June 2002

THIS JUST IN (June 12): MY FATHER, THE GENIUS received the: "Grand Jury Prize" at the Atlanta Film Festival - the top award of the festival. and "Best Documentary" at the Newport International Film Festival. 

Every filmmaker faces challenges. However, when making a personal documentary, the filmmaker may be moved so deeply by the making of the film that he or she is transformed in the process, on the deepest of emotional levels. It is as if filmmaking becomes cathartic, or "therapeutic," and can sometimes change the direction of a film while being made. The key challenge then becomes to attempt to reach the audience, if not in the same way the filmmaker was touched, in a similar way. Tom Curran, during the making of read more...

Having built a reputation for producing smart and serious documentaries, producer, director and educator Jane Gillooly decided to try something new. Originally trained in the fine arts at the Massachusetts College of Art, Jane Gillooly’s first documentary "So Sad, So Sorry, So What" was a still photograph slide show adapted for video chronicling the life of a female inmate with AIDS. Her later documentary "Leona’s Sister Gerri" reconstructed the events leading up to the death of Gerri Santoro from an read more...

Growing up in Hanoi gives you a unique view of American culture. On the one hand, you have the mean aggressive killers of the world’s strongest army, obsessed with the women and addicted to dope, who were beaten back by the hardworking peasant army of a country a mere fraction the size of theirs. Then, of course, you have the glamour and excess of American cinema, all glitter and spotlight and action. At least, that’s how Mai viewed America. The daughter of a well-off (by Vietnamese standards) hotel-owner, Mai often wondered how the read more...

As a filmmaker there are countless aspects of a project to derive satisfaction: discovering or creating a story that you passionately believe should be told, capturing the perfect shot, witnessing a low-resolution fine cut spring to life during an on-line. Ultimately, though, the most rewarding aspect of a project does not come in its production or its completion, but rather in its showing. Regardless of what type of filmmaking, the final analysis is the same -- a film without an audience cannot make a widespread impact.

When you buy a car, you hunt around to find a ride that fits you. The seat has to be comfortable, the controls need to be at easy reach, and you'd like to get through your drive without losing parts along the Mass. Pike. So it is with the purchase of a digital video camera. For as many opinions and consumer reports as there are, most people agree on a few cameras that will get you to your destination. But you're the only person who can decide which of them suits you best. This means The Best Camera may not be as important as The Best Camera For You.
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The Newport International Film Festival kicks off the viewing season June 4-9. Only in its fifth year, NIFF has managed to corner a good percentage of the glam factor, attracting such notables as Kenneth Branagh in its early days and retaining prestigious sponsors including Vanity Fair. This year’s lineup is bookended by two commercial contenders, "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" ("Thelma and Louise" writer Callie Khouri’s directorial debut) and "Tadpole," a tale of obsessive stepmother-love, read more...