Documentary film editors are like crash test dummies, according to Alexis Johnson. You keep letting yourself crash, assuming the seatbelts will work, over and over again just to see what impact a scene is having on you.
“If I am going to harness a feeling, I have to feel it myself,” she said, recalling working on director Alex Gibney’s powerful 2021 documentary “The Forever Prisoner,” about the CIA’s interrogation treatment of prisoner Abu Zubaydah. In addition to the countless hours reworking scenes of waterboarding and other harsh treatments, Johnson edited a sequence that depicts the technique of playing high-decibel music to terrorize a prisoner. It was particularly grueling, as Johnson repeatedly subjected herself to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ cacophonous “Give It Away” for hours while shaping the depiction of Zubaydah being tortured by the same song.
By the end of working on “The Forever Prisoner,” Johnson said, she...
“If I am going to harness a feeling, I have to feel it myself,” she said, recalling working on director Alex Gibney’s powerful 2021 documentary “The Forever Prisoner,” about the CIA’s interrogation treatment of prisoner Abu Zubaydah. In addition to the countless hours reworking scenes of waterboarding and other harsh treatments, Johnson edited a sequence that depicts the technique of playing high-decibel music to terrorize a prisoner. It was particularly grueling, as Johnson repeatedly subjected herself to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ cacophonous “Give It Away” for hours while shaping the depiction of Zubaydah being tortured by the same song.
By the end of working on “The Forever Prisoner,” Johnson said, she...
- 6/12/2023
- by Tom Roston
- Indiewire
The International Documentary Association revealed nominations for the 2019 Ida Awards, with Neon landing three films in the Best Feature competition, including “Apollo 11” and “Honeyland,” which led the field with three nominations, as well as”The Biggest Little Farm.” “Honeyland” will also collect the Pare Lorentz Award, while Neon’s “Amazing Grace” landed a Best Music Documentary nomination. (The film qualified for the Oscar last year.)
For the first time, the Ida will present an award for Best Director and, notably, all of the nominated films in that category are directed by women. “We felt the need to more clearly acknowledge the creativity and bold directorial vision that is behind many of the films we are privileged to consider,” said Ida’s Executive Director Simon Kilmurry.
First awarded in 2001, the Ida gives the Courage Under Fire Award to documentarians who display conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth, putting freedom of...
For the first time, the Ida will present an award for Best Director and, notably, all of the nominated films in that category are directed by women. “We felt the need to more clearly acknowledge the creativity and bold directorial vision that is behind many of the films we are privileged to consider,” said Ida’s Executive Director Simon Kilmurry.
First awarded in 2001, the Ida gives the Courage Under Fire Award to documentarians who display conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth, putting freedom of...
- 10/23/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The International Documentary Association revealed nominations for the 2019 Ida Awards, with Neon landing three films in the Best Feature competition, including “Apollo 11” and “Honeyland,” which led the field with three nominations, as well as”The Biggest Little Farm.” “Honeyland” will also collect the Pare Lorentz Award, while Neon’s “Amazing Grace” landed a Best Music Documentary nomination. (The film qualified for the Oscar last year.)
For the first time, the Ida will present an award for Best Director and, notably, all of the nominated films in that category are directed by women. “We felt the need to more clearly acknowledge the creativity and bold directorial vision that is behind many of the films we are privileged to consider,” said Ida’s Executive Director Simon Kilmurry.
First awarded in 2001, the Ida gives the Courage Under Fire Award to documentarians who display conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth, putting freedom...
For the first time, the Ida will present an award for Best Director and, notably, all of the nominated films in that category are directed by women. “We felt the need to more clearly acknowledge the creativity and bold directorial vision that is behind many of the films we are privileged to consider,” said Ida’s Executive Director Simon Kilmurry.
First awarded in 2001, the Ida gives the Courage Under Fire Award to documentarians who display conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth, putting freedom...
- 10/23/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Five months after winning the Oscar for best documentary, “Free Solo” landed seven Emmy nominations Tuesday. The National Geographic film, which chronicles mountaineer Alex Honnold’s nail-biting climb up the 3,000-foot El Capitan without a rope, landed Television Academy nods for directing, editing, cinematography, interactive media, sound editing, sound mixing, and music composition.
“We are so happy to see everyone who worked on this film recognized — from our spectacular cinematography team, editing, score and sound. It’s amazing to have our peers celebrate them as we do. We’re very honored to be recognized for directing in such an important and competitive year in non-fiction filmmaking,” said E. Chai Vasarhelyi, who directed the movie with her husband Jimmy Chin, who was also one of its cinematographers.
Vasarhelyi and Chin are vying for outstanding documentary directing against Chris Smith for “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” Dan Reed for “Leaving Neverland,...
“We are so happy to see everyone who worked on this film recognized — from our spectacular cinematography team, editing, score and sound. It’s amazing to have our peers celebrate them as we do. We’re very honored to be recognized for directing in such an important and competitive year in non-fiction filmmaking,” said E. Chai Vasarhelyi, who directed the movie with her husband Jimmy Chin, who was also one of its cinematographers.
Vasarhelyi and Chin are vying for outstanding documentary directing against Chris Smith for “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” Dan Reed for “Leaving Neverland,...
- 7/16/2019
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
“Free Solo” cameraman and documentary filmmaker Andrew Berends has died. He was 46.
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, co-director of the Oscar-winning film, posted a tribute to her “wonderful friend” on Instagram Sunday.
“We have lost a wonderful friend and an important filmmaker,” wrote Vasarhelyi, whom he collaborated with on several films, including “Incorruptible,” “Little Troopers” and most recently “Free Solo,” which won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar earlier this year.
Also Read: Andre Previn, 4-Time Oscar-Winning Composer and Conductor, Dies at 89
“You touched so many lives,” she continued. “I know the pain you felt was profound, real and relentless. I know you suffered. I can only hope you have finally found some peace and justice as you so deserve it. I’m sorry it was this way. Our community lost an amazing person. I will always love and remember you Andy.”
His cause of death was not released Sunday.
Berends made several...
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, co-director of the Oscar-winning film, posted a tribute to her “wonderful friend” on Instagram Sunday.
“We have lost a wonderful friend and an important filmmaker,” wrote Vasarhelyi, whom he collaborated with on several films, including “Incorruptible,” “Little Troopers” and most recently “Free Solo,” which won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar earlier this year.
Also Read: Andre Previn, 4-Time Oscar-Winning Composer and Conductor, Dies at 89
“You touched so many lives,” she continued. “I know the pain you felt was profound, real and relentless. I know you suffered. I can only hope you have finally found some peace and justice as you so deserve it. I’m sorry it was this way. Our community lost an amazing person. I will always love and remember you Andy.”
His cause of death was not released Sunday.
Berends made several...
- 3/4/2019
- by Rosemary Rossi
- The Wrap
Andrew Berends, the director of five documentary films and most recently a cameraman on the Oscar-winning “Free Solo,” has died.
Berends spent his career making films that illuminated underreported aspects of various international conflicts, particularly in Africa. His 2012 film “Delta Boys” covered an evolving battle over the oil-rich regions of Nigeria. In 2015, his film “Madina’s Dream” highlighted the story of a young girl caught in the ongoing aftermath of the Sudanese civil war.
Prior to the premiere of “Madina’s Dream” at the SXSW Film Festival, Berends wrote to IndieWire: “I want the SXSW audience to be saddened and outraged by what’s happening in the Nuba Mountains. I want people to be uplifted by the magic of the region, and the spirit and beauty of girls like Madina. I want them to leave the theater with the awareness that the war is continuing with children under threat at this very moment.
Berends spent his career making films that illuminated underreported aspects of various international conflicts, particularly in Africa. His 2012 film “Delta Boys” covered an evolving battle over the oil-rich regions of Nigeria. In 2015, his film “Madina’s Dream” highlighted the story of a young girl caught in the ongoing aftermath of the Sudanese civil war.
Prior to the premiere of “Madina’s Dream” at the SXSW Film Festival, Berends wrote to IndieWire: “I want the SXSW audience to be saddened and outraged by what’s happening in the Nuba Mountains. I want people to be uplifted by the magic of the region, and the spirit and beauty of girls like Madina. I want them to leave the theater with the awareness that the war is continuing with children under threat at this very moment.
- 3/3/2019
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
"Madina's Dream" (the fifth documentary feature from Andrew Berends) takes viewers all the way out to the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. The decades-long civil war between Sudan and South Sudan may have ended back in 2011, but inside the country, the battle still rages on. Berend's film follows the inhabitants of the Nuba Mountains, who are under a constant barrage of attacks from the Sudanese government (the instruments of war are so commonplace, that the children even mold toy models of RPGs and machine gun-mounted tanks out of clay). This unflinching look at a war-torn group of people focuses on Madina and her fervent dream to return home -- if only a pair of ruby slippers could do some magic here. What's your film about in 140 characters or less? "Madina's Dream" -- an unflinching, poetic glimpse into a forgotten war where refugees and rebels struggle to survive in Sudan's Nuba Mountains.
- 3/18/2015
- by Rosie Narasaki
- Indiewire
Now that the busy winter fest schedule of Sundance, Rotterdam and the Berlinale has concluded, we’ve now got our eyes on the likes of True/False and SXSW. While, True/False does not specialize in attention grabbing world premieres, it does provide a late winter haven for cream of the crop non-fiction fare from all the previously mentioned fests and a selection of overlooked genre blending films presented in a down home setting. This year will mark my first trip to the Columbia, Missouri based fest, where I hope to catch a little of everything, from their hush-hush secret screenings, to selections from their Neither/Nor series, this year featuring chimeric Polish cinema of decades past, to a spotlight of Adam Curtis’s incisive oeuvre. But truth be told, it is SXSW, with its slew of high profile world premieres being announced, such as Alex Gibney’s Steve Jobs...
- 2/27/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in TrainwreckPhoto: Universal Pictures With Sundance just wrapping up and Berlin starting up in a few days, we are now immersed in the year-long barrage of film festivals. One such festival in South By Southwest. A few weeks back they announced the first seven films of their program, including the opening night film Brand: A Second Coming. Today, they have revealed the rest of the features to be shown in March (except for the midnight program), and some of it has me very excited. The bigger titles announced do not do much for me. Paul Feig's Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, and the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart starrer Get Hard leave a lot to be desired in terms of anticipation, as does a work in progress cut of Judd Apatow's latest film Trainwreck. I'm guessing an Apatow work in progress is probably around three and a half hours.
- 2/3/2015
- by Mike Shutt
- Rope of Silicon
South by Southwest, the multi-faceted film, music and technology festival held annually in Austin, TX will feature such upcoming films as Paul Feig’s Spy, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, and Ondi Timoner’s Russell Brand profile Brand: A Second Coming as headliners in this year’s film festival lineup.
SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.
Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.
On the small screen,...
SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.
Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.
On the small screen,...
- 2/3/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Top brass at the 22nd South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival have announced the feature line-up for the upcoming festival, set to run from March 13-21 in Austin, Texas.
SXSW will showcase 145 features. The line-up includes 60 films from first-time film-makers and comprises 100 world premieres, 13 North American premieres and 11 Us premieres.
Head of film Janet Pierson and her team of programmers culled selections from a record 2,385 feature-length submissions composed of 1,614 Us and 771 international features. The record of 7,335 total submissions marks a 13% gain on 2014.
For the first time the number of films in the juried Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature selections have risen from eight to ten. The complete Conference line-up and schedule will be released on February 17.
Besides the Narrative Feature Competition and Documentary Feature Competition selections listed below, feature entries include Judd Apatow’s work-in-progress comedy Trainwreck starring Amy Schumer in Special Events, music film 808 (pictured) in 24 Beats Per Second and Alex Garland’s sci-fi...
SXSW will showcase 145 features. The line-up includes 60 films from first-time film-makers and comprises 100 world premieres, 13 North American premieres and 11 Us premieres.
Head of film Janet Pierson and her team of programmers culled selections from a record 2,385 feature-length submissions composed of 1,614 Us and 771 international features. The record of 7,335 total submissions marks a 13% gain on 2014.
For the first time the number of films in the juried Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature selections have risen from eight to ten. The complete Conference line-up and schedule will be released on February 17.
Besides the Narrative Feature Competition and Documentary Feature Competition selections listed below, feature entries include Judd Apatow’s work-in-progress comedy Trainwreck starring Amy Schumer in Special Events, music film 808 (pictured) in 24 Beats Per Second and Alex Garland’s sci-fi...
- 2/3/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
On the heels of the 39th edition of the Toronto Int. Film Festival (Sept 4-14), Ifp’s Independent Film Week is where a plethora of fiction, non-fiction and new this year, web-based series from the likes of Desiree Akhavan and Calvin Reeder find future coin. Sectioned off as projects at the very beginning of financing to those that are nearing completion, there happens to be tons of Sundance alumni in the names below. Among those that caught our attention we have Medicine for Melancholy‘s Barry Jenkins’ sophomore feature, produced by Bad Milo!‘s Adele Romanski, Moonlight is about “two Miami boys navigate the temptations of the drug trade and their burgeoning sexuality in this triptych drama about black queer youth”. Concussion‘s Stacie Passon digs into the thriller genre with Strange Things Started Happening. Produced by vet Mary Jane Skalski (Mysterious Skin), this is about “a woman who has...
- 7/24/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Andrew Berends’ gripping new documentary “Delta Boys” does something undeniably important: it puts human voices and faces behind the terms and datelines we run into almost every week in newspapers, on websites, and on cable new channel crawls. Words like “militant” and “rebels,” and places like Nigeria and the Niger Delta sadly mean little to most Westerners. It’s all happening, literally, in another part of the globe, a world far beyond our everyday existence. Berends, the award-winning filmmaker behind the acclaimed Iraq docs “The Blood of My Brother” and “When Adnan Comes Home” knows this. He understands our lack of knowledge, along with our naïveté. So his “Delta Boys” is, above all else, a teaching tool. Don’t let that scare you away. For “Delta Boys” is nothing if not involving, a brisk, focused 55-minute look at the realities of the Niger Delta’s oil...
- 1/15/2013
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Playlist
World premiered in May at IFC Center, in its Stranger Than Fiction program; Will be available for digital download on October 16 to rent or own, in North America, courtesy of Cinedigm Entertainment Group. Details in press release immediately follow; trailer for the film below; and for more information on Delta Boys, visit http://storytellerinc.com/deltaboys/. New York, New York Sept. 18, 2012 – Delta Boys, award-winning American filmmaker Andrew Berends’ harrowing account of exploitation and militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, where he was...
- 9/18/2012
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
IFC.s critically acclaimed series The IFC Media Project will return to the network in May for a four-night docuseries event titled The IFC Media Project Presents: Fear, War, Greed and Disaster. Four new 30-minute episodes delving into each of these topics will premiere Monday, May 24 through Thursday, May 27 at 8:00 p.m. Et/Pt. Guided by journalists including Max Blumenthal (Fear), Nir Rosen (War), Charlie LeDuff (Greed) and Andrew Berends (Disaster), the series will bring in-depth perspectives to some of the most important stories of our time. .This is The IFC Media Project as it was always meant to be . irreverent, on point, and in depth,. said Meghan O'Hara, creator and executive producer of The IFC Media Project...
- 5/22/2010
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
The 2007 Tribeca Film Festival has selected 62 shorts from 2,300 submissions, which will be presented in 10 separate, thematically related programs.
They include short narratives featuring Zooey Deschanel, Bob Geldof, Mariel Hemingway, Piper Perabo, Jay O. Sanders and Fisher Stevens.
Andrew Berends, whose feature documentary about Iraq, The Blood of My Brother, screened at the fest last year, returns with a new short he filmed in Kurdistan. Other directors making return visits to Tribeca include Marie Losier, Bill Morrison, Bill Plympton and Jay Rosenblatt.
In a separate development, the Tribeca Film Institute announced the launch of Tribeca Teaches: Films in Motion, a pilot program that kicked off Monday and will continue as part of the fest. In partnership with the Bronx Preparatory Charter School, it will educate historically underserved middle and high school students in the South Bronx about the art and process of filmmaking.
A three-part program, Tribeca Teaches will provide students with the tools to think critically about film through a TFI-created school curriculum, brings the spirit of the festival to the Bronx through a TFI-organized community day and screens an eclectic mix of films to enhance student awareness of how film can be used to understand others and to cultivate their own unique voice.
They include short narratives featuring Zooey Deschanel, Bob Geldof, Mariel Hemingway, Piper Perabo, Jay O. Sanders and Fisher Stevens.
Andrew Berends, whose feature documentary about Iraq, The Blood of My Brother, screened at the fest last year, returns with a new short he filmed in Kurdistan. Other directors making return visits to Tribeca include Marie Losier, Bill Morrison, Bill Plympton and Jay Rosenblatt.
In a separate development, the Tribeca Film Institute announced the launch of Tribeca Teaches: Films in Motion, a pilot program that kicked off Monday and will continue as part of the fest. In partnership with the Bronx Preparatory Charter School, it will educate historically underserved middle and high school students in the South Bronx about the art and process of filmmaking.
A three-part program, Tribeca Teaches will provide students with the tools to think critically about film through a TFI-created school curriculum, brings the spirit of the festival to the Bronx through a TFI-organized community day and screens an eclectic mix of films to enhance student awareness of how film can be used to understand others and to cultivate their own unique voice.
- 3/20/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Quick Links Iraq In Fragments An Inconvenient Truth God Grew Tired of Us The International Documentary Assn (a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to supporting the efforts of nonfiction film and video makers throughout the United States and the world, and who also publish a monthly mag) choose James Longley's Iraq In Fragments as the best feature-length documentary of the year. The other final noms in the same category were Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?, Deliver Us From Evil, Showbusiness: A Season to Remember and Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars. Other winners were: Best short documentary: Marcelo Bukin - Angel's Fire (Fuego de Angel) Pare Lorentz Award (recognizing a documentary filmmaker who represents both an activist spirit and a lyrical vision): Davis Guggenheim's An Inconvenient Truth Courage Under Fire Award: Andrew Berends - The Blood of My Brother The Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award:
- 12/10/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
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