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After Krisha (2015), It Comes at Night (2017) and Waves (2019), American indie filmmaker Trey Edward Shults might actually be shooting from both sides of the hip in 2024. The first project to see the light could very well be a film he developed with Abel Tesfaye aka “The Weeknd”. They co-wrote the currently untitled project together, and The Weeknd stars alongside Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. Cinematographer Chayse Irvin is onboard and for the composers we find Opn + The Weeknd. Production would have taken place in February so this is more than ready acquisitions.
Gist: The project has no logline yet but was written by Shults, Tesfaye and Reza Fahim.…...
Gist: The project has no logline yet but was written by Shults, Tesfaye and Reza Fahim.…...
- 11/17/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMWI3ZmRmMTctY2Q5Yy00MWUzLWE2MTgtZTIwOGI2MmRiOWYxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
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Like the humongous going-out-of-business furniture store where Mother, Couch takes place, the movie is a collection of intriguing pieces that mostly sit there unassembled or out of context, their potential unfulfilled. Exhibit A among the elements banging around this echo chamber of strained surrealism is the committed ensemble cast. It’s led by Ewan McGregor, as a stressed-out husband and father who’s trying, with little help from anyone around him, to lure his mother (a bewigged and scowling Ellen Burstyn) out of the retail outlet where she’s planted herself.
Rhys Ifans and Lara Flynn Boyle round out the story’s central trio of siblings, with Taylor Russell and F. Murray Abraham also inhabiting its peculiar world, a place that isn’t what it seems. Whatever drew this strong cast to Niclas Larsson’s debut feature remains elusive in the finished product, which stirs up questions about the illogical...
Rhys Ifans and Lara Flynn Boyle round out the story’s central trio of siblings, with Taylor Russell and F. Murray Abraham also inhabiting its peculiar world, a place that isn’t what it seems. Whatever drew this strong cast to Niclas Larsson’s debut feature remains elusive in the finished product, which stirs up questions about the illogical...
- 9/13/2023
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTliNDMwZDQtNWFlYi00MTk0LWFkYzctOWUwM2EyYzNiYjYxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY140_CR86,0,140,140_.jpg)
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Los Angeles, March 1 (Ians) Musician ‘The Weeknd’, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye will have his first starring role in a feature film that he wrote and is also producing.
The picture, which is currently untitled and has been kept shrouded in mystery regarding its plot, genre and the like is being directed by Trey Edward Shults, the filmmaker behind ‘Waves’ and aIt Comes at Night’.
Shults also co-wrote the movie and is executive producing it. We do know that it is shooting in Los Angeles, but aside from that the “logline is being kept under wraps,” reports ‘Variety’.
Whether comedy or tragedy, action adventure or musical extravaganza, this impressively vague feature has lined up a top shelf cast. Beyond The Weeknd, a Grammy-winning recording juggernaut, the film also stars Jenna Ortega, the star of ‘Wednesday’ and ‘Scream VI’, as well as Barry Keoghan, the Oscar-nominated actor from ‘The Banshees of Inisherin...
The picture, which is currently untitled and has been kept shrouded in mystery regarding its plot, genre and the like is being directed by Trey Edward Shults, the filmmaker behind ‘Waves’ and aIt Comes at Night’.
Shults also co-wrote the movie and is executive producing it. We do know that it is shooting in Los Angeles, but aside from that the “logline is being kept under wraps,” reports ‘Variety’.
Whether comedy or tragedy, action adventure or musical extravaganza, this impressively vague feature has lined up a top shelf cast. Beyond The Weeknd, a Grammy-winning recording juggernaut, the film also stars Jenna Ortega, the star of ‘Wednesday’ and ‘Scream VI’, as well as Barry Keoghan, the Oscar-nominated actor from ‘The Banshees of Inisherin...
- 3/1/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmFhMTkwZDItMzFkMC00YTdlLTllZWMtODI1Y2FlZWJiMGU5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmFhMTkwZDItMzFkMC00YTdlLTllZWMtODI1Y2FlZWJiMGU5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
Image Source: Getty / Gilbert Flores / Variety
Abel Tesfaye, known onstage as The Weeknd, is securing his role as a multi-hyphenate in Hollywood with his first starring role in a feature film. On Feb. 28, the "Save Your Tears" singer's rep confirmed to Popsugar that he will make his movie debut as a lead actor, producer, writer, and director in an upcoming film. The untitled production will also star "Wednesday"'s Jenna Ortega and "The Banshees of Inisherin"'s Barry Keoghan.
According to the press release, the project will also be produced and co-written by Tesfaye's producing partner Reza Fahim. Additional producers include "The Idol"'s Kevin Turen and "Euphoria"'s Harrison Kreiss. The crew includes critically acclaimed director of photography Chayse Irvin, Trey Edward Shults as a writer and director, and composer and producer Daniel Lopatin, better known as Opn. Previously, Opn worked on the scores for "Good Time" and "Uncut Gems,...
Abel Tesfaye, known onstage as The Weeknd, is securing his role as a multi-hyphenate in Hollywood with his first starring role in a feature film. On Feb. 28, the "Save Your Tears" singer's rep confirmed to Popsugar that he will make his movie debut as a lead actor, producer, writer, and director in an upcoming film. The untitled production will also star "Wednesday"'s Jenna Ortega and "The Banshees of Inisherin"'s Barry Keoghan.
According to the press release, the project will also be produced and co-written by Tesfaye's producing partner Reza Fahim. Additional producers include "The Idol"'s Kevin Turen and "Euphoria"'s Harrison Kreiss. The crew includes critically acclaimed director of photography Chayse Irvin, Trey Edward Shults as a writer and director, and composer and producer Daniel Lopatin, better known as Opn. Previously, Opn worked on the scores for "Good Time" and "Uncut Gems,...
- 3/1/2023
- by Chanel Vargas
- Popsugar.com
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTk4MWYzYzAtMDU1NS00YjNhLTkxMjQtZWExM2Q5MTI3ZTcwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye will have his first starring role in a feature film that he wrote and is also producing. The picture, which is currently untitled and has been kept shrouded in mystery regarding its plot, genre and the like is being directed by Trey Edward Shults, the filmmaker behind “Waves” and “It Comes at Night.” Shults also co-wrote the movie and is executive producing it. We do know that it is shooting in Los Angeles, but aside from that the “logline is being kept under wraps.”
Whether comedy or tragedy, action adventure or musical extravaganza, this impressively vague feature has lined up a top shelf cast. Beyond The Weeknd, a Grammy-winning recording juggernaut, the film also stars Jenna Ortega, the star of “Wednesday” and “Scream VI,” as well as Barry Keoghan, the Oscar-nominated actor from “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
The film...
Whether comedy or tragedy, action adventure or musical extravaganza, this impressively vague feature has lined up a top shelf cast. Beyond The Weeknd, a Grammy-winning recording juggernaut, the film also stars Jenna Ortega, the star of “Wednesday” and “Scream VI,” as well as Barry Keoghan, the Oscar-nominated actor from “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
The film...
- 2/28/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
![Jenna Ortega](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmQ1MDJhYmUtNTJhYS00Njk2LTgyMmEtYmNhM2JiZGMwMTc0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzQwODQxNTU@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
![Jenna Ortega](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmQ1MDJhYmUtNTJhYS00Njk2LTgyMmEtYmNhM2JiZGMwMTc0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzQwODQxNTU@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye has signed on to Trey Edward Shults’ untitled new picture. The film will team the musician with rising star Jenna Ortega and Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan. Shults will direct from a script he penned with Tesfaye and producing partner Reza Fahim. Tesfaye, Fahim, Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss are producing with Shultz and Ortega exec producing.
There are no details yet offered for the in-production feature. Shults has quickly made a name for himself via a handful of wrenching melodramas. Unless this new project is a major change of pace, audiences can expect the filmmaker behind “Krisha,” “It Comes at Night” and “Waves” to provide spectacular performances, an emotional workout and a relatively unhappy ending.
Chayse Irvin will serve as Director of Photography while Daniel Lopatin (also known as Opn) will provide the score alongside The Weeknd. He previously scored “Good Times” and “Uncut Gems” — the...
There are no details yet offered for the in-production feature. Shults has quickly made a name for himself via a handful of wrenching melodramas. Unless this new project is a major change of pace, audiences can expect the filmmaker behind “Krisha,” “It Comes at Night” and “Waves” to provide spectacular performances, an emotional workout and a relatively unhappy ending.
Chayse Irvin will serve as Director of Photography while Daniel Lopatin (also known as Opn) will provide the score alongside The Weeknd. He previously scored “Good Times” and “Uncut Gems” — the...
- 2/28/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2Y5MGFjNmUtNWY0Zi00MzA0LWFiNzMtMTE1Y2UzZDg3ZDE1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,38,500,281_.jpg)
After his legendary cameo as himself in “Uncut Gems,” R&b star Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye is making his proper feature film acting debut. The artist behind “After Hours” and “Dawn FM” will write and star in a new film from “Waves” and “It Comes at Night” director Trey Edward Shults, IndieWire has confirmed.
In addition to Tesfaye, the currently untitled project will also star “Wednesday” and “Scream” breakout Jenna Ortega and “The Banshees of Inisherin” Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan. Tesfaye and Shults co-wrote the script for the currently untitled project with Reza Fahim, who has previously collaborated with Tesfaye on his upcoming HBO series “The Idol.” Tesfaye will also compose the score for the feature with Daniel Lopatin, or Opn, who is best known for his work on “Uncut Gems” and the Safdie Brother’s other film “Good Time.” Chayse Irvin serves as director of photography; his previous credits include “Blonde” and “BlacKkKlansman.
In addition to Tesfaye, the currently untitled project will also star “Wednesday” and “Scream” breakout Jenna Ortega and “The Banshees of Inisherin” Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan. Tesfaye and Shults co-wrote the script for the currently untitled project with Reza Fahim, who has previously collaborated with Tesfaye on his upcoming HBO series “The Idol.” Tesfaye will also compose the score for the feature with Daniel Lopatin, or Opn, who is best known for his work on “Uncut Gems” and the Safdie Brother’s other film “Good Time.” Chayse Irvin serves as director of photography; his previous credits include “Blonde” and “BlacKkKlansman.
- 2/28/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
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Exclusive: Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye is set to make his feature acting debut, teaming with Waves helmer Trey Edward Shults on an untitled film that also stars Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan.
Plot details are being kept under wraps with the film currently in production.
Shults will direct from a script he co-wrote with Tesfaye and his producing partner Reza Fahim. Tesfaye, Fahim, Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss are producing with Shultz and Ortega exec producing.
Shults and Tesfaye have been working secretly on the film for months, with Ortega and Keoghan signing on after being blown away by the script. Ortega and Keoghan have been two of the more sought-after talents in town, with the each sorting through several offers.
Besides landing Ortega and Keoghan, Shults and Tesfaye also have assembled a below-the-line team that includes director of photography Chayse Irvin (Blonde). Composer and producer Opn, aka Daniel Lopatin, is scoring the film alongside The Weeknd.
While this Tesfaye’s feature acting debut, the Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated musician is currently set to star in HBO’s The Idol, which he also co-created with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. Fahim is also producing the series.
Ortega has been on a roll as of late which included her record breaking Addams Family TV series, Wednesday. The show has smashed viewing records for the streamer and has been renewed for a second season. She can be seen next in Scream VI.
Keoghan is coming off his critically acclaimed work in Searchlight’s The Banshees of Inisherin, which has earned him several accolades including a BAFTA win and an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Next up he is set to star in the highly anticipated Saltburn, Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to her Oscar-winning film Promising Young Woman.
Shults is best known for his critically acclaimed work on Waves and It Comes At Night.
Tesfaye is represented by CAA, Manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby & Amir “Cash” Esmailian and attorney Kenny Meiselas of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks. Ortega is represented by CAA, Gilbertson Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Keoghan is represented by WME, Entertainment 360, B-Side Management and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Shults is represented by WME and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Plot details are being kept under wraps with the film currently in production.
Shults will direct from a script he co-wrote with Tesfaye and his producing partner Reza Fahim. Tesfaye, Fahim, Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss are producing with Shultz and Ortega exec producing.
Shults and Tesfaye have been working secretly on the film for months, with Ortega and Keoghan signing on after being blown away by the script. Ortega and Keoghan have been two of the more sought-after talents in town, with the each sorting through several offers.
Besides landing Ortega and Keoghan, Shults and Tesfaye also have assembled a below-the-line team that includes director of photography Chayse Irvin (Blonde). Composer and producer Opn, aka Daniel Lopatin, is scoring the film alongside The Weeknd.
While this Tesfaye’s feature acting debut, the Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated musician is currently set to star in HBO’s The Idol, which he also co-created with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. Fahim is also producing the series.
Ortega has been on a roll as of late which included her record breaking Addams Family TV series, Wednesday. The show has smashed viewing records for the streamer and has been renewed for a second season. She can be seen next in Scream VI.
Keoghan is coming off his critically acclaimed work in Searchlight’s The Banshees of Inisherin, which has earned him several accolades including a BAFTA win and an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Next up he is set to star in the highly anticipated Saltburn, Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to her Oscar-winning film Promising Young Woman.
Shults is best known for his critically acclaimed work on Waves and It Comes At Night.
Tesfaye is represented by CAA, Manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby & Amir “Cash” Esmailian and attorney Kenny Meiselas of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks. Ortega is represented by CAA, Gilbertson Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Keoghan is represented by WME, Entertainment 360, B-Side Management and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Shults is represented by WME and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
- 2/28/2023
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
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In the three years since Charlie Kaufman’s major 2020, which included the publication of his debut novel Antkind and the release of his first live-action film in over a decade, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, the writer-director hasn’t formally announced his next feature but he’s now released a new short. The 20-minute Jackals & Fireflies, shot by Blonde and BlacKkKlansman cinematographer Chayse Irvin on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra as part of a new campaign, is a lovely city symphony capturing modern-day New York City through the eyes of an observant, wistful protagonist.
Scripted by Eva H.D., who previously collaborated with Kaufman when her poem “bonedog” was featured in his last film, here’s the synopsis: “A woman wanders the streets of New York City, takes buses and trains, sits in bars and coffee shops, experiencing the city’s diverse neighborhoods, while thinking about her life, her loneliness, unrequited love.
Scripted by Eva H.D., who previously collaborated with Kaufman when her poem “bonedog” was featured in his last film, here’s the synopsis: “A woman wanders the streets of New York City, takes buses and trains, sits in bars and coffee shops, experiencing the city’s diverse neighborhoods, while thinking about her life, her loneliness, unrequited love.
- 2/13/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZWE5ODMwNzUtOTdjZi00MjI2LWE1MjgtYjcxN2QyZDg2NDhkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Each Sunday morning, the New York Times publishes the Metropolitan Diary, short tales about city life submitted by readers that capture the wonder and serendipity of life in NYC. Not surprisingly, filmmaker Charlie Kaufman loves those “little stories.” “I love the Metropolitan Diary. It’s my favorite thing on Sunday to read,” he told IndieWire during a recent interview.
Kaufman’s latest film, a short entitled “Jackals & Fireflies,” conjures up the same feeling of the Metropolitan Diary. Shot entirely on a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra by cinematographer Chayse Irvin (part of the company’s #withGalaxy campaign), the film reunites Kaufman with poet Eva H.D., whose poem “bonedog” was used in his “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.”
H.D. adapted the script from her own poem and also stars in it as the unnamed narrator. Per the film’s official synopsis, the short follows “a woman [who] wanders the streets of New York City,...
Kaufman’s latest film, a short entitled “Jackals & Fireflies,” conjures up the same feeling of the Metropolitan Diary. Shot entirely on a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra by cinematographer Chayse Irvin (part of the company’s #withGalaxy campaign), the film reunites Kaufman with poet Eva H.D., whose poem “bonedog” was used in his “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.”
H.D. adapted the script from her own poem and also stars in it as the unnamed narrator. Per the film’s official synopsis, the short follows “a woman [who] wanders the streets of New York City,...
- 2/10/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZGY3NDA0YWEtMjZiOC00OWEwLWExMmItZjU1M2Y1ZmM1NzFmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY140_CR36,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZGY3NDA0YWEtMjZiOC00OWEwLWExMmItZjU1M2Y1ZmM1NzFmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY140_CR36,0,140,140_.jpg)
What’s Charlie Kaufman been up to since he made “I’m Thinking Of Ending Things” for Netflix in 2020? Shooting a short film in secret, it seems, on a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (via journo Sean Malin). Samsung has a trailer for the short entitled “Jackals & Fireflies” and says that it’s “coming soon.” How soon? Well, that’s unclear.
Read More: The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2023
So, what else is out there about “Jackals & Fireflies?” “Blonde” cinematographer Chayse Irvin shoots the film, and Eva H.D.
Continue reading ‘Jackals & Fireflies’ Trailer: Charlie Kaufman Shot His Upcoming Short In Secret On A Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra at The Playlist.
Read More: The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2023
So, what else is out there about “Jackals & Fireflies?” “Blonde” cinematographer Chayse Irvin shoots the film, and Eva H.D.
Continue reading ‘Jackals & Fireflies’ Trailer: Charlie Kaufman Shot His Upcoming Short In Secret On A Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra at The Playlist.
- 1/20/2023
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmVkYzUyY2UtMTFmMC00YTE4LTlmMDQtYTdjMTk4NTgwYzg4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,26,500,281_.jpg)
In surveying the year’s best cinematography, the IndieWire staff found a lot to like, across genres, formats, and planes of existence. 2022 was a year when discussion of visual language could’ve been dominated by flash and spectacle, and “modest” certainly isn’t the word that comes to mind when considering the looks and innovative techniques of our top picks.
But as you read on, you’re just as likely to encounter intimate nature photography and expertly controlled neo-noir atmosphere as you are cameras that take flight with legendary performers and/or into the gullet of a threat from beyond the stars. Whether it’s darkened subterranean tunnels or moving light miraculously captured in stop-motion; be it the work of celebrated virtuosos Janusz Kamiński and Claudio Miranda or ascendant DPs like Ari Wegner and Chayse Irvin — there were no more arresting moving images than these.
But as you read on, you’re just as likely to encounter intimate nature photography and expertly controlled neo-noir atmosphere as you are cameras that take flight with legendary performers and/or into the gullet of a threat from beyond the stars. Whether it’s darkened subterranean tunnels or moving light miraculously captured in stop-motion; be it the work of celebrated virtuosos Janusz Kamiński and Claudio Miranda or ascendant DPs like Ari Wegner and Chayse Irvin — there were no more arresting moving images than these.
- 12/19/2022
- by Chris O'Falt, Bill Desowitz, Sarah Shachat and Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYThmMDFmMGItYmU1Ni00YTczLTljZDUtODQ3ZTE3YTJlOWQ3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYThmMDFmMGItYmU1Ni00YTczLTljZDUtODQ3ZTE3YTJlOWQ3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
Click here to read the full article.
Blonde cinematographer Chayse Irvin has been left scratching his head over his Marilyn Monroe film that launched with a 14-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, only to run into a buzzsaw of criticism for apparently exploiting the suffering of the screen icon, played by Ana de Armas.
Irvin tells The Hollywood Reporter that Blonde — as it graphically depicts the abuse and trauma inflicted on Monroe from her troubled childhood to a shock death at age 36 — was never intended as a celebratory biopic many may have expected.
Instead, Irvin and director Andrew Dominik deliberately set out with woozy imagery, alternating use of digital color and monochrome, varied aspect ratios and horror movie tropes to remain true to Joyce Carol Oates’ dream-like novel where, fusing fact and fiction, Monroe steadily spirals into despair.
“I remember Andrew saying that the film won’t be...
Blonde cinematographer Chayse Irvin has been left scratching his head over his Marilyn Monroe film that launched with a 14-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, only to run into a buzzsaw of criticism for apparently exploiting the suffering of the screen icon, played by Ana de Armas.
Irvin tells The Hollywood Reporter that Blonde — as it graphically depicts the abuse and trauma inflicted on Monroe from her troubled childhood to a shock death at age 36 — was never intended as a celebratory biopic many may have expected.
Instead, Irvin and director Andrew Dominik deliberately set out with woozy imagery, alternating use of digital color and monochrome, varied aspect ratios and horror movie tropes to remain true to Joyce Carol Oates’ dream-like novel where, fusing fact and fiction, Monroe steadily spirals into despair.
“I remember Andrew saying that the film won’t be...
- 11/15/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYmM2NjFmNTAtMzllMy00NzM3LTkyNTMtMDYxYTRhNDQwYWFhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYmM2NjFmNTAtMzllMy00NzM3LTkyNTMtMDYxYTRhNDQwYWFhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
Click here to read the full article.
The EnergaCamerimage international cinematography film festival has unveiled its main competition lineup, including Elvis, White Noise, Top Gun: Maverick and Empire of Light, which is set to open the 30th edition.
Camerimage, held annually in Poland, has also booked into its main competition the cinematographic work for All Quiet on the West Front, War Sailor, Tár, The Perfect Number and The Angel in the Wall. The international festival has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race.
Camerimage earlier announced that Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, which was lensed by Roger Deakins, will open the 2022 edition set to be held Nov. 12-19 in Toruń, Poland. Mendes will also receive the Special Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Director during the festival.
Also previously announced, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Stephen Burum (Hoffa) will accept the Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award during this year’s festival.
The EnergaCamerimage international cinematography film festival has unveiled its main competition lineup, including Elvis, White Noise, Top Gun: Maverick and Empire of Light, which is set to open the 30th edition.
Camerimage, held annually in Poland, has also booked into its main competition the cinematographic work for All Quiet on the West Front, War Sailor, Tár, The Perfect Number and The Angel in the Wall. The international festival has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race.
Camerimage earlier announced that Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, which was lensed by Roger Deakins, will open the 2022 edition set to be held Nov. 12-19 in Toruń, Poland. Mendes will also receive the Special Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Director during the festival.
Also previously announced, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Stephen Burum (Hoffa) will accept the Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award during this year’s festival.
- 10/21/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYjliNzdmZTEtOGQ3My00MTc3LWFmZjktNmQ1MjVlOTYxYWNmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
“There’s a lot of work around, I’ve been busy,” Emily Watson declared, brightly, over tea and crumbly biscuits at The Union, a private club in central London, as she chatted with Deadline about why she loves working in front of the camera.
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She indeed has been busy. Hot on the heels of her extraordinarily compelling portrait in God’s Creatures, playing an Irish Catholic woman who has an obsessional bond with her wayward son (Paul Mescal of (Normal People and Aftersun), Watson has taken on a slate of roles including HBO Max...
Related Story ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’: Start Date & Location Confirmed For HBO Max & Legendary Prequel Series Related Story 'Dune: The Sisterhood': 'Game Of Thrones' & 'Obi-Wan' Star Indira Varma Joins HBO Max & Legendary Prequel Series As Empress Natalya Related Story 'Heatwave' Limited Series In Works At HBO Max From Shannon Murphy & Anna Symon
She indeed has been busy. Hot on the heels of her extraordinarily compelling portrait in God’s Creatures, playing an Irish Catholic woman who has an obsessional bond with her wayward son (Paul Mescal of (Normal People and Aftersun), Watson has taken on a slate of roles including HBO Max...
- 10/15/2022
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmI4ZTZjMTYtN2ZlNS00NGMzLWE5NTYtMGQ4NDFjMzY2MzY0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmI4ZTZjMTYtN2ZlNS00NGMzLWE5NTYtMGQ4NDFjMzY2MzY0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer’s eerily effective God’s Creatures, starring Emily Watson, opens with an unexpected return. The son of Aileen O’Hara (Watson) has just come home, showing up in their tiny, Irish fishing village unannounced after some time away in Australia. It’s a somber occasion — a local fisherman has just drowned — but for Aileen, especially, this is a joyous moment. Brian (Paul Mescal, of Normal People fame) is something of a mama’s boy. He did not stay in touch while he was away, breaking his mother’s heart,...
- 9/30/2022
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDk0MmFjODYtNGFlMy00NmQ2LWEyYWMtZjRlYTUzYWM2YWY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR80,0,500,281_.jpg)
This week, Netflix’s Blonde and A24’s God’s Creatures head to streaming and theaters, respectively. The digitally-shot Blonde is a highly stylized look at the life of Marilyn Monroe, shifting aspect ratios and alternating between color and monochrome while employing extreme wide angle lenses, body cam mounts, infrared and more to expressionistically convey Monroe’s perspective. God’s Creatures is the antithesis—austere and somber, captured on 35mm, with an observational point of view distanced from the main characters, a mother in a small Irish fishing village whose life crumbles after providing a false alibi for her son. The films do share one thing in common—cinematographer […]
The post Chayse Irvin on Shooting Blonde in Digital Black and White and God’s Creatures in 35mm Color first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Chayse Irvin on Shooting Blonde in Digital Black and White and God’s Creatures in 35mm Color first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 9/29/2022
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmZlOWJlZjUtOWExMi00YjVkLWE1MmEtYjk1ODE0NzM1MjAyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR11,0,500,281_.jpg)
In the end, an old-fashioned filmmaking trick involving heated cardboard helped costume designers re-create Marilyn Monroe’s famous pleated halter dress from “The Seven Year Itch” for Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde.”
“On paper, it looks easy,” says “Blonde” costume designer Jennifer Johnson, who worked on many of Monroe’s looks — including that one — for the movie, which is now streaming on Netflix.
She started by outfitting the film’s star, Ana de Armas, with a facsimile of the dress from a costume house.
“It looked cute,” but it wasn’t right, says Johnson.
The designer, who calls William Travilla’s original “a beast of a dress,” attempted to make her own version, going through at least 50 yards of fabric and various pleating techniques. But she still wasn’t satisfied with the resulting outfit.
“At the eleventh hour, a tailor from Western Costume figured it out,” says Johnson, who also designed period looks for “I,...
“On paper, it looks easy,” says “Blonde” costume designer Jennifer Johnson, who worked on many of Monroe’s looks — including that one — for the movie, which is now streaming on Netflix.
She started by outfitting the film’s star, Ana de Armas, with a facsimile of the dress from a costume house.
“It looked cute,” but it wasn’t right, says Johnson.
The designer, who calls William Travilla’s original “a beast of a dress,” attempted to make her own version, going through at least 50 yards of fabric and various pleating techniques. But she still wasn’t satisfied with the resulting outfit.
“At the eleventh hour, a tailor from Western Costume figured it out,” says Johnson, who also designed period looks for “I,...
- 9/29/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjIzMmE0YjctNGE5ZC00NWFmLWFhNzktMTJkNjIzY2YyOGRiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjIzMmE0YjctNGE5ZC00NWFmLWFhNzktMTJkNjIzY2YyOGRiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
Stars: Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Garret Dillahunt, Sara Paxton | Written and Directed by Andrew Dominik
Blonde reimagines the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Marilyn Monroe. From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, Blonde blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves.
Andrew Dominik‘s Blonde is perhaps the boldest and most daring mainstream movie of the year, even though it’s not really mainstream. It has a nice, big cast filled with tons of huge names and has lots of recognizable talent behind the camera, but it’s one of the most unconventional movies of the entire year.
Dominik’s films are practically known for causing discourse at this point. If you go into one of his films expecting some straightforward, by the book story,...
Blonde reimagines the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Marilyn Monroe. From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, Blonde blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves.
Andrew Dominik‘s Blonde is perhaps the boldest and most daring mainstream movie of the year, even though it’s not really mainstream. It has a nice, big cast filled with tons of huge names and has lots of recognizable talent behind the camera, but it’s one of the most unconventional movies of the entire year.
Dominik’s films are practically known for causing discourse at this point. If you go into one of his films expecting some straightforward, by the book story,...
- 9/29/2022
- by Caillou Pettis
- Nerdly
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNTMwZDk4YTItNTY4NS00ZWVmLWE4MjAtZjgyNWYwZWM5YTkxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,40,500,281_.jpg)
Although writer-director Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” is filled with moments that meticulously recreate iconic images of Marilyn Monroe — from magazine shoots and paparazzi photographs to classic scenes from “Some Like it Hot” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” — cinematographer Chayse Irvin never felt freer to experiment and explore.
“We created the film with the sentiment of chaos,” he told IndieWire. “As filmmakers, we come up with concepts and ideas of how to structure everything, but a lot of the art is actually in how it’s produced, how it’s executed. And if you have a method to that, it reflects the images more vividly than creating the images as symbols for a particular meaning. It becomes more interpretive and you just harness the energy rather than tell the spectator how to feel or think about something.”
Irvin took his initial cues from two massive documents: a 700-plus page collection of images...
“We created the film with the sentiment of chaos,” he told IndieWire. “As filmmakers, we come up with concepts and ideas of how to structure everything, but a lot of the art is actually in how it’s produced, how it’s executed. And if you have a method to that, it reflects the images more vividly than creating the images as symbols for a particular meaning. It becomes more interpretive and you just harness the energy rather than tell the spectator how to feel or think about something.”
Irvin took his initial cues from two massive documents: a 700-plus page collection of images...
- 9/28/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
![Elvis Presley](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTY2MWI3YTItMmU1Yi00Mjg4LWEwOTMtOGRlMjc2YzY4ZGMyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDM2NDM2MQ@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR12,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Elvis Presley](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTY2MWI3YTItMmU1Yi00Mjg4LWEwOTMtOGRlMjc2YzY4ZGMyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDM2NDM2MQ@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR12,0,140,207_.jpg)
Getting behind the artifice of more than half a century of pop culture fairy dust is difficult. The tactile quality of iconography is elusive; it’s starlight dancing between your fingertips. And yet, that same quality’s legacy for the truly timeless, seminal figures of history is irresistible. It’s a collective memory we all share of Elvis Presley shaking his hips on national television for the first time, or Marilyn Monroe standing above a New York City subway grate, waiting for the next gust of air to blow as a train passes.
This year we’ve seen both figures re-contextualized by star-studded Hollywood biopics that, like so much of the dream factory’s output, seem eager to admire show business legends. But that fawning can also be a facade. Whereas the male emblem of 1950s sex got a glorifying piece of hagiography courtesy of Baz Luhrmann over the summer,...
This year we’ve seen both figures re-contextualized by star-studded Hollywood biopics that, like so much of the dream factory’s output, seem eager to admire show business legends. But that fawning can also be a facade. Whereas the male emblem of 1950s sex got a glorifying piece of hagiography courtesy of Baz Luhrmann over the summer,...
- 9/28/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
![God's Creatures (2022)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzJiYjg5NWQtMjQxYy00MzYzLWE4Y2ItNDhmMjFjNjQ0MDQ5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTAyMjQ3NzQ1._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![God's Creatures (2022)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzJiYjg5NWQtMjQxYy00MzYzLWE4Y2ItNDhmMjFjNjQ0MDQ5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTAyMjQ3NzQ1._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
“We’re all God’s creatures in the dark.” It’s a mysterious, yet resonant, sentiment, a pebble of wisdom about humanity that one might roll over again and again, worrying its surface. This line — which gives Anna Rose Holmer and Saela Davis the title of their intimate family drama “God’s Creatures,” set in a blustery Irish fishing village — is one of the life lessons Sarah has accrued in her young, tough life. She shares it, ruefully, with Aileen (Emily Watson), her friend and manager at a fish processing plant, over a cigarette.
Sarah is referring to her abusive ex Francie when she speaks to Aileen, but the opaque statement, which straddles the line between the dark and the divine, an insight at once profound, ambiguous, and cutting, becomes a prophecy as “God’s Creatures” evolves into a subtly striking suspense thriller.
In 2015, Holmer and Davis collaborated on the critically acclaimed and award-winning “The Fits,...
Sarah is referring to her abusive ex Francie when she speaks to Aileen, but the opaque statement, which straddles the line between the dark and the divine, an insight at once profound, ambiguous, and cutting, becomes a prophecy as “God’s Creatures” evolves into a subtly striking suspense thriller.
In 2015, Holmer and Davis collaborated on the critically acclaimed and award-winning “The Fits,...
- 9/27/2022
- by Katie Walsh
- The Wrap
![Andrew Dominik in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTAxNzA1OTYwNTheQTJeQWpwZ15BbWU3MDk3NTU0MzM@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,45,500,281_.jpg)
How much dramatic license is excessive? Do artists have a responsibility to create positive representations around public figures, especially if they’re beloved and inspire reams of adulation and pity from admirers? Andrew Dominik, with his long, long-awaited adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel Blonde—a free biography of the life of Marilyn Monroe—maybe simply doesn’t care about these questions. Yet he undoubtedly cares about the real life––and especially the fragile inner world––of his subject, famously born Norma Jeane Desmond. But in his unforgiving portrait of her travails and lacks in this world he bravely gambles on (and will potentially lose) the majority of his audience’s good faith by focusing so heavily on the pain and affliction she endured.
For those very familiar with Marilyn Monroe, Blonde, running a fluidly edited two hours and 45 minutes, is not going to be revelatory; it certainly doesn’t...
For those very familiar with Marilyn Monroe, Blonde, running a fluidly edited two hours and 45 minutes, is not going to be revelatory; it certainly doesn’t...
- 9/9/2022
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOWYxOTY2MjktMmRjOS00MmI2LTllZmItMTAyNTdmY2M2Yzg0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR9,0,500,281_.jpg)
Images of Marilyn Monroe are the most replicated of any actress to emerge since the dawn of cinema. Her peroxide curls, cupid’s bow pout, and va-va-voom figure are recognizable to the point that her marketing potential has long since overwhelmed the matter of who she was as a person. To take a swing at saying — or showing — something resonant about the woman born Norma Jeane Mortenson, a storyteller would have to go to lengths far greater than Andrew Dominik is able to span in his
Much like Asaf Kapadia did with his documentary, “Amy,” Dominik critiques the world for reducing his subject down to her topline assets — and then treats her in exactly the same way. His Marilyn is a sexy, breathy blonde with daddy issues. And that’s all, folks.
Well, not quite all, as “Blonde” sets out to show a lifetime of victimization and exploitation. The film...
Much like Asaf Kapadia did with his documentary, “Amy,” Dominik critiques the world for reducing his subject down to her topline assets — and then treats her in exactly the same way. His Marilyn is a sexy, breathy blonde with daddy issues. And that’s all, folks.
Well, not quite all, as “Blonde” sets out to show a lifetime of victimization and exploitation. The film...
- 9/8/2022
- by Sophie Monks Kaufman
- Indiewire
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmUzY2YxODYtYjU0Zi00YmQ4LTk3NDMtOTE4ZjU0MWJhMzIwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR80,0,500,281_.jpg)
“Ms. Monroe, it’s time,” are the first ominous words heard in the just-released trailer for Andrew Dominik’s long-awaited Netflix production, Blonde, based on Joyce Carol Oates’s book about actor and movie star Marilyn Monroe. Ana de Armas plays Monroe in the dark drama. In addition to first glimpses of de Armas’s performance, among what’s striking about the trailer is Chayse Irvin’s cinematography, which, across scenes, instantly recalls the different period photographic styles — in cinema, paparazzi shots, and media and magazine coverage — associated with Monroe’s depiction. Interestingly, Blonde is Irvin’s second credit this year. The BlacKkKlansman Dp also shot […]
The post Trailer Watch: Andrew Dominik’s Ana de Armas-Starring Blonde first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Andrew Dominik’s Ana de Armas-Starring Blonde first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 7/28/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmUzY2YxODYtYjU0Zi00YmQ4LTk3NDMtOTE4ZjU0MWJhMzIwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR80,0,500,281_.jpg)
“Ms. Monroe, it’s time,” are the first ominous words heard in the just-released trailer for Andrew Dominik’s long-awaited Netflix production, Blonde, based on Joyce Carol Oates’s book about actor and movie star Marilyn Monroe. Ana de Armas plays Monroe in the dark drama. In addition to first glimpses of de Armas’s performance, among what’s striking about the trailer is Chayse Irvin’s cinematography, which, across scenes, instantly recalls the different period photographic styles — in cinema, paparazzi shots, and media and magazine coverage — associated with Monroe’s depiction. Interestingly, Blonde is Irvin’s second credit this year. The BlacKkKlansman Dp also shot […]
The post Trailer Watch: Andrew Dominik’s Ana de Armas-Starring Blonde first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Andrew Dominik’s Ana de Armas-Starring Blonde first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 7/28/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
![Emily Watson](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjAwNzc5MjE0N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzUyNTMzNw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR3,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Emily Watson](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjAwNzc5MjE0N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzUyNTMzNw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR3,0,140,207_.jpg)
Some actors slip into familiar roles like old sweaters. Emily Watson might prefer a raincoat. The actress first graced our screens in Breaking the Waves for Lars von Trier: her eyes peeking out from under a wooly hat, whipped by wind and rain, and carrying the sins of an entire town. The great actress faces those same elements again in God’s Creatures, trading von Trier’s nightmarish vision of the Scottish highlands for a doom metal take on Ireland’s Atlantic coast.
Written by Shane Crowley in collaboration with the producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, God’s Creatures tells a story about sexual assault and collective denial that is as universal as it is inseparable from its locale. The film is directed by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer, American filmmakers whose brilliant 2016 debut The Fits showcased a true flair for building suspense, not to mention an appreciation for shared psychosis...
Written by Shane Crowley in collaboration with the producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, God’s Creatures tells a story about sexual assault and collective denial that is as universal as it is inseparable from its locale. The film is directed by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer, American filmmakers whose brilliant 2016 debut The Fits showcased a true flair for building suspense, not to mention an appreciation for shared psychosis...
- 5/21/2022
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
![Andrew Dominik in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTAxNzA1OTYwNTheQTJeQWpwZ15BbWU3MDk3NTU0MzM@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,45,500,281_.jpg)
At long last, 2022 looks to be the time of Blonde. Placing high on our most-anticipated films of the year, Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe drama starring Ana de Armas was shot back in 2019 but delayed as rumors swirled that Netflix wasn’t quite sure what they had on their hands. Dominik has finally cleared the air.
Speaking to Screen Daily, Dominik responded to reports that it may be rated Nc-17, which the MPA hasn’t confirmed yet but he believes is a “horseshit” decision. “It’s a demanding movie. If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the fucking audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office,” he added. “It’s an Nc-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the Nc-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”
Dominik hopes it will premiere out-of-competition at Cannes,...
Speaking to Screen Daily, Dominik responded to reports that it may be rated Nc-17, which the MPA hasn’t confirmed yet but he believes is a “horseshit” decision. “It’s a demanding movie. If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the fucking audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office,” he added. “It’s an Nc-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the Nc-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”
Dominik hopes it will premiere out-of-competition at Cannes,...
- 2/11/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTU1YzI4YzYtZDRkNC00N2M2LWI5NzItNjYyNGQyNGJmNTdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
The New York Times’ Op-Docs initiative has picked up “Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma,” winner of the short film jury award for non-fiction at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, and will release it Sept. 14 on NYTimes.com.
Directed by Topaz Jones and filmmaking duo Rubberband (Jason Filmore Sondock and Simon Davis), the 38-minute film explores Jones’ education on his own Black identity by presenting “the Black ABCs,” inspired by a set of alphabet flashcards developed by Black educators in Chicago in 1970 as an alternative to the Eurocentric teaching tools typically available to them. Jones created his own versions of the Black ABCs updated for Black American life in the present, resulting in 26 scenes that also serve as a companion piece to Jones’ musical album of the same name.
The film, which was also awarded special jury recognition for visionary storytelling at SXSW 2021, will premiere as a part of Op-Docs, media...
Directed by Topaz Jones and filmmaking duo Rubberband (Jason Filmore Sondock and Simon Davis), the 38-minute film explores Jones’ education on his own Black identity by presenting “the Black ABCs,” inspired by a set of alphabet flashcards developed by Black educators in Chicago in 1970 as an alternative to the Eurocentric teaching tools typically available to them. Jones created his own versions of the Black ABCs updated for Black American life in the present, resulting in 26 scenes that also serve as a companion piece to Jones’ musical album of the same name.
The film, which was also awarded special jury recognition for visionary storytelling at SXSW 2021, will premiere as a part of Op-Docs, media...
- 9/13/2021
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMWEzYzM0N2YtZDAyMy00YThhLWE5MWYtNDlkODNkMjM1YTc5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR87,0,500,281_.jpg)
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Alice (Josephine Mackerras)
It makes no sense. The night before saw Alice Ferrand’s (Emilie Piponnier) husband François (Martin Swabey) going out of his way to passionately make-out with her in front of their friends at a dinner party and now he won’t answer her calls. Despite his running out of the house earlier than usual without any explanation, however, there’s nothing to make her think something is wrong until a trip to the drugstore exposes a freeze on their finances. One credit card won’t work. Then another. The Atm won’t accept her sign-in and François still isn’t picking up his phone. Alice has no other option but to set a meeting with the bank and figure...
Alice (Josephine Mackerras)
It makes no sense. The night before saw Alice Ferrand’s (Emilie Piponnier) husband François (Martin Swabey) going out of his way to passionately make-out with her in front of their friends at a dinner party and now he won’t answer her calls. Despite his running out of the house earlier than usual without any explanation, however, there’s nothing to make her think something is wrong until a trip to the drugstore exposes a freeze on their finances. One credit card won’t work. Then another. The Atm won’t accept her sign-in and François still isn’t picking up his phone. Alice has no other option but to set a meeting with the bank and figure...
- 6/18/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Fits Team Anna Rose Holmer & Saela Davis to Direct Emily Watson & Paul Mescal in God’s Creatures
In the six years since the striking drama The Fits arrived, we’ve been waiting to see what the team of Anna Rose Holmer and Saela Davis would jump to next. There was a Natalie Portman-led project that didn’t move forward, but now a previously announced psychological drama co-directed by the duo is finally moving ahead.
Deadline reports A24 has backed the film, which is titled God’s Creatures and will star Emily Watson, Paul Mescal, Aisling Franciosi, Declan Conlon, Marion O’Dwyer, and Toni O’Rourke. With production already underway, the Shane Crowley-scripted film is set in a “rain-swept Irish fishing village, and focuses on a mother who lies to protect her son and the devastating impact that choice has on her community, her family and herself.”
The story comes from Crowley and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, who is also producing. Chayse Irvin is shooting the film with editing by...
Deadline reports A24 has backed the film, which is titled God’s Creatures and will star Emily Watson, Paul Mescal, Aisling Franciosi, Declan Conlon, Marion O’Dwyer, and Toni O’Rourke. With production already underway, the Shane Crowley-scripted film is set in a “rain-swept Irish fishing village, and focuses on a mother who lies to protect her son and the devastating impact that choice has on her community, her family and herself.”
The story comes from Crowley and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, who is also producing. Chayse Irvin is shooting the film with editing by...
- 5/12/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmU5NjRjNDEtYzY4OS00MDYyLWE2YzQtMzE3YWI1NWY0NjEyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Exclusive: Emily Watson and Paul Mescal are set to star in the A24 psychological drama God’s Creatures, with Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer directing. This will mark the directing debut as a duo, after working together on the award-winning feature The Fits.
God’s Creatures, currently in production, also stars Aisling Franciosi, Declan Conlon, Marion O’Dwyer and Toni O’Rourke.
The film is a psychological drama set in a rain-swept Irish fishing village, and focuses on a mother who lies to protect her son and the devastating impact that choice has on her community, her family and herself. The screenplay is by Shane Crowley; story is by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly & Crowley.
The Sixty-Six Pictures production is being produced by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, following her critically acclaimed films Ammonite and Lady Macbeth. Sixty-Six developed God’s Creatures with the support of Screen Ireland, BBC Film and A24.
Inbal Weinberg will be production designer,...
God’s Creatures, currently in production, also stars Aisling Franciosi, Declan Conlon, Marion O’Dwyer and Toni O’Rourke.
The film is a psychological drama set in a rain-swept Irish fishing village, and focuses on a mother who lies to protect her son and the devastating impact that choice has on her community, her family and herself. The screenplay is by Shane Crowley; story is by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly & Crowley.
The Sixty-Six Pictures production is being produced by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, following her critically acclaimed films Ammonite and Lady Macbeth. Sixty-Six developed God’s Creatures with the support of Screen Ireland, BBC Film and A24.
Inbal Weinberg will be production designer,...
- 5/11/2021
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzZlOTdiYjktYzU0MC00NTI5LTg0ZTctNGY1MTBiZjAzMGJmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzZlOTdiYjktYzU0MC00NTI5LTg0ZTctNGY1MTBiZjAzMGJmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
During one particularly striking moment in New Jersey musician Topaz Jones’s stunning short film Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma, Jones’s grandmother, Emma Janice Jones, reveals the riches that evaded their family. Jones’s great great grandfather, Marshall Jones, was a cotton farmer who saw an entire season’s yield destroyed by the rain. The interview comes towards the end of the film, part of a constellation of vignettes and interviews that serve to place the 27-year-old musician in a context both familial and historic. The Roots’ Black Thought muses on intellectual property,...
- 4/23/2021
- by Mankaprr Conteh
- Rollingstone.com
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzFlOWNkZmYtZTg1OC00MWZmLWEzMDgtNDhkOWMwNmU4MWRmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
Egyptian filmmaker Sam Abbas made a splash when he released his queer-themed movie “The Wedding” in secret locations across the Middle East via his Egypt-based ArabQ shingle. The director is now starting a new company in Paris.
Abbas, who is Egypt-born and until recently lived in New York, drew some media attention in 2018 with “The Wedding,” which he wrote, directed and starred in as a young closeted Muslim man from Brooklyn who, while planning to marry his American girlfriend — played by Canada’s Nikohl Boosheri — is having affairs with other men.
“The Wedding” played in secret speakeasy-type venues by invitation only in Turkey, Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt via ArabQ, Abbas claimed, which helped prompt some publicity when the film briefly screened in New York to unenthusiastic reviews. Variety’s Jay Weissberg called “The Wedding” “a dull slice of Lower Manhattan mumblecore.”
Still, the ArabQ initiative was bold since LGBTQ people...
Abbas, who is Egypt-born and until recently lived in New York, drew some media attention in 2018 with “The Wedding,” which he wrote, directed and starred in as a young closeted Muslim man from Brooklyn who, while planning to marry his American girlfriend — played by Canada’s Nikohl Boosheri — is having affairs with other men.
“The Wedding” played in secret speakeasy-type venues by invitation only in Turkey, Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt via ArabQ, Abbas claimed, which helped prompt some publicity when the film briefly screened in New York to unenthusiastic reviews. Variety’s Jay Weissberg called “The Wedding” “a dull slice of Lower Manhattan mumblecore.”
Still, the ArabQ initiative was bold since LGBTQ people...
- 10/28/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
![Andrew Dominik in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTAxNzA1OTYwNTheQTJeQWpwZ15BbWU3MDk3NTU0MzM@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,45,500,281_.jpg)
In a pandemic-free alternate reality there’s a chance we may have gotten Andrew Dominik’s long-gestating Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde this year, but Netflix has decided to unveil the film––which stars Ana de Armas in the lead role––in 2021. While we likely won’t be hearing much about it for the rest of the year, an update has now come in from someone close to the production.
Joyce Carol Oates, whose 1999 novel is the basis for Dominik’s script, has revealed on Twitter that she’s screened a cut of the film and shared some high praise. “I have seen the rough cut of Andrew Dominik’s adaptation & it is startling, brilliant, very disturbing & [perhaps most surprisingly] an utterly “feminist” interpretation,” the author said. “[I’m] not sure that any male director has ever achieved anything [like] this.”
While any comments with someone with a vested interest in the project should be taken with a grain of salt,...
Joyce Carol Oates, whose 1999 novel is the basis for Dominik’s script, has revealed on Twitter that she’s screened a cut of the film and shared some high praise. “I have seen the rough cut of Andrew Dominik’s adaptation & it is startling, brilliant, very disturbing & [perhaps most surprisingly] an utterly “feminist” interpretation,” the author said. “[I’m] not sure that any male director has ever achieved anything [like] this.”
While any comments with someone with a vested interest in the project should be taken with a grain of salt,...
- 8/11/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODE1ZWI3YTgtMzExMC00MGUyLWFhODEtMGUyNjM1ZWQ3N2IyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UY281_CR10,0,500,281_.jpg)
Egyptian filmmaker Sam Abbas has teamed with leading cinematographers from around the world to create the documentary “Erēmīta (Anthologies).”
The anthology was shot during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown and will feature contributions from the following DPs: Alexis Zabé, Chayse Irvin Ashley Connor Soledad Rodríguez Stefano Falivene Antoine Héberlé Benoît Dervaux (“The Unknown Girl”) and Sam Abbas.
Leading the project, Abbas said, “I, like many others, get very excited about using certain cameras, lenses, conversations with the cinematographer, colorists, sound designers but really, everyone I work with! But when it comes down to it, if needed, cinema can be made under any circumstances. This is a circumstance where we can only make a film virtually if we want to collaborate. We all share two main things: passion and a plethora of time.”
Each cinematographer oversaw their project, having final cut for their individual piece. Abbas curated the entire project adding, “There is no theme,...
The anthology was shot during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown and will feature contributions from the following DPs: Alexis Zabé, Chayse Irvin Ashley Connor Soledad Rodríguez Stefano Falivene Antoine Héberlé Benoît Dervaux (“The Unknown Girl”) and Sam Abbas.
Leading the project, Abbas said, “I, like many others, get very excited about using certain cameras, lenses, conversations with the cinematographer, colorists, sound designers but really, everyone I work with! But when it comes down to it, if needed, cinema can be made under any circumstances. This is a circumstance where we can only make a film virtually if we want to collaborate. We all share two main things: passion and a plethora of time.”
Each cinematographer oversaw their project, having final cut for their individual piece. Abbas curated the entire project adding, “There is no theme,...
- 7/30/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Andrew Dominik has spent the better half of the decade trying to get his Marilyn Monroe biopic off the ground and, thanks to Netflix, it’s now becoming a reality. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford director found his star in Ana de Armas this past spring and now production is getting underway in Los Angeles.
THR has details on the full cast which includes two of Monroe’s husbands–Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller and Bobby Cannavale as Joe Dimaggio–as well as Julianne Nicholson, Caspar Phillipson, Toby Huss, Sara Paxton, David Warshofsky, Lily Fisher, Evan Williams, and Xavier Samuel. Cinematographer Chayse Irvin (BlacKkKlansman) has also come on board to shoot the film.
Based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel, Dominik told us, “Blonde‘s interesting because it has very little dialogue in it. My previous three movies have relied on a lot of talking...
THR has details on the full cast which includes two of Monroe’s husbands–Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller and Bobby Cannavale as Joe Dimaggio–as well as Julianne Nicholson, Caspar Phillipson, Toby Huss, Sara Paxton, David Warshofsky, Lily Fisher, Evan Williams, and Xavier Samuel. Cinematographer Chayse Irvin (BlacKkKlansman) has also come on board to shoot the film.
Based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel, Dominik told us, “Blonde‘s interesting because it has very little dialogue in it. My previous three movies have relied on a lot of talking...
- 9/2/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
After snagging nominations at the Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Awards, SAG Awards, BAFTAs and more, Spike Lee‘s “BlacKkKlansman” has emerged as one of the leading contenders in the Oscar race for Best Picture. It tells the true story of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), a black police detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s with the help of a Jewish officer (Adam Driver). Gold Derby recently spoke with Driver, screenwriters Charlie Wachtel and David Rabinowitz, cinematographer Chayse Irvin, production designer Curt Beech, film editor Barry Alexander Brown, composer Terence Blanchard and hair stylist Lawanda M. Pierre about their work.
See Will ‘BlacKkKlansman’ win Spike Lee his long overdue Oscar?
“There’s obviously an importance to the story overall that you want to get right,” says Driver. Though it’s set in the late 1970s, Lee makes direct references to both our past and present, from D.W. Griffith...
See Will ‘BlacKkKlansman’ win Spike Lee his long overdue Oscar?
“There’s obviously an importance to the story overall that you want to get right,” says Driver. Though it’s set in the late 1970s, Lee makes direct references to both our past and present, from D.W. Griffith...
- 1/18/2019
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
![Chayse Irvin](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGFmNGM2YWItM2ZkMi00YjZjLWE4NDYtMzRhYTQ2NGZiNDJlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjQwMDg0Ng@@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,52,500,281_.jpg)
“The story’s totally absurd,” admits “BlacKkKlansman” cinematographer Chayse Irvin. When Spike Lee pitched him this tale about an African-American police officer (John David Washington) who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the late 1970s, the Dp “couldn’t believe it when he said it was true.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Irvin above.
See Adam Driver: ‘BlacKkKlansman’ shows how racism ‘has been part of the conversation in this country for so long’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
The script, adapted from Ron Stallworth‘s 2014 memoir, “rode a line in-between the absurd and the very dark and racist.” But despite the varying tones in the screenplay, Irvin didn’t spend too much time in advance worrying about how to make it all work. It wasn’t until he was on set responding to Lee’s direction that he began thinking about what shots to grab. “It kind of works in my approach to cinematography,...
See Adam Driver: ‘BlacKkKlansman’ shows how racism ‘has been part of the conversation in this country for so long’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
The script, adapted from Ron Stallworth‘s 2014 memoir, “rode a line in-between the absurd and the very dark and racist.” But despite the varying tones in the screenplay, Irvin didn’t spend too much time in advance worrying about how to make it all work. It wasn’t until he was on set responding to Lee’s direction that he began thinking about what shots to grab. “It kind of works in my approach to cinematography,...
- 12/6/2018
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
Spike Lee, who co-wrote and directed Focus Features’ “BlacKkKlansman,” says it was not an easy movie to make, but that everybody worked together. “We were all making the same film,” he explains, “which doesn’t always happen.”
The fact-based story centers on Ron Stallworth, a black cop who went undercover in Colorado Springs in the 1970s to expose local Ku Klux Klan activities. Lee pays tribute to some of his below-the-line colleagues as well as to such respected performers as Harry Belafonte, who co-stars in the film.
Barry Alexander Brown, Editor
“He’s cut almost everything for me; we go way, way back. For the sequence involving Mr. Belafonte, who brings such weight and gravitas — he was in the trenches with Dr. King — Kevin [Willmott, a co-writer] and I wanted him to talk about a real-life incident of lynching, which is the legacy of the Ku Klux Klan. There was an incident in Waco,...
The fact-based story centers on Ron Stallworth, a black cop who went undercover in Colorado Springs in the 1970s to expose local Ku Klux Klan activities. Lee pays tribute to some of his below-the-line colleagues as well as to such respected performers as Harry Belafonte, who co-stars in the film.
Barry Alexander Brown, Editor
“He’s cut almost everything for me; we go way, way back. For the sequence involving Mr. Belafonte, who brings such weight and gravitas — he was in the trenches with Dr. King — Kevin [Willmott, a co-writer] and I wanted him to talk about a real-life incident of lynching, which is the legacy of the Ku Klux Klan. There was an incident in Waco,...
- 10/31/2018
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
Spike Lee has spent the past 30 years making films — such as “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X” — that tell hard truths about racism in America. His latest movie, “BlacKkKlansman,” touched a nerve when it opened in theaters in August, earning nearly $50 million at the domestic box office and generating Oscar buzz. The Focus Features release chronicles the 1970s true-life tale of a black police officer, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan. By using real footage of the Charlottesville riots of 2017, Lee makes the point that the white supremacists portrayed in the film have only grown more emboldened under Donald Trump.
Lee has spoken up for his political beliefs throughout his career and has, as a result, landed close to the center of the nation’s civic life. But he’s a local landmark, and a widely seen neighbor, in New York City. He lives on the Upper East Side,...
Lee has spoken up for his political beliefs throughout his career and has, as a result, landed close to the center of the nation’s civic life. But he’s a local landmark, and a widely seen neighbor, in New York City. He lives on the Upper East Side,...
- 10/2/2018
- by Ramin Setoodeh
- Variety Film + TV
Early in Spike Lee’s collaboration with Chayse Irvin, the venerable director asked his cinematographer if there was anything special he needed for BlacKkKlansman. Irvin answered, “a third camera”—an extravagance on a low budget movie, but one Irvin believed would allow him “to take massive risks on every scene, whether it be a unique angle or the freedom to use a lens that was flawed.” Irvin embraced that self-imposed mandate for boldness by employing imperfect vintage lenses, “flashing” the image with a contrast-reducing filter and dusting off long-expired film stock. Never one to wilt in the face of risky choices, Lee […]...
- 9/21/2018
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Early in Spike Lee’s collaboration with Chayse Irvin, the venerable director asked his cinematographer if there was anything special he needed for BlacKkKlansman. Irvin answered, “a third camera”—an extravagance on a low budget movie, but one Irvin believed would allow him “to take massive risks on every scene, whether it be a unique angle or the freedom to use a lens that was flawed.” Irvin embraced that self-imposed mandate for boldness by employing imperfect vintage lenses, “flashing” the image with a contrast-reducing filter and dusting off long-expired film stock. Never one to wilt in the face of risky choices, Lee […]...
- 9/21/2018
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
Early in the design process of Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” Curt Beech came up with three visual ideas built around the true life story of black detective Ron Stallworth’s (John David Washington) infiltration of the Kkk in Colorado Springs in the early ’70s. These spaces provide a political perspective on the proceedings, ranging from progressive to neutral to reactionary.
“Ron is enlightened and his [apartment] space contains a hip, contemporary vibe,” said Beech (who designed the “She’s Gotta Have It” series). “Felix [the radical Klansman played by Jasper Pääkkönen], by contrast, is the ignorant man. He lives in the past. And with his ’50s house, we went for a hand-me-down vibe. So it felt a little more dated. And the [neutral] police precinct, which is in desperate need of renovation, got a late ’50s vibe.”
Read More: ‘BlacKkKlansman’: Spike Lee Sought Out the Radical Cinematographer Who Shot Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’
With only five weeks...
“Ron is enlightened and his [apartment] space contains a hip, contemporary vibe,” said Beech (who designed the “She’s Gotta Have It” series). “Felix [the radical Klansman played by Jasper Pääkkönen], by contrast, is the ignorant man. He lives in the past. And with his ’50s house, we went for a hand-me-down vibe. So it felt a little more dated. And the [neutral] police precinct, which is in desperate need of renovation, got a late ’50s vibe.”
Read More: ‘BlacKkKlansman’: Spike Lee Sought Out the Radical Cinematographer Who Shot Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’
With only five weeks...
- 8/15/2018
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
![John David Washington in BlacKkKlansman (2018)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjUyOTE1NjI0OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTM4ODQ5NTM@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![John David Washington in BlacKkKlansman (2018)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjUyOTE1NjI0OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTM4ODQ5NTM@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
Even if you’ve only seen the “BlacKkKlansman” trailer, you know there is an aspect of the film that screams 1970s. From the music to the clothes and hair, to grounding the audience in what it feels like to get swept up the Black Empowerment movement of the time, Spike Lee’s latest film brings the period to life.
In that sense, it should come as no surprise that the movie was shot on 35mm film stock. The conventional wisdom is that shooting on celluloid serves as an instant reference to the feel of films from that era, but that wasn’t the idea here. Cinematographer Chayse Irvin, who worked with Lee for the first time here, tested a number of different formats for the project. He rejected the association between 35mm and any moment in time.
“You don’t necessarily want [the audience] to instantly associate an image with something because...
In that sense, it should come as no surprise that the movie was shot on 35mm film stock. The conventional wisdom is that shooting on celluloid serves as an instant reference to the feel of films from that era, but that wasn’t the idea here. Cinematographer Chayse Irvin, who worked with Lee for the first time here, tested a number of different formats for the project. He rejected the association between 35mm and any moment in time.
“You don’t necessarily want [the audience] to instantly associate an image with something because...
- 8/14/2018
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Spike Lee is not a subtle filmmaker. Sometimes, the stick of dynamite works better than the scalpel. Other times? Not so much. That’s sort of been the hallmark of his career, and in particular, the last handful of years. Well, this week, Lee is back with a vengeance, as he’s got one of his best movies to date coming out. The film in question is BlacKkKlansman, a piece of vital cinema that stands tall among anything else the auteur has done. Not only is it one of Lee’s best, it’s one of the year’s best as well, in addition to being a major Oscar player. This is something special folks. Based on an incredible true story, the movie centers on Colorado Springs Police Officer Ron Stallworth (John David Washington). Teamed with partner Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), they would go undercover and take down the local...
- 8/7/2018
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Spike Lee](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTgyMTEyNDgxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkzMTA3Nw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR8,0,140,207_.jpg)
Heads up: Spike Lee is coming at you with his greatest and most galvanizing movie in years. BlacKkKlansman is right up there with Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X in the Spike’s Joint pantheon of game-changers. For starters, it gets your blood up about the toxic and enduring power of racism. Based on the true story of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), the first African-American cop on the Colorado Springs police force, the film shows how Ron managed to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan and righteously screw with it from the inside.
- 8/6/2018
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
29 years after he blasted onto the Croisette red carpet with Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee returns to Cannes with BlacKkKlansman, an entertaining romp based on the incredible true-life story of Ron Stallworth, the black undercover detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s.
Set in Colorado Springs in the early 70s, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is set to become the local force’s first black policeman. With his nappy hair and groovy gear, he is very much the outsider, coming across the unit’s unthinking racism as black suspects are referred to as ‘toads’. After a period spent sorting files, he nominates himself for undercover work (and is obviously given the option of narcotics by his boss Chief Bridges – Robert John Burke – in another act of racial profiling), but instead he has to attend a talk organized by the black student union. They’ve invited Kwame Ture to talk,...
Set in Colorado Springs in the early 70s, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is set to become the local force’s first black policeman. With his nappy hair and groovy gear, he is very much the outsider, coming across the unit’s unthinking racism as black suspects are referred to as ‘toads’. After a period spent sorting files, he nominates himself for undercover work (and is obviously given the option of narcotics by his boss Chief Bridges – Robert John Burke – in another act of racial profiling), but instead he has to attend a talk organized by the black student union. They’ve invited Kwame Ture to talk,...
- 5/18/2018
- by Jo-Ann Titmarsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Over at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday, Spike Lee’s hotly anticipated new movie BlacKkKlansman had its World Premiere. At the same time, a Trailer dropped for the flick, showing just what was blowing people away in France. Initially thought to be a drama or a thriller, this based on a true story tale actually seems more like a black comedy, with buddy cop trappings as well. This genre and tonal shift certainly gives the film a whole new look. Plus, the Trailer does look fantastic. Combine that with the raves so far at Cannes and this is something to really be excited for. You’ll be able to see the Trailer at the end of this article, but first…let us get into just what Lee has in store for us this summer. The movie is a crime comedy of sorts, based on a true story. IMDb describes it as “Ron Stallworth,...
- 5/15/2018
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
IndieWire reached out to the filmmakers with films premiering at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival to ask which cameras and lenses they used and, more importantly, why they were the right ones for their movies.
A few trends emerged. Once again, Arri’s digital cameras reign supreme as the choice of international auteurs and their cinematographers. Meanwhile, 13 cinematograhers shot on celluloid, including eight of the 21 competition films gunning for the Palme d’Or: “Ash is the Purest White,” “Shoplifters,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Lazzaro Felice,” “Sorry Angel,” “Leto,” “Knife + Heart” and “Ayka.”
A handful of films relied on smaller, less expensive cameras that fit their budgets and circumstances, including two documentaries that used outdated Dvcam and Hdv formats when they began as one-person shoots many years ago. Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who is still banned from making films in his home country, used Canon 5d mark and Sony a7s, while Terry Gilliam...
A few trends emerged. Once again, Arri’s digital cameras reign supreme as the choice of international auteurs and their cinematographers. Meanwhile, 13 cinematograhers shot on celluloid, including eight of the 21 competition films gunning for the Palme d’Or: “Ash is the Purest White,” “Shoplifters,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Lazzaro Felice,” “Sorry Angel,” “Leto,” “Knife + Heart” and “Ayka.”
A handful of films relied on smaller, less expensive cameras that fit their budgets and circumstances, including two documentaries that used outdated Dvcam and Hdv formats when they began as one-person shoots many years ago. Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who is still banned from making films in his home country, used Canon 5d mark and Sony a7s, while Terry Gilliam...
- 5/11/2018
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
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