Letterboxd — Your life in film

The paradox of modern China is at the heart of 2020 Film Independent Documentary Lab Fellow Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension, released last year and currently nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award. An experimental collection of vignettes gathered from moments across the industrial landscape, the film is an arresting snapshot of the lifecycle of consumption.

New Hollywood filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich died last week at 82. In addition to being one of the finest film directors of his era, Bogdanovich was a critic, historian and consummate cineaste. To commemorate, we’re re-running the below interview with author Peter Tonguette, who book of interviews with the director, Picturing Peter Bogdanovich, came out in 2020...

Welcome to our first Don’t-Miss Indies roundup of 2022! Normally we use this space to spotlight indie cinema’s latest and greatest new releases. But with Film Independent Spirit Awards season in full swing, we decided to instead dedicate these digital column inches to learning more about this year’s Narrative TV category nominees.

Welcome back! New Year, New You, New Film Independent Presents filmmaker Q&As! That’s right, the final month of calendar-year 2021 delivered yet another bounty of insightful film discussion from the creators (and sometimes subjects!) of our favorite 2021 indie movies. We all must have been very good boys and girls and nonbinary individuals, because the holiday season certainly left us with plenty of great stuff to unwrap. Check it all out below and check here to see what’s happening next.

In a truly momentous and unforgettable “An Evening With…” virtual event broadcast for Film Independent Members on December 10, the legend himself—Nicolas Cage!— joined Fi Producer-in-Residence and Maximum Film! podcast host Drea Clark over Zoom to celebrate the release of 2021’s Pig—and reflect on his extensive career and unique approach to acting. Plus cat ownership, lizard wrangling and a whole lot more.

Film Independent's Senior Manager of International Programs, Louay Khraish, talks to filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen about his critically acclaimed new documentary 'Flee'.

Film Independent's Matt Warren (Senior Manager, Digital Content) talks to filmmaker James Spinney, co-director of the new Showtime biographical documentary, 'The Real Charlie Chaplin.'

The Film Independent Spirit Awards did its part to make things exciting this morningby announcing the nominees of its 37th annual awards ceremony, set to return in-person (!!!) to the beaches of Santa Monica on Sunday, March 6, 2022.

Once again, nominees will be revealed in a special video announcement set to premiere on Fi’s website and YouTube channel. With a resurgent film year cautiously realigning after a bleak, theater-less pandemic season, the upcoming awards calendar is bound to be one of joy, celebration and possible drunkenness.

Film Independent's Matt Warren (Senior Manager, Digital Content) talks to the team behind the new drama SMALL ENGINE REPAIR - filmmaker and actor John Pollono, producer/actor Jon Bernthal and actor Shea Whigham.

Acclaimed documentarian Morgan Neville ('Won't You Be My Neighbor?', '20 Feet from Stardom') talks to Film Independent President Josh Welsh about Anthony Bourdain, subject of his new film ROADRUNNER.

An industrious actor, host and film critic through her website The Curvy Critic, Carla’s multifaceted career has included appearances on stage (check out her and Julie Taymor reminiscing about their time working together here), screen (Superstore, Hart of Dixie) and—recently—at Film Independent, as one of our most frequent (and most favoritest!) Film Independent Presents guest moderators, helming conversations with a wide variety of filmmakers and celebs.

Throughout his career–from Incendies (2010) to Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and now Dune–Villeneuve has remained steadfastly loyal to the independent filmmaking frame of mind. His career loyalty, Villeneuve says, is to story–not to the studios paying to make his movies. Said the director: “My loyalty is to cinema. I have a sacred relationship with cinema; it is like a kind of religion.”

Watching a Ramin Bahrani movie feels how I imagine it must to be a method actor preparing for a role. So immersive and tactile is his filmmaking that, by the end of Chop Shop I felt like, if dropped off in Queens with nothing to my name, I could probably earn some dough by buffing scratches out of cars, selling bootleg DVDs and, if desperate enough, snatching a purse or two.

First-time filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal is joined by cast members Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard and Paul Mescal to discuss the Elena Ferrante adaptation 'The Lost Daughter', streaming on Netflix.

As part of our weeklong takeover of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills last week, Film Independent’s Bring the Noise series returned–revived and reimagined by none other than the sublimely lyrical French film composer Alexandre Desplat.

Guest moderator Janelle Riley (Deputy Awards & Features Editor, Variety) talks to the band Sparks, brothers Ron and Russell Mael, about their debut movie musical, the Leos Carax collaboration 'Annette'.

For filmmakers eager to develop partnerships for the financing, production and distribution of their projects, no better forum exists for meeting potential champions and collaborators than Film Independent’s Fast Track Film Finance Market—an intensive, four-day film financing marketplace connecting a select group of participants with established financiers, production companies, agents, managers and other industry pros with to power to make things happen.

If you’re as big of a Maggie Gyllenhaal fan as we are, then there was no better place to be last Friday than the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, where Film Independent welcomed the acclaimed actor-turned-filmmaker to the stage for an extended conversation about her work and career.

Kenneth Branagh discusses the semi-autobiographical period drama with cast members Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds and newcomer Jude Hill. Moderated by Film Independent President Josh Welsh.

Italian Neorealism has always been ingrained in the fabric of independent arthouse cinema. With its scrappy, documentary-like attitude dating back to the tail end of WWII, I have long considered filmmakers like Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica to be some of the pioneers of modern day low-budget filmmaking.

We’re re-posting this piece for two reasons: to celebrate Season Two of Lemus’s Gente-fied—which premiered this week on Netflix—and to tout the fact that Marvin will be guest-directing our Live Read of the 1991 Steve Martin classic L.A. Story this Saturday at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. To attend, get tickets now.

What if you could simply wiggle your nose like Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched and make the troublesome elements encircling your holiday Horn of Plenty simply disappear? And, perhaps even replace these jerks with some more esteemed company? Company who might even be able to help your career?