Opening in theaters today from Amazon Studios and Magnolia Pictures is Creative Control, Benjamin Dickinson’s wickedly intelligent social satire set in a near-future advertising world enamored with the latest thing: augmented reality. The New York-based writer/director’s second feature, following 2012’s lo-fi apocalyptic drama, First Winter, Creative Control is an impressive leap forward. Realized on a modest budget, the film won a special jury award at last year’s SXSW for “visual excellence,” and, indeed, Dickinson and his collaborators incisively riff on the very plausible possibilities of augmented reality rigs like Google Glass and Magic Leap to imagine a world where avatars, […]...
- 3/11/2016
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Writer-director Benjamin Dickinson is back, following his deft and minimalist 2012 debut "First Winter," with another near-future tale about a group of Brooklynites that he again stars in. That's where the similarities end. As Indiewire's Eric Kohn stated in his Grade A review for the filmmaker's sophomore feature, "Compared to the meandering pace and minimalist setting of Dickinson's debut, 'Creative Control' amounts to a major step forward." In "Creative Control," Dickinson stars as a serious-minded inventor who creates an ambitious pair of "Augmented Reality" glasses, which he ultimately uses to create an avatar of his best friend's girlfriend. Naturally, his technologically-enhanced fantasy turns against him. Indiewire caught up with Dickinson to discuss the genesis of the project and his take on what's wrong with the majority of narratives being told in film today. Read More: The 2015 Indiewire SXSW Bible: Every Review, Interview and...
- 3/15/2015
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
A couple of years ago, writer-director-actor Benjamin Dickinson made a splash with his feature film debut First Winter, a Pa drama about what happens to a group of people who end up stranded in a remote farmhouse after some apocalyptic event. Robert called the movie "a superb calling card." Though I've yet to see it one thing is certain: if the trailer for his follow-up is any indication, Dickinson is about to arrive in a big way.
He's been making shorts since that debut a few years ago but now Dickinson returns with his follow-up feature Creative Control. The project was finished with Kickstarter funding and is one of the handful of crowdfunded movies making t [Continued ...]...
He's been making shorts since that debut a few years ago but now Dickinson returns with his follow-up feature Creative Control. The project was finished with Kickstarter funding and is one of the handful of crowdfunded movies making t [Continued ...]...
- 3/13/2015
- QuietEarth.us
Brooklynites might be out of the woods in Benjamin Dickinson’s sophomore film, but in this genre-bender project, it appears that no hipster is left unscathed in the techno-crazy future. A commercials & music vid director (LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture) by trade, Dickinson was championed by NYC-based critics on his debut feature, First Time played extremely well at Tribeca in ’12 landing a distribution deal with Film Movement folks. Here, he is among a quartet comprised of Dan Gill, Nora Zehetner and Alexia Rasmussen (Little Accidents). Production began last fall on Creative Control, which received a successful round of crowdsourcing in May and won the top prize at the U.S. in Progress (The Champs Elysees Film Festival) edition. If the additional work needed to spruce up the sci-fi elements of the film isn’t in extra innings mode, then we can see this breaking into the fest. Also worth noting, his...
- 11/11/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
We’re back with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes a trailer for Exists, Don’t Blink, and The Wolves of Savin Hill, an announcement of the Fifth Annual PollyGrind Film Festival, Dead Rage first details, and more:
New Clip from Exists: “For five friends, it was a chance for a summer getaway – a weekend of camping in the Texas Big Thicket. But visions of a carefree vacation are shattered with an accident on a dark and desolate country road. In the wake of the accident, a blood curdling force of nature is unleashed – something not exactly human, but not completely animal – an urban legend come to terrifying life and seeking murderous revenge.
Opening in select theaters and On Demand on Friday, October 24th, 2014. Directed by Eduardo Sanchez and written by Jamie Nash, Exists stars Dora Madison Burge,...
New Clip from Exists: “For five friends, it was a chance for a summer getaway – a weekend of camping in the Texas Big Thicket. But visions of a carefree vacation are shattered with an accident on a dark and desolate country road. In the wake of the accident, a blood curdling force of nature is unleashed – something not exactly human, but not completely animal – an urban legend come to terrifying life and seeking murderous revenge.
Opening in select theaters and On Demand on Friday, October 24th, 2014. Directed by Eduardo Sanchez and written by Jamie Nash, Exists stars Dora Madison Burge,...
- 9/21/2014
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
The Champs Elysees Film Festival's in partnership with U.S. in Progress awarded the U.S. in Progress Prize to "Creative Control" Director and the film's star, Benjamin Dickinson, and Producers Craig Shilowich, Melody Roscher, Zachary Mortensen and Mark de Pace. Dickenson's first feature film "First Winter" premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
"Creative Control", a dark sci-fi comedy is the near-future story of four Brooklynites whose tech-obsessed lifestyles get the better of them. Anxious, ambitious ad executive starts a chain reaction of destruction when he becomes obsessed with his best friend's free-spirited girlfriend while working on a campaign for a new generation of Augmented Reality Glasses. The life-like avatar he creates of her becomes too life-like as the blurred boundary between reality and fantasy spreads into an out-of-control space where everyone's public, private and imaginary lives implode.
Benjamin Dickenson grew up in Wheaton, Illinois and moved to New York in 1999 to attend Nyu's undergraduate film program. After graduation he and some friends from school started Waverly Films in a warehouse in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Benjamin started directing music videos for Dfa record artists such as LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture and the Juan Maclean. He has since made videos for Q-Tip and Reggie Watts, the "disinformationist" who c is currently appearing on the IFC television series "Comedy Bang! Bang" which began airing on June 8, 2012 and was renewed for a third season which will premiere in 2014. He has also directed commercials for Google, The Ford Motor Corporation, BMW, MTV and Guitar Hero.
Producer Marc de Pace is a partner at Ghost Robot, another Bushwick production company. In 2011 Mark produced Benjamin's "First Winter"released by Film Movement. He exec produced Michael Cera's short film "Brazzaville Teen-Ager" and Joey Garfield's feature film "A Love Letter for You". HIs producing credits also include music videos for Bjork, The Rapture and Grizzly Bear and ads for Google, Toshiba and At&T.
U.S. in Progress Paris took place during the third edition of the Champs Elysées Film Festival in Paris, on June 11-12 2014. The program presented 4 U.S. indie films in post-production to European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers in order to achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe. The event has doubled the amount of submissions this year and is quickly achieving a winning track record.
The trajectories of the directing/ writing/ producing/ acting teams of the other three contenders are all trending distinctively upward:
Writer/director Matthew Lessner and producer David Henry Gerson presented "Automatic at Sea". Their short film "Chapel Perilous" previously won the 2014 Audience Award at Sundance. Matthew's previous feature "The Woods", distributed by Film Movement, premiered in the New Frontier Program at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and was shortlisted for Independent Spirit and Gotham Awards. The San Francisco Film Society has awarded him two grants for his upcoming feature "Terror Tuesday". Producer David Henry Gerson also starred and to my eye and in my opinion is one of the few mature (adult vs. boy-type) male leads in this new generation of actors. Manly, threatening and aloof in his role, in life he is also smart (a graduate of Colombia University with a bachelor's degree in English Literature and currently attending the American Film Institute) and engaged, as shown in the shorts he wrote and directed "Broken Badge" about a NYPD officer and American Standard about a veteran returning home from Afghanistan to his illegal immigrant girlfriend.
"Eugenia and John" directed by Hossein Keshavarz whose film "Dog Sweat" was released by Indiepix to critical acclaim in 2011 and which the New York Times called "polished; the young actors warmly believable" and NPR called "astonishingly gutsy" screened his second film, "Eugenia and John", produced by Mryam Azadi, Chad Burris and Amy Durning, stars Wesley Tunison and Venecia Troncoso who has the distinction of having starred in the Sundance hit, "Mosquita y Mari".
"Winning Dad" was written, directed and produced by Arthur Allen with producers Julia Bruk and Case Barden. This Lgbt romance is the debut feature of a young man whose career path after graduating St. John's College in Maryland, is as entertaining as his film. After supporting himself for several years in the Seattle Theater Community (and washing windows at the Space Needle), in 2008 he joined the United States Merchant Marines where he wrote "winning Dad" aboard the Usns Gilliland. On leaving, he was recruited by the Washington United for Marriage Coalition as part of its Speaker's Bureau to campaign for marriage equality in Washington State. In 2012 he began working for an Arabic translation company and represented the United States at the second Baghdad International Translation conference in Baghdad, Iraq.
If these four films are not quality enough to show the success of U.S. in Progress, the paths of the other films they have shown over the three years included Sundance film 2013's winning film "Ping Pong Summer" directed by Michael Tully and starring Susan Sarandon, Amy Sedaris, John Hannah, Judah Friedlander, and Lea Thompson was picked up for domestic distribution by Millennium and Gravitas and is currently in release theatrically in U.S. The premium international sales agent, Films Boutique, has sold it to France, Germany and Russia.
The former U.S. in Progress films, "Ping Pong Summer", "Sun Belt Express", Summer of Blood" by Onur Tukel whose film "Richard's Wedding" also showed in U.S. in Progress, are also showing at the Champs-Elysees Film Festival, the only film festival in Paris. This year Ceff is also hosting The Paris Coproduction Village with 12 feature films in development from Italy, U.S., Israel, The Philippines, Romania, Sri Lanka and U.S., Germany, Chile and Argentina, Thailand, Turkey, Italy and Canada, and Australia. It is also hosting the four-month Paris residents of the Cannes Film Festival's Cinefondation, a dozen young directors whose selection is based on the quality of their shorts or first feature film and on the merits of their project currenlty in development their motivation.
The Champs Elysees is alive with the energy infused by the top level of fresh new talent, meeting for cocktails if not over dinner and lunch every evening in the terrace of Publicis at the top the the Champs Elysees, overlooking the Arc de Triumph. ...
"Creative Control", a dark sci-fi comedy is the near-future story of four Brooklynites whose tech-obsessed lifestyles get the better of them. Anxious, ambitious ad executive starts a chain reaction of destruction when he becomes obsessed with his best friend's free-spirited girlfriend while working on a campaign for a new generation of Augmented Reality Glasses. The life-like avatar he creates of her becomes too life-like as the blurred boundary between reality and fantasy spreads into an out-of-control space where everyone's public, private and imaginary lives implode.
Benjamin Dickenson grew up in Wheaton, Illinois and moved to New York in 1999 to attend Nyu's undergraduate film program. After graduation he and some friends from school started Waverly Films in a warehouse in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Benjamin started directing music videos for Dfa record artists such as LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture and the Juan Maclean. He has since made videos for Q-Tip and Reggie Watts, the "disinformationist" who c is currently appearing on the IFC television series "Comedy Bang! Bang" which began airing on June 8, 2012 and was renewed for a third season which will premiere in 2014. He has also directed commercials for Google, The Ford Motor Corporation, BMW, MTV and Guitar Hero.
Producer Marc de Pace is a partner at Ghost Robot, another Bushwick production company. In 2011 Mark produced Benjamin's "First Winter"released by Film Movement. He exec produced Michael Cera's short film "Brazzaville Teen-Ager" and Joey Garfield's feature film "A Love Letter for You". HIs producing credits also include music videos for Bjork, The Rapture and Grizzly Bear and ads for Google, Toshiba and At&T.
U.S. in Progress Paris took place during the third edition of the Champs Elysées Film Festival in Paris, on June 11-12 2014. The program presented 4 U.S. indie films in post-production to European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers in order to achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe. The event has doubled the amount of submissions this year and is quickly achieving a winning track record.
The trajectories of the directing/ writing/ producing/ acting teams of the other three contenders are all trending distinctively upward:
Writer/director Matthew Lessner and producer David Henry Gerson presented "Automatic at Sea". Their short film "Chapel Perilous" previously won the 2014 Audience Award at Sundance. Matthew's previous feature "The Woods", distributed by Film Movement, premiered in the New Frontier Program at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and was shortlisted for Independent Spirit and Gotham Awards. The San Francisco Film Society has awarded him two grants for his upcoming feature "Terror Tuesday". Producer David Henry Gerson also starred and to my eye and in my opinion is one of the few mature (adult vs. boy-type) male leads in this new generation of actors. Manly, threatening and aloof in his role, in life he is also smart (a graduate of Colombia University with a bachelor's degree in English Literature and currently attending the American Film Institute) and engaged, as shown in the shorts he wrote and directed "Broken Badge" about a NYPD officer and American Standard about a veteran returning home from Afghanistan to his illegal immigrant girlfriend.
"Eugenia and John" directed by Hossein Keshavarz whose film "Dog Sweat" was released by Indiepix to critical acclaim in 2011 and which the New York Times called "polished; the young actors warmly believable" and NPR called "astonishingly gutsy" screened his second film, "Eugenia and John", produced by Mryam Azadi, Chad Burris and Amy Durning, stars Wesley Tunison and Venecia Troncoso who has the distinction of having starred in the Sundance hit, "Mosquita y Mari".
"Winning Dad" was written, directed and produced by Arthur Allen with producers Julia Bruk and Case Barden. This Lgbt romance is the debut feature of a young man whose career path after graduating St. John's College in Maryland, is as entertaining as his film. After supporting himself for several years in the Seattle Theater Community (and washing windows at the Space Needle), in 2008 he joined the United States Merchant Marines where he wrote "winning Dad" aboard the Usns Gilliland. On leaving, he was recruited by the Washington United for Marriage Coalition as part of its Speaker's Bureau to campaign for marriage equality in Washington State. In 2012 he began working for an Arabic translation company and represented the United States at the second Baghdad International Translation conference in Baghdad, Iraq.
If these four films are not quality enough to show the success of U.S. in Progress, the paths of the other films they have shown over the three years included Sundance film 2013's winning film "Ping Pong Summer" directed by Michael Tully and starring Susan Sarandon, Amy Sedaris, John Hannah, Judah Friedlander, and Lea Thompson was picked up for domestic distribution by Millennium and Gravitas and is currently in release theatrically in U.S. The premium international sales agent, Films Boutique, has sold it to France, Germany and Russia.
The former U.S. in Progress films, "Ping Pong Summer", "Sun Belt Express", Summer of Blood" by Onur Tukel whose film "Richard's Wedding" also showed in U.S. in Progress, are also showing at the Champs-Elysees Film Festival, the only film festival in Paris. This year Ceff is also hosting The Paris Coproduction Village with 12 feature films in development from Italy, U.S., Israel, The Philippines, Romania, Sri Lanka and U.S., Germany, Chile and Argentina, Thailand, Turkey, Italy and Canada, and Australia. It is also hosting the four-month Paris residents of the Cannes Film Festival's Cinefondation, a dozen young directors whose selection is based on the quality of their shorts or first feature film and on the merits of their project currenlty in development their motivation.
The Champs Elysees is alive with the energy infused by the top level of fresh new talent, meeting for cocktails if not over dinner and lunch every evening in the terrace of Publicis at the top the the Champs Elysees, overlooking the Arc de Triumph. ...
- 6/14/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Benjamin Dickinson’s dark sci-fi comedy took the top prize at the Us In Progress independent showcase in Paris on Wednesday (11).
The event, hosted by the Champs-Elysées Film Festival, aims to connect upcoming films from the Us independent scene with distributors and sales agents in Europe.
It is Dickinson’s second feature film after his debut First Winter, about a group of Brooklynite yoga students attending a retreat in an old house in upstate New York, which premiered in Tribeca.
In Creative Control, Dickinson has set the tale in the heart of Brooklyn’s creative community. The director stars as an ambitious young ad executive working on a campaign for a new generation of augmented reality glasses.
He loses his own hold on reality after he creates a life-like avatar of his fashion photographer best-friend’s girlfriend, played by up and coming actress Alexia Rasmussen (pictured). The youthful ensemble cast also features Nora Zehetner and Dan Gill.
Shot...
The event, hosted by the Champs-Elysées Film Festival, aims to connect upcoming films from the Us independent scene with distributors and sales agents in Europe.
It is Dickinson’s second feature film after his debut First Winter, about a group of Brooklynite yoga students attending a retreat in an old house in upstate New York, which premiered in Tribeca.
In Creative Control, Dickinson has set the tale in the heart of Brooklyn’s creative community. The director stars as an ambitious young ad executive working on a campaign for a new generation of augmented reality glasses.
He loses his own hold on reality after he creates a life-like avatar of his fashion photographer best-friend’s girlfriend, played by up and coming actress Alexia Rasmussen (pictured). The youthful ensemble cast also features Nora Zehetner and Dan Gill.
Shot...
- 6/11/2014
- ScreenDaily
The Tribeca Film Festival announced its jurors for this year’s event, which runs from April 16-27. The list includes Toni Collette, Lake Bell, Whoopi Goldberg, Catherine Hardwicke, Heather Graham, Anton Yelchin, Paul Wesley and 26 other leaders of the filmmaking community.
In addition to the Festival’s main competition juries in seven categories, Tribeca named Delia Ephron, Natasha Lyonne, and Gary Ross to select the second annual Nora Ephron Prize, which awards $25,000 to a female writer or director.
Click below for the entire list of jurors, with biographical information courtesy of the Tribeca festival:
World Competition Categories
The jurors for...
In addition to the Festival’s main competition juries in seven categories, Tribeca named Delia Ephron, Natasha Lyonne, and Gary Ross to select the second annual Nora Ephron Prize, which awards $25,000 to a female writer or director.
Click below for the entire list of jurors, with biographical information courtesy of the Tribeca festival:
World Competition Categories
The jurors for...
- 4/8/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
A Teacher by Hannah Fidell is being released theatrically by Oscilloscope after its Sundance Institute's Next Weekend replay in Los Angeles and other cities in August. We on the jury of U.S. In Progress at the Champs Elysees Film Festival 2012 awarded it the top prize which enabled its post-production to be funded and which enabled it to be seen by Europa Distribution's indie distributors from all over Europe. We are very proud of this film and the coverage it is garnering is gratifying. Congratulations Hannah!!
Go Back To School With "A Teacher"!
Trailer Now Available
Just as students head back to school this fall, Hannah Fidell’s controversial and salacious film "A Teacher" opens theatrically and on video-on-demand September 6th
"Hard to look away from this head-on exploration of a woman escaping the demands of adult life by surrendering to inappropriate passion."
- David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
"A taut, closely-observed psychological tale."
- Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
Part psychological thriller and part provocative character study, A Teacher explores the unraveling of a young high school teacher, Diana (Lindsay Burdge), after she begins an affair with one of her teenage students, Eric (Will Brittain). What starts as a seemingly innocent fling becomes increasingly complex as the beautiful and confident Diana gets fully consumed by her emotions, crossing boundaries and acting out in progressively startling ways. Lindsay Burdge delivers a deeply compelling and seamlessly naturalistic performance that brings us into the mind of an adult driven to taboo against her better judgment.
A Teacher made its world premiere at The Sundance Film Festival in 2013 and will be released theatrically and on-demand this September by Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Meet The Teacher:
Lindsay Burdge / Diana Watts
Lindsay Burdge is one of the hottest young actresses in indie cinema today. For A Teacher, Lindsay has received much critical praise and was highlighted by Variety, IndieWire, Verge among other publications as one of the actresses to watch at Sundance 2013. The role of Diana in A Teacher was written and developed specifically for Lindsay by Hannah Fidell.
Lindsay has also appeared in Joe Swanberg's All The Light In The Sky, opposite Ti West, which played at AFI Fest last year. She also appeared in Ben Dickinson's First Winter, which played at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. Lindsay also worked on the other side of the camera as both a producer and casting director on Adam Leons’ Gimme The Loot.
Lindsay’s upcoming projects include Up The River (director: Ben Greenblatt), Some Beast (director: Cameron Bruce Nelson), Anguish (director: Sonny Mallhi), Invitation (director: Karyn Kusama)
Meet The Student:
Will Brittain / Eric Tull
A Teacher marks the on-screen debut of Will Brittain, a fresh-faced young actor from Austin, Texas.
Prior to his role in the film, Will appeared on stage in several prominent theatrical productions in Austin including: “Colossal”, “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, and “D’Angelico”.
Will was featured as a Sundance Breakout Star by Indiewire and named one of their Ten Actors to Watch at SXSW.
Meet The Woman Behind The Film:
Hannah Fidell / Director, Writer, Producer
Hannah Fidell is a filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. Her first feature film, A Teacher, debuted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and recently played in the Festival Favorites section of SXSW where Fidell was awarded the Chicken & Egg Emerging Narrative Female Director award. She was also included in Filmmaker Magazine’s annual “25 New Faces of Independent Film” list in 2012. Hannah had two short films, “The Gathering Squall” and “Man & Gun” play at SXSW in 2012. She is currently in pre-production on her next film.
Go Back To School With "A Teacher"!
Trailer Now Available
Just as students head back to school this fall, Hannah Fidell’s controversial and salacious film "A Teacher" opens theatrically and on video-on-demand September 6th
"Hard to look away from this head-on exploration of a woman escaping the demands of adult life by surrendering to inappropriate passion."
- David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
"A taut, closely-observed psychological tale."
- Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
Part psychological thriller and part provocative character study, A Teacher explores the unraveling of a young high school teacher, Diana (Lindsay Burdge), after she begins an affair with one of her teenage students, Eric (Will Brittain). What starts as a seemingly innocent fling becomes increasingly complex as the beautiful and confident Diana gets fully consumed by her emotions, crossing boundaries and acting out in progressively startling ways. Lindsay Burdge delivers a deeply compelling and seamlessly naturalistic performance that brings us into the mind of an adult driven to taboo against her better judgment.
A Teacher made its world premiere at The Sundance Film Festival in 2013 and will be released theatrically and on-demand this September by Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Meet The Teacher:
Lindsay Burdge / Diana Watts
Lindsay Burdge is one of the hottest young actresses in indie cinema today. For A Teacher, Lindsay has received much critical praise and was highlighted by Variety, IndieWire, Verge among other publications as one of the actresses to watch at Sundance 2013. The role of Diana in A Teacher was written and developed specifically for Lindsay by Hannah Fidell.
Lindsay has also appeared in Joe Swanberg's All The Light In The Sky, opposite Ti West, which played at AFI Fest last year. She also appeared in Ben Dickinson's First Winter, which played at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. Lindsay also worked on the other side of the camera as both a producer and casting director on Adam Leons’ Gimme The Loot.
Lindsay’s upcoming projects include Up The River (director: Ben Greenblatt), Some Beast (director: Cameron Bruce Nelson), Anguish (director: Sonny Mallhi), Invitation (director: Karyn Kusama)
Meet The Student:
Will Brittain / Eric Tull
A Teacher marks the on-screen debut of Will Brittain, a fresh-faced young actor from Austin, Texas.
Prior to his role in the film, Will appeared on stage in several prominent theatrical productions in Austin including: “Colossal”, “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, and “D’Angelico”.
Will was featured as a Sundance Breakout Star by Indiewire and named one of their Ten Actors to Watch at SXSW.
Meet The Woman Behind The Film:
Hannah Fidell / Director, Writer, Producer
Hannah Fidell is a filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. Her first feature film, A Teacher, debuted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and recently played in the Festival Favorites section of SXSW where Fidell was awarded the Chicken & Egg Emerging Narrative Female Director award. She was also included in Filmmaker Magazine’s annual “25 New Faces of Independent Film” list in 2012. Hannah had two short films, “The Gathering Squall” and “Man & Gun” play at SXSW in 2012. She is currently in pre-production on her next film.
- 8/1/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The first Us trailer for A Teacher has been released.
The film stars First Winter's Lindsay Burdge and Will Brittain as a teacher and her student engaged in a love affair.
The video clip lands as a promotion for the psychological thriller's August 20 on-demand release, Deadline reports.
A Teacher will also hit theatres in the Us on September 6, while no UK release is currently known.
The film chronicles the unraveling of Burge's alter ego, after she has trouble ending an affair with her student, portrayed by Brittain.
It marks the directorial debut of Hannah Fidell, whose previous credits include We're Glad You're Here.
Jennifer Prediger and Julie Dell Phillips also star in the drama.
The film stars First Winter's Lindsay Burdge and Will Brittain as a teacher and her student engaged in a love affair.
The video clip lands as a promotion for the psychological thriller's August 20 on-demand release, Deadline reports.
A Teacher will also hit theatres in the Us on September 6, while no UK release is currently known.
The film chronicles the unraveling of Burge's alter ego, after she has trouble ending an affair with her student, portrayed by Brittain.
It marks the directorial debut of Hannah Fidell, whose previous credits include We're Glad You're Here.
Jennifer Prediger and Julie Dell Phillips also star in the drama.
- 7/31/2013
- Digital Spy
Why She's On Our Radar: In Hannah Fidell's Next entry "A Teacher," Lindsay Burdge appears in pretty much every frame as an attractive suburban Texas high school teacher engaged in a heated affair with a male student. The subject matter alone attracted a lot of attention in Park City prior to the film's premiere on Sunday, and now that it's screened, Burdge has emerged as one of the breakouts of the festival with a performance The Hollywood Reporter praised as "commandingly internalized." More About Her: Burdge most recently appeared opposite indie horror master Ti West in Joe Swanberg's "All the Light in the Sky," which played at AFI Fest in 2012. A favorite on the indie circuit, Burdge's credits include Benjamin Dickinson's "First Winter" and Ricky Shane Reid's "White Fox Mask." What's Next: Burdge will soon be returning to Austin (where she shot "A Teacher") to film "The.
- 1/22/2013
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
Getting underway December 7-9 at Indie Screen (298 Kent Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), the fest will also see screenings of this year's political zombie comedy Juan Of The Dead and Benjamin Dickinson's hipster apocalypse tale First Winter in an effort to "honor films inspired by authors who have explored the metaphysical and eerie in all its manifestations."
Blood For Irina tells of the century-old titular predator who stalks streets at night looking for blood; "tormented by memory, living in a run-down motel by the sea, Irina has reached the end. Her perceptions skewed, her body and mind revolting against themselves, she waits for an exit. Her private hell is echoed by the motel manager driven by an obsession to protect Irina and keep her secrets safe, and a broken prostitute whose desperate plight may be worse than Irina's."
The film plays Sunday, December 9 at 7:20 p.m. For tickets, head to the festival's official site,...
Blood For Irina tells of the century-old titular predator who stalks streets at night looking for blood; "tormented by memory, living in a run-down motel by the sea, Irina has reached the end. Her perceptions skewed, her body and mind revolting against themselves, she waits for an exit. Her private hell is echoed by the motel manager driven by an obsession to protect Irina and keep her secrets safe, and a broken prostitute whose desperate plight may be worse than Irina's."
The film plays Sunday, December 9 at 7:20 p.m. For tickets, head to the festival's official site,...
- 11/23/2012
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (FANGORIA Staff)
- Fangoria
Getting underway December 7-9 at Indie Screen (298 Kent Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), the fest will also see screenings of this year's political zombie comedy Juan Of The Dead and Benjamin Dickinson's hipster apocalypse tale First Winter in an effort to "honor films inspired by authors who have explored the metaphysical and eerie in all its manifestations."
Blood For Irina tells of the century-old titular predator who stalks streets at night looking for blood; "tormented by memory, living in a run-down motel by the sea, Irina has reached the end. Her perceptions skewed, her body and mind revolting against themselves, she waits for an exit. Her private hell is echoed by the motel manager driven by an obsession to protect Irina and keep her secrets safe, and a broken prostitute whose desperate plight may be worse than Irina's."
The film plays Sunday, December 9 at 7:20 p.m. For tickets, head to the festival's official site,...
Blood For Irina tells of the century-old titular predator who stalks streets at night looking for blood; "tormented by memory, living in a run-down motel by the sea, Irina has reached the end. Her perceptions skewed, her body and mind revolting against themselves, she waits for an exit. Her private hell is echoed by the motel manager driven by an obsession to protect Irina and keep her secrets safe, and a broken prostitute whose desperate plight may be worse than Irina's."
The film plays Sunday, December 9 at 7:20 p.m. For tickets, head to the festival's official site,...
- 11/23/2012
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (FANGORIA Staff)
- Fangoria
Getting underway December 7-9 at Indie Screen (298 Kent Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), the fest will also see screenings of this year's political zombie comedy Juan Of The Dead and Benjamin Dickinson's hipster apocalypse tale First Winter in an effort to "honor films inspired by authors who have explored the metaphysical and eerie in all its manifestations."
Blood For Irina tells of the century-old titular predator who stalks streets at night looking for blood; "tormented by memory, living in a run-down motel by the sea, Irina has reached the end. Her perceptions skewed, her body and mind revolting against themselves, she waits for an exit. Her private hell is echoed by the motel manager driven by an obsession to protect Irina and keep her secrets safe, and a broken prostitute whose desperate plight may be worse than Irina's."
The film plays Sunday, December 9 at 7:20 p.m. For tickets, head to the festival's official site,...
Blood For Irina tells of the century-old titular predator who stalks streets at night looking for blood; "tormented by memory, living in a run-down motel by the sea, Irina has reached the end. Her perceptions skewed, her body and mind revolting against themselves, she waits for an exit. Her private hell is echoed by the motel manager driven by an obsession to protect Irina and keep her secrets safe, and a broken prostitute whose desperate plight may be worse than Irina's."
The film plays Sunday, December 9 at 7:20 p.m. For tickets, head to the festival's official site,...
- 11/23/2012
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (FANGORIA Staff)
- Fangoria
Getting underway December 7-9 at Indie Screen (298 Kent Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), the fest will also see screenings of this year's political zombie comedy Juan Of The Dead and Benjamin Dickinson's hipster apocalypse tale First Winter in an effort to "honor films inspired by authors who have explored the metaphysical and eerie in all its manifestations."
Blood For Irina tells of the century-old titular predator who stalks streets at night looking for blood; "tormented by memory, living in a run-down motel by the sea, Irina has reached the end. Her perceptions skewed, her body and mind revolting against themselves, she waits for an exit. Her private hell is echoed by the motel manager driven by an obsession to protect Irina and keep her secrets safe, and a broken prostitute whose desperate plight may be worse than Irina's."
The film plays Sunday, December 9 at 7:20 p.m. For tickets, head to the festival's official site,...
Blood For Irina tells of the century-old titular predator who stalks streets at night looking for blood; "tormented by memory, living in a run-down motel by the sea, Irina has reached the end. Her perceptions skewed, her body and mind revolting against themselves, she waits for an exit. Her private hell is echoed by the motel manager driven by an obsession to protect Irina and keep her secrets safe, and a broken prostitute whose desperate plight may be worse than Irina's."
The film plays Sunday, December 9 at 7:20 p.m. For tickets, head to the festival's official site,...
- 11/23/2012
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (FANGORIA Staff)
- Fangoria
Michael Tully of Hammer to Nail passed along this review of Benjamin Dickinson’s First Winter, written by fellow filmmaker Zach Clark. First Winter is an accomplished, compelling and unexpectedly timely first feature, but I debated a second about posting this. That’s because Clark is also the programmer of Videology, where the film is premiering tomorrow. That said, he opens with a quote from Andrei Tarkovsky so, with this disclaimer, I was cool to run it. — Sm First Winter, Benjamin Dickinson’s microbudget entry into the slow-burn apocalypse pantheon, owes no small debt to that scant subgenre’s zenith – Andrei Tarkovsky’s …...
- 11/15/2012
- by Zach Clark
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Michael Tully of Hammer to Nail passed along this review of Benjamin Dickinson’s First Winter, written by fellow filmmaker Zach Clark. First Winter is an accomplished, compelling and unexpectedly timely first feature, but I debated a second about posting this. That’s because Clark is also the programmer of Videology, where the film is premiering tomorrow. That said, he opens with a quote from Andrei Tarkovsky so, with this disclaimer, I was cool to run it. — Sm
First Winter, Benjamin Dickinson’s microbudget entry into the slow-burn apocalypse pantheon, owes no small debt to that scant subgenre’s zenith – Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice. It seems entirely appropriate then, that a quote from the mustachioed master best sums it up. Here it is:
“’Man is born unto the trouble as the sparks fly upwards.’ In other words suffering is germane to our existence; indeed, how without it, should we be able to ‘fly upwards?...
First Winter, Benjamin Dickinson’s microbudget entry into the slow-burn apocalypse pantheon, owes no small debt to that scant subgenre’s zenith – Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice. It seems entirely appropriate then, that a quote from the mustachioed master best sums it up. Here it is:
“’Man is born unto the trouble as the sparks fly upwards.’ In other words suffering is germane to our existence; indeed, how without it, should we be able to ‘fly upwards?...
- 11/15/2012
- by Zach Clark
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
This weekly column is intended to provide reviews of nearly every new release, including films on VOD (and in certain cases some studio releases). Specifics release dates and locations follow each review. Reviews This Week "Anna Karenina" "Funeral Kings" "Generation P" "Hitler's Children" "The King" "First Winter" "Mea Maxima Culpa" "Price Check" "La Rafle" "Silver Linings Playbook" *** "Anna Karenina" With somber-eyed Keira Knightley in the titular role, one might expect the usual from "Anna Karenina": A mopey period piece with little to offer beyond the expected turmoil of Leo Tolstoy's classic. That superficial assumption ignores director Joe Wright's capacity as a visual stylist to inject the material with a greater amount of energy -- both...
- 11/15/2012
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
And like that it was gone.
Funny thing about film festivals — no one seems to really miss them when they’re over, although within the provisional community that pops up during such events, no one seems to be able to talk about much else (except what they’d rather be doing). So it was with the 11th Tribeca Film Festival, which came to a close on Sunday. Even at the party for The Fourth Dimension, perhaps the most undeniably hip film in the selection (Vice! Grolsch!), the mood was sort of dutiful. As for the actual film, I, like many, left after the Harmony Korine short; I just wanted a gander at Val Kilmer’s practiced, winking crazy, and the experience left me truly sated.
This year, Tribeca’s lineup was revelatory at times, underwhelming at most others, and politically-tinged issues summoned up by the films were perhaps bigger stories than the films themselves.
Funny thing about film festivals — no one seems to really miss them when they’re over, although within the provisional community that pops up during such events, no one seems to be able to talk about much else (except what they’d rather be doing). So it was with the 11th Tribeca Film Festival, which came to a close on Sunday. Even at the party for The Fourth Dimension, perhaps the most undeniably hip film in the selection (Vice! Grolsch!), the mood was sort of dutiful. As for the actual film, I, like many, left after the Harmony Korine short; I just wanted a gander at Val Kilmer’s practiced, winking crazy, and the experience left me truly sated.
This year, Tribeca’s lineup was revelatory at times, underwhelming at most others, and politically-tinged issues summoned up by the films were perhaps bigger stories than the films themselves.
- 5/1/2012
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Following our chat with screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher last week on his involvement with the film competition Bombay Sapphire are running this year (for more info click here) we spoke to one of the other creative forces behind the project, the director of the Tribeca Film Festival, Nancy Schafer.
What struck me about the involvement of both Fletcher and Schafer is the different qualities and experiences they bring. The premise is that writers and directors are asked to interpret a script written by Fletcher and to pitch their ideas to the panel. Coming from the background Schafer does, as well as being a champion of independent film, I wanted to find out what she was looking in the submissions, and if audiences are finding that there is life beyond the multiplex.
HeyUGuys – Can you tell us about your involvement in the Imagination series and can you tell us how you got involved in it?...
What struck me about the involvement of both Fletcher and Schafer is the different qualities and experiences they bring. The premise is that writers and directors are asked to interpret a script written by Fletcher and to pitch their ideas to the panel. Coming from the background Schafer does, as well as being a champion of independent film, I wanted to find out what she was looking in the submissions, and if audiences are finding that there is life beyond the multiplex.
HeyUGuys – Can you tell us about your involvement in the Imagination series and can you tell us how you got involved in it?...
- 4/30/2012
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Following up on last week's preview of the Tribeca Film Festival (site), this'll be the entry that'll carry us through to Sunday. Introducing Slant's package of reviews, Ed Gonzalez argues that Tribeca "has blossomed from a celebration of the Big Apple as a filmmaking center into a great facilitator and promoter of international film and video culture." The Los Angeles Times' Steven Zeitchik agrees that it's "a prime venue to discover international films." More packages and lists: Smithsonian Magazine's Daniel Eagan ("What to See"), indieWIRE ("12 New Films We're Excited For"), Filmmaker's Scott Macaulay ("25 Films I'm Looking Forward To"), Movies.com ("20 Most Anticipated Movies"), Time's Lily Rothman ("Top 15 Chatter-Worthy Films"), Time Out New York and Twitch ("Top 15 Picks").
Having previewed "30-odd films" for the Voice, Eric Hynes recommends 14, and Take This Waltz is one of them: "Sarah Polley's follow-up to her moving directorial debut, Away From Her, is a modern...
Having previewed "30-odd films" for the Voice, Eric Hynes recommends 14, and Take This Waltz is one of them: "Sarah Polley's follow-up to her moving directorial debut, Away From Her, is a modern...
- 4/25/2012
- MUBI
by Steve Dollar
The end of the world was just the beginning of this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Serious consideration of apocalyptic themes have permeated all kinds of recent cinema, perhaps gearing up in a timely fashion for the Mayan Shakedown forecast for 2012, so it was no surprise to note the opening weekend's selection of First Winter—which considers the events that immediately follow An Event. What surprised, however, was the film. It's a low-budget ensemble drama made by a group of young Williamsburg denizens—yoga hipsters, if you will—whose retreat at a remote farm upstate suddenly feels a whole lot more isolated when the power dies and a transistor radio picks up disturbing, cryptic static out of New York City.
Echoes of 9/11 can't entirely be ignored, which makes this a resonant selection for Tribeca, a festival that came into existence because Robert De Niro's neighborhood became the site of its own apocalypse.
The end of the world was just the beginning of this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Serious consideration of apocalyptic themes have permeated all kinds of recent cinema, perhaps gearing up in a timely fashion for the Mayan Shakedown forecast for 2012, so it was no surprise to note the opening weekend's selection of First Winter—which considers the events that immediately follow An Event. What surprised, however, was the film. It's a low-budget ensemble drama made by a group of young Williamsburg denizens—yoga hipsters, if you will—whose retreat at a remote farm upstate suddenly feels a whole lot more isolated when the power dies and a transistor radio picks up disturbing, cryptic static out of New York City.
Echoes of 9/11 can't entirely be ignored, which makes this a resonant selection for Tribeca, a festival that came into existence because Robert De Niro's neighborhood became the site of its own apocalypse.
- 4/23/2012
- GreenCine Daily
As the Tribeca Film Festival moved into its first full day of screenings on Thursday, it didn't take long for one of the festival's most buzzed-about films to also become one of its most controversial. "First Winter," an apocalyptic drama from first-time director Benjamin Dickinson, had its world premiere on Thursday night at the AMC Loews Village 7, where it was received enthusiastically by a friendly crowd. But the premiere came as news broke that the filmmakers behind one of the festival's most eagerly awaited films had illegally killed two deer while...
- 4/20/2012
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
In Benjamin Dickinson's feature directorial debut First Winter, a group of Brooklyn hipsters at a yoga retreat in upstate New York are forced to learn survival skills the hard way after an immense blackout hits, stranding them a drafty farmhouse with dwindling supplies and miles separating them from any passable roads—or, indeed, the rest of humanity. With their stock of food shrinking and temperatures dropping, buried tensions come to the fore, straining the friends' ability to work together even though—in a world with no electricity, no way to communicate with the outside world and virtually no chance of making it back to the city alive–all they really have is each other.
- 4/19/2012
- MovieMaker.com
To properly evoke the apocalyptic landscape and tone of his directorial debut, filmmaker Benjamin Dickinson lived like he filmed – amidst the chilling rural winter that his characters find themselves trapped within. Opting to forgo electricity and even food while filming the movie’s most desperate sequences, Dickinson and his crew lend what should prove to be a hard won authenticity to First Winter. Premiering in competition this Thursday at the Tribeca Film Festival, First Winter stars Lindsay Burdge, Paul Manza, and Kate Lyn Sheil.
Filmmaker: Talk to me a bit about the genesis of First Winter. Where did the idea for the film come from?
Dickenson: Lindsay Burge (Marie) and I started spending a lot of time at “Heartland” – Paul Manza’s (who plays Paul in the film) yoga retreat – a few years ago, and I really wanted to capture the experience of living in this type of community. Over the past couple of years,...
Filmmaker: Talk to me a bit about the genesis of First Winter. Where did the idea for the film come from?
Dickenson: Lindsay Burge (Marie) and I started spending a lot of time at “Heartland” – Paul Manza’s (who plays Paul in the film) yoga retreat – a few years ago, and I really wanted to capture the experience of living in this type of community. Over the past couple of years,...
- 4/18/2012
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
From the files of "no publicity is bad publicity," comes word about a growing controversy surrounding the indie thriller "First Winter."
The film, which is set to debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, focuses on a group of Brooklyn hipsters who head to the country for some relaxation and get pushed to their limits when an apocalyptic event leaves them cut off from society -- if there's any society left. The group must contend with the frigid elements and their growing hunger -- the latter of which is no longer an issue after they hunt and kill a deer. The problem? The filmmakers actually killed two deers, and that could get them in trouble with New York State environmental authorities.
"We are idiots. We didn't know how to do this [hunting] stuff," director Ben Dickson told Manhattan-based site DNAinfo.com. "There were so many deer weak from the winter and getting...
The film, which is set to debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, focuses on a group of Brooklyn hipsters who head to the country for some relaxation and get pushed to their limits when an apocalyptic event leaves them cut off from society -- if there's any society left. The group must contend with the frigid elements and their growing hunger -- the latter of which is no longer an issue after they hunt and kill a deer. The problem? The filmmakers actually killed two deers, and that could get them in trouble with New York State environmental authorities.
"We are idiots. We didn't know how to do this [hunting] stuff," director Ben Dickson told Manhattan-based site DNAinfo.com. "There were so many deer weak from the winter and getting...
- 4/17/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Tribeca: Congratulations on your first feature! Tell us a little about First Winter. How do you describe the movie in your own words? Ben Dickinson: First Winter about a group of people learning how to love each other, through a confrontation with their mortality. Tribeca: What inspired you to tell this story, both as a writer and as a director? Ben Dickinson: Lindsay [Burdge] and I spent a lot of time at Heartland, Paul's farm and yoga retreat, for several years before we made the film. It was those experiences that formed the seed of the idea. The rest came from the period when Paul's Mom Heidi was dying in the house, and we were up there helping Paul to care for her as she passed. Tribeca: What can you tell us about your casting process? Did you write with these actors in mind? Were they all experienced actors?...
- 4/11/2012
- TribecaFilm.com
What happens when a group of Brooklynites enjoy a weekend away at a remote country farmhouse? They indulge in sex, drugs, yoga and organic cooking, of course. However, when a blackout of apocalyptic proportions leaves them stranded in the cold without food or electricity, anxiety sets in and destroys their tranquil atmosphere. Their food supply diminishes, friends grow jealous and wary of one another and, in turn, their struggle for survival takes an even graver turn. Just the other week we had the pleasure of debuting a clip from the Benjamin Dickinson film, and while that shed some light on what to expect from First Winter, now we’re able to bring you the film’s full trailer, which not only offers up a solid sense of tone, but introductions to all the...
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- 4/3/2012
- by Perri Nemiroff
- Movies.com
While the northeast enjoys unseasonably warm temperatures, the hipsters of First Winter are driven mad by the coldest winter in history. The Tribeca Film Festival entry shows the aftermath of a blackout of apocalyptic proportions. When the event strands a group of Brooklyn residents in a secluded country farmhouse, they make the best of having no heat and no electricity by indulging in sex, drugs and acoustic guitars. However, when the cold whether becomes too much to handle and their food supply starts to dwindle, arguments fueled by jealousy and desire threaten to tear them apart and puts their survival in jeopardy. After raising a microbudget and assembling his cast and crew, writer-director Benjamin Dickinson set out to make First Winter in a mere 23 days. The gang holed...
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- 3/28/2012
- by Perri Nemiroff
- Movies.com
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