube Comedy Week because it's about as dark as any recent dark comedy we've seen, and it's certainly not what you'd expect from someone like Michael Cera. But this is exactly why Gregory Go Boom is worth watching, if only to see the gradual rebirth of an actor who seemed to disappear when his dorky, nerdy shtick became too tiring and too repetitive for mainstream audiences. Now Cera is back tackling random projects with various friends, appearing recently on the festival circuit in two odd, eccentric films (Magic Magic, Crystal Fairy), and now in this short (from writer-director Janicza Bravo) where he plays a paraplegic with no friends and no life who sets off on three dates in the hopes of making an...
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- 5/22/2013
- by Erik Davis
- Movies.com
Though officially a part of YouTube's ongoing Comedy Week, Michael Cera's appearance in the new short film "Gregory Go Boom" also works as an unofficial warm-up for this weekend's new season of "Arrested Development." That's not to say George Michael Bluth has suffered a Buster-esque accident with a seal -- the new video from director Janicza Bravo ("Eat") is just one way to get used to seeing 25-year-old Cera after watching so much of 15-year-old Cera during your marathon sessions of "Ad" viewing. (You have been watching, right?) Cera executive produced and stars in the film as a paraplegic looking for love in California's Salton Sea. This bleak premise as well as the ominous trailer hint at some dark themes, but there's bound to be a few laughs -- seeing as it's Comedy Week and all. Cera recently released his directorial debut, the short film "Brazzaville Teen-Ager," that also premiered as a Jash video.
- 5/22/2013
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
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