Sundance: "The Sound of Silence"

Abe Fried-Tanzer reporting from Sundance

There is a lot of noise in New York City. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single person who disagrees with that statement. Suggesting that there is meaning to be found within the multitude of sounds emanating at all volumes and all times of the day and night is more of a stretch. That’s the premise of Michael Tyburski’s The Sound of Silence, playing as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sundance.

Peter Sarsgaard stars as a 'house tuner,' also named Peter, who helps people achieve an aural balance in their homes that will translate to harmony and tranquility in other aspects of their lives...

Click to read more ...

Sundance: Choose Your Own Interpretation of "Luce"

Abe Fried Tanzer reporting from Sundance

People walk through this world with different levels of privilege. It’s a concept that’s become more widely understood of late, and certainly featured prominently in numerous films in recent years. In fact, 24 year-old actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. has starred in a handful that have played at Sundance, including both Monster and Monsters and Men just last year. This year, he stars opposite Naomi Watts in two films. One is The Wolf Hour, a dreary tale of agoraphobia in 1970s New York City that mildly touches on race and class. The other, which tackles the notion of privilege and prejudice, is Luce.

Harrison Jr. stars as the title character, who was adopted from Eritrea at age 7 by Amy (Watts) and Peter (Tim Roth), and, with the help of considerable therapy to overcome his violent childhood, has excelled incredibly and become the class valedictorian...

Click to read more ...

Sundance: "The Last Black Man in San Francisco"

Murtada Elfadl reporting from Sundance

While watching The Last Black Man in San Francisco - a gorgeous, specific, and fantastical fable of a film with a decidedly assured tone - I kept thinking of Oprah Winfrey’s introduction of Precious  star Gabourey Sidibe at the Oscars. “Where did that come from?”, “Where did you learn how to do that?” I was asking these questions of writer/director Joe Talbot and writer/actor Jimmie Fails. They had collaborated on a short film before, but this is their feature debut. How did they spring out of the gate so exceptionally?

Click to read more ...

Sundance Short Film Winners - clues to *next" year's Oscar list?

by Nathaniel R

Sheila Vand at SundanceWe hope you've been enjoying our coverage of Sundance this year. Our two men on the ground (Murtada and Abe) have already reviewed 10 films. Sundance wraps up next Sunday, February 3rd but we've already got our first bit of award news. A three person jury comprised of Iranian-American actress Sheila Vand (We the Animals, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night), Obie award-winning playwright/filmmaker Young Jean Lee, and filmmaker Carter Smith (who won at Sundance 12 years ago for his gay short Bugcrush), have picked the winning shorts of the festival. Six of the seven films honored were by people of color, five were from women, and two from filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ. (Yes, Sundance has made huge diversity efforts these past few years... and they've put their money where their mouth is, both in their film selections and in press badges, even subsidizing minority journalists to combat the inequities in entertainment journalism).

Sundance is an Oscar-qualifying festival which means you might hear about a few of these shorts next year about this time if they're very lucky...

Click to read more ...

Sundance: Keira Knightley has "Official Secrets"

Abe Fried-Tanzer reporting from Sundance

As if there wasn’t enough going on in today’s American and international politics, events that happened a decade and a half ago seem to be coming into focus again. The start of the Iraq war and its implications were covered in the Best Picture nominee Vice and are the subject of two new films premiering at Sundance. Murtada just shared his thoughts on The Report, which focuses on the investigation into torture practices used by the United States. Official Secrets takes place across the pond, following the fallout of one British intelligence translator’s decision to leak an NSA memo detailing plans to blackmail United Nations security council members into voting to go to war in Iraq...

Click to read more ...