Reviews

Best of New Directors/New Films: The Father of My Children

Kurt Brokaw reviews his favorites from the longstanding collaborative festival between The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art, screening March 24th-April 4th.


Posted in
Director Mia Hansen-Love refracts the light of a fallen filmmaker in "The Father of My Children."

The Father Of My Children (Le père de mes enfants)
(Mia Hansen-Love. 2009. France/Germany. 110 min.)

Best of New Directors/New Films: Beautiful Darling

Kurt Brokaw reviews his favorites from the longstanding collaborative festival between The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art, screening March 24th-April 4th.


Posted in
Candy Darling snags more than 15 minutes of fame in "Beautiful Darling."

Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar
(James Rasin. 2010. USA. 86 min.)

Advance Look at New Directors/New Films

Kurt Brokaw reviews his favorites from the longstanding collaborative festival between The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art, screening March 24th-April 4th.


Candy Darling snags more than 15 minutes of fame in "Beautiful Darling."

True that The Independent is not in the habit of reviewing films, but we've got fresh talent on board with Kurt Brokaw, New School professor and 92Y teacher. He's watching all 38 films in the New Directors/New Films lineup and zoning in on the best of the fest exclusively for our readers.

For the past 38 years in Manhattan, The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art have collaborated on an annual presentation of New Directors/New Films. This year's 27 features and 11 shorts, representing 20 countries, will screen at both locales between March 24th and April 4th.

Best of New Directors/New Films: The Man Next Door

Kurt Brokaw reviews his favorites from the longstanding collaborative festival between The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art, screening March 24th-April 4th.


Posted in
<i>The Man Next Door</i> plays on fears of proximity.

The Man Next Door (El hombre de al lado)
(Mariano Cohn & Gastón Duprat. 2009. Argentina. 103 min.)

Doc Highlights from the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma

In part two of two, The Independent comments on intriguing docs from Montréal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma.


From Léa Rinaldi's <i>Behind Jim Jarmusch</i>.

The Independent's Patrick Pearce offers take two of highlights from Montréal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, this time with a focus on docs. Last month he served up narrative features.

You may want to check out part one, which offers a festival overview with a focus on its narrative features.

Under-the-radar Features from the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma

The Independent highlights some of the most interesting narrative films at Montréal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma. The forthcoming part two will cover docs.


From Xiaolu Guo's "She, a Chinese."

The Independent's Patrick Pearce offers up an eclectic global sampling of indie features from Montréal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, a veteran fest that offers a bounty of stimulating films. In the forthcoming part two, he'll highlight docs.

If you’ve never been to Montréal, Québec you’re missing out. With cheap rent, creative industries, and multiculturalism seeping out all of its pores, this port city is crawling with artsy & cinematic characters from the très hip to the downright derelict, a cross between Brooklyn, New Orleans, Marseilles and maybe Istanbul.

2009 Oscar Preview: The Shortlist

A look at the fifteen documentaries chosen for the 81st annual Oscar shortlist.


A still from Carl Deal and Tia Lessin's "Trouble the Water," which made the Oscar documentary shortlist.

OK, so the Academy Awards don't exactly scream "independent." Nonetheless, independent filmmakers have a place at this red carpet event and, this year, the Oscar's documentary shortlist includes several independent films both from well-established directors and up-and-coming names. Selections include Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World (view trailer here) and Ellen Kuras's The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) (view the trailer here).

After three-quarters of a century of recognizing excellence in cinema achievement, the Oscar Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, needs little introduction.

The 10 Best Academic Programs for Aspiring Screenwriters

The Independent takes a look at the best degree and non-degree granting programs for screenwriters.


Students particpating in the USC Writing for Screen and TV Video program.

The Independent's Jericho Parms sifts through the multitude of programs for aspiring screenwriters and boils down the essentials so you can find the best fit to help you achieve your screenwriting goal, whether that be having as many finished screenplays by the end of the program as possible, or walking away with an education that not only helps you put your ideas on paper, but helps prepare you to sell your ideas to the people who can get them up on the big screen.

Whether or not to pursue an education in the film industry has long been a hot topic. Clearly, there are identifiable pros and cons of electing to formally study film, more particularly choosing to concentrate on a single element, such as screenwriting.

The Transformation of Television

A review of the new cross-platform media center, boxee.


A screenshot of the boxee software.

The new social media center, boxee, aims to change the way you watch TV by bringing all your favorite media into one place, whether it be from the Internet, Hulu or CBS. But, could this mean a change for broadcasting independent films as well?

Joost, Hulu and boxee – one thing is for sure, names like the American Broadcasting Company (aka ABC) are a thing of the past. Instead, the future of broadcasting is filled with silly-named companies that aim to overthrow your idea of television.

The 10 Best Academic Programs for Documentary Filmmakers

An overview of the best programs from Duke to Stanford to Maine


The Digital Media Academy's Documentary Filmmaking Camp has programs for adults, kids and teens (pictured).

Choosing the right school is hard, but it can be even harder when you have a specialized focus, like documentary filmmaking. Whether you're a novice or a veteran filmmaker looking to try something new, this top ten list of the best documentary film programs, both degree granting and non-degree granting, boils down the programs so you can find exactly the right fit.

These days, it’s fairly easy to find an excellent place to learn how to make narrative films. Ten Best lists exist by the fistful, and a Google search of “learn filmmaking” returns more than 30,000 hits.

Syndicate content