Trauma in all its facets -- experience, understanding, reconciliation -- and indie dramas are practically synonymous at this point. That, however, doesn’t make trauma or its natural consequence, mourning, or how it’s explored through film, any less relevant or meaningful. Add to that a culturally specific spin like writer-director Nathan Silver and his co-writer, C. Mason Wells, do via Between the Temples, and the experience on the audience’s side of the screen crosses over into the magically mystical and fantastically wondrous. Between the Temples centers on one Benjamin “Ben” Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman), a cantor for a reasonably well-attended Jewish synagogue in wintry upstate New York (Binghamton to be exact). Facing the...
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- 2/5/2024
- Screen Anarchy
The heart of Paris beats for film industry in June. Industry Week is the professional part of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival.
The submissions for Us in Progress are now open till August 15th here.
This label includes the Us in Progress (USiP) and Les Arc Film Fesstival’s team presenting the Paris Coproduction Village and La Residence de la Cinefondation which welcomes a dozen young directors who come to Paris to work on their first or second fiction feature project for 4 and 1/2 months. All together, they offer 24 film projects at different stages, from development to post production. More than 200 professionals from the industry, producers, international sellers, distributors, etc. are welcomed.
This year Us in Progress broke out. It has become a top event for discovering American independent cinema not only for the Europeans invited to attend, but for Americans who find themselves in Paris for the event or who even...
The submissions for Us in Progress are now open till August 15th here.
This label includes the Us in Progress (USiP) and Les Arc Film Fesstival’s team presenting the Paris Coproduction Village and La Residence de la Cinefondation which welcomes a dozen young directors who come to Paris to work on their first or second fiction feature project for 4 and 1/2 months. All together, they offer 24 film projects at different stages, from development to post production. More than 200 professionals from the industry, producers, international sellers, distributors, etc. are welcomed.
This year Us in Progress broke out. It has become a top event for discovering American independent cinema not only for the Europeans invited to attend, but for Americans who find themselves in Paris for the event or who even...
- 7/26/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The 2017 Tribeca Film Festival has come and gone, but several of its highlights face an uncertain future. While the festival opened with an iTunes-ready documentary about Clive Davis and closed with back-to-back screenings of the first two “Godfather” films, many of the films in its competition sections arrived at the festival without distribution deals and ended it in the same state. Here’s at a few significant titles from this year’s edition that deserve to get picked up.
“Blame”
Overachieving multi-hyphenate Quinn Shephard was just 20 when she wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in her feature directorial debut, a modern spin on Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” set in the witch hunt capital of contemporary America: the suburban high school. While Shephard cast herself as the film’s Abigail Williams — an outcast with secrets to spare who gets entangled with a smoldering substitute teacher, played by Chris Messina — the...
“Blame”
Overachieving multi-hyphenate Quinn Shephard was just 20 when she wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in her feature directorial debut, a modern spin on Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” set in the witch hunt capital of contemporary America: the suburban high school. While Shephard cast herself as the film’s Abigail Williams — an outcast with secrets to spare who gets entangled with a smoldering substitute teacher, played by Chris Messina — the...
- 5/1/2017
- by David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn, Jude Dry and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
“It’s a job.” –Arthur Martinez I had two features as a cinematographer under my belt by late June of 2015, both close and comfortable collaborations with a single director: Joel Potrykus (Buzzard, The Alchemist Cookbook). It seems fitting that he made the phone call I received only a week and a half before Actor Martinez began principal photography. Joel eagerly informed me that two directors, Nathan Silver (Stinking Heaven, Uncertain Terms) and Mike Ott (Lake Los Angeles, Littlerock), had contacted him asking about my nearly immediate availability. I didn’t know them personally, but I certainly had been aware of their […]...
- 3/28/2017
- by Adam J. Minnick
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
With Springtime in New York City comes the Tribeca Film Festival. Today, the festival announced the majority of their programming for the 2017 edition, taking place April 19 - 30, with the full lineups for Narrative and Documentary Competitons -- both U.S. and International -- Midnight, Viewpoints and Spotlight for Narrative and Docs, which features titles with more established talent and buzz. All in all, we've got 82 films from 28 countries on the docket thus far. Among the selected titles is The Endless, from Sa faves Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, about two adult brothers who return to the cult of their youth. We then have Uncertain Terms and Stinking Heaven director Nathan Silver makng his Tribeca competition debut with the Euro-flavored psychotic romance...
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- 3/2/2017
- Screen Anarchy
“Actor Martinez” had its North American premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Now, the comedy from acclaimed indie directors Mike Ott (“Lake Los Angeles”) and Nathan Silver (“Uncertain Terms,” “Stinking Heaven”) is set to debut in theaters March 10.
Read More: Mike Ott & Nathan Silver’s ‘Actor Martinez’ Is A Fascinating And Experimental Meta-Movie — Tribeca Review
“Actor Martinez” focuses on Arthur Martinez (played by the actor of the same name), a Denver-area performer who hires two indie filmmakers (Silver and Ott) to make a film with him as the lead. But instead, the filmmakers design a completely different project based on Arthur’s real-life persona, even casting him a girlfriend, actress Lindsay Burdge (“Mistress America,” “The Invitation”), to try to draw out any remaining emotions from Arthur about his ex-wife.
Inspired by Kiarostami’s distinctive style of combining conventional narrative with documentary filmmaking, Silver and Ott deliberately blur the line between fiction and nonfiction,...
Read More: Mike Ott & Nathan Silver’s ‘Actor Martinez’ Is A Fascinating And Experimental Meta-Movie — Tribeca Review
“Actor Martinez” focuses on Arthur Martinez (played by the actor of the same name), a Denver-area performer who hires two indie filmmakers (Silver and Ott) to make a film with him as the lead. But instead, the filmmakers design a completely different project based on Arthur’s real-life persona, even casting him a girlfriend, actress Lindsay Burdge (“Mistress America,” “The Invitation”), to try to draw out any remaining emotions from Arthur about his ex-wife.
Inspired by Kiarostami’s distinctive style of combining conventional narrative with documentary filmmaking, Silver and Ott deliberately blur the line between fiction and nonfiction,...
- 2/24/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Always Shine (Sophia Takal)
With the excess of low-budget, retreat-in-the-woods dramas often finding characters hashing out their insecurities through a meta-narrative, a certain initial resistance can occur when presented with such a derivative scenario at virtually every film festival. While Sophia Takal‘s psychological drama Always Shine ultimately stumbles, the chemistry of its leads and a sense of foreboding dread in its formal execution ensures its heightened view of...
Always Shine (Sophia Takal)
With the excess of low-budget, retreat-in-the-woods dramas often finding characters hashing out their insecurities through a meta-narrative, a certain initial resistance can occur when presented with such a derivative scenario at virtually every film festival. While Sophia Takal‘s psychological drama Always Shine ultimately stumbles, the chemistry of its leads and a sense of foreboding dread in its formal execution ensures its heightened view of...
- 12/2/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Michael Almereyda will be in Berlin and discuss Experimenter on the opening night of the eighth edition of Unknown Pleasures, the festival of American Independent Film. Brigitta Wagner will be on hand for screenings of Rosehill with Kate Chamuris and Josephine Decker and Patrick Wang will be in town for the first screening of The Grief of Others. There'll be a special program of films by Ed Pincus plus Frederick Wiseman's In Jackson Heights, Travis Wilkerson's Machine Gun or Typewriter?, Thom Andersen's Juke: Passages from the Films of Spencer Williams, Stephen Cone's Henry Gamble's Birthday Party, Paul Thomas Anderson's Junun and Nathan Silver's Stinking Heaven. » - David Hudson...
- 5/10/2016
- Keyframe
Michael Almereyda will be in Berlin and discuss Experimenter on the opening night of the eighth edition of Unknown Pleasures, the festival of American Independent Film. Brigitta Wagner will be on hand for screenings of Rosehill with Kate Chamuris and Josephine Decker and Patrick Wang will be in town for the first screening of The Grief of Others. There'll be a special program of films by Ed Pincus plus Frederick Wiseman's In Jackson Heights, Travis Wilkerson's Machine Gun or Typewriter?, Thom Andersen's Juke: Passages from the Films of Spencer Williams, Stephen Cone's Henry Gamble's Birthday Party, Paul Thomas Anderson's Junun and Nathan Silver's Stinking Heaven. » - David Hudson...
- 5/10/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
There are indie film scenes like the one chronicled in Actor Martinez everywhere, ones where those with a day job have ambitions that cannot and never will pay the rent. Surely, Actor Martinez is a little cruel to these micro industries of regional film bolstered by film clubs that support each other regardless of just how poor the acting, directing and cinematography can be.
Enter Nathan Silver and Mike Ott, filmmakers that seem obsessed with the freedom such non-traditional, off-the-map filmmaking offers. Who knows, a masterpiece may exist somewhere in Denver’s amateur film community, kept from us by John Cooper and Janet Pierson. Actor Martinez, like Nathan Silver’s previous feature Stinking Heaven, also feels like an artifact, documenting the process of a process: here the every day life of Arthur Martinez, an professional computer repairman by day and actor/film producer by night.
The result is a comedy...
Enter Nathan Silver and Mike Ott, filmmakers that seem obsessed with the freedom such non-traditional, off-the-map filmmaking offers. Who knows, a masterpiece may exist somewhere in Denver’s amateur film community, kept from us by John Cooper and Janet Pierson. Actor Martinez, like Nathan Silver’s previous feature Stinking Heaven, also feels like an artifact, documenting the process of a process: here the every day life of Arthur Martinez, an professional computer repairman by day and actor/film producer by night.
The result is a comedy...
- 5/4/2016
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
The major retrospective of the 2016 International Film Festival Rotterdam is dedicated to the Barcelona school of filmmaking in the 1960s and 1970s, with Catalonian master Pere Portabella’s body of work—and his new film—serving as a figurehead. Nearly completely unknown in the United States—where critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has been a beacon of support and revelation—insomuch as Portabella is known in the film community it is for his film Vampir-Cuadecuc, which hijacks the production of Christopher Lee and Jesús Franco’s Count Dracula (1970) for its own ends and exhilaratingly exposes this documentarian’s acute analysis of and play with the subject of his films. (I will note here that Mubi has shown a great deal of Portabella’s work in the past, including this 1970 horror film.) This is hardly a lone accomplishment; in 1961 he helped produce Luis Buñuel's masterpiece Viridiana, and the director has been a strident voice in documentary,...
- 2/1/2016
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
Stinking Heaven, Nathan Silver’s latest film, opens in select theaters this week and is available digitally at Fandor. But distributor Factory 25 is also making the new lo-fi rehab drama available in VHS. If any film deserves a VHS release, it’s Stinking Heaven, which is set in 1990, when VHS was still the norm, and was shot on Betacam video. Set at a communal home for former substance abusers, Silver’s fifth feature has a gritty, documentary feel to it which lends itself to the outmoded VHS format. Factory 25 founder Matt Grady explained the genesis of the VHS edition. “I’ve been […]...
- 12/11/2015
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Stinking Heaven, Nathan Silver’s latest film, opens in select theaters this week and is available digitally at Fandor. But distributor Factory 25 is also making the new lo-fi rehab drama available in VHS. If any film deserves a VHS release, it’s Stinking Heaven, which is set in 1990, when VHS was still the norm, and was shot on Betacam video. Set at a communal home for former substance abusers, Silver’s fifth feature has a gritty, documentary feel to it which lends itself to the outmoded VHS format. Factory 25 founder Matt Grady explained the genesis of the VHS edition. “I’ve been […]...
- 12/11/2015
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
A Place on Earth: Silver’s Period Commune Channels Cinema-Verite
While his 2014 title Uncertain Terms still awaits theatrical release as it makes the rounds of the festival circuit after premiering last year at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the increasingly prolific Nathan Silver unveils his fifth feature. Stinking Heaven represents a change of pace stylistically and dramatically within Silver’s preferred parameters examining human beings tossed vicariously into strained living situations, where they often wear each other down to an inevitable breaking point. A period piece set within the confines of a well-meaning commune in early 90s suburban New Jersey, the grainy look and feel of Silver’s film lends it a vintage realism that aligns it with the cinema-verite styling of documentary filmmaker Allan King, whose films like Warrendale and A Married Couple focused, unobtrusively, on isolated groups or units of people in similar fashion.
Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and...
While his 2014 title Uncertain Terms still awaits theatrical release as it makes the rounds of the festival circuit after premiering last year at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the increasingly prolific Nathan Silver unveils his fifth feature. Stinking Heaven represents a change of pace stylistically and dramatically within Silver’s preferred parameters examining human beings tossed vicariously into strained living situations, where they often wear each other down to an inevitable breaking point. A period piece set within the confines of a well-meaning commune in early 90s suburban New Jersey, the grainy look and feel of Silver’s film lends it a vintage realism that aligns it with the cinema-verite styling of documentary filmmaker Allan King, whose films like Warrendale and A Married Couple focused, unobtrusively, on isolated groups or units of people in similar fashion.
Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and...
- 12/10/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
In the new issue of The Cine-Files, professors candidly discuss teaching single films. You'll find pieces on Hollywood classics (Casablanca, Pillow Talk), experimental landmarks (Meshes of the Afternoon), even television (The Wire). Also in today's roundup: Nathan Silver's Stinking Heaven, Simon Callow's Orson Welles biography, a new book on Harry Lange's designs for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, lists of best TV shows (Slant goes for Hannibal and Hitfix for The Leftovers), Karina Longworth on Gloria Grahame, news of forthcoming films from George Clooney and Anton Corbijn's next project, and the first trailer for Steven Spielberg's The Bfg. » - David Hudson...
- 12/9/2015
- Keyframe
In the new issue of The Cine-Files, professors candidly discuss teaching single films. You'll find pieces on Hollywood classics (Casablanca, Pillow Talk), experimental landmarks (Meshes of the Afternoon), even television (The Wire). Also in today's roundup: Nathan Silver's Stinking Heaven, Simon Callow's Orson Welles biography, a new book on Harry Lange's designs for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, lists of best TV shows (Slant goes for Hannibal and Hitfix for The Leftovers), Karina Longworth on Gloria Grahame, news of forthcoming films from George Clooney and Anton Corbijn's next project, and the first trailer for Steven Spielberg's The Bfg. » - David Hudson...
- 12/9/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
We all live by rules. Whether they are personal choices to undertake or those put upon us by work or family, we live by them. But sometimes those rules can destroy us.Nathan Silver's fifth feature, Stinking Heaven, takes place in suburban New Jersey, circa 1990. Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and Jim (Keith Poulson) are a young married couple who have structured their home as a community for sober living, themselves addicts on the mend. We enter the home amidst a celebration: the wedding of Betty (Eleonore Hendricks) and Kevin (Henri Douvry), surely a bright new beacon in this house for the healing power of love. But when Betty's old flame Ann (Hannah Gross) shows up, it sends the house into a tumult not everyone will come...
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- 12/8/2015
- Screen Anarchy
We're celebrating Woody Allen's 80th birthday today. Also in this roundup: "Best of 2015" lists from John Waters (#1: Andreas Horvath's Helmut Berger, Actor) and J. Hoberman (#1: Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Assassin); interviews with legendary cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, Kent Jones (Hitchcock/Truffaut), Andrew Haigh (45 Years) and Sofia Coppola (A Very Murray Christmas); Nathan Silver (Stinking Heaven) on Bertrand Bonello; Karina Longworth on Lana Turner; an upcoming masterclass in Cuba with Abbas Kiarostami, an audiovisual essay from Cristina Álvarez López on Luis Buñuel—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 12/1/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
We're celebrating Woody Allen's 80th birthday today. Also in this roundup: "Best of 2015" lists from John Waters (#1: Andreas Horvath's Helmut Berger, Actor) and J. Hoberman (#1: Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Assassin); interviews with legendary cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, Kent Jones (Hitchcock/Truffaut), Andrew Haigh (45 Years) and Sofia Coppola (A Very Murray Christmas); Nathan Silver (Stinking Heaven) on Bertrand Bonello; Karina Longworth on Lana Turner; an upcoming masterclass in Cuba with Abbas Kiarostami, an audiovisual essay from Cristina Álvarez López on Luis Buñuel—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 12/1/2015
- Keyframe
Read More: Project of the Day: 'Stinking Heaven' After emerging with films like "Uncertain Terms" and "Soft in the Head," Nathan Silver is back with his fifth feature, "Stinking Heaven," a darkly comic period piece of 1990's suburbia that stages the fragility of a sober commune. "Stinking Heaven" tells the story of a married couple, Jim and Lucy, who run a haven of sorts in their New Jersey home for seven recovering addicts who sing, bathe and work together. When Ann, the 20-year-old ex-girlfriend of one of the housemates, arrives at the home, the harmony of the commune is thrown into disarray. With Ann's presence, tensions threaten to boil over and a downward spiral eventually sees several members relapse and fall into paranoia. In the trailer above, the motley members of the commune sing "Love Never Ends," but a creeping sense of turbulence descends with the arrival of...
- 11/19/2015
- by Tarek Shoukri
- Indiewire
Writer/director Nathan Silver’s latest tale of an improvised family doing its best to wreck itself is one of the year’s most uncomfortable watches. A character drinking bleach is among the milder examples of Stinking Heaven’s emotional ruthlessness. Set in a New Jersey clean living commune in 1990, the film’s cast of characters are utterly merciless to one another. After one man recounts his lowest moment as sucking dick in an alley for $20, only to be beaten into an epileptic fit (and never get the money), another mockingly claims that his lowest moment was beating a man who tried to suck his dick for $20 into an epileptic fit. Sober living has done these people few favors.
Former addicts of all ages and backgrounds populate the Passaic house, which is run by a husband-and-wife team and sells homebrewed kombucha roadside. The fragile stability of the group begins to...
Former addicts of all ages and backgrounds populate the Passaic house, which is run by a husband-and-wife team and sells homebrewed kombucha roadside. The fragile stability of the group begins to...
- 11/16/2015
- by Daniel Schindel
- The Film Stage
The 5th edition of the Us in Progress co-production forum was held on October 22-23, 2015, during the 6 th American Film Festival in Wrocław. Director Shaz Bennett and producers Melanie Miller and Diane Becker acquired the most awards and therefore emerged as Us in Progress winners for "Alaska is a Drag".
Us in Progress is an industry event that aims to strengthen the trans-Atlantic film industry collaborations and partnerships and help European film professionals establish working relationships with new emerging American filmmakers. The event is a bi-annual program conducted at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris during the summer before kicking-off in Wroclaw at Aff during the fall.
At the 6th American Film Festival, six films in various stages of post-production have conducted private screenings for film industry professionals, including Laurent Danielou (Loco Films), Mathieu Delaunay (Memento Films), Oda Schaeffer (k5), Silje Grimsdal (Trust Nordisk), and festival programmers from Edinburgh, Locarno, Tribeca, and a jury composed of yours truly, Sydney Levine, and Polish post-producers, to compete for post-production and promotional packages. In addition to the filmmaking duo, Shaz Bennett and Melanie Miller, two films have earned significant post-production awards - "Actor Martinez" by Nathan Silver and Mike Ott and "The Loner" by Daniel Y-Li Grove.
Here is a detailed listing of the awards:
"Alaska is a Drag" by Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Millerwill received:
post-production services up to the value of €10.000 (e.g. color grading or conforming, master Dcp, master Hdcam Sr, master Blu-ray, master DVD) from Chimney Poland, based in Warsaw; part of Chimney Groupa score composed by Maciej Zielinski from Soundflower Studiofinal mix 5.1 sound post-production to the value of $20.000 Euro (including rental of sound mixing studio with Thx and Dolby Premier certificates) from Toya Studios an offer to acquire Polish TV rights from Ale Kino+Several years ago, the filmmakers also received a couple of grants to develop the script from Clever in San Francisco (Cheryl Dunye’s company) and Naked Angels.
The script was developed through several programs at Sundance, Film Independent and Fox as well as the AFI Directing Workshop for Women.
"The Loner" by Daniel Grove and produced by Reza Sixo Safai received:
digital post-production services up to the value of €10.000 (excluding 35mm processing/scan; including conforming, color grading, grain/noise management, finishing, mastering, simple VFX, Dcp and other file based master from Fixafilm based in Warsaw and free registration to Producers' Network at Cannes 2016. "Actor Martinez" (working title) by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver (produced by Britta Erickson) received a second acquisition offer by Ale Kino+
Selected projects participating in last year's Us in Progress Wrocław or 2015 Us in Progress Paris were included in the Aff program: "Take Me to the River," dir. Matt Sobel (Polish premiere); "Stinking Heaven" (dir. Nathan Silver); "Ma" (dir. Celia Rowlson-Hall) and Reza Safai and Daniel Y Grove-produced "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" returned to the Aff to let the audiences benefit from the creators' attendance.
For the missing color correction, sound mix, VFX, and other deliverables for Bennett's and Miller's "Alaska is a Drag", the Us in Progress prize adds significant value in the finishing stage of post-production. The organizers and programmers of Us in Progress, Ula Śniegowska (artistic director of Aff), Adeline Monzier and Marie Zeniter (Black Rabbit Film), and Chantal Lian (Champs-Elysées Film Festival), look forward to following all the participating unfinished projects, and the future work and collaborations of all Us in Progress filmmakers.
More about Us in Progress and American Film Festival on www.americanfilmfestival.pl.
Us in Progress is an industry event that aims to strengthen the trans-Atlantic film industry collaborations and partnerships and help European film professionals establish working relationships with new emerging American filmmakers. The event is a bi-annual program conducted at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris during the summer before kicking-off in Wroclaw at Aff during the fall.
At the 6th American Film Festival, six films in various stages of post-production have conducted private screenings for film industry professionals, including Laurent Danielou (Loco Films), Mathieu Delaunay (Memento Films), Oda Schaeffer (k5), Silje Grimsdal (Trust Nordisk), and festival programmers from Edinburgh, Locarno, Tribeca, and a jury composed of yours truly, Sydney Levine, and Polish post-producers, to compete for post-production and promotional packages. In addition to the filmmaking duo, Shaz Bennett and Melanie Miller, two films have earned significant post-production awards - "Actor Martinez" by Nathan Silver and Mike Ott and "The Loner" by Daniel Y-Li Grove.
Here is a detailed listing of the awards:
"Alaska is a Drag" by Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Millerwill received:
post-production services up to the value of €10.000 (e.g. color grading or conforming, master Dcp, master Hdcam Sr, master Blu-ray, master DVD) from Chimney Poland, based in Warsaw; part of Chimney Groupa score composed by Maciej Zielinski from Soundflower Studiofinal mix 5.1 sound post-production to the value of $20.000 Euro (including rental of sound mixing studio with Thx and Dolby Premier certificates) from Toya Studios an offer to acquire Polish TV rights from Ale Kino+Several years ago, the filmmakers also received a couple of grants to develop the script from Clever in San Francisco (Cheryl Dunye’s company) and Naked Angels.
The script was developed through several programs at Sundance, Film Independent and Fox as well as the AFI Directing Workshop for Women.
"The Loner" by Daniel Grove and produced by Reza Sixo Safai received:
digital post-production services up to the value of €10.000 (excluding 35mm processing/scan; including conforming, color grading, grain/noise management, finishing, mastering, simple VFX, Dcp and other file based master from Fixafilm based in Warsaw and free registration to Producers' Network at Cannes 2016. "Actor Martinez" (working title) by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver (produced by Britta Erickson) received a second acquisition offer by Ale Kino+
Selected projects participating in last year's Us in Progress Wrocław or 2015 Us in Progress Paris were included in the Aff program: "Take Me to the River," dir. Matt Sobel (Polish premiere); "Stinking Heaven" (dir. Nathan Silver); "Ma" (dir. Celia Rowlson-Hall) and Reza Safai and Daniel Y Grove-produced "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" returned to the Aff to let the audiences benefit from the creators' attendance.
For the missing color correction, sound mix, VFX, and other deliverables for Bennett's and Miller's "Alaska is a Drag", the Us in Progress prize adds significant value in the finishing stage of post-production. The organizers and programmers of Us in Progress, Ula Śniegowska (artistic director of Aff), Adeline Monzier and Marie Zeniter (Black Rabbit Film), and Chantal Lian (Champs-Elysées Film Festival), look forward to following all the participating unfinished projects, and the future work and collaborations of all Us in Progress filmmakers.
More about Us in Progress and American Film Festival on www.americanfilmfestival.pl.
- 11/6/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
This year's Denver Film Festival has a diverse lineup of killer films both small and large. To select just ten meant I had to strain out promising titles like Lucifer, shot on tondoscope and directed by the provocative Gus Van Den Berghe, or special presentations like Mia Madre by Italian director Nanni Morreti. You should see those and all the films on this list, and more -- the roster's dense. You can view the 38th Denver Film Festival schedule in its entirety here. The Festival will run from November 4th to the 15th.
Mustang - Following a village scolded scandal, 5 Turkish sisters face intense constraints in their conservative home. This imprisonment takes hold at the start of their sexual development, exacerbating the stunt, and catalyzing a rebellion into motion.
Saturday, November 14th, 9:15 @ United Artists Pavillion
Sunday, November 15th, 12pm @ United Artists Pavillion
Stinking Heaven- Filmed with the gnarly...
Mustang - Following a village scolded scandal, 5 Turkish sisters face intense constraints in their conservative home. This imprisonment takes hold at the start of their sexual development, exacerbating the stunt, and catalyzing a rebellion into motion.
Saturday, November 14th, 9:15 @ United Artists Pavillion
Sunday, November 15th, 12pm @ United Artists Pavillion
Stinking Heaven- Filmed with the gnarly...
- 10/31/2015
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Aaron Hunt)
- Cinelinx
Like his latest feature, The Comedy, there will be no film like Rick Alverson‘s Entertainment this year. With Gregg Turkington‘s portraying his alter ego Neil Hamburger, it’s an uncomfortable, often hilarious character study, and today brings another look. Along with an extensive clip, it’s been revealed the soundtrack — which will get 1,000 vinyl pressings — will not only feature music, but comedy segments as well.
We said in our review, “Every second of the 102-minute running time is felt. We’re trapped with this character on his never-ending journey, one that makes for an unpleasant watch. Yet the pace, imagery, and Turkington’s compelling performance add up to an unnerving comedy. Entertainment is the kind of film one never has to see again, but will be better off for having seen it.”
Check out the clip and soundtrack details below along with a conversation between Alverson and Stinking Heaven director Nathan Silver.
We said in our review, “Every second of the 102-minute running time is felt. We’re trapped with this character on his never-ending journey, one that makes for an unpleasant watch. Yet the pace, imagery, and Turkington’s compelling performance add up to an unnerving comedy. Entertainment is the kind of film one never has to see again, but will be better off for having seen it.”
Check out the clip and soundtrack details below along with a conversation between Alverson and Stinking Heaven director Nathan Silver.
- 10/23/2015
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A pair of sections that we’ve been covering almost since its inception, the American Film Institute (AFI) announced their selections for the New Auteurs and American Independents line-ups and we’ve got a noteworthy, eyebrow-raising sampling of award-winning items from the Cannes played hellish immigration drama Mediterranea from Jonas Carpignano to Sundance (Josh Mond’s James White) to SXSW (Trey Edward Shults’ Krisha) winners. Since Park City days, our Nicholas Bell has reviewed a good chunk of these titles, but we’ll still likely have a couple of more reviews once the festival begins. Here are the selections and jury members.
New Auteurs Selections (11 Titles)
From Afar – When a middle-aged man is assaulted and robbed by a young criminal, an unlikely relationship develops. Dir Lorenzo Vigas. Scr Lorenzo Vigas. Cast Alfredo Castro and Luis Silva. Venezuela/Mexico. U.S. Premiere
Disorder – Matthias Schoenaerts plays an ex-soldier who becomes locked...
New Auteurs Selections (11 Titles)
From Afar – When a middle-aged man is assaulted and robbed by a young criminal, an unlikely relationship develops. Dir Lorenzo Vigas. Scr Lorenzo Vigas. Cast Alfredo Castro and Luis Silva. Venezuela/Mexico. U.S. Premiere
Disorder – Matthias Schoenaerts plays an ex-soldier who becomes locked...
- 10/15/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Venice Golden Lion winner From Afar, Mustang and James White are among selections in the New Auteurs and American Independents sections at AFI Fest 2015 presented by Audi, set to run from November 5–12.
The New Auteurs section highlights 11 first and second-time narrative directors whose films are eligible for the grand jury prize and includes From Afar (Desde Allá) and Critics Week France 4 Visionary Award winner Land And Shade (pictured).
The American Independents strand represents nine films from returning directors whom AFI Fest programmers believe have created the best of independent filmmaking this year. Entries include James White, Krisha and FIeld Niggas.
As previously announced, the opening night gala will be the world premiere of Angelina Pitt Jolie’s By The Sea on November 5, the centerpiece gala will be the world premiere of Peter Landesman’s Concussion on November 10 and the closing night gala will be the world premiere of Adam McKay’s The Big Short on November 12.
New...
The New Auteurs section highlights 11 first and second-time narrative directors whose films are eligible for the grand jury prize and includes From Afar (Desde Allá) and Critics Week France 4 Visionary Award winner Land And Shade (pictured).
The American Independents strand represents nine films from returning directors whom AFI Fest programmers believe have created the best of independent filmmaking this year. Entries include James White, Krisha and FIeld Niggas.
As previously announced, the opening night gala will be the world premiere of Angelina Pitt Jolie’s By The Sea on November 5, the centerpiece gala will be the world premiere of Peter Landesman’s Concussion on November 10 and the closing night gala will be the world premiere of Adam McKay’s The Big Short on November 12.
New...
- 10/15/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Paul Grimstad is one of the most insanely inspired polymaths I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and his brilliant lunacy bubbles from every song and piece of score he writes. He provided music for two short films which are about to screen in the New York Shorts Program at the 53rd New York Film Festival: my film Riot and Jay Giampietro’s Hernia. His other soundtracks include Frownland (which he also co-starred in), Heaven Knows What, Tired Moonlight, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, my film Stinking Heaven, among many others. Screening information for the New York Shorts Program can be found here. [iPod dictaphone app begins recording] Grimstad: Baudelaire […]...
- 9/25/2015
- by Nathan Silver
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Paul Grimstad is one of the most insanely inspired polymaths I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and his brilliant lunacy bubbles from every song and piece of score he writes. He provided music for two short films which are about to screen in the New York Shorts Program at the 53rd New York Film Festival: my film Riot and Jay Giampietro’s Hernia. His other soundtracks include Frownland (which he also co-starred in), Heaven Knows What, Tired Moonlight, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, my film Stinking Heaven, among many others. Screening information for the New York Shorts Program can be found here. [iPod dictaphone app begins recording] Grimstad: Baudelaire […]...
- 9/25/2015
- by Nathan Silver
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
With the American Film Festival in Wrocław comes the Us in Progress co-production forum initiative. It also means that micro gems might trickle down from Europe in the unfinished form into Sundance and/or SXSW in early 2016. On the plate for October 22nd and 23rd, the six projects selected for the 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław include:
Actor Martinez by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver
Up until now, the project that teams Littlerock, Pearblossom Hwy and Lake Los Angeles helmer with Exit Elena, Soft in the head, Uncertain Terms and Stinking Heaven had no title. This
stars Bobby Black, Connor Long and Lindsay Burdge.
Alaska is a Drag by Shaz Bennett
Based on her 2012 short, if Rocky and Hedwig had a love child – that would best describe our hero Leo — an aspiring superstar – if he can just get out of Alaska. Everyone who works in a fish cannery – slicing fish for...
Actor Martinez by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver
Up until now, the project that teams Littlerock, Pearblossom Hwy and Lake Los Angeles helmer with Exit Elena, Soft in the head, Uncertain Terms and Stinking Heaven had no title. This
stars Bobby Black, Connor Long and Lindsay Burdge.
Alaska is a Drag by Shaz Bennett
Based on her 2012 short, if Rocky and Hedwig had a love child – that would best describe our hero Leo — an aspiring superstar – if he can just get out of Alaska. Everyone who works in a fish cannery – slicing fish for...
- 9/23/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Filmmaker‘s Taylor Hess recently attended and reported on the U.S. in Progress series at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival. While there, she spoke to a number of female directors, producers and actresses. Below, her conversation with Hannah Gross and Deragh Campbell, who both appear in Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven. Filmmaker: I Used To be Darker was your first film together, and Deragh, your first time acting? Campbell: Right, I’m not trained. My college degree is in writing and my background is publishing and writing. In a lot of ways I look at acting as another way of interacting with material and […]...
- 6/27/2015
- by Taylor Hess
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Filmmaker‘s Taylor Hess recently attended and reported on the U.S. in Progress series at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival. While there, she spoke to a number of female directors, producers and actresses. Below, her conversation with Hannah Gross and Deragh Campbell, who both appear in Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven. Filmmaker: I Used To be Darker was your first film together, and Deragh, your first time acting? Campbell: Right, I’m not trained. My college degree is in writing and my background is publishing and writing. In a lot of ways I look at acting as another way of interacting with material and […]...
- 6/27/2015
- by Taylor Hess
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The independent distributor and streaming service announced at BAMcinemaFest they will partner on the slate.
The companies have partnered on numerous releases since 2012 and this marks their first deal for joint releases.
Fandor will release the films day-and-date via its subscription service with Factory 25 handling theatrically and transactional platforms.
The films are: Todd Rohal’s Uncle Kent 2 (pictured); Charles Poekel’s Christmas, Again; Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven; Pavan Moondi and Brian Robertson’s Diamond Tongues; Maximón Monihan’s Voice Of The Voiceless (La Voz De Los Sileciados); Lynn Shelton’s We Go Way Back; and Alexander Rockwell’s Hero.
“Fandor is one of the few like-minded companies that really care about cinema as much as I do,” said Factory 25 founder Matt Grady, who also celebrates the company’s sixth anniversary. “I’m really excited about working together to release this slate of films by some of the most influential voices in independent film right...
The companies have partnered on numerous releases since 2012 and this marks their first deal for joint releases.
Fandor will release the films day-and-date via its subscription service with Factory 25 handling theatrically and transactional platforms.
The films are: Todd Rohal’s Uncle Kent 2 (pictured); Charles Poekel’s Christmas, Again; Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven; Pavan Moondi and Brian Robertson’s Diamond Tongues; Maximón Monihan’s Voice Of The Voiceless (La Voz De Los Sileciados); Lynn Shelton’s We Go Way Back; and Alexander Rockwell’s Hero.
“Fandor is one of the few like-minded companies that really care about cinema as much as I do,” said Factory 25 founder Matt Grady, who also celebrates the company’s sixth anniversary. “I’m really excited about working together to release this slate of films by some of the most influential voices in independent film right...
- 6/25/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
We're rounding up reviews, interviews, clips and trailers for films screening at this year's BAMcinemaFest: Alex Ross Perry's Queen of Earth, James Ponsoldt's The End of the Tour, Sean Baker's Tangerine, Stephen Winter's Jason and Shirley, Nathan Silver's Stinking Heaven, Sebastián Silva's Nasty Baby, Todd Rohal's Uncle Kent 2, Jennifer Phang's Advantageous, Kris Swanberg's Unexpected, Patrick Wang's The Grief of Others, Les Blank's A Poem Is a Naked Person, Jem Cohen's Counting, Larry Clark's Kids—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 6/17/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
We're rounding up reviews, interviews, clips and trailers for films screening at this year's BAMcinemaFest: Alex Ross Perry's Queen of Earth, James Ponsoldt's The End of the Tour, Sean Baker's Tangerine, Stephen Winter's Jason and Shirley, Nathan Silver's Stinking Heaven, Sebastián Silva's Nasty Baby, Todd Rohal's Uncle Kent 2, Jennifer Phang's Advantageous, Kris Swanberg's Unexpected, Patrick Wang's The Grief of Others, Les Blank's A Poem Is a Naked Person, Jem Cohen's Counting, Larry Clark's Kids—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 6/17/2015
- Keyframe
Ceff takes place in the heart of Paris in June. The first ever connection in Paris between French cinema and American cinema takes place during a glorious week of screenings and special events dedicated entirely to the public.
The opportunity to bring together a host of filmmakers, producers, distributors, journalists, academics, partners, around a big party every night at the top of Publicis where “Le Drugstore” made such a big splash during the 70s is also an event which reinvigorates what has become a touristic and consumer oriented Champs Elysees. Distinguished guests, film teams, young directors add up to a celebration of that most popular of all culture today, the movies.
The fourth edition of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival was presided by the actress Émilie Dequenne and actor Jeremy Irons, and it had more than 22, 000 attendees, accompanied all week by bright sunshine.
3 Audience Prizes were given during the closing ceremony which took place on Tuesday night at the Publicis Cinema.
• The Audience Prize for an Independent American Feature Lenght Film, given by Jeremy Irons, was awarded to the film "The Road Within" by Gren Wells, the story of a young man with Tourette’s Syndrome who embarks on a road trip. Its international sales agent is Annapurna and its U.S. distributor is WellGo.
• The Audience Prize for a French Short Film given by Émilie Dequenne and Céline Nallet, Gerenal Director of HD1 channel, was awarded to "J’aurais pas dû mettre mes Clarks" by Marie Caldera. The film will be screened on HD1.
• The Audience Prize for an American Short Film given by actress Zoë Felix and Éric Legendre from Variety was awarded to "Scheherazade" by Mehrnoush Aliaghaei.
The Student Jury Prize, given by Adrien Fallu, the marketing and communication director of TCM , the object of which is to present classics of the cinema to young adults, was given to "Shoot the Moon," by Alan Parker, presented in the section "TCM Cinéma Essentials."
The Festival was created by the Producer, Distributor and Exhibitor Sophie Dulac. More than 100 films were screened during the festival showcasing the diversity of French and American cinema in six cinemas on the most prestigious avenue in the world: The Balzac, the Gaumont Champs-Élysées, the Lincoln, the Publicis cinema, Ugc George V and MK2 Grand Palais.
Prestigious Guests This Year at the Festival:
• William Friedkin met with the public for an amazing Q&A at the end of the screening of the restored director’s cut version of "Sorcerer."
• Alan Parker, who confirmed his decision not to shoot anymore, gave a remarkable masterclass on the cult movies that have made him famous from "Fame" to "Bugsy Malone" and "Midgnight Express."
• Josh and Benny Safdie, emblematic directors of today’s New York cinema, introduced their shorts and feature movies, and premiered their new film "Heaven Knows What."
• Euzhan Palcy, director of "Sugar Cane Alley" and "A Dry White Season" gave a brilliant masterclass, sharing how she became the voice of Black People at a time when nobody wanted to hear.
• Vilmos Zsigmond, Oscar-winning director of photography who has worked with the greatest directors from Spielberg and Cimino to Brian de Palma, introduced the restored version of "The Rose" by Mark Rydell,
• Jeremy Irons, passionate cinephile who was present the screenings all week and who also gave a masterclass.
Professional Program in Constant Progression
• More than 50 distributors, producers, and international sales agents came from all over the world to discover six independent American films, works in progress, of which "Diverge" by James Morrisson, was awarded great help with several post-production services necessary to complete the film.
• The growing success of the second edition of the Paris Coproduction Village, organized in collaboration with Les Arcs European Film Festival took place from 10th to 12th June with a Brazilian focus and delighted the professionals who came from many different countries.
During the festival, numerous American directors in competition came from the U.S. to debate with audiences after the screenings: Hannah Fidell for "6 years," Onur Tukel for "Applesauce," Matthew Heineman for "Cartel Land," Andrew Renzi for "Franny," Sebastian Silva for "Nasty Baby," Gren Wells and his producer Brent Emmery for "The Road Within," Rachel Wolther producer of "Stinking Heaven" and Jenner Furst, producer of "Welcome to Leith," that's without mentioning all the French and American shorts films, premieres, etc…
All the best moments, interviews with distinguished guests, directors, jurors, and red carpets are available thanks to the Festival Web TV on:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CEfilmfestival/
www.champselyseesfilmfestival.com
https://www.facebook.com/champselyseesfilmfestival...
The opportunity to bring together a host of filmmakers, producers, distributors, journalists, academics, partners, around a big party every night at the top of Publicis where “Le Drugstore” made such a big splash during the 70s is also an event which reinvigorates what has become a touristic and consumer oriented Champs Elysees. Distinguished guests, film teams, young directors add up to a celebration of that most popular of all culture today, the movies.
The fourth edition of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival was presided by the actress Émilie Dequenne and actor Jeremy Irons, and it had more than 22, 000 attendees, accompanied all week by bright sunshine.
3 Audience Prizes were given during the closing ceremony which took place on Tuesday night at the Publicis Cinema.
• The Audience Prize for an Independent American Feature Lenght Film, given by Jeremy Irons, was awarded to the film "The Road Within" by Gren Wells, the story of a young man with Tourette’s Syndrome who embarks on a road trip. Its international sales agent is Annapurna and its U.S. distributor is WellGo.
• The Audience Prize for a French Short Film given by Émilie Dequenne and Céline Nallet, Gerenal Director of HD1 channel, was awarded to "J’aurais pas dû mettre mes Clarks" by Marie Caldera. The film will be screened on HD1.
• The Audience Prize for an American Short Film given by actress Zoë Felix and Éric Legendre from Variety was awarded to "Scheherazade" by Mehrnoush Aliaghaei.
The Student Jury Prize, given by Adrien Fallu, the marketing and communication director of TCM , the object of which is to present classics of the cinema to young adults, was given to "Shoot the Moon," by Alan Parker, presented in the section "TCM Cinéma Essentials."
The Festival was created by the Producer, Distributor and Exhibitor Sophie Dulac. More than 100 films were screened during the festival showcasing the diversity of French and American cinema in six cinemas on the most prestigious avenue in the world: The Balzac, the Gaumont Champs-Élysées, the Lincoln, the Publicis cinema, Ugc George V and MK2 Grand Palais.
Prestigious Guests This Year at the Festival:
• William Friedkin met with the public for an amazing Q&A at the end of the screening of the restored director’s cut version of "Sorcerer."
• Alan Parker, who confirmed his decision not to shoot anymore, gave a remarkable masterclass on the cult movies that have made him famous from "Fame" to "Bugsy Malone" and "Midgnight Express."
• Josh and Benny Safdie, emblematic directors of today’s New York cinema, introduced their shorts and feature movies, and premiered their new film "Heaven Knows What."
• Euzhan Palcy, director of "Sugar Cane Alley" and "A Dry White Season" gave a brilliant masterclass, sharing how she became the voice of Black People at a time when nobody wanted to hear.
• Vilmos Zsigmond, Oscar-winning director of photography who has worked with the greatest directors from Spielberg and Cimino to Brian de Palma, introduced the restored version of "The Rose" by Mark Rydell,
• Jeremy Irons, passionate cinephile who was present the screenings all week and who also gave a masterclass.
Professional Program in Constant Progression
• More than 50 distributors, producers, and international sales agents came from all over the world to discover six independent American films, works in progress, of which "Diverge" by James Morrisson, was awarded great help with several post-production services necessary to complete the film.
• The growing success of the second edition of the Paris Coproduction Village, organized in collaboration with Les Arcs European Film Festival took place from 10th to 12th June with a Brazilian focus and delighted the professionals who came from many different countries.
During the festival, numerous American directors in competition came from the U.S. to debate with audiences after the screenings: Hannah Fidell for "6 years," Onur Tukel for "Applesauce," Matthew Heineman for "Cartel Land," Andrew Renzi for "Franny," Sebastian Silva for "Nasty Baby," Gren Wells and his producer Brent Emmery for "The Road Within," Rachel Wolther producer of "Stinking Heaven" and Jenner Furst, producer of "Welcome to Leith," that's without mentioning all the French and American shorts films, premieres, etc…
All the best moments, interviews with distinguished guests, directors, jurors, and red carpets are available thanks to the Festival Web TV on:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CEfilmfestival/
www.champselyseesfilmfestival.com
https://www.facebook.com/champselyseesfilmfestival...
- 6/17/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Jack Dunphy, a co-writer on Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven and a frequent collaborator of Caveh Zahedi, is currently raising funds for his first feature, Living With Others, on Kickstarter. To celebrate crossing his initial goal, Dunphy has released his animated, Sundance-selected short Serenity online. Living With Others, which just added Zahedi as an executive producer, will blend live action and animation, and Dunphy had the following to say about his choice: I’m punctuating the movie with animation because it makes it easier for me to communicate difficult thoughts and emotions. Subconscious hang-ups are brought to the surface when I animate, and that helps me realize […]...
- 6/5/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Jack Dunphy, a co-writer on Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven and a frequent collaborator of Caveh Zahedi, is currently raising funds for his first feature, Living With Others, on Kickstarter. To celebrate crossing his initial goal, Dunphy has released his animated, Sundance-selected short Serenity online. Living With Others, which just added Zahedi as an executive producer, will blend live action and animation, and Dunphy had the following to say about his choice: I’m punctuating the movie with animation because it makes it easier for me to communicate difficult thoughts and emotions. Subconscious hang-ups are brought to the surface when I animate, and that helps me realize […]...
- 6/5/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Which filmmakers today are good at filming groups? Independent films especially get hung with a bad rep for often fixating on a lonely or eccentric protagonist, or an oddly paired duo or romantic couple. Through the five features he's made in the past six years, New York-based filmmaker Nathan Silver has demonstrated a strong affinity for ensemble settings that explore the dynamics and tensions between an individual and a larger collective of people. The groups in Silver's films take different forms: a dysfunctional household in Exit Elena; a homeless shelter in Soft in the Head; a home for pregnant teens in Uncertain Terms; and a rehab commune in his latest, Stinking Heaven. But invariably they involve people on the margins of society forming unlikely bonds under one roof, with an outsider figure threatening to upset the equilibrium.>> - Kevin B. Lee...
- 5/29/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Which filmmakers today are good at filming groups? Independent films especially get hung with a bad rep for often fixating on a lonely or eccentric protagonist, or an oddly paired duo or romantic couple. Through the five features he's made in the past six years, New York-based filmmaker Nathan Silver has demonstrated a strong affinity for ensemble settings that explore the dynamics and tensions between an individual and a larger collective of people. The groups in Silver's films take different forms: a dysfunctional household in Exit Elena; a homeless shelter in Soft in the Head; a home for pregnant teens in Uncertain Terms; and a rehab commune in his latest, Stinking Heaven. But invariably they involve people on the margins of society forming unlikely bonds under one roof, with an outsider figure threatening to upset the equilibrium.>> - Kevin B. Lee...
- 5/29/2015
- Keyframe
Director Nathan Silver is probably sick of getting confused on Google with the stat-crunching analyst Nate Silver. But both have the numbers going for them: The filmmaking Silver has directed five no-budget features since 2009, all of them promising-to-inspired, none of them the kind of calling-card indie flick that seems to exist only to help secure financing for the next project. That's a major-league average.
Silver slices life with a sharpness and acuity rare in filmmakers much older than him, and Uncertain Terms — his latest, although another, Stinking Heaven, is already making the festival rounds — is his strongest yet. Like Soft in the Head and Exit Elena, it concerns young people trying to keep their cool in confined ...
Silver slices life with a sharpness and acuity rare in filmmakers much older than him, and Uncertain Terms — his latest, although another, Stinking Heaven, is already making the festival rounds — is his strongest yet. Like Soft in the Head and Exit Elena, it concerns young people trying to keep their cool in confined ...
- 5/27/2015
- Village Voice
A slew of festival favorites are set to make their New York premieres at the 2015 edition of BAMcinemaFest, which will open with James Ponsoldt’s The End of The Tour and close with Sean Baker’s Tangerine. Alex Ross Perry’s Berlinale premiere Queen of Earth will serve as Centerpiece at the festival, which runs from June 17 – 28 in Fort Greene. Aside from the Sundance and SXSW holdovers, notable selections include Jem Cohen’s Counting; Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven; Here Come the Videofreex, a documentary about a 1960s and 70s video collective; the world premiere of Jason and Shirley, a reimagining of Portrait of Jason; and Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, Stephen Cone’s latest, […]...
- 5/6/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
A slew of festival favorites are set to make their New York premieres at the 2015 edition of BAMcinemaFest, which will open with James Ponsoldt’s The End of The Tour and close with Sean Baker’s Tangerine. Alex Ross Perry’s Berlinale premiere Queen of Earth will serve as Centerpiece at the festival, which runs from June 17 – 28 in Fort Greene. Aside from the Sundance and SXSW holdovers, notable selections include Jem Cohen’s Counting; Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven; Here Come the Videofreex, a documentary about a 1960s and 70s video collective; the world premiere of Jason and Shirley, a reimagining of Portrait of Jason; and Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, Stephen Cone’s latest, […]...
- 5/6/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Sundance preemed docs Matthew Heineman’s Cartel Land and Michael Beach Nichols & Christopher K. Walker’s Welcome to Leith are going up against Sebastian Silva’s Nasty Baby, Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven, Gren Wells’ The Road Within and Andrew Renzi’s Franny in the competition section of the 4th Champs-Élysées Film Festival. Conveniently taking place after a break from Cannes (06.10-06.16) the fest along with American Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland host the U.S in Progress program, the three-day workshop which basically plays hosts to five American indie films in post-production and gets them before Euro distribution, buyer and producer eyes.
A mix of new and old films, the fest will open with Cannes Film Fest Main Comp entry Guillaume Nicloux’s Valley of Love., and special guests include William Friedkin and the Safdie brothers will have a retrospective of their work with a carte blanche. Look for the U.
A mix of new and old films, the fest will open with Cannes Film Fest Main Comp entry Guillaume Nicloux’s Valley of Love., and special guests include William Friedkin and the Safdie brothers will have a retrospective of their work with a carte blanche. Look for the U.
- 5/1/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Two projects featured as works in progress at Us in Progress Wrocław last October had their premieres in two major film events.Matt Sobel's "Take Me to the River" screened at Sundance'15 Next section, while "Stinking Heaven" by Nathan Silver was presented in Rotterdam Iff at the same time.
Matt Sobel was also featured in the Bright Ideas magazine, Us in Progress' media partner, whose 3rd issue launched during Sundance. Take a look Here
Us in Progress Paris 2015 call for entries is still open.
Us in Progress presents independent Us films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe. The initiative involves two yearly get-togethers at two festivals (Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris in June and American Film Festival in Wroclaw in October).
A call for entries for Paris edition is open till April 1st 2015. Application form and Terms and Conditions can be found online Here
They are looking for:
- narrative feature projects at rough-cut stage or during production (30 min of footage) to reach at least 60 minutes by June
- with U.S. based producers
- film projects in need of for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution
- films with no U.S. or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to June 9th, 2015 intending to reach out to European market.
Us in Progress Paris will take place in the scope of Champs-Elysées Film Festival on June 09-11 2015 in Paris.
Us in Progress Paris selection committee will pick 4 to 5 projects (rough & fine cuts) and invite the filmmaker/ producer to participate in intense networking in with top European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers at the Eiffel Tower.
The event will take form of two days of exclusive screenings of the the selected projects (behind closed doors, for registered guests only) and one-to-one meetings. On top of contracts resulting from the presentations and meetings, a jury made of professionals (Europa Distribution, Producer's Network, Ciné +, Commune Image, Eaux Vives Productions, Firefly, Titra-tvs) will award one of the selected works in progress. The awarded movie will receive a package of post-production and promotion services in kind.
Read more about the program here.
Matt Sobel was also featured in the Bright Ideas magazine, Us in Progress' media partner, whose 3rd issue launched during Sundance. Take a look Here
Us in Progress Paris 2015 call for entries is still open.
Us in Progress presents independent Us films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe. The initiative involves two yearly get-togethers at two festivals (Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris in June and American Film Festival in Wroclaw in October).
A call for entries for Paris edition is open till April 1st 2015. Application form and Terms and Conditions can be found online Here
They are looking for:
- narrative feature projects at rough-cut stage or during production (30 min of footage) to reach at least 60 minutes by June
- with U.S. based producers
- film projects in need of for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution
- films with no U.S. or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to June 9th, 2015 intending to reach out to European market.
Us in Progress Paris will take place in the scope of Champs-Elysées Film Festival on June 09-11 2015 in Paris.
Us in Progress Paris selection committee will pick 4 to 5 projects (rough & fine cuts) and invite the filmmaker/ producer to participate in intense networking in with top European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers at the Eiffel Tower.
The event will take form of two days of exclusive screenings of the the selected projects (behind closed doors, for registered guests only) and one-to-one meetings. On top of contracts resulting from the presentations and meetings, a jury made of professionals (Europa Distribution, Producer's Network, Ciné +, Commune Image, Eaux Vives Productions, Firefly, Titra-tvs) will award one of the selected works in progress. The awarded movie will receive a package of post-production and promotion services in kind.
Read more about the program here.
- 3/23/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
★★★★☆ Writer and director Nathan Silver again seeks to explore the dynamics of communal living just as he did in Exit Elena (2012) to Uncertain Terms (2014). In the latter film, pregnant teens take refuge in the home of Carla (Cindy Silver), who plays a maternal, educator role in their lives and aims to protect them from external anxiety. His fifth feature Stinking Heaven (2015), which received its world premiere at Iffr, focuses on the home of Jim (Keith Poulson) and his wife Lucy (Deragh Campbell) in 1990s suburban New Jersey, who have created a commune for sober living, welcoming any recovering addict to live with them peacefully.
- 2/4/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
"A sober-living safe house is neither safe nor sober in Stinking Heaven, the fifth feature (and fourth in 3 years) from director Nathan Silver," writes Jesse Knight at Movie Mezzanine. "In New Jersey circa 1990, a young married couple, Jim (Keith Poulson, Listen Up Philip) and Lucy (Deragh Campbell, I Used to Be Darker) run a commune providing refuge for recovering drug addicts of any age who pass the time making and selling bathtub kombucha ('fermented healthy drink')…. It’s Short Term 12 by way of the Marquis de Sade." We're collecting a first round of strong reviews for the film that also features Eleonore Hendricks, Henri Douvry and Hannah Gross. » - David Hudson...
- 1/31/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
"A sober-living safe house is neither safe nor sober in Stinking Heaven, the fifth feature (and fourth in 3 years) from director Nathan Silver," writes Jesse Knight at Movie Mezzanine. "In New Jersey circa 1990, a young married couple, Jim (Keith Poulson, Listen Up Philip) and Lucy (Deragh Campbell, I Used to Be Darker) run a commune providing refuge for recovering drug addicts of any age who pass the time making and selling bathtub kombucha ('fermented healthy drink')…. It’s Short Term 12 by way of the Marquis de Sade." We're collecting a first round of strong reviews for the film that also features Eleonore Hendricks, Henri Douvry and Hannah Gross. » - David Hudson...
- 1/31/2015
- Keyframe
natural history
Dissent was brewing in De Doelen this year. For reasons unbeknownst to the vast majority of attendees at this 44th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the powers that be decided to make all the bars in the fest’s headquarters cashless. Instead of creating some pseudo Marxist utopia, however, this "innovation" resulted in frustration, as night after night, critics, filmmakers and producers waved their fest passes preloaded with Euros at bartenders in hopes of getting a poorly poured beer.
What does this have to do with Iffr as a whole? Well, it all felt suggestive of things to come. According to the ever-reliable internet, there are now more tickets sold during Rotterdam than at Cannes or Venice. (Indeed, there were several screenings during the festival that sold out faster than I expected, leaving me scrambling to re-jig my schedule and sprinting from the Pathé theatre to the Cinerama.
Dissent was brewing in De Doelen this year. For reasons unbeknownst to the vast majority of attendees at this 44th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the powers that be decided to make all the bars in the fest’s headquarters cashless. Instead of creating some pseudo Marxist utopia, however, this "innovation" resulted in frustration, as night after night, critics, filmmakers and producers waved their fest passes preloaded with Euros at bartenders in hopes of getting a poorly poured beer.
What does this have to do with Iffr as a whole? Well, it all felt suggestive of things to come. According to the ever-reliable internet, there are now more tickets sold during Rotterdam than at Cannes or Venice. (Indeed, there were several screenings during the festival that sold out faster than I expected, leaving me scrambling to re-jig my schedule and sprinting from the Pathé theatre to the Cinerama.
- 1/30/2015
- by Kiva Reardon
- MUBI
Above: David Bordwell drops science on that horrific and longstanding practice we know as "Pan & Scan." Joining President Darren Aronofsky on the International Jury at the Berlinale next month are the following: Daniel Brühl, Bong Joon-ho, Martha De Laurentiis, Claudia Llosa, Audrey Tautou, and Matthew Weiner. For Grantland, Steven Hyden has written a wonderful article on Gene Hackman:
"He couldn’t have planned it this way, but Hackman had aged into a screen persona — he looked like he had spent years driving a truck or working as a doorman before lucking into the movies, because that’s basically what had happened. Hackman might’ve studied the Method under Lee Strasberg (“He played with people’s heads a lot,” he recalled derisively of Strasberg in 2001), but he could just be and be authentic onscreen."
Jafar Panahi's Taxi, the third film of his to premiere since he was banned from directing in Iran,...
"He couldn’t have planned it this way, but Hackman had aged into a screen persona — he looked like he had spent years driving a truck or working as a doorman before lucking into the movies, because that’s basically what had happened. Hackman might’ve studied the Method under Lee Strasberg (“He played with people’s heads a lot,” he recalled derisively of Strasberg in 2001), but he could just be and be authentic onscreen."
Jafar Panahi's Taxi, the third film of his to premiere since he was banned from directing in Iran,...
- 1/28/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
We all live by rules. Whether they are personal choices to undertake or those put upon us by work or family, we live by them. But sometimes those rules can destroy us.Nathan Silver's fifth feature, Stinking Heaven, takes place in suburban New Jersey, circa 1990. Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and Jim (Keith Poulson) are a young married couple who have structured their home as a community for sober living, themselves addicts on the mend. We enter the home amidst a celebration: the wedding of Betty (Eleonore Hendricks) and Kevin (Henri Douvry), surely a bright new beacon in this house for the healing power of love. But when Betty's old flame Ann (Hannah Gross) shows up, it sends the house into a tumult not everyone will come...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 1/25/2015
- Screen Anarchy
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