The documentary The Philosopher Kings, directed by Patrick Shen, is punctuated by Bill Clinton’s 2007 commencement address to the 2007 class of the Rochester Institute of Technology. (My old film school alma mater, by the way.) In the speech, the former president advises the recent graduates to consider the workers who set up the chairs for them to sit on during the ceremony, and who will then remove the chairs and clean up the mess they leave behind before they move out into the real world.
Shen does just that. While the director doesn’t profile any custodians at Rit — the Clinton footage appears to have been acquired, rather than produced for this film — The Philosopher Kings gets up close and personal with eight maintenance workers at seven different institutes of higher learning all over the country for an extremely moving and engaging film.
Choosing this topic for a documentary, and...
Shen does just that. While the director doesn’t profile any custodians at Rit — the Clinton footage appears to have been acquired, rather than produced for this film — The Philosopher Kings gets up close and personal with eight maintenance workers at seven different institutes of higher learning all over the country for an extremely moving and engaging film.
Choosing this topic for a documentary, and...
- 3/29/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
London -- U.S. filmmakers may come out on top in the competition strands during this year's upcoming Raindance Film Festival with nominees popping up in best international, best debut and best documentary categories.
Ry Russo-Young's "You Won't Miss Me" and David Lee Miller's "My Suicide" are among the five titles competing for best international nod.
For the best debut, Asiel Norton's "Redland" and Daniel Stamm's "A Necessary Death" find themselves in the running.
The documentary competition is dominated by titles from the U.S. with three out of the five.
Patrick Shen's "The Philosopher Kings," "It Came from Kuchar," directed by Jennifer M. Kroot and Tony Zierra's "My Big Break" feature in the doc competition.
The festival also dishes out nods for best U.K. feature and best micro budget work at the event, which runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 11.
All award winners will...
Ry Russo-Young's "You Won't Miss Me" and David Lee Miller's "My Suicide" are among the five titles competing for best international nod.
For the best debut, Asiel Norton's "Redland" and Daniel Stamm's "A Necessary Death" find themselves in the running.
The documentary competition is dominated by titles from the U.S. with three out of the five.
Patrick Shen's "The Philosopher Kings," "It Came from Kuchar," directed by Jennifer M. Kroot and Tony Zierra's "My Big Break" feature in the doc competition.
The festival also dishes out nods for best U.K. feature and best micro budget work at the event, which runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 11.
All award winners will...
- 9/11/2009
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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