David LowFive alumni have contributed to exceptional documentaries that were shown this January at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Marc Shmuger ’80 is one of the producers of We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, which had its premiere at Sundance. Directed by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, the film is an in-depth study of all things related to WikiLeaks and the larger global debate over access to information. It tells a compelling story of what happens when a small group of people decide to break open the intelligence vaults of the world’s most powerful nation. The…
This January, Liz Garcia ’99 brought her first feature film, The Lifeguard, to Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah to be shown in the U.S. Dramatic competition. She directed, wrote, and co-produced the movie; her husband, Joshua Harto, is a co-producer and an actor in the film. The Lifeguard follows a young woman (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars) who leaves her job as an Associated Press reporter in New York City and returns to her hometown in suburban Connecticut where she last felt happiness. Complications arise as she rebels against adulthood by resuming her high school job as a pool…
Halley Feiffer ’07 is the star and co-writer (with Ryan Spahn) of the feature film of He's Way More Famous Than You, which premiered in the dramatic competition at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January. The film is directed by Michael Urie, the star of Ugly Betty and Partners, and co-stars Urie, Spahn, Jessie Eisenberg (with whom Feiffer appeared in The Squid and the Whale), Natasha Lyonne, Mammie Gummer, Tracee Chimo, and Ralph Macchio. Feiffer plays a struggling actress will stop at nothing to get her movie made in this sharp, satiric comedy about the film…
Cynthia RockwellBenh Zeitlin ’04, director of Beasts of the Southern Wild, and producer Dan Janvey ’06 joined Director of the Cinema Archives and Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies Jeanine Basinger on Nov. 12 for a free-wheeling Q&A on the making of their indie hit, Beasts of the Southern Wild. The talk took place in the Goldsmith Family Cinema. They began by showing a segment on the making of the film—“a world premiere,” they noted, adding that it will be included on the DVD when the film is released for home viewing. Currently the Sundance and Cannes award-winner is still showing in theaters and…
Writer and filmmaker Jeremy Arnold ’91 is the author of Lawrence of Arabia: The 50th Anniversary, published by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. This special hardbound coffee table book is included in the recently released Lawrence of Arabia 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray box set, also released by Sony. The 88-page publication contains full-color photographs, a history of the epic film's significance, insight into the making of the movie (directed by David Lean), and editorial pieces by film directors Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. The book is only available in this package and will not be sold separately. It also has…
Martha Shane '05 and Lana Wilson '05 have received a coveted grant from the Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund for their feature-length documentary After Tiller, which they directed and produced. The film deals with the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller as the last four late-term abortion doctors in America confront harassment from protestors, challenges in their personal lives, and a series of tough ethical decisions. After Tiller is one of five films that received this year's grants, which are awarded to “projects that illuminate pressing problems in the United States.” This year the International Documentary Association received grant…
This year’s Toronto International Film Festival in September featured the North American Premiere of Museum Hours, directed by Jem Cohen ’84, and the world premieres of Imogene, co-directed by Shari Springer Berman ’85 and Robert Pulcini, and Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Joss Whedon ’87. All three films were well received by Toronto audiences and film critics. Both Imogene and Much Ado About Nothing were picked up in Toronto by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions for release in North America. MPM Film is handing international sales and The Cinema Guild has acquired U.S. distribution rights for Museum Hours. Museum Hours…
Hip-hop DJ Bobbito Garcia ’88 and photographer Kevin Couliau have co-directed Doin’ It in the Park, a new documentary about the popular culture of pick-up basketball, played in parks all over New York City’s five boroughs. Shot at 180 courts in 75 days, the film covers a cross-section of players both professional and amateur, including Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Kenny Smith, “Pee Wee” Kirkland, “Fly” Williams, God Shammgod, Tim “Headache” Gittens, Corey “Homicide” Williams, Kenny Anderson, Jack Ryan, Richard “Crazy Legs” Colon, Niki Avery, Milani Malik, and the Park Pick-Up Players of NYC. The filmmakers traveled to most of the…
Benjamin TraversOn April 12, Julia Louis-Dreyfus P'14, producer and star of "VEEP," sat down with President Michael Roth '78 and nearly 300 Wesleyan students, alumni, and parents at The Times Center in New York City for a premiere screening and conversation about her new HBO show. A video of the event is below: [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_xN9gls-6s[/youtube]
In its opening weekend of May 4-6, the superhero extravaganza The Avengers, directed and written by Joss Whedon ’87 (Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), opened to critical acclaim and exceeded U.S. box office expectations, debuting at $207.4 million—or $38.2 million more than the previous opening-weekend record holder, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 ($169.2 million) from last summer, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The film earned $475.8 million overseas and $226.4 million in North America by May 7. This dream movie for comic book lovers brings together characters such as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America…
Ruby Blackerby Hernandez ’11 has produced a 40-minute documentary film, Canaries in the Field, to explore the struggles of migrant workers and their families, as well as reporting on current abuses in the U.S. agricultural system. She wants the American public to be aware of what she calls the “corruptions in the agricultural industry.” Hernandez says that most in the U.S. believe that human rights abuses of farm workers ended decades ago. This is simply not true, she wants us to know. “It's not just an immigration issue anymore,” Hernandez told About.com reporter Dan Moffet. “Human rights abuses, wage garnishing,…
Jane Goldenring '77 produced the upcoming Disney Channel original movie, Radio Rebel. It airs at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17 (7 p.m. Central). The film stars Debbie Ryan (Jessie) and was directed by Peter Howitt (Sliding Doors). Radio Rebel, which is based on the book, Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph, tells the story of Tara, a shy 17-year-old, who has another identity: DJ Radio Rebel. As her popularity as a radio DJ skyrockets, Tara finds it harder to keep her alter ego a secret and learns to take her own advice and embrace who she is. “The movie is a lot…