We've seen the lineups for the Main Slate and Projections, the Special Events and Revivals, and today: "Taken together, the twelve selections in this year’s Spotlight on Documentary represent the range and depth of nonfiction in our midst," says New York Film Festival Director Kent Jones. Highlights include new work from Laura Poitras, Frederick Wiseman, Joaquim Pinto and Nuno Leonel, Pamela Yates, James Solomon, Carmen Castillo, Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson, Jacob Bernstein, Stig Björkman's doc on Ingrid Bergman, and Walter Salles's portrait of Jia Zhangke. »...
- 8/24/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
We've seen the lineups for the Main Slate and Projections, the Special Events and Revivals, and today: "Taken together, the twelve selections in this year’s Spotlight on Documentary represent the range and depth of nonfiction in our midst," says New York Film Festival Director Kent Jones. Highlights include new work from Laura Poitras, Frederick Wiseman, Joaquim Pinto and Nuno Leonel, Pamela Yates, James Solomon, Carmen Castillo, Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson, Jacob Bernstein, Stig Björkman's doc on Ingrid Bergman, and Walter Salles's portrait of Jia Zhangke. »...
- 8/24/2015
- Keyframe
The 53rd New York Film Festival’s Spotlight on Documentary launches on September 27 and features new work from Frederick Wiseman, Laura Poitras, Walter Salles and Joaquim Pinto.
Poitras, winner of this year’s best documentary Oscar for Citizenfour, will preview the Julian Assange series Asylum.
Wiseman’s 40th documentary feature In Jackson Heights (pictured) profiles the culturally diverse New York neighbourhood caught in the midst of economic development.
In Fish Tail, Pinto and husband Leonel document the artisanal work of small-scale fishermen in the Azorean island of Rabo de Peixe. Salles’ Jia Zhangke, A Guy From Fenyang profiles the Chinese director as he revisits his hometown.
Spotlight on Documentary line-up:
Everything Is Copy (USA), Jacob Bernstein
World Premiere
Field Of Vision: New Episodic Nonfiction (USA-Germany), Laura Poitras
World Premiere
Fish Tail (Rabo de Peixe) (Portugal), Joaquim Pinto and Nuno Leonel
North American premiere
Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) (Iraq-France), Abbas Fahdel,
Part 1: Before...
Poitras, winner of this year’s best documentary Oscar for Citizenfour, will preview the Julian Assange series Asylum.
Wiseman’s 40th documentary feature In Jackson Heights (pictured) profiles the culturally diverse New York neighbourhood caught in the midst of economic development.
In Fish Tail, Pinto and husband Leonel document the artisanal work of small-scale fishermen in the Azorean island of Rabo de Peixe. Salles’ Jia Zhangke, A Guy From Fenyang profiles the Chinese director as he revisits his hometown.
Spotlight on Documentary line-up:
Everything Is Copy (USA), Jacob Bernstein
World Premiere
Field Of Vision: New Episodic Nonfiction (USA-Germany), Laura Poitras
World Premiere
Fish Tail (Rabo de Peixe) (Portugal), Joaquim Pinto and Nuno Leonel
North American premiere
Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) (Iraq-France), Abbas Fahdel,
Part 1: Before...
- 8/24/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Just this past Monday, 30 undocumented immigrants who had returned to Mexico (either through deportation or voluntarily) attempted to enter the U.S. through a legal port of entry in Laredo, Texas. Known as the Dream 30, they are young people who grew up in the United States but have no claim to American citizenship. It was an act of protest, wearing caps and gowns they approached the border chanting "Undocumented! Unafraid!"
What inspired such a risky move? Filmmakers Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson have spent almost a decade trying to figure that out. How Democracy Works Now is a documentary project of epic proportions. It is an anthology told in twelve chapters. Each story delves deep into the nitty-gritty details of a herculean task: the attempt to pass comprehensive immigration reform. In the Spotlight on Documentary section the New York Film Festival is showcasing the entire block of completed films. (They've finished nine so far.) It's the first time they are all being screened together.
Similar in theme but completely different in approach is Who Is Dayani Cristal? -- another documentary playing at Nyff. The stylized, picturesque, and sometimes hauntingly beautiful film chronicles a mystery of sorts. It traces the identification of a dead body found decomposing in the harsh Sonoran desert not far from Tucson, Arizona. It's likely the body of a migrant who never made it across the border. Rarely carrying identification in an attempt to conceal their identity immigrants who lose their life in the desert often become nameless statistics. Investigators in Tucson are tasked with solving these cases and are overwhelmed. The coroner explains, "We are knee-deep in border crossing deaths."
One of the Forensic Anthropologists at the Medical Examiner's office wonders, "How many deaths does it take to say enough is enough? There's gotta be some number where someone in Washington says, we can't have this happen anymore."
Migrants crossing the border risk their lives and the Dream 30 are confronting the possibility of being held in detention centers. What will it take to pass immigration reform? Why can't Congress change things? Having watched How Democracy Works Now I finally understood what the hold up was: pure politics.
In Marking Up the Dream, the sixth installment of the series, the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, also known as the Dream Act, is snaking its way through the old, creaky bureaucratic process in the Senate. The bill, first introduced in 2001, offered in-state college tuition and a pathway to legal status for undocumented high school graduates but never passed. In 2009, the Dream Act was resurrected by its authors. The film follows the bill as it shuttles through the brutal amendment stage at a snail's pace. (Let's hope the government shut down doesn't last as long.)
We are privy to private conversations and back-room deals. It's as if you are a fly-on-the-wall in a Senator's office sneakily listening to their congressional aides take frantic calls and broker last minute negotiations. It's a maddening process to watch. Politicians flip-flop, alliances are broken, and tense conversations are on the verge of boiling over. It's like Survivor only worse. The future of America is at stake.
After watching the constant back-and-forth and never ending delays the arguments seem futile. How hard is it to come to an agreement on something? Marc Silver -- the director of Who Is Dayani Cristal? -- thinks Congress is just too far removed from the issue. He says, "It's easier for politicians to argue when they take the humanity out of it." His film tries to combat their thinking.
The body found in the desert is of an adult male with a unique tattoo that may help investigators ID him. Scrawled across his chest in curly script are the words "Dayani Cristal." It's the story of this one singular person that Silver hopes will illuminate the direct effects of U.S. immigration policy.
While the real-life investigation unfolds, Gael Garcia Bernal, a Mexican actor best known for his roles in the indie hits Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and Motorcycle Diaries retraces the long journey the unidentified man took from his home country of Honduras to the border. It's a hybrid documentary that blends observational footage with dramatizations of the past and is an insightful companion to How Democracy Works Now.
The countless hours of footage taken by the filmmakers of How Democracy Works Now over the course of ten years still doesn't have a resolution. And with the federal government in the midst of a complete shut down immigration reform doesn't seem likely any time soon. Meanwhile, the Dream 30 and other activists continue to take bold steps to push immigration to the forefront of the national conversation. They use civil disobedience to avoid the calls for reform from being drowned out by other hot-button issues. It's difficult to know what it will take for changes to be made. In how many more years will How Democracy Works Now finally get it's fairy-tale ending?...
What inspired such a risky move? Filmmakers Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson have spent almost a decade trying to figure that out. How Democracy Works Now is a documentary project of epic proportions. It is an anthology told in twelve chapters. Each story delves deep into the nitty-gritty details of a herculean task: the attempt to pass comprehensive immigration reform. In the Spotlight on Documentary section the New York Film Festival is showcasing the entire block of completed films. (They've finished nine so far.) It's the first time they are all being screened together.
Similar in theme but completely different in approach is Who Is Dayani Cristal? -- another documentary playing at Nyff. The stylized, picturesque, and sometimes hauntingly beautiful film chronicles a mystery of sorts. It traces the identification of a dead body found decomposing in the harsh Sonoran desert not far from Tucson, Arizona. It's likely the body of a migrant who never made it across the border. Rarely carrying identification in an attempt to conceal their identity immigrants who lose their life in the desert often become nameless statistics. Investigators in Tucson are tasked with solving these cases and are overwhelmed. The coroner explains, "We are knee-deep in border crossing deaths."
One of the Forensic Anthropologists at the Medical Examiner's office wonders, "How many deaths does it take to say enough is enough? There's gotta be some number where someone in Washington says, we can't have this happen anymore."
Migrants crossing the border risk their lives and the Dream 30 are confronting the possibility of being held in detention centers. What will it take to pass immigration reform? Why can't Congress change things? Having watched How Democracy Works Now I finally understood what the hold up was: pure politics.
In Marking Up the Dream, the sixth installment of the series, the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, also known as the Dream Act, is snaking its way through the old, creaky bureaucratic process in the Senate. The bill, first introduced in 2001, offered in-state college tuition and a pathway to legal status for undocumented high school graduates but never passed. In 2009, the Dream Act was resurrected by its authors. The film follows the bill as it shuttles through the brutal amendment stage at a snail's pace. (Let's hope the government shut down doesn't last as long.)
We are privy to private conversations and back-room deals. It's as if you are a fly-on-the-wall in a Senator's office sneakily listening to their congressional aides take frantic calls and broker last minute negotiations. It's a maddening process to watch. Politicians flip-flop, alliances are broken, and tense conversations are on the verge of boiling over. It's like Survivor only worse. The future of America is at stake.
After watching the constant back-and-forth and never ending delays the arguments seem futile. How hard is it to come to an agreement on something? Marc Silver -- the director of Who Is Dayani Cristal? -- thinks Congress is just too far removed from the issue. He says, "It's easier for politicians to argue when they take the humanity out of it." His film tries to combat their thinking.
The body found in the desert is of an adult male with a unique tattoo that may help investigators ID him. Scrawled across his chest in curly script are the words "Dayani Cristal." It's the story of this one singular person that Silver hopes will illuminate the direct effects of U.S. immigration policy.
While the real-life investigation unfolds, Gael Garcia Bernal, a Mexican actor best known for his roles in the indie hits Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and Motorcycle Diaries retraces the long journey the unidentified man took from his home country of Honduras to the border. It's a hybrid documentary that blends observational footage with dramatizations of the past and is an insightful companion to How Democracy Works Now.
The countless hours of footage taken by the filmmakers of How Democracy Works Now over the course of ten years still doesn't have a resolution. And with the federal government in the midst of a complete shut down immigration reform doesn't seem likely any time soon. Meanwhile, the Dream 30 and other activists continue to take bold steps to push immigration to the forefront of the national conversation. They use civil disobedience to avoid the calls for reform from being drowned out by other hot-button issues. It's difficult to know what it will take for changes to be made. In how many more years will How Democracy Works Now finally get it's fairy-tale ending?...
- 10/9/2013
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
The Film Society Of Lincoln Center has added programming to the New York Film Festival (Nyff) that includes documentaries and restored works.
The programmes feature a spotlight on three documentary sections – Applied Sciences, Motion Portraits and How Democracy Works Now.
Motion Portraits will focus on cinematic portraiture and includes Nancy Buirski‘s Afternoon Of A Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq and Nadav Schirman’s In The Dark Room.
Applied Science features three films, each built around obsessive projects: Ben Lewis’s Google And The World Brain (pictured), Mark Levinson’s Particle Fever and Teller’s Tim’s Vermeer.
How Democracy Works Now is a series of films by the filmmaking team of Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson who have trained their cameras on immigration reform.
The Revivals section will feature among others Martin Scorsese’s The Age Of Innocence and Arthur Ripley’s The Chase.
The Nyff runs from Sept 27-Oct 13.
The programmes feature a spotlight on three documentary sections – Applied Sciences, Motion Portraits and How Democracy Works Now.
Motion Portraits will focus on cinematic portraiture and includes Nancy Buirski‘s Afternoon Of A Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq and Nadav Schirman’s In The Dark Room.
Applied Science features three films, each built around obsessive projects: Ben Lewis’s Google And The World Brain (pictured), Mark Levinson’s Particle Fever and Teller’s Tim’s Vermeer.
How Democracy Works Now is a series of films by the filmmaking team of Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson who have trained their cameras on immigration reform.
The Revivals section will feature among others Martin Scorsese’s The Age Of Innocence and Arthur Ripley’s The Chase.
The Nyff runs from Sept 27-Oct 13.
- 8/26/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Sundance Institute has chosen four projects with eight filmmakers for the annual Documentary Film Editing and Story Laboratory. Helmer Maria Teresa Larrain and editor Ricardo Acosta's The Trial of Pascual Pichun, directors Senain Kheshgi and Geeta Patel and editor Billy McMillin's Project Kashmir, editor/director Aaron Matthews' The Paper and directors Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini's My American Dream have been chosen. The lab, which emphasizes story and character development, will be held from June 23-30 in Park City, Utah.
- 6/11/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Who is granted political asylum in the United States? It's a heartbreaking and difficult question, as the case of Elian Gonzalez has shown in recent weeks. This timely documentary looks at not only who is granted asylum but also who is doing the granting.
One of the most talked-about and attended films at the Sundance Film Festival, this documentary is a thoughtful, provocative and even-handed depiction of the inside of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It will be presented on PBS in June.
A Frederick Wiseman-style docu that paints a portrait of a public institution, "Well-Founded Fear" reveals the innards of the INS. Like most government bodies, it is a physically forbidding place: sterile gray walls, plastic chairs, prohibiting signs and blurry barkings of the loudspeaker. Just looking at it is certain to raise one's blood pressure.
In this ambitious and provocative film, we're taken behind the bulletproof glass, through the locked doors, under the fluorescent glare, down the forbidding hallways and into the offices of the INS agents. They are a mixed lot -- all ages, all races. We learn quickly, however, that any system is ultimately a human system, made up of different personalities.
Like anything else in life, there is the crap-shoot element: The luck of the draw can determine whether political asylum is granted. Get a rookie INS worker who hasn't heard the same (fabricated) story over and over, and your chances are better. Indeed, workers constantly guard against becoming jaded, but after a while even the most kind-hearted viewer might be put off by the predictable litany of stories they hear: "I was in the police station, surrounded by five or six cops, and had to go to the bathroom. I escaped through the window"; "I was part of the student revolution"; "I was arrested because they had a photo of me tearing down the dictator's statue."
In Hollywood-ese, each applicant gets to make a "pitch" to tell their story. Unlike many producers, the INS agents are generally very savvy. Something that ties up too neatly rings false. They know life usually is not like that: A too-pat story is often a fabrication, while a story that has some messiness to it is often The Real Thing. Day in and day out, these conscientious government employees must make life-and-death judgment calls in very gray areas.
Naturally, some of the agents we like more than others. One lawyer-like agent comes across as unfeeling and egotistical, wishing to prove his intelligence in outwitting applicants. Yet generally, the agents seem incredibly even-minded and temperate. If anything, no matter what one thinks of the current politics of the INS, this documentary depicts its overall diligence, fairness and kindness.
We see that applicants from particular countries, such as Algeria, arouse special concern among the agents because it is such a "dangerous and chaotic" place. They seem almost willing to bend way over backward to grant these people asylum.
Ultimately, we see that there is a fine line between burnout and experience. Unlike most jobs, the agents' involves real life-and-death decisions, and the pressure is weighty. One particularly fine agent, we learn, has quit the force.
Filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini should be granted high praise for their eminently thorough depiction of this complex agency.
Technically, "Well-Founded Fear" is well-rounded, particularly enhanced by Mark Suozzo's atmospheric and subtle musical score that aptly conveys the tension and continuity of this unsettling setting.
WELL-FOUNDED FEAR
A film by Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini
Producer-directors:Shari Robertson, Michael Camerini
Music:Mark Suozzo
Editors:Karen Schmeer, Suzanne Pancrazi, Christopher Osborn
Director of photography:Michael Camerini
Sound:John Dildine
Color/stereo
Running time -- 119 minutes
No MPAA rating...
One of the most talked-about and attended films at the Sundance Film Festival, this documentary is a thoughtful, provocative and even-handed depiction of the inside of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It will be presented on PBS in June.
A Frederick Wiseman-style docu that paints a portrait of a public institution, "Well-Founded Fear" reveals the innards of the INS. Like most government bodies, it is a physically forbidding place: sterile gray walls, plastic chairs, prohibiting signs and blurry barkings of the loudspeaker. Just looking at it is certain to raise one's blood pressure.
In this ambitious and provocative film, we're taken behind the bulletproof glass, through the locked doors, under the fluorescent glare, down the forbidding hallways and into the offices of the INS agents. They are a mixed lot -- all ages, all races. We learn quickly, however, that any system is ultimately a human system, made up of different personalities.
Like anything else in life, there is the crap-shoot element: The luck of the draw can determine whether political asylum is granted. Get a rookie INS worker who hasn't heard the same (fabricated) story over and over, and your chances are better. Indeed, workers constantly guard against becoming jaded, but after a while even the most kind-hearted viewer might be put off by the predictable litany of stories they hear: "I was in the police station, surrounded by five or six cops, and had to go to the bathroom. I escaped through the window"; "I was part of the student revolution"; "I was arrested because they had a photo of me tearing down the dictator's statue."
In Hollywood-ese, each applicant gets to make a "pitch" to tell their story. Unlike many producers, the INS agents are generally very savvy. Something that ties up too neatly rings false. They know life usually is not like that: A too-pat story is often a fabrication, while a story that has some messiness to it is often The Real Thing. Day in and day out, these conscientious government employees must make life-and-death judgment calls in very gray areas.
Naturally, some of the agents we like more than others. One lawyer-like agent comes across as unfeeling and egotistical, wishing to prove his intelligence in outwitting applicants. Yet generally, the agents seem incredibly even-minded and temperate. If anything, no matter what one thinks of the current politics of the INS, this documentary depicts its overall diligence, fairness and kindness.
We see that applicants from particular countries, such as Algeria, arouse special concern among the agents because it is such a "dangerous and chaotic" place. They seem almost willing to bend way over backward to grant these people asylum.
Ultimately, we see that there is a fine line between burnout and experience. Unlike most jobs, the agents' involves real life-and-death decisions, and the pressure is weighty. One particularly fine agent, we learn, has quit the force.
Filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini should be granted high praise for their eminently thorough depiction of this complex agency.
Technically, "Well-Founded Fear" is well-rounded, particularly enhanced by Mark Suozzo's atmospheric and subtle musical score that aptly conveys the tension and continuity of this unsettling setting.
WELL-FOUNDED FEAR
A film by Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini
Producer-directors:Shari Robertson, Michael Camerini
Music:Mark Suozzo
Editors:Karen Schmeer, Suzanne Pancrazi, Christopher Osborn
Director of photography:Michael Camerini
Sound:John Dildine
Color/stereo
Running time -- 119 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/10/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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