Tag Archives: Smashed film

SUNDANCE: days 9-11

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The Sundance Film Festival officially ends today, and awards were given out last night.  I’m encouraged that so many women received such international recognition for their films — see below for the list of winning films by women (as directors and writers).

Days 9-11

SUNDANCE AWARDS

Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic & Excellence in Cinematography – U.S. Dramatic

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (co-writer Lucy Alibar)*

U.S. Directing Award: Documentary

THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES (director Lauren Greenfield)*

U.S. Directing Award: Dramatic

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (writer-director Ava DuVernay)*

World Cinema Screenwriting Award

YOUNG & WILD (director & co-writer Marialy Rivas)

U.S. Documentary Editing Award

DETROPIA (directors Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady)

World Cinema Documentary Editing Award

INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE (directors & editors Lisanne Pajot & James Swirsky)*

World Cinema: Documentary Special Jury Prize

AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY (director Alison Klayman)

World Cinema Cinematography Award: Dramatic

MY BROTHER THE DEVIL (writer-director Sally El Hosaini; cinematographer David Raedeker)

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Independent Film Producing

NOBODY WALKS (director & co-writer Ry Russo-Young; co-writer Lena Dunham; producers Jonathan Schwartz, Andrea Sperling, Alicia Van Couvering)*

World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary

PUTIN’S KISS (director Lise Birk Pedersen; cinematographer Lars Skree)*

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Independent Film Producing

SMASHED (co-writer Susan Burke; producers Jennifer Cochis, Jonathan Schwartz, Andrew Sperling)

See the slideshow of all winning titles on the Sundance Channel website.

*Films have been picked up during the festival for theatrical or VOD distribution, except Indie Game which will be adapted into a fictional half-hour series for HBO.

Acquisitions

Writer-director Julie Delpy’s film 2 Days in New York has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures.  Delpy also stars in the film opposite Chris Rock.  Magnolia will release the film via VOD (Video On Demand) as well as in theatres.  No word yet on which territories this covers (I’m assuming at least North America), or a firm release date.  Read the story over at Nikkie Finke’s Deadline Hollywood.

Magnolia has also picked up director & co-writer Ry Russo-Young’s feature film Nobody Walks which she co-wrote with Lena Dunham (most well-known for her film Tiny Furniture and her upcoming HBO series “Girls” which will premiere at SXSW in March, then on HBO in April).  Check out the story over at Reuters (incl. information on 2 Days in New York).

Check out all the distributors that picked up films at Sundance this year in this indieWIRE story.

I’m expecting more acquisitions to happen in the next few days and weeks and will try to update the Sundance film acquisitions list to include those titles.

SUNDANCE: day 6

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WATCH LIVE STREAMING FROM 2012 SUNDANCE

Yesterday was day six of the Sundance Film Festival — it’s half over! — and it’s great seeing so many women-directed and women-written films getting picked up for theatrical distribution: director Katie Aselton’s Black Rock (with a VOD component, I think), director Lise Birk Pedersen’s doc Putin’s Kiss, writers Katie Anne Naylon and Lauren Anne Miller’s For a Good Time, Call…, co-writer Lucy Alibar’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, star and co-writer Rashida Jones’s Celeste and Jesse Forever, and the first film announced as having been sold at Sundance: opening night’s The Queen of Versailles documentary from director Lauren Greenfield.

Check out the great Take Action page for the Sundance documentary The Invisible War about rape in the U.S. military.  Get involved!  Watch the trailer below.  (One of the film’s cinematographers is Kirsten Johnson.)

Acquisitions

Hollywood heavyweight producer Scott Rudin will adapt Lisanne Pajot’s documentary film Indie Game for television, turning it into a fictionalized 30-minute series for HBO.  Lisanne Pajot is co-director and co-writer, plus one of the cinematographers, a producer, and editor, of Indie Game which, according to what I’ve read, has had a lovely reception at Sundance.  Check out the story on Pajot’s doc and Rudin’s involvement over at Geeks of Doom.  Watch the trailer below.

HBO has also picked up ME @ The ZOO_ for distribution, a feature-length documentary co-directed and produced by Valerie Veatch.  Check out a brief mention of this and some other Sundance deals over at Boston.com.  Watch the trailer below.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, co-writer Susan Burke’s film Smashed also has some heat on it and may be poised to sell soon.

Sundance Jury Prizes were announced today.  Check out the entire list over at indieWIRE.

The Jury Prize in Short Film, Non-Fiction:

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (director: Lucy Walker) – Oscar nominee

The Jury Prize in Short film, International Fiction:

The Return (Kthimi) (director: Blerta Zeqiri)

Special Jury Award for Comedic Storytelling:

The Arm (directors Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, Jessie Ennis)

Day 6

Screenings

Among the films by women screened at Sundance on day six were the following titles.  Many of the films previously listed here on Her Film also screened, but as they’ve been mentioned before, they will not be listed along with other titles which are premiering.  Titles previously mentioned which screened on day six include Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere, So Yong Kim’s For Ellen, and Alison Klayman’s Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, among others.  Check out the trailers for the films by clicking on the highlighted links below.

Gypsy Davy (writer-director Rachel Leah Jones, also a cinematographer, editor, producer and sound recorder on the film)

We’re Not Broke (writers-directors Victoria Bruce & Karin Hayes)

whiteonwhite (director and co-writer Eve Sussman; co-cinematographer Angela Christlieb)